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UPN: Difference between revisions
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The network had a children's block for its first four years called "UPN Kids", which was known for [[Marvel Comics]] cartoons, a cartoon based on ''[[Jumanji]]'', and cheesy teencoms like ''[[Sweet Valley High]]'' and ''[[Breaker High]]'' (teencom on a [[Cool Boat]]). It was not well-remembered or well-rated, and was purposefully played down in order to not cannibalize the [[Ratings]] of Viacom stablemate [[Nickelodeon]]. By 1999, UPN gave up and let [[Disney]] have the time for "One Too", the last gasp of ''[[The Disney Afternoon]]'' and an extension of [[One Saturday Morning]] which lasted until 2003.
UPN also had the broadcast rights for [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]]'s ''[[WWE Smackdown|SmackDown!]]'' program up until the end. Despite several efforts to [[Screwed by the Network|screw the show]] (including a move to the [[Friday Night Death Slot]] and bowing to pressure, as well as in turn applying pressure to the WWE itself, over the controversial [[Evil Foreigner|Mohammad Hassan]] character after [[Too Soon|the London terrorist bombings in 2005]]), it remained one of the network's strongest-rated shows until the literal end (the network faded to black at the end of a ''Smackdown'' episode without any ceremony), and even made the transition to [[The CW]] (though it only lasted two years on the new network before moving to <nowiki>MyNetworkTV
The end of UPN was much more tumultuous for that network than the WB's end, as Fox was angered by being completely left out of the CW mix and CBS deciding that theirs and Tribune's UPN and WB stations would be the foundation of the network, with Fox stations in markets with Tribune and CBS-owned stations never considered at all. Within only hours of the merger announcement every Fox-owned UPN station removed all UPN branding and never showed a UPN promotion again during their local time. Other affiliates were disappointed by UPN deciding to air nothing but repeats and ''Smackdown'' after the end of the TV season (while The WB at least aired some burned off shows to keep the lights on) and left the network by Memorial Day 2006 or later. By the time of UPN's last night on the air the network was just a two-hour straight nightly feed of repeats without any logos or branding.
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