How to Stream 'The Envoys' for FREE on Paramount Plus

The truth always comes to light. The new series The Envoys is now streaming exclusively on Paramount+. Try it FREE at ParamountPlus.com!

Two officials of the Vatican, whose job it is to verify miracles attributed to saints, are sent to a town in Mexico to witness the supposed healings of a priest that mysteriously disappears in the middle of their investigation. Meanwhile, a psychiatric colony on the outskirts of the town seems to hide more than one secret related to the healer and his disappearance.

 

Miguel Angel Silvestre and Luis Gerardo Méndez star in the new Spanish-speaking series, now streaming exclusively on Paramount+. Try it FREE!

More Nick: Paramount Plus Introduces New Live Channels!

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Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya Named One of the Best All-Inclusive Resorts in Mexico, U.S. and the Caribbean for Family Travel in 2022

Nick News Brief: Family Vacationist has named the newly opened Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya in Mexico as one of the best all-inclusive resorts in Mexico, the United States and the Caribbean for family travel in 2022!

From ContraRéplica:

Nickelodeon Hotels y Margaritaville Island, entre los preferidos para unas vacaciones en familia

Tendencias lunes 24 de enero de 2022 -

Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya y Margaritaville Island Reserve Riviera Cancún fueron seleccionados entre los mejores resorts todo incluido de México, Estados Unidos y el Caribe para viajar en familia en este 2022. 

El sitio de viajes Family Vacationist ubicó al hotel de Bob Esponja en la lista de los 10 mejores resorts y destinos más seguros para viajar con niños en este año y entre los 11 mejores todo incluido para familias en México, reconocimiento que compartió con Margaritaville Island Reserve Riviera Cancún. 

El sitio de viajes mencionó que en este 2022 se podrían alcanzar los niveles de viajes previos a la pandemia, especialmente en lugares de vacaciones familiares donde se disfruta de distanciamiento social y actividades al aire libre. 

“Los viajes se están recuperando a lo grande en Estados Unidos. Los niños de 5 años en adelante ahora son elegibles para ser vacunados, lo que alivia la ansiedad de los padres y después de muchos meses de confinamiento hay un gran deseo de salir y ver el mundo”, comentó. 

La publicación digital destacó que Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya es el resort de playa todo incluido de ensueño para todos los pequeños. Un complejo frente al mar que tiene su propia playa privada, entretenimiento interactivo con personajes del universo Nickelodeon.

“Con protocolos de limpieza mejorados y las medidas de distanciamiento social dan la confianza de que la salud y la seguridad se toman en serio”, señaló la publicación. 

En cuanto al Margaritaville Island Reserve Riviera Cancún, Family Vacationist resaltó que combina todas las comodidades de un resort todo incluido de clase mundial con el famoso ambiente relajado de Margaritaville y cuenta entre sus atractivos el Parakeets Kid's Club, con increíbles actividades para niños de entre cuatro a 12 años de edad, que incluyen clases de cocina, experimentos de laboratorio locos, fabricación de piñatas, baile, fiestas de pijamas y noches de cine. 

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From Caribe Empresarial:

Finalmente, Karisma Hotels & Resorts puntualizó que para garantizar la bioseguridad y el bienestar de sus huéspedes creó un programa integral llamado Karisma Peace of Mind que incluye estrictos protocolos de salud e higiene entre su personal e instalaciones. 

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More Nick: Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Riviera Maya Now Open for the Ultimate Family Vacation!

Originally published: January 26, 2022.

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Nick News | COVID-19 Boosters For Teens | Nickelodeon

Have questions about the COVID-19 booster shots for teens? Nick News breaks it down!

Have questions about booster shots? #NickNews breaks it down pic.twitter.com/2alsBfvUTK

— Nickelodeon (@Nickelodeon) January 8, 2022

For more information and resources, visit NickHelps.com.

From The Atlantic:

How Sesame Street Is Handling the Pandemic

Kids’ media have achieved a level of clarity and directness in their pandemic coverage that can be hard to find in outlets geared toward older audiences.

When the CDC recommended COVID-19 vaccines for 5-to-11-year-olds in early November, adult publications rushed to explain what the move meant for families, schools, and the pandemic at large. While most of the media competed for grown-up attention, a different network of sources targeted the group most affected by the news—but first, it had to explain what a vaccine is.

The children’s-news landscape is a strange one, melding education and entertainment to explain complex, adult topics to developing minds with short attention spans. Many outlets are connected with adult publications, such as The New York Times and Time, but certain children’s shows, such as Sesame Street, have also forayed into the news business. And while some have been around for years, others, including NBC’s Nightly News: Kids Edition and a rebooted Nick News, have popped up more recently, aiming to help young ones navigate this particularly stressful news moment.

Indeed, it’s hard to imagine a more difficult time to explain the news to kids. Communicating about the pandemic with adults is challenging enough—many sources face (often reasonable) criticism for offering confusing guidance, instilling fear, and deepening a partisan divide. Those targeting kids must avoid all of those traps while also catering to the ways young brains process information. For one, we gain the ability to think abstractly as we age; in our childhood, we need concrete explanations, Abigail Gewirtz, a psychology professor at Arizona State University, told me. Children may get scared more easily, so kids’ news outlets tend to try not to induce too much fear, Gewirtz said. Editors also need to consider kids’ reading level (if they can read at all) and the depth of their knowledge of a topic (likely, not much). On top of all this, producers still must grab their audience’s attention, just like they would an adult’s, by keeping coverage focused on what children are actually interested in and being careful to not alienate them by talking down.

Despite these hurdles, or perhaps because of them, ​​kids’ media have achieved a level of clarity and directness in their pandemic coverage that can be hard to find in outlets geared toward older audiences. Articles are straightforward because they have to be; it’s the only way kids will understand them. They’re also heavy on context, making few assumptions about what the audience already knows. And though they’re mostly neutral in their tone, many will also acknowledge children’s feelings and soothe them where they can.

When I asked editors and producers about their goals for coverage, they all pointed to knowledge and a sense of comfort for kids. Those at Nick News and Time for Kids told me that their aim was to share information, not to convince. Many of the experts interviewed certainly encouraged vaccination, but those editors were keenly aware that the audience being addressed had little real agency to affect the course of the pandemic or to change vaccination rates. “We neither wanted to scare children who weren’t going to have [the vaccine], nor did we want to encourage children to say that they needed to have it. That’s just not our place,” Time for Kids’ editor in chief, Andrea Delbanco, told me.

Instead, Delbanco and many of the others I interviewed aimed to provide kids with a reliable source of information that they could learn from directly. Many efforts to educate children on the vaccine have shared the same basic format—soliciting questions from children and getting answers from experts, including acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky. Stories and segments often start with the basics about what vaccines do and later address practical behavior considerations: “My mask makes me hot. Do I still have to wear one?” one child asked Murthy on Nick News. “Will it hurt?” another asked of the vaccine on a Sesame Street special that aired on CNN. The uniformity may seem surprising, but those I spoke with told me that the approach felt obvious. “It just was a no-brainer to have kids ask the questions, not for adults to formulate it: ‘Well, what little Timmy meant to say was …’” Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson, the executive producer of Nick News and the vice president of news planning for Nickelodeon, told me. “It was more like, ‘Look, I’ve got my birthday in July, and I want to have a party. Can I?’ So that’s about as direct as it will get from a child.”

This level of bluntness is both necessary for children’s understanding and one of the most refreshing parts of kids’ media. “Asking people to presuppose that you have no context or background knowledge to build upon gets a really different answer than one often gets when people are trying to spin an answer for adults,” Delbanco explained. “You really get right to the heart of certain things.” And this approach doesn’t preclude complexity, either. Although the interviews tend to start with quite simple questions (one kid reporter at Time for Kids asked Murthy to explain the difference between himself and Anthony Fauci), they build to surprising levels of nuance. Time for Kids tackled the difference between the FDA’s and the CDC’s role in vaccine approval, for instance, while CNN and Sesame Street addressed the safety of having playdates with unvaccinated friends. “The difference is the level at which [the experts are] speaking, not the information they’re conveying,” Delbanco said.

Communicating at the appropriate level can be as simple as working an analogy into an explanation, Sandra Calvert, the director of the Children’s Digital Media Center at Georgetown University, told me. For example, in the Sesame Street–and–CNN special, when explaining why the vaccine needed to be administered in two doses, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta, pulled out an umbrella. He held it over his head only partially opened to demonstrate the protection that the first shot provided, then fully unfurled it to represent the much greater immunity conferred after dose two.

While the communication style may be different, kids’ media outlets share similar concerns as those reporting for adults. Laguerre-Wilkinson said that she relied on the same news judgment she used when working as a journalist for older audiences. She focuses on hitting major news moments and fact-checking misconceptions—because it’s not like young children can properly vet their sources. But she also considers children’s specific news needs, which can be different from what’s best for adults. For example, both Laguerre-Wilkinson and Delbanco told me that they worried about oversaturating kids with pandemic stories and re-creating the adult phenomenon of news fatigue in this younger age bracket. Laguerre-Wilkinson hoped that the short length of the programs she produced—most are about 60 seconds and air during commercial breaks between shows—would fight against this danger. Delbanco told me she has held her team back from writing too much about the pandemic. For example, though they did cover major adult-vaccine approvals, they steered clear of debates about vaccine mandates for adults.

Having a light touch can help with another major concern in kids’ news: scaring the audience. The psychologists I spoke with emphasized both that children might become afraid more easily than adults and that fear is not conducive to learning. Calvert described an ideal manner of communication that was “factual without being overly emotional, without being scary”—an attitude that matched the calm and mild-mannered smiles of the experts on the kids’ programs I watched. “COVID has just really freaked the hell out of a lot of people and killed a lot of people. But these are not terms that we ever use when talking about this,” Laguerre-Wilkinson told me. She described poring over each Nick News Break with a group of colleagues to identify moments with the potential to drive fear. “This word here is just a no-no; maybe we can tame this down a little bit,” they would say. Similarly, when Sesame Street covered the Muppets’ worries about the pandemic, the adults often avoided using specific emotion words such as fear, simply referring to “big feelings.” Hearing that figures such as Big Bird are getting their shots could provide a sense of comfort, Calvert said. Children can have parasocial relationships with fictional characters, and Big Bird is a role model for many of them. “If Big Bird does it, it will be okay; I will be okay,” the thinking can go, she told me.

Indeed, many children are scared of needles and don’t like getting shots—but going in with an understanding of the science and the purpose of vaccines can make the process easier, parents told me. Camille Mackler, the executive director of the Immigrant Advocates Response Collaborative, based in New York, shared that her daughter, who has a deep phobia of needles, took comfort in a song about vaccination in an old Sid the Science Kid episode about getting the flu shot. “It might hurt a little bit / just a little bit / but it’s gonna help a whole lot,” her daughter sang as they drove to the clinic and waited in line. “It was something to tell herself and say and focus on, but it also put into context why we were doing this,” Mackler told me. Phil McGonigle, a start-up account executive who lives in Long Island, had a similar experience with his 6-year-old son. The Sesame Street–and–CNN town hall declared that kids who got vaccinated were rather like superheroes for their kindness in helping those around them, and his son held on to that reassurance. When he went to get his shots, he wore a Captain America cape, which helped him feel more confident as he faced a reality that can feel scary for us all.

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More Nick: TIME and Nickelodeon Announce Second Annual Kid of the Year!

Originally published: January 09, 2022.

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January 2022 on Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. in Latin America and Brazil

Below are Nickelodeon's January 2022 programming highlights for Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. channels in Latin America (Latinoamérica) and Brazil (Brasil), courtesy of El Bazar del Espectáculo. Article en Español:

Programación Nickelodeon y Nick Jr Enero 2022: Estrenos destacados

Bienvenidos a la metrópolis de la diversión...

NICK PARADE!

GRANDES ESTRENOS EN

NICKELODEON Y NICK JR. LATINOAMÉRICA

Únete a Bob, Patricio, Pony, Annie, Dorg, Lincoln, Annie, Clyde, Ronnie Ann, Parker, Angus y más para las mayores celebraciones del ¡Nick, Nick, Nick, NICK PARADE! con montones de nuevos episodios de Los Casagrande, The Loud House, LEGO City Adventures; nuevos programas como Drama Club, una comedia al estilo de un falso documental sobre el funcionamiento interno de un club de teatro de la escuela secundaria; Middlemost Post, Parker y Angus viajarán por el Monte Middlemost para entregar el correo, mientras conocen a algunas personas excepcionalmente extravagantes y peculiares en el camino. ¿Están listos, chicos?

Bob Esponja será el anfitrión de la edición interactiva de NickMaster Marina. Además, en enero FRIDAY NIGHT DESTINATION con nuevos episodios de Side Hustle, Young Dylan & Drama Club, especiales como Nick Parade, Loud House y Casagrandes Vacation, Bikini Bottom Take Over, Thunder-Noon's y para los más pequeños en Nick Jr. nuevos episodios de Paw Patrol, incluyendo el especial Paw Patroller 2.0, Garden Academy,  Santiago de los Mares y Bubble Guppies.

DRAMA CLUB

Gran Estreno

Viernes, 7 de enero (un episodio nuevo cada viernes) a las 7 pm Colombia / 8 pm Venezuela / 9 pm México y Chile / 9:30 pm Brasil / 12 pm Argentina

Sigue a un grupo de estudiantes de secundaria mientras se pone al descubierto el funcionamiento interno del olvidado Drama Club de su escuela.

MIDDLEMOST AVENTURA POSTAL

Gran Estreno

Lunes, 10 de enero (de lunes a viernes) a las 4 pm México y Brasil / 8 pm Colombia / 9 pm Argentina, Venezuela y Chile

Cuando una nube de lluvia reformada se une a un cartero náufrago y a una morsa mágica, los tres forman el Middlemost Post, el servicio postal más disparatado y adorable del Monte Middlemost.

LOS CASAGRANDE Y THE LOUD HOUSE

Nuevos Episodios

Lunes, 17 de enero (de lunes a viernes) a las 3 pm Colombia / 5 pm Chile /6 pm Venezuela / 7 pm México y Brasil  / 7:30 pm Argentina

Toda la semana con Lincoln y Ronnie Anne con estrenos consecutivos.

SIDE HUSTLE

Temporada 2

Friday Night Destination con Nuevos Episodios

Viernes, 7 de diciembre (un episodio nuevo cada viernes) a las 6 pm Colombia / 7 pm Venezuela / 8 pm Chile /  8:30 pm Brasil / 11 pm Argentina

Esta nueva temporada es todo sobre los movimientos y la actitud; únete a las mejores amigas, Lex, y Presley, para conseguir el trabajo de sus vidas.

TYLER PERRY'S YOUNG DYLAN

Temporada 2

Friday Night Destination con Nuevos Episodios

Viernes, 7 de diciembre (un episodio nuevo cada viernes) a las 6:30 pm Colombia / 7:30 pm Venezuela / 8:30 pm Chile / 9 pm Brasil / 11:30 pm Argentina

Dylan vuelve a Chicago con su madre cuando un cambio de planes le hace cuestionar su relación y hace que la familia Wilson le ayude a superar esta última crisis.

NICK SNACK

Especial

Viernes, 21 de enero a las 7:30 pm Colombia / 8:30 pm Argentina y Venezuela / 8:30 pm Argentina / 9:30 pm Chile / 10 pm México

En enero un nuevo episodio del programa Nick Night conducido por Luis de la Rosa presentando a Manuel Turizo.

NICK PARADE

Especial

De lunes a viernes, durante todo el mes a las 4:30 pm México y Brasil / 5 pm Colombia y Argentina / 6 pm Venezuela / 7 pm Chile

Bienvenidos a la metrópolis de la diversión... ¡NICK PARADE! Únete a Bob, Patricio, Pony, Dorg, Lincoln, Annie, Clyde, Ronnie Ann, Parker, Angus y más para las mayores celebraciones en el ¡Nick, Nick, Nick, NICK PARADE!

NICKELODEON MASTER GAME "EDICION MARINA"

Juego Interactivo

De lunes a viernes a las 3 pm México y Brasil / 4 pm Colombia / 5 pm Venezuela / 6 pm Argentina y Chile

En enero, Nick Master, el juego interactivo que invita a los niños a jugar en casa respondiendo a las preguntas, vuelve de lunes a viernes en "Edición Marina". Así que prepárate para saber todo sobre Fondo de Bikini.

ESPECIALES SECRETOS "GOLDEN EGGS"

Cortos

A partir de enero (en todas las emisiones) durante el Show de Patricio Estrella y Kamp Koral

Continúan las intervenciones gráficas sorpresa que develan un premio especial para la audiencia durante la programación.

NICK JR.

GARDEN ACADEMY

Nuevos Episodios Temporada 3

Viernes, 7 de enero (un episodio nuevo cada viernes) a las 2 pm México / 3 pm Colombia

Margarita, Col, Rose y Monti vuelven a las clases de Garden Academy. Juntos, seguirán aprendiendo a cocinar, cantar, bailar, pintar y compartir un montón de nuevas experiencias.

PAW PATROL TEMPORADA 8 Y EL ESPECIAL PAW PATROLLER 2.0

Nuvos Episodios y Especial

Lunes, 10 de enero (de lunes a viernes) a las 12 pm México / 1 pm Colombia / 3:30 pm Brasil

Prepárate para brillar en nuevas aventuras legendarias y aprende a hacer grandes rescates con el nuevo y gran PAW Patroller!

SANTIAGO DE LOS MARES

Nuevos Episodios

Sábado, 15 de enero (un episodio nuevo cada semana) a las 9 am México / 10 am Colombia / 2:30 pm Brasil

Repeticiones los domingos 2 pm México / 7:30 am Brasil

Santiago Montes, un pirata valiente, de buen corazón, y su tripulación se embarcarán en nuevos rescates, descubrirán tesoros ocultos y mantendrán a salvo la alta mar del Caribe.

GRAN SEMANA DE BABY SHARK CON LOS NUEVOS EPISODIOS DE BUBBLE GUPPIES

Lunes, 17 de enero (de lunes aviernes) a las 9:30 am y 5:00 pm México / 10:30 am y 6 pm Colombia / 10:30 pm Brasil

Este mes de enero es la gran semana de Baby Shark, toda una semana de aventuras y vídeos musicales con Baby Shark y nuevos episodios de Bubble Guppies.

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Nickelodeon UK Premieres 'Overlord and the Underwoods'

OVERLORD AND THE UNDERWOODS ENTERS THE ATMOSPHERE WITH NEW LIVE-ACTION SERIES, PREMIERING OCTOBER 4 ON NICKELODEON UK

Get set for an intergalactic family reunion! Nickelodeon UK & Ireland will premiere Overlord and the Underwoods, a brand new live-action comedy series, on Monday 4th October 2021 at 5:30pm! Following launch, viewers can tune in for more out-of-this-world comedy Mondays to Thursdays at 5:30pm.

Overlord and the Underwoods is a original half-hour, live-action, single camera family comedy series (20×30') that follows the Underwoods, a North American family, whose life is turned upside down when their distant cousin, Overlord, the second most-wanted villain in the universe, seeks refuge in their home after being forced into intergalactic witness protection. After snitching out his boss, the evil Mega-Lord Supreme, Overlord is sent to live with his incredibly nice, distant cousins on Planet Earth. Over the course of the series, the evil Overlord and the very sweet Underwoods discover a thing or two about each other as they learn to treasure the value of family and the importance of true friendship, diversity, and compassion.

The new sitcom stars Ari Resnick (Ranger Rob), Troy Feldman (Reign), Patrice Goodman (The Umbrella Academy), Darryl Hinds (Designated Survivor) as Jim Underwood, and Kamaia Fairburn (Holly Hobbie).

“marblemedia is known for creating unrivaled family entertainment that showcase dynamic, diverse, and universal characters and storylines. We are very excited to add Overlord and the Underwoods™ to our robust programming roster,” shares Mark Bishop, Executive Producer and Co-CEO of marblemedia. “We are thrilled to create this original, hilarious comedy series with such incredible talent both in-front and behind the camera led by Anthony Q. Farrell and the Cloudco team along with all of our partners. We can’t wait to share this series with audiences around the world later this year.”

Created by BAFTA-winning showrunner, Anthony Q. Farrell (NBC’s The Office, CBBC’s Secret Life of Boys, CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie, upcoming marble and BYUtv series The Parker Andersons/ Amelia Parker) and Ryan Wiesbrock, creator of the Netflix Original Series Buddy Thunderstruck and the live-action adaptation of the Hulu Original series Holly Hobbie for Hulu and Canada’s Family Channel. The series features top talent and production took place in Toronto, Canada. Announced in March 2021, season one wrapped in August 2021.

Online at nick.co.uk, fans can find out more about their favourite Nick shows, watch videos and play games. Fans can also like the official Nickelodeon UK Facebook page, follow Nickelodeon on Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to the official Nickelodeon UK YouTube channel for the latest Nick news, highlights, The Scoop about their favourite stars, and videos.

“I am chomping at the bit to start shooting this incredibly fun family series. I have had a blast putting these rich characters into hilarious situations with the other writers in the room. Big thanks to my co-creator, Ryan Wiesbrock, his team at Cloudco and of course my marblemedia fam for having me along for the ride,” said Anthony Q. Farrell, Co-Creator and Showrunner.

Photo: Instagram /@boostrocket.

“Anthony, our Cloudco team, the marblemedia team, and all other partners have brought great energy and enthusiasm to this series. Everyone involved with the project is aligned on how fun it is to see a ‘bad guy’ and a good family, rub off on each other in a positive way,” said Ryan Wiesbrock, Co-Creator and Executive Producer for Cloudco Entertainment.

Farrell compiled an exceptional creative writing team for the show including Kate Hewlett, Ryan Belleville, Jay Vaidya, Amanda Joy, Angelica Mendizabal, Caleigh Bacchus, Simon Owens, Sadiya Durrani and Richard Young.

Academy-Award winning FX expert, Roger Christian (Alien, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and Episode IV A New Hope) boards the series as Character Designer. Christian was responsible for creating the props and sets for Star Wars, including the infamous lightsaber. His designs for this show will be brought to life by MastersFX and include Overlord’s helmet and costume and his animatronic, robot sidekick. The team at MastersFX is the character effects company behind hit shows The Handmaid’s Tale and The Umbrella Academy, and they will bring Christian’s designs to life in Overlord and the Underwoods.

Production credits for the series include: Executive Producers Mark J.W. Bishop, Matt Hornburg, Carrie Paupst Shaughnessy, Ryan Wiesbrock, Sean Gorman and Ian Lambur; Supervising Producer Donna Luke; Series Producer Jim Corston; SVP Rights and Executive Producer, Diane Rankin; and Showrunner Anthony Q. Farrell. For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Entertainment, Factual & Sports, Trish Williams is Executive Director, Scripted Content, Sandra Picheca is Director of Current Production, Comedy, and Greig Dymond is Executive In Charge of Production. Michael A. Dunn and Andra Johnson Duke are Executive Producers and Jim Bell is Supervising Producer for BYUtv.

The series is produced by award-winning production company, marblemedia, in association with Cloudco Entertainment, a world-class entertainment studio, in association with CBC, BYUtv, Nickelodeon International with ITV/CITV, and with the financial participation of the Shaw Rocket Fund. The series was developed through funding from the Bell Fund Slate Development Program. Cloudco Entertainment and Distribution360, a marblemedia company, hold worldwide distribution rights for the series.

More Nick: Nickelodeon UK Brings Slime Music and Mayhem Back to Blackpool with SLIMEFEST 2021!

About marblemedia

marblemedia is a leading global entertainment company that develops, produces and distributes compelling TV and interactive digital content for audiences of all ages, across all media platforms.

A trailblazer known for creating entertainment for the whole family through an informative, entertaining and optimistic lens, the company stands on their merits for showcasing diverse and inclusive storytelling with unique points of view. Recent hits as the award-winning competition Netflix Original series Blown Away, critically-acclaimed travelogue Netflix Original series Restaurants on the Edge; YesTV, Family Channel and BYUtv’s award-winning family gameshow Just Like Mom and Dad; interconnected scripted family comedy series The Parker Andersons and Amelia Parker; and the high-octane competition series All-Round Champion based on the International Emmy® Kids Award-winning format.

Founded in 2001 by co-CEOs Mark Bishop and Matt Hornburg with a vision of creativity, partnership and innovation, the company has offices in Toronto, London and L.A., with a 50-acre production facility located 90 minutes north of Toronto. Learn more at marblemedia.com.

Find us online:

Instagram: @marblemediaofficial

Facebook: @marblemedia

Twitter: @marblemedia

About Cloudco Entertainment

Cloudco Entertainment, formerly American Greetings Entertainment, is the owner for iconic entertainment brands such as Care Bears™, Holly Hobbie™, Madballs™, Packages from Planet X™, Twisted Whiskers™, Buddy Thunderstruck™, Tinpo™ and its newest IP, Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese™. Cloudco Entertainment develops multi-platform entertainment franchises across all media channels and extensive consumer merchandising programs that immerse children and adults in brands they love.

About Nickelodeon

The home of SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, PAW Patrol and Nella the Princess Knight, Nickelodeon UK & Ireland Network is available in over 13 million cable and satellite homes and now reaches more than 10 million viewers a month. Launched in 1993, the top-performing Nickelodeon network comprises seven dedicated entertainment channels for kids aged 4-15 and their families: Nickelodeon, Nickelodeon HD, Nickelodeon +1, Nicktoons, Nick Jr., Nick Jr. +1 and Nick Jr. Too. The entertainment company has built a diverse multi-platform business by putting kids first in everything it does – Kids Rule! Content is at the core of the business with critically-acclaimed and hugely-popular television programming from the UK and around the world. In addition to the quality television programmes, Nickelodeon also produces bespoke content available online, as well as consumer product and recreation opportunities such as the UK’s first-ever Nick theme park, Nickelodeon Land and the slimiest music festival for kids, SLIMEFEST UK.

From Montreal Times:

New family sitcom Overlord and the Underwoods now on CBC Gem

Overlord and the Underwoods – People like those “fish-out-of-water” stories where two of the most unusual pairings you can think of – usually a creature or alien – ends up living with a typical suburban nuclear family. The end results are always unpredictable with the collision of these two worlds under one roof, but somehow there’s always something reaffirming – and entertaining –that happens which changes the lives of both parties. 

And under that theme, the first things that comes to mind are Alf, Harry and the Hendersons and E.T.

Overlord and the Underwoods – People like those “fish-out-of-water” stories where two of the most unusual pairings you can think of – usually a creature or alien – ends up living with a typical suburban nuclear family. The end results are always unpredictable with the collision of these two worlds under one roof, but somehow there’s always something reaffirming – and entertaining –that happens which changes the lives of both parties. 

And under that theme, the first things that comes to mind are Alf, Harry and the Hendersons and E.T.

Now there is a new TV comedy series to add to the “fish-out-of-water” category: “Overlord and the Underwoods”, created by marblemedia and Cloudco Entertainment, in which its first 10 episodes can now be seen on the CBC Gem streamlining service; the remaining episodes will air in the winter of 2022.

Co-created by Anthony Q. Farrell (The Office) and Ryan Wiesbrock (Buddy Thunderstruck), Overlord and the Underwoods follows the weekly misadventures of the Underwoods, a typical suburban North American family, who receive a totally unexpected house guest who is literally out of this world: a distant cousin named Overlord, an intergalactic villain who decides to seek refuge with the Underwood family after he snitches on his boss, the very evil Colossatrotus.

“This is like Darth Vader under the witness protection program, but is balanced with the premise of a family comedy. It’s like a fun spinoff on the classic battle of good versus evil, but we decided to make the Underwoods just as interesting as the Overlord,” said Farrell during a recent phone interview.

Farrell stated that the idea for the series evolved from an impromptu competition he had with Wiesbrock over who can create a different kind of family series. “We wanted to hearken back to the series we watched when we were younger, and we decided that a super villain living with a normal family would be a cool element. So we noodled around with the idea and we got a promise of show for the series in early 2017,” he said.

One thing Farrell noticed about the character of the Overlord is the way he reacts to different situations, as a sort of “king of over reaction”. “The Overlord is a character who is insecure and reacts with outbursts to a number of ridiculous situations,” he said. “He likes to over react to the smaller things in life, which lends to his overall pomposity, and makes it funnier that he can’t handle those little things.”

Another outstanding feature of the Overlord is his stand-out blue costume, which was designed by Oscar-winning FX specialist Roger Christian, who is best known for creating the costumes of such legendary Star Wars characters as C-3P0 and R2-D2, as well as the omnipresent light sabre.

“When I was told that Roger was interested in working on the show, my first reaction was ‘are you serious?’,” he said. “I was always a Star Wars nerd. And I was amazed at the work Roger put into the Overlord’s costume. He was always production-minded, not to mention a very kind and generous person to boot. Overall, Roger was a dream to work with.”

Overlord and the Underwoods also boast an impressive cast, including Jan Arden as the voice of RO-FL (the Overlord’s droid companion), and veteran comedian/actor Jayne Eastwood, as the Underwoods’ quirky neighbor. “Jayne does add a quirky element to the show, but her character gets more meatier during the second half of the season, especially one episode where she hosts a dinner party,” said Farrell. “As we progressed further with the filming of the episodes, I got to know much more about Jayne and why she is such a legend in the world of Canadian film and television. We had a great time working with her.”

Before Overlord and the Underwoods debuted on CBC Gem, it premiered on the Nickelodeon UK channel this past September, where it was met with a great deal of success. And Farrell admits that the show is getting just as much positive feedback since it first aired on CBC Gem. He adds that it’s due to the antics and hilarity that greet Overlord and the Underwood family on each episode, which are enjoyed by both children and adult viewers alike.

“This is a show that families can watch and laugh together. Everyone gets something out of it,” he said. “It’s fun, silly and gives us a lot of reasons to laugh, which can help us forget our problems for 30 minutes per episode.”

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From The Record:

After getting his start on ‘The Office’ Toronto showrunner Anthony Q. Farrell is creating opportunities for others

Farrell, named Playback’s Showrunner of the Year, wants to see “more writers of colour who are in positions of power” in the TV industry.

Anthony Q. Farrell looks forward to the day that it’s so routine for people of colour to occupy senior levels of television production that their presence goes unremarked.

But we’re not there yet, which is why, on the day that a snowstorm ravaged Ontario, we were on Zoom from our respective GTA homes talking about his career as a TV writer and producer — he was recently named Showrunner of the Year by Playback magazine — and what he hopes to do for the careers of others.

If you’ve heard Farrell’s name, there’s a good chance it’s in connection with “The Office.” The Toronto-born Farrell, the son of immigrants from St. Kitts and Nevis, wrote for the beloved, multiple Emmy-winning American comedy for two years.

He got his start in showbiz through theatre: he studied theatre and math at Queen’s University with the idea of becoming a math and drama teacher (his parents are accountants) but also attended the Humber Comedy Program and performed theatre in places like Vermont and Gananoque, Ont.

He ended up in the U.S. after his wife, author Ginette Barton-Sinkia, inherited a green card and had to move to the States to keep it. They went first to Atlanta and then Los Angeles, where Farrell, 44, did standup, performed improv with the storied Groundlings troupe, and wrote, directed and acted for a company called MET Theatre.

A friend’s suggestion that he write for TV led to him getting a manager and acceptance into a diversity program at NBC, which led to the “Office” gig.

Unfortunately, after working on almost 50 episodes of the show, he was let go along with many other writers after the 2008 recession hit. “But the nice thing is I have the credit now, which has helped me all the way throughout my career,” he said.

“Then I got into family comedy somehow,” he added. “Disney came calling. They read a script that I had written about pimps.”

Yes, that’s right, pimps — as in a pimp who learns he has a child and decides to get rid of all his bling to save money for his kid. That show never got made, but its story and characters were strong enough for Disney to start developing ideas with Farrell, which led to Nickelodeon hiring him to write for “The Thundermans.” He then made “Secret Life of Boys” for the BBC, which has won a BAFTA and several other awards in the U.K.

But in 2017, Farrell and his wife, also a Torontonian, decided it was time to come home. Their son was three at the time and their daughter 10, “and raising your kids in America is a different situation,” Farrell said. “I remember (my son) came home with a picture of firemen and police, and we had to have a conversation about why he couldn’t trust the police officers.”

The kids have been thriving here and so has Farrell’s career.

Among his various projects — he’s showrunner for the Super Channel sitcom “The Parker Andersons,” directed a couple of episodes of CBC’s new hit “Son of a Critch,” and is developing shows with American and British companies — is the CBC Gem comedy “Overlord and the Underwoods.” (It also airs on Nickelodeon in the U.K., Australia and New Zealand, and BYUtv in the U.S., with more broadcasters to be announced.)

The idea for the comedy — about an alien fugitive in intergalactic witness protection who hides out on Earth with his distant cousin and her family — was hatched about a decade ago by Ryan Wiesbrock, head of development at American company Cloudco Entertainment. Farrell was brought on by Cloudco and Toronto’s marblemedia as showrunner and co-creator. It made its CBC debut in October and 10 more episodes were released Friday.

The fact that the Underwoods are a Black family is a point of pride for Farrell but also a result of serendipity, since the scripts weren’t written with ethnicity in mind.

“I said, ‘Let’s just keep it open. We’ll cast the best family.’”

That turned out to be Patrice Goodman, known for TV sketch comedy “Sunnyside,” as mom Flower and Second City comedian Darryl Hinds as dad Jim, with Ari Resnick and Kamaia Fairburn as son Weaver and daughter Willow. Their arrogant house guest Overlord is played by Troy Feldman, an actor, dancer, choreographer and stuntman who aced the requirement to do all his scenes in a hot costume and helmet since he’d performed as a Toronto Blue Jays mascot.

“Overlord” also has a creative team and crew that reflects the “very eclectic, very diverse” city of Toronto, Farrell said.

One of his aims is to encourage Black, Indigenous and people of colour to get involved at all levels of production.

When he returned to Canada, he found “there were a lot of BIPOC writers, but they weren’t in (writers) rooms … I think there was a better job being done on the drama side of things to incorporate diversity in the writing rooms, but the comedy rooms were still very white.”

It was especially hard to find BIPOC writers to serve as co-executive producers on “Overlord.”

“I was like, I think that’s one of the things I need to start building, is trying to figure out ways to get writers of colour to become producers.”

To that end, he has started a showrunner training boot camp with the industry group BIPOC TV & Film.

The most recent report on equity, diversity and inclusion from the Writers Guild of Canada found some gains — such as modest increases in co-executive producer and consulting producer credits for writers from under-represented communities — but also losses, with a drop in the percentage of Indigenous writers working on Canadian TV.

“Historically speaking, if you have a female showrunner she’ll hire more female writers and that’s how you get more women working. If you have a BIPOC showrunner they’re going to hire more BIPOC writers and that’s how you get more BIPOC writers,” Farrell said. “So I’m mentoring (other writers), but I’m hopefully mentoring mentors … more writers of colour who are in positions of power (who) can make the change quicker.

“Those numbers, they have to start growing soon and, hopefully, over the next four or five years that’ll get sorted. That’s my hope.”

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Originally published: September 20, 2021.

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