October Brings Spooktacular Specials to Family Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD

• Monstober comes to Family Channel, with the network premiere of Disney Channel's Original Movie, Girl vs. Monster; plus new seasons of Really Me, Austin & Ally and Jessie
• Emmy Award-winning actress Carol Kane (The Princess Bride), Tiffani Thiessen (Saved By The Bell) and Tori Spelling (Beverly Hills, 90210) guest star in new Halloween-themed episode of Disney Junior's Jake and the Never Land Pirates
• Disney XD debuts Monster Mayhem, featuring premiere episodes of Slugterra, Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil, Lab Rats, Fish Hooks, Motorcity and Randy Cunningham: 9^th Grade Ninja

TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - Get ready for an eerie-sistible October with Halloween-themed programming all month long on Astral's Family Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD. Family delivers a Monstober line-up of shriek-worthy season premieres and fright-filled flicks, including the network premiere of Disney Channel's Original Movie, Girl vs. Monster. Disney Junior celebrates Halloween every weekend morning throughout the month with new episodes of Jake and the Never Land Pirates and Doc McStuffins. Disney XD launches a month of Monster Mayhem, with new Halloween-themed episodes of favourite series including a premiere from Randy Cunningham: 9^th Grade Ninja guest starring Sarah Hyland (Modern Family).

Family Channel
To kick off the month, Family pays tribute to the undead with zombie-themed episodes airing on Friday, October 5 starting at 4 p.m. ET/PT. The line-up includes the second season premiere of Really Me, where Julia arranges for a new zombie film to be shot at Maddy's house.

It's a Halloween Night of Premieres on Friday, October 12 beginning at 5 p.m. ET/PT with a new episode of Gravity Falls titled "Summerween" followed by the season two premiere of Austin & Ally and a new episode of A.N.T. Farm. Capping off the night's thrills is the Disney Channel Original Movie, Girl vs. Monster at 8 p.m. ET/PT, starring Olivia Holt (Disney XD's Kickin' It) as Skylar Lewis, a fearless teenager who discovers her family's closely-guarded secret - that she comes from a long line of monster hunters.

Monstober Fridays continue on Friday, October 19 at 5:30 p.m. ET/PT with new Halloween episodes of Good Luck Charlie and Really Me, followed by the second season premiere of Jessie, in which the Ross kids worry about their Halloween plans after a scary old doorman tells them a mysterious legend about the building.

Frightful flicks air throughout the month on Friday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT and on weekends at 12 p.m. ET/PT and 9 p.m. ET/PT, with titles including Spooky Buddies, Twitches, Twitches Too, Return to Halloweentown and Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie.On October 31, Family rolls out Halloween-themed episodes of fan-favourite series including Gravity Falls, Austin & Ally, A.N.T. Farm, Good Luck Charlie, Really Me and Jessie all day long. Viewers can head to Family OnDemand where episodes from the Monstober celebration are uploaded weekly beginning October 5.

Monstober continues at Family.ca with a dedicated portal launching September 28. Visitors can check out the Halloween-themed site for costume tips, makeup tricks and to play haunting games like the Gravity Falls-themed "Fright Night." Also launching on Family.ca is a Girl vs. Monster supersite, with new games rolling out throughout October.

Disney Junior
Disney Junior celebrates Halloween with treats including Halloween-themed episodes every weekend throughout October from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET. The not-so-scary line-up includes new episodes of Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Doc McStuffins and Handy Manny.

On Sunday, October 7 at 9 a.m. ET, Emmy award-winning actress Carol Kane (The Princess Bride), Tiffani Thiessen (Saved By The Bell) and Tori Spelling (Beverly Hills, 90210) lend their voices to a brand new episode of Jake and the Never Land Pirates. In "Tricks, Treats and Treasures/Season of the Sea Witch," Jake and his crew invite Captain Hook to join them as they "Trick and Treasure" throughout Never Land. In the second story, Izzy dresses up as the Pirate Princess to fool the Sea Witch, who has returned to Never Land to turn the real Pirate Princess into gold. The group succeeds in transforming the wicked Sea Witch into Misty the Wonderful Witch.

Disney Junior premieres a new episode of Doc McStuffins on Sunday, October 14 at 10 a.m. ET, titled "Boo-Hoo To You/It's Glow Time," where Doc helps a pop-up toy ghost overcome his fear of Halloween and diagnoses Donny's toy glow-in-the-dark monster with "No-glow-atosis."

Manny and the tools are going trick-or-treating in a new episode of Handy Manny on Sunday, October 21 at 9:30 a.m. ET. When the group arrives at Mrs. Lopart's door, something is amiss - there's a bat in her attic! Turner is afraid to admit that he's afraid but with Manny's guidance, he learns to both admit and face his fears, while helping to carefully remove the bat.

Disney Junior OnDemand will host the Halloween episodes available this month beginning October 5. DisneyJunior.ca is also showing its Halloween spirit with a supersite launching on October 1. Little ones can play the new Jake and the Never Land Pirates game "Bucky's Halloween Haunt" and will find brand new Halloween-themed activities and colouring sheets.

Disney XD
Monster Mayhem takes over Disney XD bringing with it spine-tingling episode premieres throughout the month. New Halloween-themed episodes of Slugterra, Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil, Lab Rats, Fish Hooks, Motorcity join the line-up along with a premiere episode of Randy Cunningham: 9^th Grade Ninja guest starring Sarah Hyland (Modern Family) where Randy and Howard try to figure out what is turning everyone into zombies.

On Sunday, October 28 beginning at 4 p.m. ET, viewers can catch a special Monster Mayhem event featuring back-to-back Halloween-themed episodes and movies. The frights continue on Halloween Day with a marathon of favourite episodes starting at 6 a.m. ET. For more Monster Mayhem, viewers can head to Disney XD OnDemand beginning October 2, where themed episodes become available weekly throughout the month.

Fans can visit DisneyXD.ca beginning October 1 to conjure up their very own monster-morphosis and enter it in the Monster Mayhem Mash-up contest for the chance to win a Monster Jam eXperience for four (4) people in Minneapolis, MN. Viewers can tune into Disney XD on Sunday, October 28 during the Monster Mayhem event to see if their monster creation is one of the lucky finalists when they are shown on the channel. Following the on-air reveal, viewers can head to DisneyXD.ca to vote for their favourite monster mash-up for a two-day voting period, with the winner being announced exclusively online on Halloween Day: Wednesday, October 31.

Family Channel is a premium, commercial-free network offering the best in family television entertainment in over 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, broadband service. Both of these services offer hit Disney movies and series, top-rated Canadian series to subscribers when they want it, where they want it. Visit us at Family.ca.

Disney Junior is a commercial-free channel available in English and French to subscribers across Canada. Committed to offering the best in engaging and development-based programming for younger children, Disney Junior showcases series with a focus on magical, musical and heartfelt stories that feature beloved classic and contemporary characters. Presenting exclusive, first-run programs from Disney together with celebrated Canadian series, Disney Junior is also available through Disney Junior OnDemand and Disney Junior OnLine.

Disney XD is an advertising-supported digital specialty network and multiplatform brand offering a compelling mix of high definition live-action and animated programming to homes across Canada. Disney XD features series, movies and short form content that focus on comedy, discovery, accomplishment and adventure. Disney XD programming is also available through dedicated on demand and broadband services. Visit us at DisneyXD.ca.

Family Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD are members of the Astral family. Astral Media Inc. (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 interactive 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.

SOURCE: Family Channel

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