Pauly Shore to Star in CMT's WHISKEY BUSINESS, 3/25

CMT's newest original movie, WHISKEY BUSINESS starring Pauly Shore, will premiere Sunday, March 25 at 7:00 p.m., ET/PT on CMT. John Schneider and Tanya Tucker co-star, and the movie also features Cynthia Preston, Brad Borbridge, and Nick Mancuso. In this two hour movie, self-proclaimed "Guido," Nicky Ferelli, (Pauly Shore) runs away from his mob-tied family when he is wrongly accused of murder, and ends up hiding out in a small southern town making a new and unusual variety of moonshine, while discovering that a country way of life could be the best thing that ever happened to him. The movie is produced by Entertainment One Television.

"Pauly Shore is a CMT fan-favorite and we're thrilled to be in business with him on this movie," says Mary Beth Cunin, SVP Programming Strategy, CMT. "Pauly's movie 'Son In Law' is one of CMT's top performers, so to find a new vehicle to showcase his talent and popularity is an exciting opportunity."

"When I read the script, I knew wanted to do this movie," says Shore. "It's heartfelt, and playing a likeable 'Guido' is a throwback to the old Pauly fans know from my earlier movies."

"Whiskey Business" is the story of Nicky, (Pauly Shore), the son of New Jersey's most powerful crime boss. Nicky is supposed to follow in his father's footsteps, but he'd much rather DJ and mix cocktails at a local club. When Nicky is framed for murder he didn't commit, he goes on the run to escape the law and ends up in a small Tennessee town where he sticks out like a sore thumb. Nicky brings some Jersey Shore to the Deep South and is treated with Southern Hospitality and is befriended by a cast of characters, including country cougar Trina (Tanya Tucker). At first Nicky is as suspicious of the townspeople's moonshine as they are of his fake tan, but he soon bonds with the residents to take down Gilly (John Schneider), the town's corrupt sheriff.

An entertainment career was virtually pre-ordained for Pauly Montgomery Shore. During the early '70s, Pauly's mother, Mitzi, and father opened The Comedy Store on Hollywood's Sunset Strip, giving their son the rare opportunity to hang out and be inspired by such rising talents as Robin Williams, David Letterman and the late Sam Kinison, who became Pauly's mentor. Pauly rose to national attention during a strong four-year run on MTV. His initial success on television led to a three movie deal with Disney, beginning with the box-office hit ENCINO MAN, co-starring Sean Astin and Brendan Fraser. Pauly followed up ENCINO MAN with the comedies SON-IN-LAW, IN THE ARMY NOW, JURY DUTY and BIO-DOME. In 1997, FOX cast him as the freeloading son of a wealthy businessman in the sitcom PAULY. In 2003, Pauly produced, wrote, directed and starred in the critically acclaimed, PAULY SHORE IS DEAD, with cameos from Sean Penn, Whoopi Goldberg, Ellen DeGeneres, Dr. Dre, Charlie Sheen, Jerry Springer, Montel Williams, Kurt Loder and Paris Hilton, to name a few. Next, Pauly returned to TV in the TBS reality series, MINDING THE STORE, which he produced as well as starred in. This was followed by a notable recurring part, as himself, on the hit HBO series, ENTOURAGE. Pauly continues to produce and direct, with his film ADOPTED and live comedy special "Vegas is My Oyster."

"Whiskey Business" is an Entertainment One Television production. John Morayniss, Noreen Halpern and Ira Pincus are Executive Producers for Entertainment One Television. Co-executive produced and written by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas ("Worst. Prom. Ever," "My Super Psycho Sweet 16"), the movie is directed by Rob Iscove ("She's All That"). Lisa Silfen, Robin Palmer, Mary Beth Cunin, Lewis Bogach and Anne Oakley serve as Executive Producers for CMT.

CMT, a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), is the leading television and digital authority on country music and entertainment, reaching more than 92 million homes in the U.S. CMT and its website, CMT.com, offer an unparalleled mix of music, news, live concerts and series and is the top resource for country music on demand. The network's digital platforms include the 24-hour music channel, CMT Pure Country, CMT Mobile and CMT VOD.

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