MTV has ordered four new non-scripted TV series, in addition to the previously announced MTV’s Hip-Hop POV (which debuts on April 11th). There’s no word on when the four newest shows will begin airing.
The Heights follows a group of diverse best friends who live in Washington Heights, New York. Epic Fail spotlights and recreates awkward moments in people’s lives while Totally Clueless is a new hidden-camera show. Finally, MTV’s This Is How I Made It offers celebrities stories about their individual roads to success.
Here’s the MTV press release with additional details:
MTV ADDS FOUR NEW SERIES TO ITS DIVERSE LINE-UP, WITH “THE HEIGHTS,” “EPIC FAIL,” “TOTALLY CLUELESS” AND “MTV’S THIS IS HOW I MADE IT”
New Special “Dev” Also Announced, Following the Emerging Musician As She Navigates Her Career… and Young Motherhood
Santa Monica, CA (March 21, 2012) – MTV announced today the pick-up of four new series which will join its slate of programming, with docu-drama “The Heights,” following a group of friends who are aspiring to succeed, while staying true to their roots in the gritty and diverse neighborhood of Washington Heights, NY; “Epic Fail,” which will embrace the awkward and embarrassing moments in all our lives; “Totally Clueless” (working title), a new take on a hidden-camera show; and “MTV’s This Is How I Made It,” featuring celebrities who will offer a first-person lesson on how to succeed based on their individual road to success. In addition, the network has picked up the special “Dev,” which will follow the on-the-rise musician as she navigates the music industry, and life as a young mother.
While premiere dates will be announced at a later time, “The Heights,” “Epic Fail” and “Dev” are expected to air in primetime, with “Totally Clueless” joining the weekday schedule, and “This Is How I Made It” adding to the Saturday morning line-up.
These series and special join the previously announced new music talk show “MTV’s Hip-Hop POV,” which will premiere at Midnight on Wednesday, April 11, following the premiere of “Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew” (“ABDC”), that night at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.
Additional show info below:
“The Heights” (Working Title)
“The Heights” is a one-hour docu-drama which follows a group of best friends living, working and playing in the gritty, diverse New York neighborhood of Washington Heights. Though fiercely proud of where they come from, the show charts the triumphs and pitfalls as the cast struggle to push past the confines of their upbringing in order to carve out bright futures for themselves. Despite the obstacles that threaten to stand in the way of their respective pursuits (professional baseball, hip hop artist, spoken-word poet), they always have each other’s backs. The Heights is a celebration of friendship, neighborhood pride, and making your way in life while having a good time along the way.
The series is Executive Produced by Cheryl Horner Sirulnick and George McTeague of Gigantic! Productions, along with Executive Producers Beck Hickey, Craig Sloane and Jim Czarnecki. Executive Producers for MTV are Christy Spitzer, Christina Lee and Shannon Fitzgerald. Shane Tilston serves as the Production Executive for MTV. Concept by Beck Hickey, Jonathan Perez, Pedro Pino and Nelson Salcedo.
“Epic Fail”
“Epic Fail” is a half-hour panel show which embraces the awkward and embarrassing moments of our viewers’ lives. With re-enactments, text messages, status updates and photos all submitted by our audience, the series will share their most cringe-worthy moments.
“Epic Fail” is Executive Produced by Jim Biederman, Evan Mann, Gareth Reynolds and Kara Welker, Brooke Posch and Brent Haynes are Executive Producers for MTV. Shane Tilston is the Executive in Charge of Production for the network.
“Totally Clueless” (Working Title)
“Totally Clueless” is the only hidden camera game show where people win cash for figuring out they are on TV. Our team of improv actors puts people into escalating rounds of uncomfortable situations. The sooner they figure out they are on a game show the more money they win.
“Totally Clueless” is Executive Produced by Brian Flanagan, Matt Ostrom and Laura Johnson of Magilla Entertainment and Bob Kusbit and Francis Lyons of One Louder Productions. Tony DiBari and Karen Frank are Executive Producers for MTV. Matthew Parillo is the Executive in Charge of Production for the network. Concept By Bob Kusbit.
“MTV’s This Is How I Made It”
“MTV’s This Is How I Made It” is a new series which gives Millennials first-person lessons in how to succeed, straight from today’s biggest stars. Each half-hour episode will feature two celebrities discussing their recipes for success, through stories that are intertwined over the course of each episode. Throughout the show, the celebrities offer viewers direct advice on how to find success in achieving one’s big dreams.?
Dave Sirulnick and Ryan Kroft are Executive Producers of “MTV’s This Is How I Made It.” Jonathan Mussman is the Executive in Charge for MTV and Whitney-Gayle Benta is the Executive in Charge of Talent.
“Dev”
At just 22, Dev almost had it all. With her magnetic “what you see is what you get” personality and smash single “Like a G6,” this small town girl was on the brink of pop music stardom. And then she got pregnant. Now, thanks to the pregnancy, the hesitant label has pushed her debut album back three times. To make matters even more difficult, Dev and her loving fiancé Jimmy’s first child will be born in a high risk pregnancy. With her debut album set to officially drop on March 27 (Indie-pop/ Universal Republic), Dev will attempt to deliver her baby and get back in shape for an ambitious make-or-break promotional summer tour. Backed by the love and support of her family, and producer friends “The Cataracs,” will Dev handle the mounting pressure and move closer to fulfilling her dreams of being a megastar singer, or will a complicated pregnancy take center stage and derail her lifelong goals?
“Dev” is Executive Produced by Jason Carbone from Good Clean Fun. Lauren Dolgen, Jessica Zalkind, Jeff Hevert and Jennifer Russakoff are the Executives in Charge for MTV.
“MTV’s Hip-Hop POV”
“MTV’s Hip-Hop POV” is an exciting, new weekly music talk show that shines the spotlight on the pulse of what’s relevant to hip-hop fans, giving the audience an authentic perspective on the artists, celebs and topics they love. Within each weekly half-hour episode, the panel of music industry experts will draw from their individual experiences and profound entertainment knowledge to form a unique voice of authority in the world of hip-hop. The series premieres at Midnight on Wednesday, April 11, following the premiere of “Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew” (“ABDC”).
“MTV’s Hip-Hop POV” is Executive Produced by Tiffany Lea Williams and Brian Saracusa. Concept by Elena Diaz. Amy Doyle is EVP, Music and Talent Strategy. Matthew Parrillo is Executive in Charge of Production. Concept Developed by Tiffany Lea Williams.
About MTV
MTV is the world’s premier youth entertainment brand. With a global reach of more than a half-billion households, MTV is the cultural home of the millennial generation, music fans and artists, and a pioneer in creating innovative programming for young people. MTV reflects and creates pop culture with its Emmy(R), Grammy(R) and Peabody(R) award-winning content built around compelling storytelling, music discovery and activism across TV, online and mobile. MTV’s sibling networks MTV2 and mtvU each deliver unparalleled customized content for young males, music fans and college students, and its online hub MTV.com is a leading destination for music, news and pop culture. MTV is a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.
“MTV is the cultural home of the millennial generation.” Poor millennial generation. My generation had almost 24 hour music to enjoy on MTV. Millennials get reality TV. No wonder music has declined in popularity and creativity. MTV used to influence music. Now it influences how New Jersey 20 somethings and teen moms act. How the mighty have fallen.
They should stop calling it MTV cause they rarely have music videos anymore. They should split all their reality garbarge onto a network they can call MTV reality network or something.