AC's Legacy
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ACTV's Legacy Continues To Grow! to look back at our sucsess, We Made An AC's Legacy Documentery
[edit] Imagine If Time Warner Kept Nickelodeon
Instead of selling to Viacom Communications, Warner Communications bought out American Express's stake in Warner Amex, transforming Warner Amex into Warner Cable Corporation, which later became Time Warner Cable after the 1990 merger with Time, Inc. Taking a cue from Turner Communications' Superstation TBS and the popular USA Network, Warner uses the facilities of MTV Networks to create The Warner Bros. Channel, which will air sporting events, library programming, and films from the Warner Bros. library. Nickelodeon would be fully embraced by Warner Bros., who provides sitcoms and animation to the network, as well as continues to create original programming, including game shows and original animation projects. The first Nicktoons would be a pair of programs created in-house at the resurrected Warner Bros. Animation, a new series featuring a new generation of Looney Tunes characters called Tiny Toon Adventures and a series based on the popular Batman movie and comic franchise. MTV would benefit from having the Warner Music Group as a corporate cousin, by being the exclusive home of videos from Warner Music artists like Madonna.
An MTV spinoff network would be created in 1987 dedicated to a particular genre of music. Unlike MTV, it would consist of all videos, all the time.
After Time Inc. buys a significant stake in Warner Communications in 1990, the newly merged Time Warner creates two definative cable units, Time Warner Network Group, which contains MTV, Nickelodeon, MTV2: Video Hits, and The Warner Bros. Channel, and Home Box Office, Inc., which contains HBO and Cinemax. A premium music channel, MTV Unfiltered, is created under the direction of both TWNG and HBO with a lineup of concerts, uncut videos, and more experimental programming. Nickelodeon spins off an all-animation channel by 1994, with original, acquired, and library titles as a part of the network's programming and is the first legitimate competitor to Turner's Cartoon Network. Though an outright merger with Turner sounds tempting, Time Warner decides not to buy the entertainment giant. Despite having successes throughout broadcast television and offers from independent affiliate groups like Tribune, ACME, and Sinclair, Time Warner decides not to invest in a new broadcast network.
By 1999, Nickelodeon's 20th anniversary, Nickelodeon is the #1 network in all of cable while The Warner Bros. Channel is a strong #2. In fact, it's largely because of Nickelodeon that the fortunes of Time Warner are strong, so strong that they buy a controlling stake in a popular internet portal, America OnLine to compete against the likes of News Corp, Disney, and Universal.
And Then ac Did what he always Wanted To Do, Perchase Time Warner! Thus Began A legacy. Sounds Like alot of Hooplah to make Life Easy right, WRONG!
[edit] Imagine If Ted Turner Bought CBS
It was Ted Turner's biggest triumph.
In 1986, Turner Broadcasting System completed its acquisition of CBS, Inc., merging the two companies as CBS-Turner Entertainment. The CBS News and Cable News Network units were merged into one, with CNN becoming . . . well, CNN, the CBS News Network. With a partnership with CBS, TBS actually gained viewership and a new corporate alliance in the world of entertainment. CBS Sports, formed from the merger of the Turner Sports and CBS Sports units, acquired broadcast rights to NFL and NBA games, the first time a cable and broadcast group jointly gained rights to sports broadcasts.
By 1993, CBS-Turner was actually beneficial for both companies, but they needed content companies. After buying out the partners in Tri-Star (the original Tri-Star ownership was CBS, HBO, and Columbia Pictures), CBS-Turner also bought a significant stake in Columbia Pictures Entertainment from Coca-Cola, averting a complete takeover from Sony, merging the film company with Turner's earlier studio purchases Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Hanna-Barbera and a pair of independent studios. Castle Rock Entertainment and New Line Cinema, calling the merged filmed entertainment units MGM Columbia. With these libraries, CBS-Turner launched three networks: Cartoon Network (focused on animation), The MGM Movie Network, and The Screen Gems Channel (focused on classic sitcoms, dramas, and television movies).
Although he regretted not getting NBC, the success Ted Turner had with CBS only grew as the decades continued, and CBS-Turner has become his strongest legacy.
And now it is passed on to Ac, CBS-Turner Entertainment Is now a substainary of ACTV
[edit] Imagine If Saban Continued Syndicating Dragon Ball Z
Fox Kids is the most popular afternoon block in the United States thanks in part to the tandem of a pair of Saban-distributed shows, Power Rangers and the Saban Funimation-produced Dragon Ball Z. A year after completely buying out the assets of FUNimation Productions, Saban, now Saban Funimation Entertainment (SFE), became the primary programmer for the Fox Kids lineup. With 80% of the entire lineup on weekdays and Saturday mornings, SFE virtually owns Fox Kids. Fox Broadcasting, in turn, buys a minority stake in SFE, while Fox Home Video takes over video distribution rights for all SFE products. 20th Century Fox also picks up theatrical distribution rights for Dragon Ball Z movies, which are essentially kid-oriented, making millions for both Fox and Saban Funimation.
Of course, fans familiar with the original Japanese versions of Dragon Ball Z aren't thrilled with Fox and SFE's plans with the franchise. With no uncut releases in sight, these fans create petitions and on-and-offline campaigns for Fox to release uncut versions of Dragon Ball Z as well as the edited versions familiar with the US. A few ambitious online campaigners dub their efforts S.O.S.: Save Our Saiyans. At the cusp of the 21st century, attitudes changed at Fox and SFE. After getting a few concessions (Fox eventually released unedited releases of Dragon Ball Z with alternate covers to differentiate them from the more availiable commercial releases, and the original Dragon Ball exclusively on video uncut), the S.O.S. campaign disbanded.
Dragon Ball Z continues to be a popular franchise on Fox Kids, eclipsing would-be challengers like Pokemon, Monster Ranchers, and cable competitors like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, whose Toonami block Aquired DBZ The Year after it Premiered, Thus "Killing" Cartoon Network, With a generic action block To Balance It's Power Rangers. Saban Funimation found continued success after acquiring Detective Conan and The Slayers, renamed The Journeys of Lina Inverse, all popular shows on the Fox Kids lineups. Fox Kids is Now A channel on AC Cable, And Saban-Funimation Are Belong To AC
[edit] Imagine If Viacom Had Bought Hanna-Barbera
If you want to look at how much of an impact the purchase of the venerable Hanna-Barbera studios has made at Viacom, look at a pair of their popular franchises, The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo.
The Flintstones, one of the longest-running animated series in American history, is a prominent part of the Nick-at-Nite, TV Land, and Nicktoons TV lineups. The original episodes are part of the retro-laden lineup of TV Land and in rotation afternoons on Nicktoons, a channel conceived by longtime network consultant Betty Cohen after the purchase of the Hanna-Barbera library. New episodes made by Hanna-Barbera, spurred on by the launch of The Simpsons on Fox, dominate the Nick-at-Nite lineup seven nights a week. Done in the same style as the original 60s series, The Flintstones has been modernized (well, as modern as you can make a series based in the stone age) and animated by a new generation of creators, The Flintstones remains one of the most popular animated series in North America.
Scooby-Doo has remained a fan-favorite for decades throughout many incarnations. It is the only series to air new episodes on both MTV and Nickelodeon. In 1994, Nickelodeon premiered a new cycle of Scooby-Doo episodes in the tradition of the classic Scooby-Doo, Where Are You, which remains a standard on both Nickelodeon and Nicktoons. Almost a decade later, Nickelodeon's Teenick lineup and MTV shared broadcast rights to a new, more contemporary, teen-oriented Scooby-Doo series, gaining critical praise and numerous award nominations. It was also the first Scooby-Doo series not to have the popular Great Dane as the prominent name on the series, now called The Mystery Machine. The Mystery Machine is one of Nickelodeon's most popular series on the air.
Hanna-Barbera was the studio responsible for the Nicktoons project, a collection of original animated series and shorts created by individuals and outside companies. After reintroducing classic characters like Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Pixie and Dixie, and Auggie Doggie as well as Viacom-owned characters like Mighty Mouse and Deputy Dawg (including a memorable crossover short with Hanna-Barbera's Quick Draw McGraw), Hanna-Barbera introduced new franchises like The Powerpuff Girls, Rocko's Modern Life, Dexter's Laboratory, Hey Arnold, The Fairly Oddparents, Mina and the Count, Spongebob Squarepants, and Invader ZIM. Hanna-Barbera also animated MTV originals like Downtown, Space Ghost, Aeon Flux, and Samurai Jack. Hanna-Barbera also provided animation services to outside acquisitions like Klasky-Csupo's Rugrats and Wild Thornberrys and Spumco's The Ren and Stimpy Show.
Because of the reverence Viacom has for the Hanna-Barbera name, they refrain from renaming the studio Nickelodeon Animation Studio, though in essence, that's what it has become. Cartoon Network, Now Owned By AC, Continues To Rock, and Hanna-Barbera, Now ACTV Animation, Is owned By AC!
[edit] Imagine If The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest Continued Beyond Its Only Season
Toonami is the home of three marquee franchises - Dragon Ball/Z/GT, Justice League/Unlimited, and The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. While all the episodes of the Dragon Ball trilogy have aired and Justice League is a fairly new franchise, Jonny Quest is the longest-running show on Toonami, airing on day one, the only "first day" series remaining on the block.
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest broke many rules in its lengthy history on Cartoon Network. It was the first show to have three completely different character designs, though the anime-inspired "second" designs, prominent after the first half of the first season, became more popular with the fans. JQ, as it's known in the fandom, continues to evolve over the years. After five seasons produced by Hanna-Barbera, including the controversal 52-episode first season, Cartoon Network and French animation studio Marathon, who retained the look of "second" designs with more European/Japanese influenced animation. The Marathon-animated seasons were given a new title, Jonny Quest: The Legendary Adventures, and several new allies and enemies. Surprisingly, many of the writers and designers of The Real Adventures remained on Legendary Adventures.
Like Teen Titans, Jonny Quest continues to be a cross-block franchise, airing on both Toonami, which premieres 16 new episodes every season, and Miguzi, where reruns are paired with another Marathon series, Totally Spies. Of course, all good things have to come to an end, as the eighth and final season will tie together every loose storyline, including plots left behind from the the previous three Jonny Quest series. The final three-episode arc, "Graduation," is the final tale of Jonny Quest, teen explorer and adventurer.
After a few concessions and a greater understanding of each other, both incarnations of Jonny Quest have created one of the best action franchises in animation history. With an initial 164 episodes, Jonny Quest has entertained Toonami fans since day one. Even in rerun mode, it will still be a prominent part of ACTV's lineup.
[edit] Imagine If Paramount Bought Warner Communications?
In 1989, Paramount Communications purchased Warner Communications for $15 billion dollars. In the 16 years since the merger, Warner-Paramount Entertainment, has become the largest entertainment company in the world with competitors like Buena Vista, Viacom, and Fox right behind them. What makes Warner-Paramount great is the strong legacy of entertainment behind them. The combined film and television library, which included Warner Bros. (including the titles Warner-Paramount received after purchasing Turner Entertainment in 1995), Paramount, New Line, Castle Rock, and MGM (studio-owned films prior to 1986) has over 90 years of history. With the Warner Bros., MGM, Paramount, Hanna-Barbera, and Fleischer Studios titles, Warner-Paramount also has the largest animation library on the planet.
Perhaps the studio's biggest assets are its cable properties. After completely buying out the remaining shares of USA Networks, Warner-Paramount rebranded the unit Star Networks. After the studio bought Turner Entertainment in 1995, Warner-Paramount merged the network units with the Star Networks group as Turner-Star Networks. Years before the Turner purchase, Warner-Paramount launched Plex, a premium movie channel to compete with Time's HBO and Cinemax and Viacom's Showtime and Movie Channel. W-P also launched Trax, a music-video network that utilized the Warner Music library and became a huge competitor to Viacom's MTV.
Development of newer properties and revamps of older studio-owned properties like Star Trek, Dukes of Hazzard, MacGyver, Superman, Batman, and others lead them to launch the fifth broadcast network. The Warner Bros./Paramount Network (WPN) launched in January 1995 after finding broadcast partnerships with independent station groups as well as launching their own network-owned group. WPN Kids becomes the most-watched programming block on Saturday mornings.
Even though they are comfortable and considered complacent by their competitors, Warner-Paramount continues to be a well-rounded entertainment company in the 21st century with many new endeavors to come. Even Owned By AC TV!
[edit] Imagine If Williams Street Was Given Their Own Network
On April 17, 2004, Cartoon Network launched Warehouse, a second spinoff network which is completely operated by Mike Lazzo and Williams Street Productions, with a simulcast of the premiere of the relaunched Toonami and Adult Swim Saturday night block on Cartoon Network. The name was inspired by the deceptively simple headquarters of Williams Street. Its target audiences were the 14-35 demos that made up the Adult Swim viewership and the 7-14 demos that made up the Toonami audience. After getting coverage on DirecTV and Dish Network, Warehouse became widely available to audiences. Because Warehouse was also ad-supported, cable operators (who make a lot more money in selling local ad space on cable networks) became curious about the network and also began to carry the network.
Warehouse has a lineup that consists of classic and modern action franchises in the daytime, a healthy mix of teen-friendly comedy and action in primetime, and adult-oriented properties late nights. To save money, Warehouse simulcasts Cartoon Network's initial airings of Adult Swim on weeknights and Toonami on Saturdays. Warehouse also airs exclusive shows that won't be found on Cartoon Network. Since it's ad-supported, Warehouse (which encompasses the management and operations of the Adult Swim block on Cartoon Network) could afford to acquire more outside programming and develop more original programming. In fact, Warehouse's creation was the inspiration for Cartoon Network to co-produce numerous original anime projects, all of which will air on Toonami on Cartoon Network and later on Warehouse.
Tween and teen-friendly programming makes up the programming of the daytime hours from 6 AM to 7 PM in the East, and because Williams Street controls all aspects of operation, they decide what airs in that period. Even though it's only been a little over a year since its creation, Warehouse has become a unique success story for Cartoon Network, so much that Cartoon Network is planning on expanding the brand internationally, first by rebranding Toonami UK as Warehouse UK by the end of 2005. Not bad for a network that started out in a small storage space. Even Owned By AC TV, it is a magic Footnote of ACTV's History.
[edit] Imagine If Comcast Bought Disney
Wall Street and Madison Avenue were shocked and amazed when Comcast and Disney officially announced their merger plans in a multibillion dollar takeover deal from Comcast. The new company, called Disney Comcast Entertainment, is the considered the first true integrated media company for the 21st century. By combining one of the last "old Hollywood" studios with the largest cable operator in the country, Disney Comcast sets a model that will eventually influence the entire industry.
The company immediately changed a few outlets. Outdoor Life Channel became ESPN Outdoors, The Disney Channel became ad-supported, and Comcast Sports Networks dropped its alliances with Fox Sports Net. By the time the merger was completed in late 2004, the real changes began at Disney Comcast. For starters, the biggest changes happened to The Disney Channel. The network currently known as Disney Channel was relaunched as the Disney Family Channel (ABC Family Channel was relaunched as the ABC CableNet, running pretty much as it is with more ABC news and entertainment programs, including a repurposing deal with many ABC primetime series every week, as well as signing a limited airing agreement with CBN to air The 700 Club only twice a day and not nationally broadcasting CBN marathons, freeing up much of the lineup) while Disney Comcast launched a new premium cable network called The Disney Channel, a family-friendly outlet with uninterrupted movies, original shows and specials, and classic Disney programming, not unlike the original Disney Channel.
The new Disney Channel was just one of the two premium networks created by Disney Comcast. The other one was MovieNet, which utilized the movie library titles of Buena Vista, Disney, Touchstone, Hollywood, and Miramax/Dimension not unlike News Corp's Fox Movie Channel.
Comcast's G4 was one of the few casualties of the merger. It Ended up Next door To Jetix, a new tween/teen oriented action brand created by Disney prior to the merger with many of its shows, including The Electric Playground, Icons, Cheats and Cinematech (both of which evoved into interstital segments), Judgement Day, and Filter ending up alongside Jetix properties like Power Rangers, Beyblade, Digimon, Oban: Star Racers, Marvel cartoons, Gargoyles, and The Tick as well as other outside acquisitions from Nelvana, DiC, and others. Toon Disney pretty much stayed unchanged, though it began acquiring more outside programming from studios like Nelvana and DiC.
Because of the advent of video-on-demand, Comcast Disney has created numerous outlets using the technology. Disney Family Channel, The Disney Channel, MovieNet, G4 and Jetix all have their own VOD networks and Disney On Demand PPV has the latest theatrical releases a month after they arrived on video as well as uncut library titles not availiable anywhere else as well as vault titles not commercially availiable such as individual episodes of The Muppet Show or Desperate Housewives.
In the end, Disney Comcast is one of the best companies availiable today . . .
. . . or at least it was, but ACTV Did What any Biz Owner Would D0, Buy It Out
[edit] Imagine If DiC Had Continued Dubbing Sailor Moon and Fox Kids Aired More Than One Episode of It
When DiC announced plans to bring the popular Japanese animated series Sailor Moon to United States, some people scoffed. Afterall, this was the first major animated Japanese franchise since Robotech to air in America, and this one was more or less aimed towards girls. Still, with her wide-eyed Barbie doll looks, DiC hoped that American girls would warm up to Sailor Moon as they do the popular doll franchise.
And they did.
After initially airing the first season exclusively in syndication and becoming a bonafide hit by the winter, the Fox Kids block eventually picked up broadcasting rights to the series that spring. As the ratings continued to climb, DiC began dubbing the "S" season of Sailor Moon for Fox Kids retaining the same Vancouver-based cast as the first season. That summer, Fox Kids premiered the remaining episodes of the Sailor Moon "R" season after the initial 65 syndicated episodes aired, giving the block higher than usual ratings.
Most of the "S" episodes were edited, and a few (mostly filler episodes) were skipped altogether because of stringent network standards, but little girls who were fans of the series didn't mind or even notice. This season showed an increase in boys watching the series because of the increased action quotient.
The following season, the "SuperS" season aired with mixed results. Although the girls remained, some of the boys stopped watching because of the overtly girly episodes. In the meantime, reruns of the first two seasons were popular on weekdays and was a strong lead-in to a lineup that also included Animaniacs, Batman, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The final season, "Stars," was kind of a touchy one for DiC's corporate owners Disney to handle. The final season was split into two on a new network, ABC, ending a series that had come out of obscurity to become one of the most popular animated series in the country.
[edit] Imagine If ac Gotten Fairy World
Timmy Turner hasn't done his science project, due to him spending too much time on his video-game, "Decimator: Crush the Planet". Using his auto-poofer (given to him by Wanda), he goes to A.J.'s Lab, but instead he comes back and wishes he could be in the greatest lab in the universe. Timmy, now in 3-D, arrives in Retroville, Texas in Jimmy Neutron's lab, where Jimmy was updating his robot dog Goddard. After using some of Jimmy's equipment without asking, Jimmy acidentally taps the star on Timmy's Auto-Poofer, causing him to disappear. Seeing Goddard, TImmy mistakes him for a game console and starts causing Goddard to take on the personality of Timmy's game.
Just then, Carl and Sheen drop by and mistkae Timmy for Jimmy, due to them believing Jimmy has shrunk his own head. After playing with some of the experiments, Timmy bumps into Cindy Vortex and Libby Folfax, and Cindy falls in love with Timmy believing him to be more handsome than Jimmy. In Dimmsdale, California, Jimmy finds himself in Timmy's room and meets Cosmo and Wanda, who Jimmy believes to be holograms. However, Timmy's Dad and several kids in Timmy's school believe Jimmy to be Timmy, as well as Timmy's fairy obsessed teacher Denzel Q. Crocker. After inadvertantly using the teleporting pen in front of Crocker, Crocker realises that he has found a way to get into Fairy World, hoping that somebody in the science fair would invent a device that would allow him to get into Fairy World. After tracking Jimmy to Timmy's home, Crocker steals Jimmy's device that would get him to Retroville, and teleports him, Jimmy, Cosmo and Wanda to Fairy World.
Back in Retroville, Timmy and Cindy enjoy hanging out with each-other, but Goddard appears, now taking on the form of the Decimator. After Timmy blows it off at first, Libby, Carl and Sheen try to stop it, but fail. Timmy realises what he has done, but before he can escape, he is captured by the evil Goddard. With time running out for Timmy, and Retroville, Timmy manages to shut down Goddard, and restore him to normal. Fortuneatly for Timmy, Cindy believes that Timmy created the evil Goddard so that she could solve the entire incident.
Back in Dimmsdale, Jimmy comes in contact with Timmy, who is altered to Mr. Crocker's presence in Fairy World. Jimmy does not listen to Timmy and refuses to help. Crocker discovers that if he stole magical equipment and knocked down the big wand (which powers the fairy's magic), the faries would surrender to him. Crocker steals a suit of magical equipment and knocks down the big wand, making all of the fairies, including Cosmo, Wanda and Jorgen Von Strangle (who is turned into a schnauzer), powerless, Jimmy decides to leave. Then AC Popped Up
[edit] Imagine If The What A Cartoon! Project Was At Nickelodeon Rather Than Cartoon Network
Nickelodeon's initial three Nicktoons came with much fanfare and success in 1991, so it didn't come as such a surprise that the network wanted to develop new properties for the network. They already had Rocko and Hey Arnold in pre-production, but Nickelodeon wanted to start a shorts series for the network to compliment the Looney Tunes shorts that remained one of the network's most popular shows.
Enter Fred Seibert.
He was one of the people responsible for the creation of Nickelodeon's current image and look so when Hanna-Barbera's new owners decided to go in a different direction after the purchase by Turner Broadcasting (they wanted to make new versions of their library of characters rather than wanting to develop new properties), Seibert returned to the Viacom fold bringing along with him numerous artists and animators that he helped bring into Hanna-Barbera. Artists like Genndy Tartakofsky, Craig McCracken, Seth McFarlane, Butch Hartman, Van Partible, and David Fleiss joined Seibert in forming Nickelodeon Animation Studio. In 1992, they developed a new series of shorts called in-house What A Cartoon! but on the air referred to as NickShorts. In 1994, the first cycle of NickShorts aired on Nickelodeon. The very first NickShort shown was Meat Fuzzy Lumpkins, which introduced Craig McCracken's Powerpuff Girls to the world. The shorts were shown in installments of three shorts per episode. Pat Ventura created Sledgehammer O'Possum, Yuckie Duck, That's My Pop!, and a pair of new Deputy Dawg shorts. Changes introduced supergenius Dexter and his sister Dee-Dee while Butch Hartman made two self-contained shorts, Gramps and Pfish and Chip. Seth McFarlane had success bringing Larry and Steve to the lineup.
In 1995, Dexter's Laboratory was the first NickShort to become a full series. In 1996, Johnny Bravo, Pfish and Chip, and Powerpuff Girls followed. Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, Yuckie Duck, Sledgehammer O'Possum were paired together to form Chaotic Animals, a shorts series that was paired off with reruns of Ren and Stimpy in 1997 on MTV. Zoonatics, another NickShort turned series, also brought back the Doo Wop Dinosaurs, who were famous in classic Nickelodeon interstitials back in the 80s. As the years went on, the NickShorts continued to develop new plots and creating new shows, becoming the de facto studio of Nickelodeon animated products. The NickToons were so prominent on Nickelodeon that by the turn of the 21st century, Nickelodeon launched NickToons TV.
Nickelodeon Animation Studios formed an alliance with smaller studios including Stretch Films, DNA Films, and others to create new shows like Courage the Cowardly Dog and Jimmy Neutron, the latter of which had a trilogy of specials with fellow boy genius Dexter from Dexter's Laboratory, which reentered production after years of reruns as did fellow NickToons Rugrats and Johnny Bravo. After Powerpuff Girls ended, Craig McCracken developed Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, which was initially developed for Nick Jr., but Fred Seibert recognized it could work better as a prime-time series. In 2007, the new generation of NickShorts will begin airing on Nickelodeon and Nicktoons Network.
Cartoon Network tried to emulate the success of the NickShorts project by bringing Fred Seibert back to the revamped Cartoon Network Studios. Dubbed the Cartoon Cartoons project, the series spawned Camp Lazlo, a new version of Huckleberry Hound, The Fairly Oddparents, Tri-Curse (a darkly comedic series that combined Billy and Mandy with Evil Con Carne and Mina and the Count, the latter of which originally premiered as a NickShort) and the breakout hit Spongebob Squarepants. They were popular in their own right, but they could hardly compete with the NickShorts. Fred Seibert's Frederator Studios was based at Cartoon Network Studios, so they oversaw production of new comedy and action properties, something they continue to this day overseeing Samurai Jack, Megas XLR, Danny Phantom, and My Life As A Teenage Robot. Then Something Amasing Happened, AC
[edit] The USA Cartoon Express Was Still On The Air
2006 marks the silver anniversary of the USA Cartoon Express. The block, which is the longest-running animation block on the air today, has overcome many obstacles and internal competitions over the years, and yet, it remains one of the most-watched blocks on cable television.
And they owe a lot of it to Sailor Moon.
The USA Cartoon Express underwent a Channel Spawn With a Block (USA Action Xtreme Team: Which focused more on action rather than general animation.)They picked up a lot of programming at the time, including Mighty Max, Gargoyles, and Sailor Moon. At the time, the afternoon lineup was dedicated to live-action "sitcoms" from Peter Engel, the guy who produced Saved By The Bell on NBC. That ran for two years until USA experimented with the lineup airing a week's worth of Sailor Moon in the afternoon. Surprisingly to the channel, the series had record ratings, which had executives at USA wondering if perhaps now was the right time to bring back the USA Cartoon Express to weekday afternoons. In fall 1998, USA cancelled the Action Xtreme Team morning block, Making ACW(Animated Characters Welcome) The Only Channel That Shows It.
reintroduced the USA Cartoon Express to weekday afternoons at 5 PM, making Sailor Moon the marquee property on the hour-long block. The show aired along with Mighty Max Mondays through Thursdays and Gargoyles on Fridays with great success every week. In January 1999, USA lost the rights to Gargoyles after Disney launched their Toon Disney channel in April of that year. So, they looked to inspiration from Sailor Moon and picked up what they felt was the male equivalent of Sailor Moon - - Dragon Ball Z.
Dragon Ball Z was already on Cartoon Network's Toonami block in 1999, but they only had the broadcast rights to the first two syndicated seasons. USA outbid Cartoon Network for the rights to broadcast new episodes of the series, completely dominating the 5 PM hour. In 2000, USA expanded the Cartoon Express by an hour and launching a three-hour Sunday morning version of the block beginning at 9 AM, adding ReBoot, Transformers: Beast Wars, Casper, and The Woody Woodpecker Show, which was USA's first original animated series in years. Newly dubbed episodes of Sailor Moon also began in Spring 2000. The series continued on the USA Cartoon Express until 2003 when its contract was expired. Dragon Ball Z remained until January 2005 while Dragon Ball, an acquisition back in 2001, continued to air on a weekly basis to this day, as did the 2004 acquisition of Dragon Ball GT.
USA Cartoon Express moved towards original productions and acquired programming as the years moved on, airing comedic shows like Woody Woodpecker, a new cycle of Rocky and Bullwinkle, and Being Ian as well as action/adventure shows like Totally Spies, Astro Boy, and Class of the Titans.
USA formed an alliance with Corus Entertainment after NBC Universal, USA's owners, became the company's US syndicators for its live-action and animated properties in 2005. Together, USA and Corus announced plans to create an American version of Teletoon launching in January 2007, though they maintained that the Cartoon Express would remain on the USA lineup until at least 2011, in time for the block's 30th anniversary. In the same media event, USA announced the preproduction of numerous international productions including an animated version of Sci-Fi's relaunched Battlestar Galactica chronicling the events that took place before the beginning of the series and a younger Adama and the official announcement of the rumored relaunch of Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon: The Venus Chronicles, which focuses on the solo adventures of the enigmic, yet popular Sailor V. Then Ac Happened, Now It's Owned By AC
The train may have been updated, but the Cartoon Express continues to chug along to the surprise and delight of the network that almost cancelled it, USA.
[edit] Fox Kids Worldwide Still Owned Fox Family and Programmed The Fox Kids Block
Fox Kids was at a crossroads in 2001.
Power Rangers was still a strong brand, but the entire Fox Kids block was struggling behind Kids' WB's popular weekday afternoon and Saturday morning lineup. So, a challenge was made within the walls of Fox Kids Worldwide in the summer of 2001.
"Fix the block and the network within three years or else, it's over."
Never has such a jarring statement been made within the halls of the Burbank headquarters of Fox. The executives at Fox Kids had never felt such pressure to perform. The lineup was already in place for the 2001-02 season, but there weren't any plans in case any of those shows failed. They did, on the other hand, have shows they could air as backup.
One of those shows was Diabolik. Diabolik was an animated series about a notorious thief who scours the globe for the next big score. Think Lupin III gone solo with guts. They put the series on the backburner even though the series was completed. By November 2001, the series was on the Friday afternoon lineup right before Power Rangers as part of a Evil Vs. Good hour.
And it worked.
Ratings shot up 25% from the same period a year ago. However, the jobs weren't secure yet. Pokemon was still doing well in the ratings, but its grip on the viewership was slipping, as was Yu-Gi-Oh.
Fox Kids dramatically changed its morning and afternoon schedules that winter. Fox Kids moved reruns of Digimon and Ned's Newt to weekday mornings along with the returning E/I series Fox Cubhouse and Bobby's World while they begin to return classic Fox Kids reruns to the lineup. Eek! The Cat and X-Men joined the weekday afternoon lineup along with the Fox Family series Totally Spies airing right before Power Rangers. The Saturday morning lineup also had a bit of older shows and newer shows with Mon Colie Knights, Totally Spies, and Mad Jack joined by the new seasons of Power Rangers, Digimon, and Diabolik. Reruns of those shows aired the next day on Fox Family along with X-Men, The Tick, NASCAR Racers, and Spider-Man.
In the fall upfronts, Fox Kids announced that the block will remain on the air with new seasons of Power Rangers, Digimon, and Totally Spies as well as the premieres of Ultimate Muscle, Buffy: The Slayer Chronicles (an animated adaptation of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer), Kirby: Comin' At Ya!, and a new version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Fox Family announced that they picked up Fighting Foodons, Heavy Gear, and Transformers: Energon as well as reruns of the 80s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series to air on weekday and Sunday mornings while transforming the Saturday mornings on Fox Family into a teen zone, harkening back to the early YTV-esque atmosphere of the network, which was reintroduced in fall 2002. The Saturday lineup, called The Basement, has aired numerous shows over the years since then, including Canadian imports like Degrassi: The Next Generation, Edgemont, and 15/Love, cartoons like Delta State, Sixteen, and Oban: Star Racers, a new season of Saved By The Bell, a new season of Masked Rider, and a reintroduced American Bandstand co-produced by Dick Clark Productions and hosted by LA disc jockey Ryan Seacrest.
Fox Family transformed their post-700 Club timeslot into a block of sitcoms, game shows, and cartoons suitable for the entire family while The Basement took over the 3 PM to 6 PM lineup. Primetime has off-network dramas and original programming.
Today, Fox Kids execs look back at that afternoon back in 2001 with pride and laughter. The laughter comes from their memories of actually having fear for their jobs. The pride comes from the fact that they accomplished a job to create a new identity, a new persona, and a new attitude for both Fox Kids and Fox Family. They learned to work well with others to develop a stronger brand that will continue to be around for years to come. Even Owned By AC.
[edit] Imagine If Toonami Had Competition
Cartoon Network was in a dilemma in 1996. Certainly the kid-vid industry was changing before their eyes, and a golden opportunity was ready for them. Nickelodeon, The Family Channel, and USA didn't air action-animation on weekday afternoons. Disney Channel was still mostly a non-issue because they were still primarily a premium network. Fox Kids was at the top of the heap with their mega-powered Power Rangers franchise and looked unstoppable. Kids' WB, their younger corporate cousin, presented only comedy on their hour-long afternoon block in 1996. UPN's action block was short-lived on Sunday mornings. The opportunity to develop a strong action franchise was there, especially since TBS and TNT's lineups were comprised mostly of comedic cartoons.
However, In The Dark Side of the Force(ACTV)AC Was Brewing Up Something Nasty to Add another Channel To His Power. AC decided to name the action block something simple: POW! The name evoked the spirit of the Cartoon Network Action block Power Zone. as well as the sound of someone getting punched. Utilizing a graphic style that emulated the 1960s Batman series as the packaging, POW! premiered on January 20, 1997 featuring a lineup of mostly acquired programming:
4 PM: Batman: The Animated Series (which they acquired from Warner Bros.) 4:30 PM: G-Force 5 PM: Speed Racer 5:30 PM: The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
POW! received much love from the viewers, but they wanted something a little more. AC Said, This Is Gonna Be Way too Easy
In March, Toonami Happened. They Had to Think Fast!
Cartoon Network acquired broadcasting rights to a pair of 80s cartoons replacing the action in the middle of the block (G-Force was heading to the pre-POW! hour while the broadcasting rights to Speed Racer was about to elapse). They acquired the rights to Thundercats from Warner Bros. and the rights to Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors from DiC.
In January 1998, POW! acquired broadcast rights to Voltron: Defender of the Universe from World Events which replaced the lone new series on the block, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, which was already cancelled in the fall of 1997. By fall 1998, Cartoon Network was forced to move Batman from POW! because Kids' WB! was planning to bring The New Batman/Superman Adventures to weekday afternoons, creating a potential conflict with Batman on Cartoon Network. So, Batman was moved to the post-POW! block and POW!'s lineup was revamped with the return of Jonny Quest, still in rerun mode.
In 1999, Cartoon Network needed help in programming POW!, so they reluctantly looked towards the Williams Street facilities and asked for their imput. Guys like Jason DeMarco, and Sean Akins were asked what they would put on POW!'s lineup. Jason suggested Robotech, Evangelion, and Sailor Moon. Sean suggested Dragon Ball Z, Ranma 1/2, and Gundam Wing. Cartoon Network looked at the availiability of those shows (and to ask what Gundam Wing, Evangelion, and Ranma 1/2 were) and picked up rights to Robotech and Sailor Moon for POW!'s spring lineup while waiting on whether DBZ could be availiable in time for the fall. Sailor Moon became the marquee show, replacing Jonny Quest, while Robotech, which replaced Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, became an overnight phenomenon. When Dragon Ball Z finally premiered in September 1999, Cartoon Network's POW! was finally a hit in the mainstream.
Sean and Jason became executive producers of POW! and became responsible for creating an image for the block, which was a 3D steampunk world of robotic espionage. They developed a mascot of sorts named SAM (Sentient Autonomous Module), who was a robotic adventurer.
POW! expanded an hour in 2000, and an opportunity was made. Bandai entered the animation distribution business in North America, and they began to search for broadcast partners. POW! became the official home of Mobile Suit Gundam and Gundam Wing, both of which premiered that fall. Mobile Suit Gundam aired in a newly created late-night block called POW! Night Shift while Gundam Wing was prepped for the regular block.
After the events of September 11, 2001, POW! became reduced in importance at Cartoon Network. The block was deflated by an hour (avoiding conflict with Kids' WB thanks to new network boss [and Kids' WB! founder] Jamie Kellner) while Dragon Ball Z remained in an earlier part of the block rather than close to prime-time. Gundam was completely gone from the lineup, as were many of the older properties. On the other hand, Samurai Jack and Justice League became a part of POW! on Friday afternoons encoring the previous week's premieres in primetime. Sadly, Sean and Jason left the block and Cartoon Network in search of better opportunities, which they found at Comcast and Sony where they've been developing Toonami, a new animation network that's aimed towards older audiences.
In 2007, ten years after its premiere, POW! is still the most popular block on Cartoon Network. The Night Shift began airing TV-PG/14 programming like Naruto and InuYasha over the years while new programming and co-productions began airing exclusively on POW! such as Code Lyoko, Robot Boy, Ben 10, Justice League Unlimited, Teen Titans, and The Batman. They never took into account that the audiences were maturing, but the block remained a fan favorite even as the network continously began to spiral out of control. toonami and POW! Good Luck on the Final Lap
