Katy Murphy Davis and Matt Strauss have been named executive producers and showrunners of Debmar-Mercury’s Nick Cannon, which is slated to debut in national syndication this fall, the Lionsgate-owned company said Thursday. The eponymous show stars Cannon, who also hosts Fox's The Masked Singer and is behind MTV's improv comedy series, Wild N Out, which has spawned a chain of restaurants and a live touring show.
“Nick is such a unique and gifted artist, and Katy and Matt together bring a very broad set of skills to this show that perfectly match Nick’s many interests and talents,” Alexandra Jewett, executive VP of programming for Debmar-Mercury, said in a statement. “Both of them are extraordinarily creative showrunners with unmatched connections in the celebrity, music, comedy and pop culture worlds. Combined with their impressive backgrounds and producing skills, we know Nick will be in very good hands.”
Nick Cannon, which is cleared on television stations covering more than 95% of the country, was scheduled to premiere Sept. 21 but that date has been pushed back to Oct. 5 due to complications as a result of the pandemic and Cannon’s bi-coastal commitments. Nick Cannon will be produced at the 106th and Park studio in Harlem.
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Murphy Davis was senior supervising producer during much of her nearly 20 years at Oprah. She also executive produced Winfrey’s ABC primetime special, Building A Dream: The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. She also launched and served on the board of Oprah’s Angel Network (OAN), a public charity that raised and distributed more than $80 million over its 12 years.
Most recently, she was co-executive producer of Facebook Watch’s Red Table Talk, which is hosted by Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith and Adrienne Banfield-Norris.
Strauss joins Nick Cannon from Endeavor Content, where he launched and developed multiple projects. Previously, he launched and executive produced CBS Television Distribution’s Daily Mail TV, and the successful summer test of Endemol Shine’s Page Six TV.
Earlier, Strauss co-executive produced and launched The Meredith Vieira Show for NBC Universal Television Distribution, Katie for Disney-ABC Domestic Television and launched The Dr. Oz Show as a supervising producer for Sony Pictures Television and Harpo Productions. He also played an instrumental role on the launch team of ABC’s The View, eventually serving as coordinating producer.
Cannon and Michael Goldman also serve as executive producers of Nick Cannon, which has been cleared on station groups including Fox, CBS, Sinclair, Hearst, Nexstar, Mission, Cox, Sunbeam, Capitol, Meredith, Tegna, Lockwood and CW Plus.
