Fox gets animated over Canada's "Bob & Doug"

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TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) - The Fox network will help to develop "The Animated Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie," a Canadian primetime cartoon that reunites Second City TV alumni Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas.


Thomas said Monday that Fox became involved in the pilot episode of a cartoon based on the SCTV characters Bob & Doug McKenzie, to be voiced by himself and Moranis.

The animated sitcom is based on the beer-addled Bob & Doug characters, who began as a two-minute SCTV skit in 1980 on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

The "hoser" characters, played by Thomas and Moranis, grew a cult following as they went on to star in TV commercials and the 1983 dumb-buddy feature film "Strange Brew."

Thomas said the Canadian cartoon series will add friends and family and a fictional town setting for the Bob & Doug characters.

Canada's Global Television already has ordered 13 episodes of the show for its 2009 schedule.

Also starring in the animated series are Canadian actors and comedians Dave Coulier ("Full House"), Colin Mochrie, Pat McKenna, Derek McGrath, Ron Pardo, Jayne Eastwood and Ho Chow.

The Fox deal represents the latest Canadian series to find U.S. network favor. Global Television's "Howie Do It," a comedy that stars Howie Mandel, was recently picked up by NBC, which also acquired the Canadian paranormal drama "The Listener" from Shaftesbury Films as well as Lionsgate's 13-episode horror anthology "Fear Itself."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter