Reworking classic cartoons for today’s audiences is a growing trend. The animated 1950s farce “Rocky & Bullwinkle” became a live-action film earlier this decade, as did “Dudley Do-Right,” and Cartoon Network revived the 1980s toon “Transformers” this season after the successful big-screen adaptation last year. Disney just launched a successful modernization of "Winnie the Pooh."
Now another golden oldie, “George of the Jungle,” is getting a makeover and a relaunch. Tonight the updated “George” premieres on Cartoon Network at 7:30 p.m., a week after a sneak preview of the show more than doubled last year’s timeslot average in the network’s target kids 2-11 and 6-11.
The new “George,” a blundering version of Tarzan who gets into hijinks with his ape named Ape, has changed a bit since debuting in 1967. He’s gone from twentysomething to teenager, and his well-known theme music has a more modern beat. His hair’s a little more wild and his muscles less pronounced.
But there’s a lot that’s still the same for George, and there’s a reason for that.
With all the shows competing for kids’ attention these days, across more than a half-dozen kids’ cable channels and countless web sites, parents undoubtedly feel more comfortable with their kids watching characters and shows that are familiar to them.
Those who didn’t catch the show during its three-year run on ABC probably saw a later live-action remake with Brendan Fraser or at least know the theme song, a mainstay on children’s song compilation CDs and children’s satellite radio channels.
They’re also probably familiar with the original’s creator, Jay Ward, one of the men behind “Bullwinkle.” Ward’s daughter, Pam, is an executive producer of the new series, and she’s hoping to resurrect more of her dad’s creations, such as Mr. Peabody, the talking dog with a pet boy on “Rocky and His Friends,” who is getting his own movie.
Cartoon has been pushing the new series hard with promotions, a “George” game on its web site and movie theater ads. The network aired a “George” preview last week at 9 p.m., following a special airing of the 1997 “George” movie.
The episode averaged 672,000 kids 6-11, 110 percent above the same timeslot last year, and 979,000 kids 2-11, up 103 percent over 2007. Though certainly viewership could fall off for future episodes, Cartoon has paired the show with “Chowder,” its No. 1 program in those demographics, further demonstrating its strong hopes for “George.”
Meanwhile, in other younger viewer ratings for the week ending Jan. 13:
Among teens 12-17, Fox led with a 2.6 rating and 9 share, followed by CBS at 1.9/7, the CW and NBC at 1.4/5, ABC at 1.3/4, Univision at 0.7/2, Telemundo at 0.2/1, Telefutura at 0.1/1, and Azteca at 0.0/0.
Among kids 2-11, Fox was first with a 1.6/6, followed by CBS at 1.4/6, Univision at 1.2/5, ABC at 1.0/4, NBC at 0.8/3, the CW at 0.7/2, Telemundo at 0.4/1, Telefutura at 0.3/1 and Azteca at 0.0/0.
The top five shows among kids 2-5: 1. Disney’s “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” (Saturday 9:30 a.m.); 2. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Tuesday 2:30 p.m.); 3. Disney’s “Little Einsteins” (Saturday 10 a.m.); 4. Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants” (Thursday 5:30 p.m.); 5. Nickelodeon’s “Dora the Explorer” (Thursday noon)
The top five shows among kids 6-11: 1. Disney’s “Hannah Montana” (Saturday 8 p.m.); 2. Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place” (Saturday 8:30 p.m.); 3. Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place” (Wednesday 6:30 p.m.); 4. Disney’s “Suite Life of Zack & Cody” (Monday 6:30 p.m.); 5. Nickelodeon’s “iCarly” (Saturday 8 p.m.)
The top five shows among kids 9-14: 1. Disney’s “Hannah Montana” (Saturday 8 p.m.); 2. Fox’s “NFC Divisional Playoff” (Sunday 4:47 p.m.); 3. Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place” (Saturday 8:30 p.m.); 4. Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place” (Wednesday 6:30 p.m.); 5. Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place” (Wednesday 6 p.m.)
|
TOP 10 PROGRAMS – BROADCAST & CABLE
Kids 2-5
Week Ended Jan. 13 |
|
|
Program |
Net |
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1
|
MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE-01/12/2008
|
DSNY
|
6.3
|
1010
|
|
2
|
SPONGEBOB-01/08/2008
|
NICK
|
6.3
|
1002
|
|
3
|
LITTLE EINSTEINS-01/12/2008
|
DSNY
|
6.1
|
975
|
|
4
|
SPONGEBOB-01/10/2008
|
NICK
|
6
|
962
|
|
5
|
DORA THE EXPLORER-01/10/2008
|
NICK
|
6
|
954
|
|
6
|
JIMMY NEUTRON-01/08/2008
|
NICK
|
5.9
|
947
|
|
7
|
MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE-01/12/2008
|
DSNY
|
5.8
|
934
|
|
8
|
DORA THE EXPLORER-01/07/2008
|
NICK
|
5.8
|
931
|
|
9
|
DORA THE EXPLORER-01/10/2008
|
NICK
|
5.8
|
928
|
|
10
|
DORA THE EXPLORER-01/11/2008
|
NICK
|
5.7
|
911
|
|
Source: Disney-ABC Television Group, based on data from Nielsen Media Research
|
|
TOP 10 PROGRAMS – BROADCAST & CABLE
Kids 6-11
Week Ended Jan. 13 |
|
|
Program |
Net |
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1
|
HANNAH MONTANA-01/13/2008
|
DSNY
|
7.1
|
1717
|
|
2
|
WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE-01/13/2008
|
DSNY
|
6.6
|
1611
|
|
3
|
WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE-01/09/2008
|
DSNY
|
6.5
|
1589
|
|
4
|
SUITE LIFE OF ZACK & CODY-01/07/2008
|
DSNY
|
6.5
|
1579
|
|
5
|
ICARLY-01/12/2008
|
NICK
|
6.5
|
1575
|
|
6
|
ADV OF SHARK BOY & LAVA G-01/07/2008
|
DSNY
|
6.5
|
1568
|
|
7
|
SUITE LIFE OF ZACK & CODY-01/07/2008
|
DSNY
|
6.3
|
1529
|
|
8
|
HERBIE FULLY LOADED-01/11/2008
|
DSNY
|
6.2
|
1517
|
|
9
|
HANNAH MONTANA-01/09/2008
|
DSNY
|
6
|
1457
|
|
10
|
ICARLY-01/13/2008
|
NICK
|
6
|
1454
|
|
Source: Disney-ABC Television Group, based on data from Nielsen Media Research
|
|
TOP 10 PROGRAMS – CABLE
Kids 9-14
Week Ended Jan. 13 |
|
Rank |
Program |
Net |
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1
|
HANNAH MONTANA-01/13/2008
|
DSNY
|
6.9
|
1673
|
|
2
|
FOX NFC PLAYOFF-SUN-01/13/2008
|
FOX
|
6.1
|
1478
|
|
3
|
WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE-01/13/2008
|
DSNY
|
6
|
1457
|
|
4
|
WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE-01/09/2008
|
DSNY
|
5.8
|
1413
|
|
5
|
WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE-01/09/2008
|
DSNY
|
5.6
|
1378
|
|
6
|
ICARLY-01/12/2008
|
NICK
|
5.6
|
1356
|
|
7
|
WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE-01/07/2008
|
DSNY
|
5.3
|
1304
|
|
8
|
SUITE LIFE OF ZACK & CODY-01/07/2008
|
DSNY
|
5.3
|
1304
|
|
9
|
SUITE LIFE OF ZACK & CODY-01/07/2008
|
DSNY
|
5.2
|
1270
|
|
10
|
HANNAH MONTANA-01/08/2008
|
DSNY
|
5.1
|
1255
|
|
Source: Disney-ABC Television Group, based on data from Nielsen Media Research
|
