Cartoons that networks wanted to be "the next big thing", but wound up flopping

[CassieTheDragon]

What are some cartoons that networks tried to make a hit, they promoted it tons before/when it was coming out and may have given it a second season before it aired, but still wound up flopping?

I'm not sure if this is that good of an example or not, but from what i've seen (and vaguely remember), Disney Channel really wanted Brandy and Mr. Whiskers to be a hit, but it never really took off, although I could be wrong. For a period in the mid-2000s it seemed to be very promoted. It didn't last long though; it only aired new episodes for two years from 2004-2006 before being cancelled. Nowadays it's pretty much faded into complete obscurity, and is also absent from Disney+.

 

[Dr.Pepper]

Would Time Squad count? I remember it being hyped up quite a bit during its first few months. For example Cartoon Cartoon Fridays did a special premiere night for it with a full night of time travel themed episodes. I’ve heard several different stories on why Time Squad didn’t last long. I thought I heard it got pretty good ratings, but there was a lot of drama behind the scenes.

 

[The Overlord]

I think most cartoons are ment to be big successes, but some fail for one reason or another, anything that only lasted one season can fit into that bucket.

Everything from failed merchandising shows like Mad Balls or Skeleton Warriors to superhero cartoons like Spider-Man Unlimited or Avengers: United They Stand, failed to catch on despite big hopes from the studios that created them.

 

[[classic swim]]

When [as] was still just a premature block, they had the idea that Brak Show could take things by little storm, and that ended up being the first thing to go.

SGC2C was kinda already in abandon ship mode by the time Adult Swim launched, so that was getting to be off the table too in general. But they had Brak shoot for about the same scale as ATHF and the latter wound up doing more.

The resentment for it became loud in years time. Brak was Adult Swim’s go-to whenever they needed a good “this sucked/nobody watched it” joke. Lazzo also created a “dead Space Ghost” meme that he stuck with for a long time.

 

[Fone Bone]

Damn, I don't care that it ran five seasons. I'm counting The Batman. The networks shoved it down kids' throats as the cool hip Batman kids could relate to, and while adults fumed, kids actually shrugged. The merch was pretty much all peg-warmers too.

 

[Eldorado]

I remember how much they hyped up Class of 3000! They even had Cartoon Fridays do a special event!

 

[Frontier]

Damn, I don't care that it ran five seasons. I'm counting The Batman. The networks shoved it down kids' throats as the cool hip Batman kids could relate to, and while adults fumed, kids actually shrugged. The merch was pretty much all peg-warmers too.

I watched it pretty religiously as a kid...

 

[CassieTheDragon]

Actually, for a brief moment Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi was decently promoted, it even had it's own Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade float in 2005, but was quickly forgotten after being cancelled in 2006.

 

[JMTV]

Does Buzz on Maggie count? I remember Disney was trying so hard to make Maggie as their next big show, and they did a music video for the show's theme song. Yeah, that didn't really catch on. Maggie got cancelled after one season, and the show was never released on Disney Plus in the US.

 

[Zorak Masaki]

When [as] was still just a premature block, they had the idea that Brak Show could take things by little storm, and that ended up being the first thing to go.

SGC2C was kinda already in abandon ship mode by the time Adult Swim launched, so that was getting to be off the table too in general. But they had Brak shoot for about the same scale as ATHF and the latter wound up doing more.

The resentment for it became loud in years time. Brak was Adult Swim’s go-to whenever they needed a good “this sucked/nobody watched it” joke. Lazzo also created a “dead Space Ghost” meme that he stuck with for a long time.

I guess they figured it was more "accessible" since there was less adult humor, but they could have just put it on regular CN in that case (though CN wasnt in the position of airing 15 minute shows at that point).

 

[[classic swim]]

I guess they figured it was more "accessible" since there was less adult humor, but they could have just put it on regular CN in that case (though CN wasnt in the position of airing 15 minute shows at that point).

While it wasn’t doing anything as racy as Sealab, it’s also a difference of tone. There was no way for them to amp up a character like Brak to be something else other than 1 campy dipstick.

I remember people talked about the show not having clear direction, but if you’re wanting a spin-off of a niche character who mainly said nonsensical things and sang nonsensical songs... what you see is what you get.

Dad & Zorak also made the show more provocative (i.e. fun) so I didn’t have much issue with them taking the wheel. Seems like they had those two to compensate for whatever they felt was lacking.

 

[CassieTheDragon]

Does Buzz on Maggie count? I remember Disney was trying so hard to make Maggie as their next big show, and they did a music video for the show's theme song. Yeah, that didn't really catch on. Maggie got cancelled after one season, and the show was never released on Disney Plus in the US.

Interestingly enough, The Buzz on Maggie actually was performing well in domestic ratings (and critical reception was rather positive), but didn't do well enough in foreign markets for Disney to justify another season - so they didn't renew the show. It was forgotten almost immediately afterwards; reruns would allegedly only air at night when the target demographic would be asleep and broadcast ended entirely in 2008.

A blog post on August 29, 2005 by Sean Szeles revealed that the show had been cancelled. If you scroll down, Sean elaborates:

Apparently, though it was doing great here in the states, even beating some Nickelodeon shows occasionally, who have the number one shows right now, Maggie wasn't doing too well in England and Australia. And instead of telling is this and having us tweak the show, they just chose to save their asses and not pick it up. Which makes it more puzzling when they take shows that aren't doing well, such as American Dragon, and decide to pick them up but retool the entire show.

 

[Silverstar]

Actually, for a brief moment Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi was decently promoted, it even had it's own Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade float in 2005, but was quickly forgotten after being cancelled in 2006.

View attachment 306977

As I understand it, Cartoon Network was really banking on Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi to be their next big "Girl Power" hit after The Powerpuff Girls (IIRC they also had a girl-centric action block around this same time called Totally Atomic which featured back-to-back airings of Totally Spies and Atomic Betty); when HHPAY failed to deliver the success CN wanted, the network just swept the show under the rug and basically stopped acknowledging it save for a few anniversary bumps. Not long after that, coincidentally (or perhaps not), CN began targeting the channel squarely at boys.

As for The Brak Show, that was DOA for the simple fact that Brak, while funny, doesn't possess a lead character's aura. He's a wacky neighbor, not a lead character. Brak's appeal is that he's kooky and crazy and random, fine for a niche supporting player, but as soon as Adult Swim put him front and center, they had to replace a lot of Brak's insanity with lovability; he went from being a lunatic who occasionally had heart to a guy with heart who was occasionally a lunatic. Not every character is designed to carry a show.

 

[CassieTheDragon]

As I understand it, Cartoon Network was really banking on Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi to be their next big "Girl Power" hit after The Powerpuff Girls (IIRC they also had a girl-centric action block around this same time called Totally Atomic which featured back-to-back airings of Totally Spies and Atomic Betty); when HHPAY failed to deliver the success CN wanted, the network just swept the show under the rug and basically stopped acknowledging it save for a few anniversary bumps. Not long after that, coincidentally (or perhaps not), CN began targeting the channel squarely at boys.

Also (possibly) coincidentally, Atomic Betty stopped airing on Cartoon Network not long after Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi did, and I think Totally Spies quit showing reruns around the same time (circa 2006-2007), although I could be wrong.

 

[Vuxovich]

As I understand it, Cartoon Network was really banking on Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi to be their next big "Girl Power" hit after The Powerpuff Girls (IIRC they also had a girl-centric action block around this same time called Totally Atomic which featured back-to-back airings of Totally Spies and Atomic Betty); when HHPAY failed to deliver the success CN wanted, the network just swept the show under the rug and basically stopped acknowledging it save for a few anniversary bumps. Not long after that, coincidentally (or perhaps not), CN began targeting the channel squarely at boys.

I think the real reason HHPAY got forgotten was because of legal issues. Do you agree with me?

 

[Silverstar]

I think the real reason HHPAY got forgotten was because of legal issues. Do you agree with me?

No I don't, because I have no idea what you're talking about. What "legal issues" are you referring to?

 

[Vuxovich]

No I don't, because I have no idea what you're talking about. What "legal issues" are you referring to?

I am no longer talking about legal issues because I have just found this real reason:

While the show did well enough in the ratings, Register's presence as the show's executive producer was arguably what kept it alive more than anything else. When Cartoon Network saw management changes in 2006, Sam Register was one of the executives that left the studio. HHPAY ended production shortly after and its existence was unceremoniously scrubbed from CN's website.

Is that okay?

 

[Silverstar]

I am no longer talking about legal issues because I have just found this real reason:

While the show did well enough in the ratings, Register's presence as the show's executive producer was arguably what kept it alive more than anything else. When Cartoon Network saw management changes in 2006, Sam Register was one of the executives that left the studio. HHPAY ended production shortly after and its existence was unceremoniously scrubbed from CN's website.

Is that okay?

It's history. History doesn't require my approval.

 

[Red Arrow]

I am going to focus on 2000s cartoons here, because I'm a 1997 kid.

Maybe Codename: The Boy on YTV in Canada? Everyone at my school either thought it was stupid (it was) or didn't even give it a chance. A "genius but normal" boy with a stoic bodyguard next to him is TOO stupid. It doesn't seem to have any actual fans. Even the few people online who remember it admit it was kinda dumb. Most of the episodes are lost media, which proves that Canadian kids also didn't care for it. Ketnet didn't shove it into our faces and it was actually gone rather quickly, but YTV in Canada did air it a lot, it seems.

The rest of this post is just my Flemish perspective:

Robotboy. Nobody seemed to like that in my elementary school and I have also never seen any nostalgia for it, but that didn't stop Cartoon Network from airing it so much in Europe. Every episode is the same and the characters are very unlikable, especially Gus and Dr. Kamikazi. It is always a bad idea to have an obnoxious best friend in a cartoon. The episodes are not thrilling or funny in any way and the entire plot doesn't make any sense. Why give a powerful robot to a kid?? Why does Robotboy need to become a "real boy"? Now that I am older, I realize that our Cartoon Network had to air some European cartoons so they stuck with Robotboy.

Skyland. Our Nickelodeon promoted that a lot as "the next new cool cartoon", but the entire first episode is just whining. "Oh no our mother!" That whining never really seemed to stop. I bet they were so sure that it was the next Avatar or something NOBODY liked it.

American Dragon: Jake Long. It does seem to have fans online, but nobody liked it in my elementary school (neither did I) and I have also never seen any nostalgia for it in real life. I think the co-developer Matt Negrete actually summarized it very well:

When American Dragon was green-lit for season two, the show was focus tested for a second time (for info on the first time, see Eddie’s first post). The Channel picked out a handful of episodes to show kids — in Denver, I think — in hopes of getting their honest opinion of what they saw. Most of what the kids thought about American Dragon didn’t surprise us. They generally liked the show, but felt that the comedy could be funnier, and that the action scenes should be more suspenseful. We couldn’t have agreed more. And yes, some felt Jake’s slang and bravado was a bit much. Again, agreed. But a couple of things surprised us: Some younger kids thought that Rose seemed a lot older than Jake. (One kid, after seeing “Act 4, Scene 15,” thought Rose was Jake’s babysitter – yikes!) Because of this perceived age difference, some were creeped out by the Jake/Rose relationship. Also surprising – kids didn’t like the Huntsman. And not because he was a villain. They didn’t understand who he was, where he came from, or what his goals were. So Eddie and I decided there were two things we wanted to do for Season Two – age up our main characters (to make them look the same age as Rose) and give the Huntsman one clear goal. That goal would be to destroy all magical creatures, and he would use the Aztec Crystal Skulls to do it. Ah, the villainy!

Source (I hope it's not made up)

So apparently they made season 2 much better? That's actually nice to hear! Not sure if I am willing to sit through season 1 for that though.

Damn, I don't care that it ran five seasons. I'm counting The Batman. The networks shoved it down kids' throats as the cool hip Batman kids could relate to, and while adults fumed, kids actually shrugged. The merch was pretty much all peg-warmers too.

Yes. At my elementary school, nobody cared about DC cartoons except for me.

Interestingly enough, The Buzz on Maggie actually was performing well in domestic ratings (and critical reception was rather positive), but didn't do well enough in foreign markets for Disney to justify another season - so they didn't renew the show. It was forgotten almost immediately afterwards; reruns would allegedly only air at night when the target demographic would be asleep and broadcast ended entirely in 2008.

Yep, it didn't do well here. But it wasn't shoved into our faces either.

 

[CassieTheDragon]

Robotboy. Nobody seemed to like that in my elementary school and I have also never seen any nostalgia for it, but that didn't stop Cartoon Network from airing it so much in Europe. Every episode is the same and the characters are very unlikable, especially Gus and Dr. Kamikazi. It is always a bad idea to have an obnoxious best friend in a cartoon. The episodes are not thrilling or funny in any way and the entire plot doesn't make any sense. Why give a powerful robot to a kid?? Why does Robotboy need to become a "real boy"? Now that I am older, I really that Cartoon Network had to air some European cartoons so they stuck with Robotboy.

Actually, IIRC Robotboy aired often in America as well around 2006 or so.

I actually think Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat is another very good example. After big hits like The Magic School Bus, Arthur, Dragon Tales, Between The Lions and the 2000 Clifford The Big Red Dog cartoon, PBS was really hoping that Sagwa would end up being a hit as well.

PBS launched the show in a blaze of publicity with high ratings... only for the 9/11 attacks to take place and cause the show to lose ratings, thanks to PBS not being able to compete with bucket-tons of news coverage (in fact, Amy Tan appeared on The Today Show the day before the attacks to promote the show. Even worse, one of the show's episodes had the misfortune of premiering on the day of the attacks themselves). The show was seemingly stopped in 2002, marking its unofficial cancellation (the "official" cancellation happened in 2004 - rumor was that Sesame Workshop wanted to free up funds for Sesame Street). Some PBS stations still showed the series as late as February 2009, with PBS Kids Sprout unceremoniously removing it from the schedule in March.

Also, many PBS stations switched much of their programming to news coverage following the attacks, while some decided to just air kids programming all day.