Traditional North American 'family' sitcoms seem to have at their core misogyny, and either fear, hatred or disinterest in children. Wives are to be eluded and duped by any means possible. The man-child husband dreams of freedom from his wife-mommy, and creates ever more elaborate schemes to elude the horrible captivity of his family. Each week, a quick setup explains why the poor, put upon husband wants, needs, and deserves some toy, alone time, or escape. The wife explains why this is not feasible or possible. Husband decides to do it anyway, despite wife's wishes. Hubby gets hopelessly e...

Buffy The Vampire Slayer star Nicholas Brendon has become the latest former cast member to criticize plans for a big screen reboot of the hit TV show, branding it "a mistake".

The long-running series, which began as a 1992 film starring Kristy Swanson, is being re-imagined for a movie adaptation, with a new actress playing the cheerleader-turned-vampire hunter portrayed by Sarah Michelle Gellar on TV.

However Brendon, who played Xander Harris on the show, is worried the film will not find the same fan base as the TV phenomenon gained.

He tells E! News, "I think it's a mistake. They ha...

The Farrelly Brothers are stepping up their hunt for actors to play The Three Stooges in their new movie after failing to find replacements for Jim Carrey and Sean Penn.

Carrey and Penn both bowed out of the project, and the filmmaking duo is running out of time to find new stars to play 1930s comedy icons Moe Howard, Curly Howard and Larry Fine before filming begins in March.

It is unclear if Benicio del Toro, who was attached to play Moe, remains in the cast. Peter Farrelly admits they are now "opening the roles up to the world" as they attempt to find the perfect actors for the parts...

Facebook users are unifying against child abuse by switching their profile pictures to popular cartoon characters - with a hope that there are "more cartoon faces than human ones" by December 6th.

Indeed, images from Scooby Doo, Flintstones, The Simpsons, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Thundercats, Tom and Jerry, Care Bears, The Jetsons, The Smurfs, Looney Tunes, Spongebob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, and more are cropping up all over the social network.

This post is being repeated all over the site: "Change your profile picture to a cartoon character from your childhood and invite your friend...

Hollywood legend Tony Curtis has died at the age of 85. Jamie Lee Curtis' actor father passed away on Wednesday. No further details were available as WENN went to press.

Born Bernard Schwartz to Jewish immigrants from Hungary, the star endured a tough upbringing in the Bronx borough of New York, which saw him spend a year in an orphanage with his younger brother Julius because his parents were too poor to feed them.

He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II before deciding to pursue his love of acting and enrolling in the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York with German di...

Welcome to the wild world of "Weird Al" Yankovic - a world populated by a Pennsylvania Dutch gangsta-rapper ("Amish Paradise") and a serial-killing Saint Nick ("The Night Santa Went Crazy") - a world where people frantically search for their Liquid Paper, hallucinate about the floating disembodied head of Colonel Sanders and dream of one day visiting "The Biggest Ball Of Twine In Minnesota." Yankovic, a three-time Grammy Award winner and the biggest selling comedy recording artist in history, shows no mercy to cultural milestones of every stripe - from Jurassic Park and Star Wars to the hi...

"Meet George Jetson...Jane, his wife…daughter Judy...his boy Elroy..." The catchy tune of The Jetsons ideally captures the lighthearted essence of the show, a futuristic counterpoint to The Flintstones that reflected the space-age optimism of the times.

The Jetsons were the very first family, animated or not, to have a big-screen home entertainment system decades before it became a reality. They also had flying cars, floating cities and androids, all commonplace scenery of today’s most popular sci-fi blockbusters.

Who digs funny couples? Not the awkward, laughing-at-you kind that might be clueless or socially weird but the legitimately engaging, entertaining and hilarious ying and yang of Mr. & Mrs. Whomever. Rarely will the life of the party date the other life of the party - at times there's not enough attention to go around. But sometimes it happens, and if we're lucky they'll go into showbiz.

Take a look at some memorable comedic couples and the neat little niches they have filled:

The Animated Couple

Marge & Homer "The Simpsons"

There was a time when identification of a "Simpso...

Many television series are based in real-life cities (Full House - San Francisco; Family Matters - Chicago; and Beverly Hills, 90210 - Beverly Hills). Even though several TV towns are fictional, TV fans can't help but wonder what it'd be like to live there.

Here's a look at some of our favorite fictional TV towns:

Stars Hollow, Connecticut (Gilmore Girls)

Stars Hollow, which was founded in 1779, is a small town in Connecticut that's home to some very eccentric characters. From Rory and Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham), to the grouchy Luke Danes and the always stranger Kirk, ther...

Bambi...Cinderella...Tinkerbell -- all fictional characters from Disney films, and also some popular pooch names, according to research collected by nationwide pet insurance provider, PetFirst Healthcare.

"It seems to be an emerging trend for pet owners to give their furry friends a name that resembles a favorite automobile, favorite food or even favorite character," said Katie Grant, PetFirst vice president. "It's reassuring that owners associate their pets with their favorite things -- as, we hope, that translates into ensuring those pets receive the loving care and treatment they de...

On the Cartoon Network, there are so many programs that appeal to just about every type of animation connoisseur. Late nights you can catch re-runs of "Family Guy" or get thugged out and righteous by watching Riley and Huey on "The Boondocks."

Under the umbrella of the Turner Broadcasting, Cartoon Network is definitely one of the more colorful stations established by media giant Ted Turner. It was created in 1992 and was drawn up as an outlet for classic animations from the Turner Broadcastings film vault such as "Tom & Jerry" and "The Flintstones."

You may be wondering how...

What happened to it? A catchy, sing-a-long theme song used to be part of the fun of watching a show. A great theme song could get you excited and in the mood to watch a show. Sometimes the theme song was the best part of a bad show. A theme song that caught your attention could get you to check out a show you weren't normally watching.

Theme songs used to tell what the show was about, like The Brady Bunch. The opening was the only way viewers knew the show was about a stepfamily. We would never have known WHY Gilligan and the gang were on the island or HOW those Hillbillies made it to...

Randy Van Horne, The man behind TV themes for The Flintstones and The Jetsons has lost his battle with cancer at the age of 83. The beloved studio musician recorded a series of famous TV themes with his group The Randy Van Horne Singers.

The easy listening star's band was also a regular act on The Nat King Cole Show.

Although primarily recording for Hanna-Barbera animated TV shows, Van Horne also sang for TV and radio ads.

He also recorded a series of albums, including a collaborative project with Latin easy listening legend Juan Garcia Esquivel.

Van Horne went on to bec...

Actor Justin Long tried to emulate his co-star Bruce Willis on the set of the new Die Hard film - but without success. The Jeepers Creepers star attempted to mimic Willis' famous 'Yippeekayay' catchphrase during a fight scene on Live Free or Die Hard - released internationally as Die Hard 4.0 - but he impersonated Fred Flintstone instead.

He says, "I tried out my own version of Bruce's 'Yippeekayay' catchphrase. So when I shot him, I shouted: 'Yabba dabba doo, mother----er.' I don't think that will make the final cut."

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Netwo...

Veteran animator Roger Armstrong has died after suffering a heart attack. He was 89. Armstrong, who was best known for working on legendary TV cartoons Bugs Bunny and The Flintstones, passed away at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, California on June 7.

Aside from Bugs Bunny, Armstrong also worked on Warner Bros. characters such as Porky Pig and Elmer Fudd, and Walt Disney characters the Seven Dwarfs, Donald Duck and Pluto.

He is survived by a wife, a daughter, two sons and a sister.

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)

2006 was a great year in the entertainment world; however, let us not forget those who entertained us for generations but have moved on. We look back on those entertainers and cultural icons who left us in 2006 to pay our respects...

Jazz, R&B and pop singer Lou Rawls, lost a two year fight with brain and lung cancer (1/6). He was 72. Prolific film star of the 50s, 60s and 70s and star of such hits as Alfie and The Poseidon Adventure, Shelley Winters at age 85 (1/14). 60s soul star Wilson Pickett, who brought us such hits as Mustang Sally and In The Midnight Hour age 64; of a heart a...

Animation legend Joseph Barbera has died at his home in Studio City, California. He was 95. The co-founder of Hanna-Barbera Studios, Barbera was born in New York in 1911 and began his career as a banker before teaming up with William Hanna in the late 1930s to create beloved cartoon characters like Tom & Jerry, The Jetsons and The Flintstones during their 60-year partnership.

The pair's first collaboration was entitled "Puss Gets The Boot," which became the pilot for Tom & Jerry. Hanna and Barbera picked up seven Oscars for their "Tom & Jerry" cartoons. The acclaimed animators then cr...

TV Land counts down "The 100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catchphrases" in a week-long look at the memorable sayings from cartoons, television series, commercials and news programs over the past 60 years like Donald Trump's (The Apprentice) "You're fired" to Billy Crystal's (Saturday Night Live) "You look mahvelous!" to Walter Cronkite's "And that's the way it is."

Building on the success of 2005's "The 100 Most Unexpected TV Moments," "The 100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catchphrases" gives viewers a look inside the origins of some of pop culture's most remembered and repeated catchphrases. The 100...

Legendary The Flintstones animator Ed Benedict has died. He was 94. Benedict passed away in his sleep on August 28 at home in Auburn, California, his longtime friend and co-animator David K. Sheldon has just revealed.

Sheldon says, "He was quite an interesting fellow, that's for sure. He was the main character designer for all the early Hanna-Barbera cartoons, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw."

But Benedict was most famous for designing the main characters in The Flintstones - Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, as well as their respective wives Wilma and Betty.

...

TV fans have a bunch of new DVD releases to choose from this week. Before the fall 2006 season begins, catch up on Lost season two or Supernatural season one. Or kick it old school and check out Fraggle Rock season two, season four of Alf and The Bob Newhart Show, Silk Stalkings season five, or season six of Oz and The Flintstones.

Stephen Dorff loves receiving letters from his weirdest female fan because she restocks his underwear drawer with novelty boxer shorts every time she contacts him. The eccentric admirer initially freaked out the actor with her incessant posting of pants.

But Dorff admits he has started to look forward to his regular parcels, and he even has a favorite pair - which boasts an image of Elvis Presley emblazoned on the crotch.

He says, "There was this girl who started writing me secret notes and she kept enclosing a different pair of boxer shorts with each note she sent me. And they ...

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and Apple today announced that classic hit programming from Warner Bros.' vast television library is now available for purchase and download on the iTunes Music Store.

The new content features favorites such as the hugely popular sitcom Friends, sci-fi epic Babylon 5 and some of the most popular sketches from MADtv, as well as animated classics including The Jetsons and The Flintstones. iTunes offers over 150 TV shows for $1.99 per episode for viewing on a computer or iPod.

Also available is the never-before-seen pilot episode of "Aquaman" – ...

The Simpsons has been voted the top cartoon by parents, beating out competition from Shrek and Wacky Races. A BBC poll discovered mothers and fathers enjoy the hit animated TV show's humor and hidden meanings for adults. Movie favorite Shrek came in second place, followed by Wacky Races in third place.

In fourth place is vintage cartoon Tom & Jerry.

The top ten cartoons are:

1. The Simpsons

2. Shrek

3. Wacky Races

4. Tom & Jerry

5. Toy Story

6. Danger Mouse

7. Scooby Doo

8. Monsters Inc.

9. Will O The Wisp

10. The Flintstones

(This news article provided by ...

Bonnie Hunt was such a fan of TV cartoons as a kid she used to hope characters like Fred Flintstone would spill out of her cracked set, so she could keep them. The star, who voices the role of Sally in new animated movie Cars, admits she even cleared out a drawer in her bedroom so she could keep her cartoon characters there.

She explains, "There was a crack in the glass in the TV and I used to hope that the cartoons would get close enough that they might fall out. I would sit there with a cup because I wanted one of the little characters to go in there. I cleaned out one of my dresser...

"Friends the Complete 10th Season" centers on Monica and Chandler moving into their own home and raising a family, Phoebe’s wedding, the relationship between Rachel and Ross, and Joey’s eventual move to the west coast.

Check out more DVD releases this week...

Charmed The Complete Third Season

Scrubs Season Two

Frasier The Complete Seventh Season

Stargate Atlantis The Complete First Season

That ‘70s Show Season Three

Tru Calling The Complete Second Season

Buffy the Vampire Slayer The Chosen Collection

Cheers The Complete Seventh Season

The Flintstones The Complete Four...