MattBrady
03-13-2007, 10:57 AM
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/AniShorts/nickelodeon.jpg" align="right"><b><center>NICKELODEON HOLDS 2007 UPFRONT
A TUROK MOVIE? GONZO NEWS & MORE</b></center>
<i>by Steve Fritz</i>
Nickelodeon, home of such megahits as <I>Spongebob Squarepants, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dora The Explorer</I> and now <I>El Tigre</I> held its annual upfront last week, detailing its programming plans for the next television season.
The main news is the all-kids network will be adding over 700 episodes of new or returning program over the period. Among the shows that have been renewed are, like you couldn’t guess, <I>Spongebob, Avatar, Fairly OddParents</I> and <I>Dora</I>.
More interesting are the new programs that will come throughout the next year. Already out and eating up its time slot is <I>El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera</I>, which enjoyed the best network debut since <I>Spongebob</I>’s launch in 1999. Freshmen live action shows <I>The Naked Brothers Band</I> and <I>Just Jordan</I> have also been given the green light for 13 additional episodes each.
New animated programming slated for 2007 are the following:
• <I>Mighty B</I> - Created by <I>SNL</I> comic Amy Poehler (who will also voice the main character), this series tells the misadventures of Bessie Higgenbotham, a “super scout” whose mania for collecting badges and do good deeds oft times leads to very bad things. It should start airing by 2008.
• <I>Tak & The Power of Juju</I> - This CGI series is based on the Tak Playstation series. Tentative debut is this September.
• <I>Back To The Barnyard</I> - Based on the film <I>Barnyard</I>, which was one of the more underappreciated animated features of last year. Debut slated for this Fall. There’s no word as to whether the bulls will still have udders though.
• <I>Making Fiends</I> - Based on the online films of Amy Winfrey, this series will tell the tales of two girls, one who creates monsters to destroy the town of Clamburg, the other who tries to stop her. Assisting Winfrey is Dave Wasson, whose previous credits include <I>Time Squad</I> and <I>The Buzz on Maggie</I>. Debut will be sometime in 2008.
• <I>The Umizumis</I> - A series that Nick actually describes as “preschool punk,” this is the creation of Soo Kim and Michael Smith. Slated for Nick Jr. in 2008, the series revolves around a group of little kids who hop on their Zipmobile in Metro City and fix things.
• <I>Bubble Guppies</I> - This other Nick Jr. series is the creation of <I>Backyardigans</I> Robert Scull, Janice Burgess and Jonny Belt. The interactive series helps kids make discoveries while exploring a CGI ocean.
“Our goal is always to give preschoolers, kids and tweens the very best programming in television, and to combine fresh new creative ideas with enduring hits that kids love,” said Tom Ascheim, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Nickelodeon Television. “SpongeBob is number-one with kids and Dora is tops with preschoolers, so we’re going to give them more, as well as new episodes of their favorite live-action and animated shows. And we are very excited about the new shows that will be joining the lineup this year.”
Also coming to Nick will be a major live action show the network is investing heavily on entitled <I>iCarly</I>, which will make its debut this September.
<I>iCarly</I> is a show within a show that converges the television screen and the web for kids. During the course of the series, Carly will give viewers a specific assignment that relates to the context of a particular show. Kids will be directed to a website to post their kid created original content, which may be either scripted into a future <I>iCarly</I> episode or become part of Carly’s web cast online.
“We are giving kids more and more ways to connect the dots of their linear and digital entertainment experiences through Nickelodeon, from the social networking of Nicktropolis, to the ability to mash up our content on TurboNick, to allowing them to send and control their own user-generated content on ME:TV,” said Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group. “ <I> iCarly</I> will bring it all together and reflect what real kids are doing today. The show could be in no better hands than creator Dan Schneider, who has delivered hit after hit for us.”
<b>STARZ DOING ANIMATED TUROK?</b>
The IMDB has posted a very interesting new animated project from Starz Media.
Apparently they have plans to do the old Gold Key/Valiant comic title <I>Turok, Son of Stone</I> as a movie. The series lists Tad Stones as supervising director and Fabien Nicieza as writer. The URL for this listing is http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0968765.
Stones refused to comment on the project while, when asked, Nicieza sent the following email: “That's news to me. Don't believe anything IMDB says, since many people use it to pretend they have something real going on. I'm curious who is listed as producers, did Classic Media license the rights, etc.”
Both Starz and Classic (who hold the rights to not only Turok, but also Magnus and Solar) had not answered as of press time.
Obviously, we’ll keep on this one.
<b>ANIME NETWORK ADDS MORE TEXAS STATIONS</b>
The Anime Network announced it added five more markets for the 24-7 linear version of its broadcast. As the result of a new distribution deal with Grande Communications, Anime Network is now available to Grande customers in Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, San Antonio and Waco.
Beginning this month, Anime Network is available to Digital Cable customers through Grande in the following Texas cities:
* Austin, Channel 171
* Corpus Christi, Channel 174
* Dallas, Channel 170
* San Antonio, Channel 171
* Waco, Channel 174
“While our stronghold in the on-demand realm is well-documented, Anime Network is also committed to 24/7 linear service as a preferred format to reach our passionate and loyal fan base,” said Kevin McFeeley, Vice President of Affiliate Sales and New Media for Anime Network. “We’re now seeing our VOD success transition into the 24/7 linear carriage deals we’ve been seeking, and we’re happy to add Grande to that growing list.”
Anime Network’s launch with Grande comes on the heels of 24/7 linear cable launches into new markets in Puerto Rico, Missouri, Houston, Florida and Wisconsin, and marks its continued growth as a linear cable offering.
<B>GONZO ANNOUNCES ANIME ROMEO & JULIET</b>
Gonzo Studio announced it will be doing what it claims is the first animated TV series of William Shakespeare eternal tale of tragic teenaged tantrums, <B>Romeo & Juliet</b>. They also announced Australia’s Eminence Symphony Orchestra will record the musical score. The Eminence is the first-ever orchestra created just to record soundtracks for TV and film.
The film is being supervised by Junji Fujita, whose previous credits include <I>Bubblegum Crisis</I>. The basic plot is the futuristic city of New Verona used to be ruled by the Capulets, until the Montague clan overthrows them. The only surviving Capulet is guess who, and Juliet has vowed revenge. Throwing the monkeywrench into the mix is, of course, Romeo, heir apparent to the ruthless Montague but otherwise a nice guy <g>.
The series is slated for a Japan debut April 2007.
<I>NEXT COLUMN: I’m gonna sit on my interview with Chuck McCann for a week or so because I start a multi-part interview with Bruce Timm. You read that right. We start with some interesting details about his past and how they reflect with his present. See you Thursday</I>.
A TUROK MOVIE? GONZO NEWS & MORE</b></center>
<i>by Steve Fritz</i>
Nickelodeon, home of such megahits as <I>Spongebob Squarepants, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dora The Explorer</I> and now <I>El Tigre</I> held its annual upfront last week, detailing its programming plans for the next television season.
The main news is the all-kids network will be adding over 700 episodes of new or returning program over the period. Among the shows that have been renewed are, like you couldn’t guess, <I>Spongebob, Avatar, Fairly OddParents</I> and <I>Dora</I>.
More interesting are the new programs that will come throughout the next year. Already out and eating up its time slot is <I>El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera</I>, which enjoyed the best network debut since <I>Spongebob</I>’s launch in 1999. Freshmen live action shows <I>The Naked Brothers Band</I> and <I>Just Jordan</I> have also been given the green light for 13 additional episodes each.
New animated programming slated for 2007 are the following:
• <I>Mighty B</I> - Created by <I>SNL</I> comic Amy Poehler (who will also voice the main character), this series tells the misadventures of Bessie Higgenbotham, a “super scout” whose mania for collecting badges and do good deeds oft times leads to very bad things. It should start airing by 2008.
• <I>Tak & The Power of Juju</I> - This CGI series is based on the Tak Playstation series. Tentative debut is this September.
• <I>Back To The Barnyard</I> - Based on the film <I>Barnyard</I>, which was one of the more underappreciated animated features of last year. Debut slated for this Fall. There’s no word as to whether the bulls will still have udders though.
• <I>Making Fiends</I> - Based on the online films of Amy Winfrey, this series will tell the tales of two girls, one who creates monsters to destroy the town of Clamburg, the other who tries to stop her. Assisting Winfrey is Dave Wasson, whose previous credits include <I>Time Squad</I> and <I>The Buzz on Maggie</I>. Debut will be sometime in 2008.
• <I>The Umizumis</I> - A series that Nick actually describes as “preschool punk,” this is the creation of Soo Kim and Michael Smith. Slated for Nick Jr. in 2008, the series revolves around a group of little kids who hop on their Zipmobile in Metro City and fix things.
• <I>Bubble Guppies</I> - This other Nick Jr. series is the creation of <I>Backyardigans</I> Robert Scull, Janice Burgess and Jonny Belt. The interactive series helps kids make discoveries while exploring a CGI ocean.
“Our goal is always to give preschoolers, kids and tweens the very best programming in television, and to combine fresh new creative ideas with enduring hits that kids love,” said Tom Ascheim, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Nickelodeon Television. “SpongeBob is number-one with kids and Dora is tops with preschoolers, so we’re going to give them more, as well as new episodes of their favorite live-action and animated shows. And we are very excited about the new shows that will be joining the lineup this year.”
Also coming to Nick will be a major live action show the network is investing heavily on entitled <I>iCarly</I>, which will make its debut this September.
<I>iCarly</I> is a show within a show that converges the television screen and the web for kids. During the course of the series, Carly will give viewers a specific assignment that relates to the context of a particular show. Kids will be directed to a website to post their kid created original content, which may be either scripted into a future <I>iCarly</I> episode or become part of Carly’s web cast online.
“We are giving kids more and more ways to connect the dots of their linear and digital entertainment experiences through Nickelodeon, from the social networking of Nicktropolis, to the ability to mash up our content on TurboNick, to allowing them to send and control their own user-generated content on ME:TV,” said Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group. “ <I> iCarly</I> will bring it all together and reflect what real kids are doing today. The show could be in no better hands than creator Dan Schneider, who has delivered hit after hit for us.”
<b>STARZ DOING ANIMATED TUROK?</b>
The IMDB has posted a very interesting new animated project from Starz Media.
Apparently they have plans to do the old Gold Key/Valiant comic title <I>Turok, Son of Stone</I> as a movie. The series lists Tad Stones as supervising director and Fabien Nicieza as writer. The URL for this listing is http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0968765.
Stones refused to comment on the project while, when asked, Nicieza sent the following email: “That's news to me. Don't believe anything IMDB says, since many people use it to pretend they have something real going on. I'm curious who is listed as producers, did Classic Media license the rights, etc.”
Both Starz and Classic (who hold the rights to not only Turok, but also Magnus and Solar) had not answered as of press time.
Obviously, we’ll keep on this one.
<b>ANIME NETWORK ADDS MORE TEXAS STATIONS</b>
The Anime Network announced it added five more markets for the 24-7 linear version of its broadcast. As the result of a new distribution deal with Grande Communications, Anime Network is now available to Grande customers in Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, San Antonio and Waco.
Beginning this month, Anime Network is available to Digital Cable customers through Grande in the following Texas cities:
* Austin, Channel 171
* Corpus Christi, Channel 174
* Dallas, Channel 170
* San Antonio, Channel 171
* Waco, Channel 174
“While our stronghold in the on-demand realm is well-documented, Anime Network is also committed to 24/7 linear service as a preferred format to reach our passionate and loyal fan base,” said Kevin McFeeley, Vice President of Affiliate Sales and New Media for Anime Network. “We’re now seeing our VOD success transition into the 24/7 linear carriage deals we’ve been seeking, and we’re happy to add Grande to that growing list.”
Anime Network’s launch with Grande comes on the heels of 24/7 linear cable launches into new markets in Puerto Rico, Missouri, Houston, Florida and Wisconsin, and marks its continued growth as a linear cable offering.
<B>GONZO ANNOUNCES ANIME ROMEO & JULIET</b>
Gonzo Studio announced it will be doing what it claims is the first animated TV series of William Shakespeare eternal tale of tragic teenaged tantrums, <B>Romeo & Juliet</b>. They also announced Australia’s Eminence Symphony Orchestra will record the musical score. The Eminence is the first-ever orchestra created just to record soundtracks for TV and film.
The film is being supervised by Junji Fujita, whose previous credits include <I>Bubblegum Crisis</I>. The basic plot is the futuristic city of New Verona used to be ruled by the Capulets, until the Montague clan overthrows them. The only surviving Capulet is guess who, and Juliet has vowed revenge. Throwing the monkeywrench into the mix is, of course, Romeo, heir apparent to the ruthless Montague but otherwise a nice guy <g>.
The series is slated for a Japan debut April 2007.
<I>NEXT COLUMN: I’m gonna sit on my interview with Chuck McCann for a week or so because I start a multi-part interview with Bruce Timm. You read that right. We start with some interesting details about his past and how they reflect with his present. See you Thursday</I>.