• This weekend's Histeria, "The Dawn of Time", is the first episode to be written entirely by series creator Tom Ruegger. Segments include: "The Big Bang", "Where'd Them Dinos Git To?", "The Ones That Got Away", "World's Oldest Woman at the Dawn of Time" (Garden of Eden), and "When Was Creation?". Voice artists include Paul Rugg as Montezuma, Billy West as a George Jessel dinosaur, and a Paul McCartney impression.

• The often-delayed animated Superman video game for Playstation and N64 finally has a firm release date (May 11), and an explanation for the delay as well. Click here [no longer available] for more info from Game Informer.

• Craig "Gookie" Crumpton again has a report on various WB news and collectibles information. Click here [no longer available] to read it.

• Are you tired yet of hearing about how great Pokémon's ratings are? If not, click here [no longer available] for a story from Variety on "Pokémon's Power". Also, in today's New York Post it was reported that last weekend's Pokémon scored a 9.3 rating locally, the highest rated show in all of New York on that day. That rating equals the ratings for local weekday airings of "Seinfeld".

• A "new" Animaniacs CD has been released called "The Animaniacs Go Hollywood". It is a compilation of songs previously released on other Animaniacs CDs. More info will soon be added to the Music page.

Thanks to TR, Vincent, and CornyDog for some of today's news.

March 24, 1999

• This weekend's Histeria, "Better Living Through Science", features the following segments: "Little Deathray of Sunshine" featuring Nikola Tesla,"The Road to Invention" with Edison and Ford, a song called "Babbage Made the Difference", and other segments about the first ambulance, antiseptics, and Florence Nightengale.

• From the DC Comics Newsletter:
  
  BATMAN BEYOND AND KIDS' WB! TOPS IN RATINGS
  
  The WB Network reported this week that on March 13 Batman Beyond scored the highest metered market rating (4.4/12) in the Kids' WB! history. The Kids' WB! line-up matched its highest metered market output this season (3.0/9), improving +25% in rating over the weekend season-to-date average, and defeating ABC (2.9/9), FOX (2.1/6) and CBS (1.2/4) to rank #1 in the metered markets for the weekend.

• Three "Men in Black: The Series" videos were released this week. More info will be available soon on the Home Video page.

• Take an early look at June's comics here.

• Craig "Gookie" Crumpton has two interesting items for you: This report [no longer available] on various WB news, including MiB, Batman Beyond, and Pinky & The Brain, and this report [no longer available] on WB collectibles.

• Tim "Two-Face" Leighton has added this page [no longer available] to his website which features pictures of most of the voice cast of Batman and Batman Beyond. It takes a long time to load but it's worth the wait.

• This fall the WB Network Primetime will debut two new animated programs: the comic strip-based "Baby Blues", and "The Downtowners" from some of "The Simpsons" producers. For more info on "Baby Blues", visit it's official website, particularly this page about the TV show. For more info on "The Downtowners", visit any of these three very old pages: one, two, three [no longer available] (two and three require a bit of scrolling). If anyone knows where to get more info on these shows, let me know.

Thanks to TR and Vincent for some of today's news.

March 16th

• This weekend's Histeria, "Super Amazing Constitutions" contains the following segments: "Don't Shoot Till You See the Whites of Their Eyes" about Bunker Hill, and "Super Amazing Constitution" about the creation and make-up of the U.S. constitution. This episode will also be the final home of the segments "Hickory Dickory Doc" and "The Ol' Fishing Hole".

• Daytime Emmy Awards clarification:
  Q. What's the difference between "Outstanding Animated Children's Program" and "Outstanding Special Class -- Animated Program"?
  A. I've done a bit of research on this, and I believe this is the answer: The "special class" categories are voted on by academy members who work in that specific field. The other awards are voted on by the entirety of the television academy (including soap opera and talk show people). For example, all academy members will vote for "Outstanding Animated Children's Program", but only academy members who work in animation will vote for "Outstanding Special Class -- Animated Program". Many hold the "special class" categories in higher regard, since they are being voted on by people who understand the field, and not by the producers of "The Jerry Springer Show" or "Days of Our Lives". The "special class" awards are given out in a separate ceremony about week before the main awards. The 26th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards presentation will be broadcast on CBS from the Theatre at Madison Square Garden on Friday, May 21 (9-11 P.M. ET/PT).

• New Season Announcement clarifications:
  --The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries is not canceled. It will air on "The Big Cartoonie Show" next season, with new episodes. I have no idea why the show was not even mentioned in the new season announcement.
  --Tiny Toon Adventures is leaving Kids' WB (and Nickelodeon) for Cartoon Network.
  --There will not be new episodes of 'The New Batman/Superman Adventures" next season, unless they decide to save some of the remaining Superman episodes from this season. Only Batman Beyond is currently in production. Batman/Superman may return for the 2000-2001 season.
  --Detention will probably not be ready to air in September. November is more likely.
  --There will likely be a few new Histeria episodes this fall, but they are episodes left over from this season that have not yet been completed. The show has not be renewed for a second season, and neither has Pinky, Elmyra & The Brain.
  --If you've been trying to tape episodes of "Animaniacs", "Pinky & The Brain" or "The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries", you'd better finish up your collections soon, as they will only be airing in fragmented form on "The Big Cartoonie Show" beginning this fall.

• Kids' WB!'s official website appears to have been revamped. It now closely resembles the Batman Beyond website: all "flash" and no substance.

• Volumes 2 and 3 of the Pokémon video series were released last week on VHS and DVD. Volumes 4 and 5 are expected by May.

Thanks to Vincent for some of today's news.

March 12th

• The Daytime Emmy Award nominations have been announced, and nearly every WB-produced cartoon is represented (with the curious exception of Histeria). I believe that this is the complete list of WB nominations (if I missed one, hopefully someone will tell me...)
  
  Outstanding Children's Animated Program
  --Animaniacs
  --Pinky, Elmyra & The Brain
  
  Outstanding Special Class -- Animated Program
  --Pinky & The Brain
  --The New Batman/Superman Adventures
  --The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries
  
  Outstanding Achievement In Music Direction And Composition
  --Animaniacs
  --Pinky & The Brain
  --Batman: "Legends of the Dark Knight"
  --Batman: "Judgment Day"
  --Superman: "Little Girl Lost, Part 1"
  
  Outstanding Original Song
  --Pinky & The Brain: "Brain Doggie Mambo"
  --Pinky & The Brain: "Pinky's Memories"
  
  Outstanding Performer In An Animated Program
  --Rob Paulsen as Pinky
  
  Outstanding Achievement In Sound Editing - Special Class
  --Men in Black: The Series
  
  Outstanding Achievement In Sound Mixing - Special Class
  --The New Batman/Superman Adventures
  --Pinky, Elmyra & The Brain

• Craig "Gookie" Crumpton has another one of his reports of various WB news, so check it out [no longer available].

• ABC/Disney has announced their fall schedule, and The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show is still on it. Click here for more info.

• Cree Summer, the voice of Elmyra and Aka Pella, among others, now has her own website which promotes her new CD: http://www.creesummer.com/

Thanks to Carol, Plopkat and Gookie for today's news.

March 10th

• Click here to read the Kids' WB! 1999-2000 season announcement.

• This week's Histeria, "Loud Kiddington's Ancient History," includes the following segments: "The First Wheel," "Pompeii Acres," and repeats of "Hannibal Trails to You" and "Why Do the Gods Have Two Names".

• WB is trying to buy the Pokémon movie for release in the U.S. Click here and here [no longer available] for more info.

• Dreamworks TV Animation is closing down, which means there will likely never be any more episodes of "Invasion America". Click here [no longer available] for more info.

• Hawley Pratt, who worked on the original Looney Tunes, has died. Click here [no longer available] for more info.

Thanks to TR, CornyDog, Jeff Harris, Vincent, and Dick Grayson for some of today's news.

March 5th

• Take a look at the Saturday morning ratings (including Nickelodeon this time) in this article [no longer available] from Ultimate TV.

• According to today's update at The Comic Book Continuum, Bruce Timm will draw an issue of The Avengers comic book due out this summer, and an ongoing Batman Beyond comic series is planned for later this year. Also, according to the latest issue of Previews, Paul Dini will be writing a story in Oni Double Feature #12 due out this May called "Honor Rollers", about an all-boys private school.

Thanks to Vincent for some of today's news.

March 4, 1999

• This week's Histeria, "When America Was Young", features the following segments: "Don't Give Up the Ship" by Tom Ruegger, the Benedict Arnold story in "Traitoring Places", the Salem Witch trials in "Which Witch Is Witch?", and "Booney Toons" with Daniel Boone.

• Despite rumors and speculation, there will be no new DC super-hero based animated series this fall. Rumors of Supergirl, Lobo, JLA, and Legion of Super-Heroes series have been floating around, but no such show is currently in development.

• The Animaniacs and Looney Tunes comics are getting a new editor, according to this info from DC Comics:
  
  HEIDI MACDONALD JOINS DC AS EDITOR OF WARNER BROS. AND CARTOON NETWORK TITLES
  
  DC Comics is pleased to announce that it has hired Heidi MacDonald, Senior Comics Editor of Disney Adventures, as the new editor for the Warner Bros. animated and the Cartoon Network families of titles. According to DC's Executive Vice President & Publisher Paul Levitz, "Heidi's skill at using comics to reach kids, and her love of the medium, are both well known. She's a perfect candidate to take on editing two of the great libraries of comic characters, and we look forward to her joining the DC team."
  
  "I'm thrilled," says MacDonald, who begins her DC career on March 22. "I already know almost everyone at the company, and finally getting to work more closely with them is going to be a blast. I've already discovered that working with the Warner Bros.' and Cartoon Network characters has boosted my indie street cred -- these are the hippest, coolest cartoon characters out there, and I think they'll be a great match for my personality."
  
  MacDonald began her comics career over fifteen years ago as a critic for The Comics Journal, writing columns and opinion pieces for TCJ as well as Amazing Heroes and Comics Buyer's Guide, and she soon gained a reputation as a trusted critic and respected scholar of the comic book medium.
  
  After a stint at The Hollywood Reporter, MacDonald started at Disney Adventures in 1991 as Assistant Editor. Recognizing her special talents, the magazine made her Comics Editor in 1993, and during her long and fruitful reign over the magazine's comics pages, she brought a range of diverse work from comics' brightest talents, including Evan Dorkin and Jeff Smith, to the view of hundreds of thousands of Disney Adventures readers. She was also named one of Hero magazine's "100 Most Important People in Comics" for two years running, and bettered her score by making Combo magazine's "20 Most Powerful People in the Comics Industry" list.
  
  In 1993 MacDonald also co-founded The Friends of Lulu, a nonprofit organization aimed at getting more women involved in comics, and has served on the organization's board for four years. In addition, she served two terms on the board of directors of CAPS (The Comic Art
  Professionals Society) and was a founding board member of the Comic Book Professionals Association. She has appeared on television and radio numerous times to speak about comics and gender issues, and co-produced her own cable TV show for three years.
  
  And in addition to all of this, MacDonald has also won awards for her comedy writing, starred in her own cabaret act, and has written for such mainstream publications as The LA Weekly, CMJ and TV Guide.
  
  "Having Heidi here at DC just makes total sense," says Mike Carlin, Executive Editor of the DC Universe. "In fact, we've known each other so long I thought she worked here already. Heidi brings with her almost two decades of experience in diverse areas of the comics industry, and she knows, either personally or professionally, virtually everyone who works within it. I'm sure she will quickly prove to be invaluable part of our operation."

Thanks to TR for some of today's news.