COMEDY CENTRAL is putting its Emmy-nominated Roast franchise at its fans’ fingertips. The network announced today that the premiere of the “COMEDY CENTRAL Roast of James Franco” will be expanded to multiple screens with a livestream and an exclusive red carpet pre-show across CC.com, mobile, tablets and on its CC:Stand-Up app on Xbox 360. COMEDY CENTRAL will also leverage its social platforms and encourage fans to share their favorite #FrancoRoast moments with the real-time release of video clips and animated GIFs on CC.com, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Vine and Tumblr. For the 11:30 p.m. encore presentation, fans will be treated to a social version of the special featuring real-time tweets and Facebook posts on-screen. The “COMEDY CENTRAL Roast of James Franco” premieres on Labor Day, Monday, September 2 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.
Since announcing Franco as its next Roastee, COMEDY CENTRAL has armed its fans with everything James Franco, producing sharable social content on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. Pre-broadcast content has included “Franco Facts,” custom images, exclusive videos and Vines created by super users taking over the COMEDY CENTRAL Vine account. CC.com also just launched “#FrancoRoast Fight,” an 8-bit video game that gives fans the chance to knock-out their favorite Franco character.
Kicking-off the multi-screen event will be the “#FrancoRoast Red Carpet Pre-Show,” hosted by Franco’s real-life grandmother, Mitzie Verne and comedian Jonah Ray. Mitzie brings the Franco family perspective to the carpet and spends time on her couch with celebrity attendees, while Jonah stumps talent with Roast trivia and makes them unwitting participants in short comedic bits. Produced by CC:Studios, COMEDY CENTRAL’s in-house digital studio, the 15-minute pre-show will stream exclusively on cc.com, mobile, tablets and the CC:Stand-Up app on Xbox 360 starting at 9:45 p.m.
For the encore presentation of the “COMEDY CENTRAL Roast of James Franco” airing at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT, fans will be treated to a social version of the special featuring real-time tweets and Facebook posts on-screen.
The “COMEDY CENTRAL Roast of James Franco” features Roast Master Seth Rogen along with Roasters Aziz Ansari, Bill Hader, Jonah Hill, Nick Kroll, Natasha Leggero, Jeff Ross, Andy Samberg and Sarah Silverman.
The “COMEDY CENTRAL Roast Of James Franco” will be executive produced by Joel Gallen from Tenth Planet Productions, who also served as Executive Producer and Director of the COMEDY CENTRAL Roasts Of Rosanne Barr, Charlie Sheen, and Donald Trump, as well as the Emmy®-nominated “COMEDY CENTRAL Roast Of William Shatner.” Jonas Larsen is the Executive in Charge for the network.
