It’s the most wonderful time of the year as Astral’s Family Channel spreads the holiday spirit with the return of its annual Twistmas programming line-up from November 30. Family celebrates the season with two holiday-themed Night of Premieres, Twistmas Marathons and a special hosted New Years Day Countdown. Family OnDemand will be stuffed like a stocking with Twistmas episodes beginning December 7.
Christmas comes a little early this year with a Twistmas Merrython on November 30. Beginning at 6 p.m. ET/PT, Family gifts viewers with winter-themed episodes of Shake It Up, So Random!, Jessie, A.N.T. Farm and the network premiere of the feature film Christmas with the Kranks at 8 p.m. ET/PT. With their daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo) away, parents Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Luther (Tim Allen) decide to skip Christmas altogether until she decides to come home, causing an uproar when they have to celebrate the holidays at the last minute.
Family kicks off the month of December with a Twistmas Night of Premieres on Friday, December 7 beginning at 5 p.m. ET/PT. The special holiday-themed line-up includes premiere episodes of Dog With A Blog, Good Luck Charlie and Shake It Up, where CeCe has a dream starring Rocky as the Ghost of Christmas past, present and future. Rounding out the festive evening is the network premiere of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York starring Macaulay Culkin (Home Alone) at 8 p.m. ET/PT. One year after Kevin was accidentally left home alone, he finds himself alone again, this time in New York City, to ward off the same two bumbling burglars he once defeated.
On Friday, December 14, Family looks towards the end of 2012 with an All-Star New Year Night of Premieres starting at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT. The night features brand new episodes of popular series including Phineas and Ferb and a one-hour music-filled New Year’s-themed crossover episode of Jessie and Austin & Ally. When Austin is booked to perform in Times Square on New Year’s Eve, Jessie comes up with a plan to help the gang make it to the stage on time, hoping for a duet with Austin in return for the favour.
It wouldn’t be Twistmas without seasonal marathons featuring the network’s top series. From December 26 to January 4, Twistmas Marathons air weekdays beginning at 4 p.m. ET/PT each featuring back-to-back episodes from popular series including new episodes of Shake It Up, Dog With A Blog, Good Luck Charlie, Jessie, Austin & Ally and A.N.T. Farm.
Family rings in 2013 with a special New Year’s Day event hosted by Really Me’s Sydney Imbeau and Kiana Madeira. Beginning at 11 a.m. ET/PT on January 1, Family is counting down the best episodes of 2012 as decided by viewers. Throughout December, fans will have the chance to vote for their top 10 favourite episodes of the year on Family.ca with the winners airing back-to-back on New Year’s Day. The line-up also reveals a sneak peek of what’s to come on the network next year.
Family.ca delivers an extra burst of cheer this season as new games and activities are unveiled throughout the month. Visitors wishing to spread seasonal greetings to friends can do so with the return of Twistmas Giftmas, allowing them to send virtual gifts.
