UPN puts Hughley in cyberspace

UPN has ordered 40 animated shorts from the comic, each one featuring Mr. Hughley, in the form of a cartoon, ranting about a particular subject like gas prices.

"I don't know about you, but I thought we won the Gulf War," Mr. Hughley says while standing in front of a station selling regular gas for $24.85 a gallon.

Episodes in the series, which is titled Let Me Holler@Ya, range from about 30 seconds to four minutes.

Unlike many artists who create online cartoons in exchange for equity stakes in the companies that use them, Mr. Hughley's product is strictly a marketing maneuver, UPN spokesman Paul McGuire said.

The comedian's show, The Hughleys, is moving from ABC to UPN next month, and the online rants are part of a larger publicity campaign designed to make consumers aware of the show's new home and that "the show will be edgier than it was on ABC," Mr. McGuire said.

The online show is being produced by AntEye.com and can be found initially at iFuse.com and TheSource.com as well as AntEye's site. But basically, Mr. McGuire said, any legitimate Web site that wants the show can have it.

"We're hoping it gets all over the Internet," he said.

Mr. Hughley isn't getting paid for making the shorts, but he said he enjoys the freedom associated with the Internet.

"It's like working in stand-up or HBO – no limitations," Mr. Hughley said. "There's no censorship on the Web, but we'll give them a reason for it."