Network Decay/Unique Situations Cartoon Network


 * Cartoon Network, the channel with the dubious honor of being this generation's MTV, was originally used as a showcase for classic Hanna Barbera and Warner Brothers cartoons, but these were eventually replaced by an increasing number of original productions and Anime; the Boomerang network was created to serve the original purpose of its parent network. The decision to run original programming created an era that is largely perceived as the network's Golden Age, as it generated popular shows that broke out of the Animation Age Ghetto (like The Powerpuff Girls and Dexters Laboratory) and helped fuel the Anime boom at the turn of the century (thanks to Toonami and Adult Swim).

The good times were not to last, sadly. Although complaints of decay begun as early as 2004, when Cartoon Network changed its logo to CN, it didn’t became much of an issue until 2007, when a major executive change in the network occurred when then-current president Jim Samples resigned over the controversy of the Boston Bomb Scare and was replaced with new leaders Stuart Snyder and Robert Sorcher. It was also during this time when then-Vice President Jennifer Davidson passed away due to a sudden illness. Complete with Williams Street head Mike Lazzlo committing a Face Heel Turn towards animation, it was clear that the once famed network was never going to be the same.

The network eventually (and randomly) phased out original series that were very popular; this was somewhat justified, however, as many of those series were out of first run. The problem is that they replaced these popular series with mediocre shows and fewer original series; they even began running a small amount of live-action movies (though at the time, they were mercifully rare). The network fell deeper and deeper into Network Hell as its executives tried to turn it into a generic kids' network to compete with Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel — they killed Toonami (and its replacement, Miguzi) in complete defiance of what the viewers wanted, then replaced those blocks by starting to show live-action films on a more frequent basis. The decay also forced Adult Swim and Boomerang to decay as well, to heavy disdain by their fanbases; while also causing tension within the network, with many veteran animators either quitting or being handed their walking papers. This attempt to rebrand the network came to a head when CN Real, a block of live-action reality shows and scripted series, was created. To the surprise of nobody except the network higher-ups, CN Real tanked harder than anything the network had ever done before.

Realizing where they went wrong, the network has made an effort to return to their roots with reruns of Tom and Jerry, Looney Tunes, and the like as part of their regular weekday morning lineup, and they've been pitching high-quality new animated series to cater to a variety of interests, like Star Wars the Clone Wars, Young Justice, Regular Show, Adventure Time, MAD, Batman the Brave And The Bold the Better Than It Sounds Scooby Doo Mystery Inc, and ThunderCats (2011). Live-action shows still exist on the network, but at least they are mercifully low in amount and not advertised as heavily as the newer animation projects (except for Level Up).

In the end, Cartoon Network is one of the most insane examples of this trope, if only because of how much of a rollercoaster ride the network's ridden in regards to the trope. CN could spend as much as eighteen months showcasing live-action shows, only to go back to animation the next day as if nothing happened — and just when you get comfortable with that, it'll return to live-action. This is likely due to the network's top executives being firm believers of the Animation Age Ghetto, which leaves one to wonder why they want to be in charge of a network devoted to animation in the first place.
 * Adult Swim, Cartoon Network's late night block, was originally consisted of adult-oriented animation including Seinen Anime and animated comedy, as well as unedited versions of titles from the original Toonami block. While the block received some concerns about having an adult-oriented block on Cartoon Network, not to mention the weirdness of some of its programming, Adult Swim was well received and helped contribute to the "Golden Age" of Cartoon Network, as it generated popular and well acclaimed shows that broke out of the Animation Age Ghetto including a number of weird, but strong comedy titles such as Robot Chicken, The Venture Brothers, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Home Movies, and Mission Hill, helped fuel the Anime boom at the turn of the century with titles such as Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, The Big O and Inuyasha, as well as being a haven for shows that were previously Too Good to Last and Screwed By the Network such as Family Guy and Futurama, and even helped boost their popularities to the point that they are now beloved by their parent companies again.

Unfortunately, these days were not to last. When Cartoon Network began to decay and sister block Toonami was canceled as a result, Adult Swim decayed with it. Heck, the Boston Bomb Scare started out as an Adult Swim ad campaign for Aqua Teen Hunger Force. One of the earliest instances of the decay was when Adult Swim ran Saved By the Bell for a week as a joke, inspired by complaints about their cheesier retro programming at the time. Fans were not happy about this and hoped it was just another one of Adult Swim's jokes, as Adult Swim has been a notorious Trolling Creator. But unfortunately, their fears were realized. The block's emphasis began to increasingly move into both original and imported live-action shows such as Childrens Hospital, Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job, Delocated, and The Office. While the live action Adult Swim shows have better critical reception than their Cartoon Network counterparts because they aren't just Discovery Channel ripoffs, these works and the decision to air live action has (not surprisingly) divided or enraged much of the fandom.

It didn't help that these live action shows were pushing out a number of animated shows; with (much like the main Cartoon Network) less animated originals being presented, along with an increasing over-reliance on FOX Acquisitions for viewership and filling timeslots. And that's not even the worst of it: mirroring Cartoon Network's decision of ending Toonami, the most glaring example of the decay has been the block's move away from anime. Once one of the main reasons to watch the block, it's since been relegated exclusively to the Saturday Night-Sunday Morning timeslots and has been considered to be an almost legendary example of not just the decay of Adult Swim, but Cartoon Network as a whole. Suddenly, the block that saved shows from being Screwed By the Network were now screwing its own shows over.

The "live-action instead of animation" slope; combined with their increasingly vocal disdain towards anime; as well as their insults to their fans about the decay in their ad bumpers have been enough to push many of its fans away. In fairness though, it's nowhere near as bad as a lot of the listed networks on this page, as the presence of strong anime and animated comedy shows have managed to keep the block out of Total Abandonment and their fans clamoring for more. Adult Swim might have it worse than the rest of Cartoon Network, due to the same constant schedule switching that has screwed over many of its titles, what's decaying one week can be on the upswing the next. They have also called Cartoon Network's decay out in the past, and even lampshade their own strange programming choices at times, so they're at the very least aware of their own "decay". We’d all love to know if Adult Swim is more on their way to Total Abandonment or Recovery; or if their executives are becoming advocates of the Animation Age Ghetto for that matter, but in the end, it’s really hard to make a call.
 * Boomerang, Cartoon Network's classic animation channel, isn't running live-action programs (unless you count The Banana Splits) but it has apparently begun dumping its rules on how old a cartoon has to be in order for them to show it, and has also become rather hypocritical about which ones it shows. They're willing to run Baby Looney Tunes and Duck Dodgers (2002-05), but not the 1990s Looney Tunes spin-offs Taz-Mania or The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries (although many can agree that the latter show wasn't very good); the same unfortunately also goes for other 1990s Warner Bros. Animation fare like Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, and Histeria!, despite this network having previously shown Batman the Animated Series and Superman the Animated Series. This could be justified for some when you consider that many shows CN axed in the last decade were extremely popular, and Boomerang is a channel with a tendency to show popular cartoons that CN doesn't (Although this doesn't excuse why they won't show stuff like Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs, which are still extremely popular to this day and have tons of fans wanting them back on air). Not to mention this will only become fairer over time, since Boomerang is meant to show Cartoon Network’s classics and Time Marches On along with the cut-off date.

To add insult to injury, there has recently been an influx of commercials on the channel. And, surprise surprise, there's only two types of commercials that they do show about their own programming: "Boomer-Royalty" and a random commercial about either The Smurfs or a rip-off, The Snorks. Everything else is promoting (mostly)live-action shows on Cartoon Network, which isn't helping. They rarely run the Sing-A-Long commercials, and they never promote the airtime for shows if they AREN'T on CN. And if there's a special event coming up on CN, expect the parts between and after the show air the commerical at least once or twice. Every time.
 * Latin America got it worse. It totally abandoned the classic shows format and became an equivalent of India's POGO, now showing programs aimed at teenage girls, including CN Real shows and many MTV shows like Parental Control and Date My Mom.
 * In the UK, CNX began as a channel devoted to shows that appealed to the American equivalent of Shonen in the mornings and afternoons, with uncensored Anime and kung fu movies later at night. However, its Toonami block, aimed at a younger audience, quickly expanded to take over the entire channel. It has recently mutated into CN Too, which is actually marketed as a second Cartoon Network.
 * If you live in Asia, you may have noticed that Cartoon Network Asia and it's sister channel Boomerang Asia are both very confused about their reasons of existence as of late. It has gotten to the point where all new shows premier on Boomerang Asia while Cartoon Network Asia only airs old classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons and Ben 10 (which they air about 10 times a day), and the occasional original rerun, with about only one new show every now and then (as in, one every year). Heck, even many shows on their current list has premiered on Boomerang years before being finally put on Cartoon Network. Rubbing salt on the wound is that Boomerang Asia is not as widely available and yet it gets all the best shows does not help. Shouldn't those old reruns be on Boomerang while new shows be on CN instead?