Friday, December 02, 2005

If You Don't Bake Mistakes, You Don't Bake Anything

Have you noticed the increasing number of shows that mash conventional genres? That seems especially true for animation.

''Space Ghost: Coast to Coast'' was the first animated talk show back in April 1994. More recently, Comedy Central preemed ''Drawn Together,'' the first animated reality series, in November 2004. And then there's the Max Headroom-esque ''Newsbot 13.'' The Newsbot is an online animated news reader from Des Moines, Iowa that uses a real reporter's voice.

What's next?

How 'bout an animated cooking show. It's not a new idea. You may know about Tako, the Octopus and his cooking antics. Tako launched in September 2000, but the idea would be novel for a network. I think ''Emeril'' and ''Kitchen Confidential'' didn't capture a very large audience because sitcom material is really quite limited in the kitchen. The live-action menu is quite limited, but imagine what happens when you relax the laws of physics and forget about some ethics — cartoon characters can do things that real characters definitely cannot.

The world is wide open for an animated kitchen comedy.

1 comment:

Toby O'B said...

This would be a great idea for a "Futurama" spin-off, starring Elzar!

He already had his own show within "Futurama" ("Essence Of Elzar"), so why not just expand it to at least fifteen minutes for 'Adult Swim'?