EVIL REIGNS SUPREME ON COMEDY CENTRAL! NETWORK RENEWS "LEWIS BLACK'S ROOT OF ALL EVIL" FOR A SECOND SEASON

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New Season To Debut Wednesday, July 30 At 10:30 P.M. ET/PT

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First Season Averaging 1.9 Million Viewers Each Week And Holds Court As The #1 Show Among Men18-24 And Men 18-34 In All Of Television In Its Timeslot

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NEW YORK, May 21, 2008 -- The verdict is in! Lewis Black's time as judge has been extended. The ultimate decider on all things evil is just settling into his role as ruler as COMEDY CENTRAL orders a second season of the weekly series, "Lewis Black's Root of All Evil," it was announced today by Lauren Corrao, president original programming and development. The second season will premiere on Wednesday, July 30 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT.

"We are thrilled to renew 'Lewis Black's Root of All Evil' for a second season and have it return to our schedule so quickly with new episodes this summer," said Corrao. "The pop-culture series struck a chord with our audience from the first episode and we know that Lewis and his fellow comedians have many more evil topics to deliberate over."

"I am conflicted. I am thrilled it's been picked up but it means I have to go back to work," said Lewis Black.

Since its premiere on March 12, "Lewis Black's Root of All Evil" has proven to be an immediate success, reaching 1.9 million total viewers each week and averaging a 1.2 P18-49 rating. In addition, "Lewis Black's Root of All Evil" ranks as the #1 show among Men 18-24 and Men 18-34 in all of television in its timeslot. The season premiere on March 12 stands as the best COMEDY CENTRAL series launch since season one of "Chappelle's Show" in 2003.

"Lewis Black's Root of All Evil" pits either two people such as Paris Hilton and Dick Cheney or pop culture topics such as beer vs. weed against each other in an open debate setting. A rotating group of comedians take the stage and argue who or what is most evil with Black making the final decision.

The series is created and executive produced by Scott Carter ("Politically Incorrect," "Real Time with Bill Maher") and David Sacks ("The Simpsons," "Malcolm in the Middle") and features the following: a fiery monologue by Black introducing the topics; "Opening Statements" - the first opportunity comedians have to state their case; "Debate" - the comedians provide verbal and video evidence to bolster their case and try to debunk each other's theories; "Inquisition" - Black grills the comedians; "Ripple of Evil" - comedians predict the dire consequences that will ensue if their evil is left unchecked; "Closing Statements" - comedians hit their message home; "Final Verdict" - Black renders his decision.

Comedians who have served as advocates on the show this season included: Andrew Daly ("MADtv"), Greg Giraldo ("COMEDY CENTRAL Roasts") Andy Kindler ("Late Show with David Letterman"), Kathleen Madigan (judge on last season's "Last Comic Standing"), Patton Oswalt ("Ratatouille," "King of Queens") and Paul F. Tompkins ("Mr. Show with Bob and David").

Some of the evil topics debated included: Paris Hilton (Giraldo) vs. Dick Cheney (Oswalt); Beer (Daly) vs. Weed (Tompkins); YouTube (Oswalt) vs. Porn (Giraldo); Kim Jong Il (Madigan) vs. Tila Tequila (Giraldo); "American Idol" (Kindler) vs. High School (Oswalt); and Las Vegas (Daly) vs. The Human Body (Oswalt).Lewis Black, Scott Carter and David Sacks are the executive producers with Jo Anne Astrow and Mark Lonow as the co-executive producers. Zoe Friedman and Scott Landsman serve as the executives in charge of production for COMEDY CENTRAL.

COMEDY CENTRAL, the only all-comedy network, currently is seen in more than 95 million homes nationwide. COMEDY CENTRAL is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned division of VIACOM Inc.'s (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) MTV Networks. COMEDY CENTRAL's Internet address is www.comedycentral.com. For up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs visit Press Central, COMEDY CENTRAL's press web site at www.comedycentral.com/press.

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. MTV Networks, with more than 150 channels worldwide, owns and operates the following television programming services - MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, VH1, mtvU, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN/THE N, VH1 CLASSIC, MTVN INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 13 digital services, all of these networks trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks connects with its audiences through its robust consumer products businesses and its more than 300 interactive properties worldwide, including online, broadband, wireless and interactive television services and also has licensing agreements, joint ventures