Release
<div>SHOWTIME BRINGS IRREVERENT NEW ANIMATED SERIES "FREE FOR ALL" TO PREMIUM CABLE</div>
Celebrity Voices Include Jonathan Silverman, Jeremy Piven, Juliette Lewis, Mitzi McCall, and Sam McMurray
NEW YORK, NY: (February 25, 2003) Showtime Networks, in association with Emmy®-winning animation studio Film Roman, will bring to life the characters of Brett Merhar's cult comic strip "Free For All." FREE FOR ALL, the series, will follow Johnny and Clay, the strip's Gen-y, cynical, dysfunctional best-friends, who struggle with out-of-the-ordinary daily woes. Clay's sidekick, Angus, a strung-out ferret, adds his own brand of twisted, inebriated comedy to the ensemble. The seven episode series will debut in Summer 2003.
Celebrity voices for the show include Jonathan Silverman (SHOWTIME's "Deacons For Defense," "The Single Guy") as Johnny; Jeremy Piven ("Serendipity," "Highway") as Clay; Juliette Lewis ("Cape Fear," SHOWTIME'S "My Louisiana Sky" and "Natural Born Killers") as Johnny's love interest Paula, Mitzi McCall ("Ice Age," "The Flintstones Comedy Hour") as grandma and Sam McMurray ("Sunshine State," SHOWTIME's upcoming "Stealing Sinatra") as Dad.
FREE FOR ALL is co-written and executive produced by Merriwether Williams, who served as head writer for over three years on Nickelodeon's smash hit "Spongebob SquarePants." Brett Merhar, creator of the comic strip which has been syndicated in over 75 newspapers nationwide since its launch in April 1998, will also serve as co-writer and executive producer. John Hyde, president and CEO of Film Roman, and Richard Hull will serve as executive producer and co-executive producer respectively. The Creative Executive for Showtime is Beth J. Greenwald.
As the series begins, Clay is living a life of luxury, having won a multi-million dollar lawsuit after slipping and falling in a restaurant. Johnny, on the other hand, is still living with his parents and attending a pseudo-community college.
In his free time, Johnny dodges his grandmother's attempts to get him killed or arrested so she can move out of the basement and into his bedroom.
For almost two decades, Film Roman has been a leading animation production company working on such primetime hits as "The Simpsons" and "King of The Hill," as well as Saturday morning and syndicated kids animation including the current top-rated Saturday morning series "X-Men: Evolution." Since its founding 16 years ago by acclaimed animator Phil Roman, the company has delivered successful animated series to broadcasters worldwide and has picked up 18 Emmy® awards along the way.
