`DILBERT' GETS JOB AT UPN.Byline: Keith Marder Daily News Television Writer First there was the comic strip comic strip, combination of cartoon with a story line, laid out in a series of pictorial panels across a page and concerning a continuous character or set of characters, whose thoughts and dialogues are indicated by means of "balloons" containing written speech. , then came the calendars and books. Now Dilbert, America's favorite office drone, will make his television debut. The popular cartoon character will star in an animated series premiering on the UPN UPN User Principal Name (Microsoft Windows 2000) UPN United Paramount Network UPN Unión del Pueblo Navarro (Navarrese People Union) UPN Umgekehrte Polnische Notation network (KCOP, Channel 13) during the 1998-99 television season. Dilbert's creator, Scott Adams
Scott Raymond Adams (born June 8, 1957) is the creator of the Dilbert , and Emmy Award-winning producer Larry Charles (``Mad About You,'' ``Seinfeld'') will be the series' executive producers. ``The animated series, `Dilbert' perfectly hits UPN's target for future programming,'' said UPN executive vice president Tom Nunan. ``It's smart, slightly subversive and has broad appeal.'' That's quite a statement from an executive whose only other show in the hopper is a remake of ``The Love Boat.'' ``Dilbert,'' the icon of the corporately disenfranchised, will be set in the same environment as the comic strip - the series will chronicle the life inside a cubicle in the absurd '90s workplace. Dilbert's modest dwelling will also be seen, along with other familiar characters such as Dogbert, Ratbert, Catbert, the pointy-haired boss The Pointy-Haired Boss (often abbreviated to just PHB) is Dilbert's boss in the Dilbert comic strip. He is notable for his gross incompetence and unawareness of his surroundings, yet somehow retains power in the workplace. , Wally and Alice. ``Dilbert is a perfect fit for prime-time animation,'' Adams said. ``The readers have been begging me to bring it to TV.'' A live-action ``Dilbert'' was in development for Fox last summer, but the series never made it to air. But that does not preclude the animated series from success. After all ``Dilbert,'' not Howard Stern, may be the King of All Media. It is the fastest-growing comic strip in syndication and is now seen in 1,700 newspapers, reaching 150 million people. It is the first syndicated comic strip to appear on the World Wide Web (at www.dilbert.com, which has been visited by an estimated 3.9 percent of all Web users). The home page receives a whopping 4.5 million hits a month. The office grunt is also successful in the publishing world with three best-selling best·sell·er also best seller n. A product, such as a book, that is among those sold in the largest numbers. best hardcover books and 10 comic reprint reprint An individually bound copy of an article in a journal or science communication collections. ``The Dilbert Principle'' is the best-selling business book of all time. ``We're pleased to realize our goal of seeing `Dilbert' grow from the newspaper pages to its popular Web site to prime-time television,'' said Doug Stern, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of United Media, the company that syndicates and licenses ``Dilbert.'' |
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