Nickelodeon Sonic, India's first channel for the action-loving generation, will start to premiere brand-new episodes of Ninja Hattori from Monday 14th May 2018 at 6:30pm!
Ninja Hattori is a classic animated comedy in which a boy named Kenichi Mitsuba (aka Ken) befriends an equally little Ninja called Hattori. A heart-warming, high energy and super funny show from the makers of Doraemon. The series is based on the popular manga series Ninja Hattori-kun.
Fans can find out more about Ninja Hattori online at nickindia.com.
In additional news, animation production major Cosmos Maya has launched its first spin-off from Nickelodeon India's hit animated series Motu Patlu! The spin-off series titled Inspector Chingum has premiered digitally on Amazon Prime Video ahead of linear pay TV debut from Diwali.
Inspector Chingum is an integral part of Motu Patlu and has featured in more than 700 episodes. Realising the potential of the character, the company took its popularity forward by creating this series where he plays the eponymous lead.
The new show has 3D animation mixed with the classic Bollywoodisque storytelling. Inspector Chingum also features funky rap songs by one of the pioneers of Indian rap, Baba Sehgal. Every episode will have a special song and which is one of the biggest highlights of the series.
Cosmos-Maya MD Ketan Mehta commented, “The advent of the digital platforms has empowered storytellers in a way that they can use new formats for their narratives. We are fortunate to be in this era of the content business, where linear and nonlinear platforms coexist and have plans to make the most of it.”
Cosmos Maya CEO Anish Mehta added, “We are an IP focused company and the launch of Inspector Chingum is in line with our vision. Inspector Chingum boasts of a never seen before animation style. It uses high-quality 3D animation in a 22 min format and each episode is being treated as a mini film. We believe in the marriage of linear and nonlinear platforms, thereby bringing the best of both worlds together.”
This is the second series that the animation company has launched first on digital. Earlier, it had launched Selfie with Bajrangi on Amazon Prime Video in October followed by a TV premiere on Hungama as a summer holiday attraction.
Singapore and India based Cosmos Maya is the largest production house of children’s content in Asia with a 1000 plus half-hour original content bank. KKR-backed Emerald Media had recently picked up controlling stake in the company.
It is currently unknown whether Inspector Chingum will air on Nickelodeon India or Nickelodeon Sonic.
Katelyn Detweiler and Danny Tamberelli | Photo: Kimberly Coccagnia
Danny Tamberelli, who starred on the hit '90s Nickelodeon shows The Adventures of Pete & Pete and All That wed literary agent and Transcendent author Katelyn Detweiler on Saturday (5th May 2018) night!
“It’s magical, and it also feels exactly the same as it was last week,” Tamberelli, 36, told Page Six while driving to Montauk, where Tamberelli proposed last year, for a post-wedding vacation before the couple jets off to Portugal for their honeymoon next week.
“We did get matching tattoos last month with each other’s handwriting on our bodies, so it felt pretty official then because there’s no real going back when that person’s inked on you forever,” Detweiler joked, adding, “It’s expensive and time-consuming to get a tattoo erased. So, I’m hoping that we don’t have to do that.”
The Brooklyn-based couple, who met on Tinder in September 2014, tied the knot in front of 220 guests at SteelStacks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Saturday evening. They each had 12 bridesmaids or groomsmen, including Michael Maronna, who played Tamberelli’s older brother Big Pete on The Adventures of Pete & Pete.
Michael Maronna and Danny Tamberelli | Photo: Kimberly Coccagnia
Maronna told Page Six, “Little Pete once said, ‘Love is a many-splendored thing’ and nowhere else have I seen the splendors I saw at Dan and Katelyn’s wedding. I was very grateful to share the day with two great families — one that I’ve known and loved for a long time, and one that I just met, but I already like a whole lot.”
The bridal party all stayed together at the local Sayre Mansion, which was once owned by a railroad tycoon in the 1880s, and held their rehearsal dinner at a low-key diner in the area on Friday night.
After the ceremony and cocktail hour, Tamberelli, who is in multiple bands including Jounce and The Undone Sweaters, played a few cover songs and an original song he wrote for his new bride.
“Danny convinced me to join him for the first one and I am not a singer, but I love him and that was his wedding request,” Detweiler said, adding they did their duet to “Sugar, Sugar” by The Archies.
Tamberelli also surprised her when the entire wedding party got up on stage to sing Joe Cocker’s version of “With a Little Help From My Friends.”
‘Millennials consume, consume, consume ‘SpongeBob’ and they come back a lot,’ says show’s producer
During the intermission of a performance of SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical last Saturday evening at the Palace Theatre in midtown Manhattan, two twenty-somethings were debating the merits of the Broadway musical, based on Viacom-owned Nickelodeon’s beloved animated family TV show.
“In terms of sheer fun, I prefer SpongeBob SquarePants to Hamilton and Wicked, said 24-year-old Stephanie Ellis. “No way!” said her friend Kerrie Hayes, 25. “It’s still enjoyable though.”
Both were seeing the show for the second time.
As with the TV series, which premiered on Nickelodeon in 1999 has since generated $13 billion in merchandising revenue and spawned two feature-length movies, SpongeBob on stage is doing things its own way.
For the musical, which has an estimated budget of $20 million, director Tina Landau jettisoned the idea of a single composing team, instead featuring songs from the likes of Aerosmith, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Sara Bareilles and They Might Be Giants, that were supervised and arranged by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Tom Kitt.
The show recreates the title character, who lives in a pineapple in the undersea city of Bikini Bottom together with his aquatic octopus and starfish pals, but tells a brand new story about an erupting volcano.
SpongeBob SquarePants, The Broadway Musical was critically acclaimed for its innovative staging and eye-popping spectacle when it opened last December, following a try-out in Chicago. Last week, the show tied for most-nominated production at the upcoming Tony Awards, together with Mean Girls, based on another popular Viacom property, gaining recognition in 12 awards categories including Best Musical. SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical is also this theater seasons most nominated show.
Yet, unfortunately the show is by no means an ocean-sized blockbuster on Broadway. Following the nomination, box office revenue for SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical rose 7.2% from the previous week, generating $565,662, for the week ending May 6, according to figures from the Broadway League. But that’s less than 40% of its potential gross. By comparison, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Frozen and Mean Girls are all generating 95% or over their potential gross.
While a national tour seems likely, time and the Tony Awards next month will tell whether SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical extends its run beyond the first week of September, the end of its current booking time frame.
Ironically for a family-themed property, what could keep the musical going is its adult fan base. Cyma Zarghami, president of Nickelodeon and Viacom Media Networks Kids & Family Group which is the lead producer of the show, told MarketWatch that a quarter of the SpongeBob SquarePants TV audience are adults without kids, and that trend has become even more pronounced on Broadway.
“Nickelodeon’s brand identity is ‘kids first’ so when people hear we’ve come to Broadway, which is an adult and family medium, people expect it to be a kids show,” she said. “We’ve worked very hard to try and illustrate to the audiences that this is not a costume character show and lean into the music and the score and the visuals of the characters who are not wearing costumes.”
She added of the show’s Tony nominations: “It has been a journey and I think this certainly is going to help us get over a hump. But I think our next message is going to be this is an amazing re-invention and we re-invented it for this audience and as soon as we can get this message...everybody who has seen it loves it so word-of-mouth is helping us tremendously.”
Millennials, it transpires, are especially doing their bit for the show, according to fellow producer Susan Vargo. ”We have not only Nickelodeon parents with their kids now coming but we have a lot of millennials who are obviously becoming a really important economic force,” she said. “We find that they are passionate, social-media drivers who have embraced this show like no other and they consume, consume, consume and they come back a lot.”
Broadway newcomer Ethan Slater, who has generated considerable acclaim and a Tony Best Leading Actor in a Musical nomination for his performance as SpongeBob, said that was the plan from the outset. “From day one Tina Landau talked a lot about how this show is more akin to the 20th century physical comedians and the silent comedians,” he said, “like Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, off of whom the cartoon is based.”
“So we were trying to tap into that, which is physical comedy that is not meant for kids — but kids are going to enjoy it because it’s funny. There was always an effort to approach it as a musical with these characters. It’s a totally original story, original music. That was really important. Not making a lowest-common-denominator kids show but making a great show with these famous characters,” he said.
For Viacom, Zarghami said, “This is our first so we’re learning a ton along the way...the business of Broadway is way different than the businesses that we’re in. It’s a learning curve — it’s like an MBA in Broadway. I know a lot and I don’t know if I’ll ever do this again!”
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical is now playing at the Palace Theatre (1564 Broadway at West 47th Street). For full information, reviews and tickets, visit http://spongebobbroadway.com.
After graduation, one James Madison University (JMU) business major will be sitting at a desk in Viacom’s New York headquarters with a view of Times Square. Haley Yates, a senior marketing major will begin a new job at Nickelodeon as a licensing coordinator on Monday 14th May 2018. This full-time position comes after Yates interned with the company last summer.
Yates just graduated from JMU with a marketing degree. She will begin her job at Nickelodeon as a licensing coordinator on May 14. Photo: Haley Yates
As a licensing coordinator, Yates will be working with companies that request to license Nickelodeon’s beloved properties and artwork. Everything from mac and cheese to stuffed toys must be licensed by Nickelodeon before secondary companies, such as fisher price or Kraft, before characters can be used on their products.
“I’ll be the connection between the outside companies and my bosses,” Yates told The Breeze. “So everything, even like a little thing you get in a video game, has to be approved by Nickelodeon because it’s their characters and they want it to look right.”
Yates explored other job opportunities in case there wasn’t an opening at Viacom, the company that owns Nickelodeon, after graduation. She received a call in March offering her a position in the same department she worked in before: the Boys’ Toys Team.
For Yates, the biggest advantage of this job is that she knows she’ll enjoy working there because of her prior experience. She explained that she was excited to go to work every day during her internship.
“I never was treated like an intern,” Yates said. “They made me feel like a part of the team, which I think is really rare so I was extremely fortunate.”
When Yates applied for her internship, she interviewed with a general recruiter. She requested a position with Viacom’s networks she was most familiar with, MTV and Nickelodeon. Yates grew up watching Nickelodeon and remembers loving shows such as Rugrats and SpongeBob SquarePants. Moments before her final interview for the internship, Yates received an email requesting that they Skype instead of speaking over the phone.
Yates had just gotten out of the shower and had to get dressed and find a quiet place. Despite her initial nerves, she felt the interview was mostly about seeing if she would fit well with the team.
“It was the most relaxed and calm I’d ever felt after an interview,” Yates said. “It felt like it had really gone well. It wasn’t these super hard questions or anything like that. Looking back I was probably so awkward compared to now that I know them.”
Andy Wood, the chair of the marketing department at JMU, met Yates a year ago and has taught her in two classes. He feels that Nickelodeon noticed the same qualities in Yates that he has seen in her.
“She genuinely is inquisitive,” Wood said. “She has communication skills, has good listening [skills], is pleasant, is enjoyable to have a conversation with.”
When Wood met Yates, he felt her energy made her stick out. He noticed this enthusiasm carries over into class where she is eager to learn and always sits in the front row.
Christina Trombadore, a senior hospitality major, is Yates’ best friend and roommate. Trombadore agrees Yates’ perseverance will lead to her success.
“She’s just so proud of getting to work there, so she carries around so much pride, so much energy and Nickelodeon needs that being with Viacom,” Trombadore said. “I think she’ll fit in really well.”
Trombadore and Yates have supported each other since they were hallmates freshman year in Magnolia. Trombadore advises Yates to stay true to herself as her career advances.
Yates’ professors Wood and Theresa Clarke agreed that she should hold on to her love for learning and her enthusiasm as she moves into the workplace. Clarke, Yates’ marketing professor, witnessed Yates’ go-getter attitude first hand when a client fell through for her group’s project. Yates was her team’s leader and took charge to get her team caught up to the rest of the class.
“It ended up being a whole lot more work for her and her team but I was highly impressed with her perseverance and her desire to do high quality work,” Clarke said.
As far as Yates’ future goes, she hopes to progress at Nickelodeon and wants to enroll in NYU’s marketing master’s program. Wood expects Yates to do great things and feels she’s a good fit for Viacom.
“I think it’ll be a win-win situation for both of them,” Wood said. “She won’t just be Nickelodeon, she’ll get into that industry and then there will be other opportunities maybe for some new channel that gets launched and then she’ll take a lead on developing that new channel but the future is bright I just don’t know where it’ll be for her.”
This May jump onto Nick Play app and watch full episodes and seasons of the hit Nickelodeon shows SpongeBob SquarePants (seasons 8 & 9), Henry Danger (season 2 & 3), Bella and the Bulldogs (season 1), plus the first episode of Nickelodeon's brand-new show Knight Squad, before it premieres on TV on Monday 21st May 2018 at 5:30pm (AEDT)!
In additional Nickelodeon Australia and New Zealand news, Nickelodeon is hitting the slopes at Falls Creek and YOU could win a 5 nights accommodation, 5 days of lift tickets, rentals & lessons, and a $2,500 travel voucher for you and your family! Head to nick.com.au/win to enter!
SLIME CUP 2018 Live Tryouts Highlights
Check out some highlights from Nickelodeon's SLIME CUP 2018 live try outs at the Watergardens Town Centre in Victoria, Hyperdome in Queensland and Westpoint in New South Wales!
Upcoming Meet and Greets in Australia and New Zealand
- Meet everyone’s favourite mean, green, fighting machines... Nickelodeons’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Live on stage during the 25min session, Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo and Raphael, will be encouraging the boys and girls to join in as they demonstrate their signature moves. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Show takes place at Darwin Bicentennial Park 0800 Darwin Northern Territory on Saturday 9th-Sunday 10th June 2018!
Marshall is here from Nick Jr.’s PAW Patrol, come along and join the action. Be sure to bring your camera for your chance to have a picture and say Hi!
See you at: Bunnings Porirua, 9 Heriot Drive, Porirua, Wellington 5022 New Zealand
Marshall is here from Nick Jr.’s PAW Patrol, come along and join the action. Be sure to bring your camera for your chance to have a picture and say Hi!
See you at: Bunnings Petone, 48 Hurt Rd Petone, Lower Hutt 5102, New Zealand
Do you have what it takes to be a PAW Patrol Trainee? Join Ryder, Chase and Marshall as they answer Mayor Goodway’s call for help to save the “Adventure Bay Talent Show”. Get Ready for Action and warm up as Ryder and the Pups take you through all the moves for the Pup, Pup Boogie and make this the best rescue mission ever!
PLUS
Skye is here from Nick Jr.’s PAW Patrol, come along and join the action. Be sure to bring your camera for your chance to have a picture and say Hi!
Join in the fun with genies – in – training Nick Jr.’s Shimmer & Shine!
You’ll get to decorate your very own genie bottle, PLUS have the chance to meet the duo & take a photo!
See you at: Greensborough Plaza 25 Main St Greensborough VIC 3088
Nickelodeon kicked-off its “Sunny Day Tour” at the Bentonville Film Festival which took place May 1-6 in Bentonville, Ark!
The “Sunny Day Tour” brings the networks popular Sunny Day animated preschool series to life through immersive activities, a product showcase and content screenings. The Bentonville Film Festival event included branded displays, shopping tablets, giveaways, photo ops with character cut and props as well as hair styling and nail decal stations.
The “Sunny Day Tour” will continue at Walmart stores across the country until August 8. Events will take place in Pensacola, Fla., Lexington, Ky., Knoxville, Tenn., Santa Clarita, Calif. and more.
The tour is part of a robust licensing program Nickelodeon has laid out for the animated series.
Nickelodeon’s Sunny Day licensing program includes a consumer products deal with Mattel for basic and deluxe doll assortments, accessories, plush, role play and playsets. It will be available exclusively at Walmart this May before rolling out to additional retailers in August.
“Sunny Day is a show that celebrates individuality and self-expression, and we wanted our new toy line to embody these empowering characteristics,” says Jennifer Caveza, senior vice president (SVP), toys, Nickelodeon Consumer Products. “Created with Mattel, these products invite fans of the show to express their creativity, whether that’s through hair styling on the dolls or by recreating adventures in Sunny’s salon-on-the-go Glam Van.”
In addition, Nickelodeon will roll out a variety of consumer products for Sunny Day later this year including apparel and accessories, arts and crafts, consumer electronics, games and puzzles, home goods, novelty, publishing and home entertainment, ride-ons and sporting goods, social expressions and RC vehicles, and recently commissioned a second season of the series.
Cowabunga, dude. The iconic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise is about to get a reboot at Nickelodeon, where the network is ready to introduce the characters to a new generation of viewers, one of several venerable properties the network is reviving. And the net knows this generation of kids will want new things from these series.
Nickelodeon’s Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Pictured (clockwise): Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello and April O’Neil.
“In order to reach [our audience] we’re going to have to use our entire ecosystem,” Cyma Zarghami, president of Nickelodeon Group, tells Variety. “And our ecosystem includes some social, some digital, a relationship with our retail and toy partners, so we have the ability to mobilize the scope of our business to help make something successful. It’s a different vision of prioritization now that we have so many more tools now.”
The re-imagined turtles will appear in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a 2D-animated series co-executive produced by Andy Suriano, who previously did character design for Samurai Jack, and Ant Ward, former supervising producer on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Veteran voice actor Rob Paulsen is voice-directing the new 26-episode series, which follows the turtles as they explore a mysterious world located underneath the streets of New York City.
Voice performers for the new show include Josh Brener (Silicon Valley) as Donatello, Omar Miller (Ballers) as Raphael, Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation) as Leonardo, Brandon Mychal Smith (You’re the Worst) as Michelangelo and WWE superstar John Cena as Baron Draxum, a warrior mutant who seeks to turn all of humanity into mutants. The series is slated to debut in September 2018.
“Nickelodeon has been great about integrating this series into a multiplatform experience, so we want to make sure our storytelling can extend beyond week to week episodes into all the other media components and social media components and live experiences,” says Suriano. “It’s exciting to be part of something kids will experience in many different ways, and this is a show that was big for so many generations of kids before that it’s fun to imagine how we can push it further.”
“We’ve earned the respect of the true fans with what we’ve done already and now we look to make it fun for new fans to discover and enjoy all the turtles,” Zarghami says.
Los Casagrandes
Nickelodeon, whose core audience is kids 6 to 11 years old, has also slated a spinoff of its hit The Loud House titled Los Casagrandes, as well as a reboot of Blue’s Clues designed for younger, preschool-age children. The original show, created by Traci Paige Johnson, Todd Kessler and Angela C. Santomero, aired for six seasons.
Santomero, who also worked on Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, plans to update the look, but keep many of the original aspects of the show.
“Of course we want to engage, in some way, previous fans and we also want to make it relevant today,” says Santomero. “We believe that preschoolers are universally developmentally similar, but things are a bit different so we’re incorporating a new live-action host and new CG animation. We’re going to push the level of interactivity even further. We know that preschoolers are surrounded by media in all different areas and they’re interacting with apps and games that push education to the next level. But when we talk about it, it’s really more about giving kids a voice and practicing skills. And we’re interested in pushing that even further.”
Blue's Clues
The re-invented Blue’s Clues series will focus on an energetic puppy named Blue who asks her viewers into her animated world to help solve the day’s puzzles. A live-action host will guide the young viewers through the show, and young kids will be encouraged to interact with the action on-screen by answering questions and identifying clues.
“We still use research religiously,” Zarghami says. “This audience is different than the one before it for a lot of reasons. Being born into a digital world is part of what makes them different. So they have an expectation that if something is important that it is available to them everywhere.”
Zarghami points out the shows chosen for reinvention have reached a level of cultural relevance that only comes after catching on with viewers, who then become adults but still love the show and the characters. And Nick knows as well as anyone how potent those associations can be, with the net’s SpongeBob SquarePants having found new life as an unlikely Broadway star.
“Each one of these properties that we’re reinventing have a couple of things in common, starting with [the fact that] they’ve been able to withstand the test of time,” she says. “They’ve been around for 10 years or more, they’ve all reached a level of ubiquity in the grown-up world. So, you’ll see sort of a random person at the airport wearing a [Teenage Mutant Ninja] Turtles T-shirt. And each one of these properties is a global success so they don’t just work in the domestic market, they work everywhere. Each one has managed to manifest itself well beyond television, whether its fruit snacks or toys or theatricals. When you have one of those, it feels like our responsibility to make sure we keep bringing them back for the new generation.”
In addition to Blue’s Clues, Nickelodeon is also bringing back the networks iconic gameshow Double Dare for 40 new episodes this summer and is said to be reviving Clarissa Explains It All for new audiences, and Paramount is currently working on movie adaptations of Nickelodeon's classic horror anthology series Are You Afraid of the Dark? and evergreen preschool property Dora the Explorer.
A brand-new mystery is in store for the Hunter family in the all-new second season of Hunter Street! Featuring new Hunter siblings, new secrets, and new surprises, Hunter Street season two premieres Saturday 19th May 2018 on Nickelodeon Germany (Deutschland), Nickelodeon Austria (Österreich) and Nickelodeon Switzerland (Schweiz)!
Nickelodeon Österreich and Nickelodeon Schweiz will kick off Hunter Street season two by premiering the first five episodes of the season back-to-back from 17:25 Uhr. Following the first five new episodes, Nick will premiere a sixth new episode on Sunday 20th May 2018 at 19:10 Uhr, then start to encore each new episode weekdays at 19:10 Uhr from Monday 21st May 2018.
Nickelodeon Deutschland will also kick off Hunter Street season two premiering the first five episodes of the season back-to-back, from 18:00 Uhr. Following the first five new episodes, Nick will premiere a sixth new episode on Sunday 20th May 2018 at 19:15 Uhr. Leading up to the debut of Hunter Street season two, fans can catch-up on all the adventures and mysteries from season one by watching encores nightly at around 19:30 Uhr from Saturday 14th April 2018 (check listings for each days airtime).
Hunter Street season one followed the five Hunter siblings - street-smart Max; independent and resourceful Tess; resident genius Sal; free-spirited Anika; and fiercely protective Daniel as they solved the mystery of their missing foster parents. With the family reunited, it's not long until they've got another mystery to solve when their dad, Erik Hunter, is accused of a crime! With new siblings, new secrets and new surprises at every turn, it's up to the kids to crack the case and clear their dad's name! Season two kicks off when a cryptic box is delivered to the Hunter home!
Fans can visit nick.de, nickelodeon.at and nick.ch to find out more about Das Geheimnis der Hunters, view pictures of the cast as well as watch video clips from the show, including full-length episodes dubbed in German. Fans can also follow @HunterStreetTV on Facebook and Instagram to learn more about the series and its characters.
Hunter Street stars Stony Blyden as street-smart Max; MaeMae Renfrow as the independent and resourceful sister Tess; Kyra Smith as the free-spirited youngest Hunter sister Anika; Daan Creyghton as Sal, the genius of the bunch; and Thomas Jansen as the fiercely protective eldest brother Daniel. Joining the cast in season two is Wilson Radjou-Pujalte as Jake Hunter and Kate Bensdorp as Evie.
Hunter Street is produced by Blooming Media, and was co-developed with the Nickelodeon Netherlands series De Ludwigs.
Get caught up on everything that happened in Hunter Street season one in the super video below!
Hunter Street is locally titled Das Geheimnis der Hunters in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (Schweiz).
Below is Nickelodeon Deutschland's official press release announcing the aweslime news:
Nickelodeon feiert Premiere der 2. Staffel von 'Das Geheimnis der Hunters' mit geheimer "Mystery Mission" in Amsterdam
NEW ADVENTURES TAKE FLIGHT IN NICKELODEON’S BRAND-NEW
CG-ANIMATED PRESCHOOL SERIES, TOP WING,
PREMIERING MONDAY, NOV. 6, AT 12:30 P.M. (ET/PT)
Share it: #TopWing
Nickelodeon's Top Wing (l-r) Brody, Swift, Rod and Penny
Nickelodeon takes adventure to new heights in the brand-new CG-animated preschool series Top Wing (26 episodes), premiering Monday 14th May 2018 on Nickelodeon Germany (Deutschland), Nickelodeon Austria (Österreich) and Nickelodeon Switzerland (Schweiz). The action-packed series follows a team of eager young birds as they work together to help their island community, go on amazing adventures and earn their wings as full-feathered rescue birds. Produced by 9 Story Media Group and locally titled Top Wing - Helden mit zwei Flügeln, the show features storylines that help preschoolers build self-confidence, and includes lessons about perseverance and hard work. Top Wing will air daily at 06:55 Uhr on Nickelodeon Österreich and Nickelodeon Schweiz, and at 07:10 Uhr on Nickelodeon Deutschland, as part of Nick GSA's preschool programming blocks.
Top Wing follows four best friend rescue birds–Swift, Penny, Rod and Brody–who are training to earn their wings at the Top Wing Academy on Big Swirl Island. With the help of their mentor Speedy, and unique turbo-charged vehicles and high-tech gadgets, the cadets are assigned different missions to sharpen their rescue skills and help those in need while learning valuable lessons along the way.
In Top Wing’s series premiere, “Time to Earn Our Wings,” cadets-in-training Swift, Penny, Rod and Brody gather at Top Wing Academy where they learn to pilot their new vehicles and become the best rescue team Big Swirl Island has ever seen.
Meet the Top Wing cadets:
Swift – A daring and playful blue jay who is the fastest turbo-charged pilot in the sky.
Penny – A curious penguin and undersea expert who is always up for a challenge in her super submarine.
Rod – An energetic and funny rooster who is ready to fly across the island on his all-terrain vehicle.
Brody – A laid-back puffin who loves to fly across, over and on the waves in turbo-charged vehicle.
Top Wing is created by Matthew Fernandes of Industrial Brothers (Dot, Yup Yups, Gummandos) and executive produced by Scott Kraft (co-creator, Fresh Beat Band; executive producer/head writer, PAW Patrol), Vince Commisso for 9 Story Media Group and Matthew Fernandes and Arthur Spanos for Industrial Brothers. It is the newest series to join Nick’s top-ranked preschool roster, airing alongside hit series like PAW Patrol, Blaze und die Monster-Maschinen, Shimmer und Shine and Sunny Day.
Nickelodeon, now in its 38th 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, digital, recreation, books and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in more than 90 million households and has been the number-one-rated kids’ basic cable network for 22 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB).
Über Nick:
Nick ist ein weltweit ausstrahlender Kindersender und die Heimat einiger der beliebtesten Kinderserien derzeit, darunter 'SpongeBob Schwammkopf', 'Die Thundermans', 'Henry Danger' und die 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'. Besonderes Programm-Highlight sind die jährlich stattfindenden 'Nickelodeon Kids‘ Choice Awards', eine starbesetzte Show, in der Kinder weltweit über die Preisträger abstimmen. Nick gehört zu der Viacom International Media Networks GmbH. Zu Nick gehören neben dem abwechslungsreichen Fernsehangebot für Kinder außerdem der Bereich Consumer Products, Online- und Freizeitangebote sowie Publishing-Produkte. Die Eigenproduktionen 'Het Huis Anubis' / 'Das Haus Anubis', 'Hotel 13', 'Nickelodeon Alaaarm' und 'Spotlight' runden das Angebot von Nick ab.
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Update (8/5) - Below is Nickelodeon Deutschland's official press release announcing the exciting news:
Bereit zum Start für Nickelodeons neuen Animations-Hit 'Top Wing' – Abflugzeit: 14. Mai bei Nick Jr.
Berlin, 30. April 2018 – Neue Heldenpower am Vormittag: Mit 'Top Wing' startet am 14. Mai bei Nick Jr., Nickelodeons Programmfenster für Vorschulserien, eine neue Animationsserie für die jüngsten Zuschauer. 'Top Wing' – Das sind kleine Helden mit zwei Flügeln. Die Serie zeigt die Abenteuer von vier ganz unterschiedlichen Vögeln, die eines gemeinsam haben: Sie alle wollen Helfen und Retten. Mit viel Herz und Verstand lösen sie gemeinsam knifflige Probleme und verdienen sich so ihre Helden-Flügel. Alle Nick Jr.-Serien verfolgen edukative und soziale Wertevermittlung – auch 'Top Wing'. Im Fokus der Animationsserie stehen soziale Kompetenzen, Problemlösungen und das Miteinander.
Und das ist das coolste Team der Lüfte: Swift ist ein waghalsiger und verspielter Blauhäher und der schnellste Pilot im Himmel. Penny, das Pinguin-Mädchen, ist eine Expertin für Unterwasser-Abenteuer. Mit ihrem Super-U-Boot ist sie nicht zu stoppen. Auch mit dabei: Rod. Der kleine Hahn strotzt nur so vor Energie und hat dabei immer einen Scherz auf dem Schnabel. Papageientaucher Brody komplettiert die Crew. Ihn kann nichts aus der Ruhe bringen.
'Top Wing' feiert am Montag den, 14. Mai um 07:10 Uhr im Nick Jr. Programmblock bei Nickelodeon Premiere. Ab dann gibt es montags bis freitags jeweils zwei Folgen der Serie ab 07:10 Uhr.
Originally published: Thursday, March 29, 2018.Follow NickALive! on Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, via RSS, on Instagram, and/or Facebook for the latest Nickelodeon GSA and Top Wing News and Highlights!
Sing and dance along with JoJo Siwa, SpongeBob, Lizzy Greene, Daniella Perkins, Owen Joyner, Riele Downs, Breanna Yde, Ricardo Hurtado, Kira Kosarin, Jack Griffo, and Lilimar as Jared Crawford aka Choclattjared preforms his rendition of the Nickelodeon Theme tune … on bucket drums! 🥁
With the help from Hartfans, Butch Hartman and his creative team have created a sequel to the Fairly OddParents special Channel Chasers! Timmy, Cosmo, and Wanda jump into modern shows from Nickelodeon, Disney, Cartoon Network, and more...
Yes, he's the real guy. Butch Hartman created your childhood AKA Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom, TUFF Puppy, and now...the NOOG NETWORK and Bunsen Is a Beast!
Witness the greatest assembly of heroes ever to heroically assemble…The Mega Diaper Babies! Catch more Rugrats on Nick Splat!
Watch all your '90s Nickelodeon favorites on NickSplat, your late-night destination for your favorite childhood Nickelodeon cartoons and live-action shows! NickSplat doesn't question football-shaped heads, but embrace them - along with Reptar bars, a Big Ear of Corn, orange soda, and even slime for Pete (and Pete's) sake. Make your slime-covered Nickelodeon childhood dreams come true every night at 11 PM ET/PT, only on TeenNick USA! #NickSplat!
Something strange is happening on the island of Sodor – Thomas and all his tank engine friends like Gordon, Henry, Emily, and Daisy are acting super silly and can’t stop making funny faces! Be sure to tune-in to Nickelodeon next Tuesday at 12pm ET/PT to watch brand-new episodes of the animated TV series, Thomas & Friends. Kids may even get to see Thomas take his tank engine to the sky! ⛅
To find more Nick Jr. videos, games, full episodes, and a collection of kids’ songs, visit the FREE Nick Jr. App or go to NickJr.com.
Watch Thomas & Friends, weekdays on Nickelodeon or all week long on the Nick Jr. channel: http://nickjr.com/tvschedule/
The Best of Thomas Creator Collective | Thomas & Friends
Fizzling fireboxes! It's time for another Thomas & Friends livestream featuring some of the most memorable series from the Thomas Creator Collective. What is your favorite TCC series? Let Thomas & Friends know in the comments on YouTube!
Blaze fans—start your engines! 🏁 Blaze and Crusher, stars of Blaze and the Monster Machines, are ready to race to the finish line! Even though Blaze and Crusher have raced many times before, Blaze will have to use his new speed lights to race in the dark! The two monster trucks appear as DIY glow-in-the-dark paper crafts, and Light Rider Blaze lights up the racetrack. Will Crusher’s crafty tricks help him take first place in the race? Or will Pickle declare Blaze the winner? 🏆 To find more craft videos, full episodes, and games for kids, visit the FREE Nick Jr. App or go to NickJr.com.
Kids can watch Blaze and the Monster Machines weekdays on Nickelodeon or all week long on the Nick Jr. channel: http://nickjr.com/tvschedule/
Preschoolers can watch full episodes online, play games, and discover silly surprises in the free Nick Jr. App and at NickJr.com: iTunes | Google Play | Amazon.
Phoebe (Kira Kosarin) and Max (Jack Griffo) argue over time with Assista-Boy (Thomas Lennon), and when Max tears a pocket out of Phoebe's custom cape, things get ugly.
iCarly | Road Sign | Nickelodeon UK
On their quest to get more viewers for iCarly, Freddie (Nathan Kress) and Spencer (Jerry Trainor) put up a giant motorway sign, but the consequences are disastrous.
Watch more The Thundermans and iCarly on Nickelodeon!
The Drake & Josh star dishes about whether he's up for a reboot, his new TV gig, and more.
Around this time last year, Drake Bell and Josh Peck put fans of their classic Nickelodeon show, Drake & Josh, through the emotional ringer. Josh neglected to invite Drake to his wedding and Drake called him out on Twitter, forcing fans to face the possibility that their fave TV brothers weren't nearly as friendly IRL.
But, as it turns out, the reason why Drake lashed out against Josh online was not because they weren't friendly, it's because they're like actual brothers.
Drake stopped by Seventeen.com HQ to talk about his latest television gig — competing as a celebrity on one of MTV's longest-running game shows, The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars. While he was here, Seventeen.com had to get the deets on his brotherly beef with Josh and see if the former co-stars are still on good terms.
"It’s something you would have said to your brother if you weren't in the public eye and have a bunch of fans," Drake told Seventeen.com about calling out Josh on Twitter for not getting an invite to his wedding. "I even texted him and said it. I just wanted to make sure he got the message, you know what I mean?" he asked, laughing. "That’s the only reason I went to social media with it. Because I did go to him personally and text him, 'Like, yo, bro, what the hell? I’m here, we’ve been talking. What’s going on?'"
Drake didn't get his invite due to a simple case of Josh and his wife, Paige O'Brien, being overwhelmed with all the planning that went into putting together a wedding. "Of course, it all just comes down to, 'Do you know what it’s like to plan a wedding? I’ve got my wife saying this! It costs this. I’m tasting whether I want chicken, or beef, or lamb! Like, I don’t know! I just want to get married. So don't take it personally, but there was just a certain number of people…'"
Of course, Drake wasn't going to let Josh off the hook that easily. "I was like, 'What? One piece of chicken? One piece of chicken is gonna cost you that much more?' So we went back and forth and had our jokes and had our fun."
So, is there pressure to be perfect friends with the entire world watching every single thing they do on social media? Drake doesn't think so.
"I’ve known him since I was 12 or 13 years old. So, when you’re going on 19 years of a relationship with someone, it’s such a real and authentic and engrained relationship in my life that there’s never really a point where I’m thinking we have to turn our relationship on for the cameras or we've gotta be perfect for the fans right now. We kind of are just like real brothers."
Drake even admitted that back in the day, on the set of Drake & Josh, they had the same type of relationship. "There were some days I wouldn't want to talk to Josh unless it was dialogue. Like, unless it says I have to talk to you in the script, I don't want to talk to you. Then there would be moments when we would finish a 13-hour day where we were non-stop together and we’d be walking to our cars and we’d be like, 'Hey, what are you doing right now?' 'Just going back to my house. Play some video games.' 'Okay, cool. See you in a minute.' So there’s moments where we’re absolutely inseparable and we think every single thing that comes out of each other’s mouths is absolute genius and Josh is the most brilliant person I’ve ever met. Then there are times I just wanna throw him through a wall. It’s just like my little brother."
"We’re such a big part of each other’s lives. Like our history goes back before Drake & Josh and before The Amanda Show. I knew him before we even stepped in front of a camera together. We’re always going to be brothers. But even outside this whole facade of 'Oh we’re brothers,' we really are good friends. I love the guy... It really does show our relationship that we might not speak for a month or two. Literally not talking. Me thinking, 'Oh my god, he probably hates me.' But the second we’re in the same room and we lock eyes, what happens? The guy kisses me on the cheek, we hug, we’re like, ‘Oh, I missed you bro!' The second we're in the same room, everything’s back to normal."
As good as Drake and Josh are at putting the drama aside for the sake of brotherhood, the same can't be said for Drake's competitors on The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars. Drake got involved with the competition, competing alongside other celebs like Cardi B’s sister Hennessy Carolina and Lil Mama, to win money for the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, but he soon learned The Challenge isn't all about physical competition.
"When you come into this experience just thinking, 'I gotta get to the top of the jungle gym first,” and you’re like, 'Okay, cool. Let’s go.' Then realizing it’s a 24-hour game and that most of the game happens outside of the physical challenges. I had no idea there was such a psychological aspect to the game," Drake said. "I had no idea there’d be undermining and people saying one thing and then going behind people’s backs to benefit them. So that was pretty shocking."
Drake's strategy to get as far as possible in the game: be invisible. Well, as invisible as possible when you're the star of every girl on set's favorite teenaged show (the first thing one of Drake's fellow competitors said to him on set was, "Hug me, brotha!").
"I just stayed quiet. When the challenges came, I just did my best to not be in the bottom three," he shared. "Then when we got into the room and all the people started yelling and screaming at each other and throwing people under the bus and outing people for this and that. You know, that’s when I would just lean back, take it all in, and remove myself from that aspect of it. So that was my strategy. Don’t be a target."
So what can we expect next from Drake? Hopefully a Drake & Josh reboot, right? Yeah, actually — if Drake has anything to do with it, at least.
"One hundred percent, I would do it tomorrow. I would do it tonight. I would do it right now," Drake said when we asked if he was down for a Drake & Josh reboot. "I’m a freak about classic television and I’m so nostalgic and I grew up obsessing over classic television. I feel like Josh and I were able to do something, maybe not equivalent, but something that feels to me like I got to be part of a Seinfeld or a Golden Girls. A classic piece of television history."
Drake even has some ideas on where the reboot could pick up. "There’s so much story to be told for our characters. Like what happened? Did Drake stay a loser and not go to college and try to become a rock star? Did Josh stay his manager or did he go off to college? There’s so much story there and I feel like Josh and I still have the chemistry where it can be fresh and new and funny. I would love to be able to do that for our fans. I would love to be able to have our fans be like, 'What? Meghan’s an adult now and she’s still evil? She still destroying Drake and Josh’s life, but from her job in Chicago?' All these crazy things I think fans would love. I’ve had so many funny ideas. I know that I’m 100% down to do it, I know that Dan Schneider is 100% down to do it. We just gotta convince JP."
Okay, Josh. The ball is in your court. Make it happen! But in the meantime, you can watch Drake tell his funniest and most embarrassing life stories (including his most memorable moments on the set of Drake & Josh) by clicking play below. Then catch Drake on The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars on MTV Tuesday nights at 10 p.m.!
Nickelodeon India will premiere the brand-new Pakdam Pakdai movie "Space Attack!" on Sunday 13th May 2018 at 11:30am!
Pakdam Pakdai is a popular Indian animated series that follows the war between Doggy Don, a darling house-dog, and Charly, Marly & Larry – the mice-trio that has set up camp in his house.
Doggy Don is aided in his attempts to defeat the mice by his older brother Colonel, a ex-army dog who is smarter than Doggy Don, but not as smart as the three mice. Each seven-minute episode deals with the mischief that the mice create and the havoc that ensues when Doggy Don and Colonel try and fight them and win back their territory. Ranging from stealing Doggy Don’s doggy food to setting fire to his house and trying to steal his girlfriend. Pakdam Pakdai is a rollicking, edgy and hilarious comedy series.
Pakdam Pakdai is produced by Toonz Animation, distributed by Viacom18, and is known internationally as Rat-A-Tat.
Fans can find out more about Pakdam Pakdai, as well as watch exclusive videos and play aweslime games, online at sonicgang.com. Full episodes of Pakdam Pakdai are also available to watch on Voot.
In additional news:
-- Nick India has launched the "Golden Ticket to USA" competition, in which one lucky fan can win the chance to visit the USA, including a visit to Nickelodeon Universe in Minnesota!
-- Nickelodeon India will start to encore Power Rangers Ninja Steel, which premiered on Nickelodeon Sonic earlier this year, from Monday 14th May 2018. Nick will air two episodes daily from 9:00pm.
