I'm bringing this over from the Adult Swim Thread...



Shows like Invader Zim, Avatar, and Daria would be much better served on C.N. They don't care if their shows have mass Periphery Demographic appeal, they only care about success.

Oh and about the Thread title? I think we all know why that's there.

I don't.

The only show I saw on Cartoon Network that had live action elements was Out Of Jimmy's Head, which is no longer airing.

They also ran "Saved by the Bell" for a time.... "Goosebumps" ran regularly and then returned in October for Halloween.... In 2007, they ran the wholly live action "Saul of the Mole Men" on Adult Swim.

It's actually not as bad now, with an influx of new shows (and pretty much the complete loss of any and all older programming, like the MGM and Looney Tunes library on which the channel was founded), but the station has also run movies that have included, for example, "School of Rock" (!) and "The Goonies." They also produced a live action pilot based on their "Ben 10." In general, though, looking at the current schedule, it's mildly possible that, for the time being, CN is moving away from live action. But once they have more space to fill again, look out.

I would've agreed with you three years ago, but now I have to say that Nickelodeon has made all the right moves to ensure that they're number one and Cartoon Network, which was once a channel dedicated to pleasing ALL demographics, is now trying to play catch up with both Nick and Disney. There's no real direction over there and Adult Swim is worse. That's now Nickelodeon was able to get the two Marvel shows on Nicktoons and Cartoon Network wasn't.

It looks like they have picked up a number of movies, Adventures in Babysitting maybe, but Jurassic Park? Lame.

While this thread is topped I'd like to add how completely awesome it was that they played some good, old-fashioned Looney Tunes the other day, and hot completely non-awesome it is that it seems the whole thing was a one-time deal. If they can play an hour of Tom & Jerry each day, why can't I get me some Looney Tunes dammit???

Because it's on Boomerang.

I can't remember the last time an actual animated movie was on their Sunday Night Flick.

Now Action Flicks is stuck recycling the same movies over and over again. I guess Time Warner spent all their funds revamping Thursday and Friday. While it looks like the investment will actually pay off it also means that the rest of the network is on a bargain basement budget.

It all began with the showing of the 1989 Batman film, but we really didn't seem to mind.

If only we would have said something then.

Then came a live action Ben 10 film

Then Re-Animated................then Out of Jimmy's Head came.

Pretty soon, they were popping up everywhere (Ace Ventura, Jr - oh please)

Now, it's official...

Just like MTV no longing showing music videos, and History Channel showing stuff like Ax Men....

Cartoon Network is now just a soul-less name

There are more details here. The one bright spot I can see is that Genndy Tartakovsky is doing one of the new shows.

Unfortunately, they don't mention Naruto at all.

Yikes!

How on Earth will he make a family series without any sex, nudity, or violence? And did they realize Rosenblatt is a very, very Jewish name? Which would be cool except I don't think it was deliberate.

I must be too short, because that last bit went right over my head. What does being Jewish have to do with whatever?

Well, it doesn't have to do with anything, just that it is a Jewish name, which would make them a Jewish family, instead of the boilerplate generic Christian ones you always see on tv.

sigh...I've been expecting this ever since they changed the logo to 'CN'.

Maybe after a while, they will claim that the "C" stands for something else, like "TNN" did.
(they changed their name from The Nashville Network to The National Network - before they ultimately changed their name to Spike - when they stopped showing "country" stuff only.)
and then, just like Spike, "CN" will change its name to something completely neutral and ambigeous.
That way, they can claim that any program fits on their network.

I remember when Cartoon Network was worth watching, now with the occasional Family Guy and Robot Chicken, I dont even watch it.

The only things worth taping are the Saturday Night Anime Block. The live action stuff is usually on late night Fri. and Sun. But of those only Look Around You and Darkplace are on now that are any good. Saul Of The Mole Men was a parody of Krofft Brothers, so it was cute when it aired.

I'm not liking alot of the Cartoon Network's new programming. Cartoons like Stoked and Total Drama Whatever. What really bums me out are the new "reality" shows they are showing though. I just saw something called Brainrush in which kids have to answer trivia questions while riding on a rollercoaster. WTF? When did the frakking CARTOON network turn into MTV circa 2004?

Probably right about the same time they determined it was cheaper to do it that way than run actual, you know, cartoons, even the cheap self-produced garbage they love.

I do wish they'd do an 80s or 90s block one night, maybe show some old GI Joe or Silverhawks. But yeah, it'll probably be like MTV, and you know, not even show cartoons anymore.

I thought Nickelodeon was the place for children-teen reality shows. Just give me my cartoons on Cartoon Network, darn it.

Cartoon Network's doing bad, y'all. REAL bad.


To keep that in perspective about the June 1998 statement: The Powerpuff Girls show didn't even exist yet and Sailor Moon was just getting started. They're struggling against Disney XD, a network that premiered earlier this year. This channel will continue to circle the drain until these execs are forced out.

Best T-Shirts ever.

From the article...



I just...I have no words. The idea, the damn belief that Cartoon Network would sink to such live action scripted programming, it's just...It's a total and complete sell out of what I loved about the network.

Disney XD isn't new, it's the rebranded Toon Disney that's been around for years. What's more interesting is that Cox, my cable company, has moved it off basic cable up to the digital tier. If other companies have also done that, then they're losing to a channel being shown in a much smaller number of households as well.

I still think they're insane for dropping Naruto, probably the most popular series they had. If they chucked it just as part of their new anti-anime stance, well, they're just incredibly stupid. Best case scenario; the ratings plummet so much the network gets sold and new owners restore the glory.

Likely.



That's... highly unlikely. [/Mark Hamill voice]

Yeah, I figured that CN would be in for a huge rating drop. There aren't ANY programming blocks to bring in consistent viewers, the schedule is constantly reshuffled, and there aren't any shows good enough for word of mouth. I don't even care to watch shows I enjoy on the network, Ben 10: Alien Force or Pokemon, so I doubt their target audience cares.

And yes, I am still pissed about Naruto. What's even worse was that a earlier last month I saw CN advertising a NARUTO game for their (CN's) website.

ETA:

See, I knew I was getting that wrong. Couldn't remember the man's name for the life of me. Shame to, because I love Batman the Animated Series. XD My apologies and thanks for the correction.

That is so pathetic, considering Disney XD's lineup is even crappier than CN's current schedule.

This just made me realize, I have no idea what's even on CN's current schedule, it's been so long since I've watched it regularly.

I'm not sure I would call Disney XD a new network. It's a re-branded Toon Disney. Maybe it's the re-brand that makes it new? I dunno.

Disney XD has Aaron Stone and Phineas And Ferb for the shows I mainly tune into the network to watch.

I never thought a Disney show about a teen that fights a terrorist organization could be so awesome.

The only things worth watching for me on CN are 6Teen(which I think disappeared in favor of Stoked, blargh), Total Drama Action/Island, and whenever the hell Ben 10:Alien Force comes back.

All of their current shows that are intended for the 6-11 year old demographic are made of fail. When Chowder is the only tolerable show, you're in trouble. When you make me miss original programming that hasn't produced a new episode in 2 or more years, you're screwed.

That said, I'm loving the occasional Teen Titans mini-marathon they've been airing on Saturdays.

Mark Hamill, my fellow Robot Chicken fan.

Mark Hamiliton is the bass player for Ash.
(I saw these guys open for Weezer and I thought they rocked!!!)

BTW, that's been canceled.

Funny how Paul Dini is now referred to as someone who has done some work on Lost; CN really doesn't know what it is anymore if they think that's the way to pull viewers back.

What a difference a year makes, huh? Last August, it looked like TDI was going to be a tentpole that could hold up the rest of the night -- who knew that TDA would be so lame? Chowder and Flapjack were at least unique -- I never got Flapjack, but my kids liked it -- and Chowder was funnier that most network sitcoms easily. (I do have to give myself a little credit, though -- I predicted that George of the Jungle would still be around when CN decided to get rid of the little purple Iron Chef wannabe.) And Friday actually looked promising -- a new Batman, a Star Wars revival and Ben 10, my son's favorite.

But Secret Saturdays took WAAAAYYY too long to find its footing, Clone Wars just didn't fit with the rest of the night, and although Batman and to a lesser extent Ben delivered, you also had screw-ups like Action Flicks. Seriously, why start a movie series when you have only 6-8 movies in your library that fit the definition of the series? A GREAT idea, but nowhere near enough material to make it work -- unless the plan was to hope that it would last long enough to springboard the WW and GL direct to video movies -- which have done just fine without it. It's interesting that the last AF was Dr. Strange -- the only Marvel film they could get, apparently, and regarded as a major misfire, at least in terms of canon.

So what now? Run TDI into the ground -- and then saturate your schedule with a Nick castoff, 6Teen. Settle scores by burning off Foster's rather than give it a proper sendoff. Cram every episode of Batman you can get your hands on onto the air -- then blow a hole in Friday night by pulling it from the schedule. No wonder DisneyXD is outperforming them -- even my 5-year-old knows that Phineas & Ferb is on every Friday night at 8.

Am I CN this? Nope -- not until they get their act together -- and neglecting who Paul Dini is isn't showing me that they have.

I don't watch either, but while they cancelled Chowder they renewed Flapjack.

Ya' know when I started this thread I never imagined that the execs of a network called CARTOON NETWORK could say to themselve "let's do even more live action programming". The saddest thing of all is that cartoons can really represent any genre and instead of coming up with new crap that has nothing to do with their title they could just recycle some of the old classics that people have been clamoring for.


Network Decay is a bitch.

That article (Network Decay) depresses me. :(

Yeah, that made me headdesk.



I thought that was going to be Toonami-lite, and I was sorely disappointed.

And don't get me started on Action Flicks. I can't believe how they totally dropped the damn ball on that. They know they weren't having the best luck with Marvel films, so they should have been sucking up to DC for all their worth.

Now if they were smart, they would use the 2 hours before Adult Swim as bridge programming for their underutilized 12-17 market, all rated TV-PG. They could use a mix of anime, TDI/TDA, 6Teen, DC Comics series, and Ben 10:Alien Force. Even in the hour before that, they could bring back old Kids WB programming, the stuff where adults get jokes that fly over kids' heads...like Animaniacs.

All their older series have been moved over to Boomerang, like Dexter's Lab, PPG and Samurai Jack. But I've been saying for years they should have a YA block, older than their the 6-11 aimed shows and not quite Adult Swim. Which is really where something like InuYasha belonged. Look at what happened with Yu Yu Hakusho; premiered on AS, moved to Toonami, then exiled to 5am.

Speaking of this, my cable provider is soon moving Cartoon Network to the digital tier, so the ratings must really stink. I won't miss it. Cause of death: self-inflicted wounds, too numerous to conveniently count.

Honestly, kids don't care if stuff's on for the 400th time. Get some good cartoons and just run them over and over instead of this never-ending treadmill of crappier crap yanked quicker and quicker.

Speaking of the downslide of Cartoon Network, and the thread title, don't forget that Scooby Doo! The Mystery Begins airs this sunday.

For those thankfully ignorant of the movie, it's basically a live action "how it all began" movie that shows how the gang met, how Shaggy and Scooby met, and the very first mystery they all solved together. Never mind this has already been addressed in TWO seperate series, the Pup Named Scooby Doo and a 70's or 80's scooby doo episode that showed them buying scooby at a pet store.

Anyone actually going to watch it?

I might, if it doesn't conflict with True Blood's finale.

Honestly, the only thing that's holding my interest in CN was the stuff I mentioned in my post above. And now that they fucked up and let Disney get Naruto: Shippudden, I've completely given up on any chance of a Toonami revival of any kind.

There is always Nicktoons for good cartoons. What is on Disney XD? I can't believe that it's beating CN. Can't it run Batman:TAS, Batman Beyond or ..just stick to showing cartoons from the past? Might as well name this channel: _____ Network because they aren't showing cartoons on it anymore.

Disney XD now has Naruto: Shippuden.

It's Wednesday line-up is changing to have Aaron Stone (it's flagship show), Spectacular Spider-Man, and Naruto.

Source

That would put it against CNReal, right? I guess if you're going to attack a giant, you better aim for the weakest point.

Cartoon Network isn't a giant, it's more like a gimped dwarf at this point.

Oh, hell mother****ing NAW! Of all the channels out there, Disney XD? Definitely not watching anymore Naruto that isn't on Viz's website. No way in hell--you know, not that I have premium cable anyway. [/Hector Barbossa laugh] XD

Wow. CN is loosing to a Disney channel that was created to spinoff their older cartoons. In other words, CNREAL is loosing to Disney's version of Boomerang. It's laughable.

Not quite. The retooled and renamed Disney XD is trying to grab the boys market, so this fits in perfectly with their new strategy. They've already dumped a bunch of shows like Pucca for being too female oriented.

Dude, What Would Happen made me feel stupid. Are they being serious with that show?!

I looked up "Dude What Would Happen" and those have to be some of the dumbest situations ever.

Per wiki, these stand out the most for me though...


I don't know. How did they do it in the 80's?



I don't know show. What would happen?

I'm pretty sure that they are older teens, so there's no excuse for them to talk the way that they do. I think they are trying to dumb it down and make science cool. But from the episodes that I saw, there was way more "dude" than "science". And everything they did was just so useless. Can't CN see that?

ETA: Sorry about all of the typo's. I was writing that on the tablet pc and it was having trouble recognizing my handwriting.