Gephyrophillia #236

Originally Posted on 04/01/2011 by Jeff Harris

If Cartoon Network was really run like Nickelodeon, people would be crying for the heads of Stewie Snyder and "Mad Man" Sorcher on a pike.

Well, more than they do now, mind you.

Think about it for a mere moment. Nickelodeon has Spongebob Squarepants, a series about a manic, goofy, childlike character engaging in wild adventures under the sea in a city called Bikini Bottom. Cartoon Network has Johnny Test, a series about a manic, goofy child engaging in wild adventuces in a city called Pork Belly. Nick airs the show in every open slot on the channel. Some weeks, they air the series between 65 and 70 times. If Cartoon Network aired Johnny Test 65 to 70 times a week, people would flood the inner sanctum of Planet Techwood in droves, looking for whoever was the person who did that.

Now, some people may claim, "Jeff, that's not really a fair comparison." Perhaps. Johnny Test is obnoxious. Spongebob Squarepants is obnoxious but marketable, and, sadly, that additional phrase is the only thing that separates the two. The public can't stand obnoxious things. However, if somebody made a keychain or a bookbag or a useless piece of plastic with that obnoxious thing on it, the public tends to like it a little more.

That may explain the success of Crazy Frog many years ago.

Maybe I'm misreading people, but I always thought they liked variety. Variety gives people many choices, many options, many unique outlets and productions to enjoy. The thing I don't get about Nickelodeon is that they barely have any variety. You have Spongebob, a sitcom that is derivative and analgous with different pretty boy or girl in the lead, or a Butch Hartman cartoon (for the record, I do enjoy his newest show T.U.F.F. Puppy more than I did Fairly Oddparents and Danny Phantom; there's a kind of Get Smart-like vibe that works quite well in animation). If you're a producer that has a show that's not quite one from one of those three parts and not a preschool-oriented series, you have a higher chance of not lasting long on Nickelodeon. Some have bucked the trend. So far, The Penguins of Madagascar has bucked the trend. Fanboy and Chum-Chum is as well, barely. Other shows barely hang on like The Troop, which is just now getting a second season and retooled for some reason.

Others like Power Rangers Samurai are just there, almost like filler slots, eas. Power Rangers has, more or less, been treated with a little indifference by the network, largely because it's not a property outright owned by Nickelodeon. If you think I'm misjudging them, well, let me ask you this: how many shows NOT owned by nor produced by Nickelodeon and not aimed towards preschoolers actually air on Nickelodeon? Not Nick at Nite, not Nicktoons, not TeenNick, and not Nick Jr., I'm talking hon-de-lo-hup-hon-de-rikki-tikki-number-one Nickelodeon.

Instead, you largely get heavy rotations of a pair of shows. Do they get big ratings? You betcha. That's what happens when you have an audience that soaks up the same repetitive formula in programming making the viewers numb from the head down. If anything that's not part of the original programming enters their minds (you know, diverse choices), they reject it, so Nick pretty much make all of their shows very similar in tone. Marketers call the Nick formula genius. If Cartoon Network did the exact same things as Nickelodeon, they'd be called "a mediocre network relying on the same repetitive programming and largely running on fumes."

Nick's Bugs Bunny and Cartoon Network is Daffy Duck. One just stands there and gets a lot of love for no reason, the other does a lot, wants to be love, and is largely dejected because they actually try unlike the other guy. On the surface, it seems like jealousy. In a way, it's emblematic of society as a whole. One guy does next to nothing, tricks others, and gets praise, love, and glory, the other works their butt off and gets little to no respect.

That's probably why I'm more of a Daffy Duck fan than a Bugs Bunny one.

Keep creating.

Jeff Harris,
Creator/Webmaster, The X Bridge.