The Tube Turns Into ‘Toon Town

In the latest battle on TV’s prime-time front for bigger audiences, the lines are being drawn--literally.

The not-so-secret weapon has become animation. In a season that has already seen Fox’s urban-tinged “The PJs” and UPN’s office cubicle comedy “Dilbert” join “The Simpsons” and “King of the Hill,” three cartoon rookies are leaping into the ranks of network prime time in the next few weeks. And even more fresh ‘toon troops are on the way.

Animators are clearly excited that animated series are the new rave at the networks. With the five new series, a flood of new animated projects under consideration at the networks and the continuing frenzy over animation at cable outlets such as Nickelodeon, the Cartoon Network and MTV, network honchos are finally recognizing what cable executives learned long ago--that animation offers a unique and visually stimulating alternative to the look-alike torrent of “Seinfeld” and “Friends” clones about single yuppies that has flooded TV schedules the last several years.

Fox has so many projects that in a few weeks the network will program an entire weeknight of animated fare, an unprecedented move for a broadcast network.

But while industry honchos and producers are also excited about the new trend, it has prompted concern in the same circles about whether the explosion may be too much of a good thing. Will viewers turn on to all the new ‘toons, or will they begin to tune out?

“Everyone is asking themselves the same question--how much is too much?” said Lorne Bouchard, one of the executive producers of “Home Movies,” which joins UPN’s schedule next month. “We are and TV executives are.”

“Oversaturation is certainly a concern,” said David X. Cohen, a “Simpsons” veteran and executive producer of “Futurama.” “This kind of situation has never arisen before. One thing we’re certainly concerned about is having a bunch of animated shows on the same night. I feel fortunate to be in the first half of that lineup. Seeing animated shows like that is like drinking cups of coffee--they’re so full of energy. You get more jittery with each show. Your eyes will be bugging at the end.”

The futuristic “Futurama,” the new offering from “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening, is the first in the new animation onslaught, premiering 8:30 p.m. Sunday and airing again the following Sunday before settling into its regular 8:30 p.m. Tuesday spot on April 6 to kick off Fox’s “Toonsday” lineup, which includes “King of the Hill,” “The PJs” and repeats of “The Simpsons.”

‘Family Guy’ Returns; ‘Home Movies’ Bows

Next up at 9 p.m. is the return of the comedy “Family Guy,” which premiered on Fox after the Super Bowl and will come back April 11. And UPN is crossing its fingers over “Home Movies,” another family comedy, which will be unveiled April 26.

Even more animated shows are on the prime-time horizon, and all of the broadcast networks, with the exception of CBS, have ‘toons in their sights. Fox is mulling over a series blending animation and live action that satirizes kiddie shows and is also developing two other pilots--”Gary and Mike” a clay-animated series from “The PJs” animator Will Vinton, and “In the Bleachers,” based on the sports comic strip by Steve Moore.

The WB is preparing two new series, “The Downtowners,” about a young water-bed salesman and wannabe cartoonist, and his offbeat family, and “Baby Blues,” based on the comic strip. UPN has

“Quints” from actress Meg Ryan in the wings. NBC has ordered 13 episodes of an animated comedy from “Just Shoot Me” star David Spade, loosely based on his real-life relationship with his father, and is developing another series, “God, the Devil & Bob.” Touchstone Television is preparing a series based on “Clerks,” the edgy independent film, for ABC.

Still churning out current and new programming for prime time are the thriving animation factories at MTV, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Comedy Central. MTV is developing a new reality-based animation show, “Downtown,” inspired by real youths living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. “Rugrats” team Klasky Csupo is preparing “Rocket Beach” about California kids. The quirky SquiggleVision (an animation style) team behind “Home Movies” is also producing “Dick and Paul’s Celebrity Special,” an animated talk show, for FX. The Cartoon Network has “Courage the Cowardly Dog” and “Mike, Lu and Og” on tap.

Will Vinton, creator of “The California Raisins” and the Foamation process used for “The PJs,” said that while he isn’t as concerned with the quantity of shows, he is worried that the torrent may result in a lessening of quality in animation, and that animated shows may soon be as common and ordinary as situation comedies.

“I am critical of the similarity of projects,” said Vinton. “I feel some of these shows have the same kind of feel from one show to the next.”

But other insiders say concerns about ‘toon overload are premature.

Abby Terkuhle, president of MTV animation, said, “Certainly from the audience’s point of view, we haven’t reached saturation.”

David Zuckerman, one of the executive producers of “Family Guy,” said, “I don’t share that concern. If someone doesn’t like one animated show, it shouldn’t turn them off to others. It hasn’t worked that way with all the cop shows that are on.”

Sandy Grushow, president of 20th Century Fox Television, which is producing all of Fox’s animated projects, said he is not worried about ‘toon turnoff either.

“Sure, if I had my druthers, we’d be producing the only animated shows in the marketplace,” Grushow said. “Unfortunately, that’s not the way it works. But as long as the shows are good, I really don’t think you can have too much animation. I don’t feel the youthful audience really distinguishes between animation and live action. If it’s new and funny, they’ll watch. If not, they’ll find something else.”

Betty Cohen, president of Cartoon Network Worldwide, said, “People focus too much on the technology rather than character. No one ever says there’s a glut of live action. There’ll only be a glut if the shows are bad.”

Doug Herzog, president of Fox Entertainment and former head of Comedy Central, the home of “South Park” and “Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist,” noted the distinctiveness and looks of the shows: “Look at ‘Dr. Katz’ or ‘Beavis and Butt-head’ or ‘Dilbert’ or ‘The Simpsons.’ No two of them were alike.

“There can be too much of a good thing,” Herzog added. “I saw where that happened with sitcoms. But it’s hard to walk away when Matt Groening comes to you and says, ‘I’ve got a great new idea.’ When you have a show like ‘Family Guy,’ you don’t walk away from it. Funny is funny.”

“Very frankly, I love this boom,” Groening said. “I grew up with nothing but dreary animation, with a few exceptions like ‘Bullwinkle.’ So I love seeing shows on TV that don’t look like they came from the same sausage factory. You always hear about the golden age of television, but this is the golden age of animation. I’m a big fan of all these shows.”

For most of the decade, “The Simpsons” cornered the market on animation on the networks. Several other series, including “Family Dog,” “Capital Critters” and “Fish Police,” were short-lived and failed to even come close to the phenomenal level of “The Simpsons.”

The premiere of “King of the Hill” in 1997 from “Beavis and Butt-head” creator Mike Judge helped break the animation jinx, while other cable series such as “South Park” and “Dr. Katz” zoomed to success.

“Now all this is coming around with animation because we’re all responding to the same forces,” said Scott Adams, creator of the “Dilbert” comic and an executive producer of the UPN series. “Until ‘King of the Hill,’ ‘The Simpsons’ just seemed to be kind of an animation fluke. You would not have been wrong to assume that there was something about ‘The Simpsons’ that couldn’t be duplicated, that another animated series couldn’t succeed. ‘King’ showed everyone that was wrong. It wasn’t the form that was the problem, it was the writing.”

Seth MacFarlane, an executive producer and creator of “Family Guy,” said he welcomes the competition--sort of.

“I like to think the public is receptive to giving everyone a chance,” said MacFarlane, who paused before adding with a chuckle, “But just in case, just tell everyone our show is the best.”