Avatar: The Last Airbender (known as Avatar: The Legend of Aang in the UK and India) is an American animated elemental television series airing on Nickelodeon since February 21, 2005. Produced at Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, California, and animated in South Korea (as with most modern animated series), it was co-created and executive produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. In the United States, new episodes air Friday nights at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time in Nickelodeon's Friday-night block of programming.
Set in a fantastic, Asian-influenced world of martial arts and elemental magic, Avatar: The Last Airbender follows the adventures of Aang, the successor to a long line of Avatars, and his friends Katara, Sokka and later Toph, in their quest to save the world from the merciless Fire Nation, while avoiding capture from pursuers including Prince Zuko and other hunters from the Fire Nation.
A consistently high ratings performer in the Nicktoons lineup, even outside of its intended 6-to-11-year-old demographic, Avatar: The Last Airbender is popular with both audiences and critics. The series' success prompted Nickelodeon to order a second twenty-episode season, which began airing on March 17, 2006[1], and a third season has been announced to begin airing in 2007[2]. Notable merchandise based on the series includes DVDs of episodes that are progressively being released and a video game based on the series that is currently under development.