Marvin Marvin to premiere on Nickelodeon

LITTLE ROCK — If you want to consider yourself hip and in the loop with the youngsters, you’d better know who Lucas Cruikshank is.

Most importantly, if you want to be hip, I suppose you’d probably not use the word “hip” either.

The 19-year-old Cruikshank is the Nebraska native who burst upon the pop culture scene when he created his character Fred Figglehorn and the Web series Fred on YouTube.

Fred followed the adventures of a fictional 6-year-old with a voice that sounded like a chipmunk on helium.

Cruikshank was the producer, writer, director and star of the seminal series.

The series was an enormous success in the new way of measuring success that includes the Internet and page “hits.” Network suits took notice of the new talent and Fred evolved into Fred: The Movie, which aired on Nickelodeon in 2010.

Two more Fred movies followed, as well as Nickelodeon’s live-action, short-form comedy, Fred: The Show.

Cruikshank has moved beyond Figglehorn to new adventures.

Marvin Marvin, with Cruikshank in the title role, debuts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday on Nickelodeon.

The half-hour comedy “follows the adventures of Marvin, an intergalactic alien teenager who clumsily tries to adapt to his new life on Earth.”

Here’s the poop.

Marvin, who has special alien powers, was sent to Earth by his parents to protect him from evil invaders on his home planet, Klooton.

Under the supervision of his new human parents, Bob (Pat Finn, The Middle) and Liz (Mim Drew, The Practice), Marvin tries to adjust to life on Earth as a typical American teenager.

Helping him navigate the new wacky social customs are Marvin’s human siblings Teri (Victory Van Tuyl, Supah Ninjas) and Henry (Jacob Bertrand, ParaNorman), and his fun-loving grandfather, Pop-Pop (Casey Sander, The Big Bang Theory).

Complicating matters is the fact that the family must also conceal Marvin’s real identity from the world. That includes Teri’s inquisitive best friend, Brianna (Camille Spirlin).

Look for Marvin Marvin to air regularly on Saturdays at the same time.

OTHER STUFF

After today, The TV Column will be on vacation until Dec. 9, so Happy Thanksgiving and here’s a compilation of tidbits languishing in the virtual inbox.

Coming to Syfy. Syfy will premiere the Canadian series Continuum at 7 p.m. Jan. 14. It’s about a time-traveling cop from 2077 who comes back to track a group of terrorists.

Lucky No. 7. USA has ordered a seventh season of 13 episodes for its action adventure Burn Notice.

The series is USA’s longest-running drama and will hit 100 episodes next season. Currently in the second half of Season 6, the drama airs at 8 p.m. Thursdays, but is pre-empted today because of Thanksgiving. Psych returns to USA on Feb. 27.

Cooking reality. BBQ Pit Masters has returned to cable’s Destination America at 8 p.m. Saturdays. In addition to the weekly competition, look for the special Ultimate Barbeque Showdown at 8 p.m. Dec. 1.

More NCIS. CBS is planning yet another NCIS spinoff. The venerable original is in its 10th season and is averaging 22 million viewers. It is the country’s No. 1 TV show.

The new (untitled) NCIS series will get its tryout during two episodes of NCIS: Los Angeles later this season. It will follow a small team of agents who work together as they crisscross the country solving crime.

If it works, the new show could join the CBS lineup next fall.

I’d love to see CBS spin off Pauley Perrette’s Abby Sciuto into her own series. Abby is the best thing about NCIS.

SpongeBob! OK, networks. It’s Thanksgiving and that means it’s fine by me to begin your Christmas programming.

Too soon? Hallmark Channel started its “Christmas Countdown” on Nov. 3! ABC Family had the decency to wait until Nov. 18.

Get in the holiday mood with CBS and nifty stop-action special It’s a SpongeBob Christmas! airing at 8:30 p.m. Friday. It repeats at 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. Dec. 2 on Nickelodeon.

NBC midseason. Community will finally return to the NBC lineup Feb. 7. 1600 Penn, a new White House comedy starring Jenna Elfman and Bill Pullman, joins NBC on Jan. 10.

Full orders. CBS has ordered full seasons for new shows Vegas and Elementary.

Primo spot. And CBS has rewarded Elementary with the coveted post-Super Bowl time slot Feb. 3. Last year, 38 million viewers (out of 111 million) hung around after the game to sample The Voice.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail:

mstorey@arkansasonline.com