CBS Eye Animation Productions

CBS Eye Animation Productions is an American animation studio, division of CBS Studios owned by Paramount Global. The studio is closely associated with the Star Trek franchise with its first projects, Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy. CBS reinstated it as an animation division in late 2018 before its re-merger with Viacom in late 2019.

CBS Eye Animation Productions

Company type	Division
Industry	Television animation
Predecessors	Terrytoons
Founded	October 2018 (2018-10)
Headquarters	Television City, Los Angeles, California, US
Key people	Alec Botnick (head of animation)
Parent	CBS Studios
Divisions	Late Night Cartoons, Inc.

Background

In the 1950s, CBS began to invest further into television programs, creating many live shows as I Love Lucy and Captain Kangaroo. However, in 1955 CBS purchased Terrytoons from Paul Terry under CBS Films. After the deal's closure in 1956, CBS placed Terrytoons under the management of UPA's Gene Deitch (whom had already secured a contract with CBS). Deitch would soon produce animated Tom Terrific shorts for Captain Kangaroo in 1957. Terrytoons would continue animation under CBS until its closure in 1972 after the corporate spin-off of the original Viacom International.

Despite the change of operations, CBS would continue to air many animated programs such as Terrytoons (which they still owned) and Hanna-Barbera Productions through the 1970s and mid-1980s. Throughout the late 1980s and '90s, they acquired broadcasting rights to multiple series from different studios such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Garfield and Friends (both now owned by parent company Paramount Global), Muppet Babies (now owned by Disney), as well several toy-based shows.

The network would continue with broadcast syndication cartoons from several companies (such as Nelvana) up until the late 1990s. In the 2000s, CBS (now merged with Westinghouse) switched to licensing more educational shows. Viacom had also acquired CBS as it agreed to air Nickelodeon/Nick Jr. on CBS until 2006 (after Viacom & CBS' split).

CBS would later resume airing animated programs by launching Cookie Jar TV until 2013.

History

In late 2018, CBS Studios unveiled CBS Eye Animation Productions to produce animated content for CBS All Access (now Paramount+). Star Trek: Lower Decks would become the first animated television series, followed by Star Trek: Prodigy (a co-production with sister studio Nickelodeon Animation Studio). Initially, the studio would only create shows based on the Star Trek franchise but has invested in other shows such as The Harper House and Showtime's Our Cartoon President, as well as critically acclaimed live-action/animated news program, Tooning Out the News.

On September 29, 2022, the CBS Eye Animation Productions employees formed a union with Animation Guild IATSE Local 839 to publicly submit a letter for voluntary recognition.

Late Night Cartoons, Inc.

The Late Show host Stephen Colbert and his production company, Spartina Productions, founded Late Night Cartoons, Inc., an animation studio that has collaborated with developers of Adobe Character Animator to produce and provide real-time interactive animations for broadcast. Their topical productions range from a live interview with an animated cartoon version of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016 to several animated series including; Showtime's Our Cartoon President, Paramount+/Comedy Central’s Tooning Out the News, and Comedy Central’s Fairview. Another series, Washingtonia, was announced with a trailer in October 2021, but has not been produced or aired as of 2024.

List of CBS Eye Animation Studios productions

All productions are co-produced with CBS Studios (formerly CBS Television Studios).

TV series

#	Title	Creator(s) / Developer(s)	Years	Co-production with	Network	Notes
2020s
1	Star Trek: Lower Decks	Mike McMahan	2020–present	Secret Hideout Important Science Roddenberry Entertainment Titmouse, Inc.	CBS All Access (2020) Paramount+ (2021–present)	Based on the 1966 TV series and its spin-offs by Gene Roddenberry
2	The Harper House	Brad Neely	2021	Neely Comics 219 Productions Titmouse, Inc.	Paramount+
3	Star Trek: Prodigy	Kevin and Dan Hageman	2021–2024	Nickelodeon Animation Studio Secret Hideout Roddenberry Entertainment Brothers Hageman Productions	Paramount+ (2021–2022) Nickelodeon (2021–2022) Netflix (2024)	Based on the 1966 TV series and its spin-offs by Gene Roddenberry
4	Everybody Still Hates Chris	Sanjay Shah	2024–present	Sanjay Shah Productions CR Enterprises, Inc. 3 Arts Entertainment Titmouse, Inc. MTV Entertainment Studios	Comedy Central Paramount+	Revival and sequel to Everybody Hates Chris
Upcoming
5	Among Us	Owen Dennis	TBA	Innersloth Titmouse, Inc.	TBA	Based on the video game by Innersloth
6	Golden Axe	Mike McMahan Joe Chandler		Important Science Original Film Sega Sammy Group Titmouse, Inc. Sony Pictures Television	Comedy Central	Based on the video game series by Sega

TV specials

#	Title	Year	Co-production with	Network	Notes
1	Reindeer in Here	2022	The Tiny Toons Co. Jam Filled Entertainment	CBS	Based on the children's book by Adam Reed

Late Night Cartoons, Inc.

#	Title	Creator(s) / Developer(s)	Years	Co-production with	Network	Notes
2010s
1	Our Cartoon President	Stephen Colbert Chris Licht Tim Luecke R.J. Fried Matt Lappin	2018–2020	Spartina Productions Licht Media Solutions Showtime Networks	Showtime
2020s
2	Tooning Out the News	Stephen Colbert R. J. Fried Chris Licht Tim Luecke Zach Smilovitz Mike Leech	2020–2023	Spartina Productions Licht Media Solutions RJ Fried Worldwide	CBS All Access (2020) Paramount+ (2021) Comedy Central (2022–2023)
3	Fairview	R. J. Fried Stephen Colbert Chris Licht Tim Luecke Kim Gamble Grant Gish Mike Leech Zach Smilovitz	2022	Spartina Productions Licht Media Solutions RJ Fried Worldwide MTV Entertainment Studios	Comedy Central

See also

• MTV Animation
• Nickelodeon Animation Studio
• Paramount Animation
• Terrytoons
• List of animation studios owned by Paramount Global