Cartoon Network Goes Real

*Mods: If there's a thread already like this feel free to delete

So, almost two weeks ago, Cartoon Network premiered its first couple of reality shows. I've been told the network has had non-animated shows before, but the new ones are causing a big talk because they are heralding the diversification of a lineup that was previously famous for being all cartoon, all the time. Personally I find the shows [The Othersiders, Survive This!, BrainRush, Destroy Build Destroy] very tolerable, and I actually really like Survive This [and to a lesser extent, The Othersiders]. I've heard that the network is planning to have between 10 and 15 reality shows on by the summer of 2010, even. [:O] Even though I like Survive This, that show actually is a Canadian export and wasnt developed by CN. So I'm a little scared about the new shows ending up really crappy and eventually ruining the channel.
I'm posting to find about how everybody else feels about this change, so please share your opinion.
 
I think Destroy Build Destroy is one of the stupidest things I've ever seen tbh. I was listening to it while on the computer the other day and I had to change the channel because the host's voice was so annoying. I think Cartoon Network would do well with some clever reality shows; they need to stray away from the stupid ones though.

It would actually do the best if it went back to the old cartoons that were actually good (read: Dexter's Lab, Powerpuff Girls, Johnny Bravo) and not the shitty shitty new ones (Chowder, Camp Lazlo). There are some gems that're out now like Total Drama Island, but most of the new stuff is just horrible. CN probably thought it needed to do something to spice up their schedule.
 
Yeah, I definitely think they want to diversify the lineup to compete with Nick and Disney. I like Chowder, but come to think of it, it really is pretty stupid...thats why I've considered it funny all this time lol
 
Honestly I think that Cartoon Network has been on the decline ever since the addition of TOP 4 I think (the one with the moving mouth). It removed the good and old shows from Tonnami (I bet some of you do not even remember Outlaw Star) and made it completely hard to enjoy. Let us also forget the little section of shows on that included the little girl host along with her section of alien friends. I complete rip off of Tom, and done rather poorly too might I add.

With all these new additions of reality shows has finally pushed it to the edge with me. I tolerated Chowder and the other shows. But Destroy Build Destroy and The Outsiders are just too much for me. Adding these kinds of shows have ruined Cartoon Network, they are not even good shows like The Amanda Show that opposing network Nickelodeon once had. Even then with all those relaity shows it went down hill for them.

So when they finally decide to have all these 10-15 shows on Cartoon Network, the entire thing will just become trash and not worth it to watch.
 
I have lost my respect for CartoonNetwork. They got rid of all their good shows for godsake! No more Toonami but instead "Fried Exploding Shit" which pisses me off because the damn kids aren't even funny! I mean honestly a kids version of the failure of the Show "Ghost Hunter" from Sci-Fi, how low can you go? CartoonNetwork has to stop trying to move to reality shows and be more like Nickelodeon and go back to pleasing the older fans and possible future ones. Only good block of shows left is on AdultSwim which isn't on till Midnight and a few others in the middle.
 
Cartoon Network was ruined when Toonami and Dexter's Lab left the air. At least Nick has kept their classic shows (Fairly Oddparents, SpongeBob...).
 
Do they place those Hanna Montanna, or whatever cartoon crap on Cartoon Network? Ed Edd and Eddy, Hey Arnold!, Johnny Bravo was the shit back then. Cartoons or kids tv shows are not the same anymore.
 
I personally don't think it's that bad. the strangulation of Toonami was what really killed CN. Most of the CNR shows aren't really that bad. "BrainRush" was on five minutes ago, and it reminded me of a more diverse, less difficult "Cash Cab" at 80 mph. "Survive This" is a great show. "Destroy Build Destroy" is decent from what I've heard from my older brother. (I haven't seen a full episode yet.) The only show I find that would get kindof stale is the "Othersiders". It's only a matter of time until they start investigating haunted toilet seats. As for actual Cartoons, I only find two shows on the current schedule to be absolutely stupid. "Chowder" and "Flapjack". CN has been doing pretty good it the actual Cartoon dept. actually, with the additions of shows like "Yu-Gi-Oh: 5d's", "Batman: the Brave and the Bold", and "Star Wars: the Clone Wars". I would just like to know if they're ever going to show "Naruto" again, darnit.

Also, in the defense of Cartoon Network, the reason I don't watch Nick is because of shows like SpongeBob. have you ever stopped for five seconds and considered how stupid SpongeBob and Patrick are?
 
^Imo, classic Spongebob is brilliant. Stupidity is the whole point of most of the show.

I love Spongebob myself (17 here), the closeups of their faces are priceless.

Just my 0.02, I'm Australian and as such haven't been experienced this yet (Or I just don't watch CN)
 
i just like the clone wars and i wish fosters would come back (i liked bloo's sarcasm)but now i feel like someone $##1TTED all over that channel they really need to bring back fosters dexters lab and jhonny bravo.
 
^Imo, classic Spongebob is brilliant. Stupidity is the whole point of most of the show.

I love Spongebob myself (17 here), the closeups of their faces are priceless.

Just my 0.02, I'm Australian and as such haven't been experienced this yet (Or I just don't watch CN)

By "classic" I meant old and long-running. Sorry for the misinterpretation.
I know, I know, Spongebob is probably a good cause for most of the stupidity in today's generation. I was a fan of some of the older episodes, but I always preferred Cartoon Network (Dexter's Lab & Johnny Bravo were priceless).
 
I think he meant Prime Spongebob, the earlier episodes, I too enjoyed that. Classic plots, now it is downright stupid (I mean, making stupid attempts of trying to be funny)
 
I agree, going back to their old stuff would be the best for them right now. Flapjack and Chowder just don't match up to Scooby Doo and Dexter. I did watch BrainRush yesterday, and it was admittedly good. Interesting concept for a gameshow, but it won't be their saving grace.
 
Honestly I think that Cartoon Network has been on the decline ever since the addition of TOP 4 I think (the one with the moving mouth). It removed the good and old shows from Tonnami (I bet some of you do not even remember Outlaw Star)

Yeah because Outlaw Star is the absolute zenith of anime! Why back in MY day, we had taste...

I think that this is a terrible idea because there are more than enough cartoons to show to not have to do this. I do not think they need to bring back Toonami or something, but they have 90 years or so of cartoons to rehash, so they have plenty of material to live with.

I would just like to know if they're ever going to show "Naruto" again, darnit.

What exactly is "Naruto" as opposed to Naruto...do you not believe that the show is actually about Naruto? Regardless, this was a factual misstep on Cartoon Network's part, or a quirk at best. They stuck with the show for the worst of the filler, and when the show had very clearly maken changes toward better art and production values they discard it. Not that this makes Naruto any better, as the anime is still on the whole a mess and not worth anyone's time. A terrible show will not "save" Cartoon Network, if it needs saving at all, just because it might get a lot of casual anime fans excited.
 
1. I can't believe we're all still watching CN, I guess we can't outlive the cartoons :D

2. I refuse to watch any of those shows, they might as well rename the channel Reality Network because really, those are cartoons? I don't think so. Get back to Powderpuff Girls, please
 
Haven't watched CN for years, but I've heard a few good things about Chowder and Flapjack. Haven't watched the reality shows either, so I can't judge, but I heard they're pretty terrible.

I suppose this is the creators of Flapjack's response to CNreal, though:

http://vimeo.com/5324370
 
I think Destroy Build Destroy is one of the stupidest things I've ever seen tbh.
It's also one of the dumbest things that I have ever seen. I miss the days of Toonami with DragonBall Z, and all of those original shows ( Kids Next Door, Ed, Edd, Eddy ). Now most of their shows stink ( Chowder, that thumb thing ) I just switch the channel.
 
The problem with CN is three fold.

In my view, it's prime was 1999-2004. This was built on three pillars.

- The older Hanna & Barbera and WB classics.
- The Gennedy Tartaovsky stuff (Dexter, PPG, Cow and Chicken)
- Anime, with DBZ as its backbone.

One can add Adult Swim, which was brilliantly timed to appear just when the original DBZ watchers were hitting their teen years.

What happened?

The old stuff got moved to Boomerang, most households don't get that.
Tartaovsky's stuff really started to go downhill, and the old popular series slowly died (hey, instead of making more flapjack, or EEE, make more dexter and johnny bravo)
The anime-watchers discovered 4chan and torrent/ddl sites. In addition, CN started shuffling the lineups, making it hard on casual watchers. This is unimaginably dumb - hardcores will go online and download subbed anime, and casuals will not stay up to 2:00 to watch Code Geass.

Now, only the last one was out of their control (though there is no reason why they can't still get younger kids with DBZ and other animes, which, at least when I was younger, was almost universally preferred to Western action shows, even among the kids that were not destined to go weeaboo), and you can still get nostalgia with old shows.

Right now, they're trying to follow the Nick/Disney model of appealing to the popular, tween set, when, from a business standpoint, they need to do the exact opposite - they are moving into a horribly saturated market, and they will likely lose. They need to go niche - they need to become the channel of geeks, gamers and future weeaboos - a market that they will control from ages 9-14 at least, until these kids figure out how to get this stuff online. Emphasize gaming, sponsor tournaments, don't have teen/tween celebs ever, and command 100% market share.
 
That^ says it all. There are few networks on TV that emphasize gaming. I'd watch CN all day if it had livestream tournaments, video game discussions, and the like (I'm such a geek ^_^).
I'm sure CN would become extremely popular if it hosted giant video game tournaments, esp. for the bigger titles, like pokemon, SF, the smash games, and Halo. They'd have to go digital to advertise though.

Sometimes I wonder if kids run CN now.....
 
The Fail Misadventures of Flapjack or w/e went over the line for me. I really only watch Animal Planet, ESPN, Nickolodeon and Disney now. Mostly Animal Planet (Animal Violence ftw?)

I missed the days where Dextors Laboratory were booming. It was simple. And simple is good =/.
 
I'm a bit baffled that people are calling shows like Cow and Chicken and Dexter's Lab better than Flapjack or Chowder, but I suppose that's the effect of nostalgia goggles. Chowder is probably at that same level, but Flapjack is definitely an amazing little cartoon. It's like the retarded lovechild of Ren and Stimpy and Spongebob.

I'm wondering if Cartoon Network will go through a name change in the near future to more accurately portray their new image (perhaps The CN?).
 
(I bet some of you do not even remember Outlaw Star)

Oh, I do. And I have the DVD set.

Cartoon Network certainly has seen a dramatic decline in quality over the years, and it just seems to get worse and worse. Back in the day when they had a nice mix of cartoons, new and old, it was epic. But that slowly changed as the 'classics' were moved to Boomerang and the overall quality of their original shows got worse and worse. Toonami and Adult Swim are also far from what they used to be, and hardly worth watching.

I think a reality/live action show here and there couldn't hurt, but so many of them being planned? It's a little ridiculous. It sounds like Cartoon Network is becoming less and less about cartoons in the same vein that MTV is barely recognizable as having anything to do with music anymore.

No, sir. I don't like it.
 
I'm pretty much with most people here, the old days of CN were great. Although somewhat recently Fosters, and even more recently Flapjack were fairly good imo. Still Nothing replaces the old line up, Power puff girls, Dexters lab, Ed, Edd, and Eddy, Johnny Bravo, and the rest.Toonami was great as well CN shouldn't have gotten rid of it. As far as Naruto goes, i'm glad they took it off CN, anyone who had to sit through Naruto dubbed in english should get a medal or something.

As far as spongebob goes, yeah the old episodes were great, the new episodes... it is just horrible plots with cheap attempts at getting laughs.


EDIT: Forgot about Courage the Cowardly Dog, that show was fucking great.
 
with Ed, Edd, n' Eddy gone, this network will be supported solely by the mighty mighty shoulders of Adventure Time. works for me.
 
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