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Line 1: {{trope}} With all the [[Moral Guardian~~\|Moral Guardians~~]]s out there, Western Animation is rife with [[Executive Meddling]]. ---- * Most networks have a lot of rules imposed by their "Standards and Practices" codes on their kid-aimed action shows. No fights in school, because school '''has''' to be a safe place. Characters '''must''' wear helmets and safety gear when engaged in any imitable dangerous act -- they even tried to force the producers to put a helmet on [[American Dragon: Jake Long\|Jake Long]] whenever he ''flew''. '''In dragon form!''' (On what other planet was this executive born, where turning into a dragon and flying around is an imitable act?) Line 54: * Pretty much the exact same thing happened to ''[[Futurama]]''... except they came back on a different network, since CN's rights ran out. ** The subsequent renewals of ''Futurama'' as a set of movies and then a relaunched series both began with some reference to the idiocy of the executives who shut down their business. The first movie spent about five minutes depicting the executives as complete and utter buffoons before [[Overly Long Gag\|describing how their remains were ground up to form a useful powder]]. * ''[[~~Re Boot~~ReBoot]]'' was the near-constant target of [[Executive Meddling]] from [[American Broadcasting Company\|ABC]]. It got so bad that in one episode the network demanded that a shot of Dot [[No Hugging, No Kissing\|kissing her younger brother on the cheek]] and saying she loved him be cut out for broadcast because it "promoted [[Brother-Sister Incest\|incest]]." One side-effect of this was the inclusion of numerous jabs at the [[Media Watchdog\|Broadcasting Standards and Practices office]] at ABC in the show. In Argentina, [[Media Watchdogs]] tried to ban this show, showing the "''Evil Dead''" episode as evidence that it was not suitable for children. Thankfully, they never succeeded. The game portion of the first episode aired on Cartoon Network rather than ABC is more or less a non-stop series of "look what we can do ''now''" moments. Line 61: At one point, Enzo aims a ridiculously large bazooka at Megabyte's troops, only to discover, to his disgust, that it fired a life raft labeled "BS Approved". And for much of the episode about Enzo's birthday, an uptight female binome rejected most of the acts Dot was planning for the party. This was probably intended as a Take That, however, since the same episode then features Dot singing in a revealing red dress, with Enzo staring at her in what is, hopefully, surprise. Also, an awesome guitar duel between Bob and Megabyte. Probably the most infamous example was Dot's chest, or as the animation studio called it on their own blog, Dot's "Mono-breast". ABC would not allow Dot to show any cleavage, even when she wore costumes where it would be anatomically impossible not to show it. When ABC dropped ''[[~~Re Boot~~ReBoot]]'', the studio celebrated by stuffing Dot into an Elvira costume, and dedicating an entire episode to her new breasts ''(oh, and ''Evil Dead'' and horror movies in general also got a couple of nods)''. * Wait, did you say Enzo was dressed as Michael Jackson from the ''Thriller'' music video? [[Distracted by the Sexy\|Funny, I don't remember that...]] * NBC adopted the Christian video series ''[[Veggie Tales]]'' to air on their new children's programming block ''qubo'', but not before [[Bowdlerise\|bowdlerizing]] any and all references to Christ, God, the Bible, and Christianity. Public response eventually made them lighten up -- the Biblical discussions before and after each story were still cut, but religious references within the episode could stay. * The [[Moral Guardians\|parents' groups]] forced the producers of ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (animation)\|Dungeons & Dragons]]'' to end every episode with an odd, [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop]] that "The group is always right; [[The Complainer Is Always Wrong]]," which resulted in presenting [[The Lancer]] Eric the Cavalier as a constant whiner, who does everything in opposition to the group and, thus, always gets into trouble. Line 69: Hank: Eric's right! Eric [[The Complainer Is Always Wrong\|I am?]]}} *: And all of them were chastised by the Dungeon Master for listening to Eric. He then treated them to a lecture about mercy. ~~**~~:: Well, if you consider the never-produced ending, {{spoiler\|on which the Venger is revealed to be the Dungeon Master's son and which is freed from the curse that kept him as the Venger}}, you could actually understand his position. You could even see that moment as character development in hindsight for {{spoiler\|the Dungeon Master himself}}. :* On the ''other'' hand, in the episode where Eric opens a chest that releases the [[Sealed Evil in A Can]] within, Eric is only too willing to take full responsibility for the stupid move - until Dungeon Master points out he had asked permission - from Hank - before opening it. * According to the scriptwriter Michael Edens, the [[Disney Death]] of {{spoiler\|Alec Deleon}} in ''[[Exo Squad]]'' was caused by [[Executive Meddling]]. Originally, he was supposed to be [[Killed Off for Real]] as early as in the destruction of {{spoiler\|Mars}}, as foreshadowed in a [[Dream Sequence]] six episodes before that. * This gained a combined [[Take That]] and [[Lampshade Hanging]] upon the [[Retool]] of ''[[Pinky and The Brain]]'' into ''Pinky, [[Tiny Toon Adventures\|Elmyra]], and the Brain'', in the form of the retool-explaining [[Expository Theme Tune]]: ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy_-KBvO8Ek So Pinky and the Brain / Share a new domain / It's what the network wants / Why bother to complain? ...]'' Line 82 ⟶ 83: * ''[[X-Men: Evolution]]'' had an example when the producers were forced to cut a scene where the character Lance Alvers saves Kitty Pryde from being crushed by a statue. Apparently, the WB execs felt this would frighten young children, not because the character was imperiled -- but because ''it wasn't that long after September 11th''. Even though this was a show where mutants with superpowers attacked each other and stuff blew up all the time. As a result of the cut, Lance is seen just holding Kitty with no explanation why, leaving viewers confused. ** [[The WB]] was '''horrible''' about jumping to ridiculous conclusions like this (see the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' example). Anyway, Lance and Kitty didn't fare well with [[Executive Meddling]] at all. They were broken up in Season 3 due to [[Kids WB]] complaining about too much romance on the show. [[Official Couple\|Scott and Jean]]'s relationship was spared though. * During his tenure as head writer on ''[[The Real Ghostbusters]]'', [[J. Michael Straczynski]] constantly battled with [[American Broadcasting Company\|ABC]] execs. Some production members have noted having a happier time with the syndication episodes, which were subjected to far less scrutiny and it shows (the [[H.P. Lovecraft]]-inspired, "The Collect Call of Cathulhu", is just one of the episodes people have noted the network wouldn't have cared for). Especially contentious was the ongoing debate over the Ghostbusters' secretary Janine Melnitz. A child psychologist hired as a consultant by ABC felt the character was too cynical and abrasive. Her personality should be more supportive and [[Girls Need Role Models\|"feminine"]], instead. The consultant also expressed concerns that her sharp, angular glasses might [[Viewers are Morons\|scare children]]... and yet, all the [[Grotesque Gallery\|grotesque ghosts and monsters]] running around were a-ok. JMS acquiesced to one of ABC's demands, making Janine a Ghostbuster for an episode. The execs had felt young girls needed a positive female role model and saw this as an opportunity to do so. Other additions the executives wanted were more Slimer-centric episodes, and junior Ghostbusters, a [[Five-Token Band\|group of children]] that [[The Load\|followed the Ghostbusters on missions]], including a handicapped member. Both were attempts to pander to different age groups. Eventually, JMS simply quit out of frustration. After his departure, '''all''' of these changes came to pass, including altering Janine's look, personality, and voice. JMS would come back in Season 6 (though other jobs meant he could only do a few episodes). He [[Lampshaded]] the changes made to Janine in the episode "Janine You've Changed." Line 100 ⟶ 101: {{quote\|"When Spider-Man lands on a roof, ''make sure he doesn't harm any pigeons''." "Spider-Man can imprison a villain, but they can ''not'' be ''given a ticket to California to leave''."}} : Another positive effect occurred when a mixup over villain names forced the writers to introduce the Hobgoblin in season one rather than the Green Goblin, to match the toys that had been ordered. This allowed Hobgoblin to become an engaging character in his own right and a precursor to the more dangerous Green Goblin. : The censorship standards led to The Punisher being pretty much castrated. He was purely non-lethal and pretty ineffective as a result. However, the telling of his origin (for those unaware, the brutal shooting of his wife and young children which obviously couldn't be shown) was incredibly effective. The only visual was a kite flying in the sky and at the sound of gunshots fell to the ground, landing in a puddle and forming the classic skull as it became soaked in water. * Vlad Masters, [[Danny Phantom]]'s [[Arch Enemy]] and [[Evil Counterpart]], was originally going to be a vampire. This is pretty evident from his appearance, the fact that he's named after Vlad The Impaler (y'know, the guy who was the inspiration for the infamous [[Dracula\|Count Dracula]]), and that his supervillain name is "Plasmius" (as in Plasma, something you find in blood, which is what vampires feed on). Needless to say, the executives at Nickelodeon thought the idea was "too occult" ([[Sarcasm Mode\|Never mind that the show is about ghosts...]]) and had him changed into the bitter yet [[Evil Is Sexy\|still somehow appealing]] half-ghost villain we all know and love. One could argue its third season was a result of [[Executive Meddling]]; the main writer for the first two seasons was fired and Season Three resulted in heavy alterations that caused severe [[Fanon Discontinuity]] for some fans. * The third season was actually a cess pool of [[Executive Meddling]]. First off, the schedule kept changing, moving the show's time slot to odd times in the middle of the day. Also, some of the episodes were played out of order, and given how plots built during this season (with several major events like Plasmius becoming mayor and Danny gaining ice powers) this made the season hard to follow. Also, Nickelodeon decided that they wanted this to be the last season, despite series creator Butch Hartman wanting to make new seasons and that there was no drop in the ratings. This meant that all of the plot lines had to be wrapped up quickly. * One episode of the ''[[Beetlejuice (animation)\|Beetlejuice]]'' cartoon show is basically a huge [[Take That]] to [[American Broadcasting Company\|ABC]]'s Broadcast Standards and Practices, featuring an annoying, fairy godmother-like character Goody Two Shoes who claims to represent the "Bureau of Sweetness and Prissiness" (yes, she does use the abbreviation at one point). The characters finally manage to shake her by being ''too'' [[Sickeningly Sweet]] even for her tastes, and the end of the episode [[~~Lampshades~~lampshade]]s actual censorship in the show, namely how the camera cuts to another character's reaction whenever Beetlejuice eats a bug. ** There's also the ratings-obsessed Mr. Monitor, who's practically the personification of [[Executive Meddling]]. * Given the three different companies responsible for the production of the ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003\|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' (2003) -- toymaker Playmates, Mirage, and [[4Kids! Entertainment\|4Kids]] -- it wasn't surprising that this eventually crept in. Of particular note are the events surrounding the show's seventh season. After an intended follow up season to "Fast Forward" was aborted, a struggle between the three parties began over the direction for the cartoon. Among the eventually rejected suggestions were a [[Chaotic\|card game-based series]], a series with the Turtles caring for their [[Spinoff Babies\|infant past selves]], and a completely fresh [[Continuity Reboot]]. Line 114 ⟶ 115: * Several aspects of the [[Darker and Edgier]] second season of ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (TV series)\|Legion of Super Heroes]]'' have the fingerprints of meddling. Superman X's existence seems to have come out of a pressing need to have a Superman with a warrior complex and even more superpowers: {{quote\|'''James Tucker:''' They wanted a super-up Superman. They didn't care how we did it, but they wanted him to be more of a badass. For me, I didn't want to alter our existing Superman that much. So along with Michael Jelenic, we came up with [[Send in the Clones\|the clone from the future]]. (More [http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/news.php?action{{=}}fullnews&id{{=}}117 here].)}} : More depressingly, Saturn Girl's season-long [[Convenient Coma]] and the near-disappearance of Phantom Girl seem to be the results of maximizing the [[Ratings]] for the target 8-to-11-year-old male [[Demographic]]: {{quote\|'''Stan Berkowitz:''' ... the network focus-grouped ''[[The Batman]]'' (and ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (TV series)\|Legion of Super Heroes]]'') and found out that what our very young male audience wanted was more fights, jokes and costumes and fewer female characters. No surprises there... [http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/batman/tnba/backstage/interviews/berkowitz.php\]}} * After ''Devil May Hare'', the first [[Looney Tunes]] short staring the Tasmanian Devil was made, executive Eddie Selzer made it extremely clear that no more cartoons about him would be made, since Taz was, in his opinion, stupid and unfunny. However, Jack Warner himself liked the cartoon, so this was overturned. Line 122 ⟶ 123: *** The interview he gave for [[Entertainment Weekly]] not four months after the show had been canceled blatantly implies this is the case: {{quote\|'''Ted Turner:''' We have more cartoons than anybody: ''[[The Flintstones]], [[The Jetsons]], [[The Smurfs]], [[Scooby-Doo]]''. They're nonviolent. We don't have to worry that we're encouraging kids to kill each other -- like ''some'' of the other cartoon programs do.}} : [[Fridge Logic\|Which still doesn't make any sense]] because every single example he listed ''is'' violent, albeit in a more slapstick way. What's more the violence in those shows is ''imitatable'' as kids can't really shoot missles at each other. * A positive example: originally, the ''[[Kids Next Door]]'' were to use high tech equipment to fight adult tyranny. The folks at [[Cartoon Network]], however, asked this to be changed since ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'' had already done this. This resulted in [[Bamboo Technology\|2x4 technology]], which Mr. Warburton has called one of the coolest things about the show. * ''[[Ren and Stimpy]]'' was another animated show that was subject to [[Executive Meddling]]. The Nickelodeon suits made creator John Kricfalusi do some cartoons that were traditional and heartwarming, to help offset the extreme grossness of the show. Line 140 ⟶ 141: '''Krusty:''' Forget context, he's gotta be a surfer. Give me a nice shmear of surfer. '''Lady:''' I feel we should Rasta-fy him by... 10 percent or so.}} : Also a major factor of the plot in the episode "Beyond Blunderdome". In the episode, Mel Gibson intended to star in a potential remake of ''Mr. Smith Goes To Washington''. Homer disliked it, and the fact that he was the only person to actually honestly voice this opinion was the reason why he hired Homer to help him with it in the first place. Homer then came up with some ideas, such as speeding up the film, replacing the main villain with a dog with shifty eyes, and finally rewriting the entire filibuster speech to have Mel Gibson go to his usual roles of a mindless killing machine. Ultimately the last one was chosen. Several executives were appalled by the change after a test screening, and decided to burn it. Eventually after a literal chase throughout Hollywood, they relented, and the Executives who were against the new version turned out to be quite right in their judgment about how horrible the change was, as the audience was disgusted and mortified by the final version, with one audience member, Jimmy Stewart's granddaughter, threatening to sue Homer Simpson and Mel Gibson for tarnishing her grandpa's masterpiece. : Was parodied in the episode Homer to the Max: {{quote\|'''Homer:''' Oh, I can't wait. Look, Marge, I got a scorecard printed up at that all-night scorecard place. '''Lisa:''' Isn't mid-season just a dumping ground for second-rate shows that weren't good enough for the fall schedule? '''Homer:''' You're thinking of all the other years. This year's shows are classic. There's "The Laughter Family" -- that's animated. Networks like animation 'cause they don't have to pay the actors squat! '''Ned Flanders:''' [voice slightly off] Plus, they can replace them, and no one can tell the diddley-ifference!}} *:: This conversation also acted as both an inside joke and a [[Take That]] to the FOX executives, since they often don't pay the Voice Actors enough money, with several of them threatening to quit because of the low pay, and some actually managed to succeed temporarily. To sell the joke even more, [[The Other Darrin\|Ned Flanders was voiced by Karl Wiedergott in this scene instead of his usual voice actor, Harry Shearer]] : In "Natural Born Kissers", treasure-hunting Bart and Lisa dig up an alternate (and implausibly happy) ending for ''[[Casablanca]]''. The Old Jewish Man reveals he was one of the executives who insisted the happy ending be filmed, but he literally buried it after watching it. He also apparently insisted on a "killing spree" ending to ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]''. : One of the few times Matt Groening exercised his executive meddling privileges was during the production of "Homer vs. Dignity" a.k.a. the Panda Rape Episode. The original ending had Homer, dressed as Santa Claus, on the Christmas parade float, throwing ''pigs blood'' on the audience while sobbing uncontrollably. Groening insisted on a rewrite, and the blood was changed to fish entrails (which allowed for a hilariously bad pun, "Merry Fish-mas to all!")▼ *** He also apparently insisted on a "killing spree" ending to ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]''. : The now-abandoned premise of having a character "warn" the audience about the scariness of the Treehouse of Horror episodes was a clear reference to network squeamishness. The final warning, in fact, in "Treehouse of Horror VIII", was delivered by a FOX censor himself, who described his role as "protecting you from reality" (before being brutally murdered on-screen).▼ ▲** One of the few times Matt Groening exercised his executive meddling privileges was during the production of "Homer vs. Dignity" a.k.a. the Panda Rape Episode. The original ending had Homer, dressed as Santa Claus, on the Christmas parade float, throwing ''pigs blood'' on the audience while sobbing uncontrollably. Groening insisted on a rewrite, and the blood was changed to fish entrails (which allowed for a hilariously bad pun, "Merry Fish-mas to all!") : In "Once Upon a Time in Springfield", Krusty is approached by two unnamed network executives who forced to add a female character named Princess Penelope to his show to increase the ratings and attract more female viewers. Krusty refuses, but they are ready to make a reality show to find his replacement. Desperate to stay in this sweet gig, Krusty grovels and agrees, while the network executives congratulate themselves on a job well done by giving each other a high five. As the ratings improve and Penelope immediately overshadows Krusty as the star of the show, Bart and Milhouse (who are loyal fans) try to get the show back to the way it was. However, the situation gets more complicated when Penelope reveals to Krusty that she's his biggest fan and joined the show mainly because of him, leading to the two falling in love and nearly getting married.▼ ▲** The now-abandoned premise of having a character "warn" the audience about the scariness of the Treehouse of Horror episodes was a clear reference to network squeamishness. The final warning, in fact, in "Treehouse of Horror VIII", was delivered by a FOX censor himself, who described his role as "protecting you from reality" (before being brutally murdered on-screen). : Seems [[Executive Meddling]] has finally happened. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/11/fox-no-homer-butt_n_782206.html All nudity on The Simpsons is banned by fox, or at least butt shots]. ▼ ▲ In "Once Upon a Time in Springfield", Krusty is approached by two unnamed network executives who forced to add a female character named Princess Penelope to his show to increase the ratings and attract more female viewers. Krusty refuses, but they are ready to make a reality show to find his replacement. Desperate to stay in this sweet gig, Krusty grovels and agrees, while the network executives congratulate themselves on a job well done by giving each other a high five. As the ratings improve and Penelope immediately overshadows Krusty as the star of the show, Bart and Milhouse (who are loyal fans) try to get the show back to the way it was. However, the situation gets more complicated when Penelope reveals to Krusty that she's his biggest fan and joined the show mainly because of him, leading to the two falling in love and nearly getting married. :: That lasted all of 2 episodes! HA HA! They ''are'' however banned from ever parodying the Fox News crawl again.▼ ▲ Seems [[Executive Meddling]] has finally happened. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/11/fox-no-homer-butt_n_782206.html All nudity on The Simpsons is banned by fox, or at least butt shots]. * That lasted all of 2 episodes! HA HA! ▲** They ''are'' however banned from ever parodying the Fox News crawl again. * ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' creators Mike and Brian have implied this as the reason for their inability to resolve the Ursa subplot. Apparently, they had plans to give many things much more closure, but this trope, along with time constraints, forced them to the end the series the way it did. By their own choice, they ended up turning down a proposal to have the Ursa subplot resolved in a brief throwaway scene of her and Zuko reuniting at the end, as that would be a textbook example of a [[Writer Cop Out]], wrapping something up in a quick, unsatisfying way. In the DVD commentary for one of the episodes, one of the creators makes a vague reference to "certain people" who objected to the show having such strong female characters. May have been an attempt at Executive Meddling that didn't take. Line 191 ⟶ 190: In the episode "Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater," one of the cutaway gags was supposed to show a man and a woman silhouette's making out and the woman slides down and off the screen as the man tilts his head back and smiles from the blowjob he was getting. The FOX network decided this was to risque and demanded the animators to shorten the scene, fighting with the animators frame by frame until they reached an agreement. The edited version shows the woman sliding down only 1 or 2 frames until the next frame showing diamonds cuts in. ** Many jokes and gags in the syndicated runs are either edited or cut out completely. * ''[[Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars]]'' was, in fact, a far better cartoon than most give it credit for, but it was intended to be a new merchandise-driven cash cow. (They even lampooned the concept, advertisements for the series portrayed as breaking news stories interrupting shows on a Toad-owned network, complete with commercials) The plans for the toyline fell through, however, [[Executive Meddling\|the primary reason the folks in charge decided to cancel it.]] ---- :<small>Back to [[{{ROOTPAGENAME}}]]</small> {{reflist}} [[Category:{{~~TOPLEVELPAGE~~ROOTPAGENAME}}]] [[Category:{{SUBPAGENAME}}]]