SB-03: Cartoon Network 1.0 | A Final Word

Originally Posted by Jeff Harris

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Forget everything you know about Cartoon Network. Yes, the new Cartoon Network will feel a lot like the original Cartoon Network before the madness took over. However, there will be some differences in place that makes it a unique network in its own right.

No Toonami/Adult Swim/Fridays

If you're looking for Toonami and Adult Swim, you should try looking at Checkerboard, the network that the original Cartoon Network became. They are the two blocks that are exclusive for the network and currently managed by Williams Street for Checkerboard, who has nothing to do with the blocks anymore. There are shows that are currently exclusive for Toonami and Adult Swim, and that's where they'll stay, although they may, in the future, head to the new Cartoon Network, but for now, those shows, as well as the Checkerboard-only comedy acquisitions will be only on Checkerboard.

So, no Naruto on Cartoon Network. For now.

Action in the Afternoon, Not In Primetime

Action on Checkerboard is mostly a primetime and Saturday morning endeavor. Cartoon Network will bring action cartoons back to their native network home, weekday afternoons starting at 3 PM E/P. It's the slot that, on the original Cartoon Network, served as the home of Super Adventures, Afternoon Adventures, Power Zone, Toonami, and, most recently, Miguzi. Cartoon Network will be the weekday afternoon home of some of the finest animated action properties on the planet, from the old-school to recent hits.

An Equal Mix of Modern and Classic Cartoons

Checkerboard will be the home of mostly modern cartoons. Boomerang is the home of classic cartoons. Cartoon Network will become a happy medium, bringing the best of both worlds under one roof. It's the only place where classic properties like Looney Tunes, The Flintstones, Animaniacs, Scooby-Doo, and The Simpsons air with modern favorites like Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, The Batman, Codename: Kids Next Door, Spectacular Spider-Man, and others. They're not focused on the latest cartoons. Just the best.

The Animation Capital of the World

North American cartoons will be the majority of programming. Foreign titles are also welcome on the new Cartoon Network, including weekly glances at what other countries are watching on their Cartoon Network. Passport, a weekly series, will air a series that had only been an exclusive to an international Cartoon Network affiliate giving Americans a look at shows that never made it to these shores. By year's end, viewers will vote on which international series will air on Cartoon Network USA.

Global Partnerships

Cartoon Network will also partner with international animation channels in this new incarnation. By arranging partnerships with Canada's Teletoon and Japan's Animax, Cartoon Network could broaden its programming as well as explore potential co-productions down the line.

So, that's that. We've come to the end. The reconstruction of Cartoon Network as a world-class all-animation network that could take it to limits beyond anything they could even imagine. By focusing on the strengths of the new group behind the network's management, working on what works or originally worked, eliminating the bad elements, and creating a global animation outlet, Cartoon Network could truly enter the 21st century and the new digital television era by creating a template that all animation channels could work with. In the end, the name Cartoon Network will have relevance in the mainstream media. It won't be seen as a joke, and it won't be contradictory to their programming. It will be animation's first home. It will be the world's greatest animation channel.

It will be Cartoon Network.