A Whole New Nick

In 1984, Nickelodeon, floundering in red ink and low ratings, reinvented themselves by revamping their schedule, and by unveiling their orange and white, multi-formed logo.

And now, in 2000, Nick is at the top of the ratings. But apparently, there's always room for improvement. On Labor Day, something special will hit America's TV screens, and I'm not talking about Jerry Lewis. This Viacom press release explains all the details:

NICKELODEON TO LAUNCH FIRST NEW ON-AIR LOOK IN MORE THAN A DECADE

Nick's New On-Air Presentation to Coincide with New Programming Timed to Back-to-School Season

Network to Extend Kids Programming into Friday-Night Prime Time By a Full Hour with Interactive Programming Line-Up

New York, NY--Aug. 29, 2000--Timed to kids' back-to-school season, Nickelodeon will launch its first new on-air look in more than 10 years, beginning Monday, September 4. The new look will feature a brand-new color palate exclusively of black, white, butter yellow and mint green augmenting the network's signature orange "splat," along with still images of Nick's signature characters and humorous sound effects. Utilizing an economy of images and graphics to convey the network's signature irreverence, style and wit, Nick's new look will appear first in show teases, credit rolls and show bumpers and then will be followed later in packaging across the entire Nickelodeon brand.

Following the debut of Nick's new look, the network will launch a new programming schedule for the back-to-school season that will bring more interactivity and diverse programming to the network. The new Nick schedule includes:

The move directly into ABC's recently cancelled Friday-night "TGIF" timeslot with a completely interactive program schedule from 8-10 PM (ET/PT);

new animated and live-action series for the fall;

and new characters featured in some of the network's most popular programs.

"Using the momentum from our summer ratings success, our new network-wide look coincides with the roll out of our new programming schedule created for kids' back-to-school season," said Cyma Zarghami, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Nickelodeon. "In designing our new look, we decided to simplify in a way that speaks directly to kids while further distinguishing us from everything else out there in the market. The new look is in step with our programming in that it's high quality and there's nothing else like it on TV."

Featured highlights of Nickelodeon's new programming schedule include:

The one-hour extension into prime time on Friday nights with U Pick Nick, beginning Friday, September 15, and airing from 8-10 PM (ET/PT). As part of Nick's commitment to interactivity and convergence, U Pick Nick Fridays will fill the void left from TGIF's cancellation, allowing kids to decide what they want to watch by letting them go online to nick.com and vote for the programs they want each Friday night. U Pick Nick Fridays will be hosted by Dave Aizer and Vivianne Collins of Nickelodeon GAS, Games and Sports for Kids.

Pinky & The Brain, which will make its cable television debut on Nickelodeon on Monday, September 4, and air Monday-Saturday from 6-6:30 PM (ET/PT). Nickelodeon has licensed all 78 episodes of the Emmy award-winning animated Pinky & The Brain and Pinky, Elmyra & The Brain, along with the 99 episodes of Animaniacs, which will air in Spring 2001, and Tiny Toon Adventures, which will be available in September 2002. (Tiny Toons was part of Nick's schedule until the Fall of 1999, when they moved to Cartoon Network. -- SM)

Nickelodeon's new live-action series Noah Knows Best, which centers on the smart, charming and sometimes manipulative 14-year-old Noah Beznick (Phillip Van Dyke), an Upper West Side Manhattanite. The series will premiere in SNICK on Saturday, October 7, at 8:30 PM (ET/PT).

The fearlessly funny Pelswick, which focuses on a 13-year-old boy in a wheelchair who refuses to let his disability define him. This groundbreaking series from syndicated cartoonist John Callahan, who himself is a quadriplegic, will premiere on Nickelodeon in prime time on Tuesday, October 24, at 8 PM (ET/PT).

(Produced in Canada, Pelswick will first be seen there on CBC Television, Mondays at 5PM local time, starting October 2. Here's what the CBC had to say about Pelswick, from their web site; please note the age that they gave him. -- SM)

The dynamic new animated series Pelswick is the brainchild of award-winning cartoonist John Callahan. An 11-year-old expert in the art of troublemaking, Pelswick Eggert tears around the streets in his wheelchair with the skill and cockiness of a champion skateboarder...but don't expect him to become the poster boy for the Special Olympics. His true joys in life are proving others wrong, taking chances and getting himself out of a pickle. Pelswick's unique dialogue and humour is sure to captivate the whole family.

The humorous and heartfelt As Told by Ginger from Klasky Csupo. This animated program follows 12-year-old Ginger Foutley as she tiptoes bravely between two worlds at Lucky Junior High: the cool and the uncool. It'll debut on Nickelodeon in prime time on Wednesday, October 25, at 8 PM (ET/PT).

Playful Periwinkle the kitten, the newest cast member of Blue's Clues. Hailing from the big city, Periwinkle joins the cast of the most-watched pre-school show on television, debuting in "Blue's Big Mystery" on Monday, September 25, at 9:30 AM (ET/PT).

Actor Jonathan Taylor Thomas (Home Improvement), who will lend his voice to the character of Tyler Tucker on The Wild Thornberrys for five consecutive episodes beginning Monday, October 2, at 6:30 PM (ET/PT). The character of Tucker, who never faced an animal wilder than a squirrel back home in Kansas City, will join the Thornberrys as they travel the world from Africa to the Amazon in search of exotic, endangered and mysterious animals.

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