Talk:Eddy/@comment-24574003-20140612073533/@comment-3242362-20140612181939

Yeah, I miss three of those four shows, but I kind of disagree with your argument.

To do this, I'm gonna have to say that I kind of like most of CN's programming today (shock!). I realize this comes as kind of a surprise, and personally I'd like some of the shows from the past back, but I think you're kind of looking at things through the nostalgia filter.

So, for the part where I like CN's current programming? No, it's not their best lineup ever, and none of their shows seem to me to be bonafide genius, but there are enjoyable parts. For example, Adventure Time has gotten better now that there's a storyline. I enjoyed Regular Show from the start (although I agree that it's rated PG for a reason). I also enjoy Gumball and Uncle Grandpa–the latter for its complete and utter insanity. Even the ones that lag behind in my opinion (Teen Titans Go!, Steven Universe) have some enjoyable things about them. (And TTG gets a lot better if you imagine it as Beast Boy's dreams from the original series. Not my idea, but one that I've adopted.)

Now, for the other part of my argument, about the old shows: not all of them were good. Sure, there were some I'd call excellent (Ed, Edd n Eddy, Samurai Jack, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy) but even back then there were some stinkers. When somebody lists the greatest Cartoon Network shows, how likely is "The Adventures of Juniper Lee" to be on there? How about "Squirrel Boy" (which I actually liked)? "Mike, Lu, and Og"?

So that's the era before the "Boston Mooninite" happened. (Look it up.) When that happened, Chowder and Flapjack premiered–and I'd say Cartoon Network started its network decay there. (Yes, I like Chowder, and don't particularly hate Flapjack, but I'm pointing out that this was not a good time for CN. Yes, I think that the decay is mostly over.) So what came with this decay? Chowder, Flapjack, and Transformers: Animated were approved as their new original animated programming. Out of Jimmy's Head, Cartoon Network's first venture into live-action this millennium premiered (and bombed). What else did they do? They acquired the rights to a bunch of series in the US and aired those in lieu of original programming: Chop Socky Chooks, Johnny Test, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, 6teen, George of the Jungle, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Total Drama Island, Skunk Fu! and Storm Hawks. (Most of these got poor reviews from viewers.)

In conclusion, I think that Cartoon Network is digging itself out of the hole. No, it's not back up to, say, 2004 levels, but it's still getting better. Also, despite what you might want, I don't think that simply reviving those shows would do anything good (although I would like CN to show a few more reruns). For an example of what I mean, look at a newspaper's comics page. You have a bunch of strips from the 70s and before–many that should have died before or when they hit the ten-year mark. They're kept on because while nobody really likes them, they read them as part of their daily newspaper-reading and don't complain because they've been there forever.

People have no obligation to tune into a TV station just for a show that's run out of ideas long ago. Want to keep them running forever? You can, but at the cost of the franchise becoming stagnant and lifeless, a zombie stumbling across the surface of the wasteland moaning for someone, something to put it out of its misery but still churning out new episodes every once in a while, shambling around on the basis of nostalgia while the viewers tune in, slowly dropping in number, all the while wondering why they do so, as the show hasn't been good for a long, long time.

In short, my attitude to your post can be summed up in the signature of rayword45 on The3Eds forum: "50% of EEnE fans love the new CN. If you are part of the 50% that is outraged with the new CN, then grow up and remember that times change." Times have indeed changed, and it seems to me that they're getting better (or at least, better than 2009, which is when that signature is from).