Three comedies got some good news yesterday as the Seth MacFarlane-produced "Family Guy" and "American Dad" as well as NBC's "The Office" all received orders for additional episodes.
The latter series, from NBC Universal Television and Reveille, saw its second season officially extended to 13 episodes. "The Office" apparently began its sophomore season with a modest six-episode order with the option to shoot seven additional backup scripts.
The Tuesday comedy saw its retention rate of lead-in "My Name Is Earl" improve to 68.57% in households and 73.47% in adults 18-49 in its second week (compared with 62.37% in households and 67.19% in adults 18-49 on 9/20/05) according to preliminary Nielsen data.
Greg Daniels, Ben Silverman, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Howard Klein are the executive producers of "The Office."
As for FOX's "American Dad" and "Family Guy," the network has greenlighted nine additional installments of the former, bringing its series total to 41 episodes. "Dad," like most freshman series, began with a 13-episode order. FOX went on to order six additional episodes prior to its debut (read the story) with 13 more getting picked up this past June (read the story).
Overall, "Dad" will have enough installments to last through the 2006-07 season, although it's not clear how many will actually comprise each season.
As for "Family Guy," the show's producer 20th Century Fox Television has quietly begun production on 22 additional episodes of the series. Said order would bring the show's "revival" to at least 57 episodes. The network itself however has yet to officially pick up the additional installments. Nevertheless, industry insiders say it's a formality at this point considering the show's ratings success.
The news means that "Family Guy" will most likely be around through at least the early part of the 2007-08 season.
Seth MacFarlane is behind both "Guy" and "Dad" with David A. Goodman and Chris Sheridan also serving as executive producers on the former and Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman also serving as executive producers on the latter.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
the futon critic - the web's best primetime television resource
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Goodman Signs With 20th Century Fox TV
Under the terms of the agreement, Goodman will continue to serve as the program's showrunner, and will create new series for the studio.
Goodman's writing credits include The Golden Girls, Dream On, and Star Trek: Enterprise. He also was a co-exec producer on Fox's Futurama. "
TV Squad
Sunday, September 25, 2005
The intelligent design of the "Family Guy" (9/24/05)
Dismal ratings convinced Fox to boot the cartoon comedy Family Guy in 2002, but after ravenous fans devoured the DVDs of the Griffin clan's adventures, the network brought the series back–much to the surprise of creator Seth MacFarlane. Now that it's a hit on TV, MacFarlane's giving the DVD devotees a thank-you note with the straight-to-DVD Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin–the Untold Story ($30), which tells the tale of the Brit-accent baby's desire to prove that fat slob Peter Griffin is not his real father. With the cocktail-swilling family dog, Brian, in tow, Stewie flees to San Francisco to track down the man he thinks is his dad.
How are you like Stewie?
Only in my frustration with the world around me. He's a guy easily set off by the smallest thing, but–with the exception of George Bush–I'm not.
Is there a big temptation to get into political humor?
We try to stay away from it. Every once in a while we do it, but it's very easy as a Hollywood liberal to get on a soapbox. We have two stories this season. One is on the teaching of intelligent design in schools. Peter's Irish-Catholic father comes to town and gets the school to start teaching creationism. This sends Peter on a journey to find religion, and he ends up worshiping the Fonz. And we're doing one on gay marriage. Brian's gay cousin, Jasper, is getting married to his Filipino boyfriend, but Mayor Adam West is passing a law against gay marriage. We dance around the fact that one of them is a dog, and no one reacts to that [aspect], which is probably how it would actually be in this country.
Now that you're back on the air after being canceled, does Fox feel so guilty?
What people forget is that they kept the show on longer than other networks would have. It was probably the right move to cancel it at the time. And it was the right move to bring it back after it developed an audience through the DVDs.
I'm amazed you can get by with some of the stuff on the show, like calling that character "Asian reporter Trisha Takanawa."
That one came out of one of our writers noticing that the white people on broadcast news are always behind the anchor desk, and they send the minority reporters out into the field in danger.
So no one tells you what you can't do?
The FCC is more restrictive than it used to be. The trigger finger is at the ready. The message to us is it isn't sex and violence that's the problem–it's poop jokes. Public enemy No. 1 is doody. I feel like I'm living in The Twilight Zone. I want to do a mass mailing of the book Everybody Poops. It's tough for me to believe that's the real problem.
Toilet humor is getting chopped, then?
There was an episode called "Blind Ambition" last season. Peter wants to beat a world record, so he decides to eat the most nickels. We had a scene with him sitting on the john as many cartoon characters have in the past, and he's talking to Lois. But all you hear is a slot machine payout. That's benign compared to what you'd see on the local news, but it didn't make it. An example of something that did get in that episode is that [a character] is lying naked with a ceiling fan near his genitals while his friends show him pictures of women to help wean him from sex. I don't make the rules.
The nice thing about the DVD releases is that they're really financially important, so we've taken a hint from that and made them creatively important, too. So we have one edit for the DVD and another for the network airing. It's great that there's a venue for that. This release is an experiment, and if it does well, the next one might be a theatrical release.
Any idea of what that would be like?
It's something we haven't figured out yet. It's difficult to translate something that works in a half-hour to a two-hour format. Remember the Family Ties movie from the 1980s?
Unfortunately, no.
The show was a wonderfully written family comedy, but the TV movie was in Russia, and somehow [in the plot] they got possession of a microfilm. It could have been James Bond instead of the Seavers. So we don't want to do that. –Vicky Hallett
Thursday, September 22, 2005
'Futurama' writer is elected to head guild
Verrone, whose TV credits include 'Futurama,' 'Muppets Tonight' and 'Rugrats,' won 69% of the 2,012 ballots cast by the Writers Guild of America, West. Currently secretary-treasurer of the 9,000-member union, Verrone defeated 'Pirates of the Caribbean' writer Ted Elliott, who had been endorsed by outgoing president Daniel Petrie Jr."
Hannan Turk and Mohammad Hunaidi as the Simpsons
The Arab satellite television station MBC will be airing an Arabic version of the American cartoon comedy ‘The Simpsons’ during the holy month of Ramadan, marking the first time such an attempt has been made by an Arabic channel.simpson
‘The Simpsons,’ produced and Arabized by MBC, is a comedy and a family drama. A number of prominent young Egyptian actors like Mohammad Hunaidi and Hannan Turk will play the voices of the cartoon characters.
According to the London based Elaph, the Simpsons, despite being a cartoon, targets an older audience and tackles family and social issues.
Hannan has been nominated for the leading role in the upcoming film "Ous Wi Lazi'" (Cut and Paste) alongside young actor Sharif Muneer.
The film, directed by Hala Khalil, marks her second film, the first being "Ahla Al Awqat" (The Best of Times), which won her favorable reviews.
Hannan recently flew to Canada to take part in the Montreal International Film Festival, which featured Hannan’s new film “Dunia” (World), written and directed by Joe Sileen Saab. The film also stars Egyptian singer Mohammad Muneer, who plays a young performer who meets Hannan, and eventually the two make their way to Cairo to pursue their dreams.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
BLABBERMOUTH.NET - METALLICA To Guest On 'The Simpsons'
The members of METALLICA were in the studio today (Sept. 20) to record their voices for an upcoming episode of "The Simpsons". The show will air sometime in May 2006, so you have plenty of time to set those recorders. More information will be made available soon. In the meantime, click here to check out the pictures of the guys saying their lines.
METALLICA have been keeping a relatively low profile since completing their world tour in late 2004. The band is expected to begin working on a new album sometime before the end of this year.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Homer ("D'OH!"), Marge, Bart, Lisa and "The Simpsons" gang set to help increase workplace safety
worker safety awareness and training, unveiled a new line of workplace safety
products for US and Canadian businesses today featuring Homer Simpson and the
rest of Springfield's finest from FOX's hit show THE SIMPSONS in conjunction
with the National Safety Council's Orlando Congress.
In a series of entertaining posters designed to reduce workplace
injuries, Homer and the rest of THE SIMPSONS illustrate ways to work safely
using their unique brand of humor. Based on Victor House's own SAFE product
line and produced under license with Twentieth Century Fox Licensing &
Merchandising, Victor House will release two posters a month using 'SIMPSONS'
images created specifically to reduce worker accidents. The first posters were
revealed today on Victor House's web site at www.SafetyWorld.com.
"We have been working closely with the creative people at FOX to come up
with powerful and humorous graphics that reach out to employees", said Hugh
Owen, Victor House's President, "and if early reaction is any indication, we
have succeeded. We have never seen anything with the same impact as THE
SIMPSONS, especially among younger employees."
Helping stem a problem identified by OSHA of more than 5,000 worker
deaths and 4 million workplace injuries and illnesses annually, posters with
THE SIMPSONS characters are proving highly effective at getting safety
messages across. Their global recognition combined with amusing poster
graphics create an instant ability to cross cultural and language barriers
often existing in the workplace, offering an effective safety solution for
every business.
THE SIMPSONS safety posters are available at www.SafetyWorld.com or by
phone at 800-206-6548 and are designed to assist the majority of employers,
including industrial and transportation companies, hotels, restaurants and
large office employers such as financial services and high-tech organizations.
For sample images of THE SIMPSONS safety posters to accompany a published
article or broadcast news story or further information about Victor House, THE
SIMPSONS or FOX LICENSING & MERCHANDISING, visit www.safetyworld.com/press.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Simpson Movie News
Posted Sep 19, 2005, 4:01 PM ET by Karina Longworth
Filed under: Animation, DIY/Filmmaking, Comedy, RumorMonger
The Movie Blog points to these new details on the upcoming Simpsons feature. Producer David Mirkin maintains that quality is of utmost importance; to that end, they've decided not to rush production. 'It's all about the quality — the writing — which we're working on now,' he says. 'We are very quality conscious, and we don't want the series to suffer because of the movie.' Meanwhile, though the animation processes used will have to be altered slightly for the big screen, no one involved wants the film to look markedly different from the series. 'We're looking at various tests to get the right look,' Mirkin continues. 'We're taking it into the realm of cinema but not too far from how it looks on the show.' Still no details on plot, but it looks like many past and present Simpsons writers will be on board."
Thursday, September 15, 2005
TrekWeb.com - Patrick Stewart Fancies Fanny in FOX Toons
Ten years after NEXT GENERATION ended its seven-year run, now the truth has come out: Captain Jean-Luc Picard thinks Mr. Worf has a butt head. It became cartoon tongue-in-cheek canon last Sunday night on FOX, when Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, and Michael Dorn teamed up with FAMILY GUY creator Seth MacFarlane.
In season premiere "Peter's Got Woods," bizarre behavior from guest James Woods prompts Peter to blurt, "Boy, I haven't been this creeped out since I saw that episode of STAR TREK." At that point there's a flashback to the Enterprise-D...
Picard: "Number One."
Riker: "Yes, captain?"
Picard: "Let me ask you something. If I whispered in your ear that Commander Worf's head looks like a fanny, would you join me in a laugh?"
Riker: "Yeah, I could get in on that."
Picard: "All right, here it comes: Commander Worf's head looks like a fanny!"
Crew: "Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha..."
Worf: "You can both suck my ridges!"
Picard: "Oh, get a sense of humor, Rocky Dennis!"
Perhaps this is poetic payback from MacFarlane, who was humbled as a nervous crewman in ENTERPRISE episode "The Forgotten," penned by former TREK writer and current FAMILY GUY executive producer David A. Goodman.
Wil Wheaton has blogged, "[The] season premiere of FAMILY GUY was one of the greatest things I've ever seen on television ... Oh yeah, and seeing Wesley freaking Crusher!! I screamed so loud!"
Patrick Stewart also voices CIA deputy director Bullock in "Bullocks to Stan," the season premiere of AMERICAN DAD, in which Seth MacFarlane is the voice of agent Stan Smith. As Stan sucks up for a promotion, his rebellious 18 year-old daughter has a fling with Bullock.
It was weird. It was wacky. It was a typical Sunday night on FOX television. FAMILY GUY airs at 9pm ET, and AMERICAN DAD follows at 9:30pm.
A video clip of the TNG segment is posted at VRRRM, as well as a scandalous clip of Patrick Stewart as Bullock shaking his pink-terry booty while singing "I Love Little Girls."
"Simpsons" Keeps Going (and Going...) - Sep 13, 2005 - E! Online News
Few in Hollywood age more gracefully than Homer Simpson.
The fat, bald patriarch of Fox's The Simpsons turned 17 seasons old Sunday night. Ancient by TV standards or no, Homer's vital stats remain strong. His season opener drew 11.1 million viewers, ranking ninth for the TV week ended Sunday, per Nielsen Media Research.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
[66052]
E! News Live Top5 Videos
With 357 Simpsons episodes now having aired, the animated comedy ties Dallas for eighth among the longest-running entertainment programs of all-time, according to the Website Longest Running TV Shows.
By the end of this season, The Simpsons should have passed Alfred Hitchcock Presents (361 episodes) and My Three Sons (369), and moved within striking distance of fifth place and Death Valley Days (381).
The Simpsons hasn't just persevered, it has prospered. Last season, it averaged 9.6 million viewers, up from the 8.6 million it entertained a decade earlier.
The O.C., by comparison, might be the anti-Simpsons, slowly but surely regressing as it ages.
The Fox soap's third season premiere and cliffhanger tier-upper attracted 7.5 million diehards (31st place), down about 13 percent from its season-two opener and a ways away from its heady first days on the beach in Summer 2003.
Given that The O.C.'s premiere came against the National Football League's opening night match-up on ABC (first place, 18 million), a truer test for the show will come this week. That's when it'll go up against something arguably more fearsome than the Oakland Raiders: The new cast of CBS' Survivor: Guatemala.
Elsewhere:
* In addition to The Simpsons, Fox used Sunday to roll out the season premieres of Family Guy (15th place, 9.1 million) and American Dad (28th place, 7.8 million), and the series premiere of the sitcom The War at Home (16th place, 8.7 million). All were top 10 hits among 18-to-49-year-old viewers.
* With a modest 37th place debut (6.6 million), Fox's murder-mystery-minded Reunion wasn't quite a blow-out bash.
* After a fast start, Fox's Prison Break (19th place, 8.5 million) slowed, but made headway with youngish penal-colony buffs (10th place in the 18-49 demo).
* With Survivor still on summer vacation, the Tuesday edition of CBS' Big Brother 6 (24th place, 8.1 million) took honors as the week's most watched reality show.
* A rerun of Desperate Housewives' first-season finale (40th place, 6.5 million) rang up the ABC show's biggest numbers since the episode originally aired in May.
* NBC's Tommy Lee Goes to College (74th place, 4 million) has all but flunked out.
* Tommy Hilfiger declared design student Chris Cortez to be "in style" in the season-finale of CBS' out-of-fashion The Cut (75th place, 3.9 million).
* ESPN, the future home of Monday Night Football, happily made due with Sunday night football last weekend, scoring a cable-high 11.2 million for its Indianapolis Colts-Baltimore Ravens contest.
* Rome hasn't won a lot of viewers (2.6 million), but it has won a second-season pickup from HBO.
* In the eternal battle of the Bradys versus the Partridges, the premiere of My Fair Brady (1.2 million), chronicling the May-October romance of model Adrianne Curry and Brady Bunch alum Christopher Knight, outdid the premiere of Breaking Bonaduce (just under 1 million), chronicling the attempted suicide of Partridge Family alum Danny Bonaduce, VH1 said.
* The Discovery Channel had a hit with its made-for-TV movie The Flight That Fought Back (7 million), about the passengers and crew of the lone hijacked 9-11 airplane that didn't take out a target.
* A combined 22.2 million watched Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast on 27 broadcast and cable networks Friday night. Three years ago, America: A Tribute to Heroes, a similar all-star telethon organized in the wake of 9-11, drew 59.3 million. Unlike Tribute to Heroes, Shelter from the Storm didn't have the market cornered on donation pleas. It was just one of three telethons held last weekend. MTV, VH1 and CMT drew a combined 12 million for its Hurricane Katrina benefit, ReAct Now: Music & Relief. BET's S.O.S. (Saving Ourselves drew 1.2 million.
Overall, football, both pro and college, powered ABC to wins in total viewers (8.3 million) and the 18-49 demo.
CBS' reruns edged Fox's new shows for second place in viewers (7.5 million to 7.4 million). NBC (6.3 million) was a distant fourth. The WB (2.16 million) closed the gap with UPN (2.19 million), but couldn't overtake its rival.
Here's a look of the 10 most watched prime-time shows for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research:
1. NFL Football Special Opener (Oakland Raiders vs. New England Patriots), ABC, 18 million viewers
2. 2005 NFL Showcase, ABC, 16 million viewers
3. CSI, CBS, 12.9 million viewers
4. 60 Minutes, CBS, 11.7 million viewers
5. Prime-time spillover of regional NFL football coverage, Fox, 11.5 million viewers
6. CSI: Miami, CBS, 11.3 million viewers
7. Without a Trace, CBS, 11.219 million viewers
8. Two and a Half Men (9:30 p.m., Monday), CBS, 11.216 million viewers
9. The Simpsons, Fox, 11.1 million viewers
10. Two and a Half Men (9 p.m., Monday), CBS, 10.5 million viewers
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
The Simpsons voted UK's perfect couple!:- - World News - Webindia123.com
It seems that perfect or true love is now only a figment of imagination and is only possible on screen. According to a survey, over 54 per cent of women believe that the cartoon couple Marge and Homer of the US hit comedy show, the Simpsons represent the essence of perfect love.
The fun revelation that over half of UK women respect the marriage of two yellow cartoon characters with four fingers, came from a survey conducted by DatingDirect.com.
The cartoon characters beat the once-golden 'Brand Beckham' ,with David and Victoria receiving only 5 per cent of the vote. Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles did marginally better, with a fifth of women looking to them as romance royalty. Television star Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan got 22 per cent of the votes .Over 5,000 people were surveyed to coincide with the release of DatingDirect.com's love album, Perfect Love. (ANI)
Monday, September 12, 2005
Shearer Launches Label, Readies Several Projects
Harry Shearer has put his stamp on such iconic roles as Spinal Tap bass player Derek Smalls and "The Simpsons" nosy neighbor Ned Flanders, but he's about to add record label owner to his resume. Along with his singer/pianist wife Judith Owen and her manager Bambi Moe, Shearer has founded Courgette Records, which will be distributed by Warner Music Group's Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA).
"It grew out of the fact that so many record executives had seen Judith, and had said, 'She's great, we know she's great, we love her, we don't know what to do with her,'" Shearer tells Billboard.com. Owen picks up the rest of the story: "It came from me already being on major [labels] and having less than a joyful experience. One of the situations where 'new prez' comes in, the whole thing falls apart. After a situation like that, when you've lost your main guy, and you spend your life jumping through hoops trying to please people, it leaves you with the sensation of, 'God, wouldn't it be amazing just to be an artist?' It was a sense of Harry and I both being 'outside of the box artists' in our own fields."
The first release from Courgette (which is an English term for zucchini -- a wink to the infamous airport scene from "This Is Spinal Tap"), is Owen's latest album, "Lost and Found." Two singles are performing well at different radio formats: "Train Out of Hollywood" featuring Keb' Mo' on adult contemporary and "Sky High" featuring Tom Scott at triple-A. Owen describes the album as "Piano and vocal based, but it is passionate and sultry. It was all recorded live, in front of a few people, so it feels like I'm doing a show."
Shearer says there will be no shortage of projects for the new label. "What we hope is to break Judith as a major artist," he says. "Secondly, I'm going to put my television stuff, both from 'Saturday Night Live' and HBO, on DVD for the first time, and package it with a CD of comedy material -- mainly from my radio show ['Le Show'] about the era of anchors who are leaving or have left: Brokaw, Rather, Koppel. And then to go down the line, Judith has a lot more material."
He continues: "Looking into next year and beyond that, there's a musical comedy that's on its way to the Broadway stage, called 'J. Edgar!', which stars Kelsey Grammer and John Goodman, and before it gets to Broadway, we're going to do the original cast recording of it, and release that. There are a couple of fairly interesting soundtrack situations that we can't yet announce, because we're still in negotiation. And beyond that, we'll start looking at other artists."
In addition to the aforementioned projects, Shearer has a few more on the horizon. "I'm in Christopher Guest's new film, 'For Your Consideration,' which starts shooting in October," he says. "It's co-written with Christopher and Eugene Levy. It's the usual cast that people recognize from 'A Mighty Wind.' It's a movie within a movie -- it's about the actors in that movie getting that whiff of something very intoxicating, when the buzz starts that they may be nominated for an Oscar. And I'm doing a pilot for TV Land, called 'I Did Not Know That.' It's co-produced by Paul Reiser -- the idea is to take the piss out of shows like 'Biography' -- all those kinds of shows that tell you what you didn't want to know about people you didn't care about."
"I have a book, my first comic novel, called 'Not Enough Indians,' and that comes out the fall of 2006," he says. "Season 17 of 'The Simpsons' premieres on Fox this month and my radio show is heard across the nation each week. Christopher, Michael [McKean] and I did a couple of music shows, just the three of us, doing music from 'Spinal Tap' and 'A Mighty Wind,' but not in costume. I think we may tour that next year."
But is there any chance of one more Spinal Tap reunion? "There's not a lot of talk," Shearer admits. "We kind of have felt that we may have done everything we wanted to do. Although, there's an offer on the table that we've not yet been able to do something about -- to do a show with a symphony orchestra. And that's the kind of pretentious twaddle that we think Spinal Tap should do."
NFL, 'Simpsons' Take Sunday for FOX
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Fast National ratings for Sunday, Sept. 11, 2005
The opening of the National Football League season and the 17th-season premiere of "The Simpsons" led FOX to a ratings win Sunday.
FOX scored a 6.8 rating/11 share for the night, beating out CBS' 6.0/10 (numbers for both networks may change some as they had live sports bleed into primetime in part of the country). ABC and NBC tied for third at 4.5/7 -- ABC led in total viewers, 7.04 million to 6.31 million for NBC -- and The WB trailed with a 1.6/3.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Fine tuning: Simpsons start 17th season
The Simpsons (season premiere)
Global, Fox
In tough times, you can always rely on an old friend to see you through the dark moments.
The Simpsons has seen better years -- few devotees would argue with that -- but there's something oddly reassuring about the return of Homer, Marge, Bart and the gang for a 17th -- count 'em, 17 -- season, even with an episode as plain as tonight's Bonfire of the Manatees.
There are laughs to be had to be sure -- Simpsons episodes are too densely packed with visual jokes and inside jabs to ever be a complete waste of time -- but when the final chapter is written on The Simpsons' place in TV history, Bonfire of the Manatees will not go down as one of The Simpsons' best.
No matter. It's simply good to have the old gang back in an episode we haven't seen countless times before. And it's hard to suppress a smile at the opening, as Bart writes over and over again on the chalk board, "Does any kid still do this anymore?" (On their computer keyboards, perhaps.)
The plot is straightforward, if a little far-fetched. Marge walks out on Homer after he racks up a gambling debt to Fat Tony (Mantegna, reprising his role as Springfield's best-known made man), and strikes up a tentative romance with a marine biologist (Alec Baldwin), who's out to save the manatees. Marge has a thing for large mammals -- she's been married to Homer all these years, remember -- but everything works out in the end, Simpsons-style.
There's a dig at reality TV along the way ("I'm joined in the broadcast booth by the stars of ABC's latest reality show, Billionaire vs. Bear"), a clever Fahrenheit 911 joke and a gentle message about conservation and saving the environment. It's all very warm and familiar.
The Simpsons has been on TV for 17 years now, but Bart and Lisa haven't aged a day. Imagine that.
American Dad
Global, Fox
From the sublime to the ridiculous: The season premiere of American Dad is rude, crude and lewd -- and outrageously funny. Whether or not you'll laugh depends on whether you appreciate the jokes in Family Guy and South Park.
The episode finds Stan (Seth MacFarlane) in line for a much sought-after promotion at the CIA, only his daughter -- a dead ringer for a 15-year-old Janeane Garofalo, both physically and philosophically -- provokes a brawl with Stan's boss at the CIA company picnic.
What happens next is definitely not family viewing. American Dad, like South Park, is meant to be satire, but I'm sure not everyone will get the joke. The Parents Television Council will no doubt be on the blower to the Fox network first thing Monday morning. And my guess is they'll be none too happy.
Friday, September 09, 2005
This season is last for `King of the Hill`
'There is an end in sight here,' Judge told the New York Post. 'I think 10 (seasons) is a good, round number.'
Fox refused to confirm the impending demise of the popular Sunday night cartoon, saying 'no decisions had been made' regarding the show`s fate, the Post said Thursday. 'King' makes its season debut Sept. 18.
Judge, however, is already eulogizing 'King of the Hill,' saying he`s hopeful it will be remembered for 'portraying normal, unhip middle-Americans with dignity -- instead of just making fun of them in a crass way.'"
The Simpsons enters its 17th season
Over 356 half-hour episodes, 48 cartoon shorts and 18 years of comic madness, The Simpsons has gotten away with TV's most cutting humor, skewering topical trends and timeless human nature with gonzo impudence. That's been its slant ever since creator Matt Groening made the first crude Simpsons shorts for The Tracy Ullman Show .
Fox
The 17th-season premiere of The Simpsons airs Sunday on Fox. It is the longest-running prime-time comedy in TV history.
"We attack everything equally," producer-writer David Mirkin said. "Government is a big idiot. Big business is a big idiot. Any authority figures are big idiots. All religions are made fun of."
And that will again be the show's game plan when The Simpsons starts its 17th season Sunday on Fox (Channel 26).
Born in shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987 before shifting to Fox in 1989, The Simpsons not only is the longest-running prime-time comedy in TV history, but it's also thriving on DVD. Fox recently issued a season six box set, and season seven should arrive by year's end.
Using the same voice cast and the same ageless characters in a fractured family, The Simpsons has maintained high standards of humor, invention and subversiveness. TV's funniest show also doesn't need the crutch of most sitcoms: a laugh track. Its creators trust viewers to provide their own.
Mirkin said live-action sitcoms also suffer from other network restraints not felt by The Simpsons. They're test-screened and edited "to get rid of everything that can be offensive," he said.
"If people saw (Simpsons' humor) in live-action, they'd be much more offended, but a cartoon makes it cute. People don't realize how dark The Simpsons is, because it's a brightly colored, happy-looking cartoon. That's how we get away with it.
"Almost every joke offends someone, yet the networks try to please everybody, and when you do that, you please nobody. You wind up with nothing funny."
"What amazes me about The Simpsons is how they've been going this long and continuing to be a good quality comedy," said filmmaker Terry Gilliam, a member of the Monty Python troupe that pioneered subversive comedy on TV. He sees The Simpsons and South Park as carrying that torch.
"Obviously the ( Simpsons) writers keep changing, but it's a great team of writers," Gilliam said. "And they have a great team of performers. So the animation can be as crude as it is, which is fine."
Mirkin said the secret of The Simpsons' subversive success is that "we're not beholden to a network. Our criteria is simple: Is it funny?"
Usually it is. Mirkin also attributed the show's appeal to its veteran voice cast and its stories.
He called the former "irreplaceable."
Last year, the cast held out for more money, and got it. Dan Castellaneta (Homer) and Nancy Cartwright (Bart) reportedly now earn $8 million per season.
Just as many actors can mimic Christopher Walken, many can ape The Simpsons' Homer, Marge, Lisa or Bart. But the show's creators aren't interested in imitations.
The Simpsons' voice actors "are fantastic actors, not just voice actors," Mirkin said. "It was (executive producer) Jim Brooks' vision to get actors of this caliber. I'd hate to see The Simpsons with the loss of any of those voices."
Voices are recorded before animation, and Castellaneta sometimes ad libs. Since the animation style has only 16 mouth positions for characters, Mirkin said, "we can change anything they say up to three days before we go on the air."
Simpsons plots also are bold for TV. They don't go from A to B, but from A to M to Z.
"Most sitcoms have two acts, but we have a three-act structure," Mirkin said. "Often the first act has nothing to do with anything else on the show."
It's all part of the magic that has made the show a cross-generational success, on the small screen and through a mountain of other merchandise.
New to the pile is The Simpsons Season Six , a four-DVD set that is packaged in a box shaped like Homer's head. (Always fan loyal, the set's producers also offer a standard-size box as a replacement for any buyer who doesn't like the novelty package. To do so, call (800) 223-2369 or visit www.simpsonsbox.com. The only cost is $2.95 for shipping.)
Such sets have been big sellers. Even with a suggested price of $49.98, The Simpsons Season Six has ranked second on amazon.com's sales charts.
With two seasonal sets issued each year, the DVDs eventually could catch up with the series — probably around the time the DVD format becomes obsolete, Mirkin jokes.
"We're working on a chip you can imbed in your head, so you can just see the entire series running past your eyes all the time."
And there's further life in the series for fans.
The show lives on in syndication, though each episode is shortened by two minutes to allow for more advertising. "A lot of those two minutes are the funniest material," Mirkin said. "It broke my heart to cut for syndication. At least on DVD you get all the great humor that's been lost."
Those cuts are particularly tough for the creators because each episode takes around nine months to produce, from conception to final cut.
Such time and care can pay off in the final product. But it also means the eagerly awaited The Simpsons movie is taking longer than a Homer nap, despite being greenlighted early last summer.
"We don't have a (release) date," Mirkin said. (The Internet Movie Database projects it for 2008.) "It's all about the quality — the writing — which we're working on now. We are very quality conscious, and we don't want the series to suffer because of the movie."
The Simpsons will punch up its animation for the big screen.
Mirkin, who's directed such films as Romy & Michele's High School Reunion, wouldn't spill The Simpsons' big-screen plot, but did delve into its look.
"The animation will be tweaked," he said. "We're looking at various tests to get the right look. We're taking it into the realm of cinema but not too far from how it looks on the show."
That means the film will be largely hand-drawn, despite the fact that such movies have been staggered by computer-animated fare.
"The Simpsons is different," Mirkin said. "If we were coming with a brand new product, it would absolutely be CG (computer-generated). But we have a built-in audience, and CG wouldn't be the right look."
He can take comfort in the theatrical results for two other hand-drawn series that went big-screen. South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut earned $52 million in theaters, while Beavis and Butthead Do America took $63 million. And neither veered far from its TV look.
Big box office would offer vindication since The Simpsons has never received its fair due from Emmy voters.
"It's unfair we're stuck in an animated category, but it's our choice to be there so we can win, quite frankly," Mirkin said. "People don't take animation as seriously. If you put us up against live-action sitcoms, they'd beat us.
"We tried that in the fifth season but got no nominations, even though it was one of our best seasons. So I put us back in the animated category." There, the show regularly is a big winner.
Of course, The Simpsons movie will wind up facing the same discrimination. At best, it will be lumped in a category of competing animated films. But Mirkin isn't deterred.
"It's really exciting, a fantastic challenge, to make The Simpsons for the big screen and have visual fun with it and create a larger story," he said. "We're having a blast writing it — and that's all I can say."
Doh!
Chicago movie theaters, movie reviews, movie photos, movie news
Every fan of "The Simpsons" has favorite episodes. The more obsessive among them can even rank their favorite seasons. But what of the show's creators? Do they have their favorites (and least favorites) as well, and if so, can they admit even an iconic show like "The Simpsons" has its ups and downs?
"I really don't have a favorite episode from every season," says David Mirkin, longtime "Simpsons" writer and producer. "I think we're writing the 17th season now [premiering Sept. 11], so it's hard to remember even when episodes happen. I can certainly remember the seasons I was running and executive producing--I remember those.
"But beyond that time, where and when things happen blur together a little bit. You can only have so many favorites. If you have too many, they can't really be favorites, can they?"
Mirkin, a former aerospace engineer, served as "Simpsons" show runner--basically, the show's final word on what stays and what goes--on seasons five and six, the latter recently released on DVD (Fox, 1994, 575 minutes, NR, $49.98) in a typically indulgent, supplement-rich boxed set shaped like Homer's head ("If you're the kind of person who wants to store your DVDs inside a hollowed-out human head," quips Mirkin; everyone else can exchange the packaging for more traditional art at www.simpsonsbox.com). Mirkin came aboard after the exalted season four, which many "Simpsons" aficionados consider the series' early peak.
But many of the writers had moved on, and Mirkin had to start rebuilding the staff, which gave the series, he says, a particularly personal touch.
"When I ran the shows in the fifth and sixth season, that's really my point of view. You have the final say on everything. You're the head writer, you're making all the choices. You're choosing what stories to do, how to tell them, how to structure them. You're choosing what jokes are going to stay in and what jokes aren't going to stay in.
"Of course, you might have a little more propensity toward your own material," he notes with a chuckle.
"When I took over the show, it was a matter of getting back a little more into story and character," Mirkin explains. "The fourth season--which is one of my favorite, all-time seasons--got so fast-moving and so full of cutaways. I still did a lot of cutaways, and I was very surreal in my leanings, in terms of storytelling, but I wanted to bring it back to character and story. I explored the characters a little more, took them a little further. I had one of the first episodes where Homer was really tempted by another woman ("The Last Temptation of Homer" from season five and Bart having a girlfriend even nastier than himself ("Bart's Girlfriend," from season six), plus more of a focus on side characters. We did the first episode to really feature Apu as a main character ("Homer and Apu" from season five). Those were my goals."
Season six features such classic episodes as "Treehouse of Horror V" (with a great take on "The Shining"), "Homer: Bad Man" (in which Homer's accused of sexual harassment), "Lisa's Rival" (with another girl competing to be Springfield's top student) and "And Maggie Makes Three" (a sentimental look back at Maggie's birth).
Sometimes it seems that the show has strayed far from such highlights, long ago entering precarious hit-or-miss territory, but Mirkin isn't concerned.
"It is all perception, and the thing you learn when you do television is that everyone has different opinions," Mirkin says. "Season six, season four, season five--I just had someone say the show's as good as it's ever been!"
Mirkin himself sounds somewhat incredulous when he relates this, but he cautions against listening to the show's critics.
"If you ask the audience what they want, you get retreads because they're not creative," he points out. "It's not their job to be creative or tell you something new. The whole idea is to keep it fresh for the audience, so to do the exact same thing, I don't think the show would keep its longevity."
"I think you can't really compare the episodes we're doing now with the episodes we did then until there's the same distance in time," he stresses. "Old episodes become like members of the family, and they grow on you and take on mythic proportions. Maybe rightly so. But it's very possible that will happen with the episodes we're doing now, given that much time. We're trying to write timeless things. `The Simpsons' has so many jokes per square inch; it's about three times as dense as a regular sitcom."
Fox Holds Family Guy With Hurricane References - 9/8/2005 3:54:00 PM - Broadcasting & Cable - CA6255478
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
American Dad Season Premiere
Best "American Dad" Ever!
Americandad_1_72OK, that's not much of a claim for a show that's only been on since May. But Seth MacFarlane and co. have a doozy of a season premiere scheduled for "American Dad" when it returns on Sunday. I've just viewed the episode, and it's absolutely brilliant. It's the closest thing to a "South Park" episode you'll see on broadcast TV ... uh, until later this month, when "South Park" reruns start syndicating on broadcast TV.
The episode is rated TV-14-LDSV. It's got everything. There's fornication, there's swearing, there's wildly gratuitous violence, there's the breaking of the fourth wall and of bones and of at least a couple of commandments. But man, is it funny.
I believe this is the episode referred to by Seth MacFarlane in his commentary to the Stewie Griffin DVD that you illegally downloaded last month. He wanted an episode that would satirize the FCC's ridiculous indecency crackdown. And I think he's got it. (By the way, care to guess how many indecency fines have been levied in 2005? Zero.)
All the Fox shows return Sunday, along with the token non-animated comedy, "The War at Home," which to my own personal surprise I wound up enjoying. It's the ideal hammock show, the "Yes, Dear" of Sunday nights, a show you wouldn't go out of your way to watch but smartly positioned between two favorites, "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy."
PRESS RELEASE 9 Squared Launches Exclusive Content From Fox TV's "American Dad"
Friday, September 02, 2005
RIA Novosti - Society - Moscow court orders Simpsons case retrial
MOSCOW, September 1 (RIA Novosti) - A Moscow court ordered a retrial Thursday of a long-running case involving the world's best-known animated family.
The Moscow city court ruled that a case centering on the Simpsons cartoon be returned to the Khamovniki district court, thereby upholding the plaintiff's appeal against the lower court's rejection of his lawsuit against the independent television channel RenTV. He claimed that by running the animated series, the television station was promoting drugs, violence and homosexuality.
Igor Smykov filed the suit against RenTV with the Khamovniki district court three years ago, asking for $10,000 in moral damages. He also demanded that the channel be banned from airing the series or at least be required to show it later in the evening to protect young audiences from its degenerating influence.
The city court overruled the Khamovniki judge's decision, citing a technical error arising from the replacement of the Russian media ministry with a federal media service as part of last March's government reorganization.
RenTV has already received one warning from the oversight agency, for broadcasting a talk show that was considered to promote drugs. A second warning could result in the channel having its license revoked.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Family Guy has fun with AIDS | Exclusive | Advocate.com
The Fox TV network and its animated comedy series Family Guy apparently think AIDS is a laughing matter.
AIDS groups are leveling harsh criticism against the network after it aired and then reran an episode of the show that includes a lengthy song-and-dance joke about a sick man who is diagnosed with AIDS.
The episode--titled “The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire”--aired on June 12 and was rerun on August 14.
In the show, the program’s main character, Peter Griffin, offers to tell a friend that his wife is cheating on him because of his self-proclaimed gifted way of breaking bad news to people. As an example of this alleged skill, the program shows a flashback as to how Peter told a gaunt man lying in a hospital bed of his AIDS diagnosis. The man is also depicted as young and sporting a goatee, possibly subtly suggesting that he is gay.
Peter is shown as part of a barbershop quartet that dances around the ill man’s hospital room, singing “You got the AIDS” and making it clear that the man is not just HIV-positive but has developed “full-blown AIDS.” The shocking song-and-dance number continues to speculate about how the man became infected: “when you stuck that filthy needle in here,” sung as the quartet points at the man’s arm, or through unprotected sex.
The full lyrics of the song are as follows:
You have AIDS.
Yes, you have AIDS.
I hate to tell you, boy, you have AIDS.
You got the AIDS.
You may have caught it when you stuck that filthy needle in here.
Or maybe all that unprotected sex which we hear.
It isn’t clear, but what we’re certain of is that you have AIDS.
Yes, you have AIDS.
Not HIV, but full-blown AIDS.
Be sure that you see that this is not HIV, but full blown AIDS.
Not HIV, but full-blown AIDS.
I’m sorry, I wish it was something less serious, but it’s AIDS.
You’ve got the AIDS.
The episode was written by Family Guy writers Patrick Henry and Mike Henry, and directed by James Purdum.
Fox officials defended airing and rerunning the episode, saying Family Guy intends to push the boundaries of good taste through its brand of insult-laden humor and that the show has targeted many demographic groups, not just HIV-positive people.
“Over the years, Family Guy has skewered virtually every ethnic, religious, and social group,” says Fox spokesman Steven Melnick. “The audience that tunes into this series is well-aware of what to expect from the show--a subversive and sometimes shocking comedic view that occasionally skirts the borders of appropriateness. This scene is not a joke about HIV but rather Peter’s ignorance and inability to convey bad news. Given the nature of this series as well as the well-established cluelessness of this particular character, the scene--while certainly abrasive--is not beyond the expectation of the Family Guy audience.”
But AIDS groups aren’t amused. And they’re not buying Fox’s defense of the show, saying that joking about a disease that affects more than 40 million people worldwide, most of whom will die of the ailment, is reprehensible and serves only to worsen AIDS-related stigma.
“A barbershop quartet singing blithely about AIDS is about as funny as a song about breast cancer or leukemia, especially to the people living with the disease,” says AIDS Project Los Angeles executive director Craig E. Thompson. “It is inexcusable for Fox to air a program that stigmatizes AIDS and less than subtly reinforces homophobia. It should be socially unacceptable to see this kind of garbage passing for entertainment in 2005.”
David Munar, associate director of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, says that while Family Guy may have been attempting to use dark humor to show the inappropriateness of delivering bad news through a song-and-dance number, that message might have been lost due to the subject matter of the song. “The risk, of course, is that some viewers might not get the joke and believe that AIDS has become a casual, laughing matter,” he says.
Both the AIDS Institute, based in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia’s ActionAIDS believe Fox and Family Guy officials owe HIV-positive people--and all those working in the AIDS arena--an apology for suggesting that becoming infected with HIV or developing AIDS is funny.
“The portrayal of HIV/AIDS on Family Guy was irresponsible,” says AIDS Institute executive director Gene Copello. “There is nothing comical about a person lying in a hospital bed dying of AIDS or any other disease. Fox owes people living with HIV/AIDS and their families an immediate apology.”
Kevin Burns, executive director of ActionAIDS, says, “It is disturbing that Fox television would take such a cavalier approach to the subject of HIV/AIDS and the difficult task of informing someone of an AIDS diagnosis. Fox owes the community an apology. In addition, they should consider the many opportunities they have to support people living with HIV/AIDS and to educate the larger community about HIV/AIDS treatment, care, and prevention.”
Fox officials did not respond to requests for additional comments.
Friday, August 19, 2005
Fashion Monitor Toronto - Guide to Toronto Fashion, Style and Nightlife - Princes William and Harry Will Star in The Simpsons - William and Harry will
Princes William and Harry Will Star in The Simpsons
William and Harry will be the latest in a galaxy of stars and famous faces to become characters in Springfield.
Princes William and Harry are being lined up for cameos in The Simpsons.
The royal siblings are set to be approached by bosses of the hit animated show with an offer.
Executive producer Al Jean claims he is interested in featuring both William and Harry in a storyline where one of the princes becomes Lisa Simpson's dream boyfriend.
He said: "We've thought about approaching Harry and William because I believe they are fans of the show. It would be funny to make one of them Lisa's boyfriend.
"I know they're image conscious but I don't know what harm it would do."
Al also admits he would love to cast Queen Elizabeth II, the princes' grandmother, in an episode.
He added: "I'd love to get the Queen on the show. That would really be something."
If William and Harry do accept the offer, they will be the latest in a galaxy of stars and famous faces to become characters in Springfield.
Former guest stars include former Beatles Sir Paul McCartney and George Harrison, Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Jackson and REM.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
PRINCE WILLIAM - PRINCES WILLIAM AND HARRY WANTED FOR SIMPSONS CAMEO
Producers of the hit animated show want William to feature as LISA's new love interest, while party-loving Harry has been cast as a wacky tearaway pal for BART.
The Simpsons' executive producer, AL JEAN, says, 'We've thought about approaching Harry and William because we believe they are fans of the show.
'It would be funny to make one of them Lisa's boyfriend.
'I know they're image conscious, but I don't see what harm it'll do.'
Jean has also hinted at wanting the princes' grandmother, QUEEN ELIZABETH II, to star in her own episode.
He adds, 'I'd love to get the Queen on the show. That would be something.'
If the royal duo accept the part, they will follow in the footsteps of other British stars who have enjoyed cameo appearances on The Simpsons, including SIR ELTON JOHN, SIR PAUL McCARTNEY and Prime Minister TONY BLAIR."
News Shorts
The new Fox reality series “Princes of Malibu” is doing more than just tank. It’s taking some of the shine off its lead-out, the cartoon hit “Family Guy.”
In its second outing, “Malibu” fell to a 2.0 adults 18-49 rating Sunday night. More alarmingly for Fox, the 8:30 show led into the lowest rated “Family” in some weeks. “Family” posted a 3.1 rating at 9 p.m. Sunday night, all according to Nielsen overnights.
That’s down 18 percent from the 3.8 “Family” averaged in the two weeks before “Malibu” premiered. Back then, “Family” had a much better lead-in, with repeats of “The Simpsons” averaging a 3.5 rating at 8:30.
The last two Sundays, “Malibu” has averaged just a 2.3 as a lead-in to “Family Guy,” pulling that show’s average down to a 3.2 over those same weeks.
Fox finished first Sunday night among 18-49s with a 2.4 average rating and a 7 share. ABC was second at 2.3/7, NBC third at 1.9/6, CBS fourth at 1.7/5 and the WB fifth at 0.7/2.
At 7 p.m. ABC led with a 1.8 average for a repeat of “Home Edition.” Fox was second that hour with a 1.7 average for repeats of “Malcolm in the Middle” (1.5) and “King of the Hill” (1.8), and CBS third with a 1.6 for “60 Minutes.”
Monday, August 15, 2005
IGN: Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season, The Review
"
How the Simpsons dug themselves into a happy little rut - TV & Radio
When he started work on the first season of The Simpsons, Mike Reiss thought the show would last six weeks.
"We thought we were just doing it to amuse ourselves and six weeks was about the lifespan of a quirky, offbeat show," he said.
Reiss didn't tell anyone what he did because he was ashamed to be writing for cartoons.
Seventeen seasons later, Reiss is still part of the Simpsons' fraternity. Twenty-five writers now work on episodes costing $US2 million ($2.59 million) to $US3 million each, with stars who get $US250,000 a week for their character voices.
Reiss, as one of the producers, has won four Emmys for what Time magazine voted the greatest TV show of the 20th century.
With more than 350 episodes, The Simpsons has become the third-longest-running show on American television behind what Reiss calls "those other two comedy classics, Lassie and Gunsmoke".
On the Gold Coast yesterday to address the Screen Producers Association of Australia's annual conference, Reiss admits to being surprised when The Simpsons is praised for its topicality.
AdvertisementAdvertisement
Given that each episode takes eight to 12 months to make, he says, "the show is one of the least topical shows on television" and its makers do not set out to be subversive.
"Our point of view is always just to be the funniest we can on any topic."
Reiss doubts that the show broadens the perspective of viewers when it treats such controversial subjects as gay marriage or creationism versus evolution.
"I heard recently that more people are playing saxaphone because of Lisa. That's the only real impact we've had."
Surprisingly, only one subject is considered too controversial.
"We always say we'll never have Homer beat Marge. Mind you, Homer strangles his son every week.
"TV gets a little more outrageous all the time. Someone will pitch an episode one year and we'll think we'll never do it. Then a couple of years later we'll do it and it airs without a ripple.
"We did the episode where Homer smokes medicinal marijuana. Fox said they wouldn't air it. We said 'OK, show a blank screen'. They finally aired the episode and there wasn't one complaint."
Good news for Simpsons fans: there are still plans for a movie, but it may be a while yet.
"We're taking our time with it," Reiss said. "Unlike the Bewitched movie, we decided to have a script first."
Buffalo News - Drawing ATTENTION
You sit down in front of the TV with a bowl of cereal and a few hours to kill watching cartoons.
But this isn't the Saturday morning of your childhood. The only mention of Scooby and Shaggy comes when a superhero-turned-lawyer defends them against charges of drug possession. Instead of Bugs and Elmer chasing each other through the forest, you get a giant milkshake stuffing his meatball roommate into a clothes dryer.
One thing is clear: These aren't your little brother's cartoons. They're the new generation of animated television, "adult cartoons," and they're raking in viewers in the coveted 18-34 demographic.
From the runaway hit "Family Guy" to cult favorites like "Home Movies" and "Tom Goes to the Mayor," adult cartoons make up a quirky, pop-culture-lampooning, potty-humor-spewing genre that isn't following mainstream TV's rules.
Where did it come from?
The success of offbeat shows like "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" even has the show's creators scratching their heads.
"Who would have ever thought that a sitcom about a pack of fries, a milkshake and a wad of hamburger meat would have become so popular?" said Keith Crofford, vice president of production at Adult Swim, the Cartoon Network block of shows that draws many adult cartoon viewers.
The genre has its roots in the edgy humor of "The Simpsons" and "South Park" and the knowing comedy of the original "Muppet Show." Then, in 1999, along came a bizarre little sitcom called "The Family Guy." After a few seasons, Fox yanked the series, which had drawn criticism from groups such as the Parents Television Council for its vulgarity and sexual humor.
But the show wasn't done yet. Strong DVD sales of "Family Guy's" first three seasons prompted an unprecedented about-face: Fox picked the series back up for a new season that began this summer.
The show became the mainstay of a new wave of animation. In 2001, Cartoon Network packaged some of its original shows in a nighttime block called Adult Swim. With strong lead-ins from better-known shows like "Family Guy" and "Futurama," the block began to pick up speed with the young adult demographic advertisers crave.
Once adult animation proved its staying power, other networks jumped on board, though they've had trouble reproducing Adult Swim's success. Spike tried out the short-lived "Stripperella," "Gary the Rat" and a "Ren and Stimpy" redux. Even SciFi chimed in with "Tripping the Rift," a fantasia of bouncing digital flesh and crude intergalactic humor that's about to start its second season.
Creating a cult hit
Viewers say the success of Adult Swim is as simple to understand as it is tough to re-create: The shows are funny.
"It's always been this weird, absolutely random humor," said Joe O'Connell. The 18-year-old follows a couple of adult cartoons and runs a Web site about one of them, the comedy "Home Movies."
Plus, the shows have a cult allure. They cater to a generation that has always liked discovering the next hit - whether it's in movies, music or TV - before anyone else.
"You have to get it in order to like it," O'Connell explained. "In some ways, that's part of the appeal."
Getting the chance to develop that kind of slow-growing audience was a rare gift in the ratings-focused television world, said Nick Weidenfeld, head of program development at Adult Swim.
"It had this chance to grow really organically," he said.
Adult Swim is based in Atlanta, far from TV's epicenters in Los Angeles and New York. That outsider status lets writers and animators stay focused on their shows' "geek appeal," a factor Weidenfeld said can't be underestimated.
Animation is a very freeing medium, fans say. On hand-drawn shows, characters can be anyone from baby Stewie of "Family Guy," who speaks with a precise British accent and is bent on world domination, to the 1960s cartoon hero who now hosts a talk show on "Space Ghost Coast to Coast."
"It's very spontaneous," 23-year-old Abigail Purcell said of animation. "You can't do that with regular, everyday human actors."
Attracting women
Purcell is part of the growing female audience for adult animation. While the shows on Adult Swim mainly attract men, some women are now picking up "Family Guy" DVDs and checking out the better-known shows for what Purcell calls her "comic outlet."
When adult cartoons' audience still skewed toward socially challenged college boys, women like Purcell were less likely to watch them. Now that at least a few shows have become more mainstream, Purcell and her friends have picked up on their subversive humor. Still, "for some people, it's like a secret indulgence," she said.
Developers like Weidenfeld and Crofford hope to build more Abigail Purcells into their audience while holding onto the Joe O'Connells of their base demographic by keeping their best-known shows around while developing new hits at their Atlanta base. They're branching out, too, with video games based on some of the most popular shows on the way in 2006.
"We all love cartoons, but this is bigger than cartoons," Weidenfeld said. "We're never going to just stay limited."
But their cartoons will probably always be the main attraction for today's young adults, who have grown up on "The Simpsons" and similar shows, O'Connell said.
"There's no mentality of "cartoons are for kids,' " he said of his peers. "It's just an animation generation."
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Simpsons, The - Don't like the new Homer-shaped case? Fox will take care of you! Er, if they get the phone # right... (D'oh!)
Don't like it? Most Simpsons fans we've heard from have LIKED the "Homer's Head" packaging for The Simpsons - The Complete 6th Season, and are looking forward to upcoming cases featuring the rest of the family's noggins. However, there ARE a significant number of fans who object to the change in box style, fearing that the new case will not fit in with the look of existing season sets, or just not fit at all if they have their shelving set in a pretty tight vertical fit. Don't worry, though, Fox will take care of you. Inside the box that arrives in stores next Tuesday, August 16th, you'll find a card that looks like this (except the phone # won't be obscured, even though it WILL be incorrect...more on that in a moment):
News Graphic
In short, Fox is saying (while taking a few humorous jabs at you; we guess they assume fans of The Simpsons WILL have a sense of humor, and can take a joke!) that anyone who wants to get the "Homer's Head" package replaced with a more standard-style slipcase package that resembles the old ones, may call a toll-free number and talk to Fox Customer Service to get this switched out. We do NOT know the terms of the deal: is it free? Does it cost? Do you have to pay at least shipping & handling? We just don't know. Nor do we know what the alternate packaging looks like, since Fox hasn't provided a picture of it.
As you can see, we've obscured the phone # on the card insert. Why? Two reasons: First, the phone # is NOT active for the slip cover offer until TUESDAY Aug. 16th...the day the new title hits the streets. We can also tell you that there will be a web site that can alternately be used to take advantage of this offer. The site is currently not active, and won't be until next Tuesday (there is filler material there in the meantime). Here at TVShowsOnDVD, we debated on whether or not we should reveal the correct # and the website URL to you right now, but decided in the end that we should just post it in a separate news story on Tuesday morning. Look for it then. It's highly likely that you'll need a proof-of-purchase to take advantage of the offer in any case. Well...maybe not.
In the meantime, it is IMPORTANT for us to pass on to everybody that THE "800" PART OF THE TOLL-FREE NUMBER IS WRONG! THE CORRECT NUMBER WILL HAVE AN "888" AREA CODE!. Yes, you heard that right: the phone # on the card is a typo. If you dial it as-is, you get some accounting firm that will consider phone calls on this subject to be nothing but a hassle, we're sure. They probably have nothing to do with this except the unhappy misfortune to have a similar toll-free number. Don't bother them, okay? Call the phone # on the card, but replace "800" with "888"!
(What's really funny about the typo is that, if you call the correct number after hours, you get a voice message from Fox Customer Service telling you to call back on Tuesday about the slip cover offer, and they read the phone # back to you...and the number the read is also the wrong "800" version. D'oh!)
Again, call the correct "888" version of the phone #, ON TUESDAY, or visit us here that morning to get the link to the website (which isn't mentioned on the insert card). All right? Okay. We appreciate the reader, who wished to remain anonymous, that took the time and effort to scan this insert and send it in to us.
Monday, August 08, 2005
IOL: Simpsons happier than Beckhams, says survey
TV host Jonathan Ross is perceived to have the happiest home life of all.
Chef Jamie Oliver's family came second in the happy stakes, followed by footballer Jamie Redknapp, his singer wife Louise and their baby son.
The Beckhams were tenth in the survey, with only one family set-up thought to be more fiery, that of the fictional Slaters in EastEnders.
TV cartoon The Simpsons came fourth, followed by TV chat show hosts Richard and Judy.
The Osbournes, famous for their bust-ups on their MTV show, came sixth ranking above newlyweds Prince Charles and Camilla and the Blairs.
Madonna and her film director husband Guy Ritchie are ninth in the poll, which was carried out for Norwich Union.
1. Jonathan Ross 29.3%
2. Jamie Oliver 21.7%
3. Jamie Redknapp 12%
4. The Simpsons 10.8%
5. Richard and Judy 9.7%
6. The Osbournes 5.1%
7. Prince Charles and Camilla 3.4%
8. The Blairs 2%
9. Madonna and Guy Ritchie 2%
10. The Beckhams 1.2%.
"
Saturday, August 06, 2005
Family Guy is tops
ABC started the night in the lead with a 1.8 average at 7 p.m. for a repeat of “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” Fox was second with a 1.6 average for repeats of “Malcolm in the Middle” (1.4) and “King of the Hill” (1.8), and CBS third with a 1.5 for “60 Minutes.”
Fox took the lead during the 8 p.m. hour with a 3.0 average rating for back-to-back repeats of “The Simpsons.” ABC was second with a 2.3 average for a repeat of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and CBS and NBC tied with a 1.8, CBS for a repeat of “Cold Case” and NBC for “Dateline.”
At 9 p.m. Fox led with a 3.2 average for “Family Guy” (3.4) and a repeat of “American Dad” (3.1). NBC was second with a 2.6 average for a repeat of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and ABC third with a 1.8 for a “Desperate Housewives” rerun.
NBC took over at 10 p.m. with a 2.2 average for"
Friday, August 05, 2005
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
King of the Hill - Season 5 Release Info
Wow, another announcement from Fox today! They've just announced plans to release the fifth season of King of the Hill on November 22. The 3 disc set will include all 20 episodes (480 mins) for $39.98 US ($54.98 CAN). The release will be in Full Frame (1.33:1), with English Surround audio, and English/Spanish subtitles.
Disc 1 Side 1:
1. The Perils Of Polling
2. The Buck Stops Here
3. I Don't Want To Wait For Our Lives To Be Over, I Don't Want To Know Right Now, Will It Be Sorry, Do Do Doo Do Do
4. Spin The Choice
Disc 1 Side 2:
1. Peggy Makes The Big Leagues
2. When Cotton Comes Marching Home
3. What Makes Bobby Run?
4. Twas The Nut Before Christmas
Disc 2 Side 1:
1. Chas"
Family Guy - Volume 3 Relase Info!
Probably the hottest news we've posted today (and we've posted a lot!), is Fox's announcement of Family Guy Volume 3, which contains the first 13 episodes from the fourth season. The 3 disc set will sell for $39.98 US ($54.98 CAN), and hit stores on November 29. The set will feature full frame video, with English/French Surround tracks, and English/French/Spanish subtitles.
Disc 1:
1. North by North Quahog
2. Fast Times at Buddy Cianci Jr. High
3. Blind Ambition
4. Don't Make Me Over
Disc 2:
1. The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire
2. Petarded
3. Brian the Bachelor
4. 8 Simple Rules for Buying My Teenage Daughter
Disc 3:
1. Breaking Out Is Hard to Do
2. Model Misbehavior
3. Stewie B. Goode
4. Bango Was His Name Oh
5. Stu & Stewie's Excellent Adventure
Extras include:
"
Monday, August 01, 2005
Podcasting News: Fox Jumps on Podcast Bandwagon
Fox Podcasts include Family Guy, Simpsons, American Dad, Malcolm in the Middle, Trading Spouses and other popular Fox shows.
The podcasts, which Fox brands as 'Foxcasts', are standard RSS 2.0/MP3 podcasts, with iTunes support.
Fox podcasts are narrated by Michael Krogmann, the host of the Late Night FOX Show, and the man behind American Idol’s Jaded Journalist."
'Family Guy' leaks online:- - Entertainment News - Webindia123.com
The uncensored Stewie Griffen: The Untold Story has popped up on illegal file-sharing networks, even though it is not being released on DVD until September, the New York Post reported.
The DVD is comprised of three never-aired Family Guy episodes. In one, a bearded baby a Stewie is cast in an adventure that closely resembles the fall of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, the Post said"
Scotsman.com News - Latest News - Gervais' Simpsons dream comes true
"Ricky Gervais' appearance in his own episode of The Simpsons is a dream come true, the British comedy star has revealed.
The Office and Extras star is the first British writer to pen an entire episode of the animated series, which he hails as his favourite show of all time.
'When I first got into comedy it was my ambition to get a joke on The Simpsons,' he told the Press Association. 'Now I've got a whole episode. I can just imagine waking up one day and finding out it's all been a dream.'"
Baldwin, Grammer back to `The Simpsons` - Sify.com
According to Contactmusic, in the show's season opener, which will air in the US on September 11, Baldwin will play a marine biologist, while Grammer will reprise his role as Sideshow Bob.
Dennis Rodman, Ricky Gervais, William H Macy, Lily Tomlin, Frances McDormand, and Rob Reiner are among others who will make appearances on the show."
