Small-screen gamble pays off for NBCUniversal

On the 24th floor of a Glendale, Calif., office building, a team of DreamWorks animators was taking pains to accurately render shiny car paint, design teen characters' faces and populate cities.

They were working on an animated TV show based on Universal Pictures' "The Fast and the Furious" film series. The race-car franchise may seem like odd source material for a kids' TV show, with its carjackings, crime rings and scantily clad women.

But that hasn't stopped NBCUniversal-owned DreamWorks Animation from trying to modify the blockbuster movie series into something that will appeal to binge-watching adolescents and their parents.

"As big as 'The Fast & the Furious' is, there's nothing specifically directed toward a kid audience in that franchise," said Margie Cohn, president of DreamWorks Animation Television. "We