Category: Television

Nickelodeon is set to premiere two new cartoon series, INVADER ZIM and THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS, in March. Debuting on Friday, March 30 at 8:30 pm, THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS follows the adventures of 10-year-old Timmy Turner (Tara Strong) and his newly arrived fairy godparents -- Cosmo (Daran Norris) and Wanda (Susan Blakeslee), who grant him wishes in an attempt to fix his problems. The series is created by OH YEAH! CARTOONS! veteran Butch Hartman.

THE SIMPSONS yet again claimed the primetime TV toon crown scoring an 8.6 rating/13 share in 38th place. KING OF THE HILL notched in a four-way tie for #68, garnering a 5.8 rating/9 share. Not preempted by NFL football, FUTURAMA took the 84th slot with a 4.3 rating/7 share. The premiere of GARY & MIKE placed high for its fledgling network, UPN. With extreme help as a follow-up to WWF SMACKDOWN on Thursday, the new stop-motion cartoon kicked off with a 3.6 rating/5 share in 86th place.

Toronto broadcaster CTV has gained the Canadian TV rights for the STAR WARS franchise. The three-year deal gives CTV broadcast rights to EPISODE 1: THE PHANTOM MENACE and the original STAR WARS trilogy. In addition, the network has purchased the documentaries FROM STAR WARS TO STAR WARS: THE STORY OF INDUSTRIAL LIGHT & MAGIC, A LONG TIME AGO: THE STORY OF STAR WARS and THE MYTHOLOGY OF STAR WARS. PHANTOM MENACE will debut on April 29, 2001 on the same day that the film premiere's in the States on Fox.

After a decade on the air, THE SIMPSONS continues to do well with a top 20 finish this past week. At #19, the longest running U.S. sitcom scored a 10 rating/15 share. KING OF THE HILL tied for 41st place with a 7.2 rating/11 share. A 10-minute bonus installment of HILL ranked #101 with a 1.7 rating/3 share. Also at #101 was THE PJS, pulling down the same rating and share. These ratings and shares represent primetime TV in the U.S. on broadcast networks for the week starting Monday, January 1 through Sunday, January 7, 2000.

Fox has renewed both KING OF THE HILL and FUTURMA for the 2001-2002 season. The network ordered a complete season of HILL and 18 episodes of FUTURAMA. In addition, Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger were upped to executive produce HILL. Former executive producer Richard Appel is leaving to focus on developing a new live-action comedy for ABC. The new orders put HILL, produced by Film Roman, into its sixth season and FUTURAMA, produced by Rough Draft, into its fourth. Currently, Fox is in discussions to renew THE SIMPSONS for next season also.

This past week animated shows saw primetime animation in a New Year's mood. In a three way tie at #54, THE SIMPSONS New Year's special was the top toon, drawing a 5.5 rating/11 share. The KING OF THE HILL New Year's special came right behind at #57 with a 5.4 rating/10 share. A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS aired for the last time on CBS on Christmas Day December 25, 2000. The holiday special finished 64th with a 5.0 rating/11 share. The classic cartoon had scored an impressive 10.8 rating/16 share when it aired on Monday, December 11, 2000.

Fox TV Studios has tapped Los Angeles-based Gear-CGI to develop and produce a new action/adventure TV series entitled XERONINE. The series follows the mishaps and adventures of a simple-minded robot, a mad half-cockroach-half human scientist and the president of the United Earth. Providing voices for the series will be Gary Coleman (DIFF'RENT STROKES) as Xeronine, Clancy Brown (STARSHIP TROOPERS, SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION) as Dr. Canard and Pam Grier (JACKIE BROWN) as the president of the United Earth.

Oxygen will give life to ABC's DOTCOMEDY. The series that highlighted the funniest content on the Internet was cancelled from ABC after only one airing. The show received one of the network's lowest ratings for a regularly scheduled program with a 2.8 rating. Oxygen will air the four episodes of the show, created by Oxygen Media and Carsey-Werner, but will not produce anymore. Originally, ABC called for 13 installments of the series.

In its last year on CBS, A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS is nothing but a holiday miracle. Airing at 8 pm on Monday, the 35-year old special scored an amazing 10.8 rating/16 share to finish in 17th place for the week. After its Christmas day airing on CBS, the classic holiday special will move to ABC. At #33, THE SIMPSONS took home a steady 8.7 rating/13 share for Fox. KING OF THE HILL placed #58 with a 6.4 rating/10 share. The Sunday 7:30 special broadcast of THE SIMPSONS finished in the 72nd slot with a 5.2 rating/9 share. CBS' Tuesday night Christmas block took the next two toon slots.

DIC Entertainment is teaming with Tomopoulos Prods. and Jake Steinfeld's Body by Jake Enterprises to create a new animated TV series entitled CAMP JAKE. The show will follow the exploits of the rebellious kids who go to summer camp to get in shape. The companies have agreed to produce 26 initial episodes of the cartoon.

UPN will finally premiere the long-in-the-works GARY & MIKE stop-motion animated series. The series will begin airing Friday, January 12, 2001 at 8 pm. In a major show of support for the toon, a special preview episode will air on Thursday, January 11, 2001 at 9:30 pm following UPN's top rated show WWF SMACKDOWN!

The primetime animation champion once again was THE SIMPSONS at #25 with a 9.7 rating/15 share. CBS' Tuesday 8 pm broadcast of RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER placed #38 with an 8.3 rating/13 share. In a two-way tie for 46th place, KING OF THE HILL garnered a 7.5 rating/12 share. The Wednesday 8 pm SIMPSONS special tied three ways for #64 with a 5.6 rating/9 share. ABC's Saturday 8 pm airing of MICKEY'S CHRISTMAS CAROL sung home a 4.3 rating/8 share. On Friday at 8:30 pm on ABC, DOT COMEDY, featuring Webtoons from BunnyGrenade.com and Oxygen.com, netted a 2.8 rating/5 share.