Those accident prone, cuddly critters known as the Happy Tree Friends have found a new home on G4’videogame tv, the only 24/7 television network dedicated to video games. The cable outlet has formed a partnership with San Francisco-based Mondo Media to co-produce shorts, series, promos and other content for broadcast on G4 and for distribution via the web and other new media outlets such as video on demand.
Having built a strong cult following online and on the festival circuit, Mondo Media’s Happy Tree Friends will be integrated into G4’s hour-long daily live program, Attack of the Show!, beginning June 10 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The comically gory shorts show that bad things happen to good creatures as forest animals face a chronic onslaught of physical torture and eye-popping calamities.
Attack of the Show! airs Monday through Friday on G4 and covers everything from underground music to new gadgets and technology. The show also features guests from the video game and entertainment worlds.
"‘Happy Tree Friends’ represents exactly the kind of funny, irreverent programming that speaks to G4’s videogame-centric audience," comments G4 CEO and founder Charles Hirschhorn "Like the Happy Tree Friends characters Lumpy, Toothy, Petunia and others, video gamers know exactly what it’s like to keep getting knocked down and having to get right back up again."
Mondo Media CEO John Evershed adds, "Our online fans have been clamoring for a home for Happy Tree Friends on television in the U.S., and now with the level of commitment G4 is making, we can really elevate the property into a fully realized multimedia brand including online, DVD, mobile and merchandise."
Happy Tree Friends has been picked up by a number of international broadcasters but only recently had its U.S. TV debut when MTV 2 aired the holiday special, Happy Tree Friends Winter Break, last December.
