Enormously-popular web series “The Annoying Orange” – which as of September has garnered more than 850 million views on its official YouTube channel – is now heading to television, with Cartoon Network picking up broadcast rights to the online comedy series. The network is planning on unveiling the half-hour TV incarnation as part of their original programming block sometime next year.
In October 2009 creator Dane Boedigheimer uploaded the first episode of the series, which centers on the anthropomorphic orange of the title as he heckles and irritates an assortment of other fruity characters in the kitchen where he resides. The show’s official YouTube channel reached one million subscribers within less than a year of launching and has since doubled that number; the show’s official web site generates almost 4 million page views a month.
“Two years ago when I launched The Annoying Orange, I never imagined that my unhealthy obsession with talking fruit would become such a phenomenon” said Boedigheimer, who voices/performs the title character and also writes some of the storylines with his creative partner Spencer Grove (the two also collaborated on the pilot alongside “Pinky and the Brain” writer Tom Sheppard). “I’m really excited to bring a new version to Cartoon Network.”
The TV version was developed and produced by production company The Collective and co-created by Boedigheimer and Sheppard. The Collective financed production of the pilot episode before shopping it to networks. Director Conrad Vernon (“Shrek 2”, “Monsters vs. Aliens”) is attached as an executive producer.
Here’s a blurb from the official press release:
“The television series follows Orange and his band of buddies as they travel through time in a magical fruit cart. From Prehistoric Era to Colonial Times, Orange and the rest of the Kitchen Crew are dropped into random adventures and forced to squeeze their way out. Joining Orange on his escapades are his fellow popular produce pals from the web series including Pear, Passion Fruit, Apple, Marshmallow and his nemesis Grapefruit.”
New episodes of the web series will continue to be produced alongside the televised incarnation.
Boedigheimer’s offbeat idea has become quite lucrative over the last couple of years, with the Annoying Orange and his cohorts now the subjects of an apparel and accessory line at JC Penney, an impending toy line, and even an iPhone/Android app.
Any fans of the series excited for this new development? Think the show will work when expanded to a half-hour? Sound off in the comments!