ADVENTURES OF PADDINGTON

As a child, my aunt would always send me books from author Michael Bond's series of stories about Paddington Bear as presents for my birthday and Christmas. The hijinks that marmalade loving bear from darkest Peru got himself into in London, England in Bond's books always made me smile. These stories especially brightened my mood when I was stuck at home with the chicken pox. Not only do I have fond childhood memories of Paddington but my son and daughter do to as the live action films featuring the character are two of their favorite movies.

Since my family has a fondness for this little bear that wears a hat, pea coat and wellington boots, this dad blogger had to share the news that there is a new animated Adventures of Paddington television series coming to the Nickelodeon cable network soon. This new cartoon will officially begin on Monday, January 20, 2020 at 12:30 ET/PT in the United States, but a special episode will also air on December 20 prior to the series launch. The first season of Adventures of Paddington will consist of 26 episodes which center on a young Paddington as he writes letters to his Aunt Lucy celebrating the new things he has discovered through a day’s exciting activities. The series will be expanded to Nick's international channels in March of next year following its US debut.

Actor Ben Whishaw (Paddington 1 & 2) reprises his role as the voice of the title character, alongside new cast members Morwenna Banks, Bobby Beynon, Sheena Bhattessa, Darren Boyd, Noel Clarke, Phyllis Logan, Monica Lopera, Sabrina Newton-Fisher, David Schofield, Reece Shearsmith, Liz Sutherland-Lim and Jeremiah Waysome. The Adventures of Paddington will also feature a brand-new theme song “Paddington Bear” written and performed by one of Britain's most successful musicians, Gary Barlow (Take That). The series is executive produced by multi-award-winning David Heyman (producer of all eight of the Harry Potter films, Paddington 1 & 2) and Rosie Alison (Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Paddington 1 & 2).

Nickelodeon will air a holiday presentation of “Paddington Finds a Pigeon/Paddington and the Chores List,” on Friday, Dec. 20, at 12:30 p.m. (ET/PT). In the episode, Paddington nurses an injured bird back to health and discovers a new friend in Pigeonton. Then, Mr. Brown creates a list of chores for Paddington, who accidentally picks up the wrong list.

Then for the Jan. 20 series premiere, “Paddington Finds a Hobby/Paddington and the Stamp” will air. In these stories Paddington doesn’t have a hobby, so Mrs. Brown helps him find out what he’s good at. Then, Paddington gets his arm stuck in a mailbox while sending a letter to Aunt Lucy.

NEW STAR TREK CARTOON COMING TO NICKELODEON

Nickelodeon and CBS Television Studios have greenlight a new animated series to be developed by Emmy Award winners Kevin and Dan Hageman (“Trollhunters” and “Ninjago”) meant to expand the STAR TREK universe for a new generation of fans. This original CG-animated series will tell the story of a group of teens who discover a derelict Starfleet ship and use it to search for adventure. The show's debut date on Nickelodeon hasn't been released yet so STAR TREK fans will want to be alert for future announcements.

“Star Trek’s’ mission is to inspire generations of dreamers to build a brighter future,” show executive producer Alex Kurtzman relayed to ageekdaddy.com. “Dan and Kevin have crafted a story that honors its exploratory spirit in a way that’s never been done before, while the Nickelodeon team blew us away with their excitement at bringing ‘Trek’ to a younger generation around the world.”

Emmy Award-winning brothers Kevin and Dan Hageman were co-executive producers on the Emmy Award-winning series “Trollhunters,” co-created the hit “The LEGO Movie,” wrote and executive produced “LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu” and developed the theatrical “The Lego Ninjago Movie.” Additional credits include “Hotel Transylvania” (story creators) and “The Croods 2” (writers). These two have some series creative chops when it comes to animation which bodes well for this upcoming Nickelodeon cartoon.

It is the newest addition to the expanding “Star Trek” television universe. It joins STAR TREK: DISCOVERY and STAR TREK: SHORT TREKS, a series of short stories tied to DISCOVERY; the new untitled “Star Trek” series featuring Sir Patrick Stewart reprising his iconic role as Jean-Luc Picard; STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS from Mike McMahan (“Rick and Morty”), an animated series for mature audiences; and a new “Star Trek” project based on “Section 31,” which is in development with Michelle Yeoh attached to star. All these projects, except for this new Nickelodeon edition, are on the CBS streaming platform CBS All Access in the U.S.