‘Still The King’ Billy Ray Cyrus Comedy Series Renewed For Season 2 By CMT
Ahead of the Season 1 finale August 14, CMT has ordered a 13-episode second season of its first original scripted series, comedy Still The King starring Billy Ray Cyrus. Season 2 will begin production this fall in Nashville for premiere next year.
Still The King has been a breakout for CMT. The June 8 premiere marked the network’s highest-rated original series premiere to date drawing more than 4.7 million total viewers in Live+3, with a 1.03 rating in adults 18-49 across a three-network simulcast on CMT, TV Land, and Nick@Nite, according to CMT and Nielsen.
“The success of Still The King is a wonderful start for our move into scripted programming,” said Jayson Dinsmore, EVP of development for CMT. “Both charming and irreverent, this series is like nothing else on television and we can’t wait to continue the journey.”
Following Still The King are the upcoming debuts of CMT’s first original drama series, Million Dollar Quartet, and high-profile acquisition Nashville.
Still The King stars Cyrus as Vernon Brown, aka “Burnin’ Vernon,” a scandal-ridden washed-up one-hit wonder who is kicked out of country music, only to emerge 20 years later as the second best Elvis impersonator. After crashing into an old country church outside of Nashville during a drunken bender, he is sentenced to return and perform community service. Instead, he pretends to be the congregation’s new minister and re-connects with a former one-night-stand (Joey Lauren Adams), only to discover he has a 15-year-old daughter he’s never met (Madison Iseman).
“Working on the series has been a career highlight,” said Cyrus. “Thanks to the fans for embracing these crazy characters and all of their beautiful flaws. We’re going to take this mess to a whole new level next season.”
Still The King is produced by Hideout Pictures with Cyrus serving as executive producer and writer. Shannon Houchins, Potsy Ponciroli and Travis Nicholson also executive produce.
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