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OXYGEN SUMMER �07 PROGRAMMING FILLED WITH SUREFIRE HITS AND OVER-THE-TOP WOMEN
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The Hit Reality Specials Mo�Nique�s F.A.T. Chance And Fight Girls Turn Into Series
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Network Also To Air Of The 50 Funniest Women Alive
Hosted by Kelly Ripa
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New York - January 23, 2007 � Oxygen�s tradition of over-the-top women continues as the network announces a summer programming slate filled with surefire hits. TV�s only plus-sized reality beauty competition Mo�Nique�s F.A.T. Chance and the hit reality special Fight Girls both return and will expand from two-hour specials to a series format. In addition, Oxygen will air 50 Funniest Women Alive, a countdown special hosted by actress Kelly Ripa (Live With Regis & Kelly, All My Children). The special will pay tribute to 50 of the greatest comedic female performers alive.
�We love that Mo�Nique�s F.A.T. Chance and Fight Girls speak to women who aren�t often catered to on television. Our audience has been so supportive of both shows, turning them into series was a no-brainer,� said Debby Beece, President of Programming and Marketing. �Humor is a huge part of our identity, so what better way to celebrate comedy than by honoring the 50 Funniest Women Alive.�
Oxygen will partner once more with actress-comedienne and plus-size icon Mo�Nique (Phat Girlz, The Parkers) for a third season of Mo�Nique�s F.A.T. Chance, television�s only full-figured reality beauty competition that follows 10 women as they vie for the title of Miss F.A.T. and a $50,000 cash
prize. The series will expand from a two-hour special to seven one-hour episodes with the 10 aspiring beauty queens competing for the crown in Paris, France.
As they live together in the �capital of thin,� they will face a new series of boot camp challenges and in the process challenge a world fashion capital to change its idea of beauty. Culminating in a beauty pageant fashion show, the Paris runways will usher in a new era of models. Mo�Nique serves as creator, executive producer and host of the series. Also executive producing is Don Weiner of Don Weiner Enterprises and Jeff Kopp serves as co-executive producer for the series.
Fight Girls, Oxygen�s first reality movie that follows female fighters as they train in the martial art of Muay Thai kickboxing, will become its first sports reality competition series premiering in June with eight one-hour episodes. This season�s competitors will train and live together in Las Vegas under the tutelage of former Muay Thai world champion and Thai kickboxing guru Master Toddy, and the winner will travel to Thailand to compete with the top female Muay Thai fighters in the world. Fight Girls is executive produced by Scott Messick and Tom Weber of Mess Media.
A tribute to some of the funniest living women in comedy by some of their funniest female peers, 50 Funniest Women Alive is a two-hour special hosted by actress Kelly Ripa. Through candid interviews from their peers and gut-busting video clips, the special offers a unique and humorous portrait of 50 of the most side-splitting sitcom stars, stand-ups, sketch comediennes, TV personalities and movie actresses. The series is executive produced by Chris Stout for City Lights Television.
About Oxygen Media
Oxygen, the only cable network owned and operated by women, is currently available in over 70 million homes. The network was launched in 2000 to fill a void in the television landscape -- creating a network targeted to younger women. Oxygen is rewriting the rulebook for women's television, with vast array of unconventional and original programming including The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency, The Bad Girls Club and Campus Ladies. Geraldine Laybourne, the network's founder, Chairman and CEO, has led the company to be a strong advocate for women. Through programs like The Mentor's Walk, Oxygen's national program for bringing along the next generation, and "Who Cares About Girls," Oxygen's new documentary series -- Oxygen is creating The New Girls Network.
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