Prime-time animation is a notoriously risky genre, but UPN will take a chance on an unusual new CGI half-hour comedy that follows a family of videogame characters (voiced by folks like Patrick Warburton and Lucy Liu). ''Real'' cybercharacters such as the Abe's Oddysee gang or Crash Bandicoot will guest-star. ''There's this giant audience of gamers who haven't been approached with the proper respect and a genuinely inspired project,'' says creator David Sacks. ''We're the first show to take videogames as a cultural phenomenon seriously.'' Now all he has to do is get the joystick jockeys to switch off the PS2 and turn on the TV. (spring)

Originally posted Jan 23, 2004 Published in issue #747-748 Jan 23, 2004 Order article reprints