Britney Spears became a pop legend at a very young age. Her sister, Jamie Lynn, had different ambitions. Perhaps seeing her sister struggle in the spotlight of mega-stardom had an influence on her career choices.
Jamie Lynn has always had a creative streak. She enjoyed making up characters and creating stories. These hobbies helped pave the way for her acting career, and her starring role on the Nickelodeon hit, Zoey 101.
In 1999, Britney Spears released her first album, Baby One More Time. She was 17 years old and the album quickly became the best-selling album in history by a teenage artist. Her sister, Jamie Lynn, was just a kid at the time. Jamie Lynn watched her older sister rapidly become a huge star, but she never had a strong desire to follow in her sister’s footsteps.
Jamie Lynn told Nylon she always had an interest in creating and bringing characters to life, and this interest is probably what led her to pursue acting. She began acting at nine years old and played a younger version of her sister in the film Crossroads. A few years later, she did meet with a music producer, but it still didn’t feel right. She recalled being asked to sing a song with the word ‘damn’ and felt that it was inappropriate for someone so young. The edgy pop star just wasn’t an image she wanted.
Jamie Lynn created her own character on ‘All That’
The Nickelodeon hit sketch comedy, All That, added Jamie Lynn to the cast when she was just 11 years old. At the time, she was the youngest cast member in the show’s history. She auditioned with the character Thelma Stump, which she created with Britney’s help. The idea came to her while on the road with her big sister. Thelma Stump was a combination of Britney’s burly bodyguard, Big Rob, and the girls’ grandmother.
Thelma Stump was a regular character on All That until Jamie Lynn left the show to start Zoey 101. She helped create the show, developing characters, settings, and plots. Jamie Lynn had strong feelings about the title character’s personality, and she brought Zoey to life in a way that was relatable to her teen audience.
Zoey 101 followed Zoey and her friends as they navigated their way through life as a teen at Pacific Coast Academy (PCA). The show was humorous, but mixed in storylines about common teen issues. It turned out to be a favorite among viewers, and was nominated for an Emmy in its first season.
The ‘Zoey 101’ cast recently reunited for an ‘All That’ sketch
The cast of Zoey 101 reunited for a special sketch on an episode of All That. The special was recorded late last year and aired earlier this summer on Nickelodeon. Jamie Lynn reprised her role as the bacon-loving, 101-year-old bodyguard Thelma Stump. Original fans of the series were excited to see the old cast back together, and new fans of All That enjoyed the sketch as well.
The sketch was a clear indicator that a reboot of Zoey 101 will likely be a success. The project had been talked about before, but the positive reception of the reunion on All That was just what producers needed to give it some momentum. Spears says she plans to be just as involved as she was as a teen, and the show will resume with Zoey as an adult. The actor and singer said it’s important to engage both old and new audiences, “We want to do it justice for the fans that were 10 and 12 when it first aired, while also bringing in the new generation of fans.”
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The iconic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will soon become playable characters in the hit mythological action video game SMITE, publisher Hi-Rez Studios and developer Titan Forge Games announced!
This epic crossover event will see Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo face their toughest challenge yet: SMITE’s Battleground of the Gods. Can the Heroes in a Half Shell stop evil gods of ancient myth like Hades, Jormungandr, Medusa, and Thanatos?
For this event, players will be able to gain access to four new skins for existing SMITE gods, each representing a different Ninja Turtle. There is also an alternate skin for each Turtle available through the prestige track. These cel-shaded skins are called Radical skins and more closely resemble their early animated appearances:
- Leonardo, Radical Leonardo (Osiris)
- Donatello, Radical Donatello (Sun Wukong)
- Raphael, Radical Raphael (Loki)
- Michelangelo, Radical Michelangelo (Mercury)
Each of the Ninja Turtles has a skin that can be used with a specific character. For Leonardo, players will have the abilities and powers of Osiris. Donatello is represented by Sun Wukong, another bo staff user, while Raphael is a skin for Loki. Finally, players wanting to play Michelangelo will use the powers of Mercury, using his skateboard to keep up with the God of Speed's insane movement capabilities. Reception to these choices are mixed, with some players questioning why Kuzenbo, the actual Japanese Turtle God, wasn't used as the base for at least one of the Ninja Turtles.
And, yes, you can also unlock a “cowabunga” emote.
In general, fans are very excited about this inclusion, though some are starting to notice a pattern. The last major cross over event held in SMITE was with Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, franchises also owned by Nickelodeon. This connection has prompted many to jokingly speculate that SMITE signed some sort of deal with Nickelodeon, and that more characters from that network might make their way into the game soon. Some popular requests in the video's comment section include SpongeBob and Drake and Josh (will Smite play on the GameSphere?), but fans are going wild with other predictions as well.
Though they aren't featured in the reveal video above, the Turtles' mentor Splinter and nemesis Shredder are also confirmed to be coming to the game, as SMITE shared images of the two characters on Twitter. Players are speculating that Shredder will be a Ravana skin while Splinter will be a Hachiman skin, but SMITE will reveal that information on Wednesday's TMNT update show at 3 PM ET.
SMITE’s unique blend of third-person action combat and Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) strategy has attracted more than 30 million players to the Battleground of the Gods. SMITE features an ever-growing roster of 100+ Gods and Goddesses from pantheons around the world and throughout history, and is free to play on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PC (via Steam and the Epic Games Store).
Hi-Rez went all in on the nostalgia on announcing the Turtley Awesome news, even including the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme song in the reveal trailer.
SMITE has a history of crossing over with some pretty bizarre franchises, having already done collaboration events with the likes of Avatar: The Last Airbender & The Legend of Korra, and RWBY, and even Bob Ross. Though these crossovers add a certain degree of silliness to the game, fans seem to love them and Hi-Rez is keeping them coming.
The TMNT Battle Pass will become available in November 2020.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Join Hit Video Game SMITE
10/12/2020
ATLANTA – Nickelodeon’s world-famous Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will soon become playable characters in the hit video game SMITE: Battleground of the Gods.
Revealed today through a cinematic trailer, this world-bending crossover event will see Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello face a challenge mightier than the Foot Clan: Gods from ancient mythology such as Thor, Poseidon, and Hercules. Will Turtle Power overcome divine power?
“Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a global, cross-generational classic and bringing them to SMITE is a thrill for us,” says Alex Cantatore, Hi-Rez Studios Brand Director of Live Games. “SMITE is all about blending diverse mythologies and fictional universes, in a way no other game can. You can play as Zeus, Bob Ross, or Cthulhu and you can fight King Arthur or Avatar Aang—and now we’re adding the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to the Battleground.”
All four iconic Turtles will be available as skins for existing SMITE gods in the all-new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Battle Pass.
Players will be able to wield the swords of the Turtles’ leader, Leonardo, with an all-new Osiris skin unlocked immediately upon purchasing the Battle Pass. Then, just by playing SMITE, purchasers will unlock Raphael Loki, Michelangelo Mercury, and Donatello Sun Wukong -- complete with the Turtles’ legendary gadgets.
“A few Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles superfans at the studio pushed these skins to be something well beyond what we traditionally think of as ‘skins,’” said Travis Brown, Executive Producer of SMITE. “We’ve created all-new models, rigging, animations, and effects to really bring the Turtles into the Battleground of the Gods. They may use the abilities of existing SMITE gods, but they’re essentially all-new characters.”
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Battle Pass is chock full of content for dedicated fans of the series, including a Mouser ward skin and a global emote for whenever you want to say “Cowabunga!” For the most hardcore of fans, bonus prestige skins in the Battle Pass feature a unique 80’s cartoon-inspired look for all four Turtles.
Players will also be able to become the Turtles’ master, Splinter, or their arch-rival Shredder through this crossover event. Splinter Hachiman and Shredder Ravana skins will be available as separate purchases.
SMITE’s unique blend of third-person action combat and Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) strategy has attracted more than 30 million players to the Battleground of the Gods. SMITE features an ever-growing roster of 100+ Gods and Goddesses from pantheons around the world and throughout history, and is free to play on PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.
This is the second time Hi-Rez Studios and Nickelodeon have collaborated, following the successful Avatar: The Last Airbender Battle Pass released in SMITE earlier this year.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Battle Pass will become available for purchase in SMITE next month. The full reveal of the crossover skins and more information about the Battle Pass will be broadcast live on twitch.tv/SMITEGame Oct. 14, at 3 p.m. EDT, during the SMITE Update Show.
SMITE is the online Battleground of the Gods, a mythology-themed action game for PC and consoles. Since launching in Europe and North America in March 2014, SMITE has quickly established itself as one of the Top 3 games in the rapidly growing MOBA genre, with over 30 million players. Themed around gods of mythology and offering a third-person camera and more game modes than any other leading game in its genre, the game provides a unique, action-packed experience that puts the player in the thick of the action. SMITE is free-to-play on PC through Steam and the Epic Games Store, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.
The largest of Hi-Rez’s in-house studios, with a player base in excess of 30 million, Titan Forge Games houses the team behind the BAFTA award-winning game SMITE. Delivering god-like, action-packed and accessible video game worlds, with mythological origins and modern themes. They are devoted to exploring and investing in the potential that the SMITE universe offers players, enabling a global audience to experience competition on an epic scale with a worldwide cast.
Based in Alpharetta, Georgia Hi-Rez is an industry leading video game publisher and developer at the forefront of the free-to-play, games-as-a-service industry. Hi-Rez’s games have been played by more than 80 million people worldwide, across Steam and Epic Games Store, Xbox One X®, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Nintendo Switch™, iOS and Android. With three games regularly among the Top 10 free-to-play games on Steam, Hi-Rez is one of the few Western developers to have successfully launched multiple, multi-platform games as a service titles to a large audience. Having won multiple awards and accolades for innovation and technology, Hi-Rez has also been recognised for its company culture, leadership and diversity as an employer.
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Tony Eastman, a mainstay of the East Coast animation scene, has passed away.
An industry artist since the 1970s, Eastman enjoyed a prolific career working in series and commercials. At various times, he was an animator, storyboard artist, and director. He was the director of the pilot for Nickelodeon’s Doug (pictured at top) and went on to become the supervising director of the show’s first season. Other series he worked on include KaBlam!, Eureeka's Castle, Saturday Night Live: The Best of Saturday TV Funhouse, Codename: Kids Next Door, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Daria, Beavis and Butt-Head, Sheep in the Big City, and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. He also served as a creative consultant on Disney's version of Doug following the company's acquisition of the intellectual property.
Like many New York animators, the better part of Eastman’s work was done in the advertising industry and he animated countless commercial spots at studios like The Ink Tank and J.J. Sedelmaier Productions.
Peter Anthony “Tony” Eastman was born in 1942 into an animation family. His father Phil “P.D.” Eastman was a story artist who worked at Disney and UPA before finding fame as a children’s author and illustrator. Tony’s mother Mary Lou Whitham was a color model supervisor at Disney, where she met Phil before the pair left during the strike of 1941.
As a child, Tony Eastman showed a precocious talent for drawing. In a blog post, the cartoonist Kim Deitch (son of animation filmmaker Gene Deitch, who worked with P.D. Eastman) recalls a 14-year-old Tony showing him hundreds of flipbooks he had drawn. “Really,” Deitch adds, “he had already outgrown flipbooks and had started doing animation on regulation animation paper.”
Home Savings Bank spot directed and designed by J.J. Sedelmaier and animated by Tony Eastman at J.J. Sedelmaier Productions.
In a comment on the same blog post, Eastman elaborated on his artistic development: “I wanted to shoot my flip books onto film … but instead, my dad suggested that I do new 12-field-size artwork to shoot (he probably figured it would lead me into thinking more long form about story, which it did). This led to the purchase of a 16 mm, 50-foot magazine load Bell & Howell camera.”
In a tribute to his late friend posted publicly on Facebook, J.J. Sedelmaier wrote: “He could work in ANY style of design and animation. People in the studio clamored to work on his stuff. He was FAST! He was thorough. He was a joy …”
Later in life, Eastman followed his father into children’s books. As “Peter Eastman,” he wrote and illustrated a trio of books featuring Fred and Ted, the canine stars of P.D. Eastman’s classic book Big Dog…Little Dog. He also contributed illustrations to the reissues of several of his father’s works.
Spots designed by Gary Baseman and animated by Tony Eastman at The Ink Tank.
This obituary will be updated with additional details as they become available.
These are tumultuous times we live in, and it can be difficult to find something to distract from what seems to be a constant influx of bad news. One thing that never fails to distract, however, is random celebrity beef.
TikTok user boatflygirl bravely sourced stories of drama between the rich and famous and us mere mortals.
"Does anybody have any like, wicked random celebrity beef?" she asked in a video, which has now been viewed nearly 1 million times — not counting the viral responses.
Thankfully, the internet delivered, and one of the respondents was actor Stephen Kramer Glickman, who Nickelodeon viewers will know as eccentric record producer Gustavo Rocque on Nickelodeon's hit musical comedy series, Big Time Rush.
The actor, who goes by stephenkglickman on TikTok recalled a hilarious tale from the 2011 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, complete with an impressive Miley Cyrus impression.
"This is a true story about Taylor Lautner, so suck on that," he said.
He explained that while backstage, Cyrus asked him to get her and her mom a whole bunch of cupcakes. He happily obliged.
When his hands were full of cupcakes, he ran into Lautner.
"These are for Miley," Glickman said.
"Sure they are," Lautner replied sassily, according to Glickman.
Oof.
TikTokker boatflygirl, who initiated the thread also revealed that her celebrity feud was with actor Bob Saget (Raising Dad, Full House, Fuller House).
Julia Garner has revealed that she once auditioned for a Nickelodeon show! However, it didn't quite go as planned.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor, who has gone two-for-two in the Emmy’s for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Ruth Langmore on Ozark, impressing many viewers with her portrayal of her popular character, reflected on a failed audition early in her career that led her to more meaningful work as an actor and explains why she aims to forget how she performed in each take of a scene she does.
Garner recalls her audition for a Nickelodeon program when she was a teenager that appeared to have gone poorly. She remembers, “The casting director stopped me in the middle. She was like, ‘Honey, you’re great, but you shouldn’t be here.’ I’ve never been stopped in the middle. I was like, ‘Excuse me?'”
In all actuality, the remark wasn’t meant to be offensive — it was supposed to be positive reinforcement. Garner continues, “[The casting director] is like, ‘You should do independent films.’ I was too natural maybe in terms of acting. I was just too weird-looking. When you think about teen actors, you think of them having this gorgeous, luscious hair and being so pretty that you’re like, ‘You would never be the shy girl in high school.’ I was definitely not [the luscious hair girl]. My style, it’s still the same. It’s been the same since I was 6 years old, which is a black turtleneck.”
The advice paid off — Garner appeared in films like Martha Marcy May Marlene, We Are What We Are, Grandma, and The Assistant while appearing in TV series like The Americans and Waco before being cast in Ozark. All that prestige work has given Garner the ability to lose herself in her performances, which is something that she strives for in each role. She shares, “I never like the feeling of remembering a scene, because that means that I wasn’t present. If you’re hearing yourself talk, you’re not listening. It’s the same thing when you’re acting. If I remember what I did on a take, I ask to do it again.”
