There was widespread shock here this morning as reporters learned for the first time of the death of WB mascot Michigan J. Frog.

"In my opinion, the frog is dead and buried," said Garth Ancier, chairman of the WB, speaking in front of a giant paint-splashed logo that looked as if your kid could have done it (or as one critic suggested, as if the frog had gone, well, splat).

No word yet on whether the frog had asked for a raise or aged out of the target demo or merely encountered some bad sushi, but the somber mood wasn't helped when entertainment president David Janollari quipped: "The frog was on life support for a long time and we got permission from a federal judge to remove the feeding tube."

No services have been announced, but visitors to theWB.com can still catch a glimpse of him, at least until someone in the network's PR department manages to get hold of the Webmaster.