Oxygen will launch a new night of original programming on
Sundays anchored by The Glee Project
starting on June 12.
The new competition series is part of Oxygen's plans to
increase its original programming slate by 26% in 2011, which the network will
announce to ad buyers at its upfront presentation in New York Monday night.
"Originals have been the growth engine for our brand and
business," said Jason Klarman, president of Oxygen Media, in a statement.
"Bringing Glee and its unscripted
spin-off The Glee Project to the
network is the icing on the cake to an incredible 2011/2012 line up of shows."
Glee creator Ryan
Murphy will appear in each of The Glee
Project's 10 episodes and Glee star Darren Criss, who plays Blaine on the
show, will be a guest mentor in the premiere episode.
In The Glee Project,
contestants will compete for a seven-episode guest-starring role on Glee. Oxygen acquired the exclusive
cable syndication rights to the Fox series, which will air on the channel
starting in 2013.
