Noggin adds new series to its lineup
'On the Team,' 'Big Kids' to bolster network's roster
The commercial net has acquired 13 episodes of "On the Team," a half-hour reality series that follows a Little League baseball team in Brooklyn. Noggin plans to debut "On the Team" along with "Big Kids," a co-production between Noggin and the BBC, in January as part of a new primetime block of shows geared to older kids.
"On the Team" director and executive producer Lisa Wood Shapiro describes the show as " 'The Real World' meets 'The Bad News Bears.' " Series, which interweaves the personal lives of the team members with the ups and downs of their weekly competition, is produced by Gotham-based Hitchhiker Films, of which Shapiro is a founding member. Gus Reyes also exec produces.
The live-action "Big Kids" features a family in which the parents use magical powers to revert to various ages.
Noggin general manager Tom Ascheim anticipates that close to 40% of the net's airtime will consist of original programming by the end of the year. Ascheim recently ordered another 13 episodes of "A Walk in Your Shoes," in which two youngsters trade lives. Ascheim said that the network, currently available in 12.5 million homes, should be distributed in 15 million by year's end.
Hitchhiker, which was founded last year, is in development on several other reality series.
