ABC Family Announces Fall 2002 Kids' Action/Adventure Line-Up, Rolling Out Monday, September 2.

Entertainment Editors

NOTE TO MEDIA: Multimedia assets available

BURBANK, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--July 26, 2002

ABC Family:

-- Miramax Television Unleashes Anime Comedy "Tokyo Pig"

-- "Galidor," "NASCAR Racers" Join ABC Family

-- "Power Rangers" Celebrates 10th Anniversary with Red Ranger Month in October

ABC Family will premiere a new kids' action/adventure line-up this Fall that features a combination of anime, live-action, and animated series and introduces the utterly unique "Tokyo Pig," an anime comedy romp produced by Miramax Television, in association with SME Visual Works, Inc. This marks Miramax Television's foray into kids' television. Also debuting on ABC Family is the popular live-action/CGI parallel universe fantasy, "Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension" and the animated "NASCAR Racers," bringing the national obsession with stock car racing to a new, younger audience. The new weekday schedule debuts MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 and the weekend line-up kicks off SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, it was announced today by Rich Ross, President, Entertainment, Disney Channel, a unit of the ABC Cable Networks Group. Ross oversees the kids' action/adventure block on ABC Family.

"Beyblade," ABC Family's highest rated series this season among Boys 6-11 on Saturdays, and the popular "Medabots," will create an exciting anime hour, seven days a week.

In September, "Power Rangers: Wild Force" will team with "Best of Power Rangers" for a weekend block. October is Red Ranger Month on ABC Family, celebrating a decade of the action/adventure phenomenon. Included is a Red Ranger reunion episode, "Forever Red," on Saturday, October 12 (8:30 a.m., ET/PT) where, for the first time, ten individual Red Ranger characters from the past 10 seasons are brought together for one epic battle; a Red Ranger marathon (Sunday, October 13 at 7:00 a.m.-12:00 noon., ET/PT) and a week dedicated to the popular red character (October 14-18, 8:00 a.m., ET/PT). "Spider-Man" (1995), ABC Family top-rated kids' series, rounds out the schedule.

"Our kids' action/adventure block is riding a wave of double- and triple-digit ratings increases in households and key demographics," said Ross. "Tokyo Pig,' `Galidor' and `NASCAR Racers' will enrich the diversity of our action/adventure block and be strong partners to our popular `Power Rangers,' `Beyblade' and `Spider-Man' series."

       ABC FAMILY ACTION-ADVENTURE LINE-UP (all times are ET/PT)

Saturdays
7:00 a.m.         "Beyblade"
7:30 a.m.         "Medabots"
8:00 a.m.         "Best of Power Rangers"
8:30 a.m.         "Power Rangers:  Wild Force"
9:00 a.m.         "Beyblade"
9:30 a.m.         "Medabots"
10:00 a.m.        "Tokyo Pig"
10:30 a.m.        "Spider-Man" (1995)
11:00 a.m.        "Galidor:  Defenders of the Outer Dimension"
11:30 a.m.        "NASCAR Racers"

Sundays
7:00 a.m.         "Beyblade"
7:30 a.m.         "Medabots"
8:00 a.m.         "Best of Power Rangers"
8:30 a.m.         "Power Rangers:  Wild Force"
9:00 a.m.         "Beyblade"
9:30 a.m.         "Medabots"
10:00 a.m.        "Best of Power Rangers"
10:30 a.m.        "Power Rangers:  Wild Force"
11:00 a.m.        "Galidor:  Defenders of the Outer Dimension"
11:30 a.m.        "NASCAR Racers"

Weekdays
7:00 a.m.         "Beyblade"
7:30 a.m.         "Medabots"
8:00 a.m.         "Power Rangers:  Wild Force"
8:30 a.m.         "Spider-Man" (1995)

"Beyblade" -- Every weekday (7:00 a.m., ET/PT) and weekend (7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m., ET/PT), this cutting-edge anime adventure follows martial arts student, Tyson, as he perfects his technique in the extreme sport of Beyblade (based on a traditional Japanese spinning-top game called Bei-goma, now emerging as a kids' sports entertainment phenomenon called Beyblade). While each customized spinning top is as unique as its owner, Tyson's Beyblade is particularly powerful since he has learned to harness the mystical power of his Japanese ancestors. He joins a group of international youths -- whose tops also possess special powers derived from ancient beasts -- as they embark on a quest to battle their way to the World Championship while thwarting evil challengers. The executive producers are Michael Hirsh, Toper Taylor and Scott Dyer. The series is produced by Nelvana and d-rights, Inc. (TV-Y7)

"Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension" -- Making its ABC Family debut on SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 (11:00 a.m., ET/PT), this cutting-edge, 3-D special effects and live-action series follows Nick Bluetooth, an average 15-year-old who is swept up in an extraordinary, out-of-this-world adventure. With his best friend Allegra Zane, the pair stumbles into the Outer Dimension, a parallel universe that is filled with several unique realms, mysterious life forms and amazing wonders. In addition, Nick discovers that in this universe he has the ability to "glinch" (or transform) his limbs into anything he has seen. Aided by a trio of wonderfully strange allies -- Jens, Nepol and Euripides -- Nick and Allegra try to defend the Outer Dimension from the evil tyrant Gorm. To defeat him, the band sets out on a mythic quest to find the long-hidden realm of Galidor and uncover the secrets of the Outer Dimension. Created by The Tom Lynch Company, "Galidor" is a CineGroupe production. (TV-Y7 FV)

"Medabots" -- Each weekday (7:30 a.m., ET/PT) and weekend (7:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., ET/PT), join the adventures of Ikki and his super-robot Metabee as they compete for the robot championship. In this futuristic world, high-powered robots, known as Medabots, duke it out in "robattles" in hopes of becoming the robattle champion of the world. To reach their ultimate goal, Ikki and Metabee must fend off enemies like The Rubberrobo Gang, The Screws, and Ikki's biggest rival Koji and his Medabot Sumilodon. Let the robattles begin! The series is a production of Nelvana Limited, in association with NAS/Kodansha and TV Tokyo. (TV-Y7 FV)

"NASCAR Racers" -- Making its ABC Family debut on SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 (11:30 a.m., ET/PT), this animated series follows four young rookie racers -- Mark "Charger" McCutchen, Megan "Spitfire" Fasier, Steve "Flyer" Sharp and Carlos "Stunts" Rey -- who rely on courage, teamwork and a specialized knowledge of high-tech auto racing to win in the ultimate challenge -- NASCAR races. With their futuristic cars pushed to the limits, the racers battle for pole position, accelerate to faster than 400 miles per hour, and sometimes fly through the twisting, turning and looping tracks of the speedway. Owned by the industrial giant Fasier Technologies, Team Fastex's biggest rival, on and off the track, is the Rexcor team owned by the dishonest and corrupt Garner Rexton. The series is produced by Saban Entertainment, Inc. and Saban International N.V. (TV-Y7)

"Power Rangers: Wild Force" -- The 10th season of the legendary Power Rangers franchise will continue to air weekdays (8:00 a.m., ET/PT), Saturdays (8:30 a.m., ET/PT) and Sundays (10:30 a.m., ET/PT). In this series, the ancient Power Animals of Animar choose five young humans to fight the unnatural, soulless monsters known as the Orgs with wisdom, courage and the powers of their animal totems: lion, eagle, shark, bison and tiger. ABC Family will celebrate the 10th anniversary of this popular action/adventure series with a special Red Ranger reunion episode, entitled "Forever Red," on Saturday, October 12, followed by a Red Ranger marathon (Sunday, October 13 through Friday, October 18), a week dedicated to the popular red-costumed character and a two-part "Wild Force" focusing on Red Lion Zord (Saturday, October 26 and Sunday, October 27). The series is a production of MMPR Productions, Inc. (TV-Y7-FV)

"Best of Power Rangers" -- Airing weekends (8:00 a.m., ET/PT) with a second episode on Sunday (10:00 a.m., ET/PT), the series -- with episodes from seasons one through eight -- centers around six high school teens-turned-heroic Power Rangers. "Best of Power Rangers" revisits the multi-colored team's adventures on earth, undersea and the galaxy and harkens back to the introduction of Tommy the White Ranger, the team's in-space rescue by the Silver Ranger and their showdowns with Rita Repulsa, Astronema, Maligor, Scorpius and Diabolico. The series is a production of MMPR Productions, Inc. (TV-Y7-FV)

"Spider-Man" -- Airing both weekdays (8:30 a.m., ET/PT) and Saturday (10:30 a.m., ET/PT), this 1995 version of the animated series follows Spider-Man as he's pit against classic Marvel Universe villains, including Doctor Doom, the Vulture and Electro, and more modern bad-guys, including Venom and the Carnage Symbiote. The series is executive-produced by character co-creator Stan Lee and Avi Arad. (TV-Y7)

"Tokyo Pig" -- Debuting SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 (10:00 a.m., ET/PT), this hyper-kinetic, ultra-hip original anime comedy series reveals the fantastic adventures of nine-year-old Spencer and his magical pet pig, Sunny. Spencer's world changes after he draws a sky full of pigs in his journal and his sidekick Sunny appears out of the clear blue sky. When paired with Sunny, Spencer discovers he has the ability to make whatever he imagines come to life. Now -- with powers kids can only dream about -- the duo embark on a new adventure each week as Spencer tries to keep his stray thoughts and careless scribbles in his journal from running wild and turning his life upside-down. The series is produced by Miramax Television, in association with SME Visual Works, Inc. (TV-Y7)

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