Will Cartoon Network Ever Listen To Its Fans? | Jeff Harris, October 1998

From the Webmaster:

One of the first articles to find a place here at The X Bridge when it was called CN2: Toonami Realm back in 1998 featured a common theme of mine: Confronting Cartoon Network management. What can I say, I've been a rebel since day one, and I've only grown more cynical over the years. Keep in mind that the Inner Circle was pretty small.

My friends Mark, Tyler, Zogg, CookieS, Ashura, Jim, Skitz, SC, Cody, Meteo, Knux, Duke, Dark Spider, and Preston weren't in the circle at the time when I began this mini-campaign of sorts. This was one of the first times that I actually questioned whether Cartoon Network really cared about the viewers of the channel. Some of the things I asked for were actually implimented. Did I convience them? Doubt it. After all, in '98, I wasn't even a blip on their radar. But I did get some bloody satisfaction! See how successful in my efforts I might have been. You be the judge. Life is made up of coincidences.
-jh

Will Cartoon Network ever listen to their fans?

Well, maybe they will, maybe they won't. They have listened to fans about bringing in newer shows to the Toonami lineup like Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, and soon ReBoot. ReBoot would most likely replace Jonny Quest if they ever get their head out of their nether regions. But they need to do something totally drastic to the Toonami lineup. Here's three suggestions they should do.

1) Show the opening credits - - Some of us actually miss the opening theme to Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z.

2) Go outside of the Time-Warner-Turner library for shows - - Look at the success of the non-TWT shows like the two mentioned above, plus Robotech and Voltron (Thundercats IS owned by Time-Warner).

3) Put Batman in the Toonami lineup! - - The promos say that it's the best action show ever made. Prove it by placing the show in the best action block of programming on the planet.

4) Create a division for Toonami acquisitions - - Get someone who can find the best action shows readily available and get them on Toonami.

5) Work out alliances with other companies - - Hasbro and CN already have a marketing arrangement by sponsoring giveaways with the toy company. Now Hasbro also owns several animated properties, many of which could air on Toonami like GI Joe and Transformers. Also, there's this group called Bohbot who owns several shows like Skysurfer Strike Force, Extreme Ghostbusters, The Mask (which is already shown on other Cartoon Networks worldwide), and Mighty Max. Rather than starting up their own network that nobody's going to get, like they're planning to do next summer, maybe Bohbot should ally themselves with a more established network like Cartoon Network.

6) Dump Jonny Quest and The Superman-Batman Adventures - - Replace them with shows that they put on hiatus like Thundercats, Voltron, and Robotech, and don't be greedy with the episode orders. We want to see all of them.

7) Extend Toonami to three hours and weekend showings and a strong lead-off - - CN should air from 4 - 7 PM EST on weekdays and 1 - 4 PM EST on weekends. Plus, strong lead-in shows like SWAT Kats, Centurions, Speed Racer, and James Bond, Jr. would greatly increase the viewers to Toonami. It makes sense to me.

What do YOU think?