HBO’s set to debut the new series Vice in April 2013 with Shane Smith as host. Executive produced by Smith, Bill Maher, and Eddy Moretti, Vice focuses on international stories overlooked by the mainstream media, including the Taliban’s recruitment of children as suicide bombers, an underground railroad for North Korean refugees, and eating camps in Mauritania.
The weekly half-hour series kicks off on April 5th at 11pm.
“Vice’s savvy, fearless irreverence has made it a premier new media brand,” says Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming. “Their groundbreaking style of news coverage guarantees a show that’s like nothing else on TV.”
Shane Smith adds, “We’ve always been a little more raw in the content we make. When you’re presenting a variety of totally insane stories from around the world, when you’re showing some of the scariest, weirdest and most absurd customs and practices known to humanity, then that’s the only style that really works. You can’t present these stories in a teacup. You have to tell the story in a way that grabs the viewer and delivers a punch in the face.”
Vice April 2013 Episodes
Show #1
Debut: FRIDAY, APRIL 5 (11:00-11:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: April 5 (12:30 a.m.), 9 (midnight) and 11 (midnight)
HBO2 playdates: April 6 (8:00 p.m.) and 10 (1:05 a.m.)
“Assassination Nation”: In the Philippines, election season is more like hunting season. Rivals simply rub out their opponents instead of defeating them at the polls. In the 2010 election year alone, more than 100 people were killed due to political violence. Vice follows the cycle of violence in this gun-crazy island nation all the way from an underground factory where illicit weapons are made to the villages full of young men who can’t wait to get their hands on them.
“Killer Kids of the Taliban”: In Afghanistan, senior members of the Taliban are now manipulating children and teenagers into carrying out their suicide bombings. They brainwash illiterate kids not well-versed in their own religion, and even fool them into believing they will survive the blast. Vice meets with young kids who were captured before they blew themselves and others up, as well as some of the victims of these tragic bombings.
Show #2
Debut: FRIDAY, APRIL 12 (11:00-11:30 p.m.)
Other HBO playdates: April 12 (12:30 a.m.), 14 (10:30 p.m.), 16 (midnight) and 18 (midnight)
HBO2 playdates: April 13 (8:00 p.m.) and 17 (3:55 a.m.)
“Escape from North Korea”: Thousands of North Koreans cross the border into China illegally every year. Living in perpetual fear of being discovered, with all odds against them, defectors still do everything they can to leave. If arrested in communist Laos, they may be sent back to North Korea to face prison camp or worse. The risks of escaping the North and heading to the South are so great that fewer than 25,000 North Koreans have ever made the journey successfully. Vice joins a South Korean pastor who has developed a modern-day underground railroad to move defectors from China to freedom and eventual citizenship in South Korea.
“World’s Most Dangerous Border”: The most dangerous place in the world is Kashmir’s line of control, which partially occupies the Indian state and separates India from Pakistan. Observers in both India and Pakistan believe the decades-old conflict between the two nations could potentially lead to the end of the world as we know it. Vice travels across Pakistan to the contested line of control in Kashmir, pointing out how close a nuclear apocalypse is yet again.
Show #3
Debut: FRIDAY, APRIL 19 (11:00-11:30 p.m.)
Other HBO playdates: April 19 (12:30 a.m.), 21 (10:30 p.m.), 23 (midnight) and 25 (midnight)
HBO2 playdates: April 20 (8:00 p.m.) and 24 (3:35 a.m.)
No details have been released.
Show #4
Debut: FRIDAY, APRIL 26 (11:00-11:30 p.m.)
Other HBO playdates: April 26 (12:30 a.m.), 28 (10:30 p.m.) and 30 (midnight), and May 2 (midnight)
HBO2 playdate: April 27 (8:00 p.m.)
No details have been released.
