Cartoon Network 2002

[ChloeCarmichaelfan]

I know. I know that this is one year after 9/11 happened. But I just wanna know what are your thoughts on cartoon network in 2002.

 

[Dr.Pepper]

This year brought the premieres of Robot Jones and Kids Next Door. The bad news was I could tell that CCF was on its last legs. You couldn't vote in their big pick weekend and they didn't add any hosts.

 

[ChloeCarmichaelfan]

This year brought the premieres of Robot Jones and Kids Next Door. The bad news was I could tell that CCF was on its last legs. You couldn't vote in their big pick weekend and they didn't add any hosts.

They didn't add hosts?

 

[UberHamster]

Don't remember a lot but I remembered this was the time CCF was turning into Fridays. Toonami was also very popular around that time also, Zoids was the best anime on the block imo around that time.

 

[mqg96]

Don't remember a lot but I remembered this was the time CCF was turning into Fridays. Toonami was also very popular around that time also, Zoids was the best anime on the block imo around that time.

That wasn't until 2003.

2002 was still a solid CCF year.

 

[mqg96]

This was the best year of CN for me, not only because all my favorite shows and blocks were on the channel daily, but also because this was the first full year I was into CN since I started watching CN in late 2001. By spring break 2002 I was totally addicted to CN, binge-watching it everyday especially throughout that summer. 2002 CN had Dexter's Lab, Johnny Bravo, The Powerpuff Girls, Ed Edd n Eddy, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Time Squad, Samurai Jack, and Justice League all airing at once. Including classics like Scooby-Doo, Tom & Jerry, and Looney Tunes as well. During the weekdays I was always excited for Primetime with jazz music background and cartoon characters in the bubbles with colorful backgrounds. I remember shows like Hamtaro, Dragon Ball, DBZ, PPG (yes on Toonami!), Zoids, Transformers Armada, He-Man (2002), and Batman Beyond airing on Toonami. I loved CCF of course. During the weekends I enjoyed watching movies on Cartoon Theater and music videos on Groovies or Prime Cuts. It was exciting watching the CCW Summerfest that year and getting hyped up for Codename: KND premiering towards the end of the year. Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh joining CN in 2002 were big for me, since I rarely watched the shows on Kids WB. 2002 CN was all about Primetime, CCF, and Toonami at its best IMO. With how amazing 2002 CN was for me, it's crazy how it was only 2 years before CN City debuted and changed CN a lot.

 

[aspireone]

Reading the toonzone threads made during that time, seems like lots of posters were deluded to believe that 70s and 80s cartoons were somehow better than the CN output of that era.

 

[Dr.Pepper]

Reading the toonzone threads made during that time, seems like lots of posters were deluded to believe that 70s and 80s cartoons were somehow better than the CN output of that era.

That's the cycle of nostalgia for ya.

 

[MissionHill4Ever]

That's the cycle of nostalgia for ya.

Those Cartoons were great and all, but being on Broadcast networks really made those cartoons more PC (per say) and creators did not take a risk.
The mid 90's Nicktoons and What-A-Cartoon projects really were risks at the time and the creators were kind of left alone to make good work. Nickelodeon basically just realized they can put Spongebob on all day and add Teen Nick shows and make money. CN really hit a creative stall from 2005-2010 and was really focused on making the network something it was not, while focusing on imports and cancelling their good shows too soon (All the creativity was at Adult Swim.) AT and RS really created a revival of the networks imagination, and considering both shows came from Cartoonistitute & Frederator's cartoon project thats not surprising.

I really considered the mid 90's CN production the modern incarnations of Looney Tunes and the Hana Barbara. I think once the HB studio was absorbed into CN Studios it lost its creative link to the past and became way to corporate. CN has had a great run the last 6-7 years and hopefully they'll have some good stuff coming down the line.

 

[wonderfly]

In 2002:

New episodes of "Samurai Jack" and "Justice League" were being pumped out left and right. Both premiered in the Fall of 2001, but the episode quality kept getting stronger in 2002. Those were THE action shows to watch, that year.

I didn't follow the comedy shows as much, but I know "Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy" was gaining popularity (that's another 2001 premiere). "Ed, Edd, and Eddy" was still going strong and getting even more popular, but "Courage the Cowardly Dog" was drawing to a close. "Codename: Kids Next Door" was a delight, but it premiered so late in 2002, it really feels like more of a 2003 product, to me. I remember "Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?" but man, that series felt like a brief oddity.

Toonami was still in it's weekday afternoon "Golden Age" but kind of slipping into a rut by 2002 (with having to air kiddie stuff like "Transformers: Armada", "Hamtaro" and "Cardcaptors". But it was still pumping out new "Dragon Ball Z" and "Dragon Ball".

Meanwhile, "Adult Swim" was in a period of growth and experimentation. Yeah, it premiered in 2001, but it was still searching to find it's footing amidst the line-up. "Adult Swim Action" on Saturday Nights premiered in February, and that was an awesome compliment to the comedy on Sunday nights. Shows like "Yu Yu Hakusho" and "Inuyasha" were wonderful discoveries, and showed how well "adult" anime could do on American TV.

Simultaneously, the Midnight Run broadcast was growing stale - it had been a lovely late night treat in 2000 and 2001, but by the Fall of 2002, it was airing reruns of "G.I. Joe", and so the writing was on the wall (that Adult Swim was taking over late nights and "Midnight Run" was coming to an end).

In retrospect, I don't think the September 11th attacks from the prior year hurt anything, too much. It might've pushed "Gundam" material away from Toonami and on to Adult Swim, but that's about it.

Verdict:

2002 was closer to the end of Cartoon Network's "Golden Age" (aka "The Powerhouse Era"), but was still a good, solid year of broadcasting. The creators and network executives were still experimenting and life was good. If I could choose to relive just one year from Cartoon Network, would this be a strong contender? You bet. Probably in my "Top 5" of "years worth revisiting" from Cartoon Network.

 

[Darklordavaitor]

The big things that I remember from 2002 was the start of ASA and The Powerpuff Girls Movie. I was only allowed to watch the first hour of the former, which consisted of Yu Yu Hakusho and Inuyasha, and really liked both of them. I've fallen out of Inuyasha, but I've been regaining an appreciation for Takahashi's work as of late, while YYH became one of my favorite series. That said, it did seem like a better fit for Toonami.

Meanwhile, I don't know too many people who went to see the PPG movie. I wanted to, but ended up waiting to rent it. I recall that being a packed summer, which also contained Spider-Man, Lilo & Stitch, Men in Black II, and even the Hey Arnold! Movie. Even besides that, the marketing was drawing itself closer to young girls than to the plenty of boys or older fans that the series clearly had, which on top of a lack of later showings for most theaters seemed to be a drawback from it getting a big audience. I feel like the writing was on the walls that Powerpuff Mania was drawing to a close here. Especially when the show came back with new episodes. It was never the same after that.

I also wasn't a big fan of Robot Jones or Kids Next Door. I don't think the former made it into 2004, but the latter stuck around for a while. I just remember liking the pilot better, personally, but I know it has plenty of fans. I also realized at this point that Dexter's Lab had peaked and the new episodes were meh, so I kind of dropped the show. I still did watch PPG, as well as the Eds, Johnny Bravo, and Billy & Mandy, alongside the Looney Tunes and Toonami. But I think this was also the point where the Flintstones and the Jetsons were moving to Boomerang, which I wasn't happy with. Still, I had plenty to watch.

 

[Robin Miller]

I Don't Remember What Had Happened In 2002 With Cartoon Network

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

You guys do realize I have a thread for this?

 

[mqg96]

You guys do realize I have a thread for this?

Two threads, who cares!? I loved two thousand two so much!

 

[Cartoonfan15]

This was a great year. So much stuff happening this year.

Codename: Kids Next Door was a great show that I recently got into a few months ago. I will admit though that the few episodes that came out in 2002 weren't as good as what came later on. Still, that Mini Golf episode is one of my favorite episodes of the show.

Powerpuff Girls had a great year as well having some great episodes like Knock it Off and Him Diddle Riddle, among others. I actually like a lot of episodes after season 4 (there are some that I even love as well), but I will admit that the golden age era of PPG did end in 2002. Also, the movie was pretty cool.

Dexter's Laboratory was also pretty good this year. While the later seasons of Dexter were not nearly as good as season 1 and especially not season 2, these episodes were enjoyable and I had fun with them, so I was fine with the episodes. I wouldn't say I loved those episodes, but I admittedly enjoyed them a lot.

Adult Swim was awesome this year. While I don't really like Inuyasha that much, I loved the episodes that came out in 2002. They were intriguing, fun, adventurous, and was building up to be one of the best animated shows of all time. Sadly, there was a lot of filler and I lost interest after a while. The Band of Seven arc was pretty cool though. However, I don't really like the series because I got tired of the series after a while and it started impressing me less and less as the series goes on. I do love Yu Yu Haksuho though. The 21 episodes that aired that year on Adult Swim were amazing. Not as good as later on, but still really good. I started really loving the show by the end of the Four Saint Beasts arc.

Back to Cartoon Network, they aired Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh reruns this year. I never really cared for Yu-Gi-Oh, but I loved Pokemon. I will admit that it's really repetitive and I wouldn't really say it's one of the greatest shows of all time, but I enjoy it honestly and I find it a fun little show to watch once in a while. It's a very charming series that's for sure. Billy and Mandy aired some pretty good episodes this year with the best one being the Brains episode. Ed, Edd n Eddy aired some really good episodes this year, with a few of the highlights being The Day the Ed Stood Still and Once Bitten, Twice Ed. I honestly even enjoyed If It Smells Like an Ed and don't understand the hate for it. However, I couldn't stand the episode My Fair Ed.

Last but not least, Courage the Cowardly Dog. This was the final year it aired new episodes and it ended with a bang. Half of the episodes in the shows run aired in 2002. So many amazing episodes, but a few of the highlights were Stormy Weather, Perfect, The Mask, Muted Muriel, and Remembrance of Courage Past. I wouldn't say I like Courage as much as say, Powerpuff Girls, or Dexter's Laboratory, but I still really enjoyed it and for what it was, it was an impressive cartoon with great animation.

Overall, a great year for Cartoon Network

 

[Dynamite Soldier]

I was three and four years old in 2002, so I don't remember watching a lot of CN during that time, unfortunately (I was paying more attention to preschool shows, obviously). But when I did watched it, I remembered liking Cartoon Cartoon Fridays.

It wasn't until next year when I started watching more CN.

 

[Super Batman]

Those Cartoons were great and all, but being on Broadcast networks really made those cartoons more PC (per say) and creators did not take a risk.
The mid 90's Nicktoons and What-A-Cartoon projects really were risks at the time and the creators were kind of left alone to make good work. Nickelodeon basically just realized they can put Spongebob on all day and add Teen Nick shows and make money. CN really hit a creative stall from 2005-2010 and was really focused on making the network something it was not, while focusing on imports and cancelling their good shows too soon (All the creativity was at Adult Swim.) AT and RS really created a revival of the networks imagination, and considering both shows came from Cartoonistitute & Frederator's cartoon project thats not surprising.

I really considered the mid 90's CN production the modern incarnations of Looney Tunes and the Hana Barbara. I think once the HB studio was absorbed into CN Studios it lost its creative link to the past and became way to corporate. CN has had a great run the last 6-7 years and hopefully they'll have some good stuff coming down the line.

I disagree, CN is in one of it's low points with Teen Titans Go and it's endless spamming, The Ben 10 and Powerpuff reboots and The Mighty Magiswords all being very bad shows

 

[Hudzmaster]

2002 was one of my favorite years for CN it was the last full year of CCF Fridays and first year of codename knd. This was the last year for new episodes of courage the cowardly dog with the last episode telling his backstory. There was an abundance of other cartoon cartoons to choose from they had the perfect balance of shows back then. This was also when Billy and Mandy called grim & evil back then was really starting to get popular I used to laugh with grim and hector con carne during the intro. DBZ was in its climax with the boo saga. Over all a great year for CN