Discovery Kids on NBC Returns This Fall With a Compelling New Comedy, Rousing Reality Shows, Animated Adventures and a Gripping Mystery Series

    SILVER SPRING, Md., July 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The fun won't stop at
 Discovery Kids this September just because summer is over.  Discovery Kids on
 NBC will get a jump-start on its fall season line-up starting on Labor Day
 Weekend.  Beginning Saturday, September 4, Discovery Kids on NBC will roll out
 new episodes of some of its popular Saturday morning series and starting
 October 2, look for a brand new series from the producer of Lizzie McGuire
 called DARCY'S WILD LIFE.  From compelling reality series just for kids to
 entertaining, live-action narrative shows to award-winning real-world
 animation, Discovery Kids continues to put its quality stamp on programming
 for kids and tweens.  And every Discovery Kids program entertains and engages
 kids like nothing else on TV can.
     All of these series will debut on the Discovery Kids on NBC Saturday
 morning block and will also air on the Discovery Kids Channel.
 
     New to the Discovery Kids lineup is:
 
       * DARCY'S WILD LIFE -- A new live-action comedy series, from the
         producer of Lizzie McGuire, that follows the antics of a teenage girl
         who has been transplanted to a rural farm with her movie-star mom.
         Series premieres on October 2 and will air weekly from 12:30-1:00 PM
         ET/ 10:30-11 AM PT.
 
     Returning to the Discovery Kids lineup are:
 
       * KENNY THE SHARK -- New episodes start October 2 and air weekly from
         10-10:30 AM ET/8-8:30 AM PT
 
       * TUTENSTEIN -- New episodes start September 4 and air weekly from
         10:30-11 AM ET/8:30-9 AM PT
 
       * TRADING SPACES: Boys vs. Girls -- New episodes start September 4 and
         air weekly from 11-11:30 AM ET/9-9:30 AM PT.
 
       * ENDURANCE -- New episodes (including a two-part casting special) start
         September 4 and air weekly from 11:30 AM-Noon ET / 9:30-10 AM PT.
 
       * STRANGE DAYS AT BLAKE HOLSEY HIGH -- New episodes start September 4,
         and air weekly from Noon-12:30 PM ET / 10-10:30 AM PT.
 
       * SCOUT'S SAFARI -- Encore episodes continue to air in September from
         12:30-1 PM ET / 10:30-11 AM PT.
 
       (Check local listing as airtimes may vary)
 
     Here's a closer look at what's in store for kids this fall:
 
     DARCY'S WILD LIFE (** NEW SERIES **) -- Series will debut on October 2 and
 will air weekly from 12:30-1:00 PM ET/ 10:30-11 AM PT.
     From the executive producer of Lizzie McGuire, Stan Rogow, comes a new
 live-action comedy series debuting on Discovery Kids on NBC this fall.  Darcy
 Fields has enjoyed life as the pampered teenage daughter of a top Hollywood
 movie-star -- a world of limos, movie-premieres, Jimmy Choo shoes, Stella
 McCartney fashions and salt glow massages.  So, when her mom decides to uproot
 the family from their cushy existence and move to a rural farm in search of
 the simple life, Darcy's dismay is understandable.
     Luckily, Darcy has a good heart and an innate generosity.  Encouraged by
 her mother to develop a work ethic and make some extra money, Darcy gets a job
 at a local vet's office where she learns more than she ever wanted to know
 about animals, and even a bit about herself.  Most of the time, Darcy finds
 herself in some pretty wild situations -- co-starring in a commercial with a
 rowdy chimp, or planning the party of the year only to have it crashed by 200
 baby chicks!  But despite all of Darcy's comedic mishaps, she has a lot of old
 fashion pluck, and discovers she can rise to occasions -- saving a horse,
 birthing a calf -- that she never even dreamed she would encounter.
     DARCY'S WILD LIFE is executive produced by Stan Rogow.  It is produced by
 Temple Street Productions in association with Discovery Kids.  Douglas Tuber
 and Tim Maile are the Creators and Co-Executive Producers.  For Temple Street
 Productions, Ivan Scheenberg and David Fortier are Executive Producers.  For
 Discovery Kids, the executive is Jessica Hanlon, Marjorie Kaplan is the
 General Manager and Jim Rapsas is VP, Development.
 
     KENNY THE SHARK -- Airs weekly from 10-10:30 AM ET/8-8:30 AM PT
     [NEW EPISODES to debut on October 2]
     The eight-foot tiger shark with an endless appetite for adventure cruises
 back for a second season of biting humor and fun facts about sharks.  Each
 episode follows Kenny, a loveable predator who's gotten a little too
 comfortable in his cushy world away from water, and his partner-in-crime, 10-
 year-old Kat Cassidy, on two different comic adventures.  Mischievous
 escapades planned for this season include: Kat enlisting Kenny as drummer for
 her rock band (but Kenny must wear ear plugs since sharks have super sensitive
 hearing), Kenny and Kat trying to salvage Kat's Dad's "Veggie Hut" business
 (but no, Kenny -- eating the ATM machine is not the best way to get more cash
 flow) or teaching survival skills to a baby shark (uh ... that's survival in
 the ocean Kenny -- learning how to use a remote control is not part of this
 lesson plan).  In each fishy tale, Kenny must curb his voracious appetite for
 just about anything in his path (including Kat's friends and the living room
 couch.)
     KENNY THE SHARK is produced by Phase Four.  Winnie Chaffee and Peter Roos
 are executive producers.  For Discovery Kids, Bob Mittenthal and Jim Rapsas
 are executive producers and Marjorie Kaplan is the executive in charge of
 production.
 
     TUTENSTEIN -- Airs weekly from 10:30-11 AM ET/8:30-9 AM PT.
     [NEW EPISODES debut September 4.]
     The mummy returns in the second season of the Daytime Emmy-Award-winning
 "Real Toon," TUTENSTEIN.  The series chronicles the antics of a 10-year-old
 mummy boy-king, who awakens in the modern era certain that he still rules all.
 Stinky bandages, spellbinding scrolls, all-powerful deities and gateways to
 the underworld fill Tut's lively adventures -- and it's all based on real
 Egyptology.  In Season 2, Tut stirs up trouble in surprising ways ... drag
 racing in his chariot; jealously banishing a stuffed woolly mammoth to the
 Underworld; unleashing a demon whose hunger for gobbling shadows puts
 everyone's lives at risk; and ... baby-sitting?  As always, while Tut's taking
 on the ancient forces of darkness, his friend Cleo and cat-servant Luxor must
 help him avoid discovery by the museum staff and just about everyone else!
     TUTENSTEIN is a co-production of PorchLight Entertainment and Discovery
 Kids.  Bruce Johnson is executive producer.  For Discovery Kids, Jessica
 Hanlon is executive producer and Marjorie Kaplan is the executive in charge of
 production.  Egyptologist Dr. Kasia Szpakowska served as a consultant to the
 series.
 
     TRADING SPACES: Boys vs. Girls -- Airs weekly from 11-11:30 AM ET/9-9:30
 AM PT.
     [NEW EPISODES debut September 4.]
     The going gets tougher and a whole lot sloppier on the new season of the
 hit reality series Trading Spaces: Boys vs. Girls, the show which lets boys
 and girls put up their decorating dukes and battle it out in an effort to
 transform each other's blase bedrooms into spectacular spaces ... in just two
 days!  In an exciting new twist, the kids will get down and dirty (and quite
 possibly, sticky and goopy) as they go head-to-head in a series of extreme
 Boys vs. Girls challenges.  The team that emerges victorious from round one
 will get to kick up their heels and relax for a bit while the show's squadron
 of anonymous workers, "The Labor Savers," come in to lighten the workload.
 Tune in this season for more spectacular transformations, like an 8 ft. dragon
 that breathes fire to light up a boy's very own "Sorcerer's Lair" or a "Pet
 Palace" with matching palatial beds for a girl and her best friend, her dog
 Spike.
     TRADING SPACES: Boys vs. Girls is produced by Banyan Productions, which
 also oversees production of TLC's TRADING SPACES.  For Banyan, Susan
 Cohen-Dickler, Jan Dickler and Ray Murray are executive producers and Margaret
 Cronan is series executive producer.  For Discovery Kids, Martha Ripp is
 executive producer and Marjorie Kaplan is the executive in charge of
 production.
 
     ENDURANCE: Hawaii -- Airs weekly from 11:30-Noon ET and 9:30-10 AM PT.
     [NEW EPISODES debut on September 4.]
     Die-hard fans of this hit reality competition series were actually given
 the chance to compete in this year's show.  Season three kicks off with a two-
 part casting special, showing the grueling journey just to make the cut.  Host
 J.D. Roth travels to kids' hometowns to personally invite them on the
 adventure of a lifetime.  Then, the series' most diverse cast ever of 20
 tweens says "Aloha" to the lush tropical paradise of Kauai island where they
 will compete in a series of physical and mental challenges, vying for a trip
 to the Galapagos Islands.  Endurance: Hawaii features more episodes (21, not
 13), more suspense and more daunting challenges.  But kids who think they've
 got the game figured out from watching the first two seasons are in for a huge
 surprise.  ENDURANCE: Hawaii features non-stop twists that will turn their
 world and the game as we know it upside down and on its head.  Friendships are
 built and loyalties tested as teams try to beat the odds and those who can
 think on their feet and adapt to change stand the best chance of becoming
 ENDURANCE champions.  And, if the grueling physical trials weren't enough, the
 kids of ENDURANCE: Hawaii had to endure torrential rain storms, intense heat,
 and sparse accommodations (their beds consisted of wooden slabs in huts!).
 Host J.D. Roth and his team have devised new games this season that test
 brains and brawn, all to earn the 12 pyramid pieces of endurance.
     ENDURANCE: Hawaii is produced by Three Ball Productions.  J.D. Roth is
 host, creator, and executive producer.  For Discovery Kids, Erin Wanner is
 executive producer and Marjorie Kaplan is the executive in charge of
 production.
 
     STRANGE DAYS AT BLAKE HOLSEY HIGH -- Airs weekly from Noon-12:30 PM ET/
 10-10:30 AM PT
     [NEW EPISODES debut on September 4]
     The plot thickens at Blake Holsey High, an unusual school where time
 warps, black holes and radioactive rumbles torment and intrigue the after-
 school Science Club.  Last season, the murky mystery of neighboring Pearadyne
 Labs heated up ... this year the kids get closer to the truth than ever
 before.  Josie, Marshall, Corinne, Lucas and Vaughn find their deepening
 friendships put to the test by eerie new developments.  Will Vaughn have to
 decide whose side he's really on ... Josie's or his father's?  And what will
 the reappearance of Josie's enigmatic clone mean to the group?  Are she and
 the mysterious janitor working with the science club, or against them?  As
 they wrestle with the powerful forces of science, from cold fusion to nano-
 technology, the kids find they are stronger when they work together, but that
 doesn't stop one of the members from quitting the science club!  This season,
 they'll also go back in time to the school's 1879 founding, Pearadyne lab's
 strange 1987 accident and learn about the fate of Vaughn's mother, Sarah
 Pearson.
     The series is produced by Blake Holsey Productions Inc. in association
 with Fireworks Entertainment.  Tony Thatcher and Kevin May are producers and
 Jeff F. King and Adam Haight are executive producers.  For Discovery Kids, Jim
 Rapsas is executive producer and series creator, Erin Wanner is executive
 producer and Marjorie Kaplan is the executive in charge of production.
 
     Discovery Kids lets kids explore the real world.  The Saturday morning
 block on NBC and the Discovery Kids 24-hour digital channel offer
 entertaining, engaging, high-quality, real-world programming for kids.
 Building on Discovery Networks signature areas of science, adventure,
 exploration and natural history as well as a genre just for kids, real-world
 narrative and its signature animation, RealToons, each Discovery Kids show
 gives kids another perspective of the world in which they live and the
 possibilities available to them.  Discovery Kids ... it's really, really real!
 
 

SOURCE  Discovery Kids