MTV announced that it gave the go-ahead to four new series to debut during the summer and fall and pulled the curtain on some of the series in development by the network.
Headlining the lineup is an untitled Apprentice-esque competition series from rapper and entrepreneur 50 Cent. The series will pit 16 ambitious hopefuls against one another to see who has what it takes to make it in the business world. The winner of the series will get a full scholarship to either an undergraduate- or graduate-degree business program, depending on their academic accomplishments.
Also getting a pickup was Making the Rock Band, a spinoff of the network’s popular Making the Band series, which will see rapper/producer Diddy enter the rock arena as he tries to create the next great rock band.
Buzzin will follow musical artist Shwayze, producer and friend Cisco Adler and manager Warren as they try to make it to the top of the best-seller lists.
And Busted will look at kids and teen-agers who broke the law and the consequences they face after being busted. The series will give perspectives from the kids, as well as the cops that busted them.
MTV also announced three series in development by the network:
• Baby Dolls, a half-hour scripted-comedy series by That 70s Show’s Wilmer Valderrama, uses a faux-documentary style top examine celebrity worship through the eyes of a jaded personal assistant to a young actress.
• 16 and Pregnant, a sort of real-life Juno, follows teen-agers who are expecting.
• Hollarado is a reality show following skateboarder William Spencer.
"I am extremely excited about this development slate," senior vice president of series development Liz Gateley said in announcing the pickups. "MTV serves a tremendously diverse audience with varying tastes, and this slate reflects our continual effort to develop a wide range of projects, from star-driven reality and scripted projects like 50 Cent and Baby Dolls, to projects like Busted that reflect the everyday lives of our audience, to the MTV brand-builders like Buzzin and Hollarado with strong comedic male characters as the stars."
