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Category: Television

Headline News

Plasticine Superstar Morph Becomes Fashion Icon with Esquire's Help

In a timely salute to the talent of the late, great Tony Hart, ESQUIRE magazine celebrates the 30th anniversary of Morph, the character Hart made famous, by making him a first-time wardrobe of custom-made clothes and turning him into a magazine cover star. Kitted out in his specially-made designer clothes by labels such as Burberry, Gucci and Prada, Morph graces ESQUIRE's fashion pages as well as a special limited-edition front cover of the upmarket men's magazine. Each of Morph's outfits is a miniature recreation of the original.

Series Headline News

4Kids Sends Chaotic to Germany, Turkey and Others

4Kids Ent. has signed broadcast agreements with RTL2 (Germany) and Digiturk (Turkey) to air the first season of the CHAOTIC animated TV series, as well as agreements with TEN NetworkMBC (Middle East Broadcasting) and Rede TV (Brazil) to air the series' second season, entitled CHAOTIC: M'ARRILLIAN INVASION.

This follows the recent pickup of CHAOTIC's second season by TELETOON in Canada and Disney/Jetix Latin America.

Headline News

Meat Loaf Joins Educational British TV Show

Rock star Meat Loaf has joined a surreal new TV series aimed at helping children learn how to read, according to YAHOO NEWS U.K. The 13 episode CiTV series is based around picture books read by celebrity guests to a rock star dog called Bookaboo, who needs to hear "a story a day or he just can't play."

Headline News

The Koala Brothers Head to TVE in Spain

U.K. children's rights owner and producer Spellbound Ent. has two new broadcast and publishing deals in Europe for its preschool series, THE KOALA BROTHERS. Both deals were brokered by Spanish producer and distributor Imira Ent., who has also been appointed as Spellbound's licensing agent for the Spanish market.

State broadcaster TVE in Spain has bought the free TV rights to all 39x30 episodes of THE KOALA BRothers. TVE joins a growing list of public broadcasters to have picked up the series.

Wars Headline News

Clone Wars Heading to TNT

Lucasfilm Animation's animated series STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS, which has enjoyed a spectacular run on Cartoon Network, is coming to TNT for an encore run this February.

The network will kick off the series with back-to-back episodes presented in high-definition Saturday, Feb. 14, at 11 p.m. (ET/PT), immediately following TNT's NBA All-Star Saturday Night. TNT will then present back-to-back episodes in the series' regular timeslot, Wednesdays at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), beginning Feb. 18.

Season Headline News

Production of Third Season of Little Princess Launched

TV-Loonland and The Illuminated Film Company have furthered an already strong partnership in producing a third season of animated preschool show, LITTLE PRINCESS. Continuing the worldwide success of the first two series and two additional 22 minute specials, now airing in over 165 countries, the third season commissioned by Five's Milkshake! will feature 35 additional episodes introducing a number of new characters and locations. A total of 104 episodes will therefore be airing across the globe from 2010 following the series premiere on Milkshake!.

Show Headline News

VES Show Offered at NATPE

Homerun Ent., for the first time, is offering The Visual Effects Society's one-hour televised awards special at NATPE, reports C21MEDIA. The awards show, held to highlight the best in visual effects in film, TV, animation, commercials and videogames, is being offered for international broadcast after February 26, 2009.

The show will be held in Hollywood on February 21.

Headline News

Sesame Street Primetime Special for Military Families Airing in April

Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind SESAME STREET, is producing, in association with David Letterman's production company Worldwide Pants Incorporated and Lookalike Productions, a new PBS primetime special, COMING HOME: MILITARY FAMILIES COPE WITH CHANGE, featuring Queen Latifah, John Mayer and Elmo.

Series Headline News

Taffy Signs Titeuf and Ava Riko Teo to Spain

The MoonScoop Group's Taffy Ent. has secured deals for two of its newest animated TV series on key broadcasters across Spain. Cartoon Network Spain has picked up all three seasons of TITEUF and TV Catalunya also snapped up broadcast rights to the new preschool series AVA RIKO TEO.

Nick Headline News

Nickelodeon Latin America Kicks Off 2009 with New Line-up

Nickelodeon Latin America announces a slate of new original programming at the 2009 National Association of Television Program Executives Conference (NATPE) in Las Vegas.

The line-up will include new series THE MIGHTY B!, THE PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR, SPEED RACER, JIMMY TWO SHOES, BACK AT THE BARNYARD, TRUE JACKSON VP, and THE ELEPHANT PRINCESS on Nick, in addition to NI HAO, KAI-LAN and BEN AND HOLLY'S LITTLE KINGDOM for Nick Jr. Latin America.

Headline News

Sam Raimi's Legend of the Seeker Gets Second Season

LEGEND OF THE SEEKER has been picked up for a second season on Tribune Broadcasting stations, about one third of the stations the first-run syndicated drama runs on, per VARIETY.

Filmed in New Zealand and based on Terry Goodkind's SWORD OF TRUTH book series, SEEKER has gotten a decent 2.0 average household rating in its run so far. Disney and Sam Raimi are producing the series, filling a niche in the kitschy fantasy-action genre that peaked in the late 1990s with shows like HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEY and XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS.

Headline News

Chop Socky Chooks Head to France 3

DECODE Enterprises has signed a sales deal for CHOP SOCKY CHOOKS to France 3. The 26x22 3D animated series is a DECODE Ent. co-production with Aardman Animations.

The deal was concluded by Emmanuelle Bon, DECODE's newly-appointed Territory Manager for French speaking territories, Scandinavia and the Benelux.

Public channel France 3 follows commissioning broadcasters Cartoon Network (Worldwide) and Canada's Teletoon in acquiring the 7-11 years-targeted show which features "Kickin' Chickens in Kung Fu Capers."

Series Headline News

Pixel Eight Animates Treasure Quest

Pixel Eight has announced their involvement on the new series TREASURE QUEST, currently airing on Thursdays AT 10 p.m. ET/PT ON Discovery Channel. Pixel Eight was contracted by Percolate Digital to assist in the production of the new series by creating animated sequences that describe the history of shipwrecks that are being investigated during the course of the series.

Series Headline News

Cookie Jar Debuts New Series at NATPE

Cookie Jar Ent. is gearing up for NATPE next week with a variety of new programs as well as three kids' favorites. Offerings include new original animated series including high-flying METAJETS and preschool-targeted NOONBORY AND THE SUPER 7 as well as the exciting adventures of JOHNNY TEST, HURRAY FOR HUCKLE! and evergreen CAILLOU.

METAJETS (40x22):

Disney Headline News

DQE's Twisted Whiskers Goes to Disney Channel

CG animated series TWISTED WHISKERS from Indian animation company DQE has finalized a deal with Walt Disney Television International to air on 12 Disney Channels across Southeast Asia, according to C21 MEDIA.

Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, Palau, Thailand, Vietnam Cambodia, South Korea, Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea will air the show.

DQE also recently signed a licensing deal with Walt Disney International India for TWISTED WHISKERS as well as animated series RATMAN and SANDRA.

Headline News

Family Guy Writer Gets Pilot at ABC

Former FAMILY GUY exec story editor and writer Ricky Blitt is working on a live-action slacker comedy at ABC, per VARIETY. The network has put in a pilot commitment to the show, which is about a guy in his 30s who is caught between his single-mom girlfriend and his slacker best friend.

The laffer was formerly known as THREESOME. Blitt was exec story editor on FAMILY GUY from 1999 to 2000, was a co-producer on 23 episodes and wrote five episodes between 1999 and 2003. He also voiced characters on FAMILY GUY and its spinoff, AMERICAN DAD.

Series Headline News

Kamen Rider Heads to Brazil

Adness Ent. has finalized a broadcast licensing deal with TV Globo in Brazil for the live-action franchise, KAMEN RIDER DRAGON KNIGHT. The series, which follows the adventures of Kit Taylor as he journeys to find his missing father, will debut in the Fall 2009 television season.

Design Headline News

Troika Design Group Elevates the Drama for TNT

Troika Design Group, a strategic branding and design agency for companies in media and entertainment, has ushered in a bold new graphic design for top-rated cable network TNT. The launch of the Troika redesign coincided with the premiere of TNT's new series LEVERAGE and introduced a rich multi-dimensional world of light and color. TNT's new on-air design was unveiled Dec. 7, 2008.

Series Headline News

Sci Fi Announces Casting For Stargate Universe

Sci Fi Channel has announced Justin Louis, David Blue, Brian J. Smith and Jamil Walker Smith will join the cast of the new original series STARGATE UNIVERSE. The four will enlist alongside Robert Carlyle (Dr. Nicholas Rush) in the latest adventure in the STARGATE franchise produced by MGM television. Production will begin in Vancouver in February 2009 with an eye toward a fall 2009 premiere.

Shop Headline News

Second Season of Basil's Swap Shop on CBBC

Basil Brush is back on CBBC. The BBC has commissioned a second season of BASIL'S SWAP SHOP from independent producer The Foundation, part of the RDF Media Group.

The season, which began Saturday, January 10, will air for a 12-week run on CBBC (BBC Two) on Saturday mornings (10-11 a.m.). The show will go out live for 11 weeks followed by a "best of" episode comprising highlights from the live shows.

Series Headline News

Majority Rules Comedy Series Starts Production

Recently acquired by global entertainment content producer and distributor Entertainment One (E1), Blueprint Ent. has started production on 26 half-hour episodes of the Teletoon original live-action/animated tween comedy series, MAJORITY RULES (formerly GO GIRL). E1's global film and television distributor Oasis International will handle the worldwide rights for series and is set to feature a lively and eclectic mix of animation and visual collage techniques.

Atomic Headline News

Atomic Partners on Punktuition Comedy Series

Atomic Cartoons have announced a partnership with Punktuition LLC on the new animated comedy series, PUNKTUITION. Atomic will debut the project to buyers and broadcasters at the 2009 Kidscreen Summit in New York in February.

Headline News

Imira Signs Pre-NATPE Deals for Lola, Vitaminix

Imira Ent. heads to NATPE with a raft of deals already in place for LOLA & VIRGINIA and VITAMINIX with U.S. and Latin American broadcasters.

Imira's hit animated series LOLA & VIRGINIA (52x12) has scored further deals with Canal Once in Mexico following Brazil's SBT renewal of the show. The Brazilian broadcaster has also picked up licensing and merchandising rights with New Star, taking home entertainment rights for the territory, and Quality Films picking up the home entertainment rights for Chile. LOLA & VIRGINIA is now seen in more than 100 territories worldwide.

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