Toon In with Me

{{short description|American live-action/animated anthology television series}}

{{Infobox television

| image = Toon In with Me.png

| genre = Comedy
Anthology
Puppetry

| creator = Neal Sabin

| director = Mike Schmiedeler

| starring = Bill Leff
Kevin Fleming
Leila Gorstein (Seasons 1-2)

| composer =

| country = United States

| language = English

| company = U-City Productions (uncredited)
Weigel Production Corp.

| channel = MeTV (2021–present)
MeTV Plus (2021–24)
MeTV Toons (2024–present)

| num_seasons = 5

| num_episodes = 947 (1 preview episode)

| list_episodes = List of Toon In with Me episodes

| executive_producer = Neal Sabin

| producer = Lisa Carl
Adam Manta
John Owens
Rob Rodi

| runtime = 60 minutes

| first_aired = {{Start date|2021|01|01}}

| last_aired = present

| related = Sventoonie (2022)

}}

Toon In with Me is an American live-action/animated anthology television series created by Neal Sabin for MeTV and MeTV Toons. It previously also aired on MeTV Plus until the launch of MeTV Toons.{{cite web |last1=Beck |first1=Jerry |title=INTERVIEW: Cartoon Curator Bill from MeTV's "Toon In With ME" |url=http://www.animationscoop.com/interview-cartoon-curator-bill-from-metvs-toon-in-with-me/ |website=Animation Scoop |access-date=February 25, 2022 |date=January 25, 2021 |archive-date=February 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205120849/http://www.animationscoop.com/interview-cartoon-curator-bill-from-metvs-toon-in-with-me/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Gables |first1=Rick |last2=Gables |first2=Christina |title=MeTV Celebrates 10th Anniversary with Launch of 'Toon in With Me' |url=https://www.tvinsider.com/981423/metv-toon-in-with-me-bugs-bunny-classic-cartoons/ |website=TV Insider |date=January 12, 2021 |access-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-date=February 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201051659/https://www.tvinsider.com/981423/metv-toon-in-with-me-bugs-bunny-classic-cartoons/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web|title=MeTV Plus Program Schedule (Effective 10/2/23) |url=https://metv.com/schedule |website=MeTV |date=October 2, 2023 |access-date=July 28, 2024 |archive-date=May 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518230328/https://cdnmetv.metv.com/k3qTu-1697802777-MeTV%20Plus%204Q23%20Eff%2010-2-23%20CLEAN.pdf|url-status=live}} A special preview episode aired on January 1, 2021, with the main series officially debuting on January 4, 2021.

The show is hosted in live-action segments by Bill, MeTV's "cartoon curator", along with his puppet friend, Toony the Tuna. Each episode contains four to six animated shorts taken from classic series including Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies, Tom and Jerry, Betty Boop, Popeye, Color Rhapsody, Woody Woodpecker, and many others.{{cite web |title='Toon in With Me' Premieres January 4 on the MeTV Network |url=https://www.awn.com/news/toon-me-premieres-january-4-metv-network |website=Animation World Network |access-date=February 25, 2022 |date=December 22, 2020 |archive-date=August 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820060658/https://www.awn.com/news/toon-me-premieres-january-4-metv-network |url-status=live }}

Unlike previous anthology series or reruns of these classic cartoons, many of these airings are remastered from their original negatives. Many of these remastered shorts have not been released on home media or streaming, making these airings the first time some of the cartoons are seen remastered and restored in HD.

Premise and characters

Toon In with Me harkens back to locally produced children's programs that aired from the 1950s through the 1990s, with a live-action host, comedy and puppet segments in between classic cartoons.

The show is hosted from the MeTV studios by Bill the Cartoon Curator (played by Bill Leff).{{cite web |last1=Milligan |first1=Mercedes |title=MeTV Announces Hosted Morning Classics Show 'Toon In With Me' for 2021 |url=https://www.animationmagazine.net/tv/metv-announces-hosted-morning-classics-show-toon-in-with-me-for-2021/ |website=Animation Magazine |date=23 October 2020 |access-date=10 January 2021 |archive-date=30 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130112048/https://www.animationmagazine.net/tv/metv-announces-hosted-morning-classics-show-toon-in-with-me-for-2021/ |url-status=live }}

His co-host is Toony (puppeteered by Kevin Fleming{{cite web|title=Can MeTV hook Boomers with Bill Leff and a talking fish?|url=https://robertfeder.dailyherald.com/2020/12/21/can-metv-hook-boomers-bill-leff-talking-fish/|publisher=Daily Herald|access-date=August 17, 2024}}), a cartoon-loving tuna puppet, whom Bill has to take care of while Toony's owner, Goldie Fisher (Leila Gorstein) (Seasons 1-2), is away on a world tour. As they present all of the cartoons, Bill and Toony deal with various issues in the studio, video chat with Goldie and receive useful information from game show host Mr. Quizzer (also played by Fleming). Fleming and Gorstein also play many other characters.

Each episode contains five or six classic animated shorts (except for "MeTV’s Cartoon Kick-Off Show", which contains ten), and most shows end with Bill and Toony showing off drawings and photos sent in by fans via the show's website.

On Friday, June 24, 2022, Leila Gorstein left the show in the episode "Farewell Goldie", and as Leila left the show, so did a number of her characters such as Boxcar, Bill's Mom, Lorna Green, Sue P. (from Sales) and others.

Episodes

Spin-off

Sventoonie, a spin-off television series of Toon In with Me as well as the MeTV hosted horror movie series Svengoolie, premiered on MeTV on March 26, 2022. Sventoonie is also hosted by Toony (voiced and performed by Kevin Fleming). His co-hosts are Blob E. Blob, a puppet blob fish DJ who speaks in sound effects, and Trevor Ground, an undead video store clerk (performed by Steven Fleming){{cite web |title=IMDB.com Sventoonie |website=IMDb |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19048750/ |access-date=1 August 2022 |archive-date=1 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801044641/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19048750/ |url-status=live }} In the series, Sventoonie and his guests provide breakdowns and commentary of a condensed edit of a horror movie from the set of Svengoolie.{{cite web |last1=Feder |first1=Robert |title=MeTV expands 'Svengoolie' franchise with fishy friend 'Sventoonie' |url=https://www.robertfeder.com/2022/03/25/metv-expands-svengoolie-franchise-fishy-friend-sventoonie/ |publisher=Daily Herald |access-date=21 June 2022 |archive-date=21 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621023118/https://www.robertfeder.com/2022/03/25/metv-expands-svengoolie-franchise-fishy-friend-sventoonie/ |url-status=live }}

On July 16, 2022, MeTV announced that Sventoonie would be renewed for a second season beginning in October 2022.{{cite web| title=MeTV Sventoonie the Red Tuna of Terror will be Swimming Back for a Second Season| url=https://www.metv.com/stories/sventoonie-the-red-tuna-of-terror-will-be-swimming-back-for-a-second-season| access-date=1 August 2022| archive-date=1 August 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801044641/https://www.metv.com/stories/sventoonie-the-red-tuna-of-terror-will-be-swimming-back-for-a-second-season| url-status=live}}

Series featured

Toon-In With Me showcases classic animated theatrical shorts from the Golden Age of American Animation. Most of the cartoons shown are from Warner Bros. or subsidiaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, such as Turner Entertainment Co. This includes the original Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons made by Warner Bros. cartoons, cartoons originally made by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio (ie. Tom and Jerry, Droopy, Barney Bear, Screwy Squirrel, George and Junior, Happy Harmonies and other one-shot shorts) as well as the Popeye the Sailor shorts from Fleischer and Famous Studios originally released by Paramount Pictures (under licensed with King Features Entertainment for the original comics). On some occasions, they have also showcased two theatrical cartoons of Paramount's Superman series (licensed from WB's subsidiary company, DC Comics, for the characters), plus one Private Snafu WWII instructional cartoon from the WB Cartoons studio (in the public domain).