Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Adios, Cartoon Network

No, it's not gone yet. But it will be. Now that the introduction's out of the way, here's the beef I have with them. I'm sure it sounds familiar by now.

If you've paid attention to Cartoon Network's advertising and/or programming, then you've probably already taken note of the "reality" programming it's been airing recently. That by itself is a sign of failure on Cartoon Network's part; they probably think that by airing "reality" programming, they'll draw in cartoon viewers. BAH. Pure and simple. People watch cartoons to ESCAPE from reality. "CN Real"? "More than just cartoons"? The network's doomed. It's really that simple. If I wanted reality, I'd head to McDonalds and read a newspaper (and, judging from what I've heard about the ratings, some of the viewers are of similar thoughts, albeit without the cheeseburgers). I realize that some of the people there are concerned about this, so don't worry; my animosity isn't targeted at them (it's more towards the network in general).

I've been watching Cartoon Network, with the exception of a few periods where we didn't have cable, ever since it was introduced in the early 90s. I've been following it quite closely ever since, and I'm starting to become more and more disappointed. It used to be that I could watch it most of the day (and, if I could get away with it, well into the night) without being disappointed. Those days are long gone. Nowadays, the only programs I watch on it are Pokemon and the occasional episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog (other stuff, like Ben 10 Alien Force, I've gotten tired of; that's more my fault than the network's). The Looney Tunes marathon that they aired back on New Years Day was like a breath of fresh air on a smoggy morning, and needless to say I taped what I could catch. One has to wonder if it isn't their last gasp at glory.

I know I don't understand the decisions being made over there. I can't claim to understand what they were thinking. Maybe the person in charge over there takes delight in feeding off the misery of others ("Hey, let's cancel this program. Right out of the blue." "Dude, wouldn't that get people mad at us?" "That's the idea. I'm evil."). Whatever the explanation is, it's not worthy of us.

Back in the middle part of the decade, I used to watch HiHi Puffy Amiyumi (at first because I liked Grey Delisle's voice acting, and then I got hooked on some of the music as well). During Cartoon Network's 2006 promotional campaign for upcoming summer programming, that was one of the programs slated to have new episodes. There were one, maybe two episodes aired...AND THEN THE SHOW WAS GONE. With at least four or five episodes to go. With no prior explanation (if there was one, I didn't catch it). From what I understand they've done the same thing with One Piece, despite the fact that Funimation (the dubbers that took over where 4Kids left off) had managed to rescue it from the scrap heap.

Now, as you know, they've shunted some programs aside to make way for the live-action stuff, like the aforementioned reality shows and various movies (some of which have nothing to do with animation). I don't know about you, but I don't like having my escape routes blocked off. The time is going to come when there will be a station airing nothing but those programs, targeted primarily at kids 10-15...and they will have the nerve to call themselves "Cartoon Network", if that name change that rumors have mentioned is not accepted. Don't believe me? Just watch. The time will come.

Wish I could think of a suitable epitaph.