Tuning in to Cartoon Network and seeing things like this:
Or this:
Or this:
Or even this:
There was a time when watching CN was an immersive experience, a visual treat for the senses. Good times, man, good times.
“You’re the one who’s always criticizing people for being nostalgia-tards and being stuck in the past, unable to embrace the present, and now you’re making a nostalgia thread! You’re a hypocrite! A big fat hypocrite! Mr. Hypocrite Pants!!”
No, I assure you that what I’m saying is not simply laced in nostalgia. It’s not necessarily the shows and blocks themselves that I miss, but the fun and the passion that went into them, as well as the uniqueness and diversity of said shows and blocks. You just don’t see that on CN now. This is a trend that I’ve been noticing happening on CN for a while now. Somehow, it seems that the life, the vibrancy, the dazzle, the care and the passion that used to go into Cartoon Network’s bumps, their shows, their blocks, their overall presentation has dissipated over the years. Something happened along the way, and I think I know what that something is….
Now by now it’s common knowledge that I’m not a huge Adult Swim booster and I’m usually among the first to cast stones at it (no, that’s not a rock in my pocket, I promise!), but I think that there’s precedent here. As much as it pains me to say this….
“Turner Broadcasting doesn’t care about Cartoon Network!”
I know that sounds like a really spammy, trollish thing to say, but think about it. Now that Adult Swim has proven itself to be the most successful thing running on CN right now, all of its’ parent company’s praise and attention is now going into AS; CN right now is little more than an extended lead-in to Adult Swim. It would certainly explain why AS keeps getting more air space and why Cartoon Network’s current spectrum is so narrow. All of the current prime CN shows are, from my perspective, just ‘feeder’ shows for boys who will eventually transition into AS one day. I really feel like CN is no longer interested in being a general audience/ children’s network contender or competing with the likes of Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and The Hub anymore on the overall K2-11 spectrum, and are more content finding a very specific demo (boys 6-11/9-14) to target and then lure into AS – their big money maker. That’s basically all Turner talks about regarding CN in press releases. As a general animation/entertainment channel, Turner has basically given up on Cartoon Network. The only reason they don’t just make the entire channel AS is because they can’t air TV-MA shows during the day. Now things may change when new management comes in, but as it is now, Cartoon Network is little more than training ground for the junior dude-bros who will one day become Adult Swim’s audience.
On that note, I leave you with something equally disturbing:
We’ve recently received some new info on all this. For one thing, according to Nickandmore, the Boomerang re-brand, which was presumed to be happening at the end of March, will not be happening until the 4th quarter of 2014, i.e., late fall.
“Imagine my delight.”
Also, the new Boomerang will target younger audiences, girls and families, unlike the boy-skewing Cartoon Network. (At least we now have some idea as to what sort of programming we can expect on the new Boom.) Of course all of this is supplemented by the news that Stuart Snyder will be stepping down as President of Cartoon Network at the end of this month.
Now, while I’m tempted to react this way upon hearing this latter announcement……
…We have to look at things realistically. There are 3 things we must consider:
While it’s true that Snyder was largely responsible for pushing live-action onto CN, as well as its’ current unabashed skewing towards boys and “goofy boy” comedies to the exclusion of just about everything else and Adult Swim’s continued engulfing on Toon’s schedule, the man did some good things for CN. he greenlit Adventure Time (not a fan of it myself, but I know people are) and Regular Show (which I am a fan of), and he did help pull CN slightly out of the hole it had dug itself into from around 2004 through 2007. That said, it always felt like it was 1 step forward, 3 steps back with this guy, so I’d be lying if I said that part of me isn’t kind of glad that he’s going, but….
Just because Snyder’s departing doesn’t mean that things are going to change dramatically at Cartoon Network, nor does it mean that a new Golden Age for CN is on the horizon. Stu may be going, but Rob Sorcher and others will still be around, and the Nickandmore article clearly states that CN will not be abandoning its’ current boy-skewing ways. I hate to be ants at the picnic, but Cartoon Network is definitely not going to go back to being the way it was 13 years ago, with a wide and diverse range of new shows with that same level of quality, creativity and imagination, still aiming for creating the fun, must-watch atmosphere of the past but with the shows of today. Trying to recreate the atmosphere from back in the day by producing and using a variety of new comedic and action shows from countless sources as well as creating visually entertaining bumpers of all sorts would be progress, but CN doesn’t seem to be down with that. More’s the pity.
Given that Cartoon Network will experience a regime change soon, any future plans for both Boomerang and Cartoon Network could likely be re-evaluated by the new management. The Boomerang re-brand isn’t supposed to happen until late fall, and Snyder’s replacement hasn’t been named yet, so management could be shaken up in any number of ways until then, but unless plans change, it would seem that CN will basically continue as it has been. That being the case, I hope the plans for Boom don’t change, as I’ll likely be watching that more than Cartoon Network, depending on their schedule.
As some of you may or may not know, the digital tier bonus channel Boomerang will be receiving a makeover this year.
“Boomerang, voted the most beloved network by parents in the 2013 Harris Poll, will be programmed and marketed globally to present a line-up of classic and contemporary cartoons for consistent programming appeal to family co-viewing across all of its 13 international feeds.”
Basically, this means that Boomerang will be transformed from an ad-free bonus tier channel which shows only Cartoon Network’s leftovers into an ad-supported kids and family channel akin to Hub Network. No official date has been cited as to when this re-branding will occur, but it’s most likely to happen on, by or around March 31st, since this is also the date that Boomerang Latin America will change its’ format and roster as well as the date when Cartoon Network US will lose its’ 8 PM-9PM prime time hour to Adult Swim (which I’ve already squawked about in Night of the Living Snyder). Coincidentally, or perhaps not so coincidentally, April 1st is also Boomerang’s 14th anniversary. (Wait, April 1st? I hope it doesn’t turn out that this is all an elaborate prank and we’re not all just getting punk’d.) UPDATE: It’s recently been announced that the re-brand will occur sometime during the 4th quarter of 2014, not in March or April. Dang. Upfronts are typically released during the last of week of March, so we’ll know for certain what to expect then, but in the meantime…..
Here’s a brief run-through of what this will or could mean for Joe TV Viewer, as well as what I and other fans would like to see happen on this new Boomerang.
1. NEW LOGO
As stated in the article, Boomerang US will be syncing up its’ look to coincide with the channel’s other international feeds, so in all likelihood this means that Da Boom will be switching from this logo….
…to this logo:
I also wouldn’t mind if they went with this spiffy little number:
But I’m thinking it’ll most likely be the ‘ribbon’ logo, since that’s the one the international Boomerangs are using right now.
2. BUMPS & IDENTS
A natural after-effect of a re-brand is a new look, which means new bumps and wraparounds. Since as previously stated, Boom US’s bumps will most likely fall in line with the international Boom feeds, so I’m guessing we could get bumps like these French bumps from 2011:
Or these from the UK:
Now some folks on Toon Zone have complained that these bumps (especially the UK ones) are “too childish” and don’t accurately reflect the “classic” feel of the Boomerang channel the way the current toy bumps do. To that I have 2 things to say: One, keep in mind that Boomerang isn’t going to be just a classic cartoon channel anymore (but more on that later) and Two, so what? We’ve been subjected to those same old toy bumpers for 4 years straight without an iota of a change; at this point I’ll take ANYTHING besides those smegging toy bumps. A tap-dancing test pattern would be preferable to just getting more toy bumpers. A fellow poster suggested that Da Boom just re-use some of Cartoon Network’s old idents, like from the Powerhouse and City Era; now I’m definitely against that idea. The ‘childish’ nature of those above bumps doesn’t bother me personally, since they’re for a family network. They’re innocuous, but harmless, and I’d still rather get these wraparounds as opposed to Boom just getting Cartoon Network’s hand-me-downs. Just re-using old CN promos would make it look like the people in charge really don’t care about this channel, and that Boomerang would have no identity of its’ own and couldn’t stand on its’ own merits.
To me, the toy bumpers represent a bygone era of stagnancy that’s (hopefully) finally coming to a close.
3. PROGRAMMING
Now, if you watched the entirety of the Boom UK bumps, you undoubtedly noticed that several of the shows advertised there weren’t exactly ‘classic’. Keep in mind that the re-branded Boomerang is said to “present a line-up of classic and contemporary cartoons”. Emphasis on “and contemporary”. Basically this means that Boomerang will no longer be a strictly nostalgia channel. I realize this doesn’t sit well with several viewers; there are some who don’t want to see Boomerang go beyond airing former CN shows from the 1992-2004 era, and there are even some who think that Boom airing the likes of Cartoon-Cartoons such as Johnny Bravo and Powerpuff Girls is too much, and that they should “go back to their roots” and only air theatrical cartoons from the 40’s and Hanna-Barbera cartoons from the 60’s.
“Change? Progress?? FLOBBEDY-FLEE!”
To those folks, I can’t put it any better than my brother Jason (Goldstar) did:
Sorry, but I can guarantee that won’t happen. Keeping the channel stuck in 1 era only would be neither realistic nor economically feasible. Boomerang airing nothing but Looney Tunes and MGM shorts and 60’s HB cartoons would basically be signing the channel’s own death warrant. The audience for 40s-60s nostalgia is far too narrow a market for a channel devoted solely to it to work anymore, and finding sponsors who’d be willing to advertise on an all old-school channel would be harder than Chinese arithmetic. Said channel would die faster than Nick GAS or Planet Green and be remade as a general entertainment channel in less than 2 years. I hope that there’ll still be a place for old-school toons on Boomerang, but in order for Boomerang to evolve and succeed, new and original content is necessary.
Also, the Cartoon-Cartoons are part of Cartoon Network’s roots. Those were among the 1st original animated series to air on CN. They’re as integral to the network’s history as those old shorts were. Plus, the Cartoon-Cartoons are over 20 years old now and are therefore old enough to remembered nostalgically by many people.
4. WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE CLASSICS?
“WILL ENTERTAIN FOR ROOM & BOARD”
With the advent of newer shows and acquisitions, this inevitably means that the classics will have to give way to the newer shows. I just hope that this means the classics will be thrust off the network entirely. Hopefully, the classics can stay a part of Boomerang’s lineup, even if it’s only during non-peak viewing hours.
“Dang, I hope I won’t have to move. I finally done got my space in this here vast video wasteland Fueng-Shui-ed the way I likes it!”
5. BLOCKS AND ACQUISITIONS
Now that Boomerang will be ad-supported, that means the Powers That Be will have some more cash to throw around, and that means they’ll be able to spend more on 3rd party acquisitions and even–gasp!–original programming. We all have our personal choices as to which orphan shows we hope Boomerang will adopt (I’d personally like to see Super Friends come back, and maybe Freakazoid! or Beetlejuice be added, and maybe get some Tara Duncan, Bananaman, The Why Why Family, Oban Star Racers, Code LYOKO, Arthur and the Square Knights of the Round Table and the like in there as well, but that’s just me), but which shows actually end up coming to Da Boom remain to be seen. This will also hopefully mean that there will be programming blocks, so Boom’s schedule won’t seem so random anymore. A fellow TZ-er suggested a classic Toonami block; such a thing would really depend on which audience they’re aiming for and which shows they can/could acquire for it. Most of the shows which aired on Toonami were licensed 3rd party acquisitions, meaning that Cartoon Network had to pay licensees’ fees for the rights to air the shows which aired on the block, and Turner has since let the broadcasting rights to most of Toonami’s signature shows expire, so Boom can’t have a Toonami that runs every show that used to air on Cartoon Network’s Toonami, because CN has since lost the broadcasting rights to most of those shows or their US ditributors have since expired or they’re languishing in Licensing Hell. There’s also the matter of which viewership the channel is trying to attract; I don’t see Turner re-acquiring the likes of Yu Yu Hakusho for a channel that’s supposed to be aimed at families, in fact, shounen in general seems like a leap. Turner/CN just doesn’t seem to have any interest in acquiring non toy-based anime outside of Toonami, which is firmly lodged in Adult Swim territory. I don’t doubt we’ll get something action-oriented on this channel, but I don’t know about a return of classic Toonami. Maybe a souped-up Boomeraction could happen, featuring the likes of Swat Kats, Teen Titans, Samurai Jack, The Secret Saturdays, Sym-Bionic Titan and maybe some of the WB DC comics shows like Batman: TAS, Superman: TAS and Batman Beyond, since those shows have recently vacated The Hub. That’s about as close to Toonami as I see Boomerang getting.
A fellow poster at TZ, CartoonRuler, had a pretty good suggestion:
“Since Freakazoid! was popular more with adults, it would be a good idea if Boom got its hands on it, it would air around 11PM or so in a block along with the likes of Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, ToonHeads, Cartoon Planet, Time Squad, uncut Looney Tunes, etc. Sorta like an Adult Swim lite, but way less edgier. In fact, I would like it if the new revamp Boomerang’s schedule would be like how Teletoon did it in its early days: preschoolers in the early morning, big kids in the afternoon, families in the evening and adults in the late night.” -Now I think that’s a neat idea. I’ve been saying that there should be a lighter, less stoner-y version of Adult Swim for years now. I’d watch a block like that, wouldn’t you? I really hope the Powers That Be go with an idea like this.
ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING, AND LIVE-ACTION?
Yes, it’s a safe bet that the revamped Boomerang will feature some original programming.
Now, I can understand why some people are resistant to the notion of Boomerang airing new shows, but If Boomerang is going to survive as a commercial network and a ratings earner, it needs new shows. Advertisers aren’t interested in running spots on a channel which doesn’t show anything new. Audiences’ attention spans are fleeting, and nostalgia alone loses its’ appeal after a while. The channel either rebrands, or it continues running the same treadmill it’s been running on for over a decade, looping the same 10-20 episodes of the same 4-5 shows with the same old toy bumps sandwiched between them.
As long as the Boomerang classics still have a place on the channel and they’re not just tossed into the vaults to collect dust, then I’m fine with newer content on Da Boom, as long as said programming isn’t going to just be a rehash of what’s airing on Cartoon Network right now, and that includes live-action shows. Yes, I said I’d be OK with live-action shows airing on Boomerang, as long as they’re not just the same melange of “dumb boy comedies” that are on CN. Maybe here shows like Tower Prep and Unnatural History can finally be given the chance that they never got on CN under Stuart Snyder’s regime (CN’s top brass ordered TP and UH axed because they were gaining sizable amounts of female viewers, and the current CN is only interested in targeting boys), and live-action shows are fine as long as they represent the cartoony nature of Boom’s genre, like The Banana Splits, The Skatebirds or Korg: 70,000 B..C., or even live-action acquisitions like the Adam West Batman series or Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp. That would rule. As long as it’s not the same kind of crap that we got on CN Real, I’m fine with live-action on Da Boom.
Now I’m sure some people are wondering: just why is Turner doing this? Well, as previously stated, the official press reason is that Turner wants Boomerang to be unified with its’ international feeds, but there’s also another reason. A simple but obvious reason, and that reason is that Boomerang wasn’t cutting the mustard as an ad-free nostalgia channel, and it had to start pulling its’ weight. In other words……
Remember this past Christmas, when Cartoon Network temporarily extended its’ children’s programming an extra hour? We all thought the Stuart Snyder, the man in charge of CN, had finally seen the light and was making a genuine effort to bridge the disconnect he has with CN’s audience. Well, it turns out….
Yeah, I hope you enjoyed that bone you got tossed, ’cause that’s gonna be it for a while. This week Snyder announced that starting March 31st, CN’s Adult Swim block will be expanded yet another hour, beginning at 8 P.M. Viewers’ reaction was swift and concise:
The irony here is so delicious that it must be fattening. We all thought that after December, Cartoon Network would be GAINING an hour of programming back, but it turns out CN will be LOSING another hour. Call it Jetix Disease.
For those who don’t know, Jetix was a programming block of new and original shows (mostly action cartoons) which was implemented onto Toon Disney in 2004. In short order, the Jetix shows began scoring higher ratings than anything on Toon Disney (largely because the Jetix shows were new and the rest of TD’s schedule consisted of canceled reruns tying into TD’s nostalgia channel theme), and as a result, Jetix gradually began taking up more and more air space, spreading across the channel like some sort of virus, to the point where 85% of the channel’s programming was Jetix shows and Toon Disney seemed like a tiny block on the Jetix channel, leading the Mouse House to rebrand the entire channel as Disney X-D. It’s looking like Adult Swim is the new Jetix.
Why is Snyder doing this? According to the man himself, it’s because 6-14 year old boys are watching less TV and spending more time online, and he wants expand Adult Swim to garnish more appeal for young adults. OK, 2 things: one, I think it’s truly sad that 6-14 year old boys are the only audience Snyder cares about (talk about a 1-track mind) and two, he doesn’t think that CN’s current hits Adventure Time and Regular Show, both of which have proven to have crossover appeal to young adults, fit the bill at 8 P.M.?
I admit that my opinion isn’t an unbiased one, as I’m not the biggest Adult Swim fan there is. I’m not even a medium-sized fan. Aside from The Venture Brothers, The Boondocks and China, IL., I don’t watch anything on Adult Swim. I don’t even think AS should be on 7 days a week, since the current block is not only a dismal shadow of its’ former self but it barely has enough shows to stretch across 9 hours, forget giving them a 10th, but that’s just me. If we were going to to get decent shows like Home Movies, Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, The Oblongs, Mission Hill, Daria, Dilbert, Duckman and Liquid Television (BTW, I know some of these shows would never air on a Turner owned station, but I mean shows of this nature) during the 8 P.M. hour, then I probably wouldn’t mind this so much, since I only watch a show or 2 on CN right now anyway, but you and I know what this extra hour will contain: more FOX Animation Domination leftovers. Another hour of King of the Hill and American Dad reruns. Yay. Some are hoping that AS’ new hour will consist of an expanded Toonami, but since viewers would actually enjoy that, it’s most likely not going to happen.
(Some of the DC Nation shows would’ve also been choice to see at 8 P.M., but sadly, thanks to more CN mismanagement, DC Nation is a joke now, showing nothing but–gag!–Teen Titans Go! and filler material.)
Ironically, the 1 channel that may actually benefit from Snyder’s dumb-assery is CN’s less popular little sister, Boomerang. In the midst of all of this, Boomerang is apparently going to be remade into an ad-supported kids and family channel said to consist of both classic and contemporary cartoons. Da Boom has already began airing corporate sponsored ads. That description sounds like they’re planning to make Boomerang into a Hub Network type of channel, the prospects of which are making my mouth water. The only hiccup here is that the presence of ad support means that the channel will now depend on ratings to survive, and this will inevitably lead to the addition of new and original programming; not surprisingly, many retro fans fear that this will mean that the classic cartoons are going to be shown a lot less love, and sadly, that is a likely prospect. However, we have to keep in mind that that if things were to stay as they are now on Boomerang, we’d only ever see the same 10 to 20 episodes of the same 4 or 5 Hanna-Barbera shows aired over and over again. Forgoing this for the relaunch of Boomerang into a potentially fresh, diverse and awesome network is a sacrifice worth making in my opinion. I hope that the classic cartoons have a place somewhere on this new channel, because based on what I’m hearing this new Boom has the potential to be a mix of Hub Network and the Powerhouse era CN, and that could be great if The Powers That Be don’t drop the ball on it.
We asked Snyder himself to comment on his mode of thinking, and here’s what he had to say:
By now we all know the situation: action cartoons are in a bad way right now. The recent 2-month hiatus of Beware the Batman (which has already been covered by Jason in “Beware the Backlash”) is just the latest blow to action toons. We’ve already been over why action cartoons are having such a tough time presently, but the question remains: what can be done to restore action cartoons to their former glory, aside from securing them a toy line? Here are some possible solutions:
1. Simplify the designs. One of the chief reasons that action cartoons take such a hard hit when they fail is because they’re more expensive to produce than comedy cartoons. Yeah, it’s great how so many action cartoons are drawn and animated in such amazing detail, from the more complex character designs to the intricate cityscapes, but let’s face it, that jazz costs a lot of money. One way to help make action cartoons gain profits is to make them cheaper to produce, and one way that can be done by avoiding realistic character designs. The less detailed and more cartoony the designs, the cheaper and easier the show is to animate. Every action cartoon doesn’t have to look like Princess Mononoke. No, I’m not suggesting that action cartoons should be reduced to fighting stick figures, but the less detailed the characters and designs are, the less expensive they are to produce. Shows such as Samurai Jack have proven that you can make a decent action toon with sparse, stylized designs and without having to draw and animate every wrinkle and pore on the faces and every drop of dew on every blade of grass.
“We’re just gonna paint a happy sun, and some happy grass, and some happy robot ninjas beating up a giant mutant scorpion…”
2. The networks that run action cartoons should promote and support them. On one of the message boards that I’m on, a fellow poster implied that actions should expand its’ viewer base towards a broader audience (in other words, adults) to keep the shows going. We’ve already gone over why most networks aren’t going to start gearing their action toons towards adults in parts 1 and 2, so no need to repeat that. Action cartoons don’t necessarily need to be marketed towards adults in order to secure them loyal viewers, all that really needs to happen is for their network to support them. Let’s use the recent Beware the Batman debacle as an example: it got next to zero promotion by Cartoon Network, and the few ads it did air began airing about a week before the show’s debut with no follow-up advertising afterward and were only shown during the hour when DC Nation was on. Really, when was the last time you saw an ad for a DC Nation show outside of the DC Nation block? Teen Titans GO! doesn’t count, because it gets to air its’ premiere episodes on a different night than the block and it gets encores throughout the week. Any good advertiser knows that you have to make the public want your product; how are kids going to want to see a show when the network it runs on barely talks about it?
Why doesn’t CN promote the DC Nation shows? Run ads for them, give them at least 1 encore, ensure that they get to premiere alongside other premiere shows, since kids are more prone to stick around to watch a show when there are other new episodes airing before and after them to check out. If CN promoted their DC action toons half as much as the promotional blitzes they gave TTGO!, Uncle Grandpa and Steven Universe, then maybe the DC Nation shows wouldn’t be in the pickle they’re in right now. Say what you will about Disney, but they at least promote their shows, even the action cartoons, and given them plenty of encores.
“Hey, Warner Bros. We own Marvel, and our superhero movies make money and don’t suck. So take a wild guess what YOU can suck! Ha-Ha!”
Don’t get cocky; you’re latest Marvel action cartoon offerings haven’t been that great, and last I heard, you were moving Marvel Universe to 8 AM on Sunday mornings, not a good sign. Moving on…
3. Make action cartoons more accessible to a mass audience, not just hardcore action fans. Another reason action toons are having such a tough time right now is because many of them follow extensive and ongoing story arcs, which not only forces a newbie just coming in to them to play catch-up in order to keep from getting lost in the overall plot with but also shortens their lifespan in reruns, since only the most devoted fans are willing to revisit an arc once it’s over. Perhaps making more stand-alone stories is the way to go, since that way the episodes can be rerun in any given order without viewers feeling lost. I think that action cartoons should try to have more self contained stories rather than having so many season long story arcs, as self contained stories have greater replay value because the episodes don’t have to be shown in any particular order and ongoing sagas tend to not do well in reruns. Networks aren’t going to run these shows in a straight, linear, coherent order after their initial airings anyway. Back in the ancient 1980’s, plenty of the action cartoons from that era such as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe and even the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles did mostly stand-alone episodes, save for the occasional 2 or 3-parter. There’s no reason today’s action toons can’t do the same.
4. Schedule them at a time when people will actually be around to see them. Going back to Beware the Batman for a moment (geez, people are talking more about BtB now then when it was on the air), one reason that show failed to find an audience was because there weren’t any other premiere shows running alongside of it; Ben 10: Omniverse was already in reruns by the time BtB debuted, and the Teen Titans GO! episodes which air on DC Nation are just encores of the eps which premiere on Monday nights. It doesn’t take a genius to see that a single new first-run show isn’t going to get as many viewers when it’s sandwiched between 2 reruns, especially when the network running said show does next to squat to remind its’ viewer that the bloody show is even on. One reason the Hub’s Puppy/Pony/Pet combo works so well is because those shows usually air their premiere episodes at more or less the same time; a kid is more wont to stick around where there’s a good hour or 2 of premiere goodness in store for them. Which brings me to a point raised by Jason during a recent conversation, which I’ll quote here:
Why don’t cable/satellite channels run action cartoons on weekday afternoons anymore? Toonami in it’s hey day did well in the ratings on weekday afternoons for years. Miguzi (which was like a scaled down Toonami geared toward a slightly younger audience) wasn’t as successful as Toonami was, but the block at least did well enough to stay on for a couple of years. That formula worked once, why can’t it work again?
Yeah, how about it, CN? Really what else are you doing during that time? More encores? That joke of a block you laughingly call Cartoon Planet? Why not try running action toons on weekday afternoons to early evenings again? It couldn’t hurt to try.
5. Give the viewers some original ideas, characters and concepts. Yes, I understand that action cartoons are a risky and costly investment, and as such most networks prefer to play it safe with known properties, but that may be part of the problem. People might be getting sick of nonstop reboots of Batman, Spider-Man, the Transformers and the Avengers. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to give them heroes, villains, premises and settings which they haven’t already seen 100 times already. I know you’d risk losing money on a new action idea if it tanks, but you’re losing money on the established properties right now, so what more harm could experimentation do?
-As always, we’re not saying that these ideas are guaranteed to work, but they’re at least ideas. They’re better than just continuing to let action toons languish, I think. It wouldn’t kill The Powers That Be to give 1 or 2 of these suggestions a try at least. After all, you can’t hope to succeed if you don’t dare to fail.
Twin Images 
You must be logged in to post a comment.