With Sony relying on monetary contributions from the series' somewhat fickle American broadcaster, Disney XD, the fate of The Spectacular Spider-Man and its potential third season is somewhat in doubt. Nobody is really sure whether or not the upcoming US premiere of season two will meet that network's expectations, or if they even want to renew the series at all. However, Marvel Animation Age has recently received an e-mail from Teletoon indicating that the webslinger has certainly given the Canadian broadcaster something to be excited about:

So there are always possibilities of doing a co-venture, but it is often difficult when there are multiple producers and licensors involved as would be the case with this property [The Spectacular Spider-Man].

In terms of the show’s performance, it is doing really very well on Teletoon. For this winter/spring season it is the top show with adults 18+ and falls within the top five for many kid audience age groups.

Essentially we’re not ruling anything out. It is a possibility.

Looks like Wolverine doesn't necessarily have national pride on his side when it comes to ratings. Unfortunately, being an international hit hasn't been enough to convince Sony to wave a finger and make the coveted third season materialize. Could that potentially change? Here's hoping.

On a related note, The Spectacular Spider-Man: The Complete First Season will be released on DVD July 28. No Blu-ray release in sight, but even if you'd prefer to watch the show in glorious high definition, I strongly recommend picking up the DVD set anyway for the measly $25 they're asking for it.

We're looking into finally upgrading Zannen, Canada this summer, and with that will hopefully come a few format changes. Primarily, the news forum will no longer be used for front page updates. Please go to the front page to read and comment on all news stories. In time, all posts in the News forum will be converted to regular front page posts.

You may have noticed over the past week that CTV has been plastering your favourite prime time programming with messages pointing you to this website. I would hope that most have been quick to realize that this is yet another case of Canadian networks and cable and satellite providers (BDUs) spewing bile at each other, placing audiences in the unfortunate situation of having to choose which flavour of bile they like better. For your consideration, a brief description of the issue at hand.

Insisting that they are incapable of supporting their own infrastructures, Canadian networks such as CTV and Global have decided that BDUs such as Rogers and Bell should be paying them a large fee in exchange for carrying their signals... signals which are available over the air for free. This is a cost that, without doubt, will be passed along to the consumers, and a demand which the CRTC saw fit to reject completely. Twice.

This has led CTV and Global to take their issue straight to the federal government, demanding that this fee for carriage be put in place. The threat they're making is one that would be unheard of amongst broadcasters in most other countries: local broadcasters will be shut down if they don't get their cash injection.

So, is this lofty threat just a bluff? The fact that CTV has already sold a few of them to Shaw for one dollar certainly suggests so. SaveLocalTV.ctv.ca has a form that allows you to contact either your MP and contact information for Heritage Minister James Moore. I would recommend just bypassing that thing entirely and writing to both your MP and Minister Moore about the obvious flaws in this proposal.

On the heels of last years blockbuster protest of copyright bill C-61 and in preparation for a new one destined to be introduced this fall, The Globe and Mail has decided to ask Canadian citizens if they can do better. They have launched a Wiki asking readers to construct what they feel is an adequate copyright bill for Canada. The final results, for better or worse, will be submitted to Ottawa on July 1, 2009.

If you try to catch Bionix tonight at 10pm tonight, you will find that it will once again slip through your grasp. The block, or what's left of it, has been pushed back to 12am on Saturday night/Sunday morning, surprising only the most ridiculously optimistic. While I still hesitate to declare the block effectively dead, it does raise an interesting question: even if it doesn't last into the fall, will YTV at least keep the block on life support long enough to celebrate its fifth anniversary on the week of September 10?

by: Dayspring

On June 11th, the Thursday night movie for Teletoon is Pan's Labyrinth (followed by a repeat broadcast). Friday the 12th will have two movies instead of one being repeated after it ends. Those movies will be a third broadcast of Pan's Labyrinth, followed by Akira.

The 18th will have 300 (followed by repeat), while the 19th will have 300 followed by Hellboy: Blood and Iron.

After that, Fridays return to being two back-to-back broadcasts of previously-seen movies (V for Vendetta).

Just this morning, The Family Channel, Inc. received approval for a new category 2 specialty channel targeted at children 6-17 years of age. There is nothing at all notable about the station's proposed broad focus, which is virtually the same as Family Channel's. What is notable is the name that has been bestowed upon this potential new network.

Brace yourselves for: Family EXTREME

Frankly, I don't know if digital cable and satellite will be able to handle it.

The Detour will be running the new adult targeted G.I. Joe film/mini-series (depending on how you want to look at it), G.I. Joe: Resolute this Friday at 11:15pm.

Also of note is this line-up which was posted on Teletoon Retro's schedule for May 18:

5:00PM - The Huckleberry Hound Show
5:30PM - The Quick Draw McGraw Show
6:00PM - The Yogi Bear Show
6:30PM - Top Cat
7:00PM - Josie and the Pussycats
7:30PM - Captain Caveman
8:00PM - Transformers
8:30PM - G.I. Joe

Yes, you read those last two right. Teletoon has confirmed that this line-up will run only on May 18, and will serve as a preview for series' they may license in the future. I can only imagine the violent retaliation that will happen if they don't pick up Transformers and G.I. Joe after previewing them.

A number of animated series have turned up on YouTube's new outlet of Hulu envy, YouTube Shows. Miraculously, a number of titles are actually available to Canadians on this service. As far as I can tell, this includes all of the titles uploaded by Manga Entertainment as well as ADV, meaning that their proprietary license squatting may have actually paid off!

Unfortunately, Canadians are still foiled by the invisible barriers of IP restrictions when it comes to a number of titles. While many of them likely do have legitimate rights issues, I really have to question why Canadians can't access the Hayao Miyazaki-helmed classic Sherlock Hound, since it's very unlikely that the streaming rights to this title are tied up with any other company.

Super Channel 2 and Super Channel 2 HD will begin airing Now and Then, Here and There on Monday, April 20th at 10:00pm EST/ 7:00pm PST. Unlike some of their previous offerings, NTHT is a very gritty, compelling series that actually earns its place on a premium television station. It's also probably the only case where I can invite you to watch a video of the series' director and female lead engaging in a lavish sword duel.

Interestingly, despite previous speculation, Gundam 00 is still nowhere to be found on Super Channel's schedule, suggesting that Starz may not have the Canadian rights to the series after all. Given that Bandai's YouTube channel still restricts Canadian users from viewing Gundam 00, one must wonder what could possibly be causing the rights to be tied up in such a fashion. This mystery serves as the basis for our latest poll.

EDIT - As it turns out, NTHT actually debuted on Super Channel last year along with Gurren Lagann! My mistake.