SHOWTIME(R) OFFERS EARLY SAMPLING FOR THE PREMIERES OF NEW COMEDY "HAPPYish" AND PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER "PENNY DREADFUL" ACROSS MULTIPLE PLATFORMS NOW

HAPPYish Premieres Sunday, April 26th At 9:30 PM ET/PT And PENNY DREADFUL Debuts Sunday, May 3rd At 10 PM ET/PT

NEW YORK - April 20, 2015 - SHOWTIME is giving viewers an early opportunity to sample the series premiere of the new half-hour comedy HAPPYish and the second season premiere of the critically-acclaimed psychological thriller PENNY DREADFUL across multiple platforms before their debut on SHOWTIME. Viewers can sample the premiere of HAPPYish (http://s.sho.com/HAPPYish1), and the TV-14 rated version of PENNY DREADFUL (http://s.sho.com/PennyDreadful201) for free now on YouTube and on SHO.com. The premieres are also available via a number of television providers' free On Demand channels and websites, on SHOWTIME ON DEMAND(R) and various partner sites and applications. The episodes will also be available via SHOWTIME ANYTIME(R) on desktop, iPhone(R), iPad(R), Android(TM) phones and tablets, Kindle Fire(TM), Roku, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox 360(R), Xbox One and Apple TV streaming players anywhere in the U.S., as well as for download as a free video podcast on iTunes. PENNY DREADFUL will also be available on the SHOWTIME Preview app on Smart TVs from Samsung, LG and Panasonic. HAPPYish will premiere on Sunday, April 26th at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT and PENNY DREADFUL will premiere on Sunday, May 3rd at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

Starring Oscar(R) and Golden Globe(R) nominee Steve Coogan, Kathryn Hahn and Emmy(R) winner and Golden Globe nominee Bradley Whitford, HAPPYish is a comedic, soul-searching examination of our pursuit of happiness and why it continues to be so elusive. Currently in production in New York, HAPPYish also features guest stars Emmy and Tony(R) Award winner Ellen Barkin, Emmy Award winner Carrie Preston, Molly Price and Andre Royo. Coogan stars as Thom Payne, a 44 year-old man whose world is thrown into disarray when a pair of 25 year-old wunderkind bosses arrive, saying things like "digital," "social" and "viral." Is he in need of a "rebranding," or does he just have a "low joy ceiling?" Maybe pursuing happiness is a fool's errand? Maybe, after 44 years on this ludicrous planet, settling for happyish is the best one can expect. HAPPYish is created, written and executive produced by critically acclaimed author and regular This American Life contributor Shalom Auslander. Emmy Award nominee Ken Kwapis (He's Just Not That Into You, A Walk In The Woods) executive produces and directed the pilot. Kwapis' producing partner Alexandra Beattie serves as co-executive producer under their In Cahoots banner.

From three-time Oscar(R) nominee John Logan, PENNY DREADFUL returns with ten episodes and will find Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) and Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) forming a deeper bond as the group, including Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton), Dr. Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway), and Sembene (Danny Sapani), unite to banish the evil forces that threaten to destroy them. Meanwhile, Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney) and the Creature (Rory Kinnear) are all waging battles of their own. Two-time Tony Award winner Patti LuPone will guest star as a mysterious character of great importance in Vanessa's past. Helen McCrory returns as Evelyn Poole (a.k.a. Madame Kali), the seductive spiritualist who will pose a unique threat to our protagonists this season, along with Simon Russell Beale, who is back as eccentric Egyptologist Ferdinand Lyle. Additional guest stars include Douglas Hodge as a Scotland Yard investigator and Sarah Greene as Poole's powerful daughter, Hecate. PENNY DREADFUL is created, written and executive produced by John Logan (Hugo, The Aviator, Gladiator) and executive produced by Logan's Desert Wolf Productions, along with Oscar winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall) and Pippa Harris (Revolutionary Road, Call The Midwife), both of Neal Street Productions. A co-production with Sky Atlantic, PENNY DREADFUL was filmed on location in Dublin, Ireland.