CBS, ABC Announce Kids’ Slate

CBS and ABC will each introduce four new Saturday morning series in the fall, the networks announced Wednesday.

Joining the CBS schedule are three animated series, “Marsupilami,” a Walt Disney Co. production about an exotic jungle creature; “Cadillacs and Dinosaurs,” in which an ecologist and scientist seek remnants of an ancient technology, and “Dennis the Menace,” based on the cartoon strip, which is also the basis for a big-screen, live-action summer movie.

The other entry is “Beakman’s World,” a lighthearted science show moving over from syndication.

“CBS Storybreak,” which encourages children to read, will rejoin the fall slate, along with “The Little Mermaid,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “Garfield and Friends.”

Dropped from the CBS schedule are “Grimmy,” “The Amazing Live Sea Monkeys,” “Back to the Future,” “Fievel’s American Tales” and “Raw Toonage.”

New animated shows joining the ABC schedule are “Cro,” a Children’s Television Workshop production about an orphaned boy raised by a Neanderthal family; “Tales From the Cryptkeeper,” an anthology drawn from the HBO series that ABC says will teach a morality lesson each week, and “Sonic the Hedgehog,” based on the popular video game.

On the live-action front is “Citykids,” which deals with the lives of urban teen-agers through comedy, dance and animation.

Among the episodes of the returning “ABC’s Weekend Specials” are animated offerings with “P.J. Funnybunny” and a depiction of Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute.” The network’s “Saturday Morning Specials” will feature “Rhythm and Jam,” a two-part look at music.

“Reboot,” which uses state-of-the-art animation, is planned as a mid-season entry for 1994. It’s the story of a character who breaks through the third dimension “into the living world of a computer.”

Disney’s “Goof Troop,” “New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” and “Darkwing Duck” are departing the network to become part of Disney’s syndicated package.

Judy Price, CBS vice president of children’s programs and daytime specials, said in a press release that her network’s schedule “emphasizes learning and development for viewers of all ages.”