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Avatar Breaks New Ground as Primetime Special & Nick Nightly Strip

Just as Nickelodeon's hit animated comedy/adventure series, AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, premieres in an all-new epic adventure titled, "Avatar: Secret of the Fire Nation" on Sept, 15, 2006, from 8:00-9:00 pm, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER reveals that Nick will air the show weeknights at 6:30 pm, starting Sept. 25. An expanded online initiative will also be launched for the show.

In the one-hour episode, Aang and his friends are prevented from taking the easy route into Ba Sing Se while escorting a family of refugees and are faced with the challenge of making their way through the deadly Serpent's Pass. Aang discovers a secret Fire Nation invention heading straight for Ba Sing Se and must figure out how to stop it before it destroys the great wall that protects the city. The special will repeat Sept. 16 at 8:00 pm and Sept. 17 at 4:00 pm on Nickelodeon.

For a deeper, interactive Avatar experience, fans can log onto the AVATAR SECRET SCENE CREATOR on www.nick.com, where they will find the tools they need to create an original character and animate it to produce their own AVATAR scenario.

Nickelodeon selected 10 scenes from the online game, recorded the dialogue with the actual AVATAR voice actors and is featuring the completed scenes on Nickelodeon television as on-air interstitials. More than 100,000 scenes have been created and submitted to date.

THE SECRET SCENES CREATOR is just one part of a larger online initiative for AVATAR. In July, a new enhanced AVATAR supersite launched on Nick.com (www.nick.com/all_nick/specials/secret), giving fans details on the environments, games, videos, character profiles and more.

"AVATAR fans are among the most interactive in Nickelodeon's history, so along with this special, which is full of captivating martial arts and incredible adventures, we've added another way for viewers to engage with the show," said Tom Ascheim, evp/gm, Nickelodeon Television. "For the first time, fans that go to nick.com will be able to create their own AVATAR character and animate their own ideas into fantastical adventures � landing some of their scenes on our air."

Kids may also log onto www.nick.com, to play AVATAR: TRIALS OF SERPENT'S PASS, where they are able to guide a band of hearty travelers through the perilous Serpent's Pass. Also available from THQ will be a new AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER videogame. On Sept. 19, Nickelodeon Home Ent. and Paramount Home Ent. will release a six-disc box set, AVATAR: THE COMPLETE BOOK 1 COLLECTION.

Nickelodeon recently greenlit a third season of the series, which will bring the show�s episode total to 60. The series is Nickelodeon�s top-rated Friday show. As a weekday strip, it will join Nick's top staples � SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, JIMMY NEUTRON and THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS.

Nickelodeon is also extending AVATAR to what it calls international micro-sites, across Europe, localizing them to the tastes and language of each audience. There are five sites across Europe � U.K., Germany, Holland, Spain and France are currently live on each channel's website and, in October, will fully launch on a dedicated site, versioned in five languages.

For example, the German language version is loaded with sneaks peaks and episode highlights while the U.K./English language version features a message board popular with U.K. audiences.

The October launch will include a major pan-European competition tied with competition spots airing across al Nick�s European platforms, including three mobile services. Seven games will be adapted for the micro-site and launch each month following the initial launch of the site. HR reports they also are slated to roll out in Australia, New Zealand and Latin America soon.

AVATAR is one of Nickelodeon most unique offerings in Europe and recently completed the first season run Nick�s international channels. The micro-site launch will coincide with the second season launch of AVATAR across Europe.

First launched in February 2005, AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER was created and is exec produced by Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko at the Nicktoons Studios in Burbank, California.

Nickelodeon, in its 27th year, is the #1 entertainment brand for kids. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon�s U.S. television network is seen in more than 90 million households and has been the #1-rated basic cable network for more than 10 consecutive years.