I never told you about the Katbot cast. I don't know why I omitted this, since it's really very exciting to me. It makes me realize that I am indeed making a TV show. There are a few well know actors who lent their voices for the pilot.

Heather Matarazzo, Weinerdog from Welcome to the Dollhouse, is June LeBore. Maggie Wheeler--best know as Janice, Chandler's irritating girlfriend on Friends--plays Mrs. LeBore. Paula, June's talkative, boy-crazy friend, is--get this--Mayim Bialik. You know, Blossom. She was in Beaches, too. She played the child version of Bette Midler's character. Most obscurely, perhaps, is actor voicing Junior LeBore. Remember Diff'rent Strokes? Think way back to the last few seasons, back when Gary Coleman was no longer cute. Do you recall a certain red headed kid with a bowl cut? His name was Sam? Ring any bells? Well, Sam's all grown up, his real name is Danny Cooksey, and he's playing Junior LeBore. How's that for surreal?

Most important is Katbot herself. Who could be the voice of such a blank-faced, taciturn, robocat with an attitude? Of course I did her voice in the animation on the Katbot website, but even back then I knew it wasn't the right sounding voice, aside from the fact that I cannot act. I was so excited because we did find the right voice. We actually got Sara Gilbert (Darlene on Roseanne) to agree to be Katbot. Imagine that!

I got to meet these people, and the voiceover actors who play all the other parts, back in May when we recorded the voice track in L.A.. That was a fun experience. I felt so Hollywood. I was totally blown away when I heard all the voices spliced together--they sound awesome. Things were going so well. Too well, it seems, because the Disney executives decided that Sara Gilbert is not the right voice for Katbot. Of course there is nothing I can do about this. The goal is to get the show on the air, no matter what. I'm afraid my loyal Katbot fans won't be tuning in to see Disney's Katbot, since the tone has been dumbed down considerably, and a lot of juvenile nonsense has been added (granted, Katbot is a kid's show now) and June has morphed into a smiling milquetoast. The one thing that kept me going was Sara Gilbert as Katbot. She's just so perfect. But now I find she is not perfect. Actually, she's all wrong.

Of course, I am to understand this is what it is to make a TV show. And believe me, I understand. It's just hard to swallow. I don't like collaborating on anything. I am not a team player. I like solitary work, which is partially why I became an illustrator. The art director assigns a job, gives me some feedback on my sketches, I finish the job and eventually receive a check in the mail. End of story. I retain copyright of my work; I can do what I want with it in the future. With Katbot it's completely different. I never owned it and I have always felt ambivalent about it. At times I'm possessive, other times I'm detached. The more the show progresses, the less it will resemble what I intended. I guess that's okay. It's just somewhat disappointing, and very frustrating.

(FYI, Disney went with Natasha Lyonne (from Slums of Beverly Hills and American Pie) for Katbot. She was pretty good too, but not deadpan enough for my taste.)