Nickelodeon Greenlights "Sam And Cat", A Brand New Spin-off Series From Hitmaker Dan Schneider Starring Nickelodeon Stars And Fan Favorites Jennette McCurdy And Ariana Grande!

Nickelodeon has announced the exciting Nickelodeon News in the following Press Release that, after ordering the pilot, Nickelodeon has decided to greenlight Dan Schneider's brand new live-action Nickelodeon original comedy show "Sam & Cat" to become a full television series! Production on the first season (season 1) of "Sam & Cat" is due to start in January 2013 in Los Angeles, California, USA, with Nickelodeon planing to premiere the brand new Nickelodeon sitcom "Sam & Cat" in 2013 as part of Nickelodeon's 2013 programming highlights.

Nickelodeon's brand new live-action original comedy series "Sam & Cat" will be a spin-off from Dan Schneider's hit live-action Nickelodeon comedy shows "iCarly" and "Victorious", and will feature Nickelodeon Stars Jennette McCurdy ("iCarly"'s Sam Puckett) and Ariana Grande ("Victorious"' Cat Valentine) reprising their roles from their respective hit shows, and will feature the pair as unlikely roommates who become teen entrepreneurs by starting their own after-school babysitting business.

Nickelodeon has also announced in the same Nickelodeon Press Release that the North American premiere of the series finale episode of the popular Nickelodeon comedy series "iCarly", "iGoodbye", received a great send-off by being watched by 6.4 million total viewers and topped all that weeks basic cable ratings! From PRNewswire:

Nickelodeon Greenlights Sam & Cat, New Spin-off Series From Hitmaker Dan Schneider Starring Fan Favorites Jennette McCurdy and Ariana Grande

Production Commences on 20 Episodes Featuring iCarly and Victorious Stars Who Embark on Crazy Adventures as Unlikely Best Friends and Part-Time Babysitters

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- On the heels of last week's series finale of iCarly that topped all basic cable with 6.4 million total viewers, Nickelodeon is announcing the series pick-up of Sam & Cat (20 episodes), a spin-off comedy from award-winning creator and executive producer Dan Schneider (iCarly, Victorious, Drake & Josh, Zoey 101). Starring Jennette McCurdy (iCarly's Sam Puckett) and Ariana Grande (Victorious' Cat Valentine) reprising their roles from their respective hit shows, Sam & Cat features the pair as unlikely roommates who become teen entrepreneurs by starting their own after-school babysitting business. Sam & Cat will premiere in 2013, with production beginning this January in Los Angeles.

(Download image - Nickelodeon 'Sam & Cat' Press Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121130/NY21546; Caption: Nickelodeon Greenlights Sam & Cat, New Spin-Off Series From Hitmaker Dan Schneider Starring Fan Favorites Jennette McCurdy and Ariana Grande. (PRNewsFoto/Nickelodeon) )
"Jennette and Ariana are adored by our audience, and it's great to unite these talented actresses in this hilarious new comedy from Dan Schneider," said Russell Hicks, President, Content Development and Production, Nickelodeon. "This show promises to deliver on what our audience loves most about these two favorite characters -- laugh-out-loud humor and non-stop adventure, and is sure to be a compelling new chapter for our new comedic duo."

Best known for her comedic portrayal of Sam Puckett on the mega-hit Nickelodeon series iCarly, Jennette McCurdy most recently wrapped production on Nickelodeon's original TV movie Swindle. In addition, she was featured in two other Nick original TV movies, Fred: The Movie and Best Player. McCurdy has also guest starred on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Strong Medicine, Law & Order: SVU, Medium and Judging Amy.

Prior to garnering attention as the beloved character Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon series Victorious, Ariana Grande performed on Broadway in the musical 13. This holiday, Ariana will star as Snow White at The Pasadena Playhouse in a presentation of "A Snow White Christmas" alongside Neil Patrick Harris and Charlene Tilton. Grande's other acting credits include a feature role in Nickelodeon's original TV movie Swindle and voiceover work on the animated Nick series Winx Club. Grande is also signed to Universal Republic Records and her first single, "Put Your Hearts Up," debuted at #24 on the pop charts. Grande is leading the way with her social media efforts on Twitter, Instagram and Keek, and her YouTube account has garnered over 115 million views.

Writer-producer Dan Schneider has established himself as a dominant force in the world of family entertainment by creatively drawing on his affinity for youth culture at Nickelodeon. Under his Schneider's Bakery Productions, he has carved a unique, progressive niche in the world of kid and family entertainment, most recently as creator and executive producer of the mega-hit Nickelodeon series iCarly starring Miranda Cosgrove, Victorious starring Victoria Justice and Zoey 101 starring Jamie Lynn Spears—all of which have received Emmy nominations. Schneider also created/executive produced The Amanda Show starring Amanda Bynes and Drake & Josh starring Drake Bell and Josh Peck. Schneider began with Nickelodeon as executive producer and show runner on the network's groundbreaking sketch comedy series All That from 1994 to 1998, and then returned to run the show in its seventh season. He then went on to produce Kenan & Kel, starring Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell. Schneider also created the hit WB series What I Like About You, starring Amanda Bynes and Jennie Garth. His comedic success has also translated to the big screen for which he wrote and produced the popular films, Good Burger and Big Fat Liar.

About Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon, now in its 33rd year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 17 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIA.B).

SOURCE Nickelodeon

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Also, from C21Media:

Nick orders i-Carly, Victorious spin-off

Nickelodeon has commissioned a live-action series based on characters from its recently concluded series i-Carly and soon-to-end Victorious.

Sam & Cat (20x30′), created and exec produced by Dan Schneider, features two characters from the earlier series, which Schneider also created for the Viacom-owned children’s channel.

The story follows two girls, played by Ariana Grande (Victorious) and Jennette McCurdy (i-Carly), as they start their own babysitting business while rooming together at high school. Nick ordered a pilot of the show in August.

i-Carly’s hour-long finale, after six seasons on air, attracted 6.4 million viewers in the US last week, according to Viacom. Victorious is due to end next year

Nico Franks
30-11-2012
©C21Media

TAGS: Series commission
GENRES: Children's
SHOWS: Sam & Cat
PEOPLE: Dan Schneider
COMPANIES: Nickelodeon, Viacom International Media Networks
SECTIONS: C21Kids
COUNTRIES: US

Also, from Kidscreen:

Nickelodeon greenlights spin-off comedy Sam & Cat

Viewers will be seeing a lot more of iCarly‘s Jennette McCurdy and Victorious‘ Ariana Grande as Nickelodeon has greenlit the spin-off comedy Sam & Cat.

The new 20-episode series, set to premiere in 2013 with production beginning this January in L.A., sees McCurdy reprise her role as Sam Puckett and Grande continue in her role as Cat Valentine.

In Sam & Cat, the two characters play unlikely roommates who launch an after-school babysitting business. Dan Schneider (iCarly, Victorious, Zoey 101) is the new show’s creator and executive producer.

The timing for the new series comes as iCarly said goodbye last week with 6.4 million viewers tuning in for the long-running show’s season finale and the recent news that Victorious is ending its run at three seasons.

Both McCurdy and Grande recently wrapped production on Nickelodeon’s original TV movie Swindle, a comedy film based on a children’s book by popular Canadian/American author Gordon Korman.

Tags: Ariana Grande, Dan Schneider, Jennette McCurdy, Nickelodeon, Sam & Cat

Former Nickelodeon UK Presenter Sy Thomas To Star As 'Smee' In Sunderland Empire Theatre's 2012 Pantomime "Peter Pan"

According to this news article on the official website of the Northumberland Gazette newspaper, northumberlandgazette.co.uk, former Nickelodeon UK and Ireland presenter Sy Thomas (The Crunch, ME:TV, Summer On Nickelodeon, Slime Across The UK And Ireland, Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2007 UK) will be starring as the "Peter Pan" character 'Smee' in the Sunderland Empire's pantomime production of "Peter Pan", which will open on Thursday 13th December 2012 and will run to Sunday 6th January 2012:

Pan-tastic day out

Sunderland Empire's pantomine for this Christmas will see the high-flying Peter Pan return to the stage.

From Thursday, December 13, to Sunday, January 6, a swashbuckling cast will take to the stage for one of the all-time Christmas favourites, adapted from the classic book by JM Barrie.

Tom Lister, best known as bad boy Carl King in ITV1 soap Emmerdale, stars as the dastardly Captain Hook this festive season.

The 34-year-old studied at the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama and went on to appear in TV shows including Heartbeat, Doctors and The Bill.

Joining North Yorkshire-born Tom on stage is children’s television favourite Katy Ashworth in the lead role of Peter Pan.

Best known for presenting I Can Cook on the CBeebies digital channel, Katy energises her young audience with her cheery personality.

An accomplished actress and singer, Katy achieved a first-class degree in drama from Exeter University.

She has taken the lead in several pantomimes and toured nationwide with her live one-woman slapstick comedy roadshow for youngsters aged three to seven.

Presenter, actor and stand-up comedian Sy Thomas joins the cast as Smee.

Sy burst into the world of presenting at the kids TV channel Nickelodeon, fronting its live studio projects and continuity links for nearly two years.

He recently presented the CITV show The Cool Stuff Collective, a games and gadgets show, and can currently be seen every Friday afternoon in a new children’s comedy for CBBC, The Revolting World of Stanley Brown.

Sarah Jane Buckley stars as Mrs Darling.

Sarah is best known as crazy Kathy Barnes in the Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks and boasts an impressive array of musical, pantomine and cabaret credits all over the world.

They include her award-winning one-woman cabaret show.

Sarah recently played Eva Cassidy in a national tour of Over the Rainbow.

Peter Pan is being staged by UK Productions in arrangement with London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and Samuel French.

Tickets to see the Sunderland Empire’s seasonal trip to Neverland cost from £10 to £29.50.

For further details or to book, go online and click on www.sunderlandempire.org.uk.

Television Producers Say Girls Want Cartoons Too

From TBI Vision:

Girls want toons!

Commissioners want more girl-skewed animation and say there is not enough coming their way. Producers say that commissioners often shun girl-skewed ideas as they are worried boys will turn off. Meanwhile, a handful of shows with girl characters are global hits.

Asking kids TV executives why there are not more cartoons with lead girl characters or girl-skewing shows, elicits a similar answer, that it is because girls will watch shows aimed at boys, but not vice-versa. Also, often cited is the idea that girls move away from cartoons and on to live-action and are tuning into Hannah Montana while their brothers are still glued to animated fare.

With tens of thousands of hours of animated content produced annually, there are inevitably some ‘girls’ shows including Dora the Explorer, Totally Spies, Peppa Pig, Olivia and Winx Club that are, or have been, bona-fide international hits. But there has historically been reluctance to greenlight shows skewed toward girls or with girl leads.

Kay Benbow has been controller of CBeebies since May 2010 and before that was head of production at the BBC’s digital kids channel. She has been the kids TV executive most vocal about the lack of girl-skewing toons, most recently telling delegates at the Children's Media Conference in Sheffield, UK, that there was still a dearth of these shows.

“I have said for a while that a majority of proposals coming across my desk were boy-led ideas and I think you have to ask the right questions of the creative and production community, as we always would with a live-action show.” Kay Benbow, controller CBeebies

“I have said for a while that a majority of proposals coming across my desk were boy-led ideas and I think you have to ask the right questions of the creative and production community, as we always would with a live-action show,” she says. “It’s not about being politically correct; it’s about making sure the audience sees itself reflected back on screen.

“There have always been girl characters, but they were usually secondary, there was a perception that boys wouldn’t watch girl leads although girls would watch boys. Recent research has challenged that perception and as many boys as girls watch Everything's Rosie, for example. It’s a young, fresh, girl-led show and next year we will have another, Sarah & Duck.”

The latter will be produced by UK indie Karrot Entertainment and air on CBeebies in the UK and the BBC Worldwide-operated international CBeebies channels. V&S Entertainment's Everything's Rosie, meanwhile, has just been picked up for a fourth season by CBeebies and with the addition of the new 26x11mins there will be 104 episodes of the show.

The idea boys won’t watch girls shows is a lazy assumption. Boys will watch Disney and Nickelodeon’s ostensibly girl-skewed live action shows for the funny, slapstick and spooky moments just as girls will watch the new Turtles or action series.

“It’s a myth that boys will not accept a girls show, maybe they won’t admit they have seen it, but if the ingredients are there they will watch for sure,” says Lionel Marty, president, worldwide distribution at Moonscoop. “I also think there’s an evolution of kids, especially in the Western world, where boys are more accepting of their feminine sides. There are examples such as Cartoon Network in France having telenovela series, which are working well despite it being a boy’s channel.”

Moonscoop distributes Chloe’s Closet. In each episode, the titular female lead goes into her closet and dresses up in a different costume. The fact it could be an astronaut’s outfit or that of a princess widens the gender appeal.

While the playing field has levelled, the dominance of boys toons in recent years created a window of opportunity for producers and broadcasters willing to take a risk on a girls show and determined enough to get it launched.

Winx Club
When Winx Club rolled out on Italy's Rai, it was launching into a very boy-fuelled market for animation. The show, which is aimed at 4-to-7s and follows seven girl superheroes, the Winx Club. It has since become the first Italian animated property on US TV and has sold worldwide.

“In the late 90s when we were developing the show, the attention of producers and buyers was focused on boys and on action,” explains Iginio Straffi, the creator of Winx and founder of the company that produces it, Rainbow, which has its own studio in Ancona, Italy. “I was thinking they had forgotten about the girls and especially in terms of superheroes although Marvel had tried girl superheroes without success.

“It was very difficult to convince broadcasters and they thought that every boy would switch channels. I thought there was a gap in the market and Pokémon and Dragonball were scoring high with boys, but losing girls.”

Straffi says that the boy/girl split of viewers was even at first, but the larger Winx became the more it was defined as a show for girls. “Once the property was huge the idea was out that it was something for a specific target audience,” he says. “We have made ‘boys’ shows like Huntik, but we are perceived as the studio with a high level of know-how in making shows for girls, in the same way that Marvel makes shows for boys” he adds.

This perception has been reinforced with the animated shows that followed in Winx’s footsteps, Mia and Me and Pop Pixie. Rainbow is now looking at different styles and shows for different ages and has greenlit a concept for older girls that has been three years in development.

There is a distinction between different age groups and different types of broadcaster.

“You need to split it into preschool and tween and into multichannel and public broadcaster,” says Zoë Scurfield, head of development and production at Coolabi, the IP company that makes Poppy Cat.

Scurfield, who was at Disney for over a decade and was executive director of programming for Disney Channels in the UK, Scandi and emerging markets, says that as the multichannel universe has expanded, the broadcasters have been able to segment content for different genders and demos on different channels and commission accordingly. “The public broadcasters, meanwhile, need very strong entry points for boys and girls and need to appeal to both.” CBeebies’ Benbow agrees: “We do have a different responsibility,” she says.

The world of licensing and merchandising, which provides much of the income in the kids world, is rigidly pink or blue. If L+M is part of the plan from the earliest stage of a show’s development, the rights owners need to know the part of the toy store in which they want a presence.

Mike Dee, Coolabi’s director of content, says: “Preschool, boys and girls do not make different associations between boy and girls properties, but Mike Dee, Coolabi’s director of content, says: “Preschool boys and girls do not make different associations between boy or girl properties, but the adults do when they are buying products. The retailers are an important part of the chain and they split their aisles into boy and girl and there are few crossovers.”

With Poppy Cat, the retailer feedback ahead of the launch of consumer products was that the soft toy packaging had to be more pink because Poppy is a girl.

Hasbro Studios is well aware of off-screen commercial possibilities given that its shows are invariably based on intellectual property from the toy company itself. It owns Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony, which have both been made into TV series.

The latest show from the Hasbro Studios production arm is The Littlest Pet Shop. It is based on a range of collectible creatures. They did not have individual names in the toy world and to create a fully-fledged story Hasbro has introduced another brand, Blythe, based on a collectible doll it sold in the 1960s, as a key character. In the show she moves to the big city with her pilot dad and befriends and looks after the animals in the pet shop below her new home.

“It skews older than something like Dora or Strawberry Shortcake and is more sophisticated,” says Finn Arnesen, senior VP, international distribution and development at Hasbro Studios. “We’ve brought two brands together and have a fringe primetime entertaining comedy series. Empowering girls is important and the series shows girls that they can be anything they want to be. It is girl-skewed, but we hope boys will watch for the comedy.”

The after-school slot on many dedicated kids channels is ripe for a girl-skewed show like this ahead of a big-ticket boys action show, he adds.

How to appropriately reach a girl audience is another question. “There are a lot of projects out there all about fashion and looks, but that’s not necessarily what we need,” says Halle Stanford, executive VP, entertainment at The Jim Henson Company. It is developing Four Seasons, a CGI show about four sprites, of diverse ethnicities, who are the daughters of Mother Nature and embody each of the seasons.

“When we initially pitched it we were basically told ‘we’re not looking for properties aimed at girls’, which was frustrating for Lisa (Henson) and me. If that thinking is driven by the toy aisles of Toys R Us, people need to remember there is also a girl’s aisle.”

The preschool property will be developed as a publishing property while conversations carry on with potential TV partners.

The approach to portraying positive images of girls and women onscreen is a complex one, Halle adds. “The Geena Davis Institute studies gender in the media and how girls and women are represented in entertainment and that got us thinking about how girls should be portrayed and not just the as the main characters, but elsewhere such as in crowd scenes.”

The Geena Davis Institute's research analysed a plethora of kids shows on US TV that aired in 2005 (and given the long-tail nature of kids TV, are likely still airing on a channel somewhere). It found that, broadly, male characters occur at twice the rate of their female counterparts and the imbalance is more marked in animated than live-action programming.

The study, An Analysis of Popular Films and TV, by Dr. Stacy L. Smith (Annenberg School for Communication) and Crystal Allene Cook (The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media) stated: “Clearly, animation appears to favour highly sexualised female characters with unrealistic body ideals.” It concluded: “Despite the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950/60s and the rise of second wave Feminism in the 1970s, on screen gender equality still does not exist.”

Screenwatch: SheZow!

Producers: Moody Street Kids, Kickstart Productions

Distributor: DHX Media

Concept: Comedy about a male/female superhero

Airing: Network Ten, ABC (Australia)

SheZow! is a 52x11mins animated series for 8-to-12s that truly straddles the gender divide. It follows a macho 12 year-old, Guy, who finds a ring that gives him superhero powers. However, the ring was meant to be worn by a girl, meaning that Guy is transformed into a superhero in a girls costume, replete with big hair, high heeled go-go boots and powers including female intuition.

The show is produced by Australia’s Moody Street Kids and LA-based Kickstart Productions for Australian free-to-air broadcaster Network Ten and public net ABC’s digital kids channel ABC3.

DHX is handling international sales of the comedy series and Josh Scherba, senior VP, distribution, says: “He is a superhero who finds his skirt is riding up as he is battling villains! We knew girls would get a kick from the story and also wanted to ensure there was a strong boy voice in there.

“Girls start watching live-action earlier than boys and to get that girl audience a show needs to be clever, something like Phineas and Ferb has broken through and has a strong, older girl audience.”

DHX had the first completed episodes of SheZow! at MIPJunior.

Case Study

Totally Spies: from anime to Franime

Totally Spies is arguably the original girl power series, in the Western world at least. The Marathon Media show mixes US-style humour with an anime visual style and is now the longest-running animation series ever produced in France. It has also broken into the US on Cartoon Network, which generally targets boys.

“Twelve years ago when we came up with the idea, people said, and still say, that if you are doing a show for girls it won’t attract a boy audience, which is a great mistake,” says David Michel, the show’s co-creator (with Vincent Chalvon-Demersay) and cofounder of Marathon, which is now part of Zodiak Media.

Chalvon-Demersay and Michel watched the ‘magical girl’ anime shows in Japan and series like Asahi and Toei’s long-running anime show Pretty Cure, which convinced them there was a gap in Western markets, particularly when these anime series started being exported and working in France and Southern Europe.

It was also the time of Girl Power and girl-skewed teen movies including Clueless and Bring it On, all of which fed into Totally Spies, which was made in a style dubbed ‘Franime’.

Michel says: “It went to TF1 and ABC Family (latterly Fox Kids, Jetix and now Disney XD) and although no-one was expecting it, it was a success. There are three girl leads it gets a 50-50 boy/girl audience wherever it runs, even in Lat-Am, Italy and Southern Europe where there is a more macho culture.”

Season six will debut on TF1. Disney France has pay TV rights and Nickelodeon has it for a large part of Europe. Cartoon Network in the US aired season one though five, but a US deal has not yet been concluded for the new series.