Category: Television

The KING OF THE HILL special, which aired on Wednesday at 8 pm, scored higher ratings than in its regular timeslot on Sundays at 7:30 pm. THE SIMPSONS remained the top primetime toon, finishing in 37th place with a 5.2 rating/9 share. FAMILY GUY moved ahead of KING OF THE HILL to place 64th, garnering a 4 rating/7 share. The Wednesday installment of KING carved a 3.6 rating/7 share in the 73rd slot. However, KING on Sunday scored a 3.4 rating/6 share at #75. In 82nd place, FUTURAMA fashioned a 3 rating/6 share. The U.S.

Via viewer votes, KIDS NEXT DOOR, created by Tom Warburton, won Cartoon Network's The Big Pick, making it the network's next series for the fall 2002 season. The show pits five eager 10-year-olds on missions throughout their neighborhood. Warburton currently serves as a director on Cartoon Network's SHEEP IN THE BIG CITY. Ten pilots aired in the Big Pick competition. A total of 221,218 votes were cast during The Big Pick, including more than 50,000 online votes at CartoonNetwork.com. The second place toon was A KITTY BOBO SHOW, while third place went to MY FREAKY FAMILY.

Mr. X, Inc. has completed the photo-realistic visual effects, compositing and online conform for Default's first music video, "Wasting My Time." The video was directed by Noble Jones. Wasting My Time is the third collaboration for Mr. X and Director Jones, who recently completed music videos for Doyle Bramhall II and Smokestack's "Green Light Girl" and Sugar Jones' "How Much Longer." The music video starts with a young woman looking at her watch.

Santa Monica, California-based R!OT has wrapped on the visual effects and post-production for "Rexall," the first video from Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers' guitarist Dave Navarro's debut solo album "Trust No One." R!OT artists, headed by visual effects supervisor Deak Ferrand, created a 180-degree pan of a fire engulfed city. "We mapped the matte painting onto a sphere so that we could reframe it and match the angles of the live shots," Ferrand explained. "That gave us the freedom to move the camera through it in any way that we wished.

Moving up to 33rd, THE SIMPSONS secured a 5.5 rating/10 share. KING OF THE HILL was crowned in 60th place, garnering a 4 rating/8 share. Holding steady at 66th, FAMILY GUY grabbed a 3.7 rating/6 share. The traditionally high-ranking SIMPSONS Wednesday special only scored 76th place with a 3.4 rating/7 share. Jumping up a slot to finish 77th, FUTURAMA forged a 3.2 rating/6 share. The U.S. universe estimate used for calculating ratings for the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, UPN, PAX and WB) is equal to 100% of all TV households.

São Paulo, Brazil-based AD Studio has created the visual effects for latest music video from Brazilian band AD, entitled "Get Down." The video features an animated alien playing the role of lead singer, three robots hammering away on their musical instruments and over 13,200 dancing aliens. All the modeling, animation and rendering were done with Electric Image's Universe 3D animation system, utilizing some 3D party shaders and plug-ins and compositing separate rendering passes with Adobe After Effects.

With THE SIMPSONS still remaining the top dog, KING OF THE HILL jumps over FAMILY GUY to become the second rated primetime toon. Moving up from 44th to place 35th, THE SIMPSONS scored 5.5 rating/10 share. KING OF THE HILL finished in the 64th slot, garnering a 3.9 rating/7 share. Sliding into the 66th slot, FAMILY GUY grabbed a 3.8 rating/7 share. Meanwhile, FUTURAMA forged 3.3 rating/7 share in 78th place. The U.S. universe estimate used for calculating ratings for the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, UPN, PAX and WB) is equal to 100% of all TV households.

Phoenix-based animation house Rainbow Studios has digitally cloned and animated 3D dinosaurs for MPH Entertainment's upcoming A&E Network documentary special THE LOST DINOSAURS OF EGYPT. "We did a lot of things different on this project," said director Jim Milio of MPH Entertainment.

Broadcast design and visual effects firm Creative Bubble has created the title sequences and promos for Showtime's SNOW IN AUGUST and GOING TO CALIFORNIA. For the TV movie SNOW IN AUGUST, the promo features a young boy walking through a snowy landscape and through an iron gate. "The film deals with a young boy in the '40s who is in love with comics and comic book imagery," explained Showtime art director Damian Mager. "We decided to make his world much like that of a comic book." Creative Bubble designer Doug Dimon said, "The producers had selected the clip for the titles.

In its regular Sunday time slot, THE SIMPSONS placed 44th with a 4.8 rating/9 share. The special Wednesday 8 pm airing of THE SIMSONS finished in the 57th slot with a 4.3 rating/8 share. At #72, Fox's FAMILY GUY fashioned a 3.8 rating/6 share. KING OF THE HILL hiked in at #87 with a 3 rating/6 share. Closing out the primetime toon chart, FUTURAMA finished in 93rd place, taking home a 2.7 rating/6 share. The U.S. universe estimate used for calculating ratings for the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, UPN, PAX and WB) is equal to 100% of all TV households.

Showtime Networks has greenlit a new series from MGM, entitled, JEREMIAH, based on Platinum Studios' award-winning graphic novel series by Belgian author Hermann Huppen. The show will star Luke Perry (BEVERLY HILLS, 90210) and Malcolm-Jamal Warner (MALCOLM & EDDIE). The 20-episode series, set to debut in early 2002, is being produced by Jeremiah Productions Inc. in association with Lion's Gate Television and Platinum Studios and will be distributed by MGM Worldwide Television Distribution. J. Michael Straczynski (BABYLON 5) will serve as showrunner and executive producer for the series.

Nickelodeon has renewed five first season shows including AS TOLD BY GINGER (20 EPISODES), THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS (14), INVADER ZIM (20) and PELSWICK (13). In addition, Nelvana-produced MAGGIE AND THE FEROCIOUS BEAST has also been renewed for 13 episodes. AS TOLD BY GINGER, produced by Klasky Csupo, follows 12-year-old Ginger Foutley as she crosses the shaky bridge between childhood and adolescence. THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS follows 10-year-old Timmy Turner and his fairly odd fairy godparents.