THIS SERIES WAS NOT TESTED ON ANIMALS

Brand New Series Testees Premieres October 14
Kicks off Launch of Gemini Award Nominated Slate of Canadian Originals

Toronto – October 2 – When the lab rats draw the line, it’s time to call in the human guinea pigs. From the twisted mind of creator Kenny Hotz (Kenny Vs. Spenny), comes Testees, a brand new 13 episode original series from Showcase in partnership with U.S. cable network FX. Premiering Tuesday at 9pm ET/PT beginning October 14 on Showcase, Testees follows the trials and tribulations of two friends who, in an effort to earn some extra cash, work as lab rats subjected to everything from unknown drugs to psychological tests to a vacuum cleaner with artificial intelligence.

Testees stars Canadian newcomers Steve Markle as “Peter” and Jeff Kassel as “Ron,” two best friends and roommates in their early 30s who work as test subjects for “TESTICO” – a less-than-normal product testing facility. In each episode, Peter and Ron are given a new product, experimental medication or treatment, resulting in side effects that are usually ridiculous and almost always negative.

“When Kenny Hotz approached us with this wild concept we immediately thought it belonged on Showcase. Showcase viewers love the way Kenny’s brain works and his unique style of comedy; we can’t wait for Canadian audiences to get hooked on this incredibly quirky and off beat comedy,” says Christine Shipton, SVP Drama and Factual Content, Canwest Broadcasting. “Testees is the cherry on top of our strong contingent of Gemini Award nominated original Canadian comedies.”

“I have a feeling we’re going to make a bunch of Dorito munchin’ stoners very happy,” says Testees creator, EP, and co-writer Kenny Hotz. “I never thought they’d actually air this. Somebody’s going to get fired,” adds EP and co-writer Derek Harvie.

Hotz is executive producing, along with John Morayniss and Michael Rosenberg of Blueprint Entertainment. Blueprint Entertainment is producing in association with Canwest and FX.

In addition to the launch of Testees, Showcase is ecstatic to present the return of its Gemini Award nominated Canadian comedies. Canadian viewers can catch new seasons of their favourites Billable Hours, Rent-A-Goalie and Kenny Vs. Spenny.

Rounding out the returning original programs to Showcase are:

• Billable Hours, Season Three, Wednesdays at 9pm ET/PT beginning October 15
Gemini Nominated Best Comedy Series
Season three finds Sam Caponelli, Robin Howland and Clark Claxton III, three over-paid, under-stimulated and exceptionally bored lawyers, up to their old tricks – trading assistants for muffins, participating in the adult film world and running for city councilor.

• Kenny Vs. Spenny, Season Five, Mondays at 9pm ET/PT beginning October 20
Gemini Nominated Best Comedy Series
Viewer favourite Kenny vs. Spenny returns with all new episodes in which television’s craziest and most dysfunctional roommates battle each other in outrageous competitions in their never-ending quest for juvenile supremacy.

• Rent-A-Goalie, Season Three, Mondays at 9:30pm ET/PT beginning October 20
Gemini Nominated Best Comedy Series
Cake, the hockey-crazed, recovered-from-everything go-to guy we’ve grown to love, deals with his rebellious teenage daughter after learning he was a father at the end of last season. Guest stars include: hockey legends Paul Coffey, Bob Probert, Phil Esposito, Hayley Wickenheiser, Mike Palmateer and Darryl Sittler as well as Shawn Doyle (Big Love), George Stroumboulopoulos of The Hour and the return of Gemini Award winning actor Sonja Smits.

Episodes of all Canadian originals are also available on showcase.ca

About Canwest Broadcasting:
Canwest Broadcasting operates two conventional television networks, Global Television and E!, and twenty of the country’s most popular specialty channels, including HGTV, Mystery TV, National Geographic Channel, Showcase, Slice™ and TVtropolis. Canwest Broadcasting is a division of Canwest Media Inc.

About Canwest Media Inc.
Canwest Media Inc is a subsidiary of Canwest Global Communications Corp. (www.canwest.com; TSX: CGS and CGS.A). An international media company, Canwest is Canada’s largest publisher of paid English language daily newspapers and owns, operates and/or holds substantial interests in conventional television, out-of-home advertising, specialty cable channels, web sites and radio stations in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Turkey, Indonesia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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Michelle Lemmon
Publicity Coordinator
Dramatic Channels
(416) 934-6933
mlemmon@canwest.com

Jessica Gold
Publicist
Dramatic Channels
(416) 967-3110
jgold@canwest.com

Amy Waters
Senior Publicist
Dramatic Channels
(416) 934-7079
awaters@canwest.com