Little Bill Is Back!

Little Bill Is Back!

Bill Cosby's Emmy(R), Peabody and Humanitas Award-Winning Animated Children's Series Little Bill Joins NOGGIN's Acclaimed Preschool Line-Up on Monday, September 10

Ruby Dee, Gregory Hines, Phylicia Rashad and Xavier Pritchett Star in Series Based on Cosby's Popular Children's Book Series

NEW YORK, Sept. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Hello, friend! NOGGIN, the commercial- free, educational preschool network from Nickelodeon, announced today that Bill Cosby's half-hour animated children's series Little Bill, will join the network's acclaimed preschool line-up on Monday, September 10 at 11:00 a.m. (ET). The Emmy(R), Peabody and Humanitas Award-winning series, which originally launched on Nick Jr., is based on Cosby's best-selling book series which follow the adventures of an inquisitive and highly imaginative five- year-old boy named Little Bill. With the help of his loving family and friends, Little Bill explores the ordinary and extraordinary events that make up the daily life of a child. Little Bill will air weekdays on NOGGIN at 11:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. (ET) and weekends at 1:30 p.m. (ET).

"Congratulations to the people who stopped me on the street to ask me when Little Bill was going back on the air," said Bill Cosby. "Thank you to NOGGIN for doing just that."

Little Bill, voiced by five-year-old Xavier Pritchett, lives in a small residential neighborhood in a big city with his family and friends including: his responsible, jazz-loving father Big Bill, who is voiced by Tony and Emmy Award-winning star Gregory Hines; his warm, sensible mother Brenda, who is voiced by Award-winning actress Phylicia Rashad; and his lively and spirited great-grandmother Alice the Great, who is voiced by the Hollywood legend Ruby Dee. The other people in Little Bill's life are his older brother and sister, Bobby and April; his kindergarten teacher Miss Murray; his quirky neighbor Mrs. Shapiro; his cousin Fuschia; and friends Dorado, Andrew and Kiku.

Opening each half-hour episode with the signature greeting, "hello, friend," Little Bill, both the show and character, reflect the wisdom, outlook and humor of their creator, Bill Cosby. The show is based on Cosby's popular Little Bill book series. Like the book series, Little Bill teaches the importance of friendship and family relationships while showing children how to solve problems creatively and fairly. Little Bill gives young viewers a role model they can relate to and caregivers can trust. Backed by research and a panel of educational consultants, the show is specially designed to help teach kids how to make a difference in their lives and in the lives of the people around them.

Little Bill is executive produced by Bill Cosby, Charles Kipps and David Brokaw with Robert Scull serving as producer and director. Shawn Cuddy is supervising producer and Fracaswell Hyman is head writer. Dr. Alvin Poussaint and Rita Weisskoff, Ph.D serve as educational advisors. Brown Johnson and Janice Burgess are co-executive producers for Nickelodeon Preschool Television.

NOGGIN, the commercial-free, educational preschool network from Nickelodeon, currently reaches 60 million households via cable, digital cable and satellite TV. NOGGIN, which airs from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (ET), is like preschool on TV, with educational programming both on-air and online at http://www.noggin.com/.

NOGGIN and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: NOGGIN

CONTACT: Sharyn Traub, +1-212-846-6381, Sharyn.traub@nick.com, or
Heather Brown, +1-212-846-6240, Heather.brown@nick.com, both of Nickelodeon

Web site:

http://www.noggin.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: DVDs and artwork available upon request.

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