New wave of TV 'toons for grown-ups
By Gary Levin
USA Today
TV networks are making a renewed effort to be toon-ful.
A wave of animation — and not just for kids — is being sparked by technological advances, the move to expand beyond typical sitcoms and the durable windfall success of "The Simpsons," TV's longest-running current series.
NBC has guaranteed a slot this fall — probably on Tuesdays — for "Father of the Pride," an ambitious computer-animated series from DreamWorks about a group of lions in Siegfried and Roy's Las Vegas revue. "It's subversive," DreamWorks partner Jeffrey Katzenberg told advertisers last week. "It has an edgy attitude and is slightly politically incorrect."
Fox is bent on adding a new animated series to its lineup, joining "King of the Hill" and the venerable "Simpsons," in its 15th season.
The network is considering five new series, including an adaptation of the comic strip "Boondocks," and "American Dad," an Archie Bunker takeoff from "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane; decisions will be made next month. Fox also has an option for new episodes of "Family Guy," canceled two years ago but being resurrected on the Cartoon Network because of strong DVD sales.
"Animation is a huge part of our network in terms of our brand and our programming, with a history of shows," says Fox's Craig Erwich. "We have to make sure we have a pipeline to replenish them."
Comedy Central, which was put on the map by the outrageous "South Park" in 1997, plans "Shorties Watching Shorties," in which a pair of babies watch animated comedians' stand-up routines, and "Drawn Together," a reality-TV spoof in which cartoon characters live together in a house.
And Cartoon is expanding its successful Adult Swim block to a sixth night, Saturdays, starting April 17. In its 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. ET/PT time slot, Swim regularly beats big-network late-night hosts Leno, Letterman, Kilborn and Kimmel among its narrow target audience of men ages 18 to 24, with a mix of comedy and Japanese anime.
"A third of our audience is adults, and that was apparent even in 1992," when the channel launched, says senior VP Mike Lazzo. "We knew there was another business in animation (aside from kids)." Cartoon in August will launch "The Venture Brothers," a comedy about dimwitted brothers, their scientist father and his bodyguard, and this fall plans "Squidbillies," about a family of squid stranded in Georgia.
The interest in toons marks one of TV's periodic attempts to cash in on viewers' fascination with animation. "The Flintstones," "The Jetsons" and "Jonny Quest" started that off in prime time in the early 1960s. But it took "The Simpsons," which premiered as a series in 1990, to spawn several entries on other networks.
Another animation wave followed a few years after "South Park" took off.
What's different now is that technological advances in animation make shows both cheaper and quicker to produce.
