Kwik-E-Mart Coming to Your Neighborhood 7-Eleven?
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Animation, Comedy, Prime Time, FOX,
Anyone with even remote knowledge of The Simpsons is familiar with the Kwik-E-Mart convenience store on the series. The current 7-Eleven marketing promotion converts a dozen of the stores into Kwik-E-Marts for the upcoming The Simpsons Movie. A stroke of genius, to be sure, but a bit of a rip for fans of the animated classic who aren’t in proximity to a 7-Eleven. Fear not, however, because most of the other 6,000 locations will also sell Simpsons’ inspired products, including Squishees (a.k.a. Slurpees), Buzz Cola and KrustyO’s cereal. I’d think for even the mildest Simpsons fans, these would be coveted items to own. The Simpsons Movie will open on July 27 and you can bet that people will be pouring into the theaters for a glimpse of Homer on the big screen. If you do live near one of the transformed stores, you’ll see the exteriors look decidedly like the animated Kwik-E-Mart—so, lucky residents of New York City, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Burbank, Los Angeles, Henderson (Nevada), Orlando (Florida), Mountain View (California), Seattle and Bladensburg (Maryland)... check it out soon, because your area Kwik-E-Mart will only be around for this month.
Read More 
| Yahoo! News
Gallery: Kwik-E-Mart Coming to Your Neighborhood 7-Eleven?
Advertisement
Simpsons to Become Universal Ride
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Animation, Comedy, Prime Time, FOX,
How cool is this? Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood will have a Simpsons-inspired theme park ride in Spring 2008. The Simpsons, which has been on the air forever and continues to be one of Fox’s biggest hits, seems a likely amusement park ride. The characters of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson will all be on hand as visitors ride along and experience the town of Springfield. According to reports, the ride is a fantasy of Krusty the Clown, showing guests of the park his interpretation of thrill rides and live shows. Universal’s team, along with The Simpsons Creator and Executive Producer Matt Groening and Executive Producer James L. Brooks, will work to create the attraction, with the original voice talent providing the character’s voices. Said Groening of the ride experience, “The ride is designed to duplicate the Simpsons home-viewing experience, only at high speed and with lots of screaming.”
Read More | Comingsoon.net
Gallery: Simpsons to Become Universal Ride
The 2007 Golden Globe Awards
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Animation, Award Shows, Comedy, Drama, Music, Prime Time, ABC, CBS, FOX, HBO, NBC, Showtime, Syndication, 24, Desperate Housewives, Entourage, Grey’s Anatomy, House, Lost, Medium, My Name Is Earl, Scrubs, Talent, The Office, The Sopranos,
Ladies and Gents – I can’t tell you how excited I am about the 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards tonight!! It’s been a whole five months since I’ve done minute-by-minute coverage of an awards show and I’ve been dying to unload. (And yes—I am ignoring the fact that the People’s Choice Awards even exist).
The Academy Awards may get the largest viewing audience, but the Golden Globes telecast is the only one I really love to watch. A cross between the insignificant People’s Choice and the stuffy Oscars, this show mixes credibility with spontaneous fun. Yes—the Miss Golden Globe tradition is beyond lame. And yes—separating Dramas from Musicals/Comedies is something I will never understand. But knowing that I may see a star slam down a drink after bitterly losing is exciting defined.
As for who I think should win? Well, Jennifer Hudson is an absolute given. (Though Rinko Kikuchi from Babel would be a nice surprise). And it would be great to see Forest Whitaker beat out both Leo nominations. But no matter what happens, I’m ready for the ride. So bring it on!
Click to continue reading The 2007 Golden Globe Awards
Gallery: The 2007 Golden Globe Awards
Extreme Makeover Makes a Comeback
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Animation, Prime Time, Reality, ABC,
Ugh. I don’t know who this is good news to, but the original Extreme Makeover will be coming back to ABC on Friday nights. The show will begin airing next week, October 20th at 8:00 PM. You know the one, where plastic surgery serves as the cure-all for any and all imperfections that their ‘contestants’ (is that what you call them? participants?) need tending to. The crack team of surgeons, cosmetic dentists, hair and makeup artists, and stylists give each candidate the works. It’s cringe-worthy at best, but I admit to watching Doctor 90210 (until they actually show the surgery), so I’m not perfect either. I guess I’m most intrigued by why people feel they need to have all of this “work” done. Extreme Makeover takes it to the limit, however—their spin-off for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is slightly more palatable because homes are getting the makeover, not people. The show will begin next week, then take a Friday off for an airing of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown. The show will continue through November sweeps. Extreme Makeover last aired in August of 2005.
Read More | Zap2it
Gallery: Extreme Makeover Makes a Comeback
Fox Gives Robert Smigel Animated Pilot a Try
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Animation, Late Night, Prime Time, FOX, Family Guy, Saturday Night Live,
Give that man a series—any series! Robert Smigel, the talented man behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, the Saturday Night Live TV Fun House segments, as well as writer for Late Night with Conan O’Brien has had an animated pilot green-lit by the Fox Network. Animals will provide another animated half-hour to Fox’s Sunday-night cartoon offerings (King of the Hill, The Simpsons, American Dad and Family Guy). According to trade papers, Animals will “mine the animal kingdom for a parody of life in suburban America.” The series is produced by Adam Sandler’s company, Happy Madison. Smigel and Sandler have a past with Saturday Night Live, plus Smigel has popped up in small appearances in Happy Gilmore and Punch-Drunk Love.
Read More | Zap2it
Gallery: Fox Gives Robert Smigel Animated Pilot a Try
Would you believe that The Simpsons is entering its 18th season? Would you also believe that series’ creator Matt Groening expects it to continue even longer? With no shortage of funny stories for this animated family, the series continues to be a ratings and award winner (it recently earned its 23rd Emmy). What’s more, a film version of everyone’s favorite family is expected to hit the big screen next summer. This is one show that keeps chugging.
Said Groening, “My attitude at this point is, as long as the people who work on the show are having a good time, let’s keep doing it. We’ve always tried to entertain ourselves and figured that the outside world would be entertained if we were making ourselves laugh.” Working on The Simpsons sounds like a dream job. Groening also noted that the fresh stories continue because “there’s a really good-natured spirit of competitiveness among the youngest writers on the staff who basically grew up watching the show and have a great memory for everything that’s gone before.”
Fox has renewed the series through its 19th year, so the legendary cartoon will keep going yet another year. The Simpsons season premiere will air Sunday, with Homer having a “brush with mob life.” The 400th episode of the show will air in May, spoofing Fox’s 24 and featuring vocal contributions from Kiefer Sutherland and Mary Lynn Rajskub.
Read More | CNN
Gallery: Simpsons Keeps on Going
Cartoon fans, take note. Your beloved characters are not safe from the Smoking Police—- not even abroad.
Due to a complaint from one viewer, a British TV channel has resorted to censoring their cartoons. The two Tom and Jerry episodes in question involved incidents of tobacco usage. Those scenes—more than 50 years old—are now on the cutting room floor. Additionally, the Boomerang Children’s channel has decided to go through their entire library to rid all their ‘toons of ‘glamorized’ smoking. Other affected cartoons could include The Flintstones, The Jetsons and Scooby-Doo.
Seriously—they might as well drop Scooby-Doo altogether. Once they edit out all the van scenes, there won’t be much of a plot left.
Read More | Canadian Press
Gallery: Cartoon Smoking Censored
Blue’s Clues Turns 10, Intro’s New Pup
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Animation, Kids, Specials,
I can’t believe Blue’s Clues is celebrating 10 years on the air… my kids grew up on Blue, so I’ve been a faithful watcher for the past five years. Even though my son has outgrown Blue, I can still get my three-year-old to watch with me occasionally. We’ve seen other product extensions on this show in the past, and changes such as the switch from Steve to Joe, as well as the show where Blue comes to life as a puppet (that never caught on in our household). So now, with the show approaching its tenth year, they will be introducing a new baby brother for Blue. Nickelodeon will kick things off with a primetime special called “Meet Blue’s Baby Brother.” The special will air on Sunday at 8:00 p.m., featuring gold clues in place of the typical blue paw prints… I suppose to make it more special? Blue’s Clues co-creator Angela C. Santomero says the idea for the new character came from preschoolers. “One of the things that is a huge milestone in their lives is when they get a baby sister or baby brother.” There are certainly some values and learning opportunities to be discussed with the new sibling, but I also see many marketing opportunities as a result.
My only question—why the hour-long special on Sunday at 8:00? What preschoolers are up until 9:00 to watch this?
Read More | Los Angeles Times
Gallery: Blue’s Clues Turns 10, Intro’s New Pup
Pulled South Park Episode Will Air Again
Posted by Christina Furtado Categories: Animation, Comedy, Cable,
Good news! Comedy Central has finally declared that it’s okay to make fun of Tom Cruise!
Variety has reported that the cable network will re-air the controversial South Park episode “Trapped in the Closet” on July 19. The Emmy-nominated episode, which skewers Tom Cruise and Scientology, originally aired in November 2005, but was pulled from the network’s repeat rotation back in May.
Apparently, creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have been very unhappy with the network, and the choice to re-air the episode may help to alleviate the situation. Stone stated, “If they hadn’t put this episode back on the air, we’d have had serious issues, and we wouldn’t be doing anything else with them.” I’m sure the network didn’t want to alienate the creators of one of their most popular shows, especially after the debacle with Dave Chappelle.
Now, if only the show could convince Isaac Hayes not to be so offended by the episode, we’d be all set.
Read More | Coming Soon
Gallery: Pulled South Park Episode Will Air Again
Comedy Central to Bring Futurama Back from the Dead
Posted by Christina Furtado Categories: Animation, Comedy, Cable, FOX, DVD, News, Renewals,
Comedy Central has ordered 13 episodes of former Fox animated series Futurama to debut in 2008. The network bought the rights to the existing 72 episodes of the cult series last year, and talks about bringing the series back began at 20th Century Fox Television with show creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen. Voice actors Billy West, Katey Segal, and John DiMaggio are all expected to return to the comedy about a frozen pizza boy who wakes up 1000 years in the future. The show has done well on DVD, much like the other cancelled Fox show Family Guy, which was resurrected on that network last year. Ah, the power of TV-on-DVD!
Read More | Coming Soon
Gallery: Comedy Central to Bring Futurama Back from the Dead
Advertisement
© Gear Live Media, LLC. 2007 – User-posted content, unless source is quoted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain License. Gear Live graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, videos, articles, blogs, forums, scripts and other service names are the trademarks of Gear Live Inc.