Sprout® Celebrates the Holidays with Sesame Street®'s Elmo and Special Holiday-Themed Movies Starring Caillou®, Barney(TM) The Dinosaur and More

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 18, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- 24-hour preschool television channel Sprout is celebrating the holiday season by welcoming everybody's favorite furry red monster, Sesame Street®'s Elmo, to The Sunny Side Up Show on Tuesday, November 30, 2010 from 9 a.m. – noon ET. 

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Elmo will appear live on The Sunny Side Up Show, along with hosts Kelly and Chica the Chicken, to take calls from Sprout viewers, read birthday cards, and send out holiday wishes to families all over the country.  Emmy Award®-winning performer and producer Kevin Clash is Sesame Street's Muppet Captain and force behind Elmo. 

The holiday fun continues throughout the entire month of December with the airing of a different movie every Friday at 1 p.m. ET:

• Friday, December 3 – "Elmo's World Happy Holidays"
• Friday, December 10 – "Barney™'s Christmas Star"
• Friday, December 17 – "Caillou's Holiday Movie"
• Friday, December 24 – "Bob the Builder™: A Christmas to Remember"

From 1 – 6 p.m. ET on Christmas Eve, Sprout will air "Elmo's Movie Merry-thon," a special movie marathon hosted by Elmo, featuring the Caillou, Bob the Builder and Elmo movies listed above, as well as "Barney™'s Night Before Christmas."  Following the marathon, Sprout's fourth annual Snooze-a-Thon, featuring 12 uninterrupted hours of "keep 'em asleep" programming, will air from 6:00 p.m. ET straight through to 6:00 a.m. ET Christmas morning.

The popular Snooze-a-Thon will once again feature hosts Nina and Star from The Good Night Show® snoozing comfortably on the set, along with clips of beloved characters from preschool favorites like Sesame Street®, The Wiggles®, and Berenstain Bears™ catching some zzz's.  So, no matter what time of night the kids are up checking for the sound of reindeer hooves on the roof, parents can tune into Sprout to show them that even their favorite television friends are fast asleep waiting for Santa to arrive.

SproutOnline.com is a great family destination for winter-themed games, the popular Snowman-o-gram, and more.  For additional information on Sprout programs or schedules, or to play games, download free coloring pages or find great activities for kids, visit SproutOnline.com.  To find out where Sprout is available in your area, call 1.8.SPROUT.411 or go to SproutPlease.com. 

About Sprout®

PBS KIDS Sprout, the first 24-hour preschool destination available on TV, on demand and online for kids ages 2-5 and their parents and caregivers, was created as a partnership among Comcast Corporation, HIT Entertainment, PBS and Sesame Workshop.  Since debuting its video on demand (VOD) service in April 2005, Sprout has become the #1 On Demand service for younger children, and is on track to reach one billion orders in 2010. 

The 24-hour digital channel, which launched in September 2005 along with the website (SproutOnline.com), is the only channel that follows the day of child from breakfast to bedtime with its distinctive programming.  Currently, Sprout is available in over 50 million unique households. The network's program lineup of gold-standard, curriculum-based children's shows includes:  Sesame Street®, Bob the Builder™, Barney & Friends™, The Wiggles®, Thomas & Friends™, Angelina Ballerina™, Caillou®, The Berenstain Bears™, Fireman Sam™, Fifi and the Flowertots™, dirtgirlworld and more.

SOURCE PBS KIDS Sprout