Animagic Entertainment has begun production on BALLOONATIKS, a new comic-action adventure CGI series being produced by The Krislin Company. The first episode is slated to show in October 2001 at MIPCOM. According to series producer Walk Kubiak (TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, THE SMURFS), “We have successfully developed a 3D look that challenges in quality and richness any high-end CGI-produced feature film, while working within the constraints of a typical Saturday morning budget.” Grammy award-winner Ray Parker Jr. composed the theme song and will provide music for the series.

According to an article in VARIETY, the six stars of THE SIMPSONS are signing deals worth a reported $100,000 per episode. The new contracts reportedly will pay Dan Castellaneta, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Yeardley Smith, Julie Kavner and Nancy Cartwright $2.2 million per season for the next two seasons, with an option for a third season of 22 episodes at $125,000 per episode. Currently, each of the actors makes $70,000 per episode, a significant jump up from the $25,000 per episode they were making in 1998, when they threatened to leave the show unless they received substantial raises.

Sony Pictures Family Entertainment has begun production on HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON, a new animated series scheduled for a December 2001 premier on HBO Family. Academy Award nominee Sharon Stone is set to narrate the series. Based on the classic children's book by Crocket Johnson, the simple characters and situations will be illustrated using cel animation. The series will feature all new characters and situations, as well as those which have appeared in the first book.

On Sunday, May 13, Cartoon Network will present JOHNNY BRAVO'S MOTHER'S DAY MAMA-THON, a 7-hour tribute to the “Lady Who Brought Us the Sultan of Self Regard, His Mama.” During the “Mama-Thon,” which runs from 12-7 pm (ET/PT), viewers can witness the many facets of Mama's personality, including disciplinarian (she wields a paddle in PREP SCHOOL JOHNNY), protector (leading a team of commandos to the mall to rescue her beloved son in LAW AND DISORDER), and even diva (Mama does a Marilyn Monroe impression in DUDE RANCH DOOFUS).

International television program distributor Rai Trade has announced the launch of THE ADVENTURES OF MARCO AND GINO, a new Eurovision series produced by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Budgeted for 10 million Euros, the series is co-funded by nine members of the Geneva-based EBU: BBC (UK), France Television (France), TVE (Spain), RTP (Portugal), RTBF (Belgium), SSR (Switzerland), ZDF (Germany), ORF (Austria) and Rai (Italy), as well as non-member France Animation. Rai Trade will have distribution rights to all countries except those of the other eight co-producers.

UNDERGRADS, a new animated series, will premier on MTV this Sunday, April 22, at 8 pm. Co-produced by Toronto’s Decode and MTV Animation, the series launch also includes a Website featuring Flash animated series out-takes, interactive animated games, character home pages, downloadable applications, weekly video clips, message boards and a chat area. Decode, which also owns the international television and video distribution rights, is launching a companion UNDERGRADS Web page for the international market.

In celebration of the tenth anniversary of the series, Nickelodeon will be broadcasting a special viewer's all-time 10 favorites RUGRATS marathon on Saturday, April 21, from 4:30 pm - 8 pm ET/PT. During the months of January through March, the network aired every episode of the series every produced. Viewers were invited to rate each episode on Nick.com. Voter tallies will determine the top 10 episodes. The top 10 will air in order, with the all-time favorite episode airing immediately preceeding the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.

Leading independent animation house Film Roman announced five new half-hour, animated properties at MIP on Monday, April 2, 2001. The new series include John Waters' PATENT LEATHER DREAMHOUSE, Norman Lear's 'TIL THE FAT LADY SINGS, HAIRBALLS, ZIPPY THE PINHEAD and TRIPPING THE RIFT. According to Peter Schankowitz, president of programming and development, "Our MIP slate reflects Film Roman's ability to partner with well known talent like John Waters and Norman Lear, as well as to develop our own properties in-house.

Bolstered by year-to-year quarterly growth across all kid and tween demos and strong performances of the four new series launched since January, Nickelodeon was the number-one basic cable network in the first quarter of 2001. The network averaged a 4.5/24 (1.4 million average kid viewers) among its primary kids 2-11 demo during the "Kids Day," up 3 percent in rating and 8 percent in delivery as compared to last year.

Cartoon Network scored the highest first-quarter prime time ratings and delivery performance of its history, landing in fourth place among all ad-supported cable networks, with a 1.7 prime household rating. The January-March '01 quarter also saw the largest net gain (177,000) in total day delivery among all ad-supported cable networks. Additionally, the network charted double-digit increases among households and all key demographics for total day rating and delivery, earning fourth place for the quarter, with a 1.1 total day rating.