The Ameobazation of Cartoon Network

Spin Off The Originals To Their OWN Network

World Premiere Toons (or The What A Cartoon! Show). Dexter's Laboratory. Johnny Bravo. Cow and Chicken. The Powerpuff Girls. Courage the Cowardly Dog. Web Premiere Toons. I Am Weasel. Sheep in the Big City. Time Squad. Mike, Lu, and Ogg. Samurai Jack.

Try to find any of these shows on Cartoon Network nowadays. Chances are they're on in an abysmal timeslot as is the case for Dexter, PPG, and Courage, or relegated to the permanent library gathering dust like Cow and Chicken, Sheep, and Samurai Jack. There's nothing wrong with some of the newer crop of original shows currently seen on Cartoon Network, but a lot of them lack that certain flair the original shows and shorts. Even the recent episodes of Dexter and PPG lacked the fun seen in the original episodes (on the flipside, the recent episodes of Johnny Bravo were better than the seasons without series creator Van Partible, who returned to the helm along with Hey Arnold creator Greg Bartlett last year, but they didn't get as much airtime and were virtually ignored). Now, Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy are the only current shows that even resembled the quality and humor of the original cycle of Cartoon Network originals, something the network really hasn't paid attention to as of yet.

However, there are audiences that haven't seen these shows, and yet, they're still sitting in the vaults. These comedy shows belong on the air, but they don't belong on Boomerang, Cartoon Network's classic animation network. And since Cartoon Network doesn't have room for them, perhaps its time they break out and make their own network. Well, maybe not their own channel, but perhaps one where they comprise 50 - 60% of the total programming. The other 40 - 50% could be comprised of classic comedy already permanent in the Turner/Time Warner library, acquired programming from the likes of Classic Media, DiC, or Nelvana, international comedy animation from Canada, the UK, and France, and the "retired" Adult Swim originals like Space Ghost Coast to Coast, The Brak Show, Sealab 2021, and early episodes of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Harvey Birdman, and others.

And this network would be called . . . Cartoon Network Comedy. It would take more of a cue from Starz's recent spinoff revision and would be a part of a four-channel suite from Cartoon Network that also includes the original Cartoon Network, a revamped Boomerang called Cartoon Network Classic, and an action-oriented digital-only network. Cartoon Network Comedy would also be digital-only and would be a channel that would fit in perfectly in the cable universe nicely.

Of course, Time Warner has shown little confidence of what the Cartoon Network brand can really bring in recent years. Hopefully, I could makeopen up their eyes.