12/3/2009
HOLIDAY PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS ON CORUS ENTERTAINMENT’S KIDS, SPECIALTY & PAY TV NETWORKS
(Toronto, Canada) This festive season, Corus Entertainment celebrates the holidays with Christmas-themed movies, specials and episodes across all of its kids, specialty and pay TV networks. Beginning on Monday, December 14, Corus offers a sleigh full of holiday programming leading up to Boxing Day. Highlights include The Holiday starring Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet airing on W Network, Fred Claus starring Vince Vaughn on Movie Central, Angels in America on HBO Canada, Santa Claus is Coming to Town narrated by Fred Astaire on Treehouse and the classic Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer on YTV.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 14
A FLINTSTONE CHRISTMAS (1977) – YTV
After Santa gets hurt falling from Fred’s roof, Fred and Barney take over Santa’s duties for the evening, losing presents and making a last-minute trip to the North Pole. This one-hour special airs at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15
WHAT’S COOKING: FESTIVE SPECIAL – VIVA PREMIERE
Get easy entertaining ideas for hosting holiday parties and discover delicious recipes to create an unforgettable holiday feast. What’s Cooking: Festive Special airs at 4:30 p.m. ET.
OLIVIA: OLIVIA KLAUS – TREEHOUSE PREMIERE
Christmas is coming and Olivia can't wait for Santa, but there's one gift that Santa can't bring – her lost toy. However, little does Olivia know but her lost toy is wrapped under the tree! This special episode premieres at 6:25 p.m. ET.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16
‘TIS THE SEASON TO BE SMURFY (1987) – YTV
The Smurfs are busy decorating for Christmas but Papa Smurf takes Sassette to the village so she can observe a human Christmas. This holiday special airs at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT.
DIVINE DESIGN HOLIDAY SPECIAL (2009) – W NETWORK
Family, food and fun – the perfect ingredients for a holiday celebration. Jyoti and Peter can supply the love and laughter, but with different backgrounds and large families, they're hoping that host Candice Olson will create a family room that shines for the holidays and keeps the magic of the season alive all year long. This special airs at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17
THE LEGEND OF FROSTY THE SNOWMAN (2005) – YTV
The Legend of Frosty the Snowman finds the Christmas-icon arriving in a town called Evergreen. Frosty befriends the mayor's children, and thanks to his influence the town begins to accept that magic is not only real, but can help make Evergreen an even better place. This 90-minute special airs at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT.
HOME FOR CHRISTMAS – CMT PREMIERE
Viewers can join country music artist Johnny Reid as he heads “home” for Christmas to his birthplace in Scotland. This one-hour special includes a concert and interviews with the musical star and airs at 11 p.m. ET.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18
DORA’S CHRISTMAS CAROL – TREEHOUSE
After Swiper lands himself on Santa’s naughty list for trying to swipe the Christmas tree star, Dora decides he needs to discover the true spirit of the holidays. This holiday adventure airs at 5 p.m. ET.
SANTA BABY 2 (2009) – W NETWORK PREMIERE
Santa wants to retire and wishes for his daughter Mary (Jenny McCarthy) to take over the family business. She must choose between her family duty or having her own firm in New York. Santa Baby 2 premieres at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
FAITH HILL, JOY TO THE WORLD: A SOUNDSTAGE SPECIAL EVENT (2008) – CMT PREMIERE
Backed by an orchestra led by conductor David Campbell, Faith Hill performs holiday favourites from her Christmas album “Joy to the World”. Fans won’t want to miss this 90-minute special premiering at 9 p.m. ET.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19
BACK-TO-BACK CHARLIE BROWN HOLIDAY SPECIALS – YTV
Charlie Brown directs the Christmas play and discovers the true spirit of the season in A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) at 6 p.m. ET/PT. At 6:30 p.m. ET/PT, the Peanuts gang gets ready for the holiday season once again in It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown (1992).
THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR (2008) – W NETWORK PREMIERE
Single mom Jennifer Cullen (Brooke Burns) is too busy to worry about Christmas, but when Uncle Ralph (Henry Winkler) arrives on Christmas Day with a passenger from the plane, she rediscovers the holiday spirit. Premieres at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20
FROM MARTHA’S HOME: CHRISTMAS SPECIAL – VIVA PREMIERE
From the comfort of her own home, Martha Stewart delivers inventive recipes, festive crafts and other great tips and tricks for hosting and cooking during the holiday season. This special airs at 5 p.m. ET.
MIRACLE ON 34th STREET (1994) – W NETWORK
In this remake of the classic holiday film, Susan doesn’t believe in Santa after her mother told her the “truth” about him. When she meets a department store Santa and receives a surprise gift, Susan soon begins to “believe”. Airs at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 21
HOME ALONE (1990) – YTV
When eight year-old Kevin McAllister (Macaulay Culkin) is accidentally left at home when the rest of the family heads to Paris for Christmas, he seems to enjoy it. But after a while he understands that things aren't so easy at home alone, especially when two robbers decide to break into the house. Home Alone airs at 4 p.m. ET/PT.
ANNA & KRISTINA’S GROCERY BAG: CHRISTMAS COOKBOOK – W NETWORK
Anna and Kristina celebrate the holidays by cooking classics from the Martha Stewart Living Christmas Cookbook and conduct taste tests for the most important judge of all – Anna’s mom. The turkey has to be perfect; otherwise next Christmas Anna may be relegated to dish duty. This special airs at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT.
ANGELS IN AMERICA – HBO CANADA
This Golden Globe® and Emmy®-Award winning HBO mini-series set during Ronald Reagan’s administration follows a group of New Yorkers struggling with their sexuality, mortality and societies’ expectations. Airing in six parts beginning Monday, December 21 at 10:15 p.m. ET/MT, and featuring an all star cast including Al Pacino, Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22
RUDOLPH, THE RED-NOSED REINDEER (1964) – YTV
Young Rudolph is teased for his red nose by all the other reindeer. But when Santa needs to see through a terrible storm on Christmas Eve, Rudolph comes the rescue with his bright nose leading the way. Catch this classic tale, narrated by Burl Ives at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23
SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN (1970) – TREEHOUSE
This stop-motion animation classic is the story of young Kris Kringle, the boy who grew up to be Santa Claus. Narrated by Fred Astaire and Mickey Rooney, Santa Claus is Coming to Town airs at 6:35 p.m. ET.
CHRISTMAS IN WHISTLER (2009) – CMT PREMIERE
An old time variety show featuring live performances by country music stars George Canyon, Aaron Pritchett and Jessie Farrell in picturesque Whistler, BC. This one-hour special airs at 11 p.m. ET.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24
THE PERFECT HOLIDAY (2007) – MOVIE CENTRAL
Young Emily turns to a department store Santa Claus to help her find a new husband for her mother. Starring Gabrielle Union, Queen Latifah and Terrence Howard, The Perfect Holiday airs at 8 p.m. PT.
FRED CLAUS (2007) – MOVIE CENTRAL
Fred Claus (Vince Vaughn) hates living in the shadow of his younger brother Santa Claus (Paul Giamatti) but when he returns to the North Pole, he finds things aren’t easy for Santa. Fred Claus airs at 9:45 p.m. PT.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25
MERRY CHRISTMAS, DRAKE & JOSH (2008) – NICKELODEON
Viewers can catch trouble makers Drake Bell and Josh Peck on the roof of the mall during Christmas time in the 90-minute special Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh premiering at 5 p.m. ET.
EDWARD SCISSORHARNDS (1990) – DUSK
When a woman finds Edward (Johnny Depp), a scientist’s incomplete creation living alone, she brings him home where he falls in-love with her daughter (Winona Ryder). Edward Scissorhands airs at 6:45 p.m. ET.
JACK FROST – ENCORE AVENUE
Jack Frost (Michael Keaton) is a musician, husband and a bit of an absent father. Unexpectedly, his life is cut short by a car accident, but a year later he comes back as a snowman to help his family heal. Jack Frost airs at 7 p.m. PT.
THE FAMILY STONE (2005) – COSMOPOLITAN TV
The Stone family is liberal, open-minded and warm, but when their son brings home his uptight girlfriend things quickly turn sour. Starring Diane Keaton and Sarah Jessica Parker, The Family Stone airs at 9 p.m. ET.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26
W HOLIDAY TRIPLE FLIX – W NETWORK
Viewers can enjoy three back-to-back movies beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET/PT with Jonathan (John Cusack) and Sara (Kate Beckinsale) who can’t forget each other in Serendipity. Georgia (Queen Latifah) is diagnosed with a terminal illness and splurges on a deluxe holiday in Last Holiday at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT, and Amanda (Cameron Diaz) and Iris (Kate Winslet) trade houses and cities in The Holiday at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
RUGRATS KWANZAA – YTV
The Carmichaels are visited by Great Aunt T, who is set for a Kwanzaa celebration to honour Africa’s great people and its first harvest. Rugrats Kwanzaa airs at 6 p.m. ET/PT.
Corus Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian-based media and entertainment company. Corus is a market leader in specialty television and radio with additional assets in pay television, advertising services, television broadcasting, children’s book publishing and children’s animation. The company’s multimedia entertainment brands include YTV, Treehouse, W Network, CosmoTV, VIVA, Movie Central, HBO Canada, Nelvana, Kids Can Press and radio stations including CKNW, CKOI and Q107. Corus creates engaging branded entertainment experiences for its audiences across multiple platforms. A publicly traded company, Corus is listed on the Toronto (CJR.B) and New York (CJR) exchanges. Experience Corus on the web at www.corusent.com.
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For more information, please contact:
Molly Ray
Communications
Corus Entertainment
(416) 530-2247
Owen McCorquodale
Communications
Corus Entertainment
(416) 530-2249
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