NEW YORK, March 13: At its Upfront presentation today, Nickelodeon announced the premiere of its first original family prime-time movie, a raft of renewals for its animated series, and the rollout of a new multiplatform environmental pro-social initiative for kids.
Nickelodeon plans to debut its first original family prime-time movie, Gym Teacher: The Movie, this August, starring Law & Order: SVU star Christopher Meloni. Joining Meloni in the film will be co-star Amy Sedaris (Strangers with Candy) and Nickelodeon's Nathan Kress (iCarly). Meloni plays underdog Dave Stewie, a humiliated former gymnastics gold-medal contender turned gym teacher who gets a shot at redemption as he vies for the coveted Gym Teacher of the Year Award. The date and time for the premiere are still to be determined.
Gym Teacher is a Nickelodeon production in association with Dolphin Entertainment. The executive producers are Lauren Levine (Bridge to Terabithia, Shredderman Rules!), Stanley M. Brooks (Broken Trail), Jim Head and Bill O'Dowd. Paul Dinello (Strangers with Candy, The Colbert Report) directs a teleplay by brothers Daniel and Steven Altiere.
In addition, Nickelodeon has greenlit 86 all-new episodes of Nicktoon series, including the network's top-three ranked animated series SpongeBob SquarePants, The Fairly OddParents and Back at the Barnyard, as well as the preschool-targeted The Backyardigans.
Nickelodeon has renewed both SpongeBob SquarePants and The Fairly OddParents for a seventh season, picking up 26 and 20 additional episodes, respectively. SpongeBob SquarePants has ranked as the number-one animated program with kids 2 to 11 for more than six consecutive years, and its Saturday morning airing ranks as the top-rated program on television among kids 2 to 11. Since its launch in March 2001, The Fairly OddParents has become the number-three-ranked animated property on broadcast and cable television among kids 2 to 11, only following SpongeBob SquarePants and Back at the Barnyard.
Nickelodeon has also greenlit 20 additional episodes of Back at the Barnyard, which currently ranks as the number-two animated series on television among kids 2 to 11. And The Backyardigans, Nick Jr.'s hit animated preschool series, was picked up for fourth season of an additional 20 episodes.
"Our key animated properties continue to be innovative and fresh and feature characters that our viewers have grown to love and really connect with," said Brown Johnson, the president of animation at Nickelodeon & MTVN Kids and Family Group. "We are thrilled to be making another season of SpongeBob SquarePants—a series we hope to make for a long time—as well The Fairly OddParents, and adding additional episodes of our newest hit series Back at the Barnyard and preschool gem The Backyardigans."
Finally, Nickelodeon will launch The Big Green Help, a new multiplatform environmental pro-social initiative for kids, next month. Designed to empower kids to take action on the environment through gaming and grassroots activity, the multiplatform The Big Green Help will provide information and tools to help explain climate change to kids and connect them to energy saving and earth-friendly activities in their everyday lives. The centerpiece of The Big Green Help will be the first-ever global multiplayer online “green” game for kids, which will provide steps and information to directly link them to ways that they can positively contribute to helping the environment, on an individual and a community level.
When the campaign launches in the U.S. in April, Nickelodeon will encourage kids to convert their virtual online missions into steps that they can take within the real world and their local communities and schools. Nickelodeon will team up with national environmental and youth-focused organizations on all aspects of The Big Green Help to engage kids on environmental issues, including partnering on local grassroots activities where kids will carry out their virtually volunteered hours.
Nick.com will launch a new website in April to help educate kids on all things green, located at www.thebiggreenhelp.com. This site will include features such as a personalized questionnaire to track kids' individual and family progress during the campaign; a glossary of environmentally focused terms; daily green tips for kids; a video upload tool that kids can use to share what they are doing to protect the planet; and green games to teach kids earth-friendly activities. Kids can also create green environments in Nicktropolis, Nickelodeon's virtual community for kids.
Internationally, Nick channels in the U.K., Germany, Korea, Latin America and Nick Southeast Asia are actively addressing environmental issues. The Big Green Help will roll out across Nickelodeon's international network to become the brand's global pro-social campaign with all key markets participating in the multiplayer online green game later this year.
"We know that kids can truly be agents of change on important issues, and the environment is an issue that affects 100 percent of our audience," said Marva Smalls, the executive VP of public affairs for Nickelodeon & MTVN Kids and Family Group. "Whether it's addressing kids' health and wellness through our Let's Just Play campaign, or promoting volunteerism with The Big Help, Nickelodeon has a history of talking to kids and engaging them on issues that affect their lives, and encouraging them to take action. With The Big Green Help, we want to provide them with the necessary tools and information so they can become part of the environmental solution."
Nickelodeon collaborated with the Pew Center on Global Climate Change to conduct the Keeping It Cool: Kids, Parents and the Global Environment research study to gauge kids' and parents' attitudes and behaviors towards the environment. The network then applied its findings from the research directly to the development of The Big Green Help campaign. Among the highlights of the study were that half of kids 8 to 14 are not sure how to directly impact environmental issues, but approximately 80 percent believe they can stop global warming; and approximately one third of parents and kids say they know nothing about ways they can help protect the environment, yet three quarters of parents and half of kids are concerned about the environment.
—By Irene Lew