New Series Alert: Barbie: It Takes Two And Thomas And Friends All Engines Go! Coming Soon To eToonz

eMedia Investments wraps up 2022 for the little ones on Craze and eToonz as the company fills their stockings with the last remaining shows for the year, Barbie: It Takes Two and Thomas And Friends: All Engines Go! both of were are supplied by Mattel Televisions.

Targeting girls aged six to eight, Barbie: It Takes Two expands from the film Barbie: Big City, Big Dreams as the pair both of which were named Barbie with variation from Malibu to Brooklyn share the spotlight and pursue their magical dreams in New York City.

They will also learn about each other's families, friends and cultures.

Targeting preschoolers aged two to five, the reboot of Thomas And Friends with the extended All Engines Go sees a younger Thomas the Tank Engine go on adventures with all of his friends as they work on the island of Sodor.

Thomas And Friends: All Engines Go! was also picked by Warner Bros. Discovery for their Cartoonito block on Boomerang. It was also renewed for additional season despite the feedback.

Thomas And Friends: All Engines Go! airs daily at 8:30 on eToonz from 12 December following a similar trait to the Cartoonito block on Boomerang. Barbie: It Takes Two airs Wednesdays at 15:20 on e.tv with repeats almost an hour later 16:30 on eToonz from 14 December.

Boomerang Rebranding To Cartoonito In Central Eastern Europe??? As The Schedule Funnels It's Schedule With Preschool Content

Last year, I did a few articles about Cartoonito's future on Warner Bros. Discovery and with Boomerang having less content to themselves or at least made it feel like Boomerang my theory was that the preschool brand would take up its space.

There's a lot of evidence which supports that theory, first has to do with its demise in Latin America I mean the Spanish part of the United States has no Boomerang and the second having to do with the fact that there hasn't been any family content on the channel.

If I had to look at the series launches this year we had Akissi and Legend Of Spark of which one is considered preschool and another branded Cartoonito. Other shows to have launched include Thomas And Friends, CoComelon and initially acquired for Boomerang, Lucas The Spider.

Possibly signalling the end of Boomerang's family slate with Looney Tunes scrapped and Tom And Jerry In New York on hiatus likely cancelled. In the end, there's always Movie Stars which seems to be the only thing not feeling the Cartoonito effect for now.

In CEE, a user unveiled Boomerang's schedule for next year as seen below:

6:00 Tom and Jerry in New York
6:25 Tom and Jerry in New York
6:45 Lamput
7:00 Grizzy and the Lemmings
7:25 Grizzy and the Lemmings
7:50 Lamput
8:00 Moley
8:30 Mighty Mike
9:00 Mighty Mike
9:30 Mighty Mike
10:00 Mighty Mike
10:30 Mighty Mike
11:00 Lucas the Spider
11:30 Lucas the Spider
12:00 Lucas the Spider
12:30 Lucas the Spider
13:00 Lucas the Spider
13:30 Moley
14:00 Mr. Bean: The Animated Series
14:30 Mr. Bean: The Animated Series
14:50 Lamput
15:00 Tom and Jerry in New York
15:30 Tom and Jerry in New York
15:50 Lamput
16:00 The Tom And Jerry Show
16:30 The Tom And Jerry Show
16:50 Lamput
17:00 Grizzy and the Lemmings
17:25 Grizzy and the Lemmings
17:45 Lamput
18:00 Grizzy and the Lemmings
18:30 Grizzy and the Lemmings
19:00 Mr. Bean: The Animated Series
19:30 Mr. Bean: The Animated Series
19:50 Lamput
20:00 Mr. Bean: The Animated Series
20:30 Mr. Bean: The Animated Series
20:50 Lamput
21:00 Grizzy and the Lemmings
21:30 Grizzy and the Lemmings
22:00 Alice & Lewis
22:25 Alice & Lewis
22:50 Lamput
23:00 Mighty Mike
23:30 Mighty Mike
0:00 Grizzy and the Lemmings
0:25 Grizzy and the Lemmings
0:50 Lamput
1:00 Mighty Mike
1:25 Mighty Mike
2:00 Pat the Dog
2:30 Pat the Dog
2:45 Lamput
3:00 Alice & Lewis
3:25 Alice & Lewis
4:00 Grizzy and the Lemmings
4:30 Grizzy and the Lemmings
4:50 Lamput
5:00 Mighty Mike
5:25 Mighty Mike

Notice how shows like Looney Tunes Cartoons and Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! fell off the schedule and the remaining shows all cater to preschoolers which could be a possible hint to the Cartoonito linear channel.

Although it hasn't been confirmed, would it be shocking if that were the case I mean the brand had retained some preschool shows while others were made available to the Cartoonito block.

Credits: AMS

New Series Alert: Heartless Coming Soon To TLNovelas Africa

TLNovelas, a Mexican based entertainment channel home to various Portuguese telenovelas which can also be viewed in English and also a rival to Telemundo's existing lineup is starting off 2023 with their first telenovela titled Heartless (La Desalmada).

Based on the Colombian telenovela La Dama De Troya, the series follows Fernanda out for revenge after her husband is murdered and she is violated on her wedding night. With a poor memory of that traumatic night, Fernanda mistakes her true love Rafael for the man who ruined her life - Rafael's father.

Livia Brito stars as titular character, alongside José Ron, Eduardo Santamarina, Marjorie de Sousa and Marlene Favela.

Heartless premiered last year on Las Estrellas pulling about 3 million households and earlier in the year TelevisaUnivision confirmed production of a second season with viewers in some parts of Africa watching the first season for the very first time.

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In the first episode titled, Fernanda and Santiago will soon marry, a moment that fills them with happiness ends in tragedy as Santiago surprises Fernanda on her wedding day. Octavio, with the help of Carmelo, arrive at Santiago's house in order to force him to sign and thus be able to sell his lands; however things get out of control and Octavio shoots Santiago, killin him.

Don't miss out on the first episode from 23 January at 17:20 replacing Giving Up My Life.

DStv Streama Upgrade Also Comes With Disney+

Now with upgrades that improve the viewing experience, DStv Streama will carry Disney+ content, bringing the best of international content right to its customers screens.

MultiChoice launched its streaming box, DStv Streama in October which featured content from DStv and other streaming services. The DStv Streama enables customers to stream their favourite DStv content from sport, entertainment, news and education and gives them access to a variety of other apps, such as Showmax, Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, YouTube kids and from today, Disney+.

MultiChoice South Africa CEO Nyiko Shiburi says that the DStv Streama upgrade will seek to offer seamless viewing of entertainment content to customers, all in one place. “The DStv Streama upgrade demonstrates our commitment to giving our customers not only more value, more choices and more convenience, but a great viewing experience filled with all of their favourite content,” he says.

Disney+ is the dedicated streaming home for some of the world’s most loved stories alongside an ever-growing collection of exclusive originals, including feature-length films, documentaries, live-action and animated series, and short-form content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, as well as general entertainment content brand Star, featuring the latest from 20th Century Studios, Disney Television Studios, FX, Searchlight Pictures, and more.

DStv Streama offers user-friendly menus that allow customers to access a variety of apps and streaming services with one remote. It does not require a DStv dish and infrastructure installation - just a fast, stable internet connection to unlock a world of entertainment.

35+ Facts You Didn't Know About These Dragonball Instalments

So, how many of these do you actually know? These facts cover all three Dragon Ball anime series (Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT).

1. Actor Sean Shemmel passed out while voicing Goku's epic transformation to Super Saiyan Level 4 in the English-language dub of Dragon Ball GT.

2. Bulma's name roughly translates to "panties."

3. Hitler makes an appearance in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn. Hitler was ultimately defeated by Goten and Trunks.

4. Namekians grow at a faster rate than humans or Saiyans. For this reason, Piccolo is a full grown adult at the age of 3 when he fights Goku at the World Martial Arts Tournament. Also, he's only four years older than Gohan during the Saiyan saga.

5. Android 17's real name is Lapis.

6. Android 18's real name is Lazuli.

7. In Arab dubs of the show, Saiyans "summon" their Great Ape forms as opposed to transforming at the sight of the moon.

8. The fight between Goku and Frieza took up a total of three and a half hours of screen time, making it the longest fight in anime history.

9. Vegeta, one of the Universe's strongest warriors, has a fear of worms.

10. In an alternate and more depressing Dragon Ball Z timeline, "Perfect" Cell kills off Future Trunks after he goes back to the future. Since Future Trunks was the last remaining Saiyan, this means that his death officially marks the extinction of the Saiyan race. It also means that earth is left to rot as a wasteland.

11. Broly and "The Legendary Super Saiyan" are not the same. "The Legendary Super Saiyan" actually self-destructed as a Golden Oozaru 1,000 years prior to the Saiyans' arrival to earth.

12. Cooler, Broly, and Baby from Dragon Ball GT were all defeated by being blasted into the sun.

13. Unlike humans, Saiyan hairstyles always remain the same.

14. During the cell games saga, King Kai claimed to know about the "Instant Transmission" technique but never taught it to Goku because he never asked. This means that Goku COULD HAVE arrived to fight the Saiyans and SAVED THE LIVES of Piccolo, Yamcha, Chaotzu and Tien.

15. Nappa had hair.

16. The six dots on Krillin's forehead are from incense burns from his time training to be a monk at Orin Temple.

17. In the manga version of Dragon Ball, nudity was frequently used, especially for Bulma.

18. Majin Buu is five million years old.

19. Goten was originally brought in with the intention of replacing Goku as the main character. However, fans widely disapproved.

20. There are no female Namekians, since they reproduce asexually by giving birth to eggs through their mouth.

21. Because Android 17 and 18 are technically twins, and Krillin married Android 18, this would mean that Android 17 is Krillin's brother-in-law, and Dr. Gero is his father-in-law.

22. Broly's power level was 10,000 at the time he was born. This would mean that his power level as a baby was stronger than Piccolo (322), Goku (334), and Raditz (1,500) combined.

23. Kid Buu technically kills Captain Ginyu. When Shen Long transported all the Namekians to earth, Ginyu was also transported in his frog form. When Kid Buu destroyed the earth, Ginyu perished along with everyone else.

24. By the time Dragon Ball Z wraps up, Master Roshi, who is human, is 354 years old. This is possible because according to the "Fanning the Flame" chapter in the Dragon Ball manga series, Turtle explains that Roshi consumed an "immortality elixer." It should be noted that immortality does not mean invulnerability, as Roshi dies while performing the "Evil Containment Wave" against King Piccolo. Roshi would later be revived by the Dragon Balls.

25. Frieza is head of the Galactic Trade Organization, a group that conquers planets and auctions them off at higher prices. Toriyama based the character off of real estate speculators, whom Toriyama considers "the worst kind of people."

26. Chiaotzu has only one strand of hair.

27. Chiaotzu's face appears as a mask in the Naruto manga series.

28. Yamcha has always lost in the quarter finals of every World Martial Arts Tournament.

29. Yamcha is either killed, severely injured, or already dead in every saga.

30. Goku has only won the World Martial Arts Tournament once.

31. For a time, Piccolo was the strongest of all the Z Warriors, including Goku and Vegeta, after he fused with Kami, making him stronger than any Super Saiyan.

32. The names of Bibidi, Babidi, and Buu were taken from the lyrics of the famous Cinderella incantation.

33. Goku, Oolong, Bulma, and Yamcha are based off the Chinese epic, Journey to the West.

34. According to Director James Wang, he had never seen a single episode or read a book from the manga prior to his involvement in the 2009 live-action film.

35. Goku has a legit fear of needles and hospital food.

36. Insidus Games offers one of the classic Dragonball Games titled Dragon Power.

Credit: Norberto Briceño

Reviewing Major Changes Coming Soon To The SABC

Last month, the public broadcaster was all buzz hosting a last minute showcase where they transitioned to video entertainment announcing further content for their current channels on top of launching SABC+ in place of the former TelkomOne streaming service.

Of course, what remains absent is the two entertainment channels announced in partnership with eMedia Investments last year. Just like SABC+, sources mention that those channels had already entered final stages a while back.

Honestly, it doesn't appear that they'll be anything time soon but with these recent adjustments. It's possible that they'll likely bring them up in the near future or as soon as most of these developments are dealt with.

As mentioned, the SABC has shared a couple of things in which we want to brief everyone on:

* The public broadcaster is heading for another loss making year with R608 million which has just tripled from last year R201 million.
* They failed to hit their targets in terms of commissioning, producing and broadcasting fresh content with most of the blows going onto SABC 1. All 3 channels target 20% of which the top channel reaches 4% with the second channel 14% and least watched 9%.
* The SABC is expected to make a chunk of cash through their newly launched streaming service, SABC+. R6 million in one quarter alongside R31.5 million in the next quarter.
* The revenue for their 3 channels has been negatively impacted following the cancellation of analogue signals.
* SABC+ has about 15000 signups on a daily basis can't say it's surprising considering that they have the most accessible channels in South Africa.
* A new loyalty programme might be in works the aim is to boost the number of TV Licence payers.
* Still bickering want MultiChoice to pay for their 3 channels although other outlets like Openview view them freely.
* A budget for their channels had been shared with the media. From what's known R468 million had been budgeted for which 218 million is spent and R665 million is earned on SABC 1, R141 million is spent and R199 million earned on SABC 2 and lastly R69 million is spent and R79 million is earned on SABC 1.
* SABC 1 will focus more on sourcing youth based content while SABC 2 transitions to current affairs and news.
* They'll be cutting back on the amount of social media handles we assume that they are also referring to shows like The Epic Hangout which too has a social page.
* A cutback on repeats especially on primetime with the axing of non-performing content. We assume The Estate will be saved despite primetime not being one of the top 20 shows on SABC 3.
* Uzalo remains on SABC 1 and Muvhango remains on SABC 2 - remember how the public broadcaster repeated shows on multiple channels well they'll put a stop to that meaning each primary show will air on their primary channel with SABC+ also filling that gap.
* The public broadcaster in partnership with SABC News is trying to find alternatives to the cancelled Special Assignment on SABC 3.

Rumour: The Walt Disney Company To Extend The Reach Of Star Channel

A few years ago, FOX was ripped away from DStv and StarSat consumers across Africa prior to that some regions such as Latin America were fortunate to get a placeholder Star Channel which continued to offer the bulk of content coming to former channel.

Just like FOX in Africa, that too wasn't made to last as Latin America joined the UK, Germany, Australia and several other regions that consolidated their content on the streaming service Disney+ with Europe expected to take the plunge by 2024.

If you're reading this then you must be aware that there's still a number of FOX feeds globally where viewers can tune into shows like The Resident, The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother, M.O.D.O.K., CSI: Miami, Fresh Off The Boat and The X-Files.

While some of these regions don't have Disney Channel and Disney Junior, there is very much a FOX feed and The House Of Mouse as usual chooses to divide their audience most of which has to do with Disney+.

According to some sources, the remaining feeds of FOX kind of like Latin America are set to rebrand to Star by early 2023 which to me doesn't make any sense as seen in the first region to launch a linear channel based on the Disney+ tile which went to just become only a tile.

If this turns out to be true, I'm more curious on how long this would last I mean it doesn't make sense to pour this much attention on a brand you know will fade away in a year or two.

Take Latin America and a few other regions where these channels were deemed relevant. Disney XD stopped supplying original content while Latin America tried to make it independent, various FOX feeds closed while they got Star Channel all of that effort gone down the drain.

The Simpsons: A Look At Proposed Spinoffs That Never Got Time Of Day

When The Simpsons debuted 35 years ago as a series of shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, it was hard to expect that it would become one of the most successful and longest-running franchises in movie and TV history. While The Simpsons spun off from (and quickly eclipsed) The Tracey Ullman Show, it seems a little odd that, given the show’s rampant popularity, we have yet to see a spin-off from The Simpsons, itself. The show has occasionally mocked the concept of TV spin-offs – most notably in the Troy McClure-hosted “Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase” – but that doesn’t mean Fox and the Simpsons creative team haven’t attempted to use the show as a springboard to launch another series. Let’s take a look now at some proposed spin-offs of The Simpsons, all of which sound infinitely better than The Cleveland Show.

A Krusty the Clown Series (1994)

One of the first side characters the Simpsons writers fleshed out was Krusty the Clown, so it makes perfect sense that he was the first one Matt Groening tried to develop a series around. With The Simpsons at its creative zenith as well as the peak of its cultural relevance in the 90s, it would have been the perfect time to launch a second series, but the plans for the Krusty show sound a little out there. Groening wanted it to be a live-action series starring Dan Castellaneta, who voices Krusty, Homer, and a solid 1/3 of Springfield’s male residents, as Krusty the Clown. Matt Groening, with King of Queens creator Michael Weithorn, wrote a pilot script about Krusty moving to L.A. to host a talk show. Several visual jokes that seemed a better fit for animation caused trouble with the network. Here’s Groening describing the difficulties:

“We had this running joke in the script that Krusty was living in a house on stilts and there were beavers gnawing their way through the stilts. But somebody at the network pointed out how expensive it was to hire trained beavers – and an equally prohibitive cost would be to get mechanical beavers – so I said, ‘If we animated this, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.’”

Matt Groening and Fox then began to work on an animated Krusty spin-off, but contract negotiations stalled, and Groening moved on to developing Futurama, a series that does not require the use of beavers – mechanical or trained.

Tales from Springfield (1996)

The greatest strength of The Simpsons has always been its deep bench of supporting characters. While many of these tertiary Springfieldians seem like broad cartoonish characters on the outside, they’re often revealed to be rich, three-dimensional figures underneath who are capable of carrying their own episodes of the show. After the success of the 1996 episode “22 Short Films About Springfield,” an episode composed of nearly two dozen vignettes centering on the show’s recurring characters, the writers began batting around the idea of developing a new series following these lesser-known Springfieldians. Tales from Springfield would have told three different short stories each week, focusing on secondary characters and occasionally telling stories about the Simpsons family members’ past and future.

Matt Groening concluded that the show didn’t have enough writers to script two simultaneous series, so the idea was shelved. The Simpsons has enough wonderful recurring characters to fill several additional series, and this seems like it would have been a logical and worthwhile spin-off at the time, but it wasn’t meant to be.

A live-action Troy McClure movie (mid-90s)

Prior to his tragic death, Phil Hartman, who voiced recurring Simpsons characters Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz, amongst others, expressed an interest in starring in a live-action film based on McClure. While Matt Groening has said that this was only an idea and no script was ever written, several of the writers were fond of Hartman’s idea. While the Krusty spin-off seems a little harder to pull off, Phil Hartman has proven he’s adept at playing smug, superficial guys like McClure in live-action roles, and it’s a shame we never got to see him play Troy McClure in non-animated form.

Credits: Bradford Evans

Roundups #115: Tom And Jerry In New York Cancelled On Boomerang And HBO Max, Lord Of The Skies Returns For An Eighth Season On Telemundo USA And The Addams Family Spinoff Wednesday Is A Global Success On Netflix

Tom And Jerry likely cancelled on HBO Max

Based on the 2021 theatrical film, Tom and Jerry In New York settle in to their new digs at the Royal Gate Hotel and unleash mayhem across the Big Apple, inciting chaos uptown, downtown and everywhere their manic escapades take them.

The series premiered in the same year on HBO Max and was made available to Cartoon Network and Boomerang channels internationally with a total of 13 episodes each with a duration of 21 minutes over 2 seasons.

Since November 2021, no more episodes had been ordered and with the reconstruction of Warner Bros. Discovery it wouldn't be shocking if it were cancelled considering how the theatrical film performed.

Regardless, the crew are working on the preschool series Tom And Jerry Time for Cartoonito.

Aurelio returns for another season on Telemundo

It's official! Telemundo revealed the premiere date for season 8 of 'El señor de los cielos'. Through its social networks, the television house shared a video where Aurelio Casillas (Rafael Amaya) is seen being tortured in jail.

"They took me out of the grave, they made everyone believe that I was dead. Locked up, tortured, like an animal, but there is no caged animal that does not want to escape and that does not want to return to its herd. The family is not touched, much less if they are Casillas", the protagonist is heard saying.

Season 8 of 'El señor de los cielos' premieres on Tuesday, January 17, 2023 on Telemundo.

For the continuation of the story, one of the actors who confirmed his return was Isabella Castillo, who shines with Isidro (Garbiel Bonilla), who returns with his role as the son of Aurelio Casillas (Rafael Amaya). Another beloved character is Tata (Wendy de los Cobos), who published an image with her fictional son, Ismael Casillas.

Wednesday becomes a global sensation

Wednesday, the comedy-horror series from Tim Burton about the titular daughter of the Addams Family starring Jenna Ortega, made its highly anticipated debut on Netflix last week on November 23. In that time, the series has been well received by critics and has now even broken a Netflix viewing record! The show is now at the top of the list for the most viewed hours of a Netflix debut for an English-Language TV series at a staggering 341.2 million hours viewed in its first week.

The eight-episode series came in at #1 on the global Netflix Top 10 for the week of November 21 - November 27, with it reaching the top spot in 83 countries, a feat that has only been achieved by Season 4 of Stranger Things. The series was also featured in the Top 10 of all 93 countries tracked. Burton serves as both director and executive producer on the series with Alfred Gough and Miles Millar acting as executive producers, writers, and showrunners. Fellow executive producers include Steve Stark, Andrew Mittman, Kevin Miserocchi, Kayla Alpert, Jonathan Glickman, Gail Berman, Tommy Harper, and Kevin Lafferty.