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Movie and Entertainment News >> Television >> Animation
Animation News
Ricky Gervais shot to stardom by creating TV shows that featured awkward humor, like The Office and Extras. Then he and Stephen Merchant, his writing partner, took their improv humor onto the radio, where they met Karl Pilkington. The dialogue between the three then became podcasts, which ended up in the Guiness Book of World Records.
Now, thanks to Media Rights Capital and HBO, those podcasts are reaching a new audience through the animated comedy The Ricky Gervais show. The cartoon uses the audio from those podcasts, creating a visualization of Karl's crazy monkey news and more. Read my review of The Ricky Gervais Show to find out if this process works.
Review of The Ricky Gervais Show originally appeared on About.com Animated TV on Monday, March 15th, 2010 at 11:59:21.
Tonight on The Cleveland Show, Cleveland looks to Daryl Hall (R) and John Oates (L) (guest-voicing as themselves) to help him make an important decision in "Ship'rect" at 8:30 on Fox.
Back in the fall, I had the immense pleasure of talking with Mike Henry (Cleveland) and Daryl Hall about the musicians' appearance on the Thanksgiving episode. They chatted like old friends and really seemed to be enjoying the whole process of writing and recording for a cartoon. Read the Mike Henry and Daryl Hall interview.
Hall & Oates on The Cleveland Show originally appeared on About.com Animated TV on Sunday, March 14th, 2010 at 00:28:01.
Media Rights Capital (The Ricky Gervais Show, The Life and Times of Tim) has announced its second partnership with priceline.com and Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy, a collection of shorts featuring animated characters created by Seth MacFarlane, exclusively for the web. The famous "Priceline Negotiator" character is featured in four new animated intro's of the shorts, which are available now on a new Cavalcade Hulu channel, on www.youtube.com/sethcomedy and priceline.com. Since its inception, Cavalcade has generated more than 100 million online views.
Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy is the first independent creative effort for Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy, The Cleveland Show and American Dad. The Cavalcade shorts, each approximately one to two minutes in length, are composed of original characters, scripts, and content, and employ MacFarlane's signature hand-drawn animation and a team of award-winning writers, actors, animators and producers.
Learn more about Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy on DVD or about Seth MacFarlane.
Seth MacFarlane Brings Comedy and Priceline.com Together originally appeared on About.com Animated TV on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 00:48:21.
Last season the South Park boys were haunted by dead celebrities, stood up to Harley riders, took a stand against the Japanese to save the whales and Butters became a pimp. They return for more shenanigans next Wednesday, March 17 at 10:00 p.m. ET on Comedy Central. South Park returns with seven new episodes. The series also reaches a milestone on Wednesday, April 14, by celebrating its 200th episode. What's your favorite episode in 13 seasons? Read this South Park episode guide to remember.
Picture courtesy of Comedy Central.
New Season of South Park Starts Next Week originally appeared on About.com Animated TV on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 00:06:28.
Atom.com announced in a recent press release that Comedy Central has ordered a third season of its half-hour, late-night series Atom TV and that sister network MTV2 will premiere its new original series The Atom Show, a 15 minute best of Atom.com. Both series will feature original Web programming developed exclusively for Atom by top comedic talent as well as videos uploaded by viral hitmakers, sketch comedians, animators and independent filmmakers. Premiering this spring, Atom TV will air on Comedy Central on Monday nights at 2:30 a.m. and The Atom Show will debut on MTV2 on Friday nights at 11:15 p.m.
Scott Roesch, general manager at Atom.com said, "Playing on both networks is going to give us access to an even bigger audience seeking original comedy on every platform." Premiere dates, programming lineups and hosts for "Atom TV" season three and "The Atom Show" will be announced this spring.
Ugly Americans is one of Atom.com's Web series that jumped from the 'Net to the small screen. Originally titled Five-On, Ugly Americans will premiere on Comedy Central on March 17, right after a new episode of South Park. Ugly Americans could easily be a one-joke cartoon, filled with aliens and fantasy creatures living in New York City. But from the clips I've seen so far, the premise is only a framework allowing for great humor about even human day-to-day life, relationships and work. Stick around after South Park to find out whether moving from Internet to TV is successful for Ugly Americans.
Picture courtesy of Atom.com.
More Atom TV on Comedy Central Coming Soon originally appeared on About.com Animated TV on Friday, March 5th, 2010 at 11:18:40.
I know you're out there. Die-hard Simpsons fans who collect everything from plushes to Pez dispensers. Collecting Simpsons toys and other cool items can be an obsession. (Remember the lady on the 20th anniversary special? Yikes!) Whether you get your goodies from ebay, Toys R Us, the local comic book store or comic-cons, I want to see your treasures. Post a picture of your favorite Simpsons toy and tell us all about it.
Picture courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox.
Share Your Simpsons Collection originally appeared on About.com Animated TV on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 14:48:53.
Before Hugh Jackman rocked a black leather zip-suit as Wolverine, there were comic books and cartoons devoted to the X-Men. Wolverine and his buddies are still enjoying the spotlight, thanks to the successful X-Men movie franchise. Here, Mike Brown reviews the recent DVD collection from the cartoon, Wolverine & the X-Men Volume 4: Fate Of The Future.
Picture courtesy of Pricegrabber.com.
Review of Latest Wolverine DVD originally appeared on About.com Animated TV on Sunday, February 28th, 2010 at 12:05:50.
When Knob Haven High School has a chance to become a "distinguished school," Larry volunteers to give a speech to the school board in hopes of impressing Miracle in an encore episode. All looks good for Larry until a video of Ennis surfaces online and Principal Sezno replaces him. Meanwhile, Willard (Henry Winkler) volunteers to teach Driver's Ed to overcome his fear of driving. Watch Sit Down, Shut Up tonight at midnight on Fox.
Picture courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox.
"World's Greatest Teacher" on Sit Down, Shut Up originally appeared on About.com Animated TV on Saturday, February 27th, 2010 at 00:48:30.
Last Friday I caught Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy and two other Fox cartoons, on Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO. I wasn't terribly interested in seeing the show, as I'm not a big fan of Bill Maher, but I was curious to see Seth MacFarlane, and hear what he had to say.
I'm glad I tuned in. Seth MacFarlane reminded me why he's become his own brand and franchise. He was well-spoken (even when using profanity) and intelligent in his answers. I nodded fervently when he said Dick Cheney would have been tried for war crimes under Ronald Reagan. I applauded when he said it took a special kind of a-hole to sleep safe knowing soldiers were defending his country, but then slam those same soldiers if they were gay. I smiled when he modestly defended the Family Guy episode "Extra Large Medium" that Sarah Palin attacked for its portrayal of a girl with Down Syndrome. Even more impressive was an impromptu performance of Captain Kirk from the Star Trek episode "A Taste of Armageddon." (See video.)
I'll have to keep Seth MacFarlane's talents and intelligence in mind the next time I read about Family Guy's stunt casting or turns on The David Letterman Show or some other shameless publicity ruse. After all, the man has been to cancellation and back. He deserves credit for every success he has.
John Shearer/Getty Images
A Nod to Seth MacFarlane originally appeared on About.com Animated TV on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 14:04:52.
When Lisa discovers that her Southern ancestors helped a slave named Virgil (guest voice Wren T. Brown) escape to freedom, she presents her family's story during Black History Month in "The Color Yellow" episode of The Simpsons airing tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET on Fox. Review other memorable guest stars on The Simpsons.
Picture courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox.
The Simpsons Celebrates Black History Month originally appeared on About.com Animated TV on Sunday, February 21st, 2010 at 11:00:25.