As a result of the pending merger between CBS and Viacom, which owns

Nickelodeon, some of Nick Jr.'s top preschool shows may air on CBS Saturday

mornings. The shows would help breath life into CBS' low-rated block of

Saturday morning children's programming according to executives from both

companies who spoke on condition of anonymity. No final decision has been

made on which shows will air on CBS, though the hits BLUE'S CLUES and

LITTLE BILL are almost Eyeball Channel bound. The move is reminiscent of

On Sunday, February 20, 2000, everyone's favorite alien villain from Space

Ghost's CARTOON PLANET, Brak, will present his own half-hour musical

variety show on Cartoon Network entitled BRAK PRESENTS THE BRAK SHOW

STARRING BRAK. Starting at 7 pm, the special will feature 10 original songs

and many comedy sketches. The dimwitted host gets the chance to sing a

heart-warming duet with R&B singer Monica, ride down a country road in an

ol' pick-up truck singing the tune "Highway 40" with teen film star Freddie

To celebrate the American holiday, President's Day, Fox Family will be

hosting a seven hour marathon of ANGELA ANACONDA on Monday, February 21,

2000. Fourteen episodes of the hit animated series will air back-to-back

starting at 7:30 am. Catch all of Angela's misadventures with her friends

and chief rival Nanette Manoir, her stuck-up blonde classmate.

The Krislin Company has gained the rights to produce an animated TV series

based off of Los Kitos Entertainment's LOS KITOS comic strip. Currently

running in more than 200 newspapers worldwide, the strip, created by

Colombian-born Martha Montoya, addresses the concerns of Hispanics and

other immigrant groups and highlights cultural awareness. Walt Kubiak,

president of the Krislin Company said, "We are very excited about our

association with LOS KITOS and look forward to introducing this fine

Johnny Bravo will host a talk show and chat with callers live on Cartoon

Network. The toon's flamboyant personality will be brought to life with

Alive Animation's Multi-Standard Instant Cartoon Images (MICI) system.

Programmed to pose Johnny in hundreds of positions, the MICI system also

instantly lip synchs the voice actor to his alter-ego. THE BIG BRAVO-LIVE!

will begin airing February 21 - 25, 2000. This historic event can be

attributed to the success of Johnny Bravo's new weekday morning talk show

In association with Children's Television Workshop and IF/X Productions,

CineGroupe will be producing 40 half-hour episodes of SAGWA, THE CHINESE

SIAMESE CAT for PBS KIDS. The series is adapted from the award-winning

children's book by Amy Tan, author of THE JOY LUCK CLUB. SAGWA follows the

title character's escapades through Ancient China. Each episode will

include 11-minute segments and related interstitials woven together by

music, folk stories and fairy tales. The executive producers of the project

Vitoria, Spain-based Mb Producciones is reaping a huge success from its new

animated series MIMI AND MR. BOBO. Since its debut on TVE, the average

share the series has received is 25.8. The show airs Saturday at 9 am and

re-runs at 8:30 am on Sundays. Mb Producciones is currently in negotiation

to create merchandise for the program with several well-known Spanish toy

and book companies. The company is also in the developing stage of a

feature based on the characters of the MIMI AND MR. BOBO series.

Disney's THE WEEKENDERS is set to premiere on ABC's "Disney's One Saturday

Morning" line-up Saturday, February 26, 2000 at 8:30 am. Each episode

follows a quartet of friends over one weekend from Friday after school to

Sunday evening. The series will be directed by Steve Lyons and is produced

by Walt Disney Television Animation.

Montreal-based CineGroupe and Saban International Paris will co-produce a

new half-hour series entitled WUNSCHPUNCH. The show will be based on the

novel by Michael Ende, whose previous novel, THE NEVER ENDING STORY was

made into a live-action feature. Radio Canada will broadcast the series in

Canada and TF1 will air it in France. Hubert Gariepy and Bruno Bianchi will

produce the series and Philippe Amador will direct.

Spumco's John Kricfalusi will be bringing his offbeat humor to a new Fox

Kids Network series entitled, THE RIPPING FRIENDS. Scheduled to hit the air

Fall 2000, the show will follow the adventures of 4 wacked out superheros.

Kricfalusi will provide at least one of the voices for the series. This

show will be Kricfalusi's first television series since Nickelodeon booted

him off of his brain child REN AND STIMPY.