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[via press release]

Cartoon Network to Commence Tickle U, New Original Programming Franchise for Preschoolers, in August

Tickle U to Showcase Developmental Value of Humor for Young Kids Weekdays from 9-11 a.m. (ET, PT)

Cartoon Network will launch a new weekday morning franchise of original and acquired television targeted for preschool children on Monday, Aug. 22.  Tickle U will focus on developing, nurturing and valuing a child’s sense of humor, an essential aspect of a happy, well-adjusted child.  The franchise’s newly developed and acquired series also will be packaged within a distinctive, cohesive on-air hosted environment.

“As parents, we want our children to be happy and healthy, to make friends and to be at ease with themselves and others.  A sense of humor facilitates all of this, but until now, these skills haven’t been addressed in children’s media,” said Alice Cahn, vice president of development and programming for Cartoon Network.  “No one is born funny.  Children learn to create humor and to appreciate humor. Tickle U will help make children happy and support their acquisition of these important skills.”

Aimed at kids 2-5, Tickle U will air weekdays from 9-11 a.m. (ET, PT) with fun, funny and fearless animated programming that will encourage kids to laugh and have an optimistic view of themselves and the world around them.  The series will be developed in collaboration with a Child Development Advisory Board and from a curriculum framework based on the importance of humor to children’s healthy development.  The new block will be advertising-supported with commercials every half-hour and hour break, never interrupting programmatic material.  Programming that will appear in Tickle U when it launches on Monday, Aug. 22, is as follows (additional programming will be announced later):

• Firehouse Tales: In the town of Green Meadow sits a fire-fighting school at which a group of young trucks learn that it takes more than a shiny red coat of paint and a loud siren to make a hero.
• Gerald McBoing Boing: Based on the Dr. Seuss character and a classic, award-winning cartoon, this series tells the story of Gerald, a young boy who can only speak in sound effects. Whenever he opens his mouth he attracts the attention of all of those around him.
• Gordon the Garden Gnome: Every garden in the world has a gnome that takes care of it.  Gordon, the garden gnome, is cheerful, optimistic and genuinely excited by his natural world. The series follows his adventures as he works alongside his animal friends and gnome neighbors.
• Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs:  Based on the best-selling books, this series features a five-year-old boy who’s imagination transports him into a world of dinosaur adventures
• Little Robots: Tiny Robot and his friends are true optimists – pioneers who build themselves anew in a new world. Finding themselves abandoned by the ‘real’ world on a metal scrapheap, they turn the junkyard into a magical place they can call home.
• Peppa Pig:  Peppa is an irrepressible, loveable, cheeky little piglet who loves her parents, her brother George, dressing up, playing games, and jumping in mud puddles. Her adventures always end happily with loud snorts of laughter.
• Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto!:  A lively threesome makes their way through the colorful  landscape on an eventful journey.   There’s Yoko, the free-thinking bird of paradise, Jakamoko, a slow-but-sure armadillo, and Toto, a cheeky monkey. Through their adventures they find out about each other; their good points, their bad points, how to compromise and how to get the most out of things together.

Cartoon Network (CartoonNetwork.com), currently seen in 87.6 million U.S. homes and 160 countries around the world, is Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.’s ad-supported cable service offering the best in original, acquired and classic animated entertainment for kids and families.  Overnight from 11 p.m.-6 a.m. (ET, PT), Cartoon Network shares its channel space with Adult Swim, a late-night destination showcasing original and acquired animation for young adults 18-34.Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a 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.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a 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.