Father of the Pride

Father of the Pride was an NBC animated series that began broadcasting on August 31, 2004 and was only the second CGI series in prime-time network TV (after UPN's Game Over). The show, which was produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg and his company, DreamWorks Animation revolves around a family of white lions, the patriarch of which stars in a Siegfried & Roy show in Las Vegas.

Related Topics:
NBC - Animated series - August 31 - 2004 - CGI - Network TV - UPN - Game Over - Jeffrey Katzenberg - DreamWorks Animation - White lions - Siegfried & Roy - Las Vegas

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The show featured the voice talent of John Goodman, Danielle Harris, Cheryl Hines, Carl Reiner, Orlando Jones, Julian Holloway and Dave Herman. The per-episode cost of the series was reportedly $1.6 million and each episode took nine months to create.

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John Goodman - Danielle Harris - Cheryl Hines - Carl Reiner - Orlando Jones - Julian Holloway - Dave Herman - $

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The opening sequence starts off with a red sports car, Nevada license plate "MAGIC1", being driven by Siegfried & Roy past many of the attractions in Las Vegas. Cast names are presented on billboards, before swerving into the Mirage Hotel. The scene changes to the lion's house. Larry wakes up late for his performance on his favourite couch, and dashes towards the stage (but not before having a pre-show beer). John Goodman voices a rousing rendition of Elvis Presley's "Viva Las Vegas" as the background music throughout.

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The show was almost cancelled long before its broadcast following the near death of Roy Horn in October 2003, but after his condition improved, both Siegfried and Roy urged NBC to continue production of the show. The show was promoted heavily during NBC's coverage of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece and garnered above average ratings for the network, but mostly a negative response from TV critics who considered the show to be nothing more than a gimmick and a shill for other NBC and DreamWorks properties (two early episodes extensively featured The Today Show's Matt Lauer and another featured Donkey - voiced by Eddie Murphy - from the DreamWorks movie Shrek), some consider the show a mild version of South Park.

Related Topics:
Roy Horn - October 2003 - 2004 Summer Olympics - Athens - Greece - TV - The Today Show - Matt Lauer - Eddie Murphy - Shrek - South Park

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The show's ratings began to decline, and by November 2004 it was pulled from NBC's sweeps line-up. In early December 2004, the CEO of Dreamworks announced that that show was cancelled just a few months after it was initially aired. A DVD version of the show has been made available, containing the original pilot, an alternate pilot (which draws heavily on the original), an un-aired episode, and one episode that was voice-recorded, but was not animated, and remains at the storyboard stage. The show however continues to air, but outside the USA. It's on Teletoon in Canada, BBC1 and Sky One in Great Britain, RTE One in Ireland, NHK in Japan, Canal FOX in Latin America, and GMA Network in the Philippines. The ratings are 30% lower than when it aired in the USA.

Related Topics:
November 2004 - December 2004 - DVD - USA - Teletoon - Canada - BBC1 - Sky One - Great Britain - RTE One - Ireland - NHK - Japan - Canal FOX - Latin America - GMA Network - Philippines

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