2012-2013 Nickelodeon Upfront - Programming Buzz from Zenith

2012-2013 Nickelodeon Upfront

Nickelodeon held its annual upfront presentation on Wednesday, March 14^th 2012 at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Cyma Zarghami, President of Viacom’s Nickelodeon Group unveiled plans to introduce 650 new episodes of brand new and returning content (the most ever). Additionally, Nickelodeon’s President presented details on several highly upcoming premieres of movies, live-action and animated series.

ANIMATED:

Nickelodeon will roll out a new roster of over 300 new animated episodes in 2012 which includes:

• New episodes of returning series including SpongeBob SquarePants, T.U.F.F. Puppy, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, The Penguins of Madagascar, The Fairly OddParents and The Winx Club
• The Legend of Korra, in which the mythology of the franchise from Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko continues. The half-hour series will debut on Saturday, April 14, at 11:00 am
• Raving Rabbids will join the network’s animation line-up with 26 new CG episodes in spring 2013, bringing to TV, Ubisoft’s Raving Rabbids popular video games
• Monsters vs. Aliens, the new animated television series marks the third partnership between Nickelodeon and DreamWorks Animation. Green-lit for 26 episodes and based on the popular characters from the 2009 feature film, the new series will continue to follow the funny escapades of the beloved, well-meaning monsters
• Robot & Monster, a 26 episode run of CG-animated comedy set in a unique world where gangs of Cyber Monkeys roam the street
• It’s a SpongeBob Christmas !, Nickelodeon’s first full-length animated special which features John Goodman as Santa Claus, and will air in December 2012
• Seven new animation pilots picked up for the 2012-2013 season, including four pilots helmed by Butch Hartman (The Fairly OddParents, T.U.F.F. Puppy)

LIVE ACTION:

As part of the overall 650 new episodes the network is rolling out this year, Nickelodeon’s live-action slate will include:

• More new episodes of hit live-action series, iCarly, Victorious, Big Time Rush and Supah Ninjas
• A 26-episode pick-up of Marvin, Marvin, an original new series starring internet sensation Lucas Cruikshank (AKA Fred)
• The third installment of the Fred movies, Fred Goes to Camp, as well as a pick-up of 28 additional 11-minute episodes of FRED: THE SHOW
• A development project for UK pop sensation One Direction, who will next collaborate with Nickelodeon when they perform live at Nickelodeon’s 2012 Kids’ Choice Awards in Los Angeles on March 31^st, hosted by Will Smith
• Rags, a music-infused modern-day fairy tale debuting this spring. The two-hour original TV movie is executive produced by Nick Cannon, directed by Billy Woodruff (Beauty Shop, Honey) and features original music by Rodney Jerkins and choreography by Rosero McCoy (America’s Best Dance Crew)
• A Fairly Odd Christmas, a sequel to 2011′s live-action TV movie, A Fairly OddMovie: Grow Up Timmy Turner, which will air this holiday season
• Figure it Out, a contemporary revival of the ’90s family friendly game show. The show will launch later this year with 40 brand-new episodes
• New Nick-at-Nite series Hollywood Heights (debuting in June), a daily scripted series with 80-one hour episodes based on the Televisa telenovela, Alcanzar Una Estrella 

Throughout the evening, the presentation was also highlighted by appearances by Nick Cannon, Keke Palmer, One Direction and musical performances by Big Time Rush, How To Rock’s Cymphonique Miller and Gravity 5. Nickelodeon’s newest network star, Rachel Crow of The X Factor, capped the evening with a performance of Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You”. The evening also featured an exclusive look at a 3D storyboard of Paramount Pictures live-action, Ninja Turtles features, presented by Michael Bay. The feature film will debut in 2013, following this year’s fall TV premiere of the brand-new CG-animated TMNT series on Nickelodeon.

Cyma Zarghami also announced several live-action projects currently in development, including pilots for Nick-at-Nite with Scott Baio (Daddy’s Home), Wendell & Vinnie, a comedy about a goofball uncle (Jerry Trainor from iCarly) who becomes the guardian to his conservative 12-year old genius nephew, a new Nickelodeon series from Dan Schneider that will star Jennette McCurdy from iCarly and a series starring Rachel Crow (The X Factor).

The Zenith Media Research Team will continue to monitor future development meetings and upfront announcements with the latest information on the upcoming 2012-2013 season.

posted by Strategic Resources @ Zenithmedia at 3:41 PM

via zenithbuzz.blogspot.com