Roundups #130: Iwayu Created By Set To Debut On Cartoon Network In 2024, Zoey 101 Is Getting A Feature Film On Paramount+ And Conspiracy Theory Surrounding kykNET Lekker's Availability Finally Revealed

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New Nigerian animated series loading on Cartoon Network

Based on the graphic novel series from writer Roye Okupe and artist Godwin Akpan, HBO Max and Cartoon Network's upcoming Iyanu: Child of Wonder will be heavily influenced by the Yoruba people of Nigeria.

Financed and overseen by Lion Forge Animation, the 2024 animated TV series chronicles the tale of Iyanu, an orphaned teenage girl with no memories of her upbringing who yearns for a simple, normal life. Those dreams get shattered when a set of circumstances triggers Iyanu's dormant divine abilities. Teaming up with two other teenagers, Iyanu embarks on a quest to confront the Corrupt, a great evil rising in their homeland that threatens humanity. Along the way, Iyanu will slowly uncover the truth about her past, parents, powers, and destiny as the Chosen One.

The epic superhero adventure promises to draw from Nigerian culture, music, and lore. In addition, creator Okupe has written and directed multiple episodes. Lion Forge's head of production Saxton Moore, who serves as supervising director, and executive producer David Steward II recently spoke about adapting the graphic novel, cultural representation, Iyanu's quest, and anime influences.

Regular Nick:
- Kartoon Channel expands to Africa
- Could Universal Kids be the next channel to close down from NBCUniversal?
- Here are other ways to view PBS Kids
- The Twisted Timeline Of Sammy And Raj coming soon to Nickelodeon

Another Nickelodeon revival gets the greenlit for Paramount+

Zoey 101 star Jamie Lynn Spears announced on Instagram a reboot of the Nickelodeon series, titled Zoey 102, is coming to Paramount+.

“IT’S OFFICIAL! 🎬 Are you ready…. @paramountplus @nickelodeon,” Spears wrote in her Instagram caption on Thursday, teasing the show’s iconic theme song, which she sang.

The film was written by Monica Sherer and Madeline Whitby, according to the script shown in the Instagram post. Variety reported on Thursday that production has begun on the movie, and it is expected to be released later this year.

The Instagram post shows a photo featuring the names of some of the original characters, including Chase (Sean Flynn), Logan (Matthew Underwood), Michael (Christopher Massey), Quinn (Erin Sanders), and Stacey (Abby Wilde).

Paramount:
- Conspiracy Theory: The introduction to Nick Jr. Global
- The Smithsonian Channel is closing down in the UK
- VH1 is being redirected to BET
- MTV Hits no longer available in South Africa

kykNET Lekker is part of a mysterious open window

In December 2022, MultiChoice opened up kykNET Lekker (DStv 148) which was exclusive to only Access customers to their DStv Premium, Compact+, Compact and Family with not much info available as it occurred prior to the festive holidays.

As school's reopened and consumers reverted back to their daily lives, a source at kykNET was able to confirm that kykNET Lekker is in fact an open window but couldn't provide any more details other than what you already heard.

Basically, the kykNET Lekker's open window is what has been seen from 2022 - a mystery. The channel isn't listed on other packages compared to when channels like Nickelodeon have open windows and them listed on that package and the other having to be the lack of info regarding the channel.

DStv:
- MultiChoice might lose yet another two channels
- Could Russia Today be removed from the DStv platform?
- Qwest TV coming soon to Showmax
- eMedia's 4 channels to go dark on the DStv platform

Afrikaans Voice Actors For Daai Crazy Somer Including Additional Cast Members For Die Put Season 2 And Elif Season 3

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All the credit goes out to Die Afrikaans Voices actors.pagie

Daai Crazy Somer

Staain Bruwer as Ahmet Tunali
Elzabe Zietsman as Emel Yaman
Adrian Steyn as Sancaktar
Kevin Smith as Selcuk Taskin
Markus Haywood as Akgun Gokalp Taskin
Steven Sterling as Arda Ates
Caidan Bouwer as Altay Kara
Rowlen Ethelbert Von Gericke as Kaan Gok
Jacques Gombault as Selim Kara
Francois Coertze as Metin Yaman
Natasja Jacobs as Serap Gok
Zetske Van Pietsen as Canan Kara
Izel Bezuidenhout as Yagmur Jasmine Kara

Die Put

Keeno-Lee Hector as Sedat
Marcel Van Heerden as Yücel
Cantona James as Azer
Wilhelm Van Der Walt as Selim
Conradie Van Heerden as Timsah

Elif

Roxanne Blaise as Layla
Izaan Du Toit as Sitare

Roundups #129: Perfect Husband Makes It Freemium Debut On Zee One, The Cartoonito Channel To Launch On Boomerang CEE By March 18th And Doodsondes Returns For A Fifth Season On e.tv

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Zee World rebroadcast coming soon to Zee One

In 2021, Zee World an international entertainment channel owned by Zee Enterprises acquired rights to air family drama Perfect Husband or as it's called in India Perfect Pati. After a year, more consumers will have access to all the drama in store.

Perfect Husband explores the non-idealistic married life of Vidhita and Pushkar and tries to question the thought that whether an ideal son is capable of being an ideal husband. It stars Farman Haidar, Shamu Akhtariya Moulik and Alok Nath Pathak

It premieres 20th January on Zee One prior to that will be the launch of historical drama Razia Sultan and second family drama Broken Bonds on Zee World.

Everyday Novelas:
- 5 Turkish shows rumoured to rollout in South Africa
- Ramo coming soon to eVOD
- Forbidden Passion season 2 not moving forward on Telemundo

Boomerang CEE will be no more from March 18

Viewers in Balkans, Baltics, Benelux, CIS, Caucasia, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, East-Central Europe and Eastern Europe bid farewell to Boomerang as Warner Bros. Discovery welcome a new channel, Cartoonito.

Cartoonito is a place for preschoolers and their families. They are welcomed with open arms by individuality and originality. The youngest and their parents or guardians can enjoy familiar characters and stories from leading creators, as well as brand new series and lots of laughs. discovery.

Some of the new shows lined up for the channel include Batwheels, Bugs Bunny Builders, Scooby-Doo And The Mystery Pups and Jessica's Big Little World. More feeds are expected to follow.

Regular Nick:
- Boomerang set to rebrand to Cartoonito in parts of Europe
- Could Universal Kids be the next channel to close down from NBCUniversal?
- The Twisted Timeline Of Sammy And Raj coming soon to Nickelodeon

Doodsondes 5 is coming to e.tv this August

e.tv, the most viewed English channel operated by eMedia Investments which is home to various local productions and international content wrapped up the fourth season to Doodsondes last week with the fifth season only being made available by August.

The fifth season goes as follows:

Six months have passed since the explosion and nothing is the same anymore. As Yildiz's life evolves in a completely different direction, Ender's arrival will help her cope with the problems she is experiencing. Yildiz's next-door neighbor, Kumru, who has just entered her life, falls into everyone's lives like a bomb with her different character.

Season 5 ensembles Sevval Sam, Eda Ece, Berk Oktay, Biran Damla Yilmaz, Murat Aygen, Ece Dizdar, Melisa Dogu, Baris Aytac and Serkan Rutkay Ayiköz.

Openview Plus:
- Reviewing major changes coming soon to the SABC
- A look at former NBC soap, Passions
- Die Vertroueling coming soon to eExtra

Roundups #128: Dungeon And Dragons TV Series Has Been Ordered By Paramount+, Kartoon Channel Greenlit New Roblox Inspired Reality Series And Plot Synopsis For HBO Max Upcoming Series Velma Scares Away Potential Viewers

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Another video game is getting a TV adaptation

Paramount+ has given an eight-episode, straight-to-series order to an adaptation of Hasbro’s wildly popular Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game franchise. Red Notice filmmaker Rawson Marshall Thurber wrote the pilot script and is set to direct the first episode of the series which will be a co-production between eOne and Paramount Pictures.

eOne, the lead studio, took the project out in November, garnering interest from multiple buyers, with Paramount+ ultimately landing the show in a competitive situation. eOne and Paramount Pictures are partnering on the Dungeons & Dragons series after also co-producing and co-financing the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves movie directed by Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley, which premieres March 31.

At Paramount+, the Dungeons & Dragons series will join Halo, the video game adaptation, which is one of the streamer’s most popular originals. Over the last couple of years, there has been a resurgence in bringing gaming titles to television, and this is the latest example.

Insidus Games:
- Powerpuff Girls Snowboarding
- Baby Felix Halloween
- Looney Tunes Monster Match
- Thor: The Dark World

Roblox TV series is coming to Kartoon Channel

Aimed at tweens, Kidaverse Roblox Rumble (10 eps between eight and 15 minutes long) will follow a group of contestants ages eight to 12 as they compete for a grand prize of US$1,000.

The kids must avoid getting eliminated in each round by winning a variety of physical games, including everything from an arctic obstacle course, to a dune buggy race. GBI will also turn these offline challenges into Roblox games.

Former NFL star Rashad Jennings (pictured) will host the series, which should launch on GBI’s Kartoon Channel! later this year. Jennings is an avid gamer himself, and the author of The Coin Slot Chronicles, a kids book series published by Zonderkidz. 

Regular Nick:
- Could Universal Kids be the next channel to close down from NBCUniversal?
- Here are other ways to view PBS Kids
- The Twisted Timeline Of Sammy And Raj coming soon to Nickelodeon
- Predictions: Nicktoons and Boomerang's untimely demise

Velma is receiving criticism from several Scooby-Doo fans

HBO Max’s latest adult-oriented animation Velma will be premiering on Jan. 12 and fans of the Mystery Inc. Gang have been anticipating the Scooby Doo gang origin story (minus the mystery-solving dog). The show is executive produced by Mindy Kaling of The Office and The Mindy Project fame and the star will voice the near-sighted main character as she forms relationships with the rest of the Scooby crew. As the show’s premiere date draws closer, Velma‘s plot synopsis is making the rounds on social media and even the most diehard Scooby fans are not impressed.

A tweet by @LightsCameraPod shared the synopsis, describing it as “certainly something.” Twitter users evidently agreed and quickly began roasting the synopsis which reads as follows:

“At Crystal Cove High School, Daphne (Constance Wu) is a popular mean girl orphan who deals drugs because of a dark family secret. Her boyfriend Fred (Glenn Howerton) personifies mediocre white richness. His mansion holds a dark secret — and he has teeny widdle privates, a subject of much conversation. “Shaggy” has become Norville (Sam Richardson), a school-newspaper striver friendzoned by his beloved Velma. He worries he’s a beta male; remember that lame humor concept from 20 years ago?”

Aşk-ı Memnu: Telemundo's Forbidden Passion From The Beginning

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Forbidden Passion (Pasion Prohibida) is a 2012 soap opera produced by Telemundo Studios that told the story of a woman's scorn over her mother after discovering that her she cheated on her father prior to his death so she married the man she chased after there she falls for his nephew.

It starred Monica Spear and Jencarlos Canela alongside Roberto Vander, Mercedes Molto, Rebecca Jones, Henry Zakka, Jorge Consejo and Carmen Aub.

The original produced by Ay Yapım (Turkey) went a similar path with the likes of Beren Saat, Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ, Selçuk Yöntem, Hazal Kaya & Nebahat Çehre which was set in the contemporary Istanbul instead of the 19th century setting as seen in Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil's 1899 novel of the same name.

Everyday Novelas:
- Forbidden Passion season 2 not moving forward on Telemundo
- Between You And Me now on Zee One
- Eternal Love coming soon to Star Life

Aside from Aşk-ı Memnu (Forbidden Love), Ay Yapım also worked on other productions part of which has already viewed in South Africa such as Fenix (Alev Alev), Impak (Çarpışma), Stiletto Vendetta (Ufak Tefek Cinayetler) and Die Put (Çukur).

Aşk-ı Memnu was broadcast between 2008 to 2010 with a total of 2 seasons and 79 episodes on Kanal D. It pulled 10 million viewers during its premiere with a further 20 million added within the second season proving to be a success for the network.

Telemundo:
- Nurses returns for a season 3
- Prediction: what to expect on Telemundo in 2023?
- Lord Of The Skies renewed for season 8

Sources on IDMB gave it a perfect score and Aşk-ı Memnu was considered one of a kind for the music, storyline and characters. It even walked away with 8 award winners most of which were for Beren Saat and Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ alongside the series.

Aşk-ı Memnu has been viewed in various territories including America, Ethiopia, Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, China and several others.

Since it's debut, a number of adaptations have already been filmed with Pasion Prohibida on Telemundo in America, followed by Dil Sambhal Jaa Zara on StarPlus with the latest version Fructul Oprit on Antenna 1 in Romania proven to be the most controversial of instalments.

Recap: Forbidden Passion Season 2 Was Scrapped Due To Monica Spear's Passing

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Forbidden Passion is a 2012 drama series produced by Telemundo Studios that followed the long road love story of Bianca and Bruno. I don't want to spoil it or give too much basically the female lead got involved with her lover's uncle.

Based on the 2008 Turkish drama Aşk-ı Memnu which derives from the novel of the same name. It starred Monica Spear and Jencarlos Canela alongside Roberto Vander, Mercedes Molto, Rebecca Jones, Henry Zakka, Jorge Consejo and Carmen Aub.

From what a certain deleted article mentioned before passing, the series was renewed for a second season and some of the cast were to set to reprise their roles including Monica Spear and the part in bold shouldn't be read if you haven't watched the show.

Everyday Novelas:
- Between You And Me now on Zee One
- Eternal Love coming soon to Star Life
- Fearless Heart coming soon to Telemundo

The second season would have seen the revival of Bianca after she committed suicide on her ex lover's wedding which never happened following her passing. Basically, the network loves to revive characters that were reported dead but who cares we got Lord Of The Skies S8.

Now the reason a second season ended up being scrapped with no chance of it in the coming future I mean I wouldn't be shocked if it was rebooted had to do with the unfortunate passing of Monica Spear with Forbidden Passion being her last project.

For those who weren't aware of the whole matter it goes as follows:

Monica Spear, 29, a soap opera actress, and Thomas Berry, 39, died after being attacked when their car broke down at night on a highway in central Venezuela in January.

Their daughter, Maya Berry Spear, suffered a leg injury but was in a stable condition after the attack that put a spotlight on the country's soaring murder rate.

The three men confessed to their involvement in the murder, the public prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Jean Carlos Colina, 19, got a 26-year sentence, while Jose Ferreira Herrera, 18, and Nelfrend Jimenez Alvarez, 21, were jailed for 24 years, the statement said.

Telemundo:
- Nurses returns for a season 3
- Prediction: what to expect on Telemundo in 2023?
- Lord Of The Skies renewed for season 8

What happened to little Maya?

14-year-old Maya Berry Spear, daughter of Monica Spear, was legally adopted by the brother of the remembered former beauty queen Ricardo Spear and his partner, actress Daniela Bueno, who signed the papers in August this year.

Let us remember that since Monica's tragic death, those who were in charge of little Maya were her maternal grandparents, Rafael Spear and Inge Mootz, but she always grew up surrounded by the love of all her family, especially her uncles.

"I witnessed how he was busy, at the time from his role as an uncle, to give her values and fill her with love." Ricardo has a generous heart and has always been very protective and loving with her. We knew it came with a huge responsibility, however, we took on it and today we are happy about the decisions we made. "Our family is built from will and this bond is forever," Daniela told People in Spanish.

How do you think Forbidden Passions season 2 would have turned out had it finished production?

Vince McMahon Reportedly Looking Into Returning To WWE In Order To Sell It

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He left control of the WWE to his daughter Stephanie and son in law Triple H, real name Paul Levesque, a wrestling legend himself.

But now, according to Wall Street Journal, McMahon is looking to make a WWE comeback in order to help sell the sports entertainment giant.

He still has majority voting power through his ownership of WWE’s Class-B stock and is believed to have informed staff of his plans to return.

McMahon is said to have told the company he is electing himself and two former co-presidents and directors, Michelle Wilson and George Barrios, to the board.

Superhero:
- G4 has been shut down
- Showmax to become exclusive home of WWE
- 10 real freak accidents on WWE

But the move to reinstate him, something the board previously rebuffed, and the others will require three current directors to vacate their positions.

Rumours of a sell have swirled for years despite the WWE receiving a $1BILLION cash injection after selling US rights to the WWE Network to Peacock.

McMahon decided to leave the WWE last summer following a series of scandals.

There were claims he paid an ex-employee $3million to stay quiet about an affair.

The probe began in April 2022, finding non-disclosure agreements involving claims made by female ex-WWE employees of misconduct by McMahon and John Laurinaitis, the head of talent relations.

WWE:
- Could the WWE channel be exiting the DStv platform?
- NXT Europe to rollout later in the year
- The controversial history of The Fabulous Moolah

The WWE put out a statement on confirming McMahon "voluntarily stepped back from his responsibilities" within the company.

The American bought Capitol Wrestling Corporation, the holding company that owned the then-World Wrestling Federation from his father, Vincent J McMahon, in 1982.

He expanded the company during the pro-wrestling boom in the 1980s and over the years, WWE has cited McMahon as the key to the company's success.

It has seen them rocket to the top of pro wrestling, a position they have maintained throughout their existence.

Kartoon Channel's Parent Company Acquire 50% Ownership in Select Content and Consumer Products From Genius Brands’ Frederator Network

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Genius Brands International, Inc., through its WOW! Unlimited Media subsidiary, Frederator Network, today announced it has completed a deal with TOHO International, a subsidiary of one of the largest media companies in Japan, whereby TOHO International is making a multimillion-dollar investment to acquire a 50% stake in two of the Company’s original productions, the critically-acclaimed series, Bee and PuppyCat, following its successful launch on Netflix, Frederator’s pop culture phenomenon Bravest Warriors, and the upcoming series Catbug, based on the popular character created in the Bravest Warriors’ series.

The deal provides a framework for Genius Brands’ Frederator Network and TOHO International to co-produce new content for the properties and cooperatively develop a global consumer products campaign. Genius Brands will oversee global distribution and consumer products development for the properties, excluding Asia, which will be handled by TOHO International. Additionally, a dedicated online store for Bee and PuppyCat launched in September 2022, to coincide with the series release on Netflix.

Genius Brands’ consumer products’ team will develop a consumer products retail program for Bravest Warriors, Bee and PuppyCat and Catbug, excluding Asia, which will be handled by TOHO International.

Regular Nick:
- Here are other ways to view PBS Kids
- The Twisted Timeline Of Sammy And Raj coming soon to Nickelodeon
- Predictions: Nicktoons and Boomerang's untimely demise
- Avatar to return with new animated series on Nickelodeon

Michael Hirsh, CEO of WOW! Unlimited Media, parent company of Frederator Network, stated: “Demand for quality animated content is greater than ever, and yet we recognize the importance of delivering productions that can stand out and provide enduring value. As illustration, I’m proud to report that the LA Times recently voted Bee and PuppyCat as one of the “20 shows our TV experts are most excited to watch this fall.” In fact, the sneak peek trailer of Bee and PuppyCat achieved over 2 million views within 24 hours and has successfully launched on Netflix. At Frederator, our mission is to foster the creativity of content creators and give them a platform to get their projects seen. We are thrilled that our productions, Bravest Warriors, Bee and PuppyCat and Catbug, are now attracting a global audience. Our partnership with Toho will allow us to further expand the reach of these two series, both in terms of distribution and upcoming consumer products.”

Hiro Matsuoka, President of Toho Co., Ltd, commented: “This new deal aligns with our long-term strategy, as we build a more effective system for distribution and licensing of our own IP. We have seen the tremendous global popularity of Bravest Warriors and the growth of Bee and PuppyCat, as well as the growing popularity of Catbug along with the overall Western Anime genre. With our production resources and distribution capabilities across Asia, complementing Genius Brands and Frederators’ expansive network in key markets around the world, we anticipate these two properties will continue to develop a global fan base as we introduce new content and merchandise.”

Andy Heyward, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Genius Brands, commented: “This transaction is a huge privilege for us at Genius Brands to now partner with the pre-eminent media company in Japan, and their visionary management. We believe it is a further validation of our strategic acquisition of WOW! Unlimited Media and their impressive portfolio of original content, which we can then migrate to the streamers, our own Kartoon Channel,! and media platforms around the world.”

From its start as a 2-part, 10-minute short on Frederator Networks that became an immediate hit amassing millions of views on YouTube, to a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign to launch the new Bee and PuppyCat series on Netflix, fans and critics have driven the breakout success of Bee and PuppyCat, with over 2.5M fans across all social channels. Created by Natasha Allegri (“Adventure Time”) and produced by Frederator Network (“Adventure Time” and “Castlevania”), the series’ first full season premiered on September 6 as a Netflix series. Bee and PuppyCat follows a twenty-something temp worker named Bee and her mysterious companion PuppyCat as the two travel on fantastic adventures across space while taking on various intergalactic odd jobs to help make rent.

Insidus Games:
- Tom And Jerry: Infurnal Escape
- Tom And Jerry: The Magic Ring
- The Wild Thornberrys Movie
- The Wild Thornberrys: Chimp Chase

Created by Pendleton Ward (Adventure Time) and headed by showrunner Breehn Burns, Bravest Warriors tells the story of four teenage heroes-for-hire in the year 3085, as they warp through the universe to save adorable aliens and their worlds using the power of their emotions. Launched on YouTube in November 2012, the series rapidly grew an impressive and dedicated online fan base earning 250 million views, three million likes, and over a billion minutes watched. Bravest Warriors was the 2013 Shorty Award winner for Best Web Show and the Online Film and Video (Animation) Honoree at The Webby Awards in 2015.

The Catbug character was created by Breehn Burns and featured in the Frederator Network’s digital series Bravest Warriors. Catbug is growing rapidly into a viral, pop cultural phenomenon across social media platforms--YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter—with videos featuring Catbug achieving over 200 million views to date and counting. Additionally, over 200 million GIFs have been created for Catbug on Giphy.

Moonbug’s Revenues Grew 148% In 2021

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Moonbug Entertainment has become one of the biggest players in children’s music and YouTube videos, having rolled up brands including CoComelon, Little Baby Bum and Blippi.

Newly-published financial results reveal that its business grew strongly in 2021, with revenues growing 148% to £110.2m (which would have been around $149.2m at the end of that year). Moonbug’s gross profit grew even faster, by 159% to £81.4m.

Regular Nick:
- Here are other ways to view PBS Kids
- The Twisted Timeline Of Sammy And Raj coming soon to Nickelodeon
- Predictions: Nicktoons and Boomerang's untimely demise
- Avatar to return with new animated series on Nickelodeon

However, the company actually recorded a net loss for 2021 of £78.1m, which is explained by one-off exceptional costs of £93.2m related to its acquisition by Candle Media in November 2021.

Who’s that? A company co-founded by Kevin Mayer, formerly of Disney and a short stint as TikTok CEO, and backed by investment firm Blackstone Group. It paid $3bn for Moonbug in 2021.

Moonbug has a mixed history with the music industry, striking a deal with Universal Music Group in August 2021, but arousing the wrath of bodies representing songwriters in March 2022 over its approach to performing rights royalties.

Insidus Games:
- Tom And Jerry: Infurnal Escape
- Tom And Jerry: The Magic Ring
- The Wild Thornberrys Movie
- The Wild Thornberrys: Chimp Chase