CN needs new programmers

[hobbyfan]

As of today, "Hi Hi Puffy Amiyumi" is being run Mon.-Thurs. at 9 pm EST. I think you will agree with me that this is another classic case of Cartoon Network's programmers taking a popular series and abusing it by "stripping" it without having enough episodes in the can to warrant such treatment.

"Hi Hi" has only, what, 13 episodes? 26? That's not enough to merit its current time slot.

This is Cartoon Network's basic problem. They take a show that has taken off very quickly, garnering huge ratings, and exploit it to death, playing it into the ground. The list is endless. Dexter. Powerpuff Girls. Ed, Edd, & Eddy. Cow & Chicken. Johnny Bravo. Teen Titans. Justice League. Need I go on? What it illustrates is that the network's only interest is in its bottom line. If a "hot" show like "Hi Hi" or "Krypto" can garner consistently high ratings no matter where the network puts it, even with multiple airings during the day, then they're justified in their policies. But when is it too much of a good thing? When you've seen the same episodes 10 times in a week?

Simply put, "Hi Hi" isn't ready to air nightly, but CN feels it needs to bleed its newest cash cow dry. The "stripping" is being done to pimp the "Hi Hi" DVDs that were just released. I get that. The entire run will cycle through once, maybe twice, by the end of December. After that, "Hi Hi" will be on the verge of burnout, much like the other shows I mentioned.

People wonder why "Teen Titans" is being axed after 5 "seasons". CN burned the show out by running it into the ground when there weren't enough episodes to merit a weeknight berth. While it was still garnering solid numbers anchoring the "Miguzi" block, TT was being run in prime time 4 nights a week during one stretch.

So how do we solve this problem? That's easy. You reconfigure the schedule such that it avoids burning out CN's hottest shows. Shows like "Hi Hi" or "Juniper Lee" should stay on weekends until enough episodes are in the can to merit a weekday berth. I believe "Krypto" is now confined to the "Tickle U" block in the morning, correct? Good start. It wasn't meant to be overplayed like it was in the summer, but again, CN saw the early ratings and decided to exploit the show. You don't see "Tickle U" shows airing any other time during the day, and with good reason. Same goes for the Adult Swim block. By design, it's confined to late nights, and CN won't tempt fate by putting one of the block's anchors, the soon-to-be-departing "Futurama", in an earlier slot, something that's bound to happen anyway when "Futurama" moves to Comedy Central in another couple of years.

Here's how I'd solve the prime time problem:

Mon.-Thu.:

7: Powerpuff Girls
7:30: Johnny Bravo
8: Dexter
8:30: Ed, Edd, & Eddy
9: Batman: The Animated Series
9:30: Samurai Jack
10: Superman: The Animated Series
10:30: Justice League

Sun. (Friday & Saturday pretty much take care of themselves):

7: Juniper Lee
7:30: Hi Hi Puffy Amiyumi
8: Atomic Betty
8:30: Totally Spies (which in turn should leave Miguzi to keep it fresh)
9: Sunday Pants (is that any good? I haven't seen it)
9:30: Megas XLR
10: Teen Titans (would only air on weekends)
10:30: Justice League Unlimited (ditto)

I'll figure out daytime another time.

[Squall]

This is Cartoon Network's basic problem. They take a show that has taken off very quickly, garnering huge ratings, and exploit it to death, playing it into the ground. The list is endless. Dexter. Powerpuff Girls. Ed, Edd, & Eddy. Cow & Chicken. Johnny Bravo. Teen Titans. Justice League. Need I go on? What it illustrates is that the network's only interest is in its bottom line. If a "hot" show like "Hi Hi" or "Krypto" can garner consistently high ratings no matter where the network puts it, even with multiple airings during the day, then they're justified in their policies. But when is it too much of a good thing? When you've seen the same episodes 10 times in a week?
There's nothing wrong with being interested in the bottom line -- they are a business, after all. What Cartoon Network's problem is, as you so well illustrate, is that they have no ability to make long term plans. They go for the quick cash, airing popular shows until they burn out their audience on them and the shows crash, when instead they should be slowly building up a library of episodes of the popular shows so that they can use timeslots like regular Monday - Friday airings to make more long term money in advertising once a sufficient number of episodes is built up so that the fans can get a good quality show, with a proper beginning and end, and at the same time have enough episodes made so that you won't see the same episode half a dozen times in the same month.

Whew! Try saying that paragraph in a single breath! :anime:

[Sketch]

HHPAY has at least 26 episodes I believe. So putting it on weekdays at this point isn't awful but I fully agree that CN just doesn't think ahead they look for a quick buck and they look for "the next big thing" every other month it seems. Teen Titans has over 52 episodes and now it's off Miguzi. TMNT has over 78 and it's only on twice a week. And numerous of older shows have plenty of episodes to air but CN doesn't bother with them because they believe they wont get ratings and sometimes that's true and sometimes I find it hard to believe that it is true.

Here's a prime time schedule for January 2006.

07:00 - Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi
07:30 - Foster's Home
08:00 - Codename: Kids Next Door
08:30 - Billy and Mandy
09:00 - Ed, Edd n Eddy
09:30 - Cartoon Cartoon Show
10:00 - Zatch Bell / One Piece
10:30 - Justice League Unlimited / DBZ

[William C. Maune]

HHPAY currently has 26 episodes according to Toon Zone's schedule database (http://www.toonzone.net/schedule/displaySeries.php?seriesID=81&networkID=14). 26 episodes is generally considered enough for stripping a series.