‘Generation O!’ Delivers a Mixed Message to Kids

Her alarmingly toothy mouth is Frisbee-sized, her enormous, ovoid eyes cover forehead and hairline and she has weensy little star-shaped hands and flat feet: Some kind of mutant frog?

No, it’s Molly O!, 8-year-old girl star of “Generation O!,� a new animated series following the trend in cartoon weirdness.

The self-rated “educational-informational� show will be part of the WB’s “Fraturday� afternoon lineup on Fridays beginning Sept. 15.

Until then, “Generation O!� is having a preview launch on Saturday mornings, introducing target audiences ages 6 to 11 to Molly, who’s supposed to be a regular kid with regular kid problems, despite being an international rock ‘n’ roll sensation with a manager named Colonel Bobb and a limo.

Her band includes a drummer who’s a purple kangaroo and an English bass player who’s human but rather resembles a squid. The show’s rock music is performed by a real-life band, Letters to Cleo.

Molly lives with her sitcom-style family: oblivious but well-meaning parents, a glamorous girl cousin named Eddie who’s also the band’s guitarist, and an unpleasant, trouble-making brother named Buzz.

In the first episode, Molly has a crisis of conscience when she agrees to sing at a Washington rally for a senator, then discovers he’s cruel to his dog. Will she cave in to his blackmailing threat to reveal a certain bed-wetting episode and sing anyway?

Molly’s compassion and courageous stand are admirable; less admirable are the unmitigated message about government representatives in general and the making light of Buzz’s stealing all during the trip. He’s caught but not punished: Dad assumes he got carried away collecting material for a school report.

* “Generation O� can be seen 9:30 a.m. Saturdays through Sept. 16 on KTLA. Beginning Sept. 15, Fridays at 4:30 p.m. TV-Y E/I (educational and informational and suitable for young children).