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| The Ultimate Toonami Lineup (circa 1999) | Jeff Harris, Summer 1999 |
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From The Webmaster:
Yeah. This is really, really old-school. In a pre-Gundam Wing Toonami era, nobody really thought that Toonami, let alone Cartoon Network, would ever get fresh anime from anime distributors like Bandai, Geneon, or Tokyopop. Heck, we didnt even think that there would even be new episodes of Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon.
At the time, I felt it was best for Toonami to concentrate more on familiar names and popular brands rather than the latest, newest thing (and in time, some of these shows [either in a new form or the old-school original] did pop up on Toonami; heck the time periods mentioned here, except for the Sunday time periods, did end up being Toonami). Yeah, this would be a nice action block on Boomerang, but not for Toonami. Enjoy the old-school goodness. - (too-NAH-mee) (origin-"toon" from cartoon and "nami" form tsunami, meaning a giant wave of cartoons). 1.Originating in March 1997 as an evolved version of Power Zone, an action packed block of action-themed animation currently airing weekday afternoons and late night Saturdays on the Cartoon Network. 2. An excellent program lineup aimed towards an older audience with popular shows from the genre known as anime. 3. An attitude that shows a bit of rebellion that the average viewers want to have. That's what Toonami should be defined if it ever gets enough respect from the network, something that only recently has been happening at the network's HQ. If Cartoon Network ever decides to expand Toonami to three hours (4-7 PM EST) and add weekend showings too, here's what should be on the lineup:
TOONAMI The one that started it all. Getting rid of deadwood like The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, Toonami could finally reach its fullest potential with this action-packed lineup, especially with Batman and Transformers in the lineup. 4 PM: Sailor Moon - The most-watched show on Cartoon Network, this one's for all the ladies, and those of us who like to see cute Japanese schoolgirls kick serious butt! 4:30 PM: Dragon Ball Z - The action packed adventures of a young martial arts warrior named Goku and his friends. Alien fights, martial arts, dinosaurs, it doesn't get any better than DBZ. 5 PM:Voltron - The Defender of the Universe in both classic lionbots and the rarely seen vehiclebots. Speaking of Autobots. . . 5:30 PM: Transformers - Robots in disguise, you won't find any transforming animals here, bud! 6 PM: Robotech - The best written animated drama ever produced. Period. 6:30 PM -Batman: The Animated Series - The best written action program on the planet today.
Toonami International A radical approach in the lineup, Saturday Toonami would feature heroes from four international locales and two from the good old USA, including a Real American Hero! 12 PM: Jana of the Jungle - The rain forest warrior hasn't been seen in years, so she's destined to be on Toonami! 12:30 PM: Batman: The Animated Series - Blows the "Superfriends" out of the water with just one glance. 1 PM: G.I. Joe - Nothing says Americana like Saturday afternoons, apple pies, and watching protectors of the red, white, and blue in action. 1:30 PM: Reboot - A great product from our northern neighbors should be on weekends as well. 2 PM: Speed Racer - Not the early 90's NASCAR wannabee (or even the upcoming new episodes made in Japan, at least not yet). This is the real deal with the sleek aerodynamic Mach-5 with the driver in the ascot and the cute brunette who could wind up in the driver's seat at any moment. 2:30 PM: James Bond, Jr. - To complete the Saturday International Toonami lineup comes this British agent who's a chip off the old block.
Toonami Power Zone Going back to the classics that were the backbone behind the formation of Toonami known as the Power Zone! These shows are true Super Adventures. 12 PM: Thundercats - The first show ever seen on Toonami, this core show would be the startup show for Sunday Toonami. 12:30 PM: Centurions - Power Extreme! Why ISN'T this show on Toonami in the first place. It has robots, cyborgs, madmen - - it's the ideal Toonami show. At least it should be one of the two warmup shows prior to Toonami (The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, completely out of Toonami, should be the other one). 1 PM: G-Force - It's a wonder that this show isn't on Toonami either! Check it out, you have five young heroes ala Voltron who have to face off against a, well, unique enemy (let's say that s/he isn't all s/he's cracked up to be). 1:30 PM: SWAT Kats - Another one of Hanna-Barbera's best action shows, this former Toonami warmup show has only a few episodes and should air on this Super Adventure version of Toonami. 2 PM: Cartoon Roulette - An hour long show with real action shorts (read: No Moby Dick, no Shazzan, and no Dino Boy!). This show has Space Ghost, Herculoids, Birdman, Mightor,The Galaxy Trio, and Superman (all of which aired on Toonami) and shorts like Samson and Goliath, Space Ace, Teen Force, Tigersharks, Plastic Man, Dial M for Monkey, Powerpuff Girls (which currently airs during Toonami Midnight Run), and others. For months, I've had my first dream schedule on this site. Now I've been contemplating giving the readers their say-so as to what their dream schedule would be. Some want a very diverse schedule featuring shows from Astro Boy to Samurai Pizza Cats while others want a totally uncut, uncensored, subtitled Toonami lineup with shows like Macross, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and movies like those seen on Encore Action on late-night Saturdays. On October 18 (I know it's late, but reality hit me really hard recently), the Ultimate Toonami Schedule section of this site will be run by the fans! Send your dream schedules and they'll be posted here! And at the end of the year, I'll create the Ultimate ULTIMATE Toonami Dream Schedule for all to see! So what are you waiting for? Get cracking on those scheds!
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