THEY’RE BACK
Teletubbies among the once popular kids TV shows being rebooted for a new generation of viewers,
Everything old is new again in children’s TV programming.
Nickelodeon has just landed the exclusive American rights to broadcast the forthcoming Teletubbies reboot from Halifax-based DHX Media Ltd.
“It’s one of these series that has always managed to connect with its core audience, which is the younger and the preschoolers,” said Josh Scherba, SVP Distribution at DHX.
The company has invested over $17 million on new episodes of the program, which has aired in over 120 markets in 45 languages and garners over 50 million global YouTube views monthly.
The new shows will debut in the UK, where the program originated in 1997, on CBeebies this fall, then roll out on Nick Jr. in the U.S. and on Family Jr. in Canada. Further markets are still to be announced, including China where Teletubbies has a strong online following.
It’s not the only old kids’ franchises being rebooted.
DHX recently produced new episodes of ’80s hit Inspector Gadget.
“They’re proven brands that have built-in awareness and that gives it an advantage,” said Scherba.
“We’re in a world now that has plenty of choice for consumers and so brand is increasingly important.”
Corus Entertainment announced earlier this week that it is updating ’90s hit ReBoot as “a hybrid live-action/CG-animated series” called ReBoot: The Guardian Code.
“Kids who watched it are now going to be able to watch it with their own kids,” added Jamie Piekarz, director of content for Corus Kids, whose parent company Corus Entertainment Inc. originally premiered the series on YTV.
Kids shows making a comeback: Teletubbies Then: Live-action British children’s show shot in a farmer’s field. Ran for 365 episodes from 1997-2001. Claim to fame: Giggly moppets Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po. Now: Computer graphics will make the characters sharper and lusher. 60 new episodes starting this fall.
Inspector Gadget Then: Animated show about a slow-witted detective Claim to fame: Gadget solves mysteries with his smart niece Penny and her even smarter dog Brain. Ran from 1983-’86. Now: A digital makeover and 26 new episodes as Gadget comes out of retirement to fight his nemesis Dr. Claw. On Netflix now.
Reboot Then: Animated show where good battles evil inside a computer system known as Mainframe. 48 episodes from 1994-2001. Claim to fame: First full-length computer-animated TV series. Episodes are stored in The Smithsonian Institute. Now: A live-action/animation hybrid adventure-comedy about four teens who discover their jobs is to save the world. 26 episodes should be ready late 2016/2017.