Nickelodeon, at its annual upfront presentation held at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Wednesday, March 14, unveiled plans for an unprecedented 650 new episodes—the top-ranked network’s most ever—of both brand-new content and returning hits. The presentation included appearances by Nick Cannon, Keke Palmer, One Direction and musical performances by Nick’s own Big Time Rush and How to Rock’s Cymphonique Miller and Gravity 5, making their live-performance debut. Nick’s newest star, Rachel Crow of The X Factor fame, capped the evening with a performance of Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You.” Below are links to highlights of the presentation for download.
The network also announced premiere details for the highly anticipated animated series The Legend of Korra; a stop-motion SpongeBob SquarePants Christmas special; an original primetime TV movie, Rags, starring Keke Palmer; casting for the new Nick at Nite series Hollywood Heights (formerly Reach for a Star); an original animated series based on the Raving Rabbids video games; and new projects with UK pop sensation One Direction, iCarly/Victorious show creator Dan Schneider and iCarly star Jennette McCurdy.
The evening also featured an exclusive look at a previsualization (3D storyboard) of Paramount Pictures’ highly anticipated live-action Ninja Turtles feature, presented by producer Michael Bay. The feature film will bow in 2013, following this year’s fall TV premiere of the brand-new CG-animated TMNT series on Nickelodeon.
Nickelodeon President Zarghami also highlighted several live-action projects currently in development, including pilots for Nick at Nite with Scott Baio (Daddy’s Home); Wendell & Vinnie, a comedy about a goofball uncle (Jerry Trainor from iCarly) who becomes the guardian to his conservative 12-year old genius nephew; and a new Nickelodeon series from hit-maker Dan Schneider that will star Jennette McCurdy from iCarly; and a series starring The X Factor sensation Rachel Crow.
