This marks the fourth Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series to debut on television. As you will see in the first full-length trailer embedded above, the Ninja Turtles embody a unique style of CGI animation. If the clip is any indication of what’s in store, viewers can prepare to watch the Turtles’ origin story unfold in the premiere episode. And if you are wondering, the voice cast includes recognizable talents like Jason Biggs (American Pie), Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings), Robert Paulsen (who voiced Raphael in the original 1987 TMNT animated series) Kevin Michael Richardson (The Cleveland Show), and Mae Whitman (Arrested Development).

Executive producer Ciro Neili told EW the aim of the show: “I tried to boil it down and get to really what’s at the core of it which is this sense of brothers and camaraderie. Everything grew out of that. It’s like a band. You want a Beatles thing.”

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles debuts October 20 on Nickelodeon. Kowabunga!

Can’t wait any longer for the Tron sequel to get off the ground? This should hold you over. This June Disney is going to introduce the sci-fi animated series Tron: Uprising to its Disney XD programming slate. The events in the show take place in between the original 1982 movie and the recent Tron: Legacy. The protagonist Beck is voiced by Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings) and Emmanuelle Chriqui (Entourage),  Mandy Moore,  Paul Reubens (aka Pee-Wee Herman), Lance Henriksen (Aliens), and Tron‘s very own Bruce Boxleitner round out the stellar cast of voices. Tron: Legacy producer Sean Bailey is behind the series, along with Once Upon A Time and Lost‘s Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. If you’re a fan of the Tron universe, this 10-part animated series is a must-see.

Less than four months after renewing South Park for two more seasons, Comedy Central is assuring fans of the crude comedy that Kyle, Stan, Cartman, and Kenny will stay put at least until the year 2016. That’s right: today the network renewed South Park for three more seasons! This means that original episodes will continue to be pumped out for years to come and the show will hit a major milestone, 20 seasons on air. Comedy Central president Michele Ganeless said, “The collective genius of Matt and Trey knows no bounds. Week after week and season after season they continue to surprise and delight South Park fans.” The creative minds behind the cultural phenomenon had this to say following the exciting announcement. “Comedy Central has been our home for 15 years and we love working there. South Park is a blast and we can’t wait to make more.” And we can’t wait to see more.

South Park‘s 15th season comes to a conclusion tonight at 10PM on Comedy Central.

[Via EW]

The longest-running comedy in television history just extended its stay. On Friday FOX announced that the Matt Groening animated series will return for record breaking 24th and 25th seasons. By the end of the season in 2013 the series will have aired 559 episodes in total. News of renewal came after weeks of infighting between producer 20th Century Fox TV and the voice actors demanding a lower salary reduction. According to Deadline “the salary cut in the range of 30% from the actors’ current paychecks of $440,000 per episode” and the license fee for the show was also reduced due to falling ratings.

In an interview EW, executive producer Al Jean shared his excitement over the news. “Our mood is elation, mixed with a sense of ‘Man, we’ve got a lot of work to do.’ Believe me, we don’t look at this as these will definitely be the last two [seasons]. We just want to keep fighting and go as long as we can…. We really feel this isn’t an end but a beginning. It’s a cliché, but it’s the truth.” He went on to comment about how The Simpsons might end when the time eventually comes. “I don’t think we’re a serialized show and I don’t think we’re going to have a Lost finale where we reveal some truth about the world that nobody ever suspected. Whenever we do a last episode, we just hope that it would be sweet, true to the characters, funny, and give you a nice feeling for where the Simpsons would be headed.” And finally he shed some light on how long the creative team plans to keep the Simpsons train chugging. “I honestly think that 30 is a goal to shoot for. I want to put The Simpsons at 30 seasons before the end of the decade. Forty sounds insane, but 25 sounded insane 20 years ago. Having seen how far it’s gone, it’s not for me to cap it…. And Gunsmoke did 635 episodes [a record for a prime-time series], so that’s something to shoot for, too.”

The Simpsons airs Sundays at 8PM on FOX. New episodes return October 30 with the annual “Treehouse of Horrors” episode. Jump after the break for the press release that details what happens in this year’s “XXII” installment.

[Via Deadline; EW] (Click here for more…)