Mr. Mike Cosentino reports

VERONICA MARS ALUMS REUNITE IN NEW DIGITAL SPINOFF SERIES PLAY IT AGAIN, DICK, BEGINNING TODAY ON CTV EXTEND; CO-WRITTEN AND EXECUTIVE-PRODUCED BY VERONICA MARS CREATOR ROB THOMAS, PLAY IT AGAIN, DICK IS AVAILABLE FREE TO CONSUMERS AT CTV.CA AND ON CTV GO; THE EIGHT-EPISODE DIGITAL SPINOFF SERIES STARS RYAN HANSEN AS HIMSELF, AND INCLUDES GUEST APPEARANCES BY HIS VERONICA MARS CASTMATES KRISTEN BELL, JASON DOHRING, ENRICO COLANTONI, PERCY DAGGS III, AND FRANCIS CAPRA

The first episode of the buzzed-about, new Veronica Mars digital spinoff series, Play It Again, Dick, named for one of the original series favourite characters, is now available on BCE Inc.'s CTV Extend and CTV Go app. Starring Ryan Hansen (Veronica Mars, Party Down) as himself, the eight-episode series is a meta adaptation of the teen sleuth cult classic, which sees the entire cast return to play fictional versions of themselves and their onscreen Veronica Mars characters. Available free for digital viewing, the seven additional episodes of Play It Again, Dick will roll out weekly, with each episode varying in length between seven and 10 minutes. Play It Again, Dick follows the release of the Veronica Mars film, which hit theatres earlier this year, following a successful Kickstarter campaign and immense fan support.

"Play It Again, Dick is a great addition to the current robust and growing roster of CTV Extend programming," said Mike Cosentino, senior vice-president, programming, CTV Networks. "With such a strong, established fan base for Veronica Mars, we're confident that viewers will enjoy this funny new spinoff."

Following the success of the Veronica Mars feature film, Hansen knows that it's finally time to give the marshmallows what they've really been waiting for -- the Dick Casablancas spinoff series, Private Dick, with Casablancas as the suave, wisecracking, badass private eye he was always meant to be. With a brilliant treatment for the show in hand, now Hansen just needs to convince literally everyone else that this is a great idea.

By begging, cajoling and performing some unsavoury-sounding favours, Hansen manages to sign his former Veronica Mars cast mates on for the Private Dick pilot, including Kristen Bell (House of Lies, Forgetting Sarah Marshall), Jason Dohring (Ringer), Enrico Colantoni (Flashpoint), Percy Daggs III (Q) and Francis Capra (A Bronx Tale), all reprising their original roles. Hansen knows that Private Dick has everything a Veronica Mars fan has been starving for: guns, tricked-out muscle cars, chase sequences and catchphrases.

Play It Again, Dick is created and executive produced by Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars, Party Down, iZombie), and is written by Thomas and Bob Dearden. The series is produced by Danielle Stokdyk and directed by Viet Nguyen.