Gephyrophillia | Watch This Space #20

Originally Posted on 01/13/2003 by Jeff Harris

Starting today, January 13, 2003, there are only two Toonami blocks on the air. The traditional 4 - 7 PM EST/PST weekday block and the Super Saturday afternoon block. Rising Sun is gone (again) and the Midnight Run is all but a memory. And I'm not too fond of what replaced the Adult Swim Action/Rising Sun slot. Well, the shows they aired (hour blocks of Zoids/0, G.I. Joe, and Batman Beyond in the ASA slot followed by the Filmation DC Comics shorts and Superfriends in the Rising Sun period followed by a revamped Boomeraction lineup) were alright, but I didn't like the way the lineup was presented. It had no new bumpers (mini-rant: You know, as a whole, Cartoon Network has been using Powerhouse as its theme for over five years now and the look of its network bumpers haven't changed. Either they've gotten lazy and still working on new ones or they just don't give a damn about Cartoon Network anymore. I'm hoping it's the former rather than the latter.) and a repetitive Batman bumper (honestly, was there a point of removing Superman and Batman: The Animated Series from the network AGAIN?!?). To say that the presentation was abysmal would be an understatement. If they actually had the stones to keep their original plan of a Toonami Saturday Night, then maybe it would have been more palletable. If anything, Saturday night's presentation proves why the Toonami brand name is an important one and one that shouldn't be taken for granted.

Of course, idiots are at the control booths and in the boardrooms of Cartoon Network, and the whole point of my mini-discussion might have swooped right over their heads. But I think I digressed long enough.

Starting in May, there are only two executives reeking of power in the AOL Time Warner chain of command, and they are Richard Parsons and Ted Turner. One of those two men is most likely going to become the new Chairman of the swollen ubercompany. Take in mind that the America Online element is being slowly purged. Steve Case, the current chairman, is leaving his post in May. Robert Pittman, Case's right-hand man as well as the butcher of Atlanta, is also gone. Gerald Levin, the Time Warner boss who doubleteamed with Case to try to get rid of Ted Turner, is gone. The only significant people with significant clout at the company are former Time-Warner President (now ATW CEO) Richard Parsons and the company's largest individual shareholder, Turner Broadcasting founder, and former Time-Warner Vice-Chairman (now ATW Vice-Chairman and Senior Advisor) R.E. "Ted" Turner.

Now, it could all change at a stroke of a pen, but in this current case scenario, the new chairman of the world's largest entertainment company would either make a person of color the most powerful entertainment executive in the world or give the ultimate rebel who survived being depowered by his "superiors" that are no longer there the destiny he desired for so long.

The irony is rich. Tick tock, tick tock.

Until we are one, later.
Jeff Harris
CNX Creator/Webmaster
January 13, 2003