Jumpstart the Holidays With LazyTown!

Jumpstart the Holidays With LazyTown!

Nick Jr. to Feature New Holiday Special LazyTown's Surprise Santa Friday, December 9 to Kick Off "Nick Jr.'s Frosty Fridays"

*(Tapes and Color Art Available Upon Request)

NEW YORK, Nov. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Deck the halls with Sportacus! Nick Jr. will kick off the holiday season with a brand-new holiday special of the groundbreaking comic/action series LazyTown, entitled "LazyTown's Surprise Santa." The half-hour special will kick off "Nick Jr.'s Frosty Fridays," a series of marathons which will air Fridays from 12:00 noon - 2:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on December 9, December 16 and December 23.

In "LazyTown's Surprise Santa," Robbie Rotten finds out that the LazyTowners are having a Christmas party, but believes he wasn't invited. He sets out to ruin the party by shooting a giant snowball out of a cannon at the guests, but quickly realizes that he was, in fact, invited. Sportacus saves the day before the snowball crashes into the festivities, after all.

LazyTown was created in Iceland by professional athlete and aerobic champion Magnus Scheving and is set in a strange and wonderful village where eight-year-old Stephanie and her friends are caught between a charismatic, health-conscious superhero named Sportacus (played by Scheving) and lazy bad guy Robbie Rotten (played by Stefan Karl), who spends his time lounging around and eating junk food. A mix of live-action, puppets and CGI animation, LazyTown is dedicated to making physical activity and healthy lifestyles for kids entertaining.

"Nick Jr.'s Frosty Fridays" schedule, is as follows (all times ET/PT):

Friday, December 9:

-- 12:00 p.m. - "LazyTown's Surprise Santa" PREMIERE - See above.

-- 12:30 p.m. - Blue's Room "Holiday Wishes" - In this special episode, we
discover our Blue's Room character's favorite things about the
holidays. As we celebrate with each character, we add a line to the
Blue's Room version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas!" Doodle sings
"Deck the Halls" as we decorate the playroom; Fred, Roary and Polka
Dots sing "Jingle Bells" on a sleigh, and Boogie and his animated pal
Dreidel sing a hip-hop version of "The Dreidel Song." Blue hopes for a
visit from a special friend, but since it's snowing hard, we call on
gutsy Candle to help light the way. As we celebrate Christmas and
Chanukah in the playroom, we learn the meaning of our word of the day,
generosity. Antonio visits and shares a homemade holiday gift. The
holidays magically come to life in the playroom and Blue's holiday wish
comes true! Joe! Ho! Ho! Our good friend Joe rides in on a sleigh to
spread lots of holiday cheer.

-- 1:00 p.m. - Max & Ruby "Max's Christmas" - Max is full of questions
when Ruby hurries to bed on Christmas Eve so Santa Claus can visit. No
one ever stays up to see Santa -- except Max! Max wants play with his
new Christmas gift -- a Screaming Green Alien Gorilla -- but Ruby wants
him to help her build a beautiful Snow Queen. When they finish making
the Snow Queen, and Grandma comes to admire her, they discover where
Max's missing gorilla has gone! Then, Ruby, Louise and Max go on a
sledding adventure. Ruby tells Max he can only go down the 'Bunny
Hill,' while she and Louise take their first ride down the daring
'Rocket Run.' But before they get up the nerve, Max takes his own ride
down the slippery slope.

-- 1:30 p.m. - Dora the Explorer "A Present For Santa" - Feliz Navidad!
It's Christmas Eve, and Dora and Boots are going all the way to the
North Pole to deliver a present to Santa. They'll have to get over the
snowy mountains and across an icy river to get there. But by the end
of the journey, everyone will be filled with the spirit of giving --
even Swiper!

Friday, December 16:

-- 12:00 p.m. - Dora the Explorer "A Present For Santa" - See above.

-- 12:30 p.m. - Little Bill "Merry Christmas, Little Bill!" - It's
Christmas Eve at the Glover's house! Little Bill can't wait for Alice
the Great to return home from her trip so they can celebrate Christmas
like they always do. Alice the Great's flight gets delayed, and
although Little Bill is disappointed, Brenda assures him that his great
grandmother will be home soon. Little Bill sets out with April, Bobby
and Big Bill for some Christmas caroling, and Little Bill learns that
other people celebrate in different ways. Alice the Great tells Little
Bill that she may not make it home in time for Christmas, and Little
Bill writes Santa a letter asking him to bring her home. The next
morning, Little Bill is awakened by a noise -- it's Alice the Great!
The family puts the star on top of the tree and sings their special
Christmas Star Song. Then we see a piece of folded paper in Alice the
Great's pocket -- could it be Little Bill's letter to Santa?

-- 1:00 p.m. - Blue's Clues "Blue's First Holiday" - Did you ever wonder
how it all began? This special episode provides the answers! Mr. Salt
and Mrs. Pepper give us our holiday present -- two home videos. We pop
in the video and see Baby Tickety in diapers, Baby Slippery in a high
chair and Baby Joe unwrapping a fuzzy duck blanket -- it's the first
Blue's Clues holiday! Little Steve is there too, wearing his green
striped shirt. But a baby is missing -- where's Blue? Mr. Salt tells
us the story of the day we met Blue, and how we started playing Blue's
Clues.

-- 1:30 p.m. - Miss Spider "Hum Bug/Dashing Through the Snow" - It's the
day before the winter solstice -- the longest night of the year. All
the bugs are finishing up their good deeds to make sure the Dream Bug
brings them a long night of good dreams. When Bounce enlists Spiderus'
help to complete his good deed of delivering seeds to Eunice Earwig,
Spiderus keeps the goodies for himself. As a result, Spiderus is in
for a long solstice and a dream that turns his attitude around. Spider
brood of Sunny Patch prepare for their annual Holly Day Fest -- a time
of fun, games, good eats and most importantly, getting together with
family. Miss Spider, Squirt and Bounce head out to deliver midwinter
treats to a spider with a home full of new hatches. On the way home, a
storm interrupts their journey. But with the help of Stinky and Flint
the firefly, Miss Spider and her buglets make it home just in time for
the Holly Day Fest.

Friday, December 23:

-- 12:00 p.m. - "Franklin's Magic Christmas" hour-long special - Their car
brimming with luggage and Christmas presents, Franklin and his family
set off on a trip to Faraway Farm. Franklin can't wait to see his
Grandma and Grandpa again! His enthusiasm for the visit fades however
when he learns that Harriet accidentally left his favorite toy, Sam,
back at Woodland. On top of that, he has to share a room with his
little sister. Franklin concludes that being a big brother is big
trouble! The little turtle finds consolation in helping Grandma
refurbish an old sleigh, as they plan to surprise Grandpa with the
Christmas sleigh ride he's always wanted. When Grandma's story about a
childhood encounter with a magical creature leads to Franklin's
discovery of a beautiful silver bell, they agree to include it in their
Christmas surprise.

-- 1:00 p.m. - Blue's Clues "Blue's Big Holiday" Guest Stars: Winona Judd,
Tyrese - All of our friends are getting ready for the holidays and we
play Blue's Clues to figure out what memory Blue wants to add to our
holiday quilt. As we hunt for clues, we skidoo into a snow globe,
where we find a train full of toys. We examine groups of toys,
identify the toys that are different and figure out that they would be
perfect gifts for our friends. Later, we match each present with the
friend it goes to and learn about different holiday traditions with the
help of Green Puppy, Orange Kitten, Purple Kangaroo and our other
friends.

-- 1:30 p.m. - "LazyTown's Surprise Santa" - See above.

Two-time European Champion and silver medalist in the World Championship of Aerobics, LazyTown creator and star Magnus Scheving is a world class athlete, entertainer and writer in his native Iceland. During his travels around the world lecturing on health and fitness, parents always asked Scheving about exercise and nutrition for children. As a response, he created LazyTown in 1991 with the book "Go, Go Lazy Town!" and the property was built into a household name in Iceland with businesses including publishing, live theatrical performances and a radio station. LazyTown made its debut as a television show on Nick Jr. in August, 2004.

LazyTown is shot in Iceland with an international cast and crew, using one of the most technologically advanced HDTV video and film facilities in the world. Working with Hypercube Inc., the production has implemented an extremely advanced HDTV 24P digital cinematography environment which immediately produces finished movie quality results in real-time, while the action is happening.

Nick Jr. is a specially designed programming block airing on Nickelodeon weekdays from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. (ET/PT) and weekends on CBS (check local listings). Completely dedicated to preschoolers ages 2-5, Nick Jr.'s Emmy, Peabody and Parents' Choice Award-winning programs are curriculum based, fun and commercial free. At Nick Jr., kids play to learn with innovative, original shows created just for them.

Nickelodeon, now in its 26th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in 89 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for more than nine consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.

Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: Jodi Davis, +1-212-846-5981, Jodi.davis@noggin.com, or Sharyn
Traub, +1-212-846-6381, Sharyn.traub@noggin.com, both for Nickelodeon

Web site: http://www.nick.com/

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