Grab a box of tissues, a big bowl of ice cream and get ready for a never-ending "chick flick."

Packed with estrogen, Showcase's sassy sister is "the new girl in town." Showcase Diva pledges to show "star-studded movies and series with a bold female attitude."

Don't mess with this, babe.

"The idea was to provide an entertainment channel that combines romance and romantic comedy for a female audience," said Emily Morgan Showcase Diva's director of programming. But it has to be done in a fun way.

"[Women's Television Network] does a wonderful job with a broad range of programming," Ms. Morgan said, "But it's more of a lifestyle approach to programming, and we just wanted to do something different."

Sometimes, she added, women just want to have fun.

And in the digital channel universe, the name has say it all.

Earlier in the production stage, the channel was slated to be called Showcase Romance. Ms. Morgan said that just didn't evoke the right attitude. Taking its cue from a U.S. specialty channel "Romance Classics," which recently changed its name to "Women's Entertainment," Showcase embraced the "Diva" name.

"Romance is just not a sellable idea. Women just don't find that appealing, I couldn't stop thinking about Harlequin Romance novels," Ms. Morgan said.

The channel is just not so earnest in its approach, she said.

The on-air look is all about fun, Ms. Morgan said. Bright, cheery graphics by Jason Monger (who did graphics for Caban, Club Monaco's chain of houseware stores) will splash the screen with funky, leggy cartoon women emulating cool behind a hot pink background. The attitude, the image are about funk and groove.

"I think it helps create an environment of fun, it makes it an enjoyable place," Ms. Morgan said.

Diva's programming approach was to slate a mix of movies and classic series - no documentaries here.

Aimed specifically at women aged 18 to 35, the channel will air movies such as Bad Girls, about a gang of beautiful women who ride through the dusty landscape after a saloon prostitute is rescued from an abusive customer by her girlfriend - who is then sentenced to hang. The women, including Drew Barrymore, Mary Stuart Masterson and Andie MacDowell, make a wild west run for Texas.

Melanie Griffith is looking to get ahead in Working Girl, ready to use guerrilla tactics to get ahead in New York's financial district.

In The Princess Bride, Showcase Diva shows its softer side, telling the story of an ambitious prince who uses the help of a conniving henchman, a vengeance-seeking Spaniard and a misunderstood giant to find his lost love.

If you haven't had enough romance, the channel will air Carey Grant and Deborah Kerr's An Affair to Remember and John Cusack's Say Anything.

The channel is also showing series with sass. Diva hosts the Canadian premiere of Bad Girls, set in the tough world of a woman's prison where only the tough will survive.

Who could forget the sexual tension in Remington Steele, where Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist (playing Laura Holt) work as private investigators to solve crime.

Whoever said opposites attract could look at the retelling of Beauty and the Beast as an example. Ron Perlman plays Vincent, who must remain hidden because of his beastly appearance and later falls in love with Linda Hamilton, a wealthy woman from Manhattan.

In January, the girl party continues when Diva airs the original Charlie's Angels series. Don't forget, what's most important is how good the hair looks when you're solving those cases and running after the bad guys.running after the bad guys.