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 UPN Kids logo. Its slogan wasUPN Kids is Up'n! (pronouncedooh-pin), and was used from 1996–1998 | |
| Network | UPN |
|---|---|
| Launched | September 10, 1995; 30 years ago (1995-09-10) |
| Closed | September 5, 1999; 26 years ago (1999-09-05) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Format | Sunday children's programming block |
| Running time | 1–2 hours |
UPN Kids was an Americanchildren'sprogramming block that aired onUPN from September 10, 1995 to September 5, 1999. Airing on Sunday mornings, the block aired for one hour (10:00 to 11:00 am), then two hours the following year (9:00 to 11:00 a.m., regardless oftime zone).
UPN Kids launched on September 10, 1995 with a one-hour block of cartoons consisting ofSpace Strikers andTeknoman. It was a joint partnership betweenUPN andSaban Entertainment.[1] UnlikeNBC,ABC,CBS,Fox andThe WB (the latter of which debuted its own children's program block,Kids' WB, the day before UPN Kids made its debut), UPN ran its weekend morning children's programs on Sundays instead of Saturdays. This was likely due to several UPN affiliates in large markets also dually carrying theFox Kids block fornewer Fox stations (especially those ofNew World Communications; the former Fox affiliates in those markets mainly also retained the Fox Kids schedule) on Saturday mornings, who is not carrying Fox Kids to instead expand Saturday morning newscasts or retain other local programming. This eventually proved to be a conflict for UPN, as the more well-known Fox Kids block was given primacy in advertising and promotions by those affiliates (including the continuation of the local children's Fox Kids fan clubs run by those stations) over UPN's unproven children's programming.
On September 8, 1996, UPN Kids expanded the block to 2 hours with four new programs, which consist ofJumanji,The Mouse and the Monster,The Incredible Hulk andBureau of Alien Detectors.[2] In 1997, UPN incorporated live-action series aimed at teenagers, along with the animated shows targeted at a younger audience, with the addition of reruns of thesyndicated dramedy seriesSweet Valley High (based on theyoung adult novels byFrancine Pascal) and a new comedy series,Breaker High (focused on a group of students attending a fictionalizedSemester at Sea program, which featured a then-unknownRyan Gosling among its main cast).
In January 1998, UPN began discussions withThe Walt Disney Company (owner of rival network ABC) to have the company program a daily two-hour children's block for the network;[3] however, attempts to reach a time-lease agreement deal with Disney were called off one week later due to a dispute between Disney and UPN over how the block would be branded and the amount of programming compliant with theFederal Communications Commission'seducational programming regulations that Disney would provide for the block. UPN then entered into discussions with then-corporate sisterNickelodeon (both were owned byViacom).[4] UPN had an agreement withSaban Entertainment – the distributor ofSweet Valley High andBreaker High – to program the Sunday morning block for at least one year.[4] Shows such asFantastic Four,Iron Man,X-Men,Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends,Spider-Man andBeetleborgs soon joined the schedule. During this time, the block was promoted asThe UPN Kids Action Zone.[5][6]
In March 1998, UPN resumed discussions with Disney[7] and the following month, The Walt Disney Company agreed to develop a weekday and Sunday morning children's block for the network.[8] A new lineup, which was developed as a companion block toDisney's One Saturday Morning onABC, was originally announced under the title "Whomptastic" (a title quickly discarded because it was used as an in-universeprofanity replacement in Disney's animated seriesRecess), before being retitled asDisney's One Too.[9] UPN Kids aired for the last time on September 5, 1999, and was replaced byDisney's One Too the following day.