Vampires, rock stars and practical jokers join Teletoon’s winter sked

Teletoon Canada has announced its mid-season lineup, featuring the premiere of My Babysitter’s a Vampire on Thursday, Jan. 5 at 8 p.m. and three other new series.

The 13-episode Babysitter is a Teletoon original production, inspired by the Bruce McDonald-directed movie of the same name from last fall. The half-hour comedy has already been greenlit for a second season and was developed by Toronto-based Fresh TV and FremantleMedia Enterprises, in association with Teletoon Canada.

Babysitter follows Ethan Morgan, who, while at first mortified at being assigned a babysitter by his parents, is thrown into a world of supernatural battles against zombies, demons and werewolves, because his babysitter turns out to be half-vampire.

Also new to the lineup is Mudpit (13 x 30 mins), premiering Jan. 5 at 7:30 p.m. Produced by Cookie Jar Entertainment, the CGI and live-action hybrid was shot at CBC Studio 40 in Toronto.

Mudpit takes place in a gaming café and is centered on four teens who pursue their hopes of becoming rock stars both in real life and in the virtual world.

Animated action series Detentionaire (14 x 30 mins) premieres Jan. 5 at 6:30 p.m. Teletoon aired a five-ep “sneak peek” in September to drum up interest for the Nelvana-produced show’s debut.

Lee Ping is the Detentionaire. At the beginning of what’s supposed to be the best year of his life, Lee is blamed for a practical joke that lands him in detention for the rest of the year. The episodes follow his quest to find the true perpetrator and clear his name.

Debuting Jan. 2 at 8:30 p.m. is R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour (22 x 30 mins), based on short stories by the acclaimed horror author (think: Goosebumps for a new generation).

Production on the Vancouver-shot series was handled by: Vancouver and L.A.-based Front Street Productions and Vancouver’s Two 4 The Money Media in association with California-based The Hatchery. Distribution was handled by Montreal-based Incendo and U.K.-based Endemol.

The Haunting Hour originally aired in the U.S. on The Hub, which has renewed the series for a second season.

Returning to Teletoon is the fourth season of Fresh TV’s animated reality series Total Drama: Revenge of the Island (13 x 30 mins), on Jan. 5 at 7 p.m.

Babysitter, Mudpit and Detentionaire have been added to a new Thursday night programming block called Can’t Miss Thursdays!, with encore episodes airing on Sunday nights in the same timeslots.

The Haunting Hour will air with new episodes Monday to Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.