MOVIE CENTRAL AND THE MOVIE NETWORK JUMP INTO JANUARY WITH ALL NEW SHOWTIME
PROGRAMMING FEATURING CALIFORNICATION, SHAMELESS AND EPISODES

• New slate of Showtime programming anchors Monday nights beginning January 10
• Shameless and Episodes debut, followed by season four of Californication
• Series stars include David Duchovny, Matt LeBlanc, William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum

TORONTO, Dec. 16 /CNW/ - Corus Entertainment's Movie Central (Western Canada) and Astral's The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) are ringing in 2011 with a new and exclusive slate of first-run Showtime programming with the return of Californication, and the debut of brand-new buzz-heavy series Shameless and Episodes. Airing back-to-back, the three series will anchor the Monday night line-ups on Movie Central and The Movie Network beginning Monday, January 10 at 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. 

Shameless

Premieres Monday, January 10 at 7 p.m. PT on Movie Central / 8 p.m. ET on The Movie Network

Based on the long-running hit UK series, Shameless stars William H. Macy as Frank Gallagher, a far-from-stellar working-class patriarch of an unconventional Chicago brood of six motley kids whose eldest daughter keeps the home afloat while he's out drinking and carousing. The 13-part, one-hour drama also stars Joan Cusack, Emmy Rossum, Justin Chatwin, Ethan Cutkosky, Shanola Hampton, Steve Howey, Emma Kenney, Cameron Monaghan, Jeremy Allen White and Laura Slade Wiggins. Shameless is executive produced by John Wells and Paul Abbott, and co-executive produced by Andrew Stearn.

Episodes

Premieres Monday, January 10 at 8 p.m. PT on Movie Central / 9 p.m. ET on The Movie Network

Executive produced and created by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, Episodes is a new seven-part, half-hour comedy series starring Matt LeBlanc, as Matt LeBlanc. When husband-and-wife writing team Sean and Beverly set out to reproduce their British TV hit for an American network, all of their worst fears come true as Hollywood lives up to its reputation for absurdity. After being cast in the starring role, LeBlanc takes the lead in deviously twisting their beloved series into a terrible cliché, while testing the couple's marriage with diversions and temptations. Also starring Stephen Mangan, Tamsin Greig, John Pankow, Kathleen Rose Perkins and Mircea Monroe. The series is a co-production between Showtime in the U.S. and BBC in the U.K.

Californication (Season 4)

Premieres Monday, January 10 at 8:30 p.m. PT on Movie Central / 9:30 p.m. ET on The Movie Network

Back for a fourth season, Californication stars David Duchovny in his Golden Globe^®-winning role as self-destructive, brutally honest and hedonistic novelist Hank Moody who struggles to raise his teenage daughter Becca, with on-again, off-again girlfriend Karen. In the new season, Hank will have to deal with the fall-out from his one-night stand with then-underage, pseudo-step-daughter Mia going public, and his epic legal troubles force him to enlist the aid of hot, high-powered defense attorney Abby (Carla Gugino) to keep him out of the big house. Season four guest stars include: Rob Lowe, Michael Ealy, Zoe Kravitz, Stephen Tobolowsky, Callie Thorne, Addison Timlin, and rocker Tommy Lee. Also starring Madeleine Martin, Natascha McElhone, and Madeline Zima.

New episodes of Californication, Shameless and Episodes will be simulcast on The Movie Network and Movie Central's High Definition channels and will be available on demand following their network premieres. New episodes of Shameless will also be available on The Movie Network OnLine following their premieres.

Movie Central is a commercial-free premium pay TV service available in western Canada. Movie Central premieres the best in Hollywood, international and Canadian films across nine 24-hour movie channels, including dedicated high-definition feeds, a Movie Central On Demand service and exclusive HBO content on HBO Canada. Movie Central is also the first window for Showtime content and home to cutting-edge Canadian series. A major force in the Canadian independent film and television production industry, Movie Central, through The Corus Made with Pay Fund, supports many critically-acclaimed and award-winning Canadian series and films. 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, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's animation. 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, Rogers and Videotron subscribers. For more information, please visit www.themovienetwork.ca .

The Movie Network is a member of the Astral family. Astral (TSX: ACM.A/ACM.B) is one of Canada's largest media companies. It operates several of the country's most popular pay and specialty television, radio, out-of-home advertising and digital media properties. Astral plays a central role in community life across the country by offering diverse, rich and vibrant programming that meets the tastes and needs of consumers and advertisers. To learn more about Astral, visit astral.com.

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

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