We want to thank all the nice folks who have written in to say how much they enjoyed season 1 on mtv. It was a huge thrill for us and we’ll continue to look for opportunities to report the news as we see it. This website will continue to post clips and news from the gang. We got a lot of requests to make more of the HYN T-shirts like the ones worn on the mtv series (pictured above on Jeremy and Lucas), so we did that. If you’re interested, please buy some here! Doing so will help support this website and our future endeavors.
The HYN production crew rocks the T’s while singing back-up for Sue Harrington at SXSW in Austin:
Yes, we’re sorry to report that there will not be a season two of of How’s Your News? on MTV. Everyone agreed that first season was a success and a huge accomplishment, but after a lot of deliberation it was decided that doing a second season on their network wouldn’t make sense. The decision had little to do with the quality of the series, which was one of the most enthusiastically received and best reviewed programs on mtv this year. It’s just a tough financial time and mtv needed to keep pushing for higher ratings with other shows. Also, we always knew that our series was an unusual fit for their style of programming. We’re not “The Hills” or “America’s Next Best Dance Crew” after all…
Everyone at HYN is really proud of making this show happen and the new ground we broke. Each episode averaged about 700,000 viewers, which is pretty amazing. The series is running on mtv Canada right now and will soon be airing worldwide on international tv as well, an opportunity most shows don’t get. We feel it is incredibly important and meaningful that our program played so prominently on a mainstream network and was received with such respect. We’ve received hundreds of emails and letters from young people with renewed attitudes, families expressing gratitude, people with disabilities feeling inspired, etc. We feel like the show really did make a difference. Take a look at our facebook page sometime to see a sample of some of the great feedback, and feel free to leave some of your own!
So, what is next for HYN? We’re not sure, but hey, it isn’t over. We’ve gotten a lot of interesting offers for future projects, screenings, etc. and we’ll just have to see which ones make the most sense now. We’ll keep posting new videos right here on this site and providing news updates regularly. We’ve got lots more to say, so please, stay tuned. Like Jeremy said at the end of this season, “It’s not the end guys, it’s only the begining…”
We are happy to report that How’s Your News is going to be broadcast around the world! The international rights were sold recently - read about it here. Back in 2002 we took the team to Amsterdam for a film festival and ever since then we’ve wanted to go overseas and do some filming. Maybe this can help it happen?
First off, thanks for watching Season 1 of How’s Your News on MTV, if you did. We had so much fun making it and it’s been a blast seeing the shows broadcast across the airwaves to so many people. You can still watch the shows for free at mtv.com or download them on Itunes (first EP is free there!). We’ll let you know what the future brings for the adventurous HYN team (you can leave a comment for mtv here, if you’d like to tell them you want to see more). For now, keep checking back with this site as we have lots more unseen videos to post and here’s a bit of new news:
HYN will be airing up north is the country known as Canada! Yes, it’s playing Saturday nights on MTV2 Canada at 8:30pm. If you live there, please tune in! And tell your Canadian friends to watch out for it also!
Sue dunking her head in the ice bucket after the famous hot day show at last year’s SXSW music festival:
And get ready for the big SEASON FINALE of How’s Your News on Sunday March 15th at 10:30est on MTV. Bam Margera, Kathy Griffin, Bill Hader and Amy Sedaris all join us in NYC for a rocking good time. Here’s a little clip:
We hope you are planning to watch episode 5 Sunday night on mtv (10:30 EST). It starts out at the crazy Kentucky Derby where Sue rates people’s hats and then the team travels to the nation’s capitol, Whasington DC to learn about how to join the FBI, and then everyone goes to the prom at Jeremy’s old high school, Quince Orchard in Gaithersburg Maryland. How can you go wrong?
There are only two more episodes in this season on HYN. We still don’t know if there will be another season, but like we said before, if it’s something you feel strongly about, go ahead and let mtv know. They actually do pay attention to that stuff!
It was a lot of fun to watch the New Orleans episode on MTV last night. We hope you got a chance to see it and if so you enjoyed it as well. We had a blast down there in the Big Easy. If you missed it, don’t fret! You can watch the whole episode for free right here!
A lot of folks have asked about that segment we taped at the Angola Prison Rodeo. It’s a real event that takes place throughout the year. We recommend you check it out for yourself sometime. But for those of you who don’t like maximum security prisons, here’s the clip so you can watch in the safety of your own home:
Thank you very much to those of you who went over to mtv.com and registered to make comments about How’s Your News? It really helps and it seems the word is getting out. Everyone thought the ratings for our broadcast last week would go down since it was playing at the same time as the Oscars, but our ratings actually went up! In fact, more people tuned into How’s Your News? last Sunday than watched the Oscars! Just kidding. But it’s true about the ratings actually going up, though it was just by a little bit. Hey, who knows, maybe we’ll get to see another season of HYN after all? Thanks for watching and please tell your friends!
Those of you who have followed “How’s Your News?” over the year know that we are missing one of our favorite reporters for this new series on MTV. This is none other than Ronnie Simonsen. You can actually hear Ron singing on many of our songs and he’s the one singing the theme song with Sue in the show’s opening. He also says “Let’s go!” right before the show starts. Anyway, Ron has been with us from the beginning and he’s still with us, just not able to join us for our road trip adventures because his health is a little fragile. He’s been battling leukemia for a while now and he has his ups and downs. If you want to get to know Ron check out this video of him meeting his lifelong idol Chad Everett. It’s a smile generator.
If you are a fan of Ron’s please consider writing him an email at: dr.ronsimonsen@gmail.com He loves hearing from people!
If you are in the Portland, Oregon area, we have news for you! We are doing a FREE SCREENING at the excellent Hollywood Theater (4122 NE Sandy Blvd) on Thursday, March 5th at 7pm. HYN star Jeremy Vest will be there for a Q&A with HYN director (and portland resident) Arthur Bradford. See info below. C’mon over!
We have been so grateful to all the fine folks who took the time to write in and tell us your thoughts on the show. Ever since the show has gone on the air we’ve been overwhelmed by the encouragement and enthusiastic responses to the new series. Many of you have written in as family members of people with disabilities or as high school students who feel like they’ve learned something new about their peers. Some people just wrote in to say the show made them laugh and we appreciate that too. And now we’d like to ask you a little favor. If you are so inclined, take a trip over to mtv.com and let them know how you feel about How’s Your News? We have no idea whether or not we’ll get the chance to make another season of this show, but we do know that feedback from people like you does make a difference in the decision making process. Even if all you do is watch a past episode on the mtv site, that helps us because it let’s them know that people are interested in seeing shows like this on television. Go ahead, make a difference!
