MIKE ROWE BRINGS ORIGINAL SERIES TO CNN

Series To Launch this Fall

For more than a decade, Mike Rowe has been nationally known as the “dirtiest man on TV,” as host and the executive producer of the Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs (2005-2012). He traveled to all 50 states and completed 300 different jobs, transforming cable television into a landscape of swamps, sewers, ice roads, coal mines, and oil derricks. He initiated a hands–on way to pay tribute to a nation of unsung heroes, conclusively demonstrating that fun and hard work are two sides of the same coin and confirmed the value of delayed gratification, sacrifice, hard work, good humor and optimism. He is now on a brand new mission and he will bringthat mission to CNN beginning this fall.

“For more than ten years, Mike has been one of the nation’s most unique storytellers, celebrating the values of work in America. Examining issues through the prism of Mike’s experiences and passions is the perfect fit for our CNN audience. We are thrilled to have him here,” said Amy Entelis, senior vice president of talent and content development for CNN Worldwide.

Rowe’s new series Somebody’s Gotta Do It, brings viewers face-to-face with men and women who march to the beat of a different drum. In each episode, Rowe visits unique individuals and joins them in their respective undertakings, paying tribute to innovators, do-gooders, entrepreneurs, collectors, fanatics—people who simply have to do it. This show is about passion, purpose, and occasionally, hobbies that get a little out of hand.

“Of all the networks I spoke with, no one talked about a commitment to unscripted content and point-of-view programming with more passion than CNN. This is where Somebody’s Gotta Do It belongs,” said Rowe.

In 2008 Rowe launched mikeroweWORKS, a campaign designed to reinvigorate the skilled trades. He’s since written extensively about the country’s relationship with work, the widening skills gap, offshore manufacturing, infrastructure decline, and currency devaluation. He gave a TED Talk on the Changing Face of the Modern-Day Proletariat, and in May 2011, he testified before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee about the importance of changing perceptions and stereotypes around blue-collar work.

Today, Rowe runs the mikeroweWORKS Foundation which awards scholarships to students pursuing a career in the skilled trades. He is closely associated with the Future Farmers of America, Skills USA, and the Boy Scouts of America, who recently honored him as a Distinguished Eagle Scout. Forbes has identified him as one of the country’s 10 Most Trustworthy Celebrities.

The CNN Original Series Somebody’s Gotta Do It will be produced by Craig Piligian’s Pilgrim Studios.

About Pilgrim Studios:

Craig Piligian’s Pilgrim Studios produces a wide variety of unscripted and scripted programming for television, including the series Fast N’ Loud and Street Outlaws for Discovery; Ghost Hunters for Syfy; The Ultimate Fighter for FOX Sports 1; Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy and Down East Dickering for History; Orange County Choppers and Swamp Pawn for CMT; Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s and Raising Whitley for OWN, as well as OWN’s much buzzed about Lindsay Lohan docuseries, Lindsay; David Tutera: Unveiled for WEtv; Wicked Tuna and its recently announced spin-off, Wicked Tuna: North vs. South, both for National Geographic Channel; and Bring It! for Lifetime. The company also produced the two-hour movie Megaladon: The Monster Shark Lives for Discovery’s Shark Week, which became the highest-rated and most-watched telecast in Shark Week’s 26-year history, delivering 4.8 million viewers and a 2.6 A25-54. In the scripted realm, Pilgrim’s original movies for Lifetime include Amanda Knox: Murder On Trial In Italy; Abducted: The Carlina White Story, which earned a 2012 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing In A Motion Picture; and the crime thriller Stalkers. Pilgrim’s current scripted projects include the pilot Recovery Road for ABC Family, and a mini-series for Spike about the 2012 terrorist attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

About CNN Originals Series and CNN Worldwide:

CNN develops, commissions and acquires original content for television through strategic partnerships with production companies. Amy Entelis, senior vice president of talent and content development, oversees the content acquisition strategy, and Vinnie Malhotra, senior vice of development and acquisitions, works directly with producers and filmmakers to develop original projects.

CNN Worldwide is a portfolio of two dozen news and information services across cable, satellite, radio, wireless devices and the Internet in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Domestically, CNN reaches more individuals on television, the web and mobile devices than any other cable TV news organization in the United States; internationally, CNN is the most widely distributed news channel reaching more than 271 million households abroad; and CNN Digital is a top network for online news, mobile news and social media. Additionally, CNN Newsource is the world’s most extensively utilized news service partnering with hundreds of local and international news organizations around the world. CNN is division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company.

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Press Contact: Barbara Levin, CNN Communications, Barbara.levin@turner.com