WB Waxes the Frog
The Frog's frog has croaked.
The WB has fired Michigan J. Frog, the nattily attired singing-dancing 'toon that's served as mascot since the network's inception in 1995.
"In my opinion the frog is dead and buried," network chairman Garth Ancier told the Television Critics Association Friday, in response to a question from a critic who had observed that the grinning green amphibian was MIA from the WB's newly designed logo, an acid-toned graffiti-splashed graphic.
"And buried, yeah," echoed WB Entertainment President David Janollari, who knows from dead and buried as one of the execs behind HBO's undertaker series Six Feet Under.)
The TCA members, usually a hard-boiled bunch, uttered a collective sad sigh.
Reacting to the dismay, Janollari decided to explain the network's motivation for offing the tuxedo-clad cartoon. "[The frog] was a symbol that was--especially in the extensive testing that we did--that perpetuated the young teen feel of the network, and that is not the image we want to put to our audience."
He went on to say that the execution is part of a concerted effort to prove that the network isn't just for young teens, but is also "a destination for the segment that's 25-34." The network will roll out its frog-free logo in the coming weeks.
Michigan J. Frog, who was due to turn 50 later this year, apparently didn't suit any desirable demographic. Created by the late legendary animator Chuck Jones, the critter made his debut in the 1955 short One Froggy Evening, taking his name from the song The Michigan Rag, which he sang. Mr. Frog was essentially a one-hit, minor-league wonder, never in the same constellation as Bugs or Daffy, until he was coopted by the WB, which instantly became nicknamed the Frog.
The critics weren't mollified by Janollari's reasoning. The follow-up question was: "Do you know what day the frog died?"
"The frog was on life support for a long time and then we got permission from a federal court to remove the feeding tube," Ancier joked hard-heartedly.
That prompted the question: "Would you have killed the peacock at NBC?" To which Ancier, who served as NBC's entertainment president for about 18 months, said, "No." The frog, he suggested, wasn't in the same class as the bird, "a true American icon based on the advent of color television?one of the most recognizable symbols, like the Apple logo, in corporate America."
Despite a few non-frog queries, it quickly became apparent the critics weren't going to let Michigan's passing go unremarked.
"Is that the remains of the frog?" one journalist cracked, referring to the splotchy new logo, which adorned the dais at the Beverly Hills Hotel ballroom, where the two executives were presenting their new schedule.
"I'd say, 'Yes,' " quipped Ancier. "Yeah. Why not?" concurred Janollari.
But before the interview session came to an end, WB spokesman Brad Turell hopped up to the microphone to give better news. "I just got off the phone with Sander Schwartz at Warner Animation, who said that Michigan J. Frog is actually alive and well. He's living in Bolivia under the witness protection plan."
And with that the slightly relieved critics adjourned to lunch. And, we are happy to report, frog legs were not on the menu.
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