TVSquad

The Screening Room, a new monthly half-hour series for CNN International, will debut on March 30 at 1:30 p.m. Myleene Klass, one of the celebs from the UK reality series I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! will host the new series, which will delve into the film business from an international perspective with the usual celebrity interviews, red carpet moments, and film festival coverage. If you don't have CNN International, you can download episodes from the series' site when it launches on March 30.

I don't know how far this new series will stray from typical TV coverage of the movie business, but I do like the idea of broadening the focus to places outside of the United States.

A friend of mine sent me this link of the fifty greatest cartoons of all time as voted on by folks in the industry back in 1994. The peeps at Cityrag scoured video sites for the cartoons and have links to all but six of the cartoons for your viewing enjoyment.

I have to say, I can't find too many things wrong with this list. Warner Bros. figures heavily on the list, naturally, but it's nice to see Popeye and Betty Boop pop up on the list as well, not to mention "The Cat Came Back," a great Canadian cartoon based on the old song of the same name.

The New York Times has an interesting article about Disney and its television properties quickly narrowing the gap between itself and Nickelodeon, the children's network that has been number one in ratings and revenue for quite some time. While Nickelodeon still has the top ten shows in the coveted "2 to 11" demographic, Disney has been getting more viewers with shows like High School Musical and The Cheetah Girls. The article has plenty of numbers, facts and figures for anyone who wants to check it out, but what I find most fascinating is how difficult it has to be to maintain a young audience. All television viewers tend to be fickle, but that's especially true of children, who are constantly bombarded with new cartoons, products and live-action series and can easily abandon one for another, given the increasing choices offered not only on television, but online as well. Nickelodeon maintains it's more interested in consistency and developing good shows, not series that may draw a large audience and then fade away over time.

[via Toon Zone]

The struggling G4 network has been brought under the E! Networks tent, with plans to continue expanding the network's focus from video games to a more general entertainment destination for young men. As with most acquisitions, the network will most likely see layoffs, but the hope is that it will be able to attract more viewers, something it hasn't been able to do in its current form. While video games have seen a huge resurgence in recent years, the gamer demographic is too narrow, according to Ted Harbert, CEO of Comcast Entertainment Group. Meanwhile, I have yet to find any buyers for my network focusing entirely on the game of mumbletypeg. It seems kids these days just don't play with pocket knives like they used to.