Toon Zone Talkback - CN Upfront 2008 Roundup

[Matt Hazuda]

The Upfront information is now online (http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=22696).

Just posting this to let everyone know it's out there. Please do not create topics. We will be doing that as we parse out the information. This is just a general talkback for the upfronts till we do so. Thanks.

[PC!]

So Fridays is going to be reimagined into an action/adventure block with both Batman and Star Wars?

Feh. Toonami's dead.

[ShadowGUN]

*copy and paste from the previous thread*

Wow. What lame upfront. The only new and interesting I see is the Ben 10 live action sequel, SW:CW, and Batman: the Brave and Bold.

Also I see nothing new for Toonami.

Btw what this "newly re-focused fantasy/adventure Friday night block" that going to air Clones Wars and The Brave and Bold all about?

[Beat]

Trying to start over with a new action block focused on American cartoons.

Why does something tell me this is going to bomb horribly? Dull upfront overall.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Ooh, a another live action Ben 10 film? So long as the actings better, I'm on for it!

[ShadowGUN]

BTW did anyone ask about the fate of One Piece on Cartoon Network?

[macattack]

Wow. Fried Dynamite and possibly Dynamite Action Squad and Toonami all killed or rendered impotent in one fell swoop.

The four shows that are going to headline look promising, but it definitely looks like CN's dumping anime, judging from the comments made at the Upfront and the new fantasy block.

[Matt Hazuda]

I'm guessing the lack of Morbito news means Adult Swim has it or CN just doesn't talk about acquired properties they don't own anymore.

On the same token, the lack of Bakugan news is odd considering how well the merch is selling.

[warnerbroman]

I'm guessing the lack of Morbito news means Adult Swim has it or CN just doesn't talk about acquired properties they don't own anymore.

On the same token, the lack of Bakugan news is odd considering how well the merch is selling.shhh they will hear you

[macattack]

Maybe they just don't talk about acquired properties anymore, period.

Note that every announcement pertains to something that CN is making themselves, except for Star Wars of course. But like hell they were going to keep Star Wars a secret.

Moribito will bomb bad on Adult Swim if that block/network has it. It's just not well-suited for AS. It has more in common with Avatar than any other anime on AS.

[Mugen]

Wow. Fried Dynamite and possibly Dynamite Action Squad and Toonami all killed or rendered impotent in one fell swoop.

The four shows that are going to headline look promising, but it definitely looks like CN's dumping anime, judging from the comments made at the Upfront and the new fantasy block.

Well, Blake could move to the Thursday night block, but he might be relegated to just Saturday mornings.

I don't see DAS going anywhere. It has its purpose and it seems to be serving it well. Toonami, well...It'll probably be just "there."

[Sketch]

Unless they move Pokemon and Bakugan to this new Friday night block either Toonami or DAS will survive.

I'm guessing they don't talk about aquisitions considering there was no mention of Bakugan or the highly anticipated Naruto Shippudden. And along those lines they may be looking towards a little to no aquisition programing model. Which is both a good thing and a bad thing. The good thing is CN will be making their own action cartoons possibly more often and with greater care. The bad news is anime asside from Pokemon, Bakugan and Naruto are out of luck.

Less aquisitions could be the most notable reason why X-Men and Iron Man are not going to CN. But if that is the case, CN should have thought that one through a bit more because they have everything to gain from adding X-Men to their line-up (Iron Man... not so much). Which in turn may mean Spider-Man wont be airing on CN either.

Isn't Batman an aquisition though. At least to an extent? It is a WB animation property afterall.

[yoshirider13]

I wonder if Naruto and One Piece are gonna move to the new friday block.

[Sketch]

Well... they have to air something in the last hour but I wouldn't be too surprised if they encored Clone Wars right before Adult Swim and aired maybe Samurai Jack in the other part of that hour.

[One Radical Dude]

It sounds like a lot of CN originals (except for Chowder) will be ceasing production soon, including FHFIF. I'm not surprised, to be honest. I know the show was very successful for CN, but the 78 mark was stuck in my mind, and I had little confidence that it would get another season. I am sad to see one of my favorite programs ending this year, but it's had a nice run. I wish Craig and Ron Renzetti well with the new thing that they're doing.

[Master Moron]

I don't really care if Toonami dies, but the fact that they're phasing out anime blows. Anime is the only reason I watch Cartoon Network. If they just moved One Piece and Naruto to Fridays I'd be okay with that.

At this rate, I'm not even sure we'll ever get Naruto Shippuden.

[Racattack!Force]

Pretty interesting Upfront, but does every single part need its own topic? :shrug:

[Draft]

-They had enough money to get George Lucas to come?

-Most suprising thing about 1st paragraph was the Cartooninstitute. Competition to Random Cartoons I guess if it ever airs (Doubtful, but maybe Fred Seibert will opt out since Nick isn't liekly to air and he'll bring it to CN)

-Does this mean Fried Dynomite is dead? Thank you Jesus! Wonder what the 4th show will be (Prolly TF reruns)

-The Health crap doesn't work CN..

Overall, I think I need to lower my expectations down a notch. I guess I figured since CN had that very informational website last year, they were going to do the same. Not the case

Hell, we only got confirmation for about 8 series. No mention of Gym Partner, Eds (And to a happier extent, Out of Jimmy's Head and Squirrel Boy). Also they only mentioned a few movies compared to the lot they had last year.

[John Dorian]

Yes, Tednut. In order for threads to stay clogged free. If a person posts a thread about one topic, and another person post something completely different, it would not only not make sense, but it will clog up the thread into a mess....sort of.



On topic:

This upfront didn't mention Out Of Jimmy's Head, which is/was getting kind of better.

My Gym Partner's A Monkey: I don't care about this. So it's good to me.

Squirrel Boy: I think this show's done. No tears of joy yet, man.

Santo: Toasted.

Fosters: Returning. No Doubt.

FusionFall: They'll probably announce it.

Live Action: Sad they didn't get mentioned. Not.

The Eds: Oh, they'll be coming, as soon the movie is done.

Toonami: Something tells me that Jeff Harris, and the R11 aren't happy.




And now, the ones that were mentioned:

Cartoonstitute: Way to go What A Cartoon! style on us again, CN! Mr Renzetti is back in the CN world, where he started at. He could work some stuff, like making new Mina and The Count shorts (that is, if he owns the characters). What CN really needs to do is make deals with colleges to get animated shorts from college students in the U.S. for a contest-like show. Nicktoons Festival like.

Chowder: 40 episodes. I know it's fantastic (quality and ratings wise), but come on, CN. Don't burn him out.

Batman TB&TB: Not surprising to pick up. Good call.

Action on Fridays: Very Surprising. Saturdays were kind of a drag for me.

Comedy on Thursdays: New Thursday Nights was kind of a success. Big ratings grabber.

Sunday Night Movies: Sans the Live Action Movies, this could be also good and exciting. Epic Chow.

Flapjack, Secret Saturdays and George Of The Jungle is also exciting to see. Hope CN Studios and Porchlight Ent. are putting the best top notch animation.

The Get Animated, and Spot The Block are good to get kids healthy.

[bigddan11]

-Does this mean Fried Dynomite is dead? Thank you Jesus! Wonder what the 4th show will be (Prolly TF reruns)
These four shows are announced for Friday's Action Block:
Ben 10 Alien Force
Secret Saturday's
Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Star Wars Clone Wars

[warnerbroman]

what about adult swim?

[Mugen]

Well, I thought this Upfront was pretty good. We have new original shorts being developed for the network, a new action-adventure block on Friday nights, a comedy Thursday night block(which we have already), and a new Sunday night movie block.

The only live-action mentions were a sequel to the Ben 10 movie(which is a no-brainer) and live-action movies for the Sunday night block which is what they're doing now anyway. Otherwise its all animation news.

What's interesting is that there isn't a new original show that we haven't known before. Secret Saturdays and Flapjack were announced at last years Upfront, so its nothing new. Although it does kinda confirm that Santo isn't coming.

No news for Toonami, which probably means that'll it be around and "just there."

what about adult swim?

Adult Swim has its own separate Upfront from CN.

[Matt Hazuda]

what about adult swim?The Adult Swim Upfront is on May 14.

[Sketch]

Yes it is curious that CN didn't announce a new show concept and they're still working on shows they had planned for last year. But I think they're going to use the new creators influenced project to bring forth some fresh ideas. They've realized that they're had a lot of misses lately and it's time to look elsewhere for some good ideas. What a Cartoon worked out very well and I'm sure they're hoping this evolution of the concept works out even better.

But let's count our blessings. No talk of new live aciton productions.

[Racattack!Force]

Do you think Cartoon Network will update the old Upfront site (http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/promos/upfront/) with this info?

[Mugen]

Do you think Cartoon Network will update the old Upfront site (http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/promos/upfront/) with this info?

Probably not. They would have done it by now.

[Martianinvader]

I like the Brave and the Bold art. Looks retro. The only thing that would kill it is if this is Flash we're looking at. Seriously, a Flash-animated superhero show would be terrible.

Every time Batman gets under the pen of someone else I worry THIS is the time we're going to see "Kid Bat," a 9-year-old version of said superhero. Or even "Baby Batman." Thankfully, not this time either.

[Vyse]

The Adult Swim Upfront is on May 14.
I thought it was this past Monday/Tuesday at Midnight, which was supposed to be an airing of the Aqua Teen Movie. Anyway, warnerbroman and anyone else curious, go here (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=207927) to get a sneak peak/read about what will probably be shown on May 14th to ad people.

As for this upfront, I'm impressed that they actually remember that they are called Cartoon Network and focused on them (save for those movies on Sundays). While there may be no mention of Toonami or Fried Dynamite/DAS, I just hope that the shows that they have made in HD/widescreen (like Clone Wars) air in HD. It goes equally for the shows on [as], but I'm sick of watching stretched episodes on the HD feed.

[Master Moron]

Well, I thought this Upfront was pretty good. We have new original shorts being developed for the network, a new action-adventure block on Friday nights, a comedy Thursday night block(which we have already), and a new Sunday night movie block.

The only live-action mentions were a sequel to the Ben 10 movie(which is a no-brainer) and live-action movies for the Sunday night block which is what they're doing now anyway. Otherwise its all animation news.

What's interesting is that there isn't a new original show that we haven't known before. Secret Saturdays and Flapjack were announced at last years Upfront, so its nothing new. Although it does kinda confirm that Santo isn't coming.


Oh, well. Santo sounded kind of stupid anyway.

[Racattack!Force]

I just hope that the shows that they have made in HD/widescreen (like Clone Wars) air in HD. It goes equally for the shows on [as], but I'm sick of watching stretched episodes on the HD feed.
I guess it will air in HD were available, guess I don't have a HD Tv. :shrug:

[Darklordavaitor]

Well, we didn't get info on Ed, Edd, n' Eddy's fate, but overall, this was still decent. I'll probably give every new show a chance, except I'll most likely pass on Brave and the Bold, due to the fact that The Batman really didn't do much for me. Granted, I'm also not a Ben 10 fan, but after hearing that Dwayne McDuffie's the head writer of Alien Force, I might just tune into it.

I'm hoping for the best of The Cartoonstitute, since I trust both Craig and Rob(even though I'm also not big on Teenage Robot... loved his 2 Stupid Dogs, Dex, Powerpuff, Foster's, and Family Guy work, on the other hand...), and I feel that there's always room on CN for anything What-A-Cartoon related, and I especially feel that CN would be stupid not to acknowledge what the pilots did for them.

Nothing movie related here interest me at all, though, but I hope for the best for their "Get Animated" side of operations. But, is Chowder SERIOUSLY the only returning series? I love it, but we really need more than 1 remaining series.

There's a lot more we need to know(various series' futures, Toonami's fate, CN-on-DVD, etc), but we have another year to try to find out.

[Racattack!Force]

(even though I'm also not big on Teenage Robot... loved his 2 Stupid Dogs, Dex, Powerpuff, Foster's, and Family Guy work, on the other hand...)

Well, the best part of the series was the pilot, which appeared to be the only episode of the show he even wrote. The series would have been much better if he took the time to write more episodes. :sweat:

[lemonhead75]

I like the Brave and the Bold art. Looks retro. The only thing that would kill it is if this is Flash we're looking at. Seriously, a Flash-animated superhero show would be terrible.

Every time Batman gets under the pen of someone else I worry THIS is the time we're going to see "Kid Bat," a 9-year-old version of said superhero. Or even "Baby Batman." Thankfully, not this time either.


Im not a huge Batman fan. But I'll check it out. I just hope its better than the last Batman series with new episodes on CN...

[The Irishman]

Well, the best part of the series was the pilot, which appeared to be the only episode of the show he even wrote. The series would have been much better if he took the time to write more episodes. :sweat:

I'm pretty sure he wrote a few more than that (IMDB credits him with 9 over the course of the series). But yes, the writing was weak at times although I don't think it was the show's Achilles heel.

[Racattack!Force]

I personally think it was. The series had a great premise, outstanding artwork, and okay story boarding. It's the writing of many episodes that seemed lacking. Had the writing been better, we might have gotten more episodes (and better ones at that).

[The Irishman]

It did have the odd good, humourous joke though, coining the term 'circuit jerk' and now we all know that connecting to the internet can lead to blindness. :p

Back on topic, the news was posted on the Frederator Blog and the first comment was asking if Fred Seibert was getting a commission for this. :lol:

[Racattack!Force]

Back on topic, the news was posted on the Frederator Blog and the first comment was asking if Fred Seibert was getting a commission for this. :lol:
http://www.frederatorblogs.com/post/5380?from=post_comment
Well, that comment makes sense, since if WAC! wasn't made, then there would have been a good chance Cartoon Network wouldn't have done this. And it seems that Fred Seibert is digging the idea, so all is good under the hood. :anime: Everyone there likes it good, though some people are a bit confused on how it's to be done (I must admit, until this morning I thought it was kind of collage :o) .