Kellie Pickler, Billy Ray Cyrus get CMT shows

Country stars Billy Ray Cyrus and Kellie Pickler will each star in upcoming series for CMT.

I Love Kellie Pickler, a reality-based show following the lives of the former American Idol and Dancing With the Stars star and songwriter husband Kyle Jacobs, will begin its run in September and will be produced by Ryan Seacrest.

Still the King, a scripted comedy, will star Cyrus as a one-hit wonder country act turned Elvis Presley impersonator who winds up masquerading as a small-town preacher. It's slated to premiere in early 2016.

CMT announced its slate of original programming Thursday at The Times Center in New York City.

"It's an ambitious slate of new shows," says CMT president Brian Philips, "but you won't see any deviation from music being at the core of our DNA."

Also on the schedule: the channel's first late-night talk show from Los Angeles, hosted by comedian Josh Wolf and produced by Chelsea Handler; The Ed Bassmaster Show, starring YouTube celebrity Ed Bassmaster; a coming-of-age docu-series called Gainesville; and a limited series on NASCAR narrated by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Pickler, who has a quirky comedic style reminiscent of Gracie Allen or Lucille Ball, "has always been the object of our desire for a show," Philips says. "She emanates a natural charisma; she entertains wherever she goes."

Pickler says I Love Kellie Pickler won't focus on her music career but will instead center on her life with Jacobs, whom she married in 2010. "Most people that are familiar with me kind of know what I do," she says. "This is more what goes on behind the curtain, not just in music but personally. We want to keep it upbeat, light and comical."

Cyrus will write and produce Still the King. The singer, who had a massive country hit in 1992 with Achy Breaky Heart, starred in Doc from 2001 to 2004 and co-starred with daughter Miley Cyrus in Hannah Montana from 2005 to 2010.

"Billy Ray has had a solid and lucrative life on American television," Philips says. "This is a passion project for him. He's put some things in the show that parallel his own life and family."

Both I Love Kellie Pickler and Still the King will shoot in the Nashville area.

The Upfront event also announced return dates for additional shows, including Party Down South 2 (May 20), the 2015 CMT Music Awards (June 10), Steve Austin's Broken Skull Challenge (Aug. 2), Party Down South (Aug. 20), CMT Artists of the Year (early December) and the CMT Championship Kickoff Party concert special (January 2016).