Is the world ready for a live action remake of ‘A Pup Names Scooby Doo” ?

There are rumblings that in the end, CN and Boomerang will be KID:Cartoon Network and KID: Action Network, sigh—meanwhile, the real story is CN gave up 2 more hours per day and a whole night a week to Adult Swim, just in the last 18 months- if the network went totally Adult Swim, it might be more promising- for the fans of animation.

On a positive side, “Adventure Time” is on the list, and Genndy Tartakovsky will apparently have a new show, too.

Still, live-action shows on CN suck.

I don’t see Looney Tunes returning.

Cartoon Network, you’ve lost me as a viewer.

well, that sucks…

Hmm… well, this is a network that exists to serve a certain demographic. If American Eagle started selling more pants that fit only 12 year olds, I suppose I wouldn’t get too worked up about it. When the existing shows include Ben-10, something about “surfers”, yet another re-hash of Scooby-Doo and “teenage robots”, I have to ask: who, over the age of 14, cares? Ok, maybe a lot of you. Go ahead, let me hear about it. Is this stuff you guys care to work on/watch???

Start making exciting content for yourselves (i.e. adult audiences) and then see who picks it up. Finish a GOOD film, send it to festivals, show it to networks. In the immortal words of Fran Krause: “No one will pay you to do something you haven’t already done”.

Looks like I’ll only be turning this channel on to watch Adventure Time

Wow! This sounds absolutely awful.

I’ve got to hand it to them though, if you were trying to absolutely destroy your brand this this the right way to do it. It reminds me of Comedy Central when they jettisoned Mystery Science Theater 3000 so that half of their lineup could be bowling shows and Battle Bots.

MORE Scooby Doo?

How much pot do these guys smoke?

Damn! And let’s, pleez, put (all 900) Looney Tunes on the Huntley-Brinkley Report!!

Sigh. At least Tartakovsky has a new show. My kid will be jumping for joy at the prospect of new Scooby, though that isn’t necessarily a good thing in my book. I had finally gotten him to the point whereby he’d seen EVERYTHING Scooby-related so I could convince him to watch other stuff. He really digs 1960’s HB shows as-well-as Looney Tunes and the old Disney theatrical shorts. Guess it’s back to assembly-line Scooby again.

Recipe for New Cartoon Network in 7 Easy Steps:

1 - add 2 cups of Game Show Network
2 - 4 tbsp of Discovery Channel
3 - 6 spoonfuls of Reality sugar (to force the medicine back up)
4 - 3 tsp of ABC Family
5 - a pinch of Lifetime to give it that little extra drama
6 - let it simmer for 1 season
7 - drain out the cartoons with a fine strainer & enjoy!

(Feeds a family of 2 million tweens)

Delicious!

Whoa-! Hey! There IS some good news in there, Genndy has a new show coming out! Awesome!

can we kill off scooby doo? like, now?

Yikes, Animated reality TV shows?!

I should just refrain from reading these, if it’s going to get all worked up like this! A good hint that I’m thoroughly too grown up for Network.

The only projects I’m actually looking forward to are Adventure Time and Firebreather.

“Cartoon-ish Network”

Interesting. I wonder if the network is going to rebrand itself under a new name in the future? This is a sign that it could happen. Then again, eMpTyV hasn’t bothered rebranding itself and the M there is completely irrelevant.

P.S. Holy crap they are making Adventure Time into a series.

Haha, oh Cartoon Network!

*shakes head*

Some of the live-action series sound like deliberate efforts to recapture the kind of thing Nick did in the 1990s. I might welcome them on Nick—but not here.
Other shows suggest we’re evolving toward IDIOCRACY’S “Ow, My Balls!” faster than Mike Judge could ever dream of.

Why another effort to relaunch Scooby-Doo when Tom and Jerry Tales handily outrated its last incarnation on Kids’ WB/CW? Shouldn’t the obvious answer have been to do more with Tom and Jerry?

They might as well change their name to Network Network.

Wow, I’m totally unimpressed with that new lineup. Honestly, more reality series? I realize they are very cheap to produce, but really…watch Discovery Kids if you want to see that stuff. I just don’t see any of these series taking any viewers away from Disney or Nickelodeon….they don’t seem as compelling as either of those networks…

They should at least have shows like Stella, that would be funny

Cartoon Network lost the ratings battle to Nick ages ago. Nothing they can presently do (this new lineup will have Philo T. Farnsworth spinning in his magic underwear) will dig them out of that self-induced hole.

Is it just me or are all the reality tv shows just rip offs of other ones. Mainly Ghost Hunters, Survivorman, Mythbusters, and the one where they just blow things up, the name escapes me right now. I agree with David 100% Idicocracy here we come!

*snore*
Wake me when there’s a new season of Robot Chicken.

Since I don’t fit their precious demographic, I’m up the s*** creek without a paddle. And even when I was there many moons ago, the programming sucked. Better start adjusting the budget and buy more classic animation on DVD.

Between Cartoon Network reducing their amount of cartoons, and SciFi Channel deciding that science fiction is “too geeky,” I have to think that the cable/premium TV experiment (build niche-interest channels and get an appropriate viewership) has failed miserably.

I’m reminded why I stopped watching this channel YEARS ago, although I’d love to hear Jeff Harris’ thoughts on this. I consider him the unofficial chronicler of Cartoon Network and its downfall.

They might as well as far as I’m concerned since I gave up on CN years ago. Let’s think about it, CN showing live action and TV Land showing reality shows. I guess CN ran out of quality cartoons and TV Land ran out of old TV shows.

CN has never properly respected the hits it was given, canceling shows that were hits (see Teen Titans, among others), and never getting their act together to make much-needed cash from licensing other hits (see Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends).

It’s not time to climb on board the dying reality trend, it’s time to fire and replace some top people at CN.

Dear Cartoon Network,

Please put the final nail in the coffin: rechristen yourselves as CarTEEN Network. And if you do, I expect a check.

Regards,
Denver

At least Sci-Fi Channel had the guts to change their name!

As for Cartoon Network, only a few shows have any interest to me: SYM-BIONIC TITAN and STOKED (I actually enjoyed TDI and am looking forward to TDA). ADVENTURE TIME WITH FINN & JAKE looks interesting, too.

Never mind Scooby-Doo and the generic reality/game shows (which I don’t see lasting for more than a season), it’s yet another BEN 10 series (EVOLUTIONS), GENERATOR REX (which sounds like BEN 10 in all but name), and some of their proposed SF/fantasy live-action (and some animated) shows sound like they’re aimed for the BEN 10 crowd. Hell, I can’t look at the synopses for these shows and NOT see the words “teenaged” and “high school!” This is “diverse!?!” They’re truly aiming to include more tired adolescent male power fantasies.

I hope it’s not too late for CN to change their name to Acme Network . . .

No point in this move whatsoever. The guys are likelier to flip to Nick or the new Disney XD channel.

The girls…forget about it, Disney Channel has a vise grip on that market.

And to think I was holding out hope for the channel after the Looney Tunes marathon on New Year’s.

So now lots of grown up are saying now they may never watch this kid’s TV station again? I bet that’s got the execs quaking.

Like many people have posted before, it’s just a commercial network going where they think their target audiences is at the moment, so why the shock and horror? Why not simply go and watch all the exciting new things going on outside of this little niche ghetto which wasn’t built for you instead?

And if that’s too out of your comfort zine, well at least Tartakovsky is still making you a new giant robot show.

All together now..

Why is animation always seen as a children’s medium?
Why is animation always seen as a children’s medium?
Why is animation always seen as a children’s medium?

Perhaps they forgot how to pronounce their own name- its C A R T O O N N E T W O R K ! not live action network.

Eh, I don’t really care about most of these, but Adventure Time, a new Tartakovsky series, and a new Peter Chung movie all sound pretty good to me. I just hope that they make Adult Swim its own channel, so that the rest of us have something else to watch when they stop rerunning Foster’s.

Hey look everybody it’s Cartoolodeon! R.I.P Cartoon Network you will be missed…..maybe they can at least spawn Adult Swim into its own channel that would lighten the blow a bit.

So how many cartoons are getting the axe?

I think the only thing that I’m actually excited about at this point is the stuff that Genndy’s going to put out.

Genndy is awesome.

> I’ve got to hand it to them though, if you were trying to absolutely destroy your brand this this the right way to do it. It reminds me of Comedy Central when they jettisoned Mystery Science Theater 3000 so that half of their lineup could be bowling shows and Battle Bots.

Face it, we lost the war, and history shall repeat itself for the umpteenth time.

Why must Scooby Doo keep coming back?

What’s New, Scooby Doo? was actually the closest thing to the original series that we’ve had since the early 1970s. I know that’s kind of like saying, “Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?” but there you have it.

I’m not so sure about Genndy’s new show. Japan has pretty much covered up every aspect of high school drama and giant robot battles. As much as I enjoy his other works I don’t see big potential on Sym-bionic.

I don’t care if CN stops showing cartoons, there’ll always be somebody showing old Looney Tunes somewhere, even on the Internet.

I like to think the kids will realize the live-action they’re watching is a contrast to the channel’s name and after curiosity ratings which propel the show, the low retention rate will convince the execs that the children won’t want live action on Cartoon Network.

When I was the demographic, there were a few times I caught on to something “wrong” about a channel when odd or contrasting changes were brought to it. I’m sure I wasn’t the only kid who could recognize a difference and I like to think there are a general number of children who would know this is WRONG. Or at the least, notice that the reality and game shows are just like shows already on the air. Scruples CN??

Aside from that, I’m looking forward to the new Ben 10 series (guilty!)…I can’t get enough of that show. I do hope that Transformers Animated won’t be canceled; at least keep it for the film franchise’s sake.

Genndy’s new show has me pretty excited. I’m a huge Samurai Jack fan.

The live action stuff doesn’t bother me too much. With all the money Disney and Nick rake in with Hanna Montana and iCarly respectively, it’s understandable that CN would want in on the action. This is a kids network after all. Most of their stuff won’t appeal to us. That’s why there’s Adult Swim.

Wow… I didn’t think they’d actually PROVE they’re clueless but they just did it and publicly too. Sheesh create one show on A&E and suddenly you know the kids market. Whooda thunk it? They need to hire executives who actually have children. That’d be a good twist don’t you think? Every one wants to be the first to follow and not the first to lead which is what’s destroying the kids market. Cartoon Network chasing Nickelodeon chasing Disney chasing itself.

I smell regime change after this season which is sure to tank. All I see is lame, lame, lame ideas with absolutely no heart whatsoever. Nice to see Genndy back but between all those lame shows it’s sure to fail as well. A sad day for what used to be a good network.

The funniest thing about all this? Last year they moved all the executives to L.A. to be closer to the artists and then after a month of slumming it with them they moved them to a new building with a brand new floor and cut off coffee and snacks to the artists. There’s a GREAT way to get creative.
It’s okay though, they’ll all be moving away again soon enough with this lineup.

The economy must’ve really rattled Cartoon Network’s brain. Or something…either way, I preferred CN when it first started compared to now. Cartoon Network is just trying to be the next Nickelodeon and it’s not working.

“Scooby-Doo – Mystery, Inc. More Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo.”

…No. No No No. No No No No NO!!!

[bangs head on wall repeatedly]

…Enough already. Send the damn mutt to the pound, have Shaggy put away for dealing smack, let Fred get outed, have Daphne sold to an Arab harem, and reveal Velma grew up to be Janet Reno, and put this mess out of our misery! I’ve *HATED* Scooby-Doo since it premiered, and it’s only gotten worse with every subsequent series.

Scooby-Doo. Just say Scooby-Don’t!

[/vent]

…uh huh……

as long as Adult Swim stays put with “Venture Bros.” and Robot Chicken - i’m fine

CN failed in any interesting cartoon department for few years now

Remember when MTV had an “M”?

They’re hitting the reality TV market right as its getting hot aren’t they?
WHO are the executives over there??

Pretty weak lineup. Even the Tartakovsky project looks like it steals liberally from the playbook of 70s robot stinker Ga-keen (then again so did Godannar, and that show was fairly awesome). If he can toss in something interesting besides the robots, I’ll go for it. It does make me wish that anime was on the network again, but, well, Japan kinda has to pony up a great, mainstream-friendly series for that to happen, and they haven’t delivered anything like that in the past couple of years.

Why did these guys stop ordering Justice League cartoons? The superhero business has never been hotter, both kids and adults are gobbling it up. They’re still selling JLU toys at Target, 3 years after the show finished.

I prefer all of these live action shows to pretty much everything else on Cartoon Network.

Grrr . . . Cartoon Network needs to release that they’re the CARTOON channel, not a KIDS channel. “Cartoon” and “Kids” are NOT synonymous. If they want better ratings, they should be airing better animated stuff instead of crappy live-action stuff.

Still excited about the return of Genndy. Premise doesn’t sound that great, but then again, I don’t think Pixar puts out interesting trailers.

CartTEEn Network, indeed. As I scrolled down the list of shows, I could not escape the word “teenager”. And wow..talk about ripping off existing ideas..we’re now going to make their own versions of reality shows and “GhostHunters?”

Are there no original ideas anymore? Does everything have to take place in high school and involve super powers?

Where are the shows for the rest of us? (meaning adult women who don’t fantasize about battling giant robots and who’ve outgrown ScoobyDoo.)

This is the route of all channels these days. TV isn’t seeing the same kind of viewership they once did with many people watching shows online and waiting for the season to come out on DVD. Everyone’s answer to that is diversify, diversify, diversify… when they should really be turning more towards specialization.

With the switch to digital there is room for millions of channels.

They should overly specialize.

Cartoon Network should create:
Comic Book Animation Network
Merry Melodies Network
Hanna-Barbera Network
Saturday Morning Cartoons 70’s
Saturday Morning Cartoons 80’s
Saturday Morning Cartoons 90’s
Cartoon Network Original Series
Giant Robot Network
Adult Swim
… etc.

Scifi (or SYFY as they are renaming it *shudders*) should crate:
Star Trek Network
Doctor Who Network
Anthology Network (Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Tales from the Darkside, Tales from the Crypt…)
Scifi TV
Scifi Original Series
Scifi Movie
Scifi Movie Classsics
… etc.

I mean if they simply created dozens of overly specialized networks each they would have channels which fans would just tune their tv to and put the remote down for a while.

I hate that ‘that was good now shut this shit off’ feeling.

Oh well… we always have the internet.

-Mike

revned’s idea for new name:

“CarTEEN Network”.

Good one. Perfect.

or maybe “CarTWEEN Network” . They should send you a check.

Thanks for the info! They Should make some adult realality… like right before Adult Swim or something!

PS Scooby-Doo The Mystery Begins is also know as Scooby doo in the beginning.

It doesn’t look so bad. Some of the shows sound pretty good. There is a lot more diversity than there used to be so you can’t watch the channel all day anymore. I am sort of sick of kids shows about teenagers… It’s still better than Nickelodeon. Plus they have flapjack which is my favorite show.

I guess it’s time for somebody to start up a new cartoon channel again. One that shows cartoons.

While I’m very excited about Genndy’s new venture and a couple other prospects in the line-up seem okay, the rest of it (Scooby, the live action garbage, etc) sounds absolutely terrible.

My question is this… they have tons of talented folks who are doing/already did shorts for Cartoonstitute… why not ACTUALLY air the shorts and generate some real fan interest? Get feedback from REAL people (adults for example) who want to watch good animated shows. That was actually my big hope for resurrecting CN, but I guess it was just wishful thinking.

“My question is this… they have tons of talented folks who are doing/already did shorts for Cartoonstitute… why not ACTUALLY air the shorts and generate some real fan interest? Get feedback from REAL people (adults for example) who want to watch good animated shows. That was actually my big hope for resurrecting CN, but I guess it was just wishful thinking.”

I think that IS the purpose for the Cartoonstitute. AFAIK, not enough shorts are completed yet for CN to start airing.

I love how this blog never seems to comment about any of Cartoon Network’s actual cartoons.

Mike Toole:

I dunno’ about you, but I liked GA-KEEN! (It’s not great, though, compared to other 70s robot shows.) There’s also Henshin Cyborg thrown in (ie. the transparent bodies).

I think they stopped JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED because of the Bat-Embargo. When Batman got popular again, they broke up the Justice League to get Batman a whole new show and capitalize on the new films (DC seems to have strict policies on their characters now). Then, they cancelled TEEN TITANS to get Robin into the show. I think the new Batmania (started by BATMAN BEGINS) had a lot to do with it, not to mention that DC Comics and Warner Brothers doesn’t see eye to eye with each other (despite the fact that the latter owns the former).

But that’s just speculation. A “right” answer is pretty sketchy.

Thanks for the clarification, Charles. I was under that impression too, but have since heard that they may have gone to a pilot format and not air the shorts unless they get picked up for series. Hopefully not the case.

If they do air all of them, I certainly don’t mind waiting.

Last time i checked it was called CARTOON NETWORK, Not cartoon with a lot of crappy live action shows network.
CN can do better than this!!!!!!!!!

I felt physically ill reading that line-up.

Quick show of hands: How many folks here are actually within the target demographic of Cartoon Network?

If children’s entertainment is too juvenile for you, then that might be nature’s way of saying “turn off the kiddie shows and read a mentally engaging and thought-provoking book.”

Two counterpoints from creators of shows on CN:

C.H. Greenblatt fears that Chowder may be winding down this year (although there’s still a chance that CN may pull a “Family Guy”):
http://nerdarmada.blogspot.com/2009/03/chowder-returns-this-week.html

Thurop Van Orman (of “Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack”), meanwhile, is pretty optimistic and actually likes the idea of airing live action stuff, saying that it will give CN less fillers and more money to fund animation:
http://comments.deviantart.com/4/7491491/1018927289
http://comments.deviantart.com/4/7491491/1019179168

The only thing I want to see is the survivorman spin-off. Everything else needs to go. First those bad episodes of Foster’s now this?

I guess I’m the only one excited for the new animated projects.

“Cartoon Network is bringing the legend of King Arthur to the 21st century with a live-action movie from Lionsgate president of motion picture production Alli Shearmur.”

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i0c3836c99f47720a8d4013cb211e8961

I wouldn’t consider Generator Rex to be a Ben 10 clone. It’s based on the comic M. Rex (Machina Rex) from Man of Action’s own Joe Kelly and Duncan Rouleau, which came out in 1999 or 2000, I believe. They (with Joe Casey and Steven T. Seagle) created Ben 10 in the mid-2000s, and it was more of a Dial ‘H’ for Hero type of concept.
Firebreather should be fun, as it’s based on the wonderful comic by Phil Hester and Andy Kuhn! (Didn’t mean to rhyme there.)

These live-action shows are horrible. And don’t get me started about the live-action shorts before and after commercials, they are the most unfunny things I’ve ever seen in my life and try to be relevant by saying “fail” in them. Cartoon Network please just stop… Bring back Toonami with Sailor Moon, ReBoot, and the Old Pokemon, and bring back Fosters, keep Chowder and Flapjack though. Leave all the live action shows on the Discovery channel where u stole them from, kids watch them there why bring them to CN ? Don’t. Also at least one hour a day of Looney Toons would be great too. I know my fantasy CN is like it was in its hayday XP

If they have enough talent to create new programming in a different style for kids, they should be making a new network that would serve as a generalist: TBS Kids, TBA, TNBA; or add more kids programming to the CW. Frankly put, Cartoon Network should not be Turner’s generalist unless the reality shows are animated. Search Cartoonnetwork

I for one enjoy the live action and I am not alone.