Networks to Simulcast Animated Anti-Drug Show

The three major television networks and a slew of other broadcast outlets will simulcast an animated anti-drug special this winter that will incorporate many of the best-known characters from Saturday morning cartoons.

With a sort of “J-J-J-Just Say No, Folks” theme aimed at children, the half-hour show will mark the first time that the networks have simulcast an entertainment program and the first time that the major studios have allowed their animated characters to appear together in a TV program.

Exactly which characters will be included has not been decided, organizers said at a news conference Tuesday.

“We will make this program available to anyone who wants to broadcast it,” said John Agoglia, a senior NBC executive who heads the Campaign Against Substance Abuse Steering Committee of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The Academy is organizing the event, with major funding provided by the McDonald’s fast-food chain. Roy E. Disney, vice chairman of the Walt Disney Company Board of Directors, will be executive producer of the special.

The show will air on a Saturday morning, probably in late February or early March, organizers said. It will run without commercials.

Organizers estimated that 20 million American and Canadian children between 5 and 11 will see the program. After it is broadcast, 250,000 videocassetes of the show will be given to schools and video stores, where it will be loaned out for free.

The program will not be completely preachy, organizers said. “There will be a very strong story line in the show,” said Disney.