Nickelodeon TV Movie Event 'Drake & Josh Go Hollywood' Kicks off New Year on Kid Channel, January 6 (8-9:30 P.M. ET/PT)

Nickelodeon TV Movie Event 'Drake & Josh Go Hollywood' Kicks off New Year on Kid Channel, January 6 (8-9:30 P.M. ET/PT)

Brotherly Duo of the Hit TEENick Series Drake & Josh Thwart Counterfeiters in High-Stakes Comic Adventure While Racing the Clock to Drake's Big Show Biz Break

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- "Drake & Josh Go Hollywood," a laugh-packed, heart-pumping TV movie event inspired by the hit TEENick series Drake & Josh, will kick off the New Year on Nickelodeon, premiering Friday, January 6 (8-9:30 p.m. ET/PT) and encoring Saturday, January 7 (8-9:30 p.m.) and Sunday, January 8 (7-8:30 p.m.). Drake (Drake Bell), Josh (Josh Peck) and their little sis Megan (Miranda Cosgrove) embark on a raucous adventure in Los Angeles, mixing comedy and a nail-biting encounter with counterfeiting thieves -- all while they race the clock en route to Drake's big show biz break on MTV's TRL.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051128/NYM061 )

Amid the hi-jinks and intrigue, Josh shows his heroic colors and wannabe rock star Drake's sagging spirits soar as his brother/manager wangles his appearance on TRL. Now, if only they can weather a money storm, survive a car chase and break out of the bad guys' clutches to make it to the studio on time...

"Kids will love seeing Drake and Josh in this big adventure that takes them beyond the world of the series," said Marjorie Cohn, Executive Vice President, Development and Original Programming. "The movie is a super-sized, high-stakes comedy and within the wackiness, the chemistry between this 'odd couple' of stepbrothers really shines through."

Left in charge by their vacationing parents, the boys spark a comedy of errors by putting Denver-bound Megan on a plane to Los Angeles and then hopping on the next flight to retrieve her. Josh stumbles over a suspicious passenger -- a counterfeiting thief -- and accidentally switches MP3 players with him. On the ground when Josh runs into a TRL talent booker in a bind, he tests his skill as Drake's new manager. While virtually holding the guy hostage in a bathroom stall, Josh power-brokers an amazing deal for Drake to appear on the show the next night. Yet in trying to download Drake's song, Josh discovers that the switched MP3 Player has secret codes on it -- and that the man on the plane must be an accomplice in the U.S. Treasury theft he heard about on the news.

No sooner do the brothers find Megan in her swank hotel suite with their parents' charge card, than the bad guys, who've stolen a money-making machine, are on their trail, hell-bent on nabbing Drake and Josh and grabbing back their MP3 player. A car chase through the streets of LA leads the teens smack into the grip of the thieves. And before the cops and the FBI show up, the pair weathers a billion-dollar money storm. All the while, the minutes tick away to show time on TRL.

Drake & Josh, which entered its third season in October and airs regularly with new episodes on Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. (ET/PT), ranks right behind Nickelodeon's Zoey 101 and Unfabulous as cable TV's third highest rated show among tweens and is cable's fifth highest rated show with kids 6-11. Season three to date, the series is averaging a 6.27 tween 9-14 rating, up +74% vs. the same time period last year.*

Classic Nickelodeon success stories Josh Peck and Drake Bell ascended from The Amanda Show's ensemble to series headliners. Bell taped his first commercial at age 5, and appeared soon after opposite Gena Rowlands in the feature film The Neon Bible. He grabbed attention in a featured role in Jerry Maguire and won a co-starring role -- and private music lessons -- with The Who's Roger Daltrey in Chasing Destiny. The experience inspired him to start his own band, and the teenage singer-songwriter, who penned and performed Drake & Josh's theme song, demonstrates his musical talents via his equally gifted character. His music and vocals are featured in his new album Telegraph and on the Drake & Josh soundtrack (Nick Records/BMG). Bell appeared as John Cusak's son in the HBO feature The Jack Bull and played Cusak's character as a kid in High Fidelity. He also guest-starred on such shows as Seinfeld, The Drew Carey Show and Home Improvement and appeared with Jay Leno on The Tonight Show.

Peck appeared in Florida dinner theatre in The Music Man at age 7, and launched a stand-up comedy career at 9, by appearing in New York clubs including Catch a Rising Star and Stand Up, New York. He made his feature- film debut a few years later in the Nickelodeon/Paramount movie Snow Day and since has appeared in Max Keeble's Big Move and Spun. In recent years Peck diversified his resume and won critical acclaim with the role of a bully who gets his comeuppance in the feature film Mean Creek opposite Rory Culkin and as a punk kid in Barbara Kopple's movie Havoc. He lends his voice to the upcoming animated film Ice Age 2: The Meltdown. His TV credits include ER, The Guardian, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Rosie O'Donnell Show and O'Donnell's HBO special Kids Are Punny. This year, Peck was inducted into the Friar's Club as its youngest member.

The series and the TV movie come courtesy of executive producer/creator Dan Schneider (Zoey 101, The Amanda Show, All That, What I Like about You) and his Schneider's Bakery, Inc. Kids tune in to see singer-musician/ladies' man Drake routinely pull responsible Josh into shenanigans. As little sister Megan, Miranda Cosgrove always relishes hoodwinking them both. (Drake Bell and Miranda Cosgrove star in the November '05 feature-film release Yours, Mine and Ours from Paramount Pictures/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/ Nickelodeon Movies/Columbia Pictures.)

"Drake & Josh Go Hollywood" will be distributed on DVD and VHS by Paramount Home Entertainment on January 31, 2006.

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 ten consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.

* (Source: Nielsen Cume Data - 3Q05)

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051128/NYM061
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Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: media, Margo Zinberg, 310-752-8207, for Nickelodeon

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

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