Official Synopsis For The New Gadget Series Up At dhxmedia.com

In the news: DHX Media has made an interesting change to its 'shows' site for Inspector Gadget. Whereas this site used to feature a synopsis for the classic series, reading this...

Inspector Gadget is the world's first bionic policeman. Our bumbling detective is equipped with an incredible array of gadgets to help him in his never-ending battles against crime and corruption. Never mind that he usually ends up accidentally using those gadgets against himself and his allies! Fully aware of his potential for inadvertent destruction, criminals, thieves and bandits fear for their lives whenever Inspector Gadget appears on the scene. Even his nemesis, the evil Doctor Claw, gets a little nervous. (Not to mention Chief Quimby, Gadget's boss!) Inspector Gadget's destiny is marked by the letter "G" - gadgets, gags, gaffes and goofs! But, thanks to the intelligent help of his young niece, Penny, and his faithful, long-suffering dog, Brain, our hero always manages to vanquish his enemies and emerge victorious in the end.

...the new synopsis now reads this:

INSPECTOR GADGET is BACK! Dr. Claw has reactivated his global crime syndicate MAD and the bumbling Swiss army knife detective has been brought out of retirement to save the world! Tagging along with Gadget is his niece Penny and her trusty dog, Brain. Now an agent in training, Penny uses her intelligence, martial arts and high tech gear to keep her bumbling Uncle Gadget safe from harm. But it won't be easy. Dr. Claw has a secret weapon. His handsome nephew Talon is eager to learn a little old school evil as they try to take over the world.

A Google search quoting part of the above, and narrowing down search results to the past month, tells me that the new synopsis was added to DHX's site on January 11. We already got a synopsis (of sorts) in Teletoon's Canada's announcement from last summer, but this shorter presentation gives more specific information. For instance: if we are to take the first sentences literally, it appears that Dr Claw and his entire crime organization have been retired for some time, and are now suddenly getting back in business - causing Gadget himself to return to his old crime-fighting job. (Although, even if Gadget HAS been retired for a while, I'm not expecting the visuals to bear any sign of that... he looks younger than before in the two preview pictures we have so far.) And I'm somewhat intrigued by Penny's new martial arts skills. This has the potential to turn out both good and bad, I think, and I'm cautiously optimistic at the moment. In my eyes, Penny always worked best when portrayed as a combination of an intelligent, thinking character and an action character. One of the biggest mistakes made by previous reboots, as well as season 2 of the original show, was to underplay Penny's adventure part of the storylines... essentially reducing her role to just pressing buttons and telling Brain (or the Gadgetini robots) what to do. For that reason, I see the martial arts twist as - at least potentially - a positive sign that Penny will get in on the action in the new series. Which is where she belongs; in equal billing with Gadget and Brain.



Finally, we also get to know the name of the new starring villain: Talon, which is a word for 'claw'. (Wonder where they got that idea.) It seems clear by now that Dr Claw's nephew Talon will have no connection to goody two-shoes nephew William from Gadget & the Gadgetinis, and that's all for the better in my opinion. Introducing a nephew for Claw who is actually evil seems a more interesting road to go down... though it all depends on how the creators handle it. Gadgetinis introduced several relatives for Dr Claw - not only a nephew, but also a mother and a brother - but they were there just to make fun of Claw as a character, and the resulting 'humor' felt painful to me. I've always felt Dr Claw works best as the powerful, mysterious super-villain he is in the original series. Of course, even in the 1983 show, Claw could appear comical to the viewers - there's something inherently laughable about such a clichéd, faceless villain type anyway. But I think that within the universe of Gadget and friends, Dr Claw should be an intimidating criminal force. A certain balance needs to be maintained. I hope the crew behind the new series realizes this... and that they won't play the dynamic between Claw and Talon just for laughs, or even primarily for laughs. Let the villains be scary. They will make a good contrast to the show's bumbling title character.

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Jean Chalopin Talks Gadget - Old and New

Old news by now, but: A July 1 article from The Globe and Mail reveals some more info on Gadget's upcoming TV series. Among other things, it talks about Teletoon Canada's hopes for reviving the inspector on their channel:

When the bumbling detective last graced the screen, cartoons were exclusively aired on Saturday mornings and remote controls were still considered optional components for most televisions. Now he’ll compete against on-demand services that serve up thousands of cartoons at any time, as well as dozens of other distractions that have viewers turning away from traditional television in favour of online alternatives. 

It’s hoped that by tapping an existing franchise that has endured decades of syndication, the show will win viewers quickly and encourage them to put down their devices and sit down in front of the television. 

“In 1981, the pace of television was very slow,” says Jean Chalopin, the show’s co-creator and a consultant on the new series. “If you did the same thing exactly now, it would be very difficult to get an audience. Kids today are used to seeing different forms of animation and moods.”

Gadget’s return, scheduled for some time within the next year, is being orchestrated by Teletoon Canada, which needs to draw more adult viewers to its subscription-based channel to attract the kind of advertiser it needs to drive profits higher. The media world is so crowded –YouTube alone has more than a billion users a month looking for fresh content – that it’s almost impossible for a conventional television station to create a new cartoon series that will deliver the ratings needed to drive up advertising revenue. 

“The challenge is drawing adults to their television in the hours before 9 p.m.,” says Alan Gregg, the director of original content at Teletoon Canada. “One idea we had was to bring back franchises that already have an adult appeal.”

I like the fact that Teletoon wants the new series to attract adults as well as kids. But in my eyes, the most interesting piece of information appears right in the middle of the above quote: Jean Chalopin, DiC's founder and Gadget's co-creator, is a consultant on the new series! The Globe and Mail piece features only snippets from the interview with Chalopin, but article writer Steve Ladurantaye has posted the complete interview transcript on his personal site! This is pretty much the only interview I've ever seen with Jean Chalopin talking at length about Gadget:

How did the original series start?
We started in Paris and ended up in Toronto. We started in Paris looking for a character to finance an animation series, we wanted it to be a toy so we could get a toy company to finance the show. But we never produced anything more than a plush toy with Gadget, it was never a success as a toy. But the idea we liked, so we took it to others. He became a mixture of other characters, the Six Million Dollar Man and Insp. Clouseau. We felt a toy was no longer essential and we found a way to finance with French television, Canadian television and some financing from the U.S. We produced 65 episodes up front, all in Canada. 

How is this different than failed reboots such as Gadget and the Gadgetinis?
We are keeping the same structure. There were a number of other things produced that more or less tried to do the same thing with additional characters. They didn’t address the continuity in a way that I would have liked to have seen. Nothing really tried to capitalize on the franchise of the character. Now we’ve taken something that is very much the same visually, but with a team of people that have the love of the original character who was born in 1981. 

How was it different to write a show back then? Do kids expect something different now?
In 1981, the pace was very slow. If you did the same thing exactly now, it would be very difficult to get an audience. Kids today are used to seeing different forms of animation and moods. So it’s the same story, with a new pace. Kids are now exposed to more things – in the 1980s you had the Flintstones and maybe some classic Tom and Jerry. Now we need to write gags for adults too – kids and adults work at different levels. If you’re 37, you’ll know the show but you also want the nine-year-old to like, so you need different jokes. We won’t be King of the Hill or Family Guy, it’s not under the belt like that, but there needs to be more gags. 

How involved will you be with the new show?
Michael Hirsh (CEO of DHX Media) is a long-time friend. He showed me some visuals he was doing in Halifax and I reacted so well. One of the greatest days of my year was flying to Halifax, everyone there is funny and really understands what they are doing. They understand what this is – at the end of the day I laughed so much that my stomach was hurting. 

Was it like that with the original series?
It was like that we when created Gadget, we were having fun. Because we were having fun it became what it is, but little by little it became like a job. 

What do you think it retained some of its popularity? It wasn’t on TV for all that long.
We were getting very good ratings. But Gadget has been a very good No. 2, it was never No. 1. For eight years, it was on Nickelodeon every day. But still, it has never achieved top ratings – always the second best. But Gadget has been on air for so long everywhere around the world because it gets decent ratings. It’s very simple because you have a character that is completely predictable. He is always nice. He’s completely idiotic, but he’s a good human being and his niece loves him. He may mistake his dog for a bad guy, but his niece loves him. The mission was always given by Chief Quimby, Gadget would take the mission and the note would explode in the face of Quimby and then Gadget would go on an adventure and in the wrong way. The mystery of whatever crime had to be resolved was solved by Penny with the assistance of Brain. He will resolve, but he’ll have no clue how he did it. 

Penny is a strong female character – that’s not all that common.
There’s a family relationship that works, he’s likeable character and behind him you have the real hero who is the young girl. In every family kids feel they know they answer but they are not listened to so perhaps there is something to that. When we created we liked the triangle. We may change that a little today, but we have not changed the relationships in this triangle. We need more gags, yes, much more gags because the pace before was very slow and we didn’t have much money when we first produced the show. It was the 1980s, kids of today and adults have a very high demand for fun and pace.

The interview is a bit short, but still very interesting. I love the part about how DiC originally wanted Gadget to be a toy franchise, but then went in the opposite direction and produced the series because they liked the idea and wanted to have fun with it. Of course toys were produced when the show first came out, but the toys were never the driving force (which I'm glad for), and never caught on the way the TV series did.

   To that end, Chalopin's comment abot Gadget being "a very good No. 2" on Nickelodeon serves as a sober reminder of the kind of popularity the show has enjoyed over the years. Inspector Gadget was a hit when it first came out, and continues to get good ratings in reruns, but it never reached the commercial heights of, say, the Scooby-Doo franchise.



I was a bit surpriced by Chalopin's descriptions of earlier (relatively unsuccessful) reboots, where the one example mentioned by the interviewer is Gadget and the Gadgetinis. As Jean says, "There were a number of other things produced that more or less tried to do the same thing with additional characters. They didn’t address the continuity in a way that I would have liked to have seen. Nothing really tried to capitalize on the franchise of the character."

   Personally, I very much agree with this. Later reboots and spinoffs like Gadget Boy and Gadget and the Gadgetinis never lived up to the original series, and many of them were impressively bad. But the strange thing here is that Chalopin himself was very much involved with Gadgetinis. He wrote or co-wrote every episode, and is even credited on-screen as having created the Gadgetinis series. So, is he a) talking about every reboot attempt besides Gadgetinis, or is he b) unhappy with the Gadgetinis series in retrospect? Was he perhaps not allowed to do some of the things he wanted on that project? I believe the Gadgetinis series was in development for some time before Chalopin got into it (it was called G.I. Gadget at one point), so maybe Chalopin's wishes for the series had to be compromised to fit with concepts already created.



In a few cases, it feels like Chalopin isn't really answering the interviewer's questions, but he still gives us interesting information. For instance, we only get vague details about exactly how involved he is with the new show (he apparently visits the crew in Halifax from time to time), but at the same time we learn that Michael Hirsh is one of the people in charge, and that Chalopin has great confidence in the crew. Later on, the interviewer points out that Penny is a "strong female character". I suspect that he was looking for a comment about female heroes in cartoons, and about how this was somewhat unique at the time. Instead, Chalopin talks about Penny's role in the family triangle, and likens the appeal of her character to how "...in every family kids feel they know the answer but they are not listened to". There is definitely something there. Personally, though, I think Penny being a young girl - rather than a young boy - made a big difference to the show. To me, it makes both her battle with M.A.D and her relationship with Gadget more interesting and endearing. Penny gives the show more heart, more charm. Plus, portraying a little girl as a brilliant computer whiz is refreshing in itself, and makes the contrast between her and Gadget even stronger. (And who cares how unlikely it is? It's cool!)



At any rate, I'm glad to hear Chalopin say that they "...have not changed the relationships in this triangle [between Gadget, Penny and Brain]" in the new series - and I'm curious how Penny's new role as an inspector-in-training will be integrated into that structure. It sounds more and more like this new show will indeed try to work in the same continuity as the 1983 series.



P.S.: Admittedly, the fact that Chalopin is involved with the reboot was known before this article. I have been following the developments of the new season of Chalopin's famous series "The Mysterious Cities of Gold" for a long time now... and back in November of last year, a new biography appeared on Tfou.fr where it was mentioned that Chalopin "...still devotes time and a large part of his life to series such as The Mysterious Cities of Gold, Inspector Gadget and other new creative projects." (Via Google Translate from the French sentence, "Malgré tout il garde toujours du temps et une large place dans sa vie pour des séries telles que les Mystérieuses Cités d'Or, Inspecteur Gadget et autres nouveaux projets créatifs.")

   While the biography didn't specify exactly which Inspector Gadget project Jean was devoting time to, I felt pretty certain even back in November that it had to be the new TV series. Also, a French TV interview with Jean, which originally appeared on Youtube back in December of 2012, suggested the same thing. I don't understand French, but I noticed that, at about 5:25 in the video, the narrator actually mentions "Reboot du Gadget". So Chalopin has been involved with the reboot for some time now. Makes sense, of course, considering that the series has been in pre-production at least since the start of 2012.

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Teletoon Officially Announces Inspector Gadget's New CGI Series

Well, that was a quick turnaround. We've had a year and a half with only the vaguest of information about this in-the-making show, and in one day, it's all over the internet. Why? Because Teletoon Canada has issued an official announcement and press release about the upcoming Inspector Gadget TV series, as well as two press pictures which have been circulating online along with that announcement. (Click on the pictures to see Gadget in super-large size!)

The second picture is, of course, the full version of the low-res image that I found on DHX Media's site on May 9, confirming that it was indeed from the new series (in fact, the low-res version is still viewable through DHX's image url). But let's get on to the new information - first of all, Teletoon's announcement and full press release! It can be found on a ton of news sites online, but I thought I might as well link to Teletoon Media's official site, which is probably where it originated. First, the formal announcement...

Inspector Gadget Reboot Tops Off TELETOON Canada’s Latest Original Production Slate 

TELETOON Canada announces two new original series, Inspector Gadget and Pirate Express, as well as the renewal of four others

June 09, 2013 - (...) 

TELETOON Canada Inc. today announced its latest original production slate, featuring a brand new CGI version of the beloved Canadian animated series Inspector Gadget and swashbuckling new series Pirate Express, as well as the renewals of Rocket Monkeys (Season 2), Endangered Species (Season 2), Total Drama (Season 6) and Johnny Test (Season 7). This announcement was made from the Banff World Media Festival, where TELETOON is a proud sponsor of the Kids and Animation program for the fourth consecutive year. (...)

...and then - the most interesting part - the actual info about the new series:

Inspector Gadget 

DHX Media • 26 x 11 minutes 

Premiere Date TBC on TELETOON 

MAD Agents, look out! Criminals, beware! Bystanders … take cover! Inspector Gadget is back to battle Dr. Claw with all-new gadgets – and all-new gadget-related chaos. But the loveable, bumbling, accidentally-destructive Inspector is not alone in the fight to take down MAD. His ever trusty police-dog, Brain, is still by his side and he's getting extra crime-fighting help from his new partner, Inspector-in-training Penny. With MAD more powerful than ever and with the arrival of Dr. Claw's evil-genius (and totally crush-worthy) nephew, Penny and Brain will need to use every ounce of their training to keep the world safe from Dr. Claw … and Gadget.

So, the new show's episodes will be 11 minutes in lenght rather than 22, Dr Claw has an evil-genius (and totally crush-worthy?!?) nephew, Penny is Inspector Gadget's official partner... There are a lot of changes to the original concept here which I honestly hadn't been expecting. In fact, pretty much the only thing from the press releases that I had been expecting was that the new series would be CGI-animated. At least that prediction turned out to be correct.



The following article from The Canadian Press (here via Yahoo! Canada) goes a bit in-depth about the development of the new show, as described by Alan Gregg, Teletoon's director of original content:

Teletoon Canada plans to air 'Inspector Gadget' reboot 

By: Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press 

Tuesday, Jun. 11, 2013 at 5:56 PM 

BANFF, Alta. - Go-Go-Gadget reboot. 

The clueless cyborg police inspector along with his catchy theme song, niece Penny and dog Brain are being dusted off and brought back to TV by Teletoon Canada and DHX Media (TSX:DHX). 

The original "Inspector Gadget" was introduced to audiences from 1983-86 and used the vocal talents of Don Adams, who is best-known as secret agent Maxwell Smart on the '60s sitcom "Get Smart." 

The series also spawned a 1999 movie of the same name starring Matthew Broderick. 

The network said the longstanding popularity of the franchise, which has run for years in reruns, serves a dual purpose. 

"We had been speaking with the programming department about finding brands that already resonated well ... particularly with adults," said Alan Gregg, Teletoon's director of original content, at the Banff World Media Festival on Tuesday. 

"It's a challenge because parents tend to not watch so much animation but we thought there's an opportunity with Inspector Gadget to sort of trade on the nostalgia factor — all the people who loved Inspector Gadget 30 years ago now have kids of the age who are watching our network." 

The reboot will stay true to its roots, said Gregg, but the latest version will be in CGI and the storyline and the characters will be updated just a bit. 

"The theme song is a huge part of Gadget and everyone loves the theme. I was just searching the other day and realized it is actually based on a classical piece by a Norwegian composer (Edvard Grieg) in 'In the Hall of the Mountain King,'" he chuckled. 

"We would like to get a major Canadian composer or songwriter to do a reboot of that theme song which would be true to the original but contemporarize it a little bit." 

The character of Penny will be a few years older and the bad guy will be the nephew of Gadget's original nemesis, Dr. Claw. 

It's too early to say who will do the voice but it won't be Adams, who died in 2005. 

Gregg said the show will be weekly and divided into two mini 11-minute segments. It could be ready to hit the airwaves in late 2014. 

Although Teletoon Canada is primarily thought of as a children's channel, Gregg said there are plenty of adult viewers — especially later in the evening. The new Gadget will likely run later in the family viewing timeframe as a lead-in to the more adult programming. 

"We're an animation channel first and foremost and a great deal of our programming is for kids but post 9 o'clock, we go to adult content like 'Robot Chicken,' 'Futurama,' 'Archer,' and 'American Dad,'" Gregg said. 

"All the key components are there. Anyone who looks at the new Gadget will be happy that we didn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. The show will be more contemporary and the stories more compelling."

For a moment, while reading the part with "...the bad guy will be the nephew of Gadget's original nemesis, Dr. Claw", I was wondering if Dr Claw himself would not be in this new series at all - he is, after all, only described as Gadget's original nemesis. However, a shorter write-up from The Canadian Press (via News1130) seems to confirm Dr Claw as a character in the new show:

‘Inspector Gadget’ making a return 

No premiere date yet for new CGI version

The Canadian Press June 11, 2013 9:29 am 

TORONTO (NEWS1130) – Go-Go-Gadget reboot! 

Teletoon Canada says it plans to air a new CGI version of the 1980s Canadian children’s animated series “Inspector Gadget” from DHX Media. 

The show features a bumbling cyborg detective who launches bionic gadgets in his body with the command “Go-Go-Gadget.” 

The cartoon sleuth originally debuted in 1983. 

Teletoon Canada says the new incarnation, which doesn’t have a premiere date yet, will also include original characters Dr. Claw, Brain the dog, and sidekick Penny.

As you've probably noticed, Teletoon Canada is the one who's making pretty much all the announcements at the moment. On DHX Media's side, there's only been a short news article so far. It doesn't tell us anything that we didn't already know from the Teletoon quotes, but it's nice to hear the news from DHX as well, so here it is:

DHX to produce new Inspector Gadget, Johnny Test 

2013-06-11 10:41 ET - News Release 

Mr. David Regan reports 

DHX MEDIA COMMISSIONED TO PRODUCE NEW INSPECTOR GADGET SERIES AND 7TH SEASON OF JOHNNY TEST SERIES 

DHX Media Ltd. has received an order from Teletoon Canada Inc. for a new CGI (computer-generated imagery) series of the classic kids cartoon, Inspector Gadget, and a seventh season of the hit children's series, Johnny Test. In addition, Teletoon Canada will be premiering Johnny Test, season 6, fall 2013.

I'll be posting my own thoughts about all of this shortly (hopefully later today or tomorrow)... but for now, what do you think about all the new announcements?

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First Preview Picture Of Gadget's New TV Series?

As you've probably noticed for the past six months, I really, really haven't got much time for blogging these days. (Without going into detail, my studies are very intense at the moment, so I've had to temporarily postpone pretty much all plans for this site.) But even so... how could I resist showcasing what I discovered this morning on the home page of DHX Media? The image has actually already been taken down by DHX (perhaps signaling that someone leaked it online a little too early?); but below, you can find picture proof in form of a screenshot from my computer, taken earlier tonight, of DHX's web site. (UPDATE: For more proof of the picture's source, you can also see it on its original image url from DHX Media. I elaborate a little on this at the end of the post.)

So what have we got here? A low-res image that - very briefly - served as the thumbnail for Inspector Gadget in the 'Shows' section of DHX's site. If you clicked on the image (like I tried), you would simply be taken to the standard presentation of the Inspector Gadget series, complete with a video of the 1983 intro... so there's no way to tell for certain that the temporary thumbnail picture was a preview of the new series. But thinking logically, what other reasons could the image have for being there? It looks nothing like the standard, crappily drawn promotional art for the original series - and more to the point, it's not even drawn! My theory: This was a subtly placed teaser for the new Gadget series, as well as the first reveal of the animation technique. Judging by this image, the new series will be CGI.



I'm also half-way wondering if the placing of the thumbail picture on DHX's site was hinting at something more: That the upcoming series will be a revival of the original show, rather than a reimagining. I've mentioned this theory before, and if it's true, it might actually make sense that the thumbnail image simply linked to the basic description of the old series... because this basic description will perhaps also apply to the new series. The image above is certainly giving me a very classic vibe.



In fact, even if I'm not 100% sure how well CGI will work, I think Gadget's design looks pretty charming. (In terms of charm and appeal, it's certainly miles ahead of anything seen in the 2005 horrendous direct-to-video CGI feature, Inspector Gadget's Biggest Caper Ever.) Gadget seems a bit simplified and streamlined compared to his 1983 design - the chin and ears are more rounded, for instance - but overall I love seeing how close this is to the Inspector's vintage appearance. Also, without knowing anything about how this design will move in animation, I'd say he seems fairly elastic and expressive.



Again, though, I have to stress that much of this is speculation on my part. The only thing I know for a fact is that, earlier today, what looks like a CGI-rendered image of Inspector Gadget was being used as a thumbnail in DHX Media's 'Shows' site. Sometimes during the past few hours (yes, really - you'll just have to take my word for that), the image was taken down and replaced with a piece of standard promotional art for the 1983 series. Everything beyond that is open to interpretation...



...your thoughts?



UPDATE (May 10): Through some creative Googling, I actually managed to find the original image url to the picture! Even though DHX removed it from their 'Shows' thumbnail section, the picture is still located in the same parent directory on dhxmedia.com. So click here for further proof that this image does indeed come directly from DHX Media! The image file is dated March 26, 2013 in DHX's parent directory folder (scroll down alphabetically to "thumb_inspector_gadget.png" to find it)... though I'm pretty sure it wasn't used as a thumbnail on the 'Shows' site until fairly recently. But it's interesting that this CGI image of Gadget is apparently many weeks old already.

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The New Inspector Gadget TV Series Is Scheduled For 2013

This just in (or in last month, actually): The revival/spinoff series that I talked about many months ago is definitely in production! Last month in Cannes, Cookie Jar announced their upcoming Inspector Gadget series at the TV and entertainment market MIPCOM - or more precicely, at MIPJunior, a 2-day screening and conference event for kids' content which precedes the main show. Below is the short press release that has been circulating online as part of the MIPJunior promotion (snagged from WorldScreen with the help of Google Cache, since it's hidden behind a subscription wall):

MIP Junior Spotlight: Cookie Jar Entertainment

Published: October 2, 2012



CANNES: Cookie Jar Entertainment is celebrating Inspector Gadget’s 30th anniversary with the launch of a brand-new series with its Canadian broadcast partner TELETOON. 

The series will again revolve around the iconic bionic bumbling detective. Also for TELETOON is Dr. Dimension Pants, an original series by Brad Peyton. The show What Do People Do All Day?, based on the popular Richard Scarry franchise, is for the Canadian broadcaster CBC. “These shows are based on very popular children’s brands and have shown through previous productions that they rate highly with audiences around the world,” says Michael Hirsh, Cookie Jar’s CEO.



Hirsh says that the company is expecting to pre-sell Inspector Gadget, What Do People Do All Day? and Dr. Dimension Pants at the market. He is also keen to find co-production partners for the latter two titles. “We have become the number one supplier to streaming networks for their kids’ content and we look forward to meeting with our existing customers as well as new entrants to the field around the world,” he adds of his further MIPCOM goals.

Want more? Here's picture proof of the press release, taken from the online slideshow version of the MIPJunior & MIPCOM edition of TV Kids, published September 25th. (You can find the press release yourself by going to page 26 in the slideshow.)

So finally, the revival/spinoff series is an official fact. (It somehow always feels more official when the production company announces it themselves.) And, it looks like "revival" might be the right word for it. Not much detail is uncovered, but judging by the above magazine snapshot, the show's title seems to simply be "Inspector Gadget". As in... a brand new season of the 80s series "Inspector Gadget"? Plus, the one sentence actually telling us something about the show says, "The series will again revolve around the iconic bionic bumbling detective." What, so it won't revolve around the son of the iconic bionic bumbling detective? WHEW!

Of course, we don't really know yet what the show will or will not do... but if it proves NOT to have any shockingly groundbreaking twists on the classic formula (like introducing a son for the main character - just a thought that popped into my mind), I really wouldn't mind. I just want to see someone do a good, new Inspector Gadget series - a new series which doesn't take away or change everything that made the show great in the first place. I'm hoping Cookie Jar and its partner TELETOON can do that. So far, at least, I'm liking what I'm hearing. It's nice that they're timing the new show to debut for Gadget's 30th anniversary. It's nice, too, that Michael Hirsh (executive chairman of Cookie Jar and DHX Media) is the one to announce it. Considering that Hirsh was also one of the original founders and leaders of Nelvana - the famous Canadian animation studio which co-produced the first season of Inspector Gadget with DiC - it just seems to fit. The new show is being produced in Canada, like the first season of the old show was, and for some reason I just like the sound of that.

To round off, here's yet another brief mention of the new show, from the MIPCOM News - Quick Review newsletter (page 4):

MIPCOM 2012 was the first time that kids studios DHX Media and Cookie Jar Entertainment have been in Cannes since they agreed a $111m deal. Underlining Canada’s importance to the kids business, the deal creates the largest independent owner of children’s programming in the world. Executive chairman of the enlarged group, Michael Hirsh, was in town with series such as Inspector Gadget (a new version) and Dr Dimensionpants.

Plus PICTURE PROOF! (Nice shirt, Michael.)

This short brief mentions a fact I haven't yet bothered to write about: DHX Media buying Cookie Jar Entertainment in a deal which, after finalizing last month, created the world's largest independent library of children's entertainment. (Brag, brag.) So Gadget is technically owned by DHX now... even though Cookie Jar is still an up and running company, as a subsidiary of DHX. I had wondered if this buyout would affect the upcoming Gadget series in any way (maybe a bit like how the planned 2009 reboot was cancelled after Cookie Jar bought and swallowed DiC)... but this seems not to be the case here, as both DHX and Cookie Jar were behind promoting the new show at MIPCOM. Good stuff.



By the way... "iconic bionic bumbling detective" has a kind of catchy ring to it. New official tagline?

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