Cartoon Network

The struggle for late-night Saturday dominance continues."World Figure Skating Championships" (8 p.m.-10 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- ABC's stretched-out coverage of last month's event ends with a taped exhibition by the winners. ABC."Malibu Shores" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., WBAL, Channel 11) -- Tori Spelling shows up on yet another one of daddy's shows. Is it just me, or is her popularity really unfathomable? NBC."We're Having a Baby" (10 p.m.-11 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- Wanna see film of Marilu Henner giving birth?

What to make of Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters? Impossible to say; this feature-length version of the absurdist Cartoon Network cartoon revels in its free-form stupidity - which is one of this avant-garde comic melange's chief delights. Aqua Teen Hunger Force (First Look Pictures) Voiced by Dana Snyder, Carey Means, Dave Willis. Written and directed by Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis. Rated R. Time 86 minutes.

Dora the Explorer, Arnold and the Powerpuff Girls will all be present at Family Toon Day, Oct. 2, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore (5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda). Events and activities include a parade featuring Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon characters, music, dance, and arts and crafts, as well as carnival rides and food. Admission is free; advance tickets (limit 10 per person) are required. Go online to strathmore.org, or get them in person at the Strathmore ticket office or various Comcast locations.

Chew on this: Adults — not children — account for 65 percent of gummi candy consumption in the United States. And that appetite is growing, if Haribo of America Inc.'s sales are any indication. U.S. sales for the Woodlawn-based division of the German candy maker have grown in double digits in each of the past five years, and more than 20 percent in 2011, said Christian Jegen, president of Haribo of America. Known for inventing gummi bears, Haribo began mass-marketing the fruity, chewy candy in the United States in the 1980s.

In the next month, cable satellites will welcome aboard some of television's oldest friends: Beaming down to living rooms across the nation will be such otherworldly company as Buck Rogers and Bugs Bunny, Dr. Who and Daffy Duck, Capt. James T. Kirk and Kwicky Koala.The long-in-the-making Sci-Fi Channel debuts Thursday. A week later, on Oct. 1, Turner Broadcasting introduces the "Toon Age" with its launch of the Cartoon Network.Between the widespread channel capacity crunch and a confusing legislative environment, there will be many cable operators postponing decisions to pick up new programming, said Larry Gerbrandt, an analyst with Paul Kagan Associates, a Carmel, Calif.

Lionel Wilson, 79, the voice of Tom Terrific, Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog, Crabby Appleton and all the other characters of the "Tom Terrific" cartoons on the Captain Kangaroo children's television show, died of pneumonia April 30 in Manhattan. "Tom Terrific," produced by Terrytoons from 1957 to 1959, followed the adventures of a young superhero who wore a funnel for a hat and could change shape at will. Each story centered on the efforts of the exuberant and wildly imaginative "greatest hero ever" to save the lazy Manfred from villains like Crabby Appleton, a meanie who was "rotten to the core" and did a bad deed every day. Mr. Wilson provided the voices for numerous other cartoons, appearing most recently as Eustace in the Cartoon Network's Courage the Cowardly Dog. He also recorded dozens of children's books on tape and CD, including Wayside School stories by Louis Sachar.

Dale Jarrett appeared as Batman and Kenny Irwin as the Joker in last night's Goody's 500 NASCAR race in Bristol, Tenn.Their Ford Tauruses have received special paint jobs, and both drivers will wear suits and headgear patterned after the comic book stars.What makes this so special? After all, Winston Cup cars promote everything from Tide to the Cartoon Network to Hot Wheels.This time, though, it's Ford's marketing concept."This gets us into venues beyond traditional race audiences," said Roy Gadomski, Ford Quality Care Motorsports coordinator.

Turner Broadcasting System Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are holding "serious" discussions about Microsoft acquiring a $1 billion to $2 billion stake in Turner to help the broadcasting company make a bid for CBS Inc., executives involved in the talks say.Ted Turner, chairman of Turner Broadcasting, wants to outbid Westinghouse Electric Corp., which made a $5.4 billion offer for CBS at the beginning of this month but is awaiting regulatory and other approvals, the executives said.Mr. Turner and Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman, met recently in the Seattle area along with several top executives of their companies to discuss their plans, the sources said.

Lucasfilm's new feature-length cartoon, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, has a light heart and a spring in its step. It's not exactly thrilling, and it doesn't cover much new ground. But young audiences will lap it up like ice cream, and its good humor and faith in the Force will put adults in a Saturday-morning frame of mind even at midnight showings. Ever since Luke asked Obi-Wan, "You fought in the Clone Wars?" in Star Wars: A New Hope, fanboys (and, let's face it, fangirls too) have wondered what the cataclysm would look like on the big screen.

Ever wonder where that Wascally Wabbit came from? Tomorrow night on cable's Cartoon Network, an hour's worth of rare animated shorts from Warner Bros. studios, including several not seen anywhere for decades, will air as a special episode of "ToonHeads," a weekly showcase of classic cartoons. And while much of what can be seen on "The Lost Cartoons" are only pieces of a whole, the hour is still one that animation fans shouldn't miss. When Warner decided to venture into animation in the late '20s under producer Leon Schlesinger (whose slight lisp was said to be the inspiration for Daffy Duck's voice)