What the Simpsons Hath Wrought

Canadian writers raised on the prime-time animation are finding their own voices as the adult animation wave spills north with new homegrown series.

BY PHILIP MOSCOVITCH

What's easy in animation is that you can go anywhere, but that's also its greatest challenge, say Laura Kosterski.

The burden on your imagination is huge. It tests you. You're not only trying to nail your story but you're trying to take it to that extra level of absurdity and outrageousness√dreaming up possibilities that are unshootable and impossible in real life. That's harder than you'd think.

In the beginning, there was The Flintstones. Fred, Barney,Wilma and Betty made their debut on ABC in September 1960. The show was animated, it was squarely aimed at adults (until its second life as lunch-time fare for school kids) and it was a success.

The Flintstones ran six seasons, a record that would not be equalled by any other prime-time animation until The Simpsons came along nearly 30 years later. Now, as The Simpsons becomes the longest-running prime-time show in television history, animated series for older audiences are a definite growth industry.

South of the border, Fox's Sunday night lineup is the prime-time animation heavyweight, featuring The Simpsons, Family Guy, King of the Hill and American Dad. Prefer your animation more on the wacky side? Well, in Adult Swim you've got a whole network out there for you, with shows featuring an alcoholic crow and his sex-crazed-monkey buddy (Drinky Crow), a cop shaped like a pair of buttocks (AssyMcGee), and the surreal adventures of a bunch of snack foods (Aqua Teen Hunger Force).

Canadians have a long-established tradition of excellence in animated kids' series and auteur animation. But when it comes to animated programming for adults, are we behind the times?

"I think we are behind," says Jennifer Cowan,co-executive story editor for Producing Parker, an animated series for adults currently in production for Canwest. "There's a simplicity in creating animation for preschool and tween. You create your universe and you decide on your level of sophistication. But when you move into the adult realm you have to expand that so much. We are competing with shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy that have huge budgets, incredibly generous timelines and large staff. It's very difficult to compete with that.

The challenge may be stiff, but it looks like Canadian writers, broadcasters and producers are starting to take it up in greater numbers. Canwest has a pair of animated series for adults√including Producing Parker which is slated for E!√set to debut this spring. Meanwhile, Teletoon has commissioned the animated sitcom The Dating Guy for its evening The Detour block of programming (which also airs a number of Adult Swim offerings).

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