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"Ben 10" shatters ratings record for Cartoon Network
Live action version of "Ben 10" cartoon breaks longtime Cartoon Network ratings record held by "Dragon Ball Z" Graham Phillips ("Evan Almighty") as Ben Tennyson, Haley Ramm ("X-Men: The Last Stand") as Gwen, and veteran actor Lee Majors ("6 Million Dollar Man", "The Fall Guy") as "Grandpa" Max TennysonIt also was Cartoon Network's most-watched telecast in more than five years among kids 6-11 (1.5 million) and kids 2-11 (2.1 million), narrowly missing a November 2001 telecast of Dragon Ball Z and a January 2002 telecast of Scooby-Doo and the Cyberchase, respectively. "Race Against Time" ranked as the No. 1 telecast for the day among both demos in all of television -- broadcast and cable. The movie was based on Cartoon's animated action-adventure series "Ben 10" and revolves around Ben Tennyson, his cousin Gwen, and his grandfather Max. During a summer camping trip, Ben is nearly hit by an alien pod that fell from space and crashed near him. When he examines it he finds a mysterious watch-like device (the Omnitrix) stored inside. The device attaches to his wrist and gives him the ability to transform into a variety of alien lifeforms, each with their own unique powers. It should be noted that while a non-animated filmed now holds such a lofty title, more staggering is this: it surpassed the September 2002 season premiere airing of "Dragon Ball Z", one of the most legendary shows ever to air on Cartoon Network (and arguably built its Toonami block). Entitled 'Evil Lives On', hardcore fans had to wait 10 months to watch it on CN and the demand resulted in DBZ ranking as the #1 TV show in the tweens 9-14, boys 9-14 and men 12-24 demographics in all of television that week. Success has not been a stranger to the "Ben 10" framchise. Online at CartoonNetwork.com, last week's Cartoon Network Video sneak peek of "Ben 10" garnered nearly 666,000 plays; and the online game based on the movie called “Savage Pursuit” has secured 14.8 million game plays since its Oct. 15 launch. A previous animated Ben 10 movie called Secret of the Omnitrix aired in August this year to decent reviews. Also, in spring of 2008 a sequel to the series will launch entitled Ben 10: Hero Generation, which will follow the exploits of now-teenagers Ben and Gwen Tennyson mentoring a group of children with powers similar to Ben's. FRANKLIN DACOSTA is a Gaming writer/Acting Japanese Anime Editor for Binary Culture and personally challenges you to join the BC.net staff. Are you bad enough??? |
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