Friday's TV child

-- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/10/2000

Kids'WB is taking on new territory: Friday afternoons. Fueled by the success of Pokémon this season, Kids'WB has become the top-rated Saturday-morning children's network. Now, WB executives are looking to Friday afternoons to launch their weekend children's block. An all-new, all-original slate of shows, including a new version of Pokémon, Pokémon GS, will be launched this fall. Kids'WB will continue to program reruns of children's programming Monday through Thursday afternoons. The new Friday slate will include 52 new episodes of Pokémon GS and original episodes of Batman Beyond, Men in Black and Max Steel. Next season, Pokémon GS, from 4Kids Entertainment, will air on The WB's Saturday-morning lineup as well. The network has also added a handful of other new series for 2000-01, including X-Men and Jackie Chan Adventures. X-Men is based on the Marvel Comics'property, and movie star Chan will appear in an animated/ live-action series.