CNBC To Launch CEO Dad

There’s an old adage in network cable—when your ratings take a tumble, make a funny cartoon. Well, maybe Confucius was the one who said it first. Anyhow, that lovable little money channel engine that couldn’t since the dot-com bubble popped, known as CNBC, is developing a half-hour animated series based on the comic strip ‘CEO Dad.’

TV.com reports the network will first likely air five one-minute segments snagged from the pilot as penned by Los Angeles executive recruiter Tom Stern. Presumably, if the shorts fit well enough with viewers, CNBC may don a full-panted series.

‘CEO Dad’ is Frank Pitt, chief exec at a Styrofoam peanut manufacturer in Pennsylvania, trying to balance his hectic work schedule with the needs of his family. His wife Chloe, 10-year-old son J.D., 7-year-old daughter Grace, and heck, probably even his dog Taylor, all believe his focus centers on work instead of the more important things in life (i.e. them). Considering that most sitcom dads these days are bumbling fools, this is actually a refreshing change from the norm. I just hope each episode doesn’t end in a ‘G.I. Joe’-esque fashion with CEO Dad imparting some kind of factoid on supply-side economics. Although, this is CNBC’s ‘Beavis and Butt-head’ equivalent, so anything can happen.

Says Stern, "CEO Dad is the kind of man whose prenup has a noncompete clause. The irony of the situation is that his family is everything he hopes and dreams it would be if he weren't in it."

No word yet on when CNBC will air the pilot clips. But considering this is their bold new step into alternative programming, expect much promotional trumpeting and ballyhooing in-between all that juicy stock gossip.