Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir set for Family Channel; Rogers and Shaw pull the plug on shomi
DHX’s channels continue to be the island of misfit programming. In an age where more and more US children’s networks focus on owned content, and our Canadian equivalents focus more on deals with those big US producers, independent productions are slipping through the cracks. While Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir landed a US TV deal with Nickelodeon, it’s been treated about as well as the typical third party show on the net and seemed like it might not show up in English Canada (the French version has been airing on Tele-Quebec since January) at all. Well, that’s not the case, as the show is listed to premiere on Family Channel at 6PM EST on October 10th. DHX likes to repeat their shows (sometimes even across networks), so if you can’t catch it then I’m sure there will be other slots.
Here’s some info on the France-Japan-Korea co-production:
Oh, wait. Wrong trailer. That was back from when it was going to be animated by Toei. Instead, the production crew claim broadcasters forced them to go with CGI. Supposedly Toei is working on an OVA for the series, but who knows when or if that will ever surface. The series, which currently sits at one 26 episode season, has two more seasons in production. The second is due out sometime next spring.
The 26-episode series follows two junior high students, Marinette and Adrien, chosen to save Paris from the evil doings of a mysterious super-villain. The storylines and adventures are rich with friends, family, fun, secret identity, transformation, villains, fashion, creativity and more, all within the spectacular backdrop of Paris.As secret identity superheroes Ladybug and Cat Noir, Marinette and Adrien must balance the crazy antics of normal teen life while stopping weekly baddies deployed by Hawk Moth to steal their powers and take over the world. With the help of their magical pets, and miraculous jewels, the duo transform into their alter egos, Ladybug and Cat Noir, and are granted powers of speed, strength, agility and a clear mind.
I’m slightly surprised the show didn’t wind up on a Corus kids channel, if only because it would’ve been something to bundle up with Winx Club, Power Puff Girls and Mysticons.
Thanks Greg.
In barely related to anime news, Rogers and Shaw have confirmed that their subscription service shomi will shutdown on November 30th. The writing has been on the wall for a while now. When Shaw sold their media business to Corus earlier this year, their stake in Shomi wasn’t part of the deal. A quiet upfront, Rogers offering cable bundles with Netflix, and Shaw later marking the business’s value down to $0 sparked speculation about the service’s future. Since Shaw was clearly checking out, would Amazon come in and save the day? Nope.
It remains to be seen what will happen to shomi’s catalog of content. While it wasn’t a bastion of exclusive programming, it did curate a number of shows that you legally couldn’t find elsewhere in Canada. Notably, it picked up a handful of Amazon Prime original series. With their Canadian home now dead, speculation that Amazon will launch their service in Canada has been renewed. If it does, we won’t have to worry about the immediate availability of Noitamina series anymore.
I Miss Bionix 
I don’t have much to say about these shows (is that cat noir thing even aired in Japan?) but still thanks for the updates!
I didn’t even know about Shomi until a couple months ago when they started advertising the shit out of it on TV. Can’t say I saw it as anything other than a crappy Netflix alternative.
I agree, that series would had been at home on YTV who should be less reliant on FOP and Spongebob and these “tweencoms”…
And speaking of Amazon Prime,”Thunderbirds Are Go” the CGI reboot of the classic puppet animated series Thunderbirds which YTV broadcasted in the 1990s with Stingray and Captain Scarlet is available in the United States on Amazon Prime.