Boomerang Block Nostalgia Thread

[YogiBR123]

Does anyone remember when Boomerang was just a block on Cartoon Network that ran for a few hours? I still have some tapes of that block.

[chdr]

I remember that. I think it would be pretty cool for Boomerang to have a similar era-themed block like that.

[YogiBR123]

Hmm...yeah. I mean they should bring back the Boomerang block on Cartoon Network and they could air it on weekends. Just like old times.

[Deadman]

i remember those days. i used to wake up early just to see it.

[Ace Goodheart]

I'm not sure where I saw it (whether it was on YouTube or one of my VHS recordings), but Boomerang had been a block on Cartoon Network since as far back as the early '90's, way before the channel was conceived. I don't know if at the beginning it followed the now-defunct yearly format, bit the bumpers and motif before Cartoon Network's "Powerhouse" re-launch in July 1997 were of a psychadelic, "hippy" variety.

I think that back then during 1992-1997 "Boomerang" was overkill as it's programming was already airing elsewhere on CN or on other blocks ("Toonapalooza", "70's Super Explosion", "Sunday Afternoon Mystery/Mysteries Inc.").

While Boomerang is once again starting to show organization by bringing back "Boomeraction" and by pairing up similar programs, one thing that's sorely lacking in CN in the last couple of years is programming blocks.

[Silverstar]

I remember the Boomerang block. Ironically, that block would be a better fit for CN now than it was then, since back when it aired on Cartoon Network, the channel was already 95% old Hanna-Barbera reruns. The block didn't really stand out amongst the rest of the channel's schedule, especially since many of the shows that were spotlit on the Boom block were already in regular rotation on CN at the time.

[Ace Goodheart]

Yup, that is true. But as we all know there's simply no more "open" time slots for any experimental programming left on CN, only the 5AM slot in which Adult Swim has aired some seriously off-beat programming, but they aren't even taking risks with it anymore and have dedicated it to "Inuyasha".

[veemonjosh]

Yup, that is true. But as we all know there's simply no more "open" time slots for any experimental programming left on CN, only the 5AM slot in which Adult Swim has aired some seriously off-beat programming, but they aren't even taking risks with it anymore and have dedicated it to "Inuyasha".

And even then, Inuyasha is likely being pulled after New Years so Adult Swim can repeat their upcoming King of the Hill hour.

[Ace Goodheart]

Woah, that's right. Once again it might be the end of the 5AM hour, thus there will be NO MORE open time-slots for experimental programming on CN.

[chdr]

Woah, that's right. Once again it might be the end of the 5AM hour, thus there will be NO MORE open time-slots for experimental programming on CN.

Who knows, considering its ratings, AS losing Saturdays is definately an option.

[YogiBR123]

I don't think it's likely that AS will lose one weekly night of programming to an experimental block.

[Eric B]

When I first got my own cable, around this time in '94, and before the cable man was finished, put it on CN, it was on the "Boomerang" block (with the little kid shouting "boomerang, Boomerang, Boomerang". Was thrilled to see all the old stuff again, which I hadn't seen in decades.

Maybe they should go back to this, and rename the channel itself as "CN Classic" and then the Boomerang concept wold be a block again.

[Still HowardFein]

[quote=Eric B;3058106]When I first got my own cable, around this time in '94, and before the cable man was finished, put it on CN, it was on the "Boomerang" block (with the little kid shouting "boomerang, Boomerang, Boomerang". Was thrilled to see all the old stuff again, which I hadn't seen in decades. [quote]

Heh, I first got cable in 1993 and the first thing I saw when tuning to CN was HAIR BEAR BUNCH. I was enthralled!

The Boomerang intro was engaging with its retro 'late-50s' stylized animation, although that kid screaming "Boom-er-annnng!" got annoying after awhile. The range only stretched from 1963 through 1975 and CN was somewhat limited by what it owned at the time. During the '1963' week it would ostensibly feature the THE BUGS BUNNY SHOW, but of course it would consist of the color pre-48s it had the rights to- no "This is it" intro, no clever 'backstage' segments that marked the Saturday AM BUGS BUNNY SHOW we knew and loved.

At least the TOM & JERRY show was presented the way CBS had, with the opening montage and bumpers animated by the Jones crew.

Once someone really slipped up and threw a 1985 JETSONS episode into the '1974' show.:shrug: And even though line drawings of Jonny Quest, Quick Draw McGraw and Yogi Bear were in the opening Boomerang montage, episodes of their shows never seemed to appear as part of it. I believe that at CN's 1992 inception, the only Yogi property it had the rights to was TREASURE HUNT; everything else (the 1958-61 shorts, GANG, SPACE RACE) was still running on Nick. And while CN seemed to have the rights to the Quick Draw cartoons from the start, his supporting segments- Snooper & Blabber, Augie Doggie- were still on the Family Channel. So were Hardy, Lippy, Touche Turtle and Magilla backup Ricochet Rabbit, for some reason. They all moved to CN in 1994.

Some relative rarities seldom previously aired in syndication or on USA did air: CATTANOOGA CATS; SEALAB 2020; BUTCH CASSIDY; VALLEY OF THE DINOSAURS; FRANKENSTEIN JR. AND THE IMPOSSIBLES with original CBS Paul Frees 'rap' intro; HUCKLEBERRY HOUND with bumpers. There were some glaring omissions by dint of Turner not yet having the rights, or other ownership issues. No SCOOBY-DOO (still owned by Worldvision and carried on USA). No RUFF & REDDY (still on the Family Channel). No INCH HIGH PRIVATE EYE, ROMAN HOLIDAYS, WHEELIE AND THE CHOPPER BUNCH- all would surface on CN the 1995 "Look What We Found" or overnight "Retro Wednesday" packages. No ADDAMS FAMILY, JEANNIE, GULLIVER, PARTRIDGE 2200, GOOBER or original HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS: obviously literary or ownership issues.

Of course, as soon as I got in the Boomerang network in 2006, they seemed to drop most of its classic H-B and WB in favor of old CN originals.:( :mad: Only if I'm home sick from work do I get to see some of the good stuff. Well, at least there's still early AM and weekend night Pink Panther showings.

[Eric B]

Sorry about that. I got the network in 2002, and it was like the day I got CN in '94 all over again.

I remembered that "Bugs Bunny Show", and it was just like any other LT/MM showing on CN/TBS/TNT. Some other shows were like that as well, and some still are, as well as DVD's now. I figured they didn't have the old openings. We need people who have this stuff on video tape to start copying and forwarding their stuff. (Like how I ordered a tape of Daffy/Porky Meet the Groovie Goolies with two other Saturday Superstar movies online, thank goodness). Maybe I should look to see how much of that other stuff is on sale online. I want those pieces cut out of Scooby Movies and left off of the Turner copies and DVD's, and it would be nice to have the original Scooby bumpers back as well). I was so surprised to see the Tom & Jerry show sequences, though most episodes didn't have the title screens added by the network, in the similar vein as its Bugs Bunny shows.

CN did get A Pup Named Scooby much sooner, as it was never on USA, and had pretty much just finished running when CN started. So for awhile, that was the only Scooby you could see on the network. A few years later, all the stuff was there, and then it took off, and took over!

[Ace Goodheart]

Here's a YT clip with a promo for the early '90's incarnation of "Boomerang" (starting at 4:19):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfWA3s_l8i4

[YogiBR123]

Woah! Back then, Boomerang had some funky 70's logo! Nice.

[Ace Goodheart]

Yep.........and a lot of re-treaded programming. While it's certainly impressive and admirable how much early CN tried to breathe new life into the already-ancient Hanna-Barbera properties by way of clever, witty commercials eyecatches, and programming blocks, 1992-1994 CN was downright brutal to watch. Looking back at old usenet posts from that era, complaints about CN's non-stop H-B programming were vocal even early on. Even Mike Lazzo, Cartoon Network pioneer and now Adult Swim head honcho, admitted that he grew tired of the re-runs by the network's first week.

Of course for kids like me at the time who had never seen all of those H-B shows it was great......but even after a while it got tiring.

[Silverstar]

While it's certainly impressive and admirable how much early CN tried to breathe new life into the already-ancient Hanna-Barbera properties by way of clever, witty commercials eyecatches, and programming blocks, 1992-1994 CN was downright brutal to watch. Looking back at old usenet posts from that era, complaints about CN's non-stop H-B programming were vocal even early on. Even Mike Lazzo, Cartoon Network pioneer and now Adult Swim head honcho, admitted that he grew tired of the re-runs by the network's first week.

Indeed. Before the creations of the What A Cartoon! shorts, which gave birth to the Cartoon-Cartoons, and Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, Cartoon Network was basically The Hanna-Barbera Reruns Channel, which is why the Boomerang block at the time was just redundant; I remember when I first got CN back in 1995, I remember thinking, "Why the smeg are they giving the spotlight to Shazaan! on Boomerang, like that's something special? I can watch Shazaan! any given afternoon on Super Adventures!"

[YogiBR123]

I know, and as Silverstar had already said a few weeks ago, we need the Boomerang block more right now, than we did back then.

[Ace Goodheart]

As ideal as the old Boomerang format was, and how it showed a variety of Hanna-Barbera properties which get little to no air time, the higher-ups probably realized that a lot of the stuff in H-B's vaults that cover some of those chronological years are virtually unwatchable and scare away ratings, so they ditched the format and are now cherry-picking and airing the best, most popular properties.......to an extent.

Howard Fein, so you're a NYC'er huh? So am I! I've had Cartoon Network since 1993-ish as well. I think I've seen your screename elsewhere.......do you post at "SubChat"?

[Still HowardFein]

Howard Fein, so you're a NYC'er huh? So am I! I've had Cartoon Network since 1993-ish as well. I think I've seen your screename elsewhere.......do you post at "SubChat"?

Yes, that's me! :eek: I didn't think there was anyone else in the world who was interested in both trains and cartoons! Under what handle do you post on SubChat? (If you don't want to publicize your handle on this board, send me a private message.)

[Eric B]

Anyone else, eh? You all are forgetting about me, as well. And I go all the way back to both the original SubTalk, and rec.arts.cartoonnetwork, and Warner Bros, and whatever the name of the NYCTransit newsgroup. Those were my primary boards, before the advent of php and I then expanded into christian discussion, and more recently, personality type theory. (Took me a while to realize I was seeing "Howard Fein" in both areas of interest).

[Ace Goodheart]

Woops, must've slipped my mind. :sweat:

Small world huh? And all early adopters of Cartoon Network (quite a distinction, considering people around the U.S were just receiving CN for the first time into the new millenium.....yikes). One of the perks of being located in a major TV market.


Y'know, this is the kind of discussion that could really revive.......my "Old-School Cartoon Network Nostalgia Thread"! :D I'd been meaning to do so myself through a lot of circa-1995 CN promotional material (commercials, bumpers etc.) that I've gotten my hands on, but I've faced hurdles in recording my stuff from VHS to PC. It really is some priceless stuff that has yet to be seen on YouTube (not all of it though) and which I enjoy seeing again, being part of the first generation to grow up with CN and all. Now that I think about it, that's what I and probably what most people enjoyed the most about old-school CN........the funny,witty, creative repurposing and repackaging of old H-B programming. Most of what has aired on CN during the early-to-mid '90's is easily at my disposal on Boomerang (which I've had since 2002), but I find it hard to even bother watching the channel with the same damn bumpers and packaging since what, the late '90's? (Correct me if I'm wrong, but the CN Boomerang block was repackaged into the motif that eventually became the look of said channel before it launched, right?)

[YogiBR123]

If I could make a suggestion, maybe someone merge this thread with the Old-school CN Nostalgia Thread.

[Jack_6428]

Woops, must've slipped my mind. :sweat:

Small world huh? And all early adopters of Cartoon Network (quite a distinction, considering people around the U.S were just receiving CN for the first time into the new millenium.....yikes). One of the perks of being located in a major TV market.


Y'know, this is the kind of discussion that could really revive.......my "Old-School Cartoon Network Nostalgia Thread"! :D I'd been meaning to do so myself through a lot of circa-1995 CN promotional material (commercials, bumpers etc.) that I've gotten my hands on, but I've faced hurdles in recording my stuff from VHS to PC. It really is some priceless stuff that has yet to be seen on YouTube (not all of it though) and which I enjoy seeing again, being part of the first generation to grow up with CN and all. Now that I think about it, that's what I and probably what most people enjoyed the most about old-school CN........the funny,witty, creative repurposing and repackaging of old H-B programming. Most of what has aired on CN during the early-to-mid '90's is easily at my disposal on Boomerang (which I've had since 2002), but I find it hard to even bother watching the channel with the same damn bumpers and packaging since what, the late '90's? (Correct me if I'm wrong, but the CN Boomerang block was repackaged into the motif that eventually became the look of said channel before it launched, right?)

Hey hi! Ace, hows it going with transfering your CN tapes to PC ?

[KidsWBYourSelf]

Hmm...yeah. I mean they should bring back the Boomerang block on Cartoon Network and they could air it on weekends. Just like old times.
Yeah... Hey! I found CN clips on YouTube from the 90's, including a Boomerang promo! This tape was around 1994-1995, 1996.