WB Execs Kill Classic Cartoon Character Michigan J. Frog

Beverly Hills, CA – The 2005 Summer Television Critics Association tour has included a number of sessions with veteran performers of yesteryear. Several networks have brought beloved favorites here to talk about special event programming in which they are featured. These treasured stars have included Sid Caesar, Red Buttons, Mickey Rooney, Rose Marie, Carl Reiner, Bob Newhart and Dick Van Dyke. All were treated with great warmth and respect.

Then along came executives from The WB, who abruptly hushed the TCA's nostalgic buzz by casually announcing that a beloved entertainment industry veteran who members of this organization have come to know well during the last ten years is "dead and buried."

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The deceased is none other than Michigan J. Frog, the singing, dancing, top hat-wearing amphibian that first appeared in the classic 1955 Warner Bros. cartoon "One Froggy Evening" and, forty years later, gained a new legion of fans as the animated mascot of The WB.

The other day, during the WB's presentations at the TCA tour, it became slowly, uneasily apparent that Michigan J. was nowhere to be seen. Not on the WB notepads provided to critics during press conferences, nor the network press kits, nor the splashy new logo treatments projected on screens at the front of the international ballroom at the Beverly Hilton hotel, home of the current tour.

Executives at The WB had kept Michigan J.'s unceremonious demise a secret until one critic asked Ancier and WB Entertainment president David Janollari about the new logo design, or "mark," as some executives call it. The design consists of something that looks like green, yellow and blue paint smears with black writing on top.

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"What's up with the splashy paint?" one critic asked.

The question had many journalists in the room laughing, but the best was yet to come. After Ancier explained that it was a new design from the network's marketing folks, Janollari joked, "I think our key artist was on acid." This broke the room up even more.

Then the critic solemnly asked, "Is the frog dead?"

"The frog is dead and buried," WB chairman Garth Ancier replied.

Critics and reporters responded with gasps and boos.

Janollari quickly explained that network executives had determined Michigan J. "perpetuated the young teen feel of the network," adding, "that is not the image we want to put out to our audience."

In other words, the network wants to appear more grown up and mature and broaden its viewership. In WB terms, that means reinforcing its intent to target the 18-34 demographic, rather than just teens. Fair enough.

But did they have to kill the frog?

"Do you know what day the frog died?" the crestfallen critic continued.

"The frog was on life support for a long time and then we got permission from a federal court to remove the feeding tube," Ancier said. More laughter from the crowd followed.

Asked if he would have killed the NBC peacock when he worked at that network years ago, Ancier replied, "No. The peacock is a true American icon based on the advent of color television." This explanation was lost on the dozens of members of TCA who were born after the advent of color television. In fact, these youngsters would not be aware that programming had ever been telecast in black and white were it not for reruns of "I Love Lucy" and "Leave it to Beaver" on TV Land.

"The peacock," Ancier contined, is "one of the most recognizable symbols, like the Apple logo, in corporate America. I don't think you would look at the frog and say that's one of the most corporately recognized symbols, like McDonalds' arches."

Minutes later another critic pointed to the smear of green, yellow and blue paint on the screens and asked, "Is that the remains of the frog?"

"I'd say yes," Janollari replied, barely audible over the laughter in the room.

At the end of the session, WB publicity executive Brad Turell put a new spin on the story and attempted to throw the unfortunate fate of a once vital corporate property into question. He reported that he had just gotten off the phone with an executive at Warner Animation who said, "Michigan J. Frog is actually alive and well and living in Bolivia under the witness protection program."

The crowd didn't buy it. The WB will surely address the frog issue again when this organization returns to Los Angeles in January 2006 for its annual winter tour.

The frog controversy was just one element in a day that didn't exactly run smoothly for the WB. The session for the new drama "Just Legal" was interrupted by a fire alarm and by its young star Jay Baruchel, who began laughing at strange times for no apparent reason. (Perhaps one of his cast mates whispered something funny.) Richard Rubin, the best known nerd on the network's "Beauty and the Geek," was introduced as the new head of research for The WB and delivered an unfunny scripted routine in which he dismissed demographics as "horse shit."

Later, Rubin played piano in the outer hall of the international ballroom. Several critics approached wanting to talk with him – some even put money in a tip jar – but Rubin refused all requests, referring the press to network publicists. That situation was quickly addressed after several interview opportunities had been lost.

To the delight of the many fans of "Smallville" in the room, star Tom Welling appeared on stage to announce casting news about his show and introduce the panel for the well-received fall series "Supernatural." Rumor had it Welling was also going to do a brief Q&A, which would have been his first since he attended TCA five years ago to introduce "Smallville."

Welling was having a grand time, ignoring the teleprompter and chatting with the crowd. When he announced that the D.C. Comics character Aquaman was going to be a new character next season, and critics began laughing, he played right along. "Thank you very much!" he riffed. "So, who we laughing at?"

Critics then informed Welling that Aquaman was at the center of a funny story this summer on HBO's "Entourage."

"I can assure you, you won't be confused [between the two shows]," Welling laughed. Then he revealed that, on his show, Aquaman would be dating Lois Lane.

And on it went with the surprisingly engaging Welling – until a technician suddenly shut the lights off and began rolling clips of "Supernatural" on the giant screens next to the stage, leaving the guy stranded in the shadows.

"Am I supposed to leave?" Welling called out from the darkened stage. "Is that why the lights went out? Thank you!"

The critics called out their farewells as Welling disappeared behind the curtain, never to be seen again.

The session for "Supernatural" proceeded without further incident. In fact, it was one of those ideal sessions at TCA that actually further increase interest in new series. Success for this show is the producers' to lose. (P.S. An earlier session, for the Sara Gilbert-Melanie Griffith comedy "Twins," was similarly effective.)