ABC-Disney doesn't attempt it. Nor does NBC-Universal or CBS-Viacom. But Rupert and his minions are steady chargers, and on a definite roll:
Fox has ordered presentations for two separate animated shows from stand-up comedians Demetri Martin and Adam Carolla.
Carolla’s project, The Birchums, will follow a character that the comedian developed for radio in the 1990s. ... The show is being produced by John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky, who previously worked on Mike Judge’s 13-year blue-collar opus King of the Hill.
... Demetri Martin’s project hasn’t been given an official title just yet, but the stand-up comedian will be featured in the voice cast and at the writer’s table. The project is being pitched as “a family workplace comedy set in the California Redwoods.” Martin will serve as an executive producer alongside Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope ...
Almost 25 years after The Simpsons redefined what cartoons could do, Fox continues to dominate the prime-time animation scene. Its current Sunday night lineup features no less than five animated comedies ...
With other nights yet to come.
Fox Broadcasting, of course, has been aggressive about developing new prim- time cartoon properties. The McFaralne shows. The new Sunday night entries. Everybody else just kind of puts a toe in the water, gets the toe bitten off, then scuttles away and forgets about trying animation in the nighttime ever again.
Fox is also the only major entertainment conglomerate with a WGAw contract for prime-time animation. (But a panacea it ain't. Smaller companies have signed WGA animation deals and fallen flat. God, the Devil and Bob anyone?) I'm not saying there's always a direct cause and effect there, since all or most of the successful p.m. toons were developed from artists' idea with heavy input from artists. But it's given Fox a certain edge when staffing writers' rooms.
And more than that, the girls and boys at News Corp. see animation as a viable, prime-time commodity that is worth nurturing. If one show doesn't work, they will try another. They blam away until ideas meld and a new concept takes off.
No other entertainment network does this as well, or as tenaciously. And Fox's record of success pretty much speaks for itself.
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2 comments:
Oh the moral conflict that those who lean to the Left must feel when they work on a Fox show.
"I need the job but by working on it I am lining to pockets of those evil Fox types with cash...what to do? What to do?"
I've been through the Fox Animation Studios for freaking years. And never once have my leftie ears heard any artist voice misgivings about working for the evil Rupert and Associates.
The gripes have been about schedules, workloads, worry about layoffs, and managers people don't like. (Just like every other studio I visit.)
I think you're projecting.
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