Cartoon Network’s first original series, Dexter’s Laboratory, will debut on the network’s classic toon channel, Boomerang, on Monday, Jan. 16. The Emmy-nominated first series from Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack, Star Wars: Clone Wars). The half-hour series, which debuted in 1995, will begin its Boomerang run with a 12-hour Martin Luther King, Jr. Day marathon (10 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET), before settling into its regular, daily time-slots at 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. starting Tuesday, Jan. 17.
Dexter’s Laboratory was born when Cartoon Network commissioned 48 seven-minute shorts from a number of promising young animators in order to cultivate new series ideas. Tartakovsky was working at Hanna-Barbera on 2 Stupid Dogs when he pitched the adventures of Dexter, a boy genius who creates fantastic, world-changing inventions in his laboratory, despite the interference of his pesky older sister, Dee Dee. Produced by Cartoon Network Studios, the show became the network’s highest-rated series in both 1996 and 1997 and launched a successful career for Tartakovsky, who is now developing CG features at San Francisco based The Orphanage.
“We believe the definition of a ‘classic’ cartoon isn’t just a matter of age, but more importantly a question of quality and lasting entertainment value,” comments Marc Buhaj, VP of programming and scheduling for Cartoon Network and Boomerang. ‘It’s entirely appropriate that Dexter’s Laboratory take its rightful place alongside such revered animated series as The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Tom and Jerry and Scooby-Doo.”
Boomerang is Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.’s (TBS, Inc.) 24-hour, commercial-free cable/satellite network dedicated to classic animated entertainment. More information on programming can be found at http://Boomerang.CartoonNetwork.com.
