Jakks Pacific, Inc. signed a licensing agreement with AMC to manufacture, distribute, and market Deluxe Plug It In & Play TV Games based on The Walking Dead, the original drama series on AMC. The Walking Dead Deluxe TV Games line is expected to launch at retail nationwide next fall. The Walking Dead Deluxe TV Games from Jakks features a realistic pump-and-shoot shotgun controller that plugs into the A/V jacks of any standard TV, and contains multiple games in each controller.

Jakks also signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Marvel Entertainment, LLC for a line of plush products based on the Marvel Super Hero Squad that ties into the new Marvel virtual online world, HeroUp.com. The product line is expected to include collectible plush, plush clip-ons, and large plush with online components. The line is expected to launch at specialty retailers this spring with broad distribution in mass retail channels starting in 2013. Under the same agreement, Jakks has the rights to manufacture, distribute, and market skill and action games inspired by Marvel classic characters, slated to launch this spring.

In our Brand Licensing Europe issue, we talked about the difficulty of breaking into the Russian market. Now Disney has done it.

According to a report in The New York Times by Brooks Barnes, Disney will purchase 49 percent of SevenTV, a broadcast network reaching three-quarters of Russian television households. United TV Holding Russia will remain the majority owner of the channel, which will be rebranded as a Disney Channel and feature classic Disney children’s shows and new programs created in Russia.

This is potentially huge news for a licensing industry that has gained a foothold in western Europe but struggled to find its way against local brands in Russia. The backstory to this deal is probably incredible, and it obviously remains to be seen if this is a harbinger of things to come or whether Disney, with its considerable muscle, managed to place itself far enough ahead of a curve that we won’t see similar deals in the coming years.

Either way, it’ll be interesting.

—Bryan Joiner

Zombies!

The Walking Dead on AMC has been a hit, and now The Walking Dead board game is lurching onto store shelves from Cryptozoic Entertainment. The game lets players take on the role of characters in the series including Rick Grimes, Shane Walsh, or any of the other survivors as they scrounge for weapons to overcome dangerous encounters on their way to the Center for Disease Control.

The game is designed to  support 1-4 players, ages 15 and up. More information here. AMC’s The Walking Dead is the most watched drama series in basic cable history in the adults 18-49 demographic. It is based on a comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics.

Zombies!

Following last night’s episode of Dexter, Showtime Licensing & Merchandising launched a companion site that played heavily within the story’s plot line. BuyThisTreasure.com will serve as a sister commerce site to the SHO.com store, selling product directly related to one of the series’ most famous killers.

The products that will be sold include:

Episode Tie-In: In the show Masuka’s intern steals a prosthetic arm, a piece of evidence from season one’s Ice Truck Killer, and auctions it on the fictional auction site Buy This Treasure. Showtime has recreated the site based on the graphics seen on the show and will feature SHO.com store items themed around the Ice Truck Killer. The highlighted item is the “Thumb Drive” – a USB memory stick encased in a fake thumb. The prosthetic arm from the episode is also on the site, but the “auction” will “end” when it’s clicked – just like what happened to Masuka when he tried to reclaim the stolen evidence in the show.

Twentieth Century Fox Television has named entertainment marketing executive Jeffrey Godsick to the position of president, Fox Consumer Products. Godsick will oversee all of Fox’s consumer products activities and staff, reporting to Twentieth Century Fox Chairmen Gary Newman and Dana Walden, and starts immediately. Robert Marick, EVP of Consumer Products, remains on board, reporting to Godsick.

Godsick will oversee the worldwide licensing of Fox’s portfolio of film and television properties across platforms including interactive gaming, themed entertainment, television promotions, literary publishing, and a wide array of consumer product categories. Headquartered in the operating unit’s West Coast office, Godsick will manage both its Los Angeles and London-based operations.

Previously, Godsick held several senior marketing positions at Twentieth Century Fox’s feature film division, most recently as senior executive vice president. He began his tenure at Fox in 1995, as SVP, publicity, and was upped to EVP of marketing a few years later. He left the studio in 2006 to become president of Fox-Walden, where he oversaw all aspects of the campaigns for the company’s slate of feature films. Godsick returned to Fox in 2008 as EVP, before his promotion earlier this year to senior executive vice president. Throughout the years, Godsick has played key roles in the studio’s campaigns for Rise of the Planet of the Apes, X-Men: First Class, Rio, Avatar, the Ice Age films, the Star Wars films, the original X-Men film trilogy, Moulin Rouge, Independence Day, and many others.  Before joining Fox, Godsick was a senior executive at Rogers and Cowan, where he oversaw all domestic and international film operations as well as the firm’s London office.

Godsick began his career at Columbia Pictures as an assistant field manager, working on the films The Karate Kid and Ghostbusters, among many others. A graduate of Tulane University, Godsick sits on the board of trustees of Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times, is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and is a member of the advisory committee of the Los Angeles Film Festival.

Today, Discovery Communications, Exhibits Development Group announced the launch of MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition, in partnership with the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago and Geoffrey M. Curley + Associates. The exhibition, set to debut March 15, will explore the truth behind popular myths by mixing scientific method with curiosity and old-fashioned ingenuity, creating a hands-on interactive experience for guests of all ages.

The Discovery Channel’s Emmy-nominated series, co-hosted by Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, has taken science to a new level, mixing their extensive backgrounds in special effects and curiosity to test every myth for its falsity or truth, and can now be enjoyed by the masses.

In the exhibit, guest will learn about myths, the MythBusters, and what experimenting is all about by participating in a series of fun, hands-on experiences and live demonstrations. Experiments will cover topics such as flight, friction, gravity, speed, and combustion.

The exhibit will also showcase a Blueprint Room, based off the real-life operations room of MythBusters; a Workshop Room, where guests turn into investigators and use real science to test myths and answer a series of challenging questions; and the Live MythBusters Demonstration Stage, which gives guests the opportunity to view and participate in live science demonstrations that dissect myths with the help of MythBusting facilitators.

Tickets for the exhibition at MSI go on sale December 1 and will also tour 14 additional cities in the U.S. and Canada. For an extensive list, visit www.exhibitsdevelopment.com.

—Ericka Johnson

Jakks Pacific, Inc. continues to expand global distribution for toys based on the Monsuno original animated television series with exclusive agreements with Planet Fun distributing for the New Zealand territory and Prima Toys for the South African territory. International distributors also include the Giochi Preziosi Group for Europe and Hunter Products for Australia.

The Monsuno series (52 x 30 min) is an epic boys’ action adventure where kids discover, command, and battle creatures with destructive potential. Targeting boys 6–11, the Monsuno series will be supported by a Jakks Pacific toy line featuring innovative, kid-controlled action figures, accessories, play sets, collectables, electronics, and integrated role play.

Nickelodeon will launch the series to audiences on owned channels in the United States, Latin America, the United Kingdom, key European and Eastern European territories, Australia and New Zealand, India, Southeast Asia, Russia, and Africa. The Monsuno series will first launch in the U.S. on Nicktoons, the fast-growing kids’ network, and select English-speaking countries.

The Monsuno series is being co-produced by Pacific Animation Partners LLC, a joint venture between Jakks Pacific, Inc. & Dentsu Entertainment USA, Inc., with FremantleMedia Enterprises and The Topps Company, Inc. FME will be responsible for the exclusive worldwide distribution of Monsuno TV programming, except for Asia, and act as the master licensing agent for the Monsuno brand outside of Asia. Jakks Pacific is the creator of the underlying Monsuno property and master toymaker for the Monsuno toy line, which is expected to hit U.S. retail shelves to coincide with the U.S. TV series premiere anticipated for spring 2012. The Topps Company has signed on to produce Monsuno trading card games, confectioneries, and related products.

Spotted! Warner Bros. Consumer Products and Warner Bros. Television Group (WBTVG), together with Romeo & Juliet Couture, today announced the launch of a Gossip Girl–inspired apparel collection, Gossip Girl by Romeo & Juliet Couture. Featuring chic, contemporary fashions, the line will hit high-end fashion retailers — beginning with Kitson, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue — this fall in conjunction with season five of Gossip Girl, which premieres Monday, September 26, at 8/7c on The CW.

Romeo & Juliet Couture’s “Inspired-by Gossip Girl” collection will feature designs inspired by the characters in the stylish and trend-setting series, including tops, dresses, bottoms and outerwear priced from $80 to $200, and will extend into handbags and accessories for the spring collection.

“The entire collection was inspired by the modern and sophisticated young women portrayed in the show Gossip Girl,” says David Shamouelian, CEO of Romeo & Juliet Couture. “The designs are intended to empower young, independent women to embrace their feminine side and still maintain their strength.”

IDW Publishing and Nickelodeon has released the debut issue of the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic series, featuring the beloved “Heroes in a Half Shell,” now available in comic stores throughout North America. TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman leads the creative team for the comic series. In addition to this new series, IDW will offer Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Collection. Beginning in October with volume 1, The Ultimate Collection offers more than 300 pages of the best of the Turtles’ underground roots.

IDW and Nickelodeon have stated a long-term commitment to revitalize the universe of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and graphic novels It’s all part of a larger initiative to bring Turtles to a new generation of fans, starting with these new story lines that recapture the magic of the original Turtles comics and continuing in 2012, when Nickelodeon will premiere a new CG-animated version of the wildly popular Turtles franchise.

If the Turtle franchise is being revitalized and will hit the small screen soon, then I bet that a new Turtles movie won’t be far behind.

—Melissa Tinklepaugh

Normally when we talk about CBS licensing, we’re talking about products for Star Trek, CSI, Star Trek, Dexter, Weeds, and, of course, Star Trek. But CBS made news with a different type of licensing yesterday.

Fresh off a recent content-streaming deal with Amazon for its Amazon Prime service, CBS’s earnings announcement showed a big boost from a February deal it signed with Netflix for streaming content, including Cheers and Frasier, according to The Wall Street Journal‘s Sam Schechner, who reported that the company saw 21 percent growth in its content licensing and distribution departments.

This doesn’t fall under the CBS Consumer Products umbrella, but better awareness of these shows, and others, can only be good for the licensing department.

Slow licensing news day today, but at least now you’ve got the Cheers theme song in your head. You’re welcome.

—Bryan Joiner