TV Land and MBC Join to Celebrate Comedy

TV Land will step into the Comedy spotlight at the new $22-million Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC), now being developed in Chicago. The 10-year partnership includes an undisclosed monetary donation as well as a major promotional commitment from the network that underscores TV Land's commitment to the preservation of television and radio comedy.

The donation to the non-profit radio and television museum will support the development of a highly interactive comedy exhibit, detailing the history of comedy on both radio and television. It will include a wide variety of classic and contemporary highlight clips from the genre's most memorable shows. The exhibit will also include original TV Land content that celebrates the pioneers of TV comedy as well as touch-screen kiosks that test a visitor's TV knowledge.

The 70,000-square-foot facility, scheduled to open in downtown Chicago in July of 2006, will feature nine genre focused exhibits on the evolution of American radio and television. In addition to Comedy, exhibits are being planned about Drama, Music, News, Talk, Sports, Game shows, Children's shows and Commercials. Other exhibits will introduce visitors to the pioneers who created the radio and television industry, the business side and promotional side of broadcasting and an exhibit introducing guests to a wide variety of career opportunities in the industry. A working radio and television studio will offer visitors with a take-away hands-on experience on the air.

TV Land and the MBC will also create a series of public programs featuring comedy pioneers. Comedy artifacts in the exhibit will include original Edgar Bergen puppets Charlie McCarthy, Mortimer Snerd and Effie Klinker, a replica of Fibber McGee's famous closet and scripts from the long running radio classic, an I Dream of Jeannie bottle and the original Ernie Kovacs' Nairobi Trio masks. Cincinnati's Jack Rouse
Associates, one of America's leading museum design firms, is creating the museum experience along with Steve Ryan of ShoConcepts of Hollywood, California.

For more information or to view the sketch of the TV Land Comedy exhibit at the new MBC, please visit www.Museum.TV.