Super Bowl Update

Exciting new concerts, specials and children’s programs highlight KET’s 2012 holiday programming, the schedule of which was announced on Monday.

Viewers can kick off the holiday season with National Christmas Tree Lighting 2012 on Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. (9 Eastern) on KET. The program includes appearances and performances by some of the most recognizable names in entertainment, followed by the 90th annual lighting of the national Christmas tree by a very special guest.

Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Featuring Jane Seymour and Nathan Gunn airs Sunday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. (8 Eastern) on KET2 and Monday, Dec. 24 at 8 p.m. (9 Eastern) on KET. Seymour and Gunn join the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for a Christmas concert in Salt Lake City featuring some of the season’s best-loved songs.

Kentucky programming is also celebrating the holidays this season. The concert choir and chamber singers of Murray State University perform seasonal tunes in The Holidays at Murray State on Wednesday, Dec. 12 at 9 p.m. (10 Eastern) on KET2 and Monday, Dec. 24 at 9 p.m. (10 Eastern) on KET.

In Crafting a Kentucky Nutcracker: Louisville Ballet & The Brown-Forman Nutcracker, viewers go on a unique journey behind-the-scenes as the Louisville Ballet re-imagines this beloved holiday favorite. The program airs Tuesday, Dec. 18 at 9:30 p.m. (10:30 Eastern) on KET2.

Berea College Christmas Concert...Music for All features several music groups, including the award-winning Black Music Ensemble and the popular Bluegrass Ensemble, performing traditional and contemporary holiday pieces. The program airs Tuesday, Dec. 25 at 9 a.m. (10 Eastern) on KETKY.

In an encore presentation of a Kentucky Life holiday program airing Saturday, Dec. 22 at 7 p.m. (8 Eastern) on KET, host Dave Shuffett and the Kentucky Life crew visit the Santa Train in Eastern Kentucky, which is laden with gifts for children, and Shuffett meets celebrity guest Wynonna Judd. Also, the program explores how Kentuckians celebrated Christmas during the Civil War, visits the Kentucky town of Nazareth, and explores Rough River Dam State Resort Park’s Winter Wonderland celebration.

KET’s children’s programming also joins in the holiday cheer with The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About Christmas! This adventure finds the Cat in the Hat, Nick, and Sally on a journey around the world to help a lost reindeer find his way home for Christmas. The program airs Wednesday, Nov. 21 at 8 a.m. (9 Eastern) and Tuesday, Dec. 25 at 8 a.m. (9 Eastern) on KET. Also, on Arthur’s Perfect Christmas, the residents of Elwood City get ready for Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa and “Baxter Day.” The program airs Wednesday, Dec. 19 at noon (1 Eastern) on KET.

On Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas on Tuesday, Dec. 25 at 7 a.m. (8 Eastern) and noon (1 Eastern) on KET, George and the Man With The Yellow Hat have a great time getting ready for Christmas. There’s only one problem: neither of them can figure out what to give the other for a present.

The cartoon fairy ballerina Prima Princessa takes a group of preschool children on a magical Christmas journey to see a live performance of “The Nutcracker” performed by England’s world famous Birmingham Royal Ballet in Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker. The program airs Friday, Dec. 28 at noon (1 Eastern) on KET.