Nickelodeon Goes for the Gold, Serving up Four New Olympic-Themed Episodes of Animated Hits The Fairly OddParents, The Backyardigans, Dora the Explorer and Ni Hao, Kai-lan Beginning Aug. 1

Nickelodeon Goes for the Gold, Serving up Four New Olympic-Themed Episodes of Animated Hits The Fairly OddParents, The Backyardigans, Dora the Explorer and Ni Hao, Kai-lan Beginning Aug. 1

Olympic Gold Medalist Scott Hamilton and Ben Stein Guest Voice on The Fairly OddParents' "The Fairly Oddlympics" Premiering Friday, Aug. 1 (8:00 p.m. ET/PT)

Nick Jr.'s Preschool Pals Compete in Dinosaur Games, Play Basketball with Grecian Gods and Go on a Super Adventure Race in New Episodes of The Backyardigans, Dora the Explorer and Ni Hao, Kai-lan (Aug. 4-8, 9:00 a.m. ET/PT)

(*Art and Ni Hao, Kai-lan "Sports Day" screeners available upon request)

NEW YORK, July 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The summer games are coming to Beijing and Nickelodeon as the network premieres four new sports-themed episodes of animated hits The Fairly OddParents, The Backyardigans, Dora the Explorer and Ni Hao, Kai-lan, beginning August 1. Odder and more awesome than the Olympics, let the Fairy World Games begin, in The Fairly OddParents special, "The Fairly Oddlympics," Aug. 1 at 8:00 p.m. (ET/PT), featuring Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton as his toon self -- announcer of the momentous event -- as well as in a live-action sequence. And who better than the skating champ to join Timmy Turner in covering the competition to determine once and for all "who is the best magical creature in the universe"?

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080708/NYTU068)

Timmy will then pass the baton to the Backyardigans who will kick off Nick Jr.'s sports-themed premiere week Monday, August 4 - Friday, August 8. Meteorologist Tyrone and sportscaster Pablo play basketball with Grecian gods Austin, Uniqua and Tasha in "Match on Mt. Olympus" (Monday, August 4, 9:00 a.m. ET/PT). Dora and her friends go on a Super Adventure Race in "We're a Team" (Tuesday, August 5, 9:00 a.m. ET/PT), and Kai-lan attempts a T-Rex footprint jump in the Dinosaur Games in "Sports Day" (Wednesday, August 6, 9:00 a.m. ET/PT). Anchoring the week is a repeat of "Dora's World Adventure" (Thursday, August 7, 9:00 a.m. ET/PT) and a marathon of sports-themed episodes (Friday, August 8, 6:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. ET/PT).

The following is a rundown of Nickelodeon's sports-themed episodes (All times ET/PT):

-- Friday, August 1 (8:00 p.m.) -- The Fairly OddParents "The Fairly Oddlympics" PREMIERE

Timmy Turner convinces the fairies, anti-fairies and pixies to compete in the Fairy World Games to determine once and for all "who is the best magical creature in the universe." Timmy's world competition pits them against each other in rainbow jumping, dragon lifting, North Pole vaulting and the million-year dash -- and covering the momentous event with Timmy is none other than Olympic figure-skating-gold-medalist Scott Hamilton. At first everything is going well for the fairies, as the athletic Jorgen easily wins the first five events for them. But it goes south quickly when the cheating anti-fairies and pixies coerce Timmy into betting his future on the fairies' victory and then knock Jorgen out of the games completely. Timmy's got to take charge of the fairy team and get them to focus before he ends up in the hands of Anti-Cosmo or HP (Head Pixie -- guest voice Ben Stein) forever. And Scott Hamilton's no help because he's convinced he's having the oddest dream of his life.

-- Monday, August 4 (9:00 a.m.) -- The Backyardigans "Match on Mt. Olympus" PREMIERE

Meteorologist Tyrone and sportscaster Pablo operate out of a classic TV station in ancient Greece. Tyrone forecasts a sunny day, and Pablo wants to play basketball until suddenly it starts to rain. In this new episode, which features a samba soundtrack, the duo travel to Mt. Olympus to try to convince the god of weather to make it stop raining. On the way they meet Uniqua, the goddess of naps and Austin, the god of laughter, both of whom Pablo teaches a few basketball moves. Finally they encounter Tasha, the mighty goddess of weather who insists that they beat her in a game before she'll stop the rain.

-- Tuesday, August 5 (9:00 a.m.) -- Dora the Explorer "We're a Team" PREMIERE

Dora and her friends, Boots, Benny, Tico and Isa, are at the Super Adventure Race. To win the race and get to the finish line, they have to make it across the Troll's tricky bridge, past the volcano filled with gooey balls, and over the giant wall. In order to win the medals, Dora and her team will need help from the viewers at home.

-- Wednesday, August 6 (9:00 a.m.) -- Ni Hao, Kai-lan "Sports Day" PREMIERE

Today is the Dinosaur Games and Kai-lan and her friends are excited to play dinosaur-themed games in the backyard, such as the T-Rex footprint jump and the dino-race. When Rintoo wins every game, he starts to brag about how great he is making Tolee, Hoho, and Kai-lan feel bad and ultimately causing Tolee and Hoho to quit the Dinosaur Games. It's up to Kai-lan and the viewers to help Rintoo see how his actions are affecting his friends. In the end, Rintoo apologizes and they all have a blast playing, and winning medals that Yeye gives them all.

-- Thursday, August 7 (9:00 a.m.) -- Dora the Explorer "Dora's World Adventure"

In "Dora's World Adventure," everyone is celebrating Friendship Day all over the world. But when Swiper mistakenly swipes the special glowing friendship bracelets from France, Tanzania, Russia and China, Dora teams up with him on a global excursion to return them to her international friends. In France, they sing the "Bonjour" song and meet the smiling Gargoyle who leads them to the Eiffel Tower. Dora and Swiper then journey across Tanzania on an elephant until they reach Mount Kilimanjaro. In Russia, they make silly faces to get the Russian troll to laugh and open the gate to the Winter Palace. Lastly, the duo takes a train ride across China and "super jumps" over the Great Wall. Along their adventures, Dora, Swiper and the preschoolers at home learn how to say hello in each country's native language.

-- Friday, August 8 (6:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.): All four of the episodes above will encore during a sports-themed marathon on Nick Jr.

Nick Jr. is a specially designed programming block airing on Nickelodeon weekdays from 9 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. (ET/PT). 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 29th 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 96 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for more than 13 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA) (NYSE:VIA.B)

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Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: Media, Heather Brown, +1-310-752-8207, Heather.brown@nick.com,
or Margo Zinberg, +1-212-846-6240, Margo.zinberg@nick.com, both of
Nickelodeon

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

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Profile: International Entertainment