Boomerang Ushers in Halloween with 'Billy & Mandy'

Boomerang announced new spooky programming this October with the first-time premiere Cartoon Network’s original animated series, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, playing for a full hour on Saturday and Sunday nights,  starting Saturday, Oct. 12 at midnight (ET).

The month-long celebration of spine-tingling content also includes Boomerang’s presentations of the 1964 live-action series The Munsters and 1964’s The Addams Family, both of which will be telecast back-to-back on weekdays at 2:30 and 3 p.m., and weeknights at midnight (ET), respectively.

More ghostly animated fare in October will include the award-winning 1993 holiday special, The Halloween Tree, on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 9 a.m., and the weekday afternoon presentation of Hanna-Barbera’s Goober and the Ghost Chasers, which will play at 12 p.m.

“Whether watching live or through DVR recording, the entire month of Boomerang’s holiday programming should be sure to satisfy this year’s Halloween craving,” said Stacy Isenhower, senior vice president of programming and scheduling for Cartoon Network and Boomerang.

The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (often shortened to simply Billy and Mandy) is an American animated television series created by Cartoon Network in 2003, an original spin-off of the 2001 show Grim & Evil. The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy tells the story of two young kids, happy-go-lucky Billy and cynical, deadpan Mandy, who become best friends with the Grim Reaper after winning an otherworldly limbo contest against the messenger of Death. Together, this unlikely trio deals with typical suburban challenges—school, family, and dealing with unwanted visitors from the spirit world.

The Munsters comically depicted the “average” American home life of a close-knit blue-collar family—of monsters!—that were based on the classic monsters of Universal Studios, including Frankenstein, Count Dracula, The Werewolf and The Bride of Dracula.  Presented in black-and-white, the half-hour series starred Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster; Yvonne De Carlo as his wife, Lily; Al Lewis as Grandpa; Butch Patrick as Eddie; and Beverly Owen/Pat Priest as Marilyn, the “ugly niece” who resembled Marilyn Monroe.  The show featured satirical situations where the lovable Munsters interacted as normal, good citizens with an unsuspecting public, who were terrified solely by their appearance.  The Munsters premiered on CBS Television on Sept. 24, 1964, and played for two full seasons (70 episodes) that concluded on May 12, 1966.

Based on Charles Addams’ New Yorker comics, The Addams Family featured a much more well-to-do family of creepy characters that generally stayed within their eerie yet palatial mansion.  Also shot in black-and-white and immortalized by a catchy, snappy theme-song, The Addams Family starred John Astin as Gomez Addams; Carolyn Jones as his wife, Morticia; Jackie Coogan as Uncle Fester; Ted Cassidy as the butler, Lurch; Blossom Rock as Grandmama Addams; and Lisa Loring and Ken Weatherwax, respectively, as the Addams’ children, Wednesday and Pugsley.  -The series’ humor derived from a culture clash with the rest of the world—the Addams treat normal visitors (often arriving with evil intentions) with great warmth and courtesy, but are puzzled by the horrified reactions to their “ordinary” behavior and tastes.  The Addams Family premiered on ABC Television on Sept. 18, 1964, and presented 64 episodes that concluded on April 8, 1966.

The Halloween Tree, based on the fantasy novel by renowned author Ray Bradbury, highlights a group of children learning the origins of Halloween customs while trying to save the life of their friend. On Halloween night, a group of boys discover their friend Pipkin has been whisked away on a journey that could determine whether he lives or dies.  Aided by a mysterious character named Moundshroud, they pursue their friend across time and space through ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures, Celtic Druidism, Notre Dame Cathedral in Medieval Paris, and The Day of the Dead in Mexico.  Along the way, they learn the origins of the holiday that they celebrate. The Halloween Tree itself, with its many branches laden with jack-o'-lanterns, serves as a metaphor for the historical confluence of these traditions.

Additional highlights of Boomerang’s October programming schedule include the following:

• The GrimAdventures of Billy & Mandy (TV-Y7) Starting Saturday, October 12 & Sunday, October 13 at midnight(ET).— A show featuring the exploits of the Grim Reaper, forced into beingthe best friend of two mischievous children.
• TheHalloween Tree (TV-G) Saturday,Oct. 26, 9 a.m.—Based on the fantasy novel by renown author Ray Bradbury, a group of children learn the origins of Halloweencustoms while trying to save the life of their friend. 
• Scooby-Doo, Where AreYou? (TV-G) M-F, 1:30 p.m.—Aclub of teenage super-sleuths called Mystery, Inc., seeks out suspense indeserted mansions, ghost towns, museums and burial grounds.  Scooby-Doo, the club’s Great Danemascot, provides the catalyst to solve each mystery.
• TheAddams Family (TV-G) M-F, 12:30p.m.—In this animated series, the Addams are not your typical family: theytake delight in most of the things that "normal" people would beterrified of.  Gomez Adams is anextremely wealthy man, and is able to indulge his wife Morticia's everydesire—be it cultivation of poisonous plants, or a candlelit dinner in agraveyard.  People visiting theAddams family just don't seem to appreciate the 7 foot tall butler"Lurch" or the helping hand (which is just a disembodied hand"named "Thing").
• TheMunsters (NR) M-F, 3:00 p.m.— AnAmerican television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benignmonsters. It stars Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster and Yvonne De Carlo ashis wife, Lily Munster. The series was a satire of both traditionalmonster movies and the wholesome family fare of the era, and was producedby the creators of Leave It to Beaver.[2][3] It ran concurrently with TheAddams Family.
• TheFunky Phantom (TV-G) M-F, 11:30a.m.—Three teenagers and the ghost of a U.S.colonial patriot (Jonathan “Mudsy” Muddlemore) from the AmericanRevolution set across the country to uphold justice and fightdiscrimination.
• Goober and the Ghost Chasers (TV-G) M-F, 12 p.m.—Adog, able to become temporarily invisible, and his three human companions(Tina, Gilly and Ted) investigate mysteries involving the paranormal.

Source: Boomerang

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.