Satirical newspaper The Onion is continuing to expand
its television presence, with Comedy Central ordering a new series, The
Onion Sports Network (working title). Comedy has given a 10 episode order
to the series, based on the web shorts of the same name, and will debut it in
Q1 2011.
"The Onion has such credibility in the comedy
world, we feel fortunate to partner with them," said Comedy Central
programming chief Kent Alterman. "They will skewer the sports world,
and the media coverage of sports, with the same sharpness we've seen applied to
the world of politics and popular culture."
According to a network description, the new series will "take
on the whole universe of modern sports - teams, players, leagues, sycophantic
fans, ridiculous products and over-hyped coverage - with an eye towards
appealing to sports fanatics and more casual fans, as well as long-time
followers of The Onion and The Onion News Network."
The Onion News Network will also be going to
television in early 2011, with its own half hour fake news show on Rainbow
Media's IFC.
