Did Conan O'Brien's 'Tonight Show' fail because of an Andy Richter curse?

Actually, it probably failed because of a Jeff Zucker curse. But still, what of poor Andy? He seems to have been operating under a perpetual cloud ever since he left Conan's side the first time, when he quit his job as sidekick on 'Late Night With Conan O'Brien' in 2000 for a Hollywood career. He's worked consistently since then, but his list of credits over the last decade consists largely of box office flops and short-lived TV series. To which we can now add 'The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien.'

Chris Rock has the kind of status as a comedian that allows him to work on any project he wants. He produced the documentary Good Hair, he's writing a book, and he has been working on back-to-back film shoots.

Tuesday at 8 PM on NBC, you'll hear his voice in Merry Madagascar, playing Marty the zebra for the third time, along with returning regulars Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer, and Jada Pinkett Smith. He's confident it's not the last time he'll voice Marty, either, with Madagascar 3 in the works.

So why does a guy who can do anything he wants spend time in front of a microphone pretending to be a cartoon animal?

"Money," he says jokingly, speaking on a conference call on Wednesday. "No, no they're good. You realize as you get longer in this business, the only thing that keeps you working is doing good stuff. You know, I mean the box office is great, too, but if people don't like what you do the moment the box office isn't fair, they don't want to work with you anymore."

Nickelodeon has ordered 26 episodes of the new cartoon The Penguins of Madagascar.

Based on the characters from the film Madagascar, the show will depict the further adventures of the militaristic, adventurous penguins who escaped from the Central Park zoo in the film.

Dreamworks Animation and Nickelodeon are working together to explore the possibility of creating weekly series out of two Dreamworks movies. Paul Rugg (Freakazoid!) will write a spin-off from 2005's Madagascar that focuses on penguins Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private. Tom Martin (The Simpsons) has been brought in to write the pilot for the series version of the upcoming Kung Fu Panda.

Due out in May 2008, Kung Fu Panda is the story of Po, the panda. While he is a kung fu fanatic, his body doesn't exactly lend itself to martial arts. But then events transpire that call on Po to save the day. It's like Hero, with more fur and slapstick comedy... and pandas... starring Jack Black. How can they go wrong?

I only caught the end of the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards last night, but I did see it in time to catch Chris Rock win the Wannabe Award (like a Lifetime Acheivement Award). The best part was when his daughter ran up the stairs to be on stage with her dad. When he told the audience to 'say no to steroids', she said "no" into the microphone. What a cutie. He also made a joke about Todd Bridges, which got some adult laughs but flew right over those kids' heads. Other than that, I heard a lot of screaming kids. They sounded like they had fun.

Before I list the winners, I just have to say that it's funny how kids can humble you. We like to stick our noses in the air about 'quality' television shows and actors, but kids just like what they like. Here are some of the winners: