Nickelodeon Embarks on a Three-Ring Circus Adventure in The Wonder Pets! 'Join The Circus!,' New Prime-Time Special Premiering Monday, March 9, at 8:00PM (ET/PT)

Nickelodeon Embarks on a Three-Ring Circus Adventure in The Wonder Pets! 'Join The Circus!,' New Prime-Time Special Premiering Monday, March 9, at 8:00PM (ET/PT)

Anne Meara, Jerry Stiller and Ben Vereen to Guest Star During Brand-New Wonder Pets Premiere Week, Monday, March 16 - Friday, March 20

The Wonder Pets!: Join The Circus DVD Available Feb. 24 In Stores Nationwide

(*Art and DVD screener available upon request)

NEW YORK, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Preschoolers will have a front-row seat for what could be the greatest rescue on earth in the new prime-time special, The Wonder Pets! "Join The Circus!," premiering Monday, March. 9, 8:00 - 8:30 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon. The excitement continues with a week of brand-new episodes Monday, March 16 - Friday, March 20, featuring guest voiceovers from Anne Meara, Jerry Stiller and Ben Vereen. Since debuting in 2006, the Emmy Award-winning The Wonder Pets!, produced by Little Airplane Productions, remains the number one-ranked preschool program in its 10:00 a.m. (ET/PT) timeslot and is the number two-ranked preschool program on all of commercial TV with K2-5.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090217/NY71766 )

"There's big drama in the Big Top and it's up to the Wonder Pets to save the day," said Brown Johnson, President, Animation, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group. "'Join The Circus!' serves up three-ring thrills as Linny, Tuck and Ming-Ming are reminded of how important it is to work together as a team."

In "Join The Circus!," it's summer vacation and the Wonder Pets rescue a young circus lion named Cubby from falling off a circus train. The Penguin Ringmaster is so impressed with the Wonder Pets that he offers them jobs at the circus! However, there is one catch: the team will have to split up and do separate acts. Linny is unsure but accepts the offer when she sees how much it means to Tuck and Ming-Ming. When Cubby and his friends Baby Panda and Baby Monkey get stuck on the high wire during a performance, the Wonder Pets reunite to rescue them. In the end, the Wonder Pets decide to return to their classroom, where they can work as a team again to rescue animals in trouble.

The schedule for The Wonder Pets! premiere week is as follows (all times are ET/PT):

   --  Monday, March 16 (10:00 a.m.): "The Adventures of Bee & Slug" --       Little Bee and Slug accidentally take the Flyboat for a ride that       quickly gets out of control.   --  Tuesday, March 17 (10:00 a.m.): "Save The Old White Mouse!" --       Features Jerry Stiller as Old White Mouse and Anne Meara as Ginny. The       Wonder Pets travel to Linny's grandmother Ginny's local nursing home       to rescue an Old White Mouse who's stuck in a cuckoo clock.   --  Wednesday, March 18 (10:00 a.m.): "Save The Glowworm!" -- The Wonder       Pets help a Little Glowworm discover what she's good at - glowing!   --  Thursday, March 19 (10:00 a.m.): "Save The Hound Dog!" -- The Wonder       Pets travel to Memphis to save a Baby Hound Dog in a mansion who is       stuck inside a jukebox.   --  Friday, March 20 (10:00 a.m.): "Save The Rat Pack!" -- Features Ben       Vereen as voice of Sammy. The Wonder Pets travel to Las Vegas to       assist three performing Rats who are having trouble working together       on their song and dance routine. / "Save The Fiddler Crab!" --       Features music by Jerry Bock, the original composer for Fiddler On The       Roof. The Wonder Pets journey to a small village in Russia to save a       Fiddler Crab on the roof of a small house.    

Beginning Tuesday, Feb. 24, The Wonder Pets!: Join The Circus DVD will be available in stores nationwide. Created by Nickelodeon Home Entertainment and distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment, The Wonder Pets!: Join The Circus includes the title episode plus three additional new-to-DVD episodes from the series and a bonus music video.

Nick Jr. will roll out content from "Join The Circus!" across the following platforms:

   --  Beginning Monday, March 2, Nick Jr. Video, Nick Jr.'s broadband video       service available on Nickjr.com, will begin streaming a two-minute       'sneak peek' and song clips from "Join The Circus!" plus additional       themed episodes from The Wonder Pets!. The full episode of "Join The       Circus!" will be available on Nickjr.com immediately following the       television premiere.   --  Beginning Monday, March 2, a two-minute sneak peek, song and episode       clips from "Join The Circus!" will be available on various wireless       carriers.   --  Throughout March, various The Wonder Pets! episodes will be available       via Nickelodeon on Demand.   --  "Join The Circus" will be simulcast on Nickelodeon Mobile on Monday,       March 9.    

Nick Jr.'s award-winning website (www.nickjr.com) will feature an interactive game and activities to complement the premiere of "Join The Circus!" Beginning Wednesday, Feb. 25, Nickjr.com will feature "The Wonder Pets Join The Circus" game, where kids can go online and join the act by spelling out words with seals, getting penguin clowns to the show and helping orangutans perform on the trapeze. Nickjr.com will also feature circus-themed printables, crafts, activities and more.

Emmy award-winning The Wonder Pets!, from creator/executive producer Josh Selig of Little Airplane Productions, Inc., is TV's first mini-operetta for preschoolers and the first preschool series to feature an extensive lineup of Tony award-winning and nominated Broadway composers, including the series' lead composer Larry Hochman (orchestration for Monty Python's Spamalot), Bobby Lopez (Avenue Q), and Jason Robert Brown (Parade). Grammy Award-winning producer and recording engineer Jeffrey Lesser serves as music producer/music supervisor for the series. All of the music on The Wonder Pets! is recorded with a live orchestra and much of the dialogue is sung in operetta style. The acclaimed series recently received a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction & Composition in 2008.

The Wonder Pets! chronicles the adventures of three funny, singing classroom pets: Linny the Guinea Pig (Sofie Zamchick), Ming-Ming Duckling (Danica Lee) and Turtle Tuck (Teala Dunn), who travel the world and use teamwork to save animals in distress. Every episode of The Wonder Pets! is an original mini-operetta filled with world music influences suited to the locale of the day's adventure. At the end of each school day when the teachers and students have all gone home, the fearless trio become The Wonder Pets!. Like real preschoolers, The Wonder Pets! have no actual super powers, but they work together as a team to overcome adversity and achieve great success. The show's curricular goals are based on developing appreciation and orientation towards teamwork and creative problem solving.

Founded by Josh Selig in 1999, Little Airplane Productions created and produced The Wonder Pets! for Nick Jr., Go, Baby! for Playhouse Disney and Oobi! for NOGGIN (winner of a 2001 Gold Parents' Choice Award) and 3rd & Bird! for the BBC's CBeebies. Additionally, Josh Selig was the Head Writer for Little Bill on Nick Jr. He has received ten Emmy Awards for his writing on Sesame Street and was the Resident Producer of the historic Israeli/Palestinian Sesame Street co-production (winner of the 1998 Japan Prize). Josh Selig also writes a weekly column for Kidscreen Magazine called Planet Preschool which can be read at www.kidscreen.com. For more information about Little Airplane Productions please visit www.littleairplane.com.

Nickelodeon, now in its 30th 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 98 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 14 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com/. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA) (NYSE: VIA.B) .

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Photo: AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN14

Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: Maggie Wang, +1-212-846-6381, Maggie.wang@nick.com or Heather
Brown, +1-212-846-6240, Heather.brown@nick.com

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

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Profile: International Entertainment