The News Team's RoyalRubble has a new editorial up on the front page of AnimeSuperhero.com:
“Checkered Past” – the Cartoon Network nostalgia block airing on Adult Swim, is less than a year old at the time of this writing. From its announcement and first few months of being on the air, the block seemed to be off to a good start. Its ratings were pretty good and it was especially nice seeing people excited about older “Cartoon Cartoons” shows airing reruns. Apart from being a fun idea, it was also a nice addition to the schedules, seeing as Adult Swim now starts even earlier in the evening and thus limiting Cartoon Network’s air time even more, but also is a refreshing change when you take into account the usual reruns Adult Swim airs, such as American Dad, Bob’s Burgers or King of the Hill. But, similar to these Fox reruns, the Checkered Past line-up also seems to be a bit stagnant, for lack of a better word.
Some of the Cartoon Network’s bigger original titles were the backbone of “Checkered Past”, including Dexter’s Laboratory, Ed, Edd n Eddy, Courage the Cowardly Dog and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. Others like Cow & Chicken, I Am Weasel, some Evil Con Carne segments and more recently, the original Samurai Jack episodes. Apart from the occasional Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day special episodes airing around those holidays, that’s about it. With the block featuring only these shows, this leads to some of the episodes having been repeated a few times by now. And now with the block being reduced to airing only four nights a week, due to the launch of the similar nostalgia themed Toonami Rewind block, the block should be striving to avoid reruns even more.
That’s not to say Adult Swim hasn’t put some effort into the block. The bumpers and interstitials are fun, and they are even airing some re-mastered versions for some of the cartoons. The original What A Cartoon animated shorts are premiering on the block, on Monday nights. There are also apparently plans to make some interstitials featuring Brak (from Space Ghost, or rather the Space Ghost: Coast To Coast version considering Andy Merrill is supposed to voice him again), but in puppet form. I will not comment too much on either of these updates given they are relatively recent, but bringing back Andy Merrill in any capacity sounds promising."
Read the full editorial here.
"Editorial: “Checkered Past” Is Prologue: Possible Ways To Improve The “Cartoon Cartoons” Line-Up"
“Checkered Past” – the Cartoon Network nostalgia block airing on Adult Swim, is less than a year old at the time of this writing. From its announcement and first few months of being on the air, the block seemed to be off to a good start. Its ratings were pretty good and it was especially nice seeing people excited about older “Cartoon Cartoons” shows airing reruns. Apart from being a fun idea, it was also a nice addition to the schedules, seeing as Adult Swim now starts even earlier in the evening and thus limiting Cartoon Network’s air time even more, but also is a refreshing change when you take into account the usual reruns Adult Swim airs, such as American Dad, Bob’s Burgers or King of the Hill. But, similar to these Fox reruns, the Checkered Past line-up also seems to be a bit stagnant, for lack of a better word.
Some of the Cartoon Network’s bigger original titles were the backbone of “Checkered Past”, including Dexter’s Laboratory, Ed, Edd n Eddy, Courage the Cowardly Dog and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. Others like Cow & Chicken, I Am Weasel, some Evil Con Carne segments and more recently, the original Samurai Jack episodes. Apart from the occasional Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day special episodes airing around those holidays, that’s about it. With the block featuring only these shows, this leads to some of the episodes having been repeated a few times by now. And now with the block being reduced to airing only four nights a week, due to the launch of the similar nostalgia themed Toonami Rewind block, the block should be striving to avoid reruns even more.
That’s not to say Adult Swim hasn’t put some effort into the block. The bumpers and interstitials are fun, and they are even airing some re-mastered versions for some of the cartoons. The original What A Cartoon animated shorts are premiering on the block, on Monday nights. There are also apparently plans to make some interstitials featuring Brak (from Space Ghost, or rather the Space Ghost: Coast To Coast version considering Andy Merrill is supposed to voice him again), but in puppet form. I will not comment too much on either of these updates given they are relatively recent, but bringing back Andy Merrill in any capacity sounds promising."
Read the full editorial here.
