Comedy Central to Premiere New Late-Night Series @MIDNIGHT, 10/21

In a world where Tweets, Vines, GIFs, Instagrams and Facebook posts Reign supreme, Chris Hardwick leads viewers down the ultimate internet wormhole in Comedy Central's new daily, late-night comedy competition, "@midnight." Produced by Funny Or Die, a rotating lineup of today's top comedians will battle nightly to determine who has the funniest take on the day's social media and pop culture happenings and wear the crown of funniest person on Earth (for the next 23 ½ hours).

Executive produced by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant ("RENO 911!"); Hardwick; Mike Farah for Funny Or Die; Alex Blagg, Jason Nadler and Jon Zimelis of Serious Business; showrunner Jack Martin; and Alex Murray of Brillstein Entertainment Partners, "@midnight" premieres October 21 and airs Monday through Thursday at Midnight ET/PT following "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report," extending Comedy Central's late-night dominance to a 90-minute block of nightly programming.

Using social media as the catalyst and a fake game show as the setting, "@midnight" will challenge comedians to prove who's the funniest by slashing the craziest, most absurd news and posts that social media has to offer: from celebrity Twitter tantrums to the most bizarre Yahoo Answers to rich kids on Instagram. Expect appearances by comedians like Kumail Nanjiani, Kurt Braunohler and Natasha Leggero who will fight and joke to the death as they vie to be crowned the funniest of the night.

The series will have a built-in, interactive experience for viewers, allowing them to respond to the show's daily #HashtagWars or a daily call-to-action soliciting viewer Tweets that may be featured on-air as well as earn participants a chance to win prizes.

Jim Sharp and Gary Mann are the Executives in Charge of Production for Comedy Central.

Chris Hardwick, well-known to Comedy Central's fan base, is a stand-up comedian, chart-topping podcaster, television personality, contributor for Wired magazine and CEO of Nerdist Industries. His Comedy Central stand-up special, "Chris Hardwick: Mandroid," premiered last November and can be purchased online at CC: Stand-up Direct or in stores on CD and DVD.

Hardwick founded Nerdist Industries, which has grown to include Nerdist.com, a premium Youtube channel with several hundred thousand subscribers, The Nerdist News daily e-newsletter, 1.9 million Twitter fans, as well as a podcast network that includes The Nerdist Podcast that averages 4.8 million monthly downloads. In addition, Nerdist hosts live events such as The Nerdist Podcast Live! and the Course of the Force, an annual Comic-Con lightsaber relay in partnership with Lucasfilm LTD.

In addition to his Nerdist responsibilities, Hardwick is The Face of AMC's live after-shows, "Talking Dead" and "Talking Bad," which discuss the highly-rated shows "The Walking Dead" and "Breaking Bad."

About Funny Or Die
Funny Or Die launched in April 2007 and has become an award-¬winning top destination for comedy on the web. The site has over 19 million unique users per month, over 60 million video views per month, and has grown into a vertically integrated 21st century digital studio that produces high quality content over numerous platforms, operating a social media and marketing division with over 7 million Twitter followers (#1 Comedy Brand), approximately 2.3 million Facebook fans, and devoted followers on numerous social networking and sharing sites. Funny Or Die has become the "place to be seen" for comedic celebrities, and the obvious destination for a daily comedy fix. Funny Or Die's founders are Gary Sanchez Productions (Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Chris Henchy), Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and Michael Kvamme. Judd Apatow is also a principal partner in Funny Or Die.

About Comedy Central
Available on-air, online and on-the-go, Comedy Central (www.cc.com) is the #1 brand in comedy and is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB and VIA). For up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs visit Comedy Central's press Web site at www.cc.com/press and follow us on Twitter @ComedyCentralPR for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.

Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB) is home to the world's premier entertainment brands that connect with audiences through compelling content across television, motion picture, online and mobile platforms in over 160 countries and territories. With media networks reaching approximately 700 million global subscribers, Viacom's leading brands include MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, BET, CENTRIC, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., TeenNick, Nicktoons, Nick at Nite, Comedy Central, TV Land, Spike TV, Tr3s, Paramount Channel and VIVA. Paramount Pictures, America's oldest film studio and creator of many of the most beloved motion pictures, continues today as a major global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment. Viacom operates a large portfolio of branded digital media experiences, including many of the world's most popular properties for entertainment, community and casual online gaming. For more information about Viacom and its businesses, visit www.viacom.com. Keep up with Viacom news by following Viacom's blog at blog.viacom.com and Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/Viacom.

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