Debmar-Mercury Bags U.S. Syndication Rights to Celeb-Based Reality

LOS ANGELES, August 9: The
Lionsgate subsidiary Debmar-Mercury has acquired the U.S. cable and network
television syndication rights for a slate of celebrity-based reality shows from
51 Minds Entertainment, including The Surreal Life and Flavor of Love.

The package of series also
includes The Surreal Life: Fame Games, Strange Love and My
Fair Brady. All aired on VH1. The
175 half-hour episodes of the five shows will be available in fall 2007, with
full seasons of each series to air sequentially under the "Surreal
Life" umbrella in the same time slot.

Debmar-Mercury
co-president Ira Bernstein commented, "The celebrity-driven reality TV
genre has exploded in popularity in the past few years, but the genre is not
currently represented in syndication. This acquisition will fill that void and
bring these hilarious shows to a wider audience."

Debmar-Mercury has been
rolling out South Park, titles
from Revolution Studios, and Tyler Perry's first-run syndicated sitcom, House
of Payne, which debuted in select
markets in this summer. The company also licenses Farscape, The Dead Zone, and National Geographic's Really Wild Animals.