“HOme Movies’ a flat flop of a cartoon

There has been a bumper crop of animated series popping up on network TV this season.

Such a trend makes economic sense for younger networks UPN and especially Fox. After all, the show’s stars won’t squabble over creative differences or get into long, drawn-out contract negotiations. So that must make such shows cheaper to produce than live-action series.

The latest entry into the field is “Home Movies,” which debuts at 8:30 tonight on UPN, after “Dilbert.” The creators of “Home Movies” forgot one crucial fact: Cartoons must be animated.

“Home Movies” tells the story of Brendon Small, an undersized, asthmatic and socially awkward 8-year-old. His passion is making movies with his video camera.

Brendon’s nonsupporting cast includes his neurotic, divorced mother, Paula; his infant sister, Josie; his cipher friends Melissa and Jason; and his oafish soccer coach, McGuirk.

“Home Movies” is animated in SquiggleVision, the same wobbly, minimalistic style used on the Emmy-winning “Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist” on Comedy Central. The primitive SquiggleVision makes the old Hanna-Barbera cartoons look like computer-slick Disney art.

The animation style could be overlooked if the scripting were stronger. But “Home Movies” uses an ad-libbing voice-over technique the producers called “retroscripting.” Despite a good vocal cast led by comic Paula Poundstone, improv comedy is as strong as its weakest link, and the humor of “Home Movies” often lies flat on the screen.

This year’s new animated shows stand out largely in quantity, not quality, with “Family Guy” and “Futurama” the exceptions. “Home Movies,” the worst of the lot, promises to fade soon to black. Stop them before they scribble again.