Make Family Channel your ho-ho-home for the holidays

HAWAIIAN HOLIDAY CROSSOVER SPECIAL FROM JESSIE AND LIV AND MADDIE

THE NEXT STEP SIX-PART NATIONALS STORY ARC AND SEASON 2 FINALE

ORIGINAL CAST MEMBERS FROM BOY MEETS WORLD GUEST STAR ON GIRL MEETS WORLD

TORONTO, Nov. 25, 2014 /CNW/ - It's the most wonderful time of the year on Family Channel as the network's annual Twistmas campaign returns to spread holiday cheer. Family's giving gifts galore this December by treating fans to seasonal crossover episodes from Jessie and Liv and Maddie, jaw-dropping season finales of Austin & Ally, The Next Step and Jessie and epic guest stars by way of Girl Meets World. Filling out the holly jolly lineup are merry marathons and movies, plus, Family.ca is the #1 Twistmas vacation destination stocked with exclusive contests, winter games and activities.

Step into the holiday season with a six-part story arc from Family's top-rated series The Next Step as A-Troupe heads to Nationals. The dancers will face-off against the fiercest competitors from across the country including arch-rivals, Elite, and defending champs, Life of Dance, beginning Friday, November 28 at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT and wrapping up with the explosive season two finale on Friday, January 2. This Friday's episode features a special performance by Canadian pop-star Shawn Desman, who appears in all six episodes.

Family serves up a tropical treat to help battle the winter chills with the premiere of Jessie's Aloha Holidays with Parker and Joey on Friday, December 5 at 6:40 p.m. ET/PT. In the extended crossover special with Liv and Maddie's Parker and Joey, Jessie and the Ross kids plan a tropical Christmas at the family's Hawaiian villa where Jessie reunites with her famous friend, Shaylee Michaels (Maia Mitchell, Teen Beach Movie). Leading into the episode are ho-ho-holiday episodes of Phineas and Ferb, Austin & Ally, Liv and Maddie and Jessie beginning at 5 p.m. ET/PT.

Keeping spirits bright throughout the week, it's back-to-back Christmas episodes on Wednesday, December 10 beginning at 4 p.m. ET/PT. Amongst the fan-favourite episodes is a brand new I Didn't Do It at 7 p.m. ET/PT titled "Merry Miss Sis," where Logan wishes he never had a sister when his and Lindy's sibling rivalry reaches an all-time high during their family festivities. A special angel grants his wish and shows Logan how different his family and friends would be if Lindy wasn't around. 

On Friday, December 12 at 7 p.m. ET/PT, Boy Meets World fans won't want to miss a brand new episode of Girl Meets World titled "Girl Meets Home for the Holidays." In the reunion special, Cory's best friend Shawn Hunter (Rider Strong), Riley's grandparents (Betsy Randle and William Russ) and Uncle Joshua (Uriah Shelton) all come over for dinner. Meanwhile, Topanga works on executing the perfect meal to put her mother-in-law at ease while Shawn sees his likeness in Maya and forms a bond with her and Riley. Ushering in the nostalgic episode is a brand new Dog With A Blog at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT where Stan hides all of the holiday presents in an effort to teach the James-Jennings kids the true meaning of Christmas.

Family rings in the New Year early with a marathon from Liv and Maddie on Tuesday, December 23, beginning at 4 p.m. ET/PT. The event concludes with a brand new episode at 7 p.m. ET/PT titled "New Year's Eve-A-Rooney," where Liv co-hosts and performs at a New Year's Eve party. The New Year's celebrations continues on Thursday, January 1 with the season three finale of Austin & Ally at 7 p.m. ET/PT.  In "Relationships & Red Carpets," Austin and Ally's relationship hits another road block when his music label forces him to hide their relationship from the public. Meanwhile, Dez contemplates moving to L.A. in an effort to be closer to his girlfriend and attend film school.    

Throughout the month, fans can cozy up with festive feature flicks including Elf and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York as well as celebrated Disney Channel Original Movies like Zapped and Princess Protection Program. Plus, from Boxing Day through the New Year, Family has a week-long Twistmas marathon featuring top-rated series including Girl Meets World, I Didn't Do It, Austin & Ally and Jessie. As part of each marathon, which run weekday afternoons from 4 – 7 p.m. ET/PT, a new episode will premiere.

The merriment continues when Family.ca becomes the ultimate Twistmas activation station beginning December 1. Fans can enter two massive contests next month in this year's "Big Give Contest," where kids can win tickets to see Taylor Matthews perform live in concert, as well as "The Next Step Viewing Party Contest," for the chance to win the biggest and best at-home viewing party for The Next Step season finale on January 2. While on the site, kids can also play both winter and holiday-themed games, watch holiday episodes and send Twistmas E-Cards to their friends and family. Family OnDemand will also offer various seasonal episodes as they become available weekly beginning December 5.

Family Channel is a premium, commercial-free network offering the best in family television entertainment in approximately 6 million homes across Canada. Dedicated to celebrating family life and providing a fun experience for all, Family airs a unique mix of series, movies and specials, with a large portion of programming supplied by Disney. Family Channel also offers Family OnDemand, a television-based Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) service and Family OnLine, an internet-based, streaming service, these services, available at no additional cost, present hit Disney movies and series, plus top-rated Canadian series to subscribers when they want it, where they want it. Visit us at Family.ca.

About DHX Television
DHX Television is comprised of Family Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior (English & French) and is part of DHX Media Ltd. (www.dhxmedia.com), a leading broadcaster, creator, producer and marketer of family entertainment. The Company markets and distributes its library of more than 11,000 episodes of entertainment programming worldwide, and licenses its owned properties through its dedicated consumer products business. DHX Media Ltd.'s full-service international licensing agency, Copyright Promotions Licensing Group Ltd. (CPLG), represents numerous entertainment, sport and design brands. DHX Media Ltd. has offices in Toronto, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Halifax, London, Paris, Barcelona, Milan, Munich and Amsterdam, and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker DHX.

SOURCE: Family Channel

Joanna Landsberg, Publicist, DHX Television, [email protected], 416.956.8547