Starting April 9, 2007, FOX will run short animated clips about a taxi driver, Oleg, during ad breaks, reports THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. The character will offer bits of wisdom and chat with spoof versions of celebrities like Tom Cruise or Donald Trump. The network hopes the clips will keep viewers watching during commercial breaks, rather than channels or use a digital video recorder to fast-forward through ads.
Nicktoons Network, in partnership with Frederator Studios, is seeking entries for the 4th annual Nicktoons Network Animation Festival. Animators from around the world can submit their work to the multiplatform animation festival from Sunday, April 1, through Friday, June 1, 2007. Entry forms can be downloaded on www.nicktoonsnetwork.com.
Viewers will decide who fills the last contestant spot as the as second season of SCI FI Channel's hit reality series, WHO WANTS TO BE A SUPERHERO?, comes to a close. Like last season, when, for the first time ever, America was able to select a reality show contestant, SCI FI Channel and SCIFI.COM open the polls again with three new superhero hopefuls vying for your vote to fulfill a dream.
Log onto SCIFI.COM www.scifi.com/superhero) now through 11:00 am (ET) April 5, 2006, to vote for "Ominicron," "Rift" or "Thorn!"
Kids' WB! has added five new animated series to its 2007-08 lineup. The new series, which will launch in the fall, include: CG-animated EON KID, multiplatform adventure MAGI-NATION, action/comedy WORLD OF QUEST and WILL & DEWITT. The network previously announced that a new SPIDER-MAN series would begin airing on 2008.
"The Kids' WB! core audience thrives on heightened levels of action and adventure, and these new series promise to take our fans into realms they couldn't have imagined," said Kids' WB! svp/gm Betsy McGowen.
Comicbooks are set to attack Starz in advance of the anticipated theatrical release of SPIDER-MAN 3. Beginning Wednesday, April 4, 2007, viewers can see sneak-peeks of the superhero movie and enter the "Starz SPIDER-MAN 3 Sweepstakes." Later in the month, watch the premiere of the Starz-exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the movie, "On the Set: SPIDER-MAN 3" and "When Comic Books Attack," a daylong marathon of comicbook inspired films.
The hit animated series KIM POSSIBLE debuts its 4th new season on Toon Disney, beginning Mar. 26, 2007, with a 90-minute marathon of three new episodes (6:30 -8:00 pm) following the season 3 feature film finale, SO THE DRAMA (5-6:30 pm).
New episodes of the series will air Mondays at 4:00 pm, beginning April 2 on Toon Disney.
Matt Silverstein and Dave Jeser, creator of Comedy Central's animated series DRAWN TOGETHER, have signed a deal with 20th Century Fox TV, VARIETY reports. The two-year, seven-figure agreement will have the DRAWN duo developing new comedies as well as working on FOX series already in production.
The two-year deal, pegged in the seven-figure range, calls for Silverstein and Jeser to develop new comedy projects plus work on existing 20th series.
SCI FI Channel has upped its episode order for season 4 of its Peabody Award-winning original series BATTLESTAR GALACTICA from 13 to 22 episodes. This will include a special two-hour extended event that will air during fourth quarter 2007 and be released on DVD by Universal Studios Home Ent. thereafter.
Currently approaching its season 3 finale on March 25, production on the new season of Galactica will begin in May with an eye to an early 2008 premiere.
SCI FI has ordered a script for PHENOMENON, a two-hour pilot exec produced by Kiefer Sutherland (24) and Maggie Murphy, president of Sutherland's production company, East Side Ent., who also serves as exec producer. Phenomenon follows a crack team of experts, lead by a mysterious young female prodigy, as they investigate bizarre and supernatural anomalies of nature.
SCI FI consistently pushes the envelope on the limits of human imagination with provocative and thought-provoking stories that explore the supernatural within the world around us.
CNBC has announced that it will adapt the comic strip CEO DAD into a TV series, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The cable channel hopes to have the series ready for the fall.
CNBC hopes to launch the property as five one-minute shorts written by Los Angeles exec recruiter Tom Stern. Upon the success of those interstitials, the half-hour series may follow.
The animated series, ALIEN CLONES FROM OUTER SPACE, is scheduled to premiere on ABC Kids in October 2008. Based on the humor books published by Simon and Schuster, the stories follow twins Barton and Nancy Jamison, regular 10-year-olds. That is until alien clones land in their hometown and end up living in the attic.
Canadian animation production and distribution studio, 9 Story Ent., has started production on two new children's animated properties, a comedy, BEST ED, and an action/comedy, FUTZ! In addition, the company will complete production on additional episodes of four critically-acclaimed animated series: PEEP AND THE BIG WIDE WORLD (Season 3), MAX AND RUBY (Season 3) POSTCARDS FROM BUSTER (Season 2) and SKYLAND (Season 1).
Dentsu and Production I.G. are teaming to produce GUARDIAN OF THE SACRED SPIRIT, an animated TV series based on Nahoko Uehashi's bestselling young-adult novel series, reports VARIETY. Kenji Kamiyama will direct, while Gato Asao handle character design. The tale follows Barusa, a female sword fighter who must defend the New Yogo Empire's young prince from alien killers. The book series has won several prizes and has sold more than 400,000 copies in Japan alone.
The second HELLBOY animated feature, HELLBOY: BLOOD AND IRON, premieres on March 17, 2007, at 7:00 pm on Cartoon Network, during Toonami. Hellboy and his fellow agents defend the world from a wicked vampires resurrection in the sequel featuring the star-studded voice cast of Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Selma Blair (Liz Sherman), Doug Jones (Abe Sapien) and John Hurt as (Professor Broom).
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA exec producer David Eick has resigned his first-look agreement with NBC Universal, reports VARIETY. Despite the deal with NBC Universal, he has set up a host of projects in various stages at various studios, including Fox thriller THEM, two projects with FX, projects with SCI FI Channel and a miniseries with Lifetime. With NBC, he is overseeing the re-imagining of THE BIONIC WOMAN.
Treviso, Italy-based Gruppo Alcuni has begun presales on the new 2D/3D series LEONARDO.
The 26x13 product, geared for kids 12+, follows the adventures of a group of teens lead by a really special and talented boy -- Leonardo da Vinci.
Each episode shows the young genius at work while striving to find each time a particular and different solution in order to have the better of Gottardo, his sworn enemy, the son of the local lord and his unfair rival in love. In fact, both boys contend the charms of ironic and elusive Gioconda.
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation will work with Sundance Channel to showcase winning entries of the 28th Annual College Television Awards on Sundance Channel and in a dedicated section of its website. The 28th Annual College Television Awards Gala will be held on Saturday, March 31, 2007, at Culver Studios in Los Angeles.
Japanese animation house GDH is producing the first animated series based on Shakespeare's ROMEO AND JULIET. The soundtrack for the animated series, produced by GDH's main production subsidiary GONZO K.K. will be performed by the Eminence Symphony Orchestra the celebrated orchestra based in Sydney, led by founder/artistic director Hiroaki Yura.
Veteran television producers Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick, exec producers of American Idol will exec produce the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences 59TH PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS, which will air live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Sept. 16, 2007, 8-11:00 pm ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX.
Nominations for the 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be announced July 19, at 5:35 am PT from the Television Academys Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood.
DORA THE EXPLORER is reaching for the stars as Nick Jr. premieres a new half-hour episode entitled, "Star Mountain" on March 12. 2007, at 9:00 am on Nick Jr. and will encore later in the week on Friday, March 16 at 9:00 am. The new episode offers viewers lessons on numbers and colors in Spanish, as they journey along with Dora, Boots and the Tres Estrellas Exploradoras (Three Explorer Stars). Nick Jr. Video offered an "instant replay" of the full episode at 2:00 pm on March 12.
Starz Kids & Family will present a special airing of ELOISE IN HOLLYWOOD featuring interviews with Liza Minnelli, the godchild of creator Kay Thompson and inspiration for Eloise and Mary Matilyn Mouser, who provides the voice of "Eloise," on Sunday, March 11, 2007, at 6:00 pm (ET/PT). ELOISE IN HOLLYWOOD will be released on DVD March 13.
Nickelodeon has announced the new additions to its lineup at its upfront meetings in New York City.
MAKING FRIENDS is a new Flash series developed from Nickelodeon's TurboNick broadband platform. The series centers on two girls, Charlotte and Vendetta, who are two polar opposites. MAKING FIENDS was created by Amy Winfrey and is based on her popular MAKING FIENDS online films. The network has order six episodes to launch in 2008.
BRUNO AND THE BANANA BUNCH, Cuppa Coffee's follow up to its successful interstitial series, BRUNO, will launch April 2, 2007, at 9:45 am on CBC in Canada. Bruno first debuted as the star of an interstitial series, which airs worldwide in more than 80 countries. Now Bruno reprises his role as an age-appropriate playmate for preschoolers in a new 26x11 minute series that focuses on early math and numeric skills.
Plenty is going on this week with the kids of SOUTH PARK as the 11th season of the hit animated show for Comedy Central kicks off on March 7, 2007, and the first-ever high definition episode, "Good Times With Weapons" is released exclusively on Xbox 360 on March 6.
Nick Jr.'s hit animated preschool series, GO, DIEGO, GO!, sets off with new episodes March 5-8 at 9:30 am, offering preschoolers will learn all about tapirs, roadrunners, hawks, giant octopuses and other animals indigenous to Latin America.
