'Fear' host is the 'Man' for Central
Peacock could let Rogan join cabler as promo boost
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Under the pact, Comedy Central will air a flurry of promos for "Fear Factor" that would be the equivalent of a $1 million ad buy. Rogan would also likely make frequent reference to "Fear Factor" while hosting "The Man Show."
In exchange, NBC and "Fear Factor" producer Endemol would allow Rogan -- who's under exclusive contract to host the grossout reality skein -- the opportunity to join "The Man Show" in second position.
Peacock execs would not confirm the deal, but insiders said the net sees it as an opportunity to promote "Fear Factor" in what's become an overly crowded reality marketplace.
Move comes as Comedy Central and Stone Stanley Entertainment, which produces "The Man Show," opted to keep the beers-and-babes skein running even after the departure of original hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Corolla and exec producer Daniel Kellison.
Kimmel, Corolla and Kellison will keep a "created by" credit with the show but are no longer involved, having shifted their focus to the latenight ABC talker "Jimmy Kimmel Live."
According to insiders, the trio weren't anxious to see the show continue without them but had earlier given up their ownership stake in the show in exchange for creative control.
"The three of them felt they had taken the concept as far as they could," said Stone Stanley partner Scott Stone. "We and Comedy Central felt they created a brilliant format that has depth and staying power. We think it's incredible that we have a terrific primetime network talent that wants to take the show to the next step."
"The Man Show," which airs Sunday at 10 p.m., remains Comedy Central's third-highest rated series (behind "South Park" and "Crank Yankers"), so the cabler was not anxious to see the franchise die. With Rogan in place, the channel has ordered 22 more episodes.
According to Stone and partner David Stanley, the show will retain most of its current form, including the scantily clad female "Juggy" dancers and the end segment featuring women jumping on trampolines. The show's theme -- an unapologetic look at men and what they do -- will remain.
Comedy Central still has 11 episodes left of the original Kimmel/Corolla "Man Show," which will run starting Feb. 23. All told, 96 episodes of the original "Man Show" were produced.
Production will begin on the new "Man Show" in March, with the first of those episodes likely to premiere in late summer.
Stone Stanley is still scouting for a new showrunner for "The Man Show" and is in talks with standup comedian Doug Stanhope to co-host the show with Rogan. Along with Stone and Stanley, Rogan's manager Jeff Sussman will also exec produce.
Rogan is also repped by UTA.
(Josef Adalian contributed to this report.)
