From Saturday, June 24 to Monday, June 26, 2000, MTV will air Animationfest Weekend, which will feature the series debut of SPY GROOVE. Throughout the weekend, MTV will air fan favorite episodes of DARIA and CELEBRITY DEATHMATCH. MTV will run sneak peeks at SPY throughout the marathon, with the premiere of the new show at 10:30 pm June 26. GROOVE follows the missions of two suave secret agents sent out into the world to protect the Average Joe from bad style.

In a new animated short entitled WILL’S WORLD, U.S. pop star Britney Spears seduces the trousers right off Prince William. Airing on June 21, 2000 on the U.K.’s Channel 4, the special cartoon is a funny send off to celebrate the Prince’s 18th birthday. The 18-year-old singer, Spears, has long expressed her hots for the hunky prince, elder son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana. One portion of the cartoon shows the teenaged temptress pulling down the prince's trousers as she pursues him.

In the first major move from the Viacom/CBS merger, Viacom-owned Nickelodeon has verified it will program CBS's Saturday morning children's schedule with six half-hour series debuting Saturday, Sept. 16, 2000. The deal was rumored in February as part of the then pending Viacom and CBS merger [2/22/00]. CBS's Saturday morning lineup will feature new and existing series from the "Nick Jr." block, which features programs designed specifically to entertain and educate young viewers. CBS's 2000-2001 children's lineup, entitled "Nick Jr.

The Harvey Entertainment Company announced the acquisition of all television rights to one of the longest running comedy properties on the Internet, WALTER MILLER'S HOME PAGE. Emmy Award winner and former Saturday Night Live film producer Neal Marshad of Neal Marshad Productions will produce the pilot for Harvey, with Tony Eastman (director of Nickelodeon's DOUG pilot) set to serve as creative consultant. Kristin Hawley will head the project for The Harvey Entertainment Company. The site appeared in cyberspace September of 1995.

Makati City, Philippines-based pasi and BKN Kids have teamed up to co-produce 40 half-hour episodes of KONG, THE ANIMATED SERIES. As part of the pact, pasi and BKN will also produce a direct-to-video feature entitled KONG, KING OF ATLANTIS. The series is scheduled to air in over 80 territories. KONG will put a modern twist on the classic King Kong character by pitting the gentle-hearted giant against his enemies, who want to capture the power of the Internet. The demands of producing 40 episodes at a rapid schedule pace will require pasi to utilize several allied studios throughout Asia.

Nelvana Limited announced it has acquired the development, production, distribution and associated merchandise licensing rights for animated television programming, based on the 13-book series, DOCTOR DOLITTLE, written and illustrated by Hugh Lofting. Nelvana has also acquired the production publishing tie-in rights to animated television programming, which the company will develop and produce from its adaptation of the book titles. Nelvana will also develop and produce original stories based on the classic character, who made his book debut in 1920.

Swedish-based animation studio Filmtecknarna F. Animation has produced a 90-second short for Cartoon Network entitled JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS IN MUSICAL EVOLUTION. The film is part of the Cartoon Network’s "Shorties" series. In the spot, classic Hanna-Barbera characters Josie and the Pussycats take viewers on a journey through musical styles including punk, country, disco, heavy metal and techno. The spot was directed by Jonas Odell and produced by Leila El-Zein. Craig "Sven" Gordon was the Cartoon Network creative director.

After only two airings, ABC has cancelled Kevin Smith’s animated TV series CLERKS. The teen-targeted toon debuted on May 31 with a poor rating of 5.2 and slipped to a 4.1 for its Tuesday, June 6 episode. Insiders say that ABC became initially scared of the toon when advertisers balked on its edgy humor. The series was original scheduled to be a 1999-2000 midseason replacement series. Advertising jitters may have lead to ABC’s decision to make the toon a summer release, which drew much publicized heat from creator Kevin Smith [AWN 3/13/00].

TV veteran Larry Charles has been added to Columbia TriStar’s live-action TV version of THE TICK as an executive producer and show-runner. As part of the deal, Charles has extended his overall production-development pact with Columbia TriStar. Previously, Charles worked on SEINFELD and MAD ABOUT YOU and most recently executive produced Columbia TriStar's animated series DILBERT for UPN.

Britt Allcroft, producer and rights holder of THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE, has signed distribution deals that will send the little engine that could and other properties to Nickelodeon, Paramount and Disney. The deal with Nickelodeon will see THOMAS aired on the station daily and ties into the release of the feature based on the TV series entitled THOMAS AND THE MAGIC RAILROAD. A 15-year Paramount pact will bring 39 30-minute episodes of the pre-school animated MUMFIE to video.