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Toon Zone News Archives |
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| September 2000 |
Kiss the Frog, "Baby"!
Wed, Sep 13 2000 16:49
Rembrandt
Variety.com
reports that The WB has ordered 13-more episodes of "Baby Blues," The Warner
Bros. Animation primetime comedy, plus 5 episodes held back from the first season and an
option to add 5 more episodes. This
is what the press release read:
"Maybe TV animation ain't dead after all: The WB has ordered a second season of the
underdog toon laffer "Baby Blues."
The Frog today will announce a 13-episode renewal for the Warner Bros. Television skein,
which labored through a five-year delivery process before
finally bouncing onto the net's lineup in late July. A six-week run of episodes produced
respectable ratings by WB standards, but more importantly, delivered a consistent and
demographically balanced aud in a tough Friday
timeslot.
"Baby" also generated perhaps the best-ever reviews for a Frog comedy. The WB is
also launching several comedies this season, providing established slots for
"Baby" to fill in case any of the new laffers don't work out.
With five episodes from the show's first season in the can, the WB will have
18 segs available for the 2000-01 season. In addition, the renewal serves as
a form of program insurance against the potential for labor strife next summer.
"I'm so excited about 'Baby Blues.' I truly am," WB Entertainment prexy Susanne
Daniels told Daily Variety, noting that she began working on developing the show before
she was pregnant with her first daughter.
"I've been working on it for a very long time, so at the end of the day, I'm
really thrilled it worked. It has tremendous potential," she said.
Net will likely order five more scripts, Daniels said, allowing the potential
for a full season of new episodes. While the threat of strikes helped make
the decision to renew "Blues" easier, "We would have done this
anyway,"
Daniels said.
Warner Bros. Television topper Peter Roth said the sister studio was
"delighted" by the renewal.
"We're looking forward, given the show's enormous potential, to long and
successful run," he said.
The "Baby" renewal comes just a few weeks after Fox ordered a third season of
its animated comedy "Family Guy," a show most insiders had considered dead.
Almost all other recent primetime toon forays by the Big Six have failed; there's very
little new in the animation pipeline as a result.
"Baby" is exec produced by Jeff Martin and Pete Ocko and is based on the
comic strip of the same name. Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott are co-exec
producers.
Skein features the voices of Mike O'Malley, Julia Sweeney and Nicole
Sullivan."
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