TBS Orders More House of Payne

TBS has given Tyler Perry’s House of Payne two orders for a total of 46 additional episodes, bringing the series’ number to 172. The cable network’s 26 and 20-episode orders suit House of Payne distributor Debmar-Mercury’s plan to quickly amass a large number of episodes for syndication.

The story of House of Payne, which has generated more than $250 million in revenue, began a few years ago when Perry approached Debmar-Mercury with a proposition: He would fund a new series if they would find a way to get it on television and get him his money back. Perry funded the production of 10 episodes, which Debmar-Mercury gave for free to local stations in key markets and to TBS’ WTBS Atlanta for a test run in summer 2006. An additional 90-episode order by TBS followed, and the series premiered on the cable network in June 2007, followed by a national broadcast-syndication launch in September 2008.

Debmar-Mercury had projected that it would get the first 40 episodes – nearly twice as many as studios produce under the traditional broadcast model – in the first year. Perry, who owns the show, delivered 100 episodes a year instead. And 172 episodes in, House of Payne is not about to wrap anytime soon.

Using the House of Payne deal as a blueprint, Perry, Debmar-Mercury and TBS teamed again for Meet the Browns, which has crossed the 80-episode mark. The series rank as ad-supported cable’s top two original sitcoms of all time among adults 18-49, viewers and households. This year, new episodes of Meet the Browns and House of Payne have averaged 3.2 million and 3 million viewers, respectively.

Additionally, Debmar-Mercury recently set up two other cable comedy projects using the same template: a Will Ferrell/Adam McKay sitcom starring Jon Heder at Comedy Central and a series based on Ice Cube’s 2005 feature Are We There Yet? at TBS.