Saturday, December 21, 2013

Jerry Seinfeld's Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee Season 3 January 2, 2014 on Crackle

Crackle & Sony Pictures Press Releases

CULVER CITY, CA - December. 12, 2013 - Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, the popular web series starring Jerry Seinfeld, will return with 6 new episodes exclusively on Crackle and comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com on January 2nd. The newly released season 3 teaser visually fixates on a car while commentary between Seinfeld and his comedians riding shot-gun is overheard. Full guest lineup will be announced next week. Season 3 of the series will run exclusively on Crackle and comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com.

The first two seasons of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee featured Seinfeld's conversations with comedy greats including Ricky Gervais, Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman, Larry David, among many others. The series is Crackle's most-watched original series and received an Emmy nod in the Outstanding Special Class - Short-Format Nonfiction Programs category.

"Jerry Seinfeld pioneered a new approach to unscripted storytelling with Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee and his vision garnered record breaking viewership on Crackle," said Eric Berger, Executive Vice President of Digital Networks for Sony Pictures Television and GM of Crackle. "We are thrilled to be bringing more highly anticipated episodes of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee to every television, computer and mobile device for today's connected audience."

Jerry Seinfeld is the executive producer of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, which is produced by Sony Pictures Television's Embassy Row.

ACURA JOINS AS EXCLUSIVE SPONSOR OF COMEDIANS IN CARS GETTING COFFEE

NEW YORK, NY and CULVER CITY, CA (June 5, 2013) - Acura, one of the world's most technologically advanced luxury automotive brands, has signed on as the sole sponsor of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, the popular award-winning Web series created by and starring Jerry Seinfeld. Acura will sponsor 24 new episodes to be released in 2013 and 2014.


Seinfeld, who previously worked with Acura and starred in the luxury automaker's much-heralded 2012 Super Bowl commercial, will incorporate several unique product integrations, including the much-anticipated, all-new Acura MDX. "We at Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee are so glad a company we already admire has stepped forward to support us," said Jerry Seinfeld. "Not everyone understood what we were doing. But like Moe Green who invented Las Vegas, Acura is a company of vision and guts. We could not be more thrilled to have them as our sponsor. Because of them, we advance!"


Sponsorship of the series was a natural fit for Acura, as the brand is inspired by those who are not afraid to defy convention. "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee achieves just that, boldly breaking away from traditional expectations, and Seinfeld is pushing the standards of entertainment.

While the mediums are different, the end goals are the same - to be inspired by the taste-makers who are propelling the future forward."

"We love Jerry's unconventional, fan-first approach of creating great content and trusting that the right people will find it," said Mike Accavitti, Acura Senior Vice President of Auto Operations. It is totally consistent with Acura's organic approach of putting the customer first and building the vehicle around them." In terms of execution, Acura and Seinfeld are aligned on a unique approach, building content around the consumer - not the other way around. As the only sponsor the upcoming 24 episodes, Acura will integrate short, contextually relevant ads at the beginning and end of each episode.

"Crackle is a big priority at SPE and the studio has had a long, successful relationship with Jerry, so 'Comedians in Cars' is very important to us," said Eric Berger, Executive Vice President of Digital Networks for Sony Pictures Television and General Manager of Crackle. "It's a great fit to have Acura on board and through our exclusive partnership, we will be working closely to engage millions of fans around the fun, simple pleasures of driving."

About Crackle

Crackle, a unit of Sony Pictures Television, programs Hollywood movies, TV shows and original series and films for the world's connected audience. With 43 million viewers across 22 countries, Crackle specializes in genres such as Action, Comedy, Crime, Horror and Sci-fi. Original programming on Crackle includes the psychological thriller Chosen, starring Chad Michael Murray; Cleaners, starring David Arquette and Gina Gershon; the first ever made for digital movie Extraction, starring Danny Glover; and the Emmy(R) nominated Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, starring Jerry Seinfeld. Crackle is always freely accessible on every screen, with no subscription or authentication required. Visit Crackle's site at www.crackle.com. You can also or find Crackle on Facebook at www.facebook.com/crackle or follow Crackle on Twitter @Crackle for real time updates.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Homeland Season 3 Finale Delivers Series' Highest Ratings/Night Ever ~ Showtime Renews Homeland For 4th Season and Masters of Sex For 2nd Season

Showtime Press Releases

"HOMELAND" SEASON THREE FINALE DELIVERS SERIES' HIGHEST-RATED EPISODE AND NIGHT EVER

"HOMELAND" Becomes First SHOWTIME(R) Series Ever To Average Seven Million Weekly Viewers

"MASTERS OF SEX" Finishes Freshman Season Up 21% From Its Premiere

The season three finale of HOMELAND now ranks as the series' highest-rated episode and night ever, with 2.4 million viewers at 9 p.m. and 2.9 million viewers for the night. (Prior highs were season 2 episode 11 at 9 p.m. and the season 2 finale for the night - vs. 2.7 million). The season three finale also outperformed the season three premiere by 27 percent at 9 p.m. (vs. 1.88 million) and by 12 percent for the night (vs. 2.6 million).

The network's No. 1 show, HOMELAND continues to grow currently averaging seven million weekly viewers to-date, surpassing its second season by 18 percent, and ranking as the show's highest-rated season ever. A first for SHOWTIME, HOMELAND is the only network series ever to cross the seven million weekly viewership mark. HOMELAND has also outpaced DEXTER season eight by 13 percent through the same time frame.


SHOWTIME HONORED WITH FIVE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS NOMINATIONS

For the second consecutive year, the cast of HOMELAND was nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, and Claire Danes received her second consecutive nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series.

Danes won the Actor last year for her critically-acclaimed performance as "Carrie Mathison." Additionally, the stunt cast of HOMELAND was nominated for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series.




SHOWTIME ANNOUNCES PICKUPS OF HOMELAND AND MASTERS OF SEX Renewal Arrives On The Heels Of Strong Growth In Viewership For Both Series

LOS ANGELES, CA – (October 22, 2013) – Today, SHOWTIME announced the renewals of its Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award-winning series HOMELAND and the critically-acclaimed drama MASTERS OF SEX for their fourth and second seasons respectively. Both series are set to return in 2014 with 12 one-hour episodes. HOMELAND airs on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT, followed by MASTERS OF SEX at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME. The announcement was made today by David Nevins, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc.

“HOMELAND continues to prove its strength for SHOWTIME, and is one of television's most exciting, provocative and widely-discussed shows. It has grown its audience significantly in each of its three seasons," said Nevins. “The critical and audience reaction to MASTERS OF SEX since its great launch has been incredibly gratifying. It's a privilege to get to work with such talented and creative people as Alex Gansa and Michelle Ashford, as well as their tremendous casts. They have each created truly original shows, with distinctive voices that are among the most admired series on television.”

The network’s No.1 rated series, HOMELAND continues its growth trajectory in season three with 6.5 million weekly viewers, up 26 percent from its second season in the same time frame (vs. 5.1 million). Developed for American television by Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, and based on the original Israeli series "Prisoners of War" by Gideon Raff, HOMELAND stars Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Claire Danes, Emmy winner Damian Lewis, and Emmy and Tony® Award winner Mandy Patinkin. HOMELAND has been honored with a number of major awards for the series and its stars across a variety of categories in its first two seasons including Emmy and Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Drama, as well as a prestigious Peabody Award. The series also stars Morena Baccarin, Rupert Friend, Sarita Choudhoury, Tracy Letts, Jackson Pace, Morgan Saylor and F. Murray Abraham. Along with Gansa and Gordon, the executive producers for season three are Gideon Raff, Chip Johannessen, Alexander Cary, Henry Bromell, Avi Nir and Ran Telem. The series is produced by FOX 21.

MASTERS OF SEX currently averages 5.4 million weekly viewers in its freshman season, up 33 percent from HOMELAND’s first season in the same time frame. The series stars Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan, who portray real-life human sexuality pioneers, William Masters and Virginia Johnson. The series chronicles their unusual lives, romance and pop culture trajectory. The series is an adaptation of Thomas Maier's book Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, The Couple Who Taught America How To Love. The pilot episode was directed by Academy Award® nominee John Madden (Shakespeare in Love, and the hit indie film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), who also serves as executive producer. The series also stars Caitlin Fitzgerald (It's Complicated) in the role of Masters' wife, Nicholas D'Agosto (Heroes) and Teddy Sears (American Horror Story). Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning actor Beau Bridges and Emmy award winner Margo Martindale also appear. MASTERS OF SEX was created and executive produced by Michelle Ashford (The Pacific). The series is executive produced by Timberman Beverly Productions' Carl Beverly and Sarah Timberman, and Judith Verno. Michael Sheen and Tammy Rosen serve as producers. MASTERS OF SEX is produced by Sony Pictures Television.

Fresh off the heels of Golden Globe(R) and WGA nominations and being honored as one of AFI's Top Ten Television Programs of the Year, MASTERS OF SEX finished its impressive freshman year run up 21 percent versus its season premiere at 10 p.m. and up 8 percent versus its premiere night. The season one finale attracted 1.2 million viewers at 10 p.m. and 1.5 million viewers for the night. Season-to-date, MASTERS OF SEX is averaging 4.8 million weekly viewers, up 13 percent versus HOMELAND's record-breaking freshman season.

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2™, SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD™, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND®, FLIX ON DEMAND® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ ON DEMAND, and the network's authentication service SHOWTIME ANYTIME®. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks™, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution, which offers Smithsonian Channel™. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®.