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It's Show Time!
The Fall TV Preview
(continued from page 2)
On King of the Hill, returning for its
fourth season, keep your ears perked for vocal appearances by Meryl
Streep, Drew Carey, Heather Locklear, Kathleen Turner, football great
Don Meredith, and country music crooners Clint Black, Mac Davis and
the Dixie Chicks. And finally, Family Guy boasts a humongous
guest cast including Jay Mohr, Fairuza Balk, Patrick Warburton, Ben
Stein, Luke Perry, Jennifer Tilly, Adam West, Lee Majors, Dawn Wells,
Erik Estrada, Sam Waterston, Robin Leach, Will Ferrell, Phil LaMarr,
Tim Curry, Jon Cryer, comedian Alan King, former Dallas couple
Patrick Duffy and Victoria Principal and legendary rock group KISS.
Many of the guest voices - including the cast of Murphy Brown
(Candice Bergen, Faith Ford, Joe Regalbuto and Charles Kimbrough)
- will reprise their roles from former TV series (only this time they'll
be animated). Another twist to the second season of Family Guy
is the addition of live-action sequences to the show.
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Big
Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot.
© 1999 Adelaide Productions,
Inc.
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Fox Kids Network
Vying to be the top broadcast kids' network once again, Fox is
attacking the fall season with a vengeance. Eight new animated shows
will hit the airwaves starting in September meaning only one animated
series from last fall - Godzilla - is remaining on this year's
lineup. Realizing the importance of branding and giving the lineup
a distinct identity, the new emphasis for Fox Kids Network will be
on "action, adventure and prankster comedy." "The goal
is to clarify our brand," says Roland Poindexter, Fox Kids Network
Vice-President, Head of Programming, "and Fox Kids will be the
sole source for 'action, adventure and prankster comedy' programming.
On the surface, these elements may appear to be more appealing to
boys, but in previous cases, we've also found that there's a broad
girl audience that enjoys shows like Power Rangers and X-Men."
The new fall series are The Avengers (based on the Marvel Comic),
Beast Machines (the next generation of the Beast Wars
franchise), Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot (based on the Dark
Horse comic book), NASCAR Racers, Sherlock Holmes in the
22nd Century, Spider-Man Unlimited, Xyber 9, and
Digimon: Digital Monsters. It should also be noted that while
Woody Woodpecker is off the fall schedule, it is still a part
of Fox Kids Network and will reappear later in the season. One of
Fox's most promising series is Spider-Man Unlimited, a continuation
of the ever-popular franchise which picks up directly after the last
series ended. In its over-the-top science-fiction premise, the world's
top astronaut discovers a new planet on the other side of the Sun
called Counter-Earth. The story gains steam when Spider-Man volunteers
to go rescue the stranded spaceman, and discovers the shocking surprises
that await him on this uncharted planet. The new Sherlock Holmes
series also looks to be an entertaining new entry, but this one is
also educational. In the Sherlock Holmes short story, "The Final
Problem," published in 1893, but taking place in 1891, Holmes
and his arch-enemy, Professor Moriarty, went over a waterfall in their
final battle. Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had intended to
kill Holmes off with this story, but eventually brought him back in
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1901). The new TV series asks
us to believe that after falling over the cliff, Holmes and Moriarty
remained suspended in the icy waters beneath the waterfall for hundreds
of years. Now they are brought back to life to continue their battle
of good vs. evil. So where does the educational value fit into a concept
like this? Roland Poindexter explains: "Most people have confused
educational programming to be very concrete, lesson-based material
filled with the traditional reading, writing, arithmetic and geography,
but I don't think it necessarily has to be that way. The Sherlock
Holmes series really helps endorse the whole notion of logical
thinking and deductive reasoning." Of all the networks, Fox is
offering the most impressive slate of original animated programming
this fall. What remains to be seen is whether the ratings will reward
their efforts.
Kids' WB!
Powered by the Japanese hit sensation Pokémon and
some creative repackaging of the older Warner Bros. TV Animation cartoons,
Kids' WB! has a relatively low-key, but powerful, lineup this year.
The Saturday schedule, premiering through September and early October,
includes the return of The New Batman/Superman Adventures,
Batman Beyond, Men In Black, a double dose of Pokémon,
and The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries. Kids' WB! also has
a weekday morning and afternoon lineup which utilizes the same Saturday
morning shows with the addition of Warner Bros.' Histeria!
The two new additions are Detention and (get ready for this)
The Kids' WB! Cat-And-Bunny-Warneroonie-Super-Looney-Big-Cartoonie
Show. The latter is a half-hour program that repackages older
episodes of Animaniacs, Tiny Toon Adventures, Looney
Tunes, Pinky & The Brain, and Pinky, Elmyra &
The Brain.. Big Cartoonie will also be a testing ground
for introducing new characters to the Kids' WB! lineup. For starters,
the show will have 13 original interstitials introducing Karen and
Kirby, a young, computer-animated boy-and-girl duo created by animation
historian/author Jerry Beck and animator/author George Maestri (who
was the animation producer of the first six episodes of South Park).
Karen and Kirby premieres on September 18. Detention
on the other hand is a comedy about a group of less-than-perfect twelve-year-olds
who are regularly detained for after school detention. Overlooking
the fact that these are not exactly the type of role models you want
your children to emulate, Detention features a talented cast
of voice actors including Billy West, Tara Charendoff, and Carlos
Alazraqui, along with Tia and Tamera Mowry (the twins in the WB series
Sister, Sister).
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