A Call Girl, The First Lady of Comedy and a British Import Come to Movie
Central and The Movie Network in January

Showtime's new reality comedy series La La Land premieres on January 25 alongside new seasons of Secret Diary of a Call Girl and Tracey Ullman's State of the Union

TORONTO , Dec. 16 /CNW/ - Corus Entertainment's Movie Central (Western Canada ) and Astral Media's The Movie Network (Eastern Canada ) bring a full slate of Showtime programming to subscribers with a must-see Monday night line-up beginning Monday, January 25, 2010 . Secret Diary of a Call Girl (Season 3) premieres at 10 p.m. ET / 9 p.m. PT , followed by Tracey Ullman's State of the Union (Season 3) at 10:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 p.m. PT , and British comedy sensation Marc Wootton closes the evening with his new half-hour comedy series La La Land at 11 p.m. ET / 10 p.m. PT .

Additional information on these series is outlined below:

La La Land

Premieres Monday, January 25, 2010 at 11 p.m ET/ 10 p.m. PT

Award-winning British comedian Marc Wootton stars in this new six-episode, half-hour series about three wannabes struggling to find fame and fortune in Los Angeles . Wootton plays Brendan Allen , a talentless documentary filmmaker on a quest to become the next Morgan Spurlock ; Shirley Ghostman, a medium willing to lie, cheat and even drug his way to becoming America's next psychic superstar; and Gary Garner , an East-London taxi driver using the inheritance from his late porn-star mother to forge a career as an action star like his hero Jason Statham . La La Land is a hybrid of documentary and comedy - Marc plays fictitious characters but everybody else in the show, including his accomplices such as Brendan's assistant Kiki, Gary's driver Chico and Gary's mentor Ruta are completely real and utterly unaware they are talking to an actor.

Secret Diary of a Call Girl (Season 3)

Premieres Monday, January 25, 2010 at 10 p.m. ET / 9 p.m. PT

Belle is a high-class call girl who is on top of the world after turning her personal sex-capades into a best-selling book, and finally finding her dream guy. In the new season, Belle is tasked with writing a revealing follow-up to her book, but finds that uncovering new material may mean putting herself in some wildly unexpected positions. Also, her new luck in her love life means a bigger commitment that may expose her true-self to everyone she knows. Starring Billie Piper

Tracey Ullman's State of the Union (Season 3)

Premieres Monday, January 25, 2010 at 10:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 p.m. PT

Famed comedienne Tracey Ullman returns featuring a kaleidoscope of original characters and impersonations in irreverent and hilarious skits that range from sardonic parody and social satire to Bollywood musicals. Over the last two seasons, Ullman has tackled the country's celebrity-obsessed, 24-hour news culture by portraying a variety of characters from celebrities such as Cameron Diaz , Renée Zellweger, Dina Lohan , Tony Sirico and David Beckham to politicians and pundits like Laura Bush , Nancy Pelosi and Arianna Huffington. Additionally, Ullman has created a new line-up of original characters that reflect a cross-section of American society from an Indian pharmacist to a homeless woman without health insurance to a soldier on temporary leave from Iraq .

Also debuting on Movie Central and The Movie Network on Monday, January 25 is the new Starz action-adventure original drama series Spartacus: Blood and Sand, premiering Monday, January 25, 2010 at 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. PT . Weaving together stories rich in character, action, sex and combat, the series tells the ancient story of the Roman Republic's most infamous rebel.

New episodes of the Secret Diary of a Call Girl and Tracey Ullman's State of the Union will be simulcast on Movie Central and The Movie Network's High Definition channels and all subsequent Showtime series episodes will also be available on Movie Central On Demand and The Movie Network OnDemand following their network premieres.

Movie Central is a 24-hour-a-day, commercial-free premium pay TV service available to Western Canadians. Exclusive multi-year output agreements with major Hollywood studios ensure that Movie Central is the preferred destination for box office titles. In addition to being the first window, Canadian home to the best of HBO and Showtime, through its investments, pre-buys and licence fees for Canadian feature films and original series, Movie Central is recognized as a major force in the Canadian independent film and television production industry. The launch of Movie Central On Demand and Movie Central High Definition demonstrates that Movie Central remains committed to being first with innovations that enhance the viewing experience. Visit the Movie Central website at www.moviecentral.ca.

Movie Central is owned by Corus Entertainment Inc. 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.

The Movie Network is a pay television service available in eastern Canada . With premiere access to Hollywood hit movies, new and exclusive HBO content, critically-acclaimed Showtime series and first-rate Canadian programming, this pay-television service presents Canadians with some of the best television entertainment available. The Movie Network service includes five 24-hour multiplex channels - M, HBO Canada , MExcess, MFun! and MFest - which deliver diverse and entertaining programs in an uncut and commercial-free television environment. The Movie Network also offers The Movie Network HD, HBO Canada HD, MExcess HD and MFun! HD, four dedicated high-definition channels providing hundreds of titles in HD; The Movie Network OnDemand, a Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) service, available in select areas across eastern Canada ; and, TMN OnLine an Internet-based content streaming service available to BellTV subscribers. For more information, please visit www.themovienetwork.ca.

The Movie Network is an Astral Media Television Network. Astral Media is a leading Canadian media company, active in specialty and pay television, radio, outdoor advertising and iMedia. Astral Media's solid and dynamic presence in the country's major markets rests on its commitment to offer a unique combination of high-quality, targeted media for all its audiences.

For access to The Movie Network's media room or Movie Central's press site, please visit http://tv.astral.com or http://pressroom.corusent.com.

For further information: Movie Central (Western Canada): Owen McCorquodale, [phone], [email protected]; The Movie Network (Eastern Canada), Nicolle Balen, [phone], [email protected]