MTV Adds Two Animated Shows
By R. THOMAS UMSTEAD -- Multichannel News, 5/21/2001
MTV: Music Television has given the green light to two more animated shows, bolstering its already aggressive slate of original programming.
And more such offerings are in the works: The network hopes to add as many as nine animated series over the next three years, MTV animation president Abby Terkuhle said.
The two shows that have already received the nod are Clone High, which follows four present-day high-school students cloned from some of the more important men and women in history, and Time Boys, a half-hour animated comedy series featuring three slacker, 20-something misfits, Terkuhle said.
Terkuhle would not reveal how much MTV will spend to develop animated shows, but noted that past efforts like Daria have resonated with the network's viewers.
"It's costly, but we're doing some coproductions and doing a variety of other deals that help offset some of those costs," Terkuhle said. "But animation has always worked with our audience. It's a visual equivalent of music."
Details on MTV's animated slate follow the network's announcement of nine original series.
Other animated projects in development include: Miss Muffy and the Muff Mob, an adaptation of a rap-oriented Web toon; Bloid, an interactive cartoon tabloid game show in which the audience has to figure out which of three outrageous stories are true; MTV's Heckle and Jeckle, an adaptation of the classic cartoon; Monkeyweiner.Com, about two down-and-out writers who join forces and take career matters into their own hands by launching a Web site that critiques the Internet; and Left of the Dial, which follows the exploits of two college DJs.
Also on tap are Conspiracy 101, about a radio host who's a conspiracy theorist; Nevermore, about a teenager who sees strange things in her conservative, Stepford-like small town; B-Luv's Players, about six diverse college students' effort to make it in the music world by forming a band; and Hairballs, a satirical twist on cat-and-mouse cartoons.
The network will also tap writers Glenn Eichler (Daria) and Matt Harrigan (Celebrity Deathmatch) to develop separate animated projects, Terkuhle said.
