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NEW YORK – January 9, 2014 – Oxygen Media takes viewers inside the mind and heart of TV personality Maria Menounos as she strives to have it all in the new half-hour docu-series “Chasing Maria Menounos” premiering on Tuesday, March 18 at 10:00 PM ET/PT. Maria shares her personal life for the first time as she challenges expectations and makes untraditional choices while surrounded by tradition.
“‘Chasing Maria Menounos’ is an emotional, comedic journey that will introduce Oxygen viewers to a modern young woman who is at a crossroad in her life and trying to decide what’s next,” said Rod Aissa, Senior Vice President, Original Programming and Development, Oxygen Media. “Maria is ambitious, unconventional and incredibly funny, you just can’t help but fall in love with her.”
Maria may be best known as the upbeat host of “Extra,” traveling the world interviewing celebrities and guest starring on television. But if you dig a little deeper you’ll find that Maria is a fearless, confident modern woman who is living her life as she designed it, confronting the obstacles head-on that surround her eclectic career and home life. Maria came from very humble beginnings but never stopped chasing her dreams. Now she lives with her boyfriend of 15 years, Keven, and traditional Greek immigrant parents, Costas and Litsa, who are demanding she at last get married and have children. Though she respects her devoted family and boyfriend’s opinions, she tends to make decisions with or without their approval. As Maria turns 35, she contemplates whether she can support her parents and the friends who depend on her, while building a family with Keven and having some fun along the way.
On the season premiere, no one celebrates their birthday as hard as Maria when she goes all out with a luau-themed party that includes a star-studded roster of friends such as “Dancing With the Stars” dancer Derek Hough, blogger and television personality Perez Hilton, and Khloe Kardashian from “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.” This year Maria’s birthday takes on a big significance; what starts out as a party becomes about facing down the realities of getting older and leads Maria to rethink the way she wants to live her life. Luckily for her, she can do it with comedic flair.
“Chasing Maria Menounos” is produced by Left/Right with Ken Druckerman, Banks Tarver, and Angie Day serving as Executive Producers along with Maria Menounos and Keven Undergaro.
About Oxygen Media
Oxygen Media is a multiplatform entertainment brand that delivers relevant and engaging content to young women who like to “live out loud.” The growing cable network is the premier destination for unique and original unscripted programming including “The Face,” “Best Ink,” “Preachers of L.A.,” “I’m Having Their Baby” and “Bad Girls Club.” Oxygen is a social media trendsetter and leader in engaging modern young women—anywhere, anytime and on any device. Available in 80 million homes, Oxygen Media is a program service of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. For more information visit www.oxygen.com and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/OxygenPR.
About Left/Right Productions
LEFT/RIGHT is an award-winning television and film production company. Our goal is to create television and film projects that illuminate the drama and comedy of real life: we tell stories that are both honest and surprising, revealing and entertaining, dramatic and cinematic. We do so by blending the conventions of documentary filmmaking with the look and feel of scripted television. Our talents and tastes are as diverse as our production slate: past and present projects range from This American Life (Showtime), the Emmy Award-winning television adaptation of the popular public radio show…to Mob Wives (VH1), the breakout hit series about a group of women who are married to the mob…to Small Town Security (AMC), the surreal and stranger-than-fiction comedy series about a private security business like no other…to Hawaii Life, the highly-rated and highly-addictive real estate series for HGTV. In addition to unscripted and reality television series, the company’s documentary unit produces feature documentaries and specials for networks such as PBS, History, Discovery, and many others. Left/Right series have been nominated for 14 Emmy Awards and have won multiple awards, including the Emmy for Best Nonfiction Series. Our clients include leading television networks, including AMC, A&E, Animal Planet, Bio, Bravo, Discovery, HGTV, History, Lifetime, National Geographic, Oxygen, PBS, Showtime, Spike, Style, VH1, and many others. Ken Druckerman and Banks Tarver are the co-founders and co-presidents of LEFT/RIGHT, which is a part of the Red Arrow Entertainment Group, an international production and distribution company. For more information, please visit www.leftright.tv.