"Downtown Girls" and "Idiots" on new MTV lineup

LOS ANGELES  – MTV has green-lighted a slate of scripted and reality series and has renewed three freshman shows.

The network said Tuesday that it has ordered the new series "Downtown Girls," "Megadrive," the Ashton Kutcher-produced "American Idiots," the scripted comedy "Hard Times" and an untitled comedy/variety project starring Rob Hoffman.

On the renewal front, the freshmen "She Really Going Out With Him?" -- inspired by the site Hot Chicks With Douchebags -- and "Silent Library," based on a Japanese game show, have each been picked up for 20 episodes. "Teen Cribs," an offshoot of the network's venerable series "MTV Cribs," has been picked up for 40 episodes.

"Hard Times," which has received a 12-episode order, marks the first single-camera comedy series for MTV and the first scripted series order under the current revamping of the MTV brand.

"We're really serious about giving our viewers new and diversified MTV," president of programing Tony DiSanto said. He called "Hard Times" "'Superbad' for MTV" and "the right one to relaunch scripted programing for the channel."

* "Hard Times," which hails from director David Katzenberg and writer Seth Grahame-Smith, stars Paul Iacono as a late-blooming loser struggling to navigate the minefield of being 15.

* The untitled Rob Hoffman show, described as "In Living Color" for the digital age, features multihyphenate Hoffman ("Step Up 2: The Streets") tackling reality, comedy, sketch and variety.

* "American Idiots," described as an extreme reality series, features a cast of "idiots" who re-enact popular viral videos for cash prizes.

* "Downtown Girls" is a reality sitcom chronicling the real-life exploits of five twentysomethings in New York.

* "Megadrive" is a reality comedy that follows thrill-seeking host Johnny Pemberton across the country as he tries to master the most extreme rides on land, sea and air.