Tween Leader TEENick Expels Back-To-School Blahs, Invites Laughter With Winning Trio of All-New Primetime Fall-Season Premieres, Sunday, September 24

Tween Leader TEENick Expels Back-To-School Blahs, Invites Laughter With Winning Trio of All-New Primetime Fall-Season Premieres, Sunday, September 24

Drake & Josh Gears Up for Oprah Encounter in Season Starter; Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide Offers New Grade Resolutions and Tips; Zoey 101 Reveals Romantic Resolution

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Sept. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- A mighty trio of TEENick hit comedies -- Drake & Josh, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide and Zoey 101 -- conquers back-to-school blahs, Sunday, September 24 with all-new fall season primetime premieres. It's back-to-back, must-see TV when the top- rated live-action series for kids and tweens, Kids' Choice Award-winning Drake & Josh, kicks off the night -- and a fourth season -- at 7 p.m., followed by third season openers of blockbuster series Ned's Declassified at 7:30 p.m. and Zoey 101 starring Kids' Choice Award winner Jamie Lynn Spears at 8 p.m. (all times ET/PT).

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060912/NYTU182 )

Turnabouts, curveballs and a boatload of laughs rock the season premieres. In Drake & Josh/"Josh Runs into Oprah" Josh (Josh Peck) is jazzed at the prospect of meeting his TV idol when Drake (Kids' Choice winner for Favorite TV Actor, Drake Bell) gets tickets to "Oprah" for his birthday, but delight turns to dismay in the studio parking lot. As school bells ring on Ned's Declassified/"A New Grade" & "Dodgeball," the title tipster (Devon Werkheiser) enters the new world of eighth grade and resolves to conquer it, but best laid plans go raucously awry and Ned becomes an accidental bully. Zoey 101/"Surprise" finds take-charge Zoey (Jamie Lynn Spears) embarking on new adventures at Pacific Coast Academy with a new roommate -- and reeling from a romantic revelation.

Tween leader Nickelodeon has been number one with that demo (kids 9-14) in total day ratings for 14 years, and TEENick shows continue to dominate the TV landscape. Instant hits since they debuted, Drake & Josh, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide and Zoey 101 account for three of the top five regularly scheduled live-action series on cable (total day) in 2Q 2006 with tweens (9- 14); Drake & Josh was tops followed by Ned's (#3) and Zoey (#4). Drake & Josh, which first broke records as Nick's highest rated series premiere in almost 10 years and started stripping M-F at 5:30 p.m. in February, has ranked as the number-one regularly scheduled live-action show with kids 2-11 and 9-14 for two consecutive quarters. Year-to-date, Nick averages a 2.56 Tween 9-14 rating, besting its competition by double digits.

Post-season premieres, TEENick's regular lineup on Sundays next season will include Romeo! (6 p.m.), The Amanda Show (6:30 p.m.), Drake & Josh (7 p.m.), Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide (7:30 p.m.), Zoey 101 (8 p.m.) and Unfabulous (8:30 p.m.).

As Zoey 101 heads back to the books amid ocean breezes, Zoey and Lola (Victoria Justice) find they have a new roommate, Quinn (Erin Sanders). This season the outnumbered girls still strive to survive and thrive at the newly co-ed boarding school, despite detractors like Logan (Matthew Underwood), and with the help of pals Chase (Sean Flynn) and Michael (Christopher Massey). In the season premiere, "Surprise," Lola and Quinn predict that Chase is going to profess his love to Zoey, but the truth is, he has a bigger surprise. Meanwhile, it looks like Logan and Michael just might fight to the finish to get the top bunk this year. Creator/executive producer is Dan Schneider (All That, The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, What I Like about You).

Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide continues to chronicle the wacky adventures of Ned Bigby (Devon Werkheiser) and his best pals Moze (Lindsey Shaw) and Cookie (Daniel Curtis Lee) at James K. Polk Middle School, as "every-kid" Ned shatters the fourth wall to share tips and tricks on jumping school hurdles. Each episode features two 11-minute romps. In the third-season premiere, "A New Grade" and "Dodgeball," new eighth grader Ned vows to be tougher and accidentally becomes the new bully -- swatting at a swarm of flies and unintentionally KO'ing nearby classmates; Moze vows to be nicer but copes with an I-teacher who's a monster in a monitor. And sans braces, Cookie pursues the new no-braces, non-sniffling Lisa Zemo. In "Dodgeball" team captain Ned must battle bully Loomer and his secret weapon Cookie, and he must do it without ace player Moze. Upcoming Survival Guides offer tips in dealing with pitfalls and problems of art class, popularity, social studies, the school play, revenge, bad hair days and much more. Scott Fellows (The Fairly OddParents) is creator/executive producer.

Drake & Josh's odd couple of teen stepbrothers, Drake Parker and Josh Nichols (Drake Bell and Josh Peck), share shenanigans that cement a brotherly bond. And it is singer-musician/ladies' man Drake who pulls responsible Josh into the high jinks. Miranda Cosgrove (School of Rock) hoodwinks them both as little sis Megan. In the season premiere, "Josh Runs into Oprah," after Drake forgets Josh's birthday -- and throws a big surprise party for his "girlfriend" of five days -- the guilt-racked teen atones by getting his brother tickets to Oprah. However, delight turns to dismay in the studio lot when the guys argue over parking and distracted driver Josh accidentally runs into his idol. Drake and Josh hightail it to the hospital to make amends -- and maybe meet Oprah -- but two huge bodyguards, a horde of reporters and a farcical scheme add up to another fiasco. This season, too, a Drake & Josh TV movie is on tap. Bell, who penned the show's theme song, continues to perform his original music. Creator/executive producer is Dan Schneider.

Nickelodeon, now in its 27th 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 more than 90 million households and has been the number- one-rated basic cable network for eleven consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:and)(NYSE:VIA.B).

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