Family TV Round-Up: Christmas Programming, More Teens Watched the 'American Music Awards' and More

Welcome to the Family TV Round-Up, a recap of all kid-friendly programming across the television universe. We'll sum up all the news related to children's programming, as well as profile the people and shows that your kids, tweens and teens are talking about.

With Thanksgiving out of the way, thoughts turn to Christmas and the multitude of special family programming that the networks will pull out over the next 35 days. Fact is, the period between the two holidays probably offers the most family-oriented programming for the entire year. Here's a breakdown of what some of the networks are offering.
ABC: 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' will make its 45th annual primetime appearance on Tuesday, December 7, at 8PM. The hour-long program will also feature a new 'Prep & Landing' short -- 'Operation Secret Santa' -- which stars the voices of Dave Foley, Derek Richardson and Betty White as Mrs. Claus.

ABC Family: The cable outlet's annual '25 Days of Christmas' begins with 'Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas,' which airs now until November 30. In addition to yearly reruns of 'Miracle on 34 Street,' 'Home Alone,' and 'The Polar Express,' there are some new offerings. This includes 'The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation,' which stars the voices of Paris Hilton and Mario Lopez and premieres on Sunday, November 28, at 8PM.

Also premiering this Christmas is 'The Gruffalo,' which airs on Thursday, December 9, at 7PM. Based on the children's book of the same name, the animated special tells the story of a mouse who takes a walk through the woods in search of a special nut. The other new made-for-TV movie, 'Christmas Cupid,' airs on Sunday, December 12, at 8PM. It stars Christiana Millan as a high-powered publicist who revisits her past, present and future boyfriends during a visit from a dearly-departed client.

CBS: 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' will make its 46th annual appearance on television, the 38th on CBS, at 8PM on Tuesday, November 30. That will be followed on Saturday, December 11, with the annual airings of 'Frosty the Snowman' at 8PM, 'Frosty Returns' at 8:30 and 'The Flight Before Christmas' at 9. The network will round out its holiday specials with the animated 'Yes, Virginia' on Friday, December 17, at 8PM.

Disney Channel and DisneyXD: As usual, the cable outlets have a full schedule of offerings for their youngest and oldest viewers. This year's offerings include holiday-themed episodes of 'Handy Manny' (Monday, December 29 at 9 and 9:30AM), 'The Suite Life on Deck' (Friday, December 3, at 8PM), and 'Zeke and Luther' (Monday, December 6, at 8:30PM on DisneyXD).

'Special Agent Oso' will offer up two holiday-themed episodes. The 45-minute 'The Living Holiday Lights' will premiere on Monday, December 6, at 9AM while 'License to Sled,' which is more of a winter-themed episode, will air on Monday, December 27, at 8:30AM. 'Phineas and Ferb' will also offer up their own holiday special -- 'Phineas and Ferb's Christmas Vacation' -- which will make its annual Disney Channel premiere on Disney Channel on Friday, December 3, at 8PM. An extended version of the program will air the next night on DisneyXD at 8PM.

Finally, a new holiday-themed 'So Random!' edition of 'Sonny With a Chance' will debut this Sunday at 9PM with guest star Joe Jonas.

Nickelodeon: 'Big Time Rush' will get the holiday treatment with the hour-long 'Big Time Christmas' on Saturday, December 4, at 8PM. The special will feature three new songs, including a duet with 'iCarly' star Miranda Cosgrove and an animated video with Snoop Dogg.

In other news...

Thanks to Justin Bieber, last Sunday's broadcast of the '2010 American Music Awards' featured an uptick in kid and teen viewers. According to Cynopsis, viewership by teens was up 12%, and among kids 2-11, up 19%, the highest in six years.

Elmo is heading to Sprout's 'The Sunny Side Up Show' next week. The furry little monster will appear on Tuesday, November 30, from 9AM to noon. During the three hours he'll take calls, introduce the birthdays and send out holiday wishes to viewers.

Cartoon Network has decided not to pick up a second season of the live-action series 'Unnatural History.' No reason was given for the show's cancellation.

NBC will air the third family-friendly movie, made under its agreement with Proctor & Gamble and Walmart, next Friday. 'A Walk in My Shoes,' which stars Nancy Travis and features a soundtrack produced by Randy Jackson, will premiere at 8PM on December 3.

HUB programming reminders: 'G.I. Joe Renegades' and 'Transformers Prime' premiere this afternoon on The HUB. A sneak peek of both shows will air at 3:30PM with back-to-back episodes of 'Transformers' at 4 and 4:30PM and 'G.I. Joe' at 5 and 5:30PM.

Nickelodeon programming reminder: a one-hour edition of 'Victorious' airs tonight at 8PM. The special will feature a new song by the show's star, Victoria Justice.