Celebrity Voices Include Jonathan Silverman, Juliette Lewis, Mitzi McCall and Sam McMurray

 

NEW YORK, NY: June 5, 2003 Showtime Networks, in association with Emmy®-winning animation studio Film Roman, brings to life the characters of a subversive cult comic strip in the new, late night, animated, comedy series FREE FOR ALL premiering July 11th at 11 PM (ET/PT). The series, written and executive produced by Merriwether Williams ("SpongeBob Squarepants") and based on Brett Merhar's cult comic strip of the same name, follows multimillionaire and wheeler-dealer Clay Zeeman and his best friend, community college student Johnny G. Jenkins. Johnny and Clay are cynical, Gen-Y, dysfunctional bestfriends, who struggle with out-of-the-ordinary daily woes. The duo's unique adventures are even further complicated by the antics of Clay's pet ferret, Angus -- a research laboratory animal with a drug addiction problem. The network has ordered 6 additional episodes, which will continue to air on Fridays at 11PM (ET/PT).

 

Celebrity voices for the show include Jonathan Silverman (SHOWTIME'S DEACONS FOR DEFENSE, "The Single Guy") as Johnny; Brett Merhar as Clay; Oscar® nominated 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 ("Raising Arizona," "Sunshine State," SHOWTIME's upcoming STEALING SINATRA) as Dad.

 

As the series begins, Clay is living a life of luxury, having won a multi-million dollar lawsuit after slipping and falling on a sandwich in a restaurant. Johnny, on the other hand, is still living with his parents as he pines away for the beautiful and seemingly innocent girl-next-door.

 

In his free time, Johnny dodges his grandmother's attempts to get him killed so she can move out of the basement and into his bedroom. FREE FOR ALL, Showtime's new animated Original Series, promises to be shocking and absurd but always hilarious.

 

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, co-wrote the pilot and will serve as co-writer and executive producer. John Hyde, president and CEO of Film Roman, and Richard Hull ("She's All That," "Get Over It," "On The Line") serve as executive producer and co-executive producer respectively.

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.

 

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Viacom Inc., owns the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL" and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME® TOO", SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILYZONE® and TMC xtra. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HDTV®, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL ON DEMAND". SNI operates and manages the premium television network SUNDANCE CHANNEL®, which is owned by SNI, Robert Redford and Universal Studios. 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. Additionally, the advertiser-supported television network SHOWTIME EXTREME® is available in Spain through a joint venture with Media Park and the advertiser-supported television network SHOWTIME is available in Turkey through a joint venture with UK-based Zone Vision.

 

Rating: TVMA

Run Time: 30 minutes

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