New York, NY - June 8, 2012 - My Damn Channel (
www.MyDamnChannel.com), an entertainment studio and distributor of premium content, and
Principato-Young Entertainment (
www.principatoyoung.com) have today announced the launch of a new original comedy series,
The Tweekly News. Hosted and written by comedians
Randy and Jason Sklar (
Back on Topps, HISTORY's The
United Stats of America, ESPN Classic's
Cheap Seats), The Tweekly News-- created in partnership with
EX® (
BecomeAnEX.org), a free online quit smoking program created by the public health non-profit Legacy® -- premieres on Friday, June 8, 2012.
"I love the idea of looking at popular culture through the unique lens that is Twitter, and no one can riff on topics the way Randy and Jason can," said Corey Moss, VP of digital for Principato-Young Entertainment. "We're thrilled to be working with My Damn Channel on this show."
A weekly look at all things pop culture through the eyes of Twitter,
The Tweekly News will feature the Sklar Brothers (
@SklarBrothers) breaking down the world's most and least important trending topics. New episodes will be available every Friday at
www.MyDamnChannel.com/TheTweeklyNews.
As part of the show, the Sklar Brothers will host a weekly "Time to Re-Learn" segment where they will offer free advice to stars on Twitter. The segment will show celebrities that it's possible to re-learn parts of their life, in much the same way that EX® helps people re-learn the things that make them want to smoke. The EX® website provides smokers with a free three-step quit plan to help them re-learn life without cigarettes by 1) "Re-learning" their thinking on the behavioral aspects of smoking and how different smoking triggers can be overcome with practice and preparation; 2) "Re-learning" their knowledge of addiction and how medications can increase their chances for quitting success; and 3) "Re-learning" their ideas of how support from friends and family members can play a critical role in quitting.
Quitting smoking is ultimately one of the single most important lifestyle changes people can make to improve and extend their lives. Nearly 70 percent of Americans who smoke want to quit, but only about six percent of smokers are successful in quitting long-term. Like many people, Randy and Jason's lives have been impacted by tobacco; they watched their grandmother pass away after years of suffering with smoking-related emphysema.
"We hope that by making fun of the mindless drivel that celebrities tap into their phones for five minutes, we can actually do something good," said Jason. "We like to think of ourselves as heroes."
"I actually like to think of ourselves as national treasures," said Randy. In addition to their grandmother's death, he added: "My wife quit smoking a few years back, and her mother is now battling lung cancer after smoking for many years. We love nothing more than being able to show people that quitting smoking is possible by promoting
BecomeAnEx.org and encouraging our fans to quit."
In addition to the "Re-Learn" segments, each episode will begin by notifying viewers that it is being "brought to you by EX®," and end with a call-to-action for viewers to visit BecomeAnEx.org/Sklar for exclusive content and outtakes. Additionally quitters can follow EX® on Twitter
@TheExTeam.
We are very excited to join the Sklar Brothers and bring the EX® 're-learn life without cigarettes' method to life on MyDamnChannel.com," said Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, President and CEO of Legacy. "It takes an average of 8-11 quit attempts before most smokers can quit for good and the decision to quit is by no means easy. However, through this partnership, we can reach a new audience of smokers who are thinking about quitting, and help them navigate the difficult process by providing real help and real tools from BecomeAnEx.org."
Texas-based
GSD&M, the agency of record for Legacy's advertising on smoking cessation, developed the strategy for the Sklar Brothers partnership, conceptualized and implemented the media planning and buying, and created and produced the creative messaging for EX® sponsorship of
The Tweekly News.
The Tweekly News is executive produced by Corey Moss for PYE and Rob Barnett, Warren Chao and Jesse Cowell for My Damn Channel. Following each Friday premiere, all ten episodes of the series will be available on-demand at
www.MyDamnChannel.com/TheTweeklyNews, and viewers can follow the series on Twitter
@TheTweeklyNews for updates.
Added Barnett, founder/CEO of My Damn Channel: "PYE came with a great idea. We landed two of our favorite hosts and partnered with a smart brand to co-create health-conscious comedy. Next stop: World Peace."
About Legacy
Legacy helps people live longer, healthier lives by building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Legacy's proven-effective and nationally recognized public education programs include
truth®, the national youth smoking prevention program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change smoking;
EX®, an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting; and research initiatives exploring the causes, consequences and approaches to reducing tobacco use. Located in Washington, D.C., the foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. To learn more about Legacy's life-saving programs, visit
www. LegacyForHealth.org.
Follow us on Twitter
@legacyforhealth and Facebook
www.Facebook.com/Legacy.
About EX
EX® is the national quit smoking campaign directed and funded by Legacy. The campaign helps smokers quit by providing free resources, including personalized quit plans and a robust virtual community where smokers can share stories and strategies about quitting.
EX is the culmination of several years of research and testing, combining an understanding of the power of nicotine addiction with messages that resonate with and motivate smokers toward behavior change. The
EX approach is peer-to-peer and focuses on "re-learning life without cigarettes" by encouraging smokers to think differently about the process of quitting. To learn more, visit the campaign's website,
www.BecomeAnEx.org. Locted in Washington, D.C., the foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MS) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. To learn more about Legacy's life-saving programs, visit
www.LegacyForHealth.org.
About GSD&M
GSD&M is an advertising agency headquartered in Austin, Texas. With a restless culture and purpose as a guiding force, GSD&M builds brands with an integrated creative and media approach. GSD&M is a part of Omnicom Group, Inc. (NYSE:OMC). For more information go to
GSDM.com.
About PYE
Principato-Young Entertainment is a leading management and production company founded in 2000. PYE represents actors, directors, writers, sketch comedy troupes and many multi-hyphenates, and has produced multiple projects in film, television and digital.
About My Damn Channel
My Damn Channel is a leading entertainment studio and distributor of premium content. Since launching in 2007, it has produced thousands of original videos featuring major stars and emerging artists from TV, film and the Internet. It has created some of the most successful comedy online, including
Wainy Days, Horrible People, You Suck At Photoshop and videos by Harry Shearer, with more than 30 new series premiering in 2012. The company also creates premium, branded entertainment and targeted distribution campaigns for major advertisers. In addition to
www.MyDamnChannel.com-- one of
TIME Magazine's Best 50 Websites of 2011-- the company operates Blog, Vlog and Talent Networks plus a music channel run by Don Was.
New episodes of My Damn Channel original series premiere inside
My Damn Channel LIVE, a daily, live, comedy show hosted by Beth Hoyt. The first original comedy programming-- and first live entertainment series-- to launch as part of YouTube's original content intitiative,
My Damn Channel LIVE airs weekdays at 4 p.m. ET on
www.YouTube.com/MyDamnChannel and
www.MyDamnChannel.com/LIVE, and is available on-demand.