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April 19, 2004
TV Land Goes On A Frenzy When Classic TV Salutes Final Episode
Of Friends
May 6 Salute Features Performers "Before They Were Friends"
and People Reminding Viewers to Watch FriendsNew York, NY, April 19, 2004
- As a fitting tribute to Friends, one of television's most popular and
enduring sitcoms, TV Land will go on a complete frenzy and pre-empt regularly
scheduled programming to salute the series on Thursday, May 6 -- the night
of the finale.
TV Land's tribute to Friends will feature two central components. From
6 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET/PT, the network will showcase programming featuring
each of the cast members in roles "Before They Were Friends"
including: Jennifer Aniston in Ferris Bueller's Day Off; Lisa Kudrow in
Cheers; Courtney Cox in Family Ties; Matthew Perry in Who's the Boss?;
David Schwimmer in The Wonder Years and Matt LeBlanc in Just the 10 of
Us. Then, at 9 p.m., for the entire hour that the Friends finale is airing,
TV Land will be closed for business. Instead of regularly scheduled programming,
viewers tuning in to TV Land will be treated to a room full of TV Land
staffers - purportedly watching the Friends finale -- periodically addressing
the camera to remind viewers that the Friends finale is on and that we
really aren't airing anything so there's no point staying tuned. TV Land
will rebroadcast all six episodes of "Before They Were Friends"
beginning at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
The last time TV Land pre-empted programming to pay tribute to a series
was in 1998 to salute the finale of Seinfeld. Throughout the entire hour,
TV Land aired nothing to salute the show about nothing. The only thing
seen on the channel was an image of TV Land's closed office doors accompanied
by a note explaining that the network would return after the conclusion
of Seinfeld's finale.
"The end of Friends is the end of an era in television history,"
states Larry W. Jones, President, TV Land and Nick at Nite. "Friends
has proven itself to be a 'modern classic' and TV Land wants to be sure
no viewers accidentally miss this historic television event."
Now seen in over 82 million U.S. homes, TV Land's program mix features
popular dramas, sitcoms, westerns, Retromercials® and a TV-referential
interstitial environment, all programmed with a specific audience in mind
- the first generation of Americans to grow up watching television and
features all time classic hits like All In The Family, I Love Lucy, The
Andy Griffith Show, Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie.
MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B),
owns and operates the following television programming services -- MTV:
MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, mtvU, VHI, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL,
TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN, MTV INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE
FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 12 digital services, all of which are
trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks also has licensing agreements,
joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services
can be seen worldwide.
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