October 25, 2000
Web posted at: 2:02 p.m. EDT (1802 GMT)

LOS ANGELES, California -- There were angels, dragons and dinosaurs at the Burbank International Children's Film Festival, but a film about a foster child ran away with the best drama award.

"The First of May," a film chronicling the adventures of a foster child who runs away with a nursing-home patient to join the circus, took top honors at the film festival held Friday. The film stars Julie Harris and Dan Byrd, plus features cameos by Mickey Rooney and the late Joe DiMaggio.

Byrd won the award for best child actor for his role as Cory, the foster child.

The best child actress award went to Allison Pill for "Dinosaur Hunter," which also stars Christopher Plummer. The film also took home the best television feature award.

Director Bryan Michael Stoller won two honors: the audience favorite award for "Undercover Angel," and the best comedy screenplay award for "Dragons Candle."

The best animated feature award went to "Salam and the Golden Queen," directed by Ameed Abdul Hafiz, and "Tales of Tillie's Dragon," directed by Michael Stribling, won the director's gold award.

NEW YORK -- Lyle, the Upper East Side crocodile, may soon be slithering to a movie theater or TV screen near you. Sony Pictures has snapped up the rights to the classic children's series, "Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile," to develop for the big or small screen.

Bernard Waber first introduced the talking croc to the public in 1962. Since then, he's been entertaining readers with his misadventures in the city while living with the Primm family.

In addition to the movie and TV deal, Lyle will soon be featured on a line of furniture produced by Barnes & Noble.

HOLLYWOOD, California -- The family comedy, "Tucker," has won the dubious distinction as the first casualty of the new fall TV season.

NBC aired four episodes of the show, which stars Katey Sagal, of "Married with Children" fame. Each tanked in the ratings, so network executives pulled it Monday.

"Tucker" wasn't a success with critics either: Some called it a pale clone of Fox's successful comedy, "Malcolm in the Middle."

The show's lead-in, "Daddio," starring Michael Chiklis, barely escaped the same fate: It has been placed on broadcast hiatus and could return at a later date.

"Tucker" may not have held on for long, but its creators can at least make a small boast: With a four-week run, it survived longer than most other first-of-the-season failures. NBC last year canned "The Mike O'Malley Show" after just two episodes. In 1998, Fox killed "Costello" after three episodes.