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[via press release]

Cartoon Network Gives LowBrow the Gas
Action-Comedy Series Gets Greenlight for December 2003 Debut

Cartoon Network announced today that it is giving the greenlight to LowBrow, an animated action-comedy that combines the world of souped-up hotrods with giant fighting robots from the future.  The series, created by George Krstic and Jody Schaeffer, will debut in December 2003 and is being produced at Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank, CA.

Coop is a 20-something slacker who enjoys the finer things in life: video games, watching professional wrestling and customizing his car.  One day while searching through the local dump, he stumbles upon an 80-foot-tall mega-powerful fighting robot.  Naturally, he decides to “improve” this sophisticated piece of machinery by turning it into the ultimate cruising vehicle, using his muscle car as the robot’s head.

The huge robot, technically called M.E.G.A.S. (Mecha Earth Guard Attack System), actually got there through a time-traveling accident.  Far in the future, mankind has been all but eliminated by a creepy race of reptilian aliens called the Glorft.  A brilliant robotics engineer named Kiva sends MEGAS back to the past in the hopes that it can retroactively affect the Earth’s defense against the Glorft.  Unfortunately something happens during the trip and MEGAS ends up sitting in a landfill in New Jersey for 70 years until Coop finds it and starts to modify it.

Kiva finds Coop and his wisecracking pal Jamie cruising the suburbs, using MEGAS as the ultimate tricked-out hot-rod.  With all the modifications Coop has made, Kiva can no longer even operate her invention.  That means that Coop is Earth’s only hope.  Luckily this easy-going gearhead has become a top-notch pilot through years of video gaming.  The bad news is the Glorft, and a collection of intergalactic bad guys, have discovered Coop and MEGAS and want to destroy them.  LowBrow chronicles the continuing adventures of Coop, MEGAS, Kiva and Jamie as they battle in suburbia and across the galaxy.

Thirteen half-hour episodes of LowBrow are being created at Cartoon Network Studios.  A seven-minute pilot for LowBrow was created last year and aired during Cartoon Cartoon Weekend in August 2002.

George Krstic and Jody Schaeffer are co-creators and executive producers of LowBrow.  Krstic, who was born in Ohio, and Schaeffer, a New Jersey native, attended the prestigious School of Visual Arts in New York.  They worked together on the critically-acclaimed, Emmy-nominated series MTV Downtown.

“It’s a classic character comedy that just happens to have giant robots,” said Linda Simensky, senior vice president of original animation for Cartoon Network.

“Our goal in LowBrow is to create a style of animation that fuses the look of Japanese animé with western storytelling and humor,” said George Krstic, co-creator and executive producer of LowBrow.  “If you play video games, watch wrestling or love animé, you’ll enjoy LowBrow.”

Cartoon Network, currently seen in 82.1 million U.S. homes and 145 countries around the world, is Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.’s 24-hour, ad-supported cable service offering the best in animated entertainment.  Drawing from the world’s largest cartoon library, Cartoon Network also showcases unique original ventures such as The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Ed, Edd n Eddy and other Cartoon Cartoons.  Since its launch in 1992, Cartoon Network has remained one of ad-supported cable’s highest-rated networks. Cartoon Network’s Web site is located at http://CartoonNetwork.com (AOL Keyword: Cartoon Network).

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., an AOL Time Warner company, is a major producer of news and entertainment product around the world and the leading provider of programming for the basic cable industry.