The Dark Age of Cartoon Network

[RichDante]

https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca88...cwyuet-pre.jpg

I stumbled upon this image and it gave me a thought? When did Cartoon Network go downhill?

[mr_crisp]

1) I would say it started around the time they wanted to put live action shows on their channel.

2) Gay Space Rocks?

[Kusanagi]

https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca88...cwyuet-pre.jpg

I stumbled upon this image and it gave me a thought? When did Cartoon Network go downhill?

2009 was actually pretty terrible for cartoon network, that was about the time they were doing live action tv (picture even uses two examples to call good eww) which imo was their lowest point.

gay space rocks?

pretty cheap slight at Steven Universe.

[Personamanx]

There was that brief period where they invested heavily in both scripted, and unscripted live-action programming that is generally considered to be a low point. But as I said, that was thankfully brief. Otherwise animated shows produced by, and affiliated with Cartoon Network have usually been a healthy mix of quality. You're not going to find a period in which everything is great or awful. You'll usually find both, and most are somewhere in between.

It's certainly in fairly good shape in terms of content presently. Sure Adventure Time, and the Samurai Jack relaunch have ended but Steven Universe, and We Bare Bears continue to be some of the best shows the network has ever produced. That infographic seems to just be a comparing shows the creator enjoyed while he watched the network regularly, and shows that he chooses not to watch.

EDIT: Also, why the hell is Powerpuff Girls listed as a 2009 program? Outside of a few specials, and of course the recent relaunch (Which I believe has also ended) it ended production in the early 2000s.

[Batgrayson]

Woah, Gumball has been one of the best shows on CN during this past 10 years, along with Regular Show and Adventure Time.


Bueno the other hand, all those live-action and comedy reboots....

[Jabare]

probably around 2007-ish or 2008

[Totoro Man]

probably around 2007-ish or 2008

argh! so much terrible stuff was on at that time.

it didn't help that they were letting Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim do whatever they wanted. I've hated EVERYTHING that I've ever seen these two fellows do. not funny. not animated... didn't deserve to be on a network at all.... "let alone Cartoon Network"! they should have saved that for local access channels.

then you had inexplicable rubbish like 12oz Mouse and... yeah, it was a pretty pitiful time for the network overall. I basically gave up on watching it and went back to watching DVDs of stuff I already knew that I enjoyed.

[Star_Jammer]

Lol. “Gay Space Rocks”. Tooootally not a biased representation at all.

Steven Universe, aside from one character in particular (*cough*Connie*cough) is a wonderful show.

[Angilasman]

CN really went downhill in the mid '00s and then had a dramatic upswing in quality when Adventure Time and Regular Show debuted in 2010.

The worst thing about the network now is it's erratic scheduling.

[GozertheGozarian]

Weak trolling and homophobic, how nice.

[Cyke]

Weak trolling and homophobic, how nice.

Indeed. What a terrible graphic -- it really doesn't deserve our attention or even a thread on this board. And, y'know, speaking as a guy who was already too old for the 2009 shows (I'm older than the target demographic), I like several of the current shows. I'm old enough to remember 90s kids complaining about the shows in the 2009 graphic for the exact same reasons.

The thing people fail to realize is that our excitement, enjoyment, and nostalgia often clouds our preferences and judges those after us. This is why you'll always have old men complaining about rap or rock music, why you'll always have people complaining about how movies aren't what they used to be, why TV shows aren't as good like they were in the past. Like, no shit, art and entertainment is a spectrum; what we have today is borne from what came before, and it was true back then, too. But those are products that reflect their times, too, and we're not the target audience -- even older ongoing shows and franchises will have to keep their demographics steady while fans age out or change, and that's part of the game. I've always liked that Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon would have writers and artists start out on older shows and end up being the creators and showrunners of the current shows.

[Angilasman]

Weak trolling and homophobic, how nice.

Yup.

I gotta say, I'd be totally into just the thread of Cartoon Network nostalgia. I'm old enough to remember right when the network first came on the air and was entirely reruns of vintage cartoons, their first foray into original programming (Space Ghost Coast to Coast was my favorite show throughout my entire childhood) up to their slate of original programming as well as Toonami and then Adult Swim. It was a big part of my life!

Heck, as an avid Steven Universe fan and Toonami watcher (nostalgia be damned, this is probably Toonami's strongest lineup of shows) it still is a not insignificant part of my life!

[Miles To Go]

probably around 2007-ish or 2008

Right on the money. CN's downfall was a consequence of the Boston Bomb Scare of 2007

EDIT: Also, why the hell is Powerpuff Girls listed as a 2009 program? Outside of a few specials, and of course the recent relaunch (Which I believe has also ended) it ended production in the early 2000s.

I think some specials were still being made with McCracken's involvement at the time.

[TomServofan]

CN really went downhill in the mid '00s and then had a dramatic upswing in quality when Adventure Time and Regular Show debuted in 2010.

The worst thing about the network now is it's erratic scheduling.

What about Rick and Morty?

[Totoro Man]

I know that I'm not the one you were asking but....


Rick and Morty is a solidly made and entertaining show. I watched the first three seasons and have to admit that I enjoyed them.

as a general rule I don't like "zany" shows where they just throw in every ridiculous idea that they can think of... (although, I have to admit I loved "Space Ghost: Coast to Coast" and "Invader Zim". but the "Rick and Morty" crew have managed to anchor it in some characters and have a good voice cast so I can mostly put up with it. but they haven't really done anything in a cartoon that I haven't seen done before and done better elsewhere.

if you like flippant and self-assured Family Guy style gag humor with a huge side of sci-fi "Back to the Future" parody it could be a good show for you. "Lawnmower Dog" and "Anatomy Park" are still my personal favorites. "the Ricks Must be Crazy" and "Rick Potion #9" are fun too.

it is also a show that is vastly over-rated by it's fan base. if I had a dollar for every time some 20-something guy (and it's always a young guy) that tells me that the show is "actually deep" and "thought-provoking" I could pay for a reasonably expensive date night dinner... the show IS creative and mostly fun. but I would never call it truly ambitious or thought-provoking.

as long as Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland have themselves chained to that story wheel formula there's really only so much 'depth' that they can milk out of that franchise. honestly, I think shows like "Avatar: the Last Airbender", "Justice League/Unlimited", "the Venture Bros", and even "South Park" have actually done work that is more ambitious, has more character-based emotional depth and (dare-I-say-it) intellectual depth; there are shows out there that are more complex in their world-building and character development, that are ultimately more thought-provoking than anything I've seen on "Rick and Morty". it is NOT a bad show. it's pretty good, in fact.

maybe if they had actually ended the series with the season 2 finale I could buy some of these 'deep' arguments. it give Rick Sanchez an actual character arc... his decision had some actual consequence and weight to it. it was obviously a tough decision for him to make. I enjoyed the show - but I didn't like Rick as a character enough to feel too bad if THAT was where his story ended. after all, he's a pretty horrible person!

whatever emotional depth that they might have gained from that ending was completely undercut by season 3. that's fine, I guess, since they had more stories that they wanted to tell. and more work and the money was certainly an incentive. they seem like the kind of guys that would probably quit if they felt like they had run out of ideas... rather than turn it into a gag-factory like "the Simpsons" or "Family Guy".

I honestly think that they could have ended it with season 2 finale and it would have been a good way to end the series. (then again, I thought "Buffy: the Vampire Slayer" should have also ended when Buffy died so... )