BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nickelodeon is taking the misadventures of Big Nate from page to screen with an all-new animated TV series based on the best-selling children’s books written and drawn by acclaimed author and cartoonist Lincoln Peirce. The eponymous 26-episode series follows Nate, a precocious 11-year-old boy, and his best friends as they navigate sixth grade with humor and style. Big Nate will be produced by Nickelodeon in Burbank, Calif.

“Big Nate is a book title I've wanted to translate into a series for a long time, and I am so happy this awesome, super-funny character is coming to Nickelodeon," said Ramsey Naito, Executive Vice President, Animation Production and Development, Nickelodeon. “All of creator Lincoln Peirce's slightly unruly, but entirely relatable characters share Nick’s same creative DNA, and we can't wait for them to join our amazing family!"

The TV series will feature brand-new original storylines centered on Nate and his mischievous shenanigans that usually result in disaster, detention or both. Whether trying to convince everyone that their school is haunted to get out of a test, or accidentally setting the pet iguana free in the school’s air ducts, Nate and his friends cause trouble everywhere--and must keep their cool before they get caught.

“With the greenlight of this show, Nate is getting one step closer to achieving true awesomeness,” said Peirce. “I am thrilled to be collaborating with Nickelodeon on new adventures for this unlikely sixth-grade hero.”

The Big Nate TV series is executive produced by Mitch Watson (All Hail King Julien) and John Cohen (The Angry Birds Movie), with Peirce serving as consultant throughout development and production. Bridget McMeel is co-producer.

Peirce’s humor-based books about Nate and his friends have spent more than 150 weeks on the New York Times’ Best-Seller list. The Big Nate book series (https://bignatebooks.com/) is published worldwide in 33 languages and available as ebooks and audiobooks and as an app, Big Nate: Comix by U! Additionally, the Big Nate comic strip is syndicated by Andrews McMeel Syndication and appears in more than 400 newspapers and online daily at www.gocomics.com/bignate. The Big Nate comic strip books are published by Andrews McMeel Publishers and the Big Nate novels are published by HarperCollins Children’s Books.

The forthcoming Big Nate series underscores a key element of Nickelodeon's content strategy, to build and expand the worlds of enormously popular franchises like Star Trek, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Henry Danger, among others, to give audiences more of what they love. Nick's new content slate is informed by the network's ongoing research and insights into today's generation of kids, who: are the most diverse generation ever and expect to see themselves authentically represented in media and in the world around them; want to make a positive difference in the world as they grow up; consider social media stars as their top role models, alongside their parents; and increasingly meet their much-desired need for family time by co-viewing entertainment content together.

Nickelodeon, now in its 40th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The brand includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, digital, location based experiences, publishing and feature films. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of ViacomCBS Inc. (Nasdaq: VIACA, VIAC).