Zooey Deschanel, Joel Mchale to Co-Host 2012 Writers Guild Awards' Show, 2/19

The Writers Guild of America, West has tapped Zooey Deschanel (New Girl, [500] Days of Summer) and Joel McHale (Community, The Soup) to co-host the WGAW's 2012 Writers Guild Awards L.A. show on Sunday, February 19, 2012, at the Hollywood Palladium.

"I am excited to host the WGA awards. It should be a lot of fun! I am very honored to be included," said Deschanel.

"I'm deeply excited to co-host the WGA Awards with Zooey Deschanel. She has that rare combination in that she's beautiful, funny, and smells good. Without writers, movies and TV would be worse than untreated syphilis, so I'm thrilled to hand these fine people awards for their great work," said McHale.

"I love that I'm working with the stars of New Girl and Community. As Abed might say on Community, 'This is going to be the greatest sitcom crossover since The Jeffersons visited Fresh Prince of Bel Air,'" said 2012 WGA West Coast ceremony Executive Producer Spike Jones, Jr.

TV audiences have recently come to know Deschanel as the breakout star of this season's hit Fox series, New Girl, which she also serves as a producer and recently received both Golden Globe (Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical) and Satellite Award (Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical) nominations.

Her most recent feature film roles include co-starring in the 2009 romantic comedy, (500) Days of Summer, 2008's Yes Man, and 2011 ensemble comedy, Our Idiot Brother. This past year, she also lent her voice talents to Disney's animated feature return of Winnie the Pooh, writing and performing the original song, "So Long," for which she received 2012 Grammy (Best Song Written for a Motion Picture or for Television) and Annie (Music in a Feature Production) Awards nominations. Deschanel's earlier screen roles include Mumford, Almost Famous, The Good Girl, Elf, and All the Real Girls, for which she received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Lead Actress.

In addition to her onscreen work as an actress, Deschanel has earned note as one half of the acclaimed musical duo She & Him, her alt-rock collaboration with M. Ward which has produced three best-selling albums: "Volume One" (2008), "Volume Two" (2010), which debuted at #2 on Billboard's Top 200 album chart, and, most recently, their holiday album, "A Very She & Him Christmas" (2011).

As the star of the NBC comedy series Community, as well as the host of E!'s The Soup, actor/comic Joel McHale is one of the busiest people in the industry. On Community, McHale plays "Jeff Winger," a lawyer whose education his deemed void by the bar, forcing him to attend a local community college with an eclectic student body and staff alike - a role which recently earned McHale a 2011 Satellite Award nomination for Best Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical.

Satirizing pop culture and current events each week, his sharp wit and comedic timing have helped make The Soup (which triple-threat McHale writes, executive produces, and stars in) one of the network's biggest hits, regularly skewering the most surreal, hilarious moments in "reality" and celebrity TV.

In addition to his stint hosting 2011's Independent Spirit Awards telecast, McHale's other TV credits include appearances on Will & Grace, Pushing Daisies, CSI: Miami, The IT Crowd, and Robot Chicken, as well as roles in feature films including The Informant!, Spider-Man 2, Lords of Dogtown, Open Season 2, Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D, and recent big-screen comedies What's Your Number? and The Big Year.

McHale recently finished work on Ted, Seth McFarlane's live-action tale of a boy and his teddy bear, co-starring opposite Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, and McFarlane. In the live comedy arena, McHale continues to perform his stand-up act to sold-out audiences around the country.

Additional presenters and talent will be announced closer to show date.

The WGAW's 2012 WGA L.A. awards show is executive produced by Spike Jones, Jr., along with a creative time that includes talent producer Carole Propp and head writer Guy Nicolucci.

The 2012 Writers Guild Awards will be held on Sunday, February 19, 2012, simultaneously at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles and in New York City (venue TBA). For more information about the 2012 Writers Guild Awards submission process, guidelines, and official entry forms, please visit: www.wga.org or www.wgaeast.org.

The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) is a labor union representing writers of motion pictures, television, radio and Internet programming, including news and documentaries. Founded in 1933, the Guild negotiates and administers contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of its members. It is involved in a wide range of programs that advance the interests of writers, and is active in public policy and legislative matters on the local, national and international levels. For more information on the WGAW, please visit: www.wga.org.

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