secret saturdays

It's that time of year again, isn't it? That brief period between the humongous holidays of Halloween and Christmas that television and retail outlets have forgotten about. I talk about Thanksgiving, of course. The holiday of football games, unbuttoned pants, family arguments, and giant Snoopy balloons. It is also the time to give thanks.

Thanks for what? Well, we aren't trading chickens for a gallon of gas yet, so that's something. And, we still have television, which we can eventually trade in for chickens in order to get a gallon of gas. But, since our television shows are more important than driving in many cases, we may just start riding our bikes and eat peanut butter sandwiches instead.

With those happy thoughts, here is what I am thankful for when it comes to the flat screen idiot box.

Clone Wars, Secret Saturdays, a teenager with a super watch, and yet another Batman cartoon. These are just some of the items that were announced at the Cartoon Network upfronts this past week. A presentation, mind you, that was attended by one George Lucas.

Lucas was there to promote the CN's pickup of the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which many are expecting big things of. This series, which we told you about way back in May of last year, will continue the adventures of Obi-Wan, Anakin, and many others during the Clone Wars. According to Stuart Snyder, President and COO of Turner Animation, Clone Wars will be a game changer for the network and will be event viewing for kids as well as entire families. "Star Wars: The Clone Wars will be appointment television for everyone in the family", said Snyder

First of all, big props to Toon Zone for being on top of this stuff.

Cartoon Network has five new shows kicking off this year. They are:

• Re-Animated: a new series based on the original Cartoon Network movie about a young boy who has his brain replaced with that of a famous animator and begins to see the animator's creations appear in real life.
• Chowder: the story of an apprentice to a famous chef named Mung Dahl. Chowder wants to be a master chef, but he eats everything he sees. Chowder was created by C. H. Greenblatt, who previously worked on SpongeBob SquarePants and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.
• Currently untitled Santo series: Originally developed by Cartoon Network for Mexican audiences and based on the legendary Santo the Silver Masked Man, this new series will see the famed wrestler win bouts inside the ring while fighting vampires, monsters and robots outside the ring.
• The Secret Saturdays: Doc, Drew and Zak Saturday are scientists who work together to save the world from strange and inexplicable events. As part of a network of scientists, the trio battle the evil V.V. Argost and a mutant half-giant / half-spider.
• The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack: Out of all these new series, this one looks the most interesting to me. Creator Thurop Van Orman's (Powerpuff Girls, Camp Lazlo) series focuses on a young sailor named Flapjack who lives inside a whale named Bubbles and listens to tales of the sea from a pirate named Captain K'nuckles. There's a great interview with Van Orman on the Frederator blog, along with some images from the upcoming series. I'm absolutely enamored by the design of this cartoon.