Although ranking slightly higher than last week, FAMILY GUY is still drawing poor ratings. Its Thursday night at 8:00 pm time slot is a tough one, and the show only managed 86th place this week with a 2.8 rating/7 share. FUTURAMA is not doing much better. In its regular time slot on FOX, Sunday at 7:00 pm, the show is not finding viewers. In 83rd place, FUTURAMA drew a 3.1 rating/5 share. KING OF THE HILL, which follows FUTURAMA, ranked slightly higher, with a 4.6 rating/7 share. Once again, THE SIMPSONS reigned supreme, landing in 35th place with a 7.1 rating/11 share.

Buena Vista International Television has licensed its collection of Disney and Disney/Pixar animated features to German terrestrial broadcaster RTL. The "Classic Treasures" package includes A BUG'S LIFE, MULAN, POCAHONTAS, TOY STORY and TOY STORY 2. The first movie to be broadcast will be Disney/Pixar's A BUG'S LIFE on Dec. 16, 2001. The Classic Treasures package has also been sold for broadcast in the U.K., Austria, Ireland, Denmark, Switzerland and Netherlands.

'Tis the season for festive holiday specials and the networks are rising to the occasion. Here is a selection of this holiday's television offerings:

The Disney Channel's new animated comedy series THE PROUD FAMILY will air "Seven Days of Kwanzaa," a special holiday episode featuring the guest voices of Samuel L. Jackson, Vivica A. Fox (THE HUGHLEYS, INDEPENDENCE DAY) and Raven Symone (THE COSBY SHOW). THE PROUD FAMILY Kwanzaa episode will air on the Disney Channel on Friday, December 7, at 7 pm ET/PT.

Major U.S. networks Fox and NBC may soon be announcing who will take over their Saturday morning time slots. An article in the November 29, 2001 issue of THE LOS ANGELES TIMES reports the networks are in "serious negotiations" with outside programmers including Nickelodeon, Warner Bros., Discovery Channel, DIC Entertainment, 4 Kids, Nelvana and others, to sell their Saturday morning time slots. Last year CBS leased its Saturday morning time period to sister channel Nickelodeon (both networks are owned by Viacom) and has seen its ratings nearly double.

Ren & Stimpy is back on TV, thanks to VH1. After kicking off the series with a special four-episode mini-marathon on Friday, November 30, the music network will air one episode every weeknight at midnight during the month of December, concluding on New Year's Eve. Billy West, the voice of both Ren and Stimpy, will host the series, giving viewers a look at the creation of each episode, and (here's the VH1 tie-in) discussing how the music played such a pivotal part of the of the groundbreaking animated series' success.

THE SIMPSONS was back in its regular Sunday night time slot after a week off and ranked 34th with a 7.9 rating/12 share. CBS aired holiday specials FROSTY THE SNOWMAN and FROSTY RETURNS on Friday night beginning at 8 pm. The original FROSTY came in 53rd with a 6.3 rating/11 but his RETURN could only garner a 6.0 rating/10 share for 59th place. CBS also aired two RUGRATS specials on Saturday night in primetime. RUGRATS "Chanukah" and RUGRATS "Santa Experience" didn't fare so well, landing in 92nd and 93rd place respectively with around 4 million viewers each.

Visual effects company A52, by way of FM Rocks, has completed 3D design and effects work for No Doubt's "Hey Baby," the first video and single from the band's upcoming release Rock Steady. The video, directed by Dave Meyers, debuted on MTV on November 7. Crafted as a tribute to the band's female groupies, the video involves live-action scenes shot in various locations around Los Angeles, as well as green-screen footage that was composited into three CG worlds created by the artists at A52.

Distribution outfit Oasis Pictures has picked up international distribution on Mischief City, a new series that Canada's Shaftesbury Films is developing. It takes place in a rule-bending world where kids escape when things go wrong and they are blamed for things they just know they did not do.

Sitting Ducks Productions, in association with The Disney Channel, Nelvana and Film Roman, will premiere its CGI animated holiday special The Santa Claus Brothers on the Disney Channel in December 2001. The show follows the misadventures of Santa's three bumbling sons as they try to prove that they are worthy of taking over the reins of the big sleigh. Additionally, Sitting Ducks is developing the CGI animated feature film Noah's Blimp with Sony Pictures Family Entertainment with scribe Tab Murphy (Tarzan, Atlantis, The Hunchback of Notre Dame) attached to write the script.

Peppermint's Malaysia-based office has sealed key sales of its catalogue across Asia. Indonesian TV7 has picked up free television rights for pepperkids upcoming animated series, The Spheriks, featuring the official mascots of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, along with preschooler Lena and Paul. Another new property, Evolution - The Animated Series, based on the Ivan Reitman film Evolution, is currently in production with all 26 x 30 episodes to be delivered February 2002.