Disney Channels EMEA today announced that its new European long form production FAMOUS FIVE: ON THE CASE is set to hit UK screens on 5/5 -- May 5.
Featuring the children of Enid Blyton's FAMOUS FIVE, the series is from Disney Channel's London-based Global Original Programming hub and has been co-produced with Chorion, owners of the FAMOUS FIVE brand, and French studio Marathon.
Oscar's 2008 Best Animated Short PETER & THE WOLF will be airing at 8 p.m. on March 26 on PBS' GREAT PERFORMANCES.
Suzie Templeton's take on how little boys can find extraordinary courage, set to the Russian composer's famous score, offers the latest in stop-motion animation, particularly effective here in the tale's updating into the grim realities of a more contemporary Russia.
Richard Jones' darkly imaginative take on Humperdink's HANSEL AND GRETEL will air immediately after at 9 p.m.
Although unconfirmed by NBC, BIONIC WOMAN's co-executive producer David Eick confirmed to SCI FI WIRE that the show has been cancelled.
"I just felt that the process was so frustrating, and the conditions under which we were making that show never really came to fruition in such a way that I felt like we could make the show well," Eick said in an interview at SCI FI Channel's upfront presentation to advertisers in New York on March 18. "The actress [Michelle Ryan] we found was wonderful. Some of the writing was good."
Fan favorite Mike Carey (X-MEN, ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR, VOODOO CHILD) and creator of the comic book series THE STRANDED will be developing the story into a television series for SCI FI Channel, it was announced by Virgin Comics CEO Sharad Devarajan.
Sci Fi Channel is a network of NBC Universal.
Carey's stunning work has earned him fans worldwide. With THE STRANDED, he challenges ordinary people to face the extraordinary -- their lives are lies.
Nicktoons Network, Nickelodeon's 24-hour animation channel, has joined forces with Marvel Entertainment to bring iconic heroes Wolverine and Iron Man from the page and big screen to television in two brand-new animated series.
IRON MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES is a co-production with French based Method Films) and WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN is a co-production with Toonz Entertainment Pte., Singapore and First Serve International.
Marvel Studios, in its first major TV deal since going independent in 2005, has pre-sold the cable rights to IRON MAN and THE INCREDIBLE HULK to FX, VARIETY reports.
The deal also includes three yet-to-be determined superhero movies, none of which has debuted in theaters.
"This is a watershed deal for the company," said David Maisel, chairman of Marvel to VARIETY. "It's a real vote of confidence" in the viability of the Marvel superheros.
Sam Raimi's WIZARD'S FIRST RULE has been greenlit for 22 episodes by ABC/Disney, VARIETY reports.
The show, based on the SWORD OF TRUTH books by Terry Goodkind, will begin production in May.
RULE is being sold station-by-station, clearing 84 percent of the country in less than six weeks and will be on the air in all top 50 U.S. markets.
Russian adult cartoon channel 2X2 has come under fire for the second time in two weeks for airing cartoons that allegedly promote homosexuality, violence and religious intolerance, VARIETY reports.
Both Christian and Muslim groups have urged the Moscow-based channel to close.
A Protestant church umbrella group called the Consultative Council of the Heads of the Protestant Church in Russia led the protests.
The groups want top Russian prosecutor Yury Chaika to intervene.
BabyFirst has expanded its Asian presence by adding Taiwan to its growing international roster.
The channel is a 24/7 commercial-free educational and child development channel for babies, toddlers and their parents.
Partnering with BabyFirst in Taiwan is Chunghwa, the country's top IPTV provider.
Making the announcement of the latest international sign-on for the channel was Glenn Kopelson, Executive Vice President of Distribution for BabyFirst.
KidsCo, the joint venture channel owned by leading media companies NBC Universal, DIC Entertainment and Corus Entertainment goes on air in the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore and Palau on March 20.
The announcement follows the securing of carriage deals with various platform operators in Asia, including SingTel's mio TV in Singapore, the Philippines' Sky Cable, Palau's PNCC and Korea's HanaTV at the end of this month.
KidsCo has also signed a deal with the Philippines' Cable Boss to act as their distributor in that market.
Following a highly successful launch in the U.K. on digital television, Nerd Corps Entertainment's hit 3D animated series STORM HAWKS is heading over the dial to free-to-air broadcaster GMTV.
The 52 x half hour series will launch mid-March, starting with back to back episodes each weekday morning on GMTV's Action Stations block and simulcast on CITV.
This unique comedy/action-adventure series currently airs more than 25 times per week on Cartoon Network U.K., where it launched in August 2007.
Movie news network ReelzChannel will rerun THE CRITIC, an animated series created by THE SIMPSONS collaborators Al Jean and Mike Reiss, VARIETY reports.
The new network got picked up by Time Warner cable in New York on Wednesday, and saw its subscribers increase by 1.3 million.
Original programming makes up about 70 percent of ReelzChannel's lineup, but an exception was made for the two seasons of THE CRITIC because the show was "a slam dunk for our brand," executive VP and general manager Terry O'Reilly told VARIETY.
Nickelodeon has green-lit 86 all-new episodes of Nicktoon favorites, including the network's top three ranked animated series SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS and BACK AT THE BARNYARD and the preschool favorite THE BACKYARDIGANS.
The announcements were made today by Brown Johnson, President, Animation, Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group.
Nickelodeon also announced new series THE MIGHTY B!, debuting April 26, at 10:30 a.m. (ET/PT).
STARZ INSIDE, Starz Entertainment's series of original specials returns in April with a new slate of productions that will take the series into 2009.
Renowned film critic Richard Roeper returns as STARZ INSIDE host.
The series premieres on April 22 at 10 p.m. with STARZ INSIDE: THE PIXAR STORY - A LESLIE IWERKS FILM, a fascinating look at the history of the storied animation giant, featuring perspectives from founding members and Academy Award winning directors including John Lasseter, Steve Jobs, Brad Bird, Pete Docter and Andrew Stanton.
The cartoon series FUWA'S OLYMPIC STORIES was produced by Beijing TV Station and Beijing KAKU Cartoon Satellite TV Ltd, with the authorization of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee.
This series, with 100 episodes of 11 minutes each, is a TV play combining Chinese traditions with Olympic themes and is the largest animation series produced so far, with Olympic mascots as the main characters.
The story happens on the eve of the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008.
Comedy Central's 2008-2009 development slate includes several animated projects.
Projects in development run the gamut from short-form and sketch/variety to scripted narrative and animation, as well as Comedy Central's first foray into medieval comedy, and feature a cross-section of top comedic talent including Snoop Dogg, Andy Richter, David Alan Grier, Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter, Nick Swardson, Daniel Tosh, Bobby Lee and Opie & Anthony.
Cartman's routine tonsillectomy goes horribly wrong in an all-new episode of SOUTH PARK.
Coming off record ratings in season 11 and the now infamous "Imaginationland" trilogy, SOUTH PARK returns for its 12th season with seven all-new episodes beginning Wednesday, March 12 at 10 p.m. on Comedy Central.
Fans will be able to download the uncensored version of each new episode from the 12th season on iTunes, xBox LIVE and Amazon Unbox.
SESAME TREE will debut on BBC Two Northern Ireland in April.
It's a new media project aimed at encouraging Northern Ireland children to explore and appreciate the world around them, and promoting respect and understanding, and will debut on BBC Two Northern Ireland television on Saturday April 5 and Sunday 6 at 7.15 a.m.
SESAME TREE is produced by SixteenSouth, part of the Inferno Group, a leading and award-winning creative television production and facilities house based in Belfast, in association with Sesame Workshop, the producers behind SESAME STREET.
Det. Assy McGee shoots first and asks questions later, if at all, in 14 all-new episodes of ASSY MCGEE, beginning Sunday, April 6, at 12:30 a.m. (ET, PT) on Adult Swim.
Assy may be down in the dumps and pretty much does everything ass backward, but when there's a rash of crime, he's dedicated to wiping the streets clean of it.
His newest capers involve everything from drug smugglers to a mysterious online lover.
Preschoolers will join Kai-lan, the newest kid on the Nick Jr. block, on four new half-hour adventures -- a safari expedition, a hat parade, a play date in the rain and a snow ride -- during a premiere week of the groundbreaking animated series NI HAO, KAI-LAN.
The new episodes, which introduce preschoolers to Chinese culture and language, will roll out Monday, March 24 through Thursday, March 27, at 11 a.m. (ET/PT) on Nick Jr., culminating with a marathon of the episodes on Friday, March 28, (11 a.m. - 1 p.m., ET/PT).
Boomerang, Cartoon Networks 24-hour commercial-free sister network, is spreading the luck of the Irish on St. Patricks Day by featuring the gloriously all-green character from outer-space, The Great Gazoo of THE FLINTSTONES.
Beginning at 12 p.m. and running uninterrupted until 8 p.m. (ET), THE GREAT GAZOO MARATHON pays homage to the little helmeted man from outer space voiced by legendary television comedian Harvey Korman.
Noah Wyle is set to return as the brilliant adventure-seeking Flynn Carsen in Electric Entertainment's third installment of TNT's hugely successful Librarian franchise with THE LIBRARIAN: THE CURSE OF THE JUDAS CHALICE.
Bob Newhart and Jane Curtin will also reprise their roles, with Bruce Davison (X-Men, KNIGHT RIDER) and Stana Katic (FEAST OF LOVE) joining the cast.
Jonathan Frakes (STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION), who directed the second LIBRARIAN installment, THE LIBRARIAN: RETURN TO KING SOLOMON'S MINES, will once again take the helm.
Pool parties will never be the same for three Aussie teens who discover their lives are forever intertwined as they face everyday problems with an added twist in the new Nickelodeon live-action, magical mermaid adventure, H2O.
The new half-hour series will kick off with a prime-time, hour-long movie on March 14, at 8 p.m. (all times ET/PT), followed by the series premiere on Sunday, March 16, at 8:30 p.m.
Leading independent producer Novel Entertainment has been commissioned by CITV to produce a second series of its acclaimed animated series HORRID HENRY.
This commission comes on the back of a hugely successful first series, a ratings winner for ITV on both the terrestrial and satellite channels.
A further 52 x 11 minutes of the 2D animated series will start immediate production for broadcast on ITV1 and CITV in spring 2009.
Produced by Lucinda Whiteley and Mike Watts at Novel Entertainment, HORRID HENRY is now seen as an iconic CITV property.
Allison Janney has signed on to voice matriarch Liz Pitts in the Fox animated series THE PITTS, about the unluckiest family in the world, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
THE PITTS is from 20th Century Fox TV, Mike Scully and Julie Thacker-Scully, and based on a short-lived 2003 live-action comedy series.
Stars of the original series Dylan Baker and Lizzy Caplan will reprise their roles as father Bob Pitt and daughter Liz. Andy Milonakis was cast as son Petey in October.
