Continuing to build upon the rapid growth of its television division's
development slate, Film Roman Inc. has teamed-up with television
writer/producer Norman Lear to develop TIL THE FAT LADY SINGS, an animated
prime-time comedy series. According to Norman Lear, the series will take an
irreverent look at infirmity and old age, but also celebrate life and
living. The show revolves around characters who gather at a senior
citizen's recreation facility and who cope with the challenges of old age

Cartoon Network has announced that I AM WEASEL will premiere on June 10 at
8 pm (ET/PT). This show is a spin-off from David Feiss' currently airing
COW AND CHICKEN series. Creator, writer, and director David Feiss' series
will follow the exploits of the internationally famous I.M. Weasel and his
insanely jealous arch-nemesis I.R. Baboon. Each half-hour show will consist
of three 7 minute shorts. 52 shorts that were originally shown as part of
COW AND CHICKEN will be joined by 27 new shorts have been created for the

Film Roman Inc. has entered into an agreement with Howard Stern Productions
and writer/producer Tracy Torme to create the animated sci-fi/comedy series
DOOMSDAY. While the concept was created by Torme, Howard Stern will play an
integral role in the development of the script and in the production of the
series, as well as provide the voice for one of the characters. Stern will
invite a number of his celebrity friends to appear as special guest voices
on
the show. DOOMSDAY tells the story of the Bradley family who travel in a

SP0NGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, a new animated series which is being produced at the
Burbank Nicktoons Studio, will premiere on Nickelodeon on July 17 at 10:00
am ET/PT in the USA, becoming Nickelodeon's first original Saturday morning
cartoon. A preview of the cartoon appeared on Nickelodeon on May 1, and
received a 6.3 rating and a 25 share when it was watched by 6.9 million
viewers. The cartoon features the adventures of SpongeBob, a hopelessly
optimistic and earnest sea sponge whose good intentions often lead to bad

Fox has announced their US Fall prime-time lineup and it includes some
surprises. For one, Toon Tuesday is no more. The closest to it is Toon
Sunday. Fox's confidence in FAMILY GUY appears to be high, as it has been
moved to Thursday night where it will stand out as the only animated
series, sandwiched between two new live-action shows, MANCHESTER PREP and
ACTION, shows that seem to be geared to the male 18-49 demographic group.


The schedule, which begins in September, is as follows:


Thursday

9:00 FAMILY GUY

This weekend's syndicated episode of SISKEL AND EBERT AT THE MOVIES, Roger Ebert's weekly movie review show in the US, is an animation special entitled "That's Not All Folks!," during which the film critic will explore the past, present, and future of animation.

Cartoon Network's 7th annual 48 hour Bugs Bunny cartoon marathon, JUNE
BUGS, will take place Friday, June 4, 9 pm - Sunday, June 6, 9 pm. The
following films, some of which will be shown in more than one theme block,
are scheduled:


Evolution of Bugs - Friday, 9 pm; Saturday, 6 pm; Sunday, 1 pm.

Porky's Hare Hunt, Prest-o-Change-o, Hare-Um Scare-Um, Elmer's Candid
Camera, A Wild Hare, Elmer's Pet Rabbit.


Musical Bugs - Friday, 10 pm; Saturday, 7 pm; Sunday, 11 am.

Animation company Film Roman has announced that due to production
differences Fox will take over production responsibilities on June 1 for
Family Guy, which is currently in production on its second season. The
primetime show Family Guy airs at 8:30 pm on Sunday in the coveted spot
after The Simpsons and has been a hit with biting, racy humor. While Fox
spokespeople say that it will be handled "in-house," a specific division or
Fox-owned company has yet to be named. Film Roman, which produced 15

Angeles with several properties including two that are animated. MONSTER CLUB is an animated series for children featuring the characters of THE MONSTER CLUB. This series will feature fundamental lessons about family, friendship and the environment. RADIO TOONS, which is in development, is an animated series featuring classic radio shows from the 1930's and 1940's as the sound and dialogue tracks. Similar to the highly rated 1970 Rankin Bass TV special THE MAD, MAD, MAD COMEDIANS, it features cartoon renditions of Jack Benny, George Burns, Abbott & Costello, and Bob Hope.

Shui-Bo Wang's Oscar nominated SUNRISE OVER TIANANMEN SQUARE makes its US TV debut Sunday, May 16 at 8 pm on HBO's Signature Channel.


SUNRISE OVER TIANANMEN also debuts in Canada on Thursday, May 27 at 9 pm and 2 am ET/PT on Vision TV. It repeats on Friday, May 28 at noon, 8 pm, and 1 am; and on Monday, May 31 at 11 am. It also airs on SCN on Friday, June 4 at 8 pm; and on TVO on Monday, June 7 at 10 pm.

WATERSHIP DOWN, a $10 million TV series of 26 half-hour episodes based on
the novel by Richard Adams and the feature film directed by Martin Rosen,
both of which are also called WATERSHIP DOWN, is being produced by British
independent Alltime Entertainment and Toronto-based DECODE Entertainment.
Beth Stevenson, of DECODE, and Simon Vaughan, of Alltime, are producing;
Neil Court, of DECODE, is executive producing with Steven DeNure and Martin
Rosen. The series will debut this Fall in the UK on ITV and Canada on YTV,

The Kushner-Locke Co. has announced that they have entered an agreement
with Toei Animation to license Toei's animated product. Toei has one of
the largest animation libraries in the world. K-L plans to use the newly
acquired product to launch its own Spanish language animation channel in
Latin America. The deal gives K-L 1400 half-hour episodes, in the first
three years, of Toei animated product including the popular series
SAILOR MOON and DRAGON BALL Z. Toei is one of the leading animation

Cartoon Network has greenlit Gavrilo Gnatovoch's LONGHAIR AND DOUBLEDOME
for production as a seven minute series pilot. The short features
Longhair, a fastidiously sophisticated and self-serving Cro-Magnon, and
his charmingly earnest yet irksome friend, Doubledome, as they endeavor
to evolve alongside their oafish neighbors, the Neanderthals. An air
date has not been announced. Gavrilo Gnatovich runs his own studio KNOCK
KNOCK CARTOONS in Cleveland, Ohio, which is a commercial animation house

Fox Family Channel's 1999-2000 6 pm-8 pm lineup includes two new animated series. Saban Entertainment's PIGS NEXT DOOR, a new animated series in the tradition of ALL IN THE FAMILY, chronicles the life of a family of pigs who move from the farm to the suburbs and are forced to deal with prejudiced humans. Rodney Dangerfield provides the voice for the title character of RODNEY, a series in development for the 1999-2000 season that depicts Rodney's misadventures as a struggling comic and the everyday ups and downs of dysfunctional family life.

BBC1 has bought another season of New York-based BKN's POCKET DRAGON
ADVENTURES. The first season currently airs in the U.K. Monday and Thursday
at 3:45 pm on BBC1, averaging 1.3 million viewers, which represents about a
37% share. The series features the mischievous little Pocket Dragons who
seek adventure in a magical world of wizards, knights and gargoyles.

Nickelodeon will preview SP0NGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, a new animated series, on
May 1 at 9:30 ET/PT in the USA. The cartoon features the adventures of
SpongeBob, a hopelessly optimistic and earnest sea sponge. Creator and
executive producer Steve Hillenburg (ROCKO'S MODERN LIFE, THE GREEN BERET,
WORMHOLES), studied art and marine biology before earning a degree from Cal
Arts in Experimental Animation. Soon you will be able to visit Nick.com for
more information about the series.

Fox Broadcasting Co. has ordered another season (22 episodes) of Matt
Groening's animated series, Futurama, just four weeks after its premiere.
The show debuted on Sunday, March 28 then moved to Tuesday night on April 6
where it joined King of the Hill, The PJs, and The Simpsons repeats as
part of Fox's all-animation primetime Tuesday night line-up. Now, all of
these series have been renewed.

Cinar Corporation and WGBH Boston have announced that Emmy award-winning ARTHUR, PBS' top-rated children's series, will return with 10 new programs and 65 encore broadcasts in its fourth season, premiering October 1999. This daily animated series is based on the award-winning children's books by author Marc Brown, who is also ARTHUR's creative producer. ARTHUR's fourth season begins with, not one, but two musical guest stars: classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman who "appear" as themselves in the season's opener MY MUSIC RULES.

DIC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Disney, has sold two new animated series
to Pax TV, a new family-oriented network in the US. "Archie's Weird
Mysteries" and "Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century" will appear this Fall
as part of the weekday "Pax Power Mystery Hour." "Archie's Weird
Mysteries," a co-production with M6 France, is based on the long running
Archie comics series. In the series, a lab experiement goes awry, creating
such characters as a 50-foot Veronica, and Dr. Jughead and Mr. Hyde.

Big Ticket Television has teamed-up with Will Vinton Studios to produce a new Claymation and dimensional animation series entitled GARY AND MIKE, slated to air on FOX this Fall. The series will be executive produced by creators Fax Bahr and Adam Small, along with Academy Award winning Will Vinton and Tom Turpin (CEO/president of Will Vinton Studios).