A music competition for kids, family game shows based on iconic, beloved brands, and an animated Warren Buffett are among the nine new original programs that will join 10 returning series with new episodes in the 2011-2012 program line up on new net The Hub.
New, original series include The Aquabats Super Show from the creators of Yo Gabba Gabba! (The Magic Store). The comedy-adventure show featuring the alt-rock band The Aquabats is hybrid of concert footage, live-action skits and animation. FremantleMedia is co-producing. Also, from Andy Heyward’s A Squared Entertainment comes Secret Millionaire’s Club starring billionaire financier Warren Buffet in animated form, which will air as a series of half-hour specials. Finally Majors & Minors is a reality series that follows 16 talented young performers as they are mentored by the biggest and most established artists in the music industry. The grand prize is a recording deal with the RCA/Jive label group and an opportunity to be featured in a cross-country concert tour and the series is produced by The Boardwalk Entertainment Group in partnership with Sony Music’s RCA/Jive Label Group and BMI.
The remaining six original series have been pulled from the Hasbro brand vault and are being produced by the toyco’s Hasbro Studios. Currently the lineup includes Blythe Loves The Littlest Pet Shop (working title), inspired by the Littlest Pet Shop brand, Clue, The Game of Life, Scrabble Showdown, Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters (working title), which is based on the trading card game of the same name, and Rescue Bots (working title) delves into the story of a group of Autobots, too young to protect humanity alongside Optimus Prime that are partnered with a close-knit human family of first responders .
The Hub has also acquired Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? and has commissioned new eps of returning series including The Adventures of Chuck & Friends (Hasbro Studios), Animal Mechanicals (Halifax Film, a DHX Media Company), Dan Vs. (Film Roman in association with The Hatchery), Family Game Night (Hasbro Studios), My Little Pony Friendship is Magic (Hasbro Studios), Pound Puppies (Hasbro Studios), R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour: The Series (The Hatchery in association with Front Street Pictures), Strawberry Shortcake’s Berry Bitty Adventures (American Greetings Properties), Transformers Prime (Hasbro Studios), The WotWots (Pukeko Pictures)
The Hub, a joint venture of Discovery Communications and Hasbro, was re-branded on October 10, 2010, and is available to 60 million US cable and satellite households, Its strategy of original programming already includes 425 half-hours of new production, on a single network in one television season.