Cartoonist Owen Dunne and Keenspot Entertainment have signed with 20th Century Fox Television and former Fox TV group chairman Sandy Grushow’s Phase Two to take their popular web-based comic strip You Damn Kid! from the computer monitor to the television screen.
Dunne’s “You Damn Kid!” revolves around two naive children, a boy nicknamed “The Kid” and his little sister Dot, who attempt to figure out how the world works by observing the odd group of grownups who surround them. In the world of “You Damn Kid!,” an A.A. meeting becomes a playground and an inflatable doll is your friend’s new stepmother.
“I am thrilled and excited to have this opportunity,” said Dunne. “I’ve always felt that my comic strip family would do well as an animated television show, and this is a huge first step in seeing that dream become reality. It is tremendously gratifying to be working with Fox, Phase Two and most importantly, someone as respected and accomplished as Sandy Grushow.”
While “Kid!” may tackle provocative subjects, the themes are universal. “Everyone’s been a kid, and most people believe their family is strange,” said Keenspot Co-CEO Chris Crosby. “Owen’s created a family comedy in the proud tradition of ‘The Simpsons,’ ‘Family Guy,’ and ‘Arrested Development.’ It’ll feel right at home at Fox, no doubt about it.”
Said Dunne, “I’d really like to thank Chris Crosby and the folks at Keenspot for publishing my book, hosting my comics and working hard to put my work in the hands of the people who could make this deal happen.”
“You Damn Kid!†(www.youdamnkid.com) has been published on the web since 1999 and exclusively with Keenspot since 2000. In 2004, Keenspot published the first “Kid!†book, ‘Fun at A.A. Meetings’ (ISBN #0972235051). The second collection, ‘Naked Lady Balloons’ (ISBN #1932775056), is scheduled for publication this winter. “Kid!†is also published in print as part of the Keenspot Comics Page, a newspaper supplement that runs regularly in various papers including The Turlock Journal of Turlock, California. As well, other newspapers carry the strip separately.
Keenspot Entertainment (www.keenspot.com), which is represented by manager Marc Manus of Manus Entertainment and attorney Frank M. Lunn of Rosen Feig Golland & Lunn LLP, is the largest publisher of web-based comics with more than 50 comic properties, over 30,000 pages of content, and thousands of characters in its roster. Keenspot webcomics attract more than 2 million unique visitors which view close to 1 billion Keenspot pages annually.
I stopped watching network TV a long time ago.
This certainly isn’t going to bring me back.