Families vie to become the new Simpsons

HEYDIDDLY-HO, your next-door neighbours might soon become the biggest thing since the Simpsons.

A British TV company has been inundated with applications from more than 1,000 families from all over Ireland willing to have their lives laid bare and immortalised in a new cartoon series.

Earlier this month, to celebrate the launch of its new digital cable cartoon channel Nicktoons, TV company Nickelodeon launched a search to find either an Irish or British family to star in their very own cartoon series, based loosely on the success of the Simpsons.

Many people might think events in their lives are just as wacky as those experienced by Homer and family, who have been sucked into a vortex, forced to duel with the devil for Homer’s soul and fend off Mr Burns, revealed as a blood-sucking vampire. However, more than 10,000 people from Ireland and Britain believe their lives are even more eventful.

Each application form must contain a photograph of the family and an explanation, in 50 words or less, why your family should be chosen. Even though the series is for a children’s TV network, some entries have bordered on the obscene, but most are going to make the judges’ decision really tough.

“The variety of entries has reflected the change in society. The nuclear family is changing and we have plenty of entries for people with children, people with no children, one family with eight kids, multi-cultural families and single-parent families. We are just looking for the best one for this series,” the spokesperson said.

The closing date for entries is September 1, after which an expert panel will narrow the choice of families down to 10 regional finalists who will be notified in October and then interviewed. The winning family will be announced as The Nicktoons TV Family early next year when the series will be broadcast exclusively on Nicktoons TV.

Initially, 10 animation shorts featuring the family will be created and shown as inserts between other cartoons, such as Rugrats and Hey Arnold!

However, Nickelodeon says that if the material proves strong enough the cartoon will be developed into a series, with the possibility of it going global.

* Interested families can contact the Nicktoons website at www.nick.co.uk/nicktoonstv or call the hotline number 1550 718 701 (calls cost 73 cent per call)