Gephyrophillia #207

Originally Posted on 09/09/2009 by Jeff Harris

I would have talked about the announcement of the formation of DC Entertainment, but the truth is, it's not going to change much aside from the fact that they're getting rid of a comic book guy, Paul Levitz, in favor of an executive that largely has a pedigree over entertainment affairs rather than comic book affairs. Plus, I'll talk the DC Entertainment announcement in length in a future update. In the meantime, catch up on a talk that I wrote more than a year ago that called for the creation of such a unit. Totally called it though.

Instead, I'd like to talk about a potential game-changer that's about to occur in the airwaves of America next week. Class of the Titans, one of the best animated series straight from the Great White North as well as one of the finest action-adventures to come out of North America in quite some time is finally coming to the United States. Perhaps you've heard me talk about it as a potential Toonami killer app a lifetime ago. It's the story of teenage descendants of the Greek Titans taking on a time-warping villain hellbent on ruling the world. It's a well-written, well-designed, well-performed series from Studio B and Nelvana and coming to a television set starting on Saturday September 19 and every weekend at 4 PM E/P and encoring in prime-time and overnight.

The 52-episode series is complete (for now), but its arrival in the US has been something worth anticipating, ever since the first details of the series leaked out of Canada. The series has quite a large fanbase in a country that has never seen it legally such as ours, but now one network is bringing this group of teenage Titans south of the Canadian border.

But it isn't Disney XD. It isn't Nicktoons Network. It isn't Discovery Kids. And, shockingly, it isn't Cartoon Network, a channel that has imported numerous teen-themed Canadian series as of late but is, laughingly, intent on being a third-rate childrens' network rather than a first-rate animation station. So, which network is actually getting Class of the Titans?

Qubo.

Yes. Qubo.

Yes, the same qubo that brought VeggieTales to the airwaves as well as largely a family and values channel that aren't as heavy-handed as similarly-themed outlets like Smile of a Child or JCTV. In fact, it's actually a pretty secular environment that shows quality programming like Jacob Two-Two, Babar, Miss BG, Pecola, Sitting Ducks, Jane and the Dragon, Zula Patrol, Sammy's Story Shop, Postman Pat, Maisy, and many others. A lot of those shows are for younger minds which is why the Class of the Titans acquisition by qubo is a curious one and one that should be paid attention to.

In addition to Class of the Titans, qubo is also adding Being Ian, another great Canadian series with many episodes and an established fanbase, not to mention it was created and partially inspired by the young life of Ian James Corlett. If the name sounds familiar to you longtime readers, he was the original voice of Goku in the Ocean-dubbed episodes of Dragon Ball Z and the voice of Bob in season three and most of four (aka Glitch-Bob) on ReBoot. It's a rather good series that, along with Class of the Titans, never got a decent US broadcast outlet for some reason though they've been proven successes around the globe.

Qubo is creating a lineup that seems to be more diverse than anything they've done in the two years the network has been on the air. And a lot of people are wondering two things:

What's qubo and will I see them on NBC?

First of all, qubo is a joint venture headed by ION Media and also includes NBC Universal (owners of Telemundo and some other channel whose name escapes me), Corus Entertainment's Nelvana, Scholastic, and Classic Media (owners of Big Idea Productions) creating an outlet for quality children's entertainment. Qubo is broadcast across four platforms: a weekly Saturday morning block on NBC, a weekend Spanish-language block on Telemundo, an hour-long block that airs Wednesday-Friday afternoons on ION, and a 24-hour network that's a subchannel of ION affiliates. Class of the Titans and Being Ian are airing ONLY on the qubo Channel, largely because neither show would fall under the E/I guidelines. And the fact that the shows are on the qubo Channel is proof that the network is looking to expand beyond "safe" fare, and Class of the Titans is the test.

Why do I say that? Well, it's easy. Nelvana needs to outdo their biggest competitor, Cookie Jar, and considering that studio has shows on four outlets, Nelvana's playing catch-up with adding their recent crop of shows to qubo, aimed towards older kids rather than just younger ones. Nelvana was the producer of the first 50 or so episodes of Jacob Two-Two, a show that should be airing new episodes on the network soon. An adventure show like Class of the Titans and an edgy comedy show like Being Ian airing on a channel with a perceived prejudice like qubo defies explanation. And you know what?

I think it's great. If Class of the Titans and Being Ian work on qubo, it could open up the libraries of the other partners to bring in their libraries for a little more content that's not just for little kids. Seriously, Rocky and Bullwinkle and Exo-Squad deserves a daily run on a network somewhere in America. If anything, qubo's expansion could open up the door for a halved network down the line. Qubo could be seen as a preschool/elementary school-oriented lineup and something else could evolve as an older kids lineup of sorts. It's an optimistic viewpoint that's for sure.

I'm just glad Class of the Titans and Being Ian are coming on in America. It'll also be America's introduction to the brand that is qubo.

*end transmission*

Jeff Harris,
Creator/Webmaster, The X Bridge.