LESLIE Nielsen stars as a 64-year-old postman who possesses superpowers and deep-seated desire to create a crime-free world in Zeroman, one of six homegrown Teletoon originals that will premier in the fall.

Teletoon’s new shows were announced as part of Astral Media’s fall launch, held at the broadcaster’s Toronto headquarters on Aug. 5. Also highlighted at the event were lineups for Family Channel, Mpix and The Movie Network.

Zeroman, produced by Ottawa-based Amberwood Productions, stars additional Canadian talent including Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder) and Kevin McDonald (Kids in the Hall), as well as Hockey Night in Canada’s Don Cherry and Ron MacLean. The series premiers on Sept. 11 at 7 p.m.

Additional new Canadian series premiering on Teletoon this fall include Atomic Betty, 6 Teen and Delta State.

Atomic Betty, coproduced by Breakthrough Animation, Atomic Cartoons and TeleImages Kids, is about a Saskatchewan girl’s secret adventures in space. It has already been sold to 55 different countries including Iceland, Tahiti and Pakistan, and it premieres Aug. 29 at 9:30 a.m.

6 Teen, developed as The Mall at Nelvana and using a new 2D animation software developed with Montreal’s Toon Boom Animation, is set entirely in a mall where six sixteen-year-olds tackle their first jobs.

Delta State, produced by Nelvana, Alphanim, France 2 and Deltanim, uses a digital rotoscope method to fuse live action and animation into a comic book-style series about four twenty-something anti-superheroes sharing an apartment. Delta State won a special TV series award at the 2004 Annecy International Animated Film Festival and will premier Sept. 11 at 10 p.m.

For younger audiences, Teletoon introduces The Tofus and Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends. The Tofus is about two kids whose ultra-environmental parents are a constant struggle. It’s produced by CineGroupe and SIP Animation and premiers Sept. 6 at 6:30 p.m. Miss Spider, a 3D animation from Nelvana and Absolute Digital Pictures, is based on books written by David Kirk and will premier Sept. 11 at 1:30 p.m.

Astral will also air two new Canadian preschool series on Family Channel. Season two of Franny’s Feet, a 2D series produced by Decode Entertainment about a little girl whose shoes take her on adventures, will premier Aug. 23 at 8:45 a.m. The Secret World of Benjamin Bear, produced by Red Kite and Amberwood Productions, will premier Aug. 24 at 8:45 a.m. The 2D animated series is about Benjamin, a patient old teddy bear who teaches a younger teddy about making kids happy.

ReGenesis, a new one-hour drama from Toronto-based Shaftesbury Films, premiers on TMN Oct. 24 at 9 p.m. Executive producers Christina Jennings and Tom Chehak (also head writer) brought together directors including Don McBrearty (The Interrogation of Michael Crowe), John L’Ecuyer (Queer as Folk) and Jerry Ciccoritti (Trudeau) to helm 13 episodes about a molecular biologist, played by Peter Outerbridge, who investigates questionable advances in biotechnology.

Astral is also presenting two original documentaries about Canadian film on Mpix. Weird Sex and Snowshoes, directed by Jill Sharpe, is a one-hour doc about the history and state of Canada’s film industry. It is based on the book of the same name by Vancouver journalist Katherine Monk and is produced by Gabriela Schonbach. Canada’s contribution to the horror genre is explored in Jennifer Adcock and Johanna Eliot’s Nightmare in Canada: Canadian Horror on Film, a one-hour doc premiering Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. *

-www.astralmedia.com