TVSquad

Contrary to what his album covers may suggest, Andrew WK is adorable. No, really. Adorable. I first learned this when I saw him on on MTV's Crashing With Andrew WK, a program in which the frontman hung out with some girls at a North Carolina Central University sorority (I found the first installment here, by the way). It's taken the rest of the world a little more time to catch on, but since Andrew WK kicked off his motivational speaking/performing career, people are starting to get it. The folks over at Cartoon Network saw something in his personality and evidently thought, "Hey! This guy should blow things up with kids!" And they're right. They're so right.

(S06E10) "What?!? I'm re-hydrating!" - Shake

I remember when I first heard about the live-action episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, I wasn't all that excited about it. Most of the ATHF DVD sets have had some sort of live-action Easter egg, usually of some fools dressed up in homemade Frylock and Master Shake costumes. They've never been funny and I just figured this episode would be like one of them. Then came news that it wouldn't be anything like that - T-Pain would be playing Frylock. That alone was worth the wait, but after all the hype... it just didn't do it for me.

I know that I'm not the target demographic for a cable channel like Cartoon Network. Although I still watch Pokemon on Saturday mornings, the last non-Adult Swim original cartoon I watched was Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.

Recently, Cartoon Network has announced a block of programming they're calling "CN Real." I'm already upset that a show like Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job isn't animated (don't get me started on Delocated), but isn't getting rid of the cartoons turning the channel into just "Network"?

VH1's Pop Up Video may be long gone, but the idea of "pop-up" blurbs in re-airing of popular shows has continued strong. Lost and Heroes have done it, and now Cartoon Network has announced Star Wars: The Clone Wars Decoded, a re-airing of the hit show's first season complete with little pop-up notations. Beginning May 1, 2009 at Clone Wars regular 9 PM ET time slot, Decoded will re-air all 22 episodes of the series' hit first season, leading to the second season premiere in the fall.

The text windows will offer trivia, background information on characters and the larger Star Wars storyline. I can't wait for the Jar Jar Binks episodes. "Jar Jar is a stupid character." "This is what happens when you indulge the whims of the creator no matter how stupid they are." "The creators of the character Jar Jar Binks were so ashamed of their contribution to the Star Wars mythos that they quit television. They're currently working in product and character development for Chuck E. Cheese."

I'm a huge Aqua Teen Hunger Force fan. It's one of the funniest shows ever created. However, for as big a fan as I am, I never know what's going on with it. Trying to interpret the archaic grid schedule at Adult Swim requires far too much concentration and eye-squinting. I finally gave in, though, and it turns out that the show's sixth season returns on Sunday, March 29th at 11:45PM ET. Don't get too excited - there's one big problem.

It's not enough to have Spider-Man on The CW, Wolverine and the X-Men on Nicktoons and the upcoming Black Panther on BET. Marvel Comics is now creating a new series for Cartoon Network called the Marvel Super Hero Squad.

Obviously, the show is marketed towards the very young viewer who is first being introduced to the Marvel super hero characters. That way, the company can indoctrinate new zombies into its empire. The cartoon is based on Hasbro's anime-like action figure series of the same name.

I can't help but wonder if Marvel is spreading itself too thin with so many movies and cartoon series. On the other hand, rival DC Comics is already marketing to the kiddies with their Brave and the Bold series on Cartoon Network and one cannot help but wonder if Marvel simply doesn't want to be outdone in that demographic.

In any case, kids watching the show will buy the toys and vice-versa. Marvel is learning the lesson of Disney.

If you're like me (you have my deepest sympathy), you don't have a dog in this Sunday's hunt.

Thanks to the Arizona Cardinals' first appearance this weekend, my hometown team, the New Orleans Saints, will now be one of only five left in the NFL that have never made a Super Bowl appearance. Three if you don't count the expansion clubs.

So if you're a Cardinals fan and don't have the stomach to endure their slow, agonizing and inevitable defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers, here are some alternative shows you can watch instead of the Super Bowl.

Batman's been around in one iteration or another on our television screens for almost as long as there has been television. Since the debut of Batman: The Animated Series in 1992, we've had some form of Batman on our screens almost non-stop. The latest incarnation of the caped crusader comes just in time to enjoy the success of The Dark Knight in theaters, but unlike its animated predecessor, doesn't carry nearly the dark tone of the film.

In fact, Batman: The Brave and the Bold almost takes a page from the beloved 1960's Batman television series with Adam West and Burt Ward. It's not nearly as corny as that in delivery, but it does have a wackiness to some of the villains and gadgets presented. Ultimately, though, it's a team-up show and a way for DC to showcase virtually its entire universe in a Batman show.

I wrote about my love for Cartoon Network's Batman: The Brave and the Bold last November. To reiterate: This is a show that all Batfans should be watching. It's goofy and fun, and it mines the DC Comics mythology to deliver some great stories featuring ol' Bats teaming up and trading barbs with the likes of Plastic Man, Green Arrow and more. I recommend DVR-ing the show and watching it late on Friday nights. It might cheer you up after Battlestar Galactica.

Now here's another reason to watch: Former Squadder and Enterprise ensign turned Interweb Superman Wil Wheaton will guest star in the next episode, "Fall of the Blue Beetle," which airs this Friday, Jan 23. Wheaton plays Ted Kord aka the Silver Age Blue Beetle.

Click through for a great clip from the ep, featuring Blue Beetle (who seems to be quite the tech geek) and Batman talking shop and knocking out bad guys.

It's been 10 years since Cartoon Network introduced us to the most adorable super-heroines this world has ever seen? Apparently yes, since the network is celebrating the anniversary of The Powerpuff Girls in a few weeks. Course, this makes me feel older than I am and poses the question of who sped up time over the last few years. Whoever you are, I have extended a certain digit in your direction.

Back to the original premise of this post. Cartoon Network will be celebrating the tenth birthdays of Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup (who were born on November 18th, 1998) with a brandy-new special titled The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!! on January 19th at 8 pm. This will be the first new episode of the series since its original run ended on CN and it was moved to the ethereal Boomerang in 2008. Prior to this premiere, the network will run a 14-hour marathon featuring the favorite episodes of show creator Craig McCraken.

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.

Talking apes! Alien leeches! Laser-shooting blob people! You'll never catch The Dark Knight rubbing elbows with such kooky company on the big screen. To see that, you'll have to tune into Batman: The Brave and the Bold, the new animated series on Cartoon Network.

Two episodes in and I'm loving this lighter, zanier take on ol' Bats' crime fighting adventures. It reminds me a lot of ABC Family's The Middleman, which itself was somewhat inspired by the campy 60s Batman TV Show.

Unlike Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight and the darker Batman cartoons we've seen before, which I also love, Brave and The Bold takes place in that colorful comic book world where anything (did I mention the talking apes?) can happen. There's no Commissioner Gordon, no Gotham City and no Robin (not yet, anyway). Instead, Batman is paired up with a new DC hero every week, and he does his thing in bizarre locales like "Dinosaur Island" or outer space.

At the beginning of the year the beautiful and sexy Jay Black presented a wonderful dissertation on the state of channel drift in cable television that discussed many of the reasons for this phenomenon. Being someone who likes to jump on an idea and trample it to death, I decided to expand on Jay's initial premise and provide some specific examples of cable networks that have drifted one way or another. Yet, being someone who likes to add something to an existing idea before the trampling begins, I decided a twist was in order.

Since a drift can range from 'small, but noticeable' to 'am I on the right channel?' a ratings system needed to be designed to determine how far a channel has gotten away from its origins. So, in the fifteen examples I list after the jump, you will see one of four categories...Minor Shift, Moderate Shift, Major Shift and Mother of All Channel Shifts. It is these four categories that you can use to agree or disagree with my findings once they are presented. So, without a continuing narration, here are the cable networks that have encountered some sort of channel drift.

Truly, Hollywood is out of ideas and everything old is new again: The cartoon The Pink Panther will be getting a new show on the Cartoon Network for a 26-episode run.

Of course, this generation has to add their own little spin on the character so he's going to be a little younger (more like a teenager) and hilarity will ensue. Classic characters such as Ant and Aardvark will appear. Perhaps this time they could get the actual Jackie Mason to do the voice of Aardvark rather than having John Byner do an impression of him. He needs the work.

I am trying to withhold judgment on this new cartoon. Having seen this before, I am automatically cynical of any attempts to revive a fond franchise of my youth. It's likely my opinion is not impartial. However, simply hearing that they have to make the main character a teenager in this new version automatically fills me with dread. Will he be talking as well? Even though I'm not the target demographic, I may just skip this one.

I can't tell you how uninterested I am in the new Star Wars series that debuts on Cartoon Network tonight at 9pm, The Clone Wars. In fact, I don't think I'm interested in the Star Wars universe at all anymore. To quote a cliche, been there, done that. To quote Yoda, watch it I won't.

Honestly, it seems like George Lucas is just creatively bankrupt. He keeps going back to the same thing (it's actually the second Clone Wars series - there was another in 2003).. He couldn't stop at the first three films in the Star Wars franchise, he had to give us three more. The first one is abysmal, the second one is OK, and the third one is pretty good. Just when you thought the entire saga was over, he comes out with an animated feature film this summer that was an intro to the new show that starts this evening.