Spike TV Satisfies the Unconventional Curiosity of Men in a New One-Hour Block With The Return of '1000 Ways To Die' and 'MANswers'

Nov 09, 2009
By ViacomCBS Staff

12 Episodes of "1000 Ways To Die" And 10 Episodes Of "MANswers" Premiere Back-To-Back With A Special Sneak Peek On Saturday, December 5

Can one be cooked to death in a malfunctioning jacuzzi? Can you actually rip out an eye with your bare hands? Spike TV delves into the comical irony, the morbid, the sexy and the outrageous in a new one-hour block of returning, original hit series, "1000 Ways To Die" from renowned producer Thom Beers' Original Productions, a FremantleMedia company, and "MANswers" from Fujisankei and Super Delicious. The two series will premiere back-to-back with a special sneak peek right at 12:00am midnight on Saturday, December 5 after the live "The Ultimate Fighter 10" finale. The original series block will then move to regularly scheduled time slots on Wednesday, December 9 at 10:00pm ET/PT and 10:30pm ET/PT on Spike TV.

"1000 Ways to Die" showcases some of the most outrageous true stories about those who succumbed to the grim reaper in the most unorthodox of styles. Each case takes viewers through a fast-paced full reenactment interlaced with dramatic witness testimonials, fun historical tidbits, scientific expert explanations and vibrant CGI effects reminiscent of classic comic books. Playing off the commonly misconceived notion, "that could never happen to me," "1000 Ways to Die" works to dispel the myth in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, highlighting the comedic irony in all the crazy ways people can get themselves killed.

The second season of "1000 Ways to Die" will feature more of the bizarre ways these unfortunates have met their maker, including suffocating in a Murphy bed, exploding breast implants and choking to death on edible panties.

"MANswers" is trivia for men delivering real answers that guys need to know. In each episode, "MANswers" features re-enactments, expert one-on-ones and man-on-the-street interviews to educate Spike viewers on the taboo topics in terms only guys can relate to. The barrage of guy-oriented trivia is presented in a fast-paced, irreverent manner and is fodder for settling barroom bets and water-cooler arguments.

The third season of "MANswers" will get to the bottom of all the taboo topics men really want to know about, including how to survive an elephant attack, whether drug sniffing dogs can get high and what the record number is for having sex in one day. Each episode will also include viewer-submitted MANswers and updates from previous MANswers in which new information has been unearthed.

In the build-up to season two of "1000 Ways to Die" and season three of "MANswers," Spike.com will be pulling the best clips from its extensive archives on a daily basis to prepare visitors for the madness to come. The site will also debut sneak peeks before and during the new season to whet the appetites of fans who have been clamoring for new content since the previous seasons wrapped up. Both series are bona fide digital hits on Spike.com. The series premiere of "1000 Ways to Die" drove traffic up 127% in weekly unique visitors and was the most-watched video content during its premiere month. New episodes of "MANswers" consistently ranked as the most viewed original show on Spike.com, drawing 1.5 million page views.

Acclaimed producer Thom Beers ("Deadliest Catch," "Ice Road Truckers" and "Ax Men"), Philip D. Segal and Tom McMahon of Original Productions serve as executive producers for "1000 Ways to Die." "MANswers" is executive produced by Fujisankei Communications International with Michael Schelp and Kunio Kiyohara serving as executive producers, in conjunction with Super Delicious LLC where Adam Cohen, Cara Tapper and Joanna Vernetti are the executive producers, along with Michael J. Miller, executive producer. Sharon Levy is Spike TV's senior vice president of original series, Tim Duffy is vice president of original programming for Spike TV and Joe Weinstock is director of original series for Spike TV.

Founded by Thom Beers in 1997, Original Productions produces authentic non-fiction programming featuring everyday heroes in extraordinary situations. Beers' steadfast focus on top-notch storytelling with engaging personalities in high risk circumstances has produced more than 1,000 hours of original programming since the company's inception. In 2009, a record 101 hours of new shows just for Discovery and History alone are currently in production. In February 2009, a majority stake in the company was purchased by FremantleMedia, one of the leading creators and producers of entertainment brands in the world. FremantleMedia is part of the RTL Group, Europe's largest television and radio broadcast company, which is in turn 90 percent owned by Bertelsmann AG, one of the world's major media and entertainment companies.

Spike TV is available in 98 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV's Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV's press site at http://www.spike.com/press

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