Nickelodeon‘s live-action telenovela-style series, “House of Anubis”, returns for Season 2 (45 new half-hours) beginning Monday, Jan. 9, at 7:00 p.m. (ET/PT). House of Anubis follows a group of students who uncover and solve mysteries at an English boarding-school while dealing with the highs and lows of their teenage years.

In Season 2, a new mystery unfolds as Nina (played by Nathalia Ramos) and her friends return for their second year at Anubis House. The season will also introduce several new characters and feature series-regular Eddie (Burkely Duffield), a self-styled punk bad-boy from America. Duffield will also star as the dim-witted stepbrother in Nickelodeon’s brand new Cinderella -inspired original TV movie, “Rags”, set to premiere in 2012. New episodes of House of Anubis will roll out in a daily format, Monday-Friday from 7:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon.

“Nickelodeon viewers responded in a big way to the cool setting and edge-of-your-seat suspense that the first season of ‘House of Anubis’ offered,” said Marjorie Cohn, President, Development and Original Programming, Nickelodeon. ”For Season 2, Nick brings this series to the next level with heightened social stakes, a few fresh faces and more mystery that will keep fans coming back for more.”

In Season 2, the teens of Anubis House undertake a series of challenges in order to find a powerful and long-forgotten treasure. They realize their boarding-school experience consists of more than just pillow fights, midnight feasts, heartbreaks and betrayals, when an ancient force stirs within the house and sends them on a dangerous mission.

In the premiere episode, ‘House of Hello,’ the students return after the holidays, but who is Jerome avoiding and why? The Sibuna Gang has a midnight feast in the attic and finds a dollhouse. Nina also looks for a new hiding place for the Cup but will Victor find her first?

Viewers can visit iTunes.com/HouseOfAnubis to download all of Season 1 of the show for free from Dec. 19 – Jan. 10. Nickelodeon’s website, www.nick.com, currently features full episodes and show-clips from Season 1, character journal-entries, sneak-peek photos from Season 2, quizzes and more. Additionally, fans are encouraged to submit their own fiction stories on the House of Anubis message-board. Beginning Jan. 9, fan stories will be highlighted on the website each week.

An established Nickelodeon hit in Europe, House of Anubis is the first-ever Nickelodeon U.S. live-action show produced in the U.K. and airs on other Nick channels around the world. The first season of ‘House of Anubis’ (new episodes Mon-Fri at 7 p.m.) averaged a 5.5/1.2 million kids 6-11 rating, 4.7/1.0 million tweens 9-14 rating and delivered an average of 2.9 million total viewers for its first season.

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It’s been more than two years since the film about the life of Liberace was announced but now there should be official movement in the production. Academy Award winning director Steven Soderbergh will direct Michael Douglas and Matt Damon as they explore the stormy relationship between the legendary entertainer and his younger lover, Scott Thorson.

Douglas will play Liberace and Damon Scott Thorson while Emmy Award winning producer Jerry Weintraub will help get this movie to the screen on HBO.

The film Behind the Candelabra was announced by Len Amato, the president of HBO Films last week. With Soderberg, who we know from Contagion, Traffic and Ocean’s Eleven, comes a script by Oscar nominee Richard Lagravenese (Water for Elephants) and producers Gregory Jacobs (Contagion, The Informant!) and Susan Ekins (Ocean’s Eleven, The Karate Kid series) while Weintraub will be the executive producer.

“This is a story that’s going to surprise a lot of people,” said Amato in a press release. “It’s funny, heartbreaking and always fascinating, and we are delighted that Jerry and Steven brought the film to HBO. With Steven at the helm, directing such accomplished actors as Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, this is a dream project for us.”

Weintraub continues “I’ve wanted to make a film about Liberace for a very long time, and after the amazing experience I had with HBO on ‘His Way,’ I knew that they were absolutely the right place for this movie. I am thrilled that we have the incomparable Michael Douglas to inhabit the role of Liberace, as well as the exceptional Matt Damon to play the pivotal part of Scott Thorson.

Putting these two fine actors in the creative hands of Steven Soderbergh – it doesn’t get better than that!” It has come a surprise to many that the behind-the-scenes feature will hit TV rather than cinemas. The flamboyant Liberace made a name for himself as the highest paid entertainer in the world between the 1950s and 1970s, according to Wikipedia.com

“From the inception of this project, we’ve had two priorities: getting it right creatively, and getting as many people as possible to see it,” says Soderbergh. “HBO’s fearless approach to original programming and their unparalleled ability to pull in viewers make them the perfect fit for us. Apart from my hair growing back, I couldn’t be happier.”

Behind The Candelabra will start production in 2012, with locations in Los Angeles, Palm Springs and of course, Las Vegas.

Peter Albrektsen / Shutterstock.com

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