A New Cubicle For Dilbert On The Net

files/pictures/picture-35.jpgAfter UPN put DILBERT on an indefinite hiatus which starts March 14, the

producers of the cartoon series announced it would broadcast an episode of

the show along with rare outtakes on the Net. The 22-minute previously

aired episode entitled "The Merger" will air commercial-free on the Web

from February 17 - 29, 2000. Columbia/TriStar, who produces the show, will

become only the second major studio to enter into the Netcasting arena. In

November of 1999, Warner Bros. simulcast parts of an episode of "The Drew

Carey Show" on television and the Internet, one of the first such moves by

a top primetime show. The DILBERT event marks the first time that a

primetime network show has been legally streamed in its entirety on the

Web. Never-been-aired "Dilbert" outtakes and footage selected by series

creator Scott Adams will also be played, with community discussion groups

and interactive offerings built around the broadcast. The show will be

streamed exclusively using the Windows Media player; encoding will be

provided by Sonic Foundry and Level 3. The broadcast is marketed around the

February 22, 2000 airing of a new DILBERT episode, "The Return," on UPN,

featuring guest voice Jerry Seinfeld. Upon the success of early on-line

broadcasts, Columbia TriStar currently has plans in the works to air TV

pilots that never made it to the small screen and other content from its

Sony parent library.