{{short description|American live-action/animated anthology television series}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2026}} {{Infobox television | image = Toon In with Me.png | genre = Comedy<br>Anthology<br>Puppetry | creator = Neal Sabin | director = Mike Schmiedeler | presenter = Bill Leff<br>Kevin Fleming | starring = Leila Gorstein | composer = | country = United States | language = English | company = U-City Productions (uncredited) <br /> Weigel Production Corp. | channel = MeTV<br />MeTV+ (2021–24)<br />MeTV Toons (2024–present) | num_seasons = 6<!-- increment when new season begins --> | num_episodes = 1,160 (1 preview episode)<!-- as of June 1, 2026 --> | list_episodes = List of Toon In with Me episodes | executive_producer = Neal Sabin | producer = Lisa Carl<br>Adam Manta<br>John Owens<br>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 morning anthology television series created by Neal Sabin for MeTV and MeTV Toons. It previously also aired on MeTV+ until the launch of MeTV Toons.<ref>{{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 }}</ref><ref>{{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 }}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> 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'', ''Mighty Mouse'', and many others.<ref>{{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 }}</ref>
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).<ref name="anim">{{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 }}</ref>
His co-host is Toony (puppeteered by Kevin Fleming<ref name="Boomers">{{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}}</ref>), a cartoon-loving tuna puppet, whom Bill has to take care of while Toony's owner, Goldie Fisher (Leila Gorstein<ref name="Boomers"/>) (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 four to 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, Goldie Fisher left the show in the episode "Farewell Goldie", as Leila Gorstein exited the series, so did a number of her characters such as Boxcar, Bill's Mom, Lorna Green, Sue P. (from Sales) and others.
==Episodes== {{main|List of Toon In with Me episodes}} {{:List of Toon In with Me 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).<ref name="Sventoonie 1">{{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 }}</ref> In the series, Sventoonie and his guests provide breakdowns and commentary of a condensed edit of a horror movie from the set of ''Svengoolie''.<ref name="Sventoonie 2">{{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 }}</ref>
On July 16, 2022, MeTV announced that ''Sventoonie'' would be renewed for a second season beginning in October 2022.<ref name="Sventoonie 3">{{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}}</ref> ''Sventoonie'' ended on February 25, 2023, with reruns of the classic ''Batman'' replacing it the following Saturday night.
==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. Entertainment 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), and the ''Popeye the Sailor'' shorts from Fleischer and Famous Studios originally released by Paramount Pictures (under license 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).
Outside of Warner Bros., ''Toon In with Me'' has also showcased cartoons owned by other studios such as Amazon's Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (ie. DePatie-Freleng cartoons: ''The Pink Panther'', ''The Inspector'' and ''Roland and Rattfink'') from May 2021 to May 2023, Sony's Sony Pictures (Screen Gems' ''Color Rhapsodies''), Paramount Skydance's Paramount Pictures (Max Fleischer's ''Betty Boop'', ''Color Classics'', Paul Terry's ''Terrytoons'' like ''Mighty Mouse'', ''Heckle and Jeckle'' and Terry Bears, plus the post-1962 Paramount Cartoon Studios library), and Comcast's NBCUniversal (Walter Lantz's ''Woody Woodpecker'', ''Andy Panda'', ''Chilly Willy'', ''The Beary Family'', plus many other color 30s-70s cartoons from his studio). During Christmas seasons, they have also shown the 1948 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer short by Max Fleischer produced for the Jam Handy Organization, which is also in the public domain.
==See also== * Saturday-morning cartoon * Golden Age of American animation
==References== <references />
==External links== * {{Official website|https://metv.com/toon-in-with-me}} * {{IMDb title|13777138}}
{{Weigel Broadcasting}} {{US morning news shows}}
Category:2020s American animated comedy television series Category:2020s American anthology television series Category:2020s American children's comedy television series Category:2020s American sketch comedy television series Category:2021 American animated television series debuts Category:American children's animated anthology television series Category:American children's animated comedy television series Category:American television series with live action and animation Category:American television shows featuring puppetry Category:Children's sketch comedy Category:Animation fandom Category:English-language American television shows Category:MeTV original programming Category:Animated television series about fish Category:Television shows edited from films Category:Children's television series about talking animals Category:Television morning shows in the United States