Toonami Article | Birth of a Network

Weeks turned into months.

Months turned into more months. But a lot had happened between the two times I heard from Dominic Gardiner. Sailor Moon briefly returned to weekday afternoons before Toonami. Hamtaro, an otherwise terrific series, premiered on weekday mornings and encored on Toonami. Zoids Chaotic Century and G-Gundam entered Toonami and Kids' WB left the Toonami business. The original G.I. Joe and new reinventions of Masters of the Universe and Transformers premiered. I correctly predicted that Adult Swim's Saturday lineup is the heir apparent of the legacy of Toonami. I also forsaw the changeover to The X Bridge, though I had no clue that environment would become the overall atmosphere or name at the site. I briefly sparked the wraith of Mr. Warburton by insinuating the Big Pick that had Codename: Kids Next Door winning was rigged (it wasn't, I apologized, and we're cool now) and found friends with the creators of Low Brow, the excellent short that grew to become the only true cult classic of Toonami, Megas XLR.

Then, the announcement of CNX came. Everything I mentioned on the first page happened. I commented on the creation of the network with a critical eye, mostly because of the network's name, but also because of the content of the network. Needless to say, I got the attention of my friend Dom.

THIRD CONTACT: September 24, 2002

Hey Jeff,

Just read your piece on Toonzone about CNX. Just wanted to know, between you and me, what you REALLY think of the channel concept...pluses and minuses? I have advil if you need it.

Dom

Dominic Gardiner
Director of Programming
Turner Europe

Okay, first of all, Toon Zone is written as two words, not one. The Cruzes would be pissed about their creation otherwise. Second, Dom moved up in the Turner hierarchy since the last time I talked to him. Before, he was just DoP at CN and Boomerang UK when he first contacted me. Now, he served that role at ALL of Turner Europe. To think I knew him when. Third, he really wanted to know what I thought of the network's concept. I let him know.

FOURTH RESPONSE: September 25, 2002

Howdy, Dom. No time, no read. About that . . . I'm little excited and a little confused. From what I read about CNX, it seems like a dream come true. A network dedicated to action/animation with shows like DBZ, Spawn, Cowboy Bebop, and Outlaw Star alongside shows like Samurai Jack, Justice League, Gundam, Batman Beyond (I mean Batman of the Future), and other action-oriented cartoons. It's a promising premise, and quite frankly, I could see why the fans over there in the UK are getting excited about next month's launch date.

Now the minus. I mean, don't get me wrong, and I don't mean no ill will, but exactly how did you guys come up with the name CNX for the network? I mean, did you guys over there find some kind of inspiration from my little ol' site? If so, I'm kind of flattered. But I'm also kind of confused. I mean, I could serve as a consultant of sorts if you ever needed me over there.

Oh, that's just plain sad, 2002 me.

Just that nobody ask me about these things. Also, and this is probably bigger, but is Cartoon Network UK running CNX? If so, what's up with the live-action movies and shows? That's probably where I'm very iffy about CNX. Overall, it looks like fun.

Keep me informed either at the Yahoo address or my more professional one, ****@****. Keep me updated on the progress, Dom.

Later.
Jeff Harris
CNX: Toonami Revolution

See, I wasn't so full of spite and anger. I cooled down and actually sounded congratulatory towards the announcement of CNX. It really did sound like a good idea. A misguided idea with the live-action and such, but a good idea nonetheless.

I didn't hear from Dom for a couple of weeks. When I finally did, I didn't know it would be for the last time.

FINAL CONTACT: October 14, 2002 (not so ironically, the launch date of CNX)

I totally understand your position on this. It must be even harder to swallow when the channel launches on the other side of the Atlantic and you cant even see it! Heres the official logo...attached. I'll send you some marketing stuff over as soon as I get it. There's some nice print stuff and a Cdrom.

You know that logo at the Wikipedia entry for CNX? There was only one site that had access to THAT version of the logo, and you're looking at the original source. Never got the CD-ROM because customs are a beast.

As for the history behind this channel and the name (more pertinent for you). It goes back a few years to about the same time as your fansite started. I won't bore you with the details but we were looking at ideas for a teens channel with extreme values. Extreme / Core / Free sport, whatever its call this week, was the primary force along with the whole music scene. Incl Skating etc (remember the original Toonami look!!!!). Well you put Cartoon Network and extreme Sports, etc etc etc.

Okay, there was a problem with that statement.

I was told that Toonami launched in the UK in 2001. They could have easily put some of the "extreme" elements on that incarnation of Toonami. Plus, around the time Toonami launched on the other side of the pond, that whole side of Toonami was all but forgotten until about . . . let's say 2006 around the same time the live-action infection at Cartoon Network was at its height. Also, as you have read, they wanted to create a full anime channel, not an animated-live-action hybrid channel with shows like The Shield and kung-fu movies every night.

Along the way we launched Toonami in the UK and the whole DBZ / Pokemon and anime thing got really massive and 3 years later....we finally launched CNX. We are giving comedy back to Cartoon Network (that is what made the channel so great in the first place).

Some of the live action movies we have bought have all the values of story telling and action that the best anime contains. There is mainstream US action stuff on there too. This channel is really great news for all anime fans and the anime industry...especially in the UK.

Your contribution as a leading anime expert and representative of real anime fans is really welcome to me.

To which a chorus of otakus would say, in unison and in Japanese, "bullscat!" I've never presented myself as an anime expert of any kind. Not in 2002. Not in 2008. I'm a fan of animation, good animation, from any point of the globe.

I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Dominic Gardiner

Guess he didn't want to be called Dom any more. No matter. He went his way, gave me a pat on the head, a cookie in the form of CNX's logo, and just left it at that. At that point, I had nothing more to do. I kind of felt a little used.

The whole CNX affair also pretty much solidified the way I see Cartoon Network.

Click here for the aftereffects of the story.