Gravity, a new dark comedy from Starz premieres on Movie Central and The
Movie Network

    
     -  New ensemble dramedy premieres Monday, April 26 at 9:30 p.m. ET /
                                 8:30 p.m. PT
         -  Free online sampling opportunity begins Tuesday, April 27
    -  Starring Krysten Ritter, Ivan Sergei, Ving Rhames and Rachel Hunter
    

TORONTO, April 7 /CNW/ - Unlikely relationships are forged when a group of strangers enter a court ordered program for suicide survivors in the new offbeat Starz series, Gravity. Weaving together the sometimes comic and other times tragic stories that brought each character to the out-patient program, Gravity premieres Monday, April 26 at 9:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT on Corus Entertainment's Movie Central (Western Canada) and Astral Media's The Movie Network (Eastern Canada).

A 10-episode, half-hour series from Starz (Spartacus: Blood & Sand), Gravity follows the intertwined stories of a diverse cast of characters, including: Lily Champagne (Krysten Ritter), a twenty-something clinically depressed outcast; Lily's newest companion Robert Collingsworth (Ivan Sergei), a wealthy ophthalmologist despondent over his wife's recent death; Detective Miller (Eric Schaeffer), a New York City police officer who seems to be everywhere Lily is; Dogg McFee (Ving Rhames), the support group's leader and a former Major League Baseball player now confined to a wheelchair; Shawna Rollins (Rachel Hunter), a former spokesmodel and current life coach with a penchant for much younger men; Carla Glick (Robyn Cohen), a nearly picture-perfect housewife looking for inspiration; Adam Rosenblum (Seth Numrich), a 17-year-old lonely high-school senior and talented musician; and Jorge Sanchez (James Martinez), a Colombian construction worker with self-image issues.

    
    SAMPLING OPPORTUNITY
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Following its network premiere, non-subscribers will have an opportunity to see the entire first episode of Gravity online at www.moviecentral.ca and www.themovienetwork.ca. The episode will be available free online beginning Tuesday, April 27.

All episodes of Gravity will be simulcast on Movie Central and The Movie Network's High Definition channels and all subsequent episodes will also be available on demand and on The Movie Network OnLine following their network premiere.

Movie Central is a commercial-free premium pay TV service available in western Canada. Movie Central premieres the best in Hollywood, international and Canadian films across nine 24-hour movie channels, including dedicated high-definition feeds, a Movie Central On Demand service and exclusive HBO content on HBO Canada. Movie Central is also the first window for Showtime content and home to cutting-edge Canadian series. A major force in the Canadian independent film and television production industry, Movie Central, through The Corus Made with Pay Fund, supports many critically-acclaimed and award-winning Canadian series and films. Visit the Movie Central website at www.moviecentral.ca.

Movie Central is owned by Corus Entertainment Inc., a Canadian-based media and entertainment company. Corus is a market leader in specialty television and radio with additional assets in pay television, advertising services, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's animation. The company's multimedia entertainment brands include YTV, Treehouse, Nickelodeon (Canada), W Network, CosmoTV, VIVA, Sundance Channel (Canada), Movie Central, HBO Canada, Nelvana, Kids Can Press and radio stations including CKNW, CFOX, CKOI, 98,5 FM, Q107 and 102.1 the Edge. Corus creates engaging branded entertainment experiences for its audiences across multiple platforms. A publicly traded company, Corus is listed on the Toronto (CJR.B) and New York (CJR) exchanges. Experience Corus on the web at www.corusent.com.

The Movie Network is a pay television service available in eastern Canada. With premiere access to Hollywood hit movies, new and exclusive HBO content, critically-acclaimed Showtime series and first-rate Canadian programming, this pay-television service presents Canadians with some of the best television entertainment available. The Movie Network service includes five 24-hour multiplex channels - M, HBO Canada, MExcess, MFun! and MFest - which deliver diverse and entertaining programs in an uncut and commercial-free television environment. The Movie Network also offers The Movie Network HD, HBO Canada HD, MExcess HD and MFun! HD, four dedicated high-definition channels providing hundreds of titles in HD; The Movie Network OnDemand, a Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) service, available in select areas across eastern Canada; and, TMN OnLine an Internet-based content streaming service available to BellTV subscribers. For more information, please visit www.themovienetwork.ca.

The Movie Network is an Astral Media Television Network. Astral Media is a leading Canadian media company, active in specialty and pay television, radio, outdoor advertising and iMedia. Astral Media's solid and dynamic presence in the country's major markets rests on its commitment to offer a unique combination of high-quality, targeted media for all its audiences.

For access to The Movie Network's media room or Movie Central's press site, please visit http://tv.astral.com or http://pressroom.corusent.com.

For further information: Media contacts: The Movie Network (eastern Canada), Nicolle Balen, [phone], [email protected]; Movie Central (western Canada), Owen McCorquodale, [phone], [email protected]