Master of Champions Premieres June 22nd on ABC  6/19/06

HUMAN FIREWORKS, CHEESE-GRATING CARS AND A CONTORTIONIST, OH MY! "MASTER OF CHAMPIONS" PREMIERES THURSDAY, JUNE 22 ON ABC

Steve Garvey, Oksana Baiul and Jonny Moseley Serve as the Panel of Champions

"Master of Champions," a one-hour weekly game-show competition where only one contestant has unique skills, passion and determination sufficient to win the ultimate title of Master of Champions, will premiere THURSDAY, JUNE 22 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network.

Editors please note: If the NBA Finals go to a Game 7 on June 22, "Master of Champions" will premiere the following week, Thursday, June 29, from 8:00-9:00 p.m., ET.

Each week six competitors with some of the world's most unique talents face off in this one-hour competition to determine who is the best of the best. Our studio audience will pare the contestants down to three, who will then face the Panel of Champions for the final selection of one as the next Master of Champions!

Chris Leary, syndicated radio show host, sports reporter and commentator, is host, and Lisa Dergan-Podsednik is co-host. Baseball legend Steve Garvey and Olympic Gold Medalists Oksana Baiul and Jonny Moseley will make up the Panel of Champions.

"Episode 102" -- In the season premiere, Tanner Foust, a professional stunt driver, and Verena Mei, the first Asian-American woman to earn an NHRA Professional Drag License, will compete to see who can do the best job of grating a wheel of cheese using precision drift driving in cars; a team of acrobats will become a human fireworks display; Princess Elayne, a 14-year-old contortionist, will shoot arrows with her feet - while blindfolded -- and Dan Heaton and Zack Baldwin will compete in freestyle unicycling.

"Master of Champions" is based on the format World Records by NTV from Japan. Executive producers are Tim Crescenti, Yoshiro Yasuoka and Isao Zaitsu for Nippon Television. Jonas Larsen and Anthony Ross are executive producers for Y27 Entertainment. The series is broadcast with Spanish subtitles via secondary closed captioning.

A TV parental guideline will be posted closer to airdate.