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[via press release]

The N Greenlights Second Season of Hit Teen Drama ‘South of Nowhere’

The Nighttime Network for Teens Commences Production on 13 New Episodes From Creator Tom Lynch

Hit Series Nominated For GLAAD Media Award For Outstanding Drama Series

NEW YORK, Jan. 31 – The N, the nighttime network for teens, has ordered a second season of the original half-hour dramatic series, South of Nowhere, which debuted to widespread critical acclaim and viewer fascination this past November. Production of 13 new episodes will begin in late spring and the new season will premiere in October of 2006 on The N. The remainder of season one will continue to air on Friday nights at 8:30 p.m. (ET) through the finale on February 3.

“Our teen audience immediately recognized South of Nowhere as an authentic, contemporary series that speaks to the real issues they face in their lives today,” said Tom Ascheim, General Manager, The N. “Season two will continue to deliver on that promise.”

South of Nowhere, which is both set and shot in Los Angeles, is created and executive produced by producer Tom Lynch (himself a Los Angeles native), who continues to revolutionize TV programming for teens with such other recent contemporary fare as Caitlin’s Way, Romeo! and Scout’s Safari.

“I applaud The N for having the integrity to air this show,” said Lynch. “The N really embodies authentic TV for teens — their issues and their angst, their language, their humor. That’s certainly what South of Nowhere is about, and I think that’s why The N’s viewers embraced this show with such fervor.”

South of Nowhere, which was recently nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series, is a fictional story about a contemporary American family and their multi-faceted journey of self-discovery. The series chronicles the five members of the Carlin family as they try to define themselves and make sense of their lives while they undergo a huge transition — moving from a small town in Ohio to the big city of Los Angeles. In the first season, the Carlins find they are unprepared for the fast-paced, metropolitan environment and the overcrowded, “anything goes” L.A. public school the family’s three teenagers attend. The family is at the heart of the series and while their characters are unique, they reflect many American families today — bound by their evolving identity and their close relationships.

Season two will continue to delve into the family and teen issues explored in the first season: identity, self-discovery, sexual identity, racial identity, family, faith, parental expectations and peer pressure, among others. The new episodes will continue to tell complex stories about real issues in real people’s lives. Viewers will follow the Carlin family as they pick up the pieces of their lives and trying to keep their family together. Teens will see how identity can change within a family, and how the family dynamic must change to accommodate it.

Tom Lynch, founder and president of The Tom Lynch Company, began his career as a rock-n-roll producer on Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert and as creator-writer-producer of Night Tracks. With an extensive roster of television hits to his credit-including Caitlin’s Way, Just Deal, Skate, Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension, and the Emmy-nominated Scout’s Safari, which was set and filmed on location in South Africa-Lynch recently returned to musical roots with the hip-hop sitcom Romeo!, starring rap artist Master P and his real-life son, Romeo, and the Untitled Andre 3000 project, which debuts this fall.

Lynch and the company that bears his name continue to create groundbreaking, uniquely fresh, innovative shows that resonate with audiences around the world by “illuminating the magic of the human experience”- celebrating all the drama, the humor, the kookiness and reality of human beings’ lives.

The N, the nighttime network for teens, is a programming arm of MTV Networks and is currently available in 45 million households via cable, digital cable and satellite television. The N’s mission is to be the authentic voice for teens and help them figure out their lives with relevant, topical programming on-air and online at the network’s web site www.the-n.com. The N airs everyday from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. (ET). The N and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.