TLC to Change Name to The Little Channel

SILVER SPRING, MD -- American cable television network The Learning Channel, abbreviated as TLC, announced today it will change it's full name to The Little Channel to better reflect it's recent shift towards little people oriented programming. The network, launched in 1981, already features shows such as 'The Little Couple', 'Little People, Big World', 'Little Chocolatiers', and the new 'Our Little Life', but after the name switch things will definitely be looking up for the new TLC. "People are short on time these days, so we want people flipping through the channels to know exactly what they'll be watching when they stop on TLC, and our name change reflects that," said Midge Shapiro, VP of Pint-Sized Programming for TLC. "They're saying to themselves, 'what could be on The Learning Channel?' They don't know and now they're changing the channel. 'Oh, but what's here on The Little Channel? I wonder if they have shows about midgets? Oh they do?' Now they're not changing the channel."

Since TLC already features a tall order of little people programming, the shift to all-small shows is no big deal. Among the new shows TLC plans to debut:

• 'Short Stack' - Featuring a little couple who run a pancake restaurant on the top floor of the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

• 'Littlest Leaguers' - Follows a group of thirty-something men of short stature as they attempt to compete against teams of twelve-year-olds in the Little League World Series

• 'Tiny Dancer' - Focuses on a little person aspiring to be a professional dancer as she trains for an audition with the Los Angeles Lakers dance team.
  

• 'Good Golly, Mini Molly' - Reality dating show in which a group of dwarf women compete to marry singer and pianist Little Richard.

• 'Little People, Studio Apartment' - Sitcom featuring Matt Roloff, the dwarf father from 'Little People, Big World', as he's trying to rebound from a divorce after his third DUI and is forced to move into a run-down city apartment with a group of wise-cracking Fischer-Price Little People® toys that live in his coat closet.

With a new branding identity on the horizon, set to be fully launched a teensy bit at a time, the network hopes the ratings that were once out of reach will now be in their grasp. "Although we're now The Little Channel, we here at the network do dream big," continued Shapiro. "As apposed to the stars of our programs, assuming their dreams are on a much smaller scale than ours. Hey, that could be another show! Diminutive Dreamers!"