"Imprisoned" TV shows

[FirePuppy]

What shows can you think of that are "imprisoned" by their own networks? In other words, these shows are still owned by their respective networks today and only they have the rights to them, but those networks are not even airing them or distributing them anywhere whatsoever, nor are they allowing any other services to stream or broadcast them either.

Examples include My Little Pony: Pony Life, Hanazuki, and as of this month, all the Equestria Girls movies and specials, all on Discovery Family, and of course, the Disney animated series "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command".

 

[aegisrawks]

Infinity Train, there is no other show that fits this concept SO PRECISELY.

 

[Zorak Masaki]

Arent all of the Equestria Girls movies on DVD (unless they're now out of print)?

 

[JulianRO]

Pretty simple to answer: all Fox Kids/Saban cartoons except the Marvel ones. These are imprisoned for real. Disney doesn't care about them anymore.

 

[JoeMabbon]

This describes almost every tv show that was ever cancelled.

 

[Stumpos]

I thought the Equestria Girls movies were on KiDoodle.tv right now and they're on the official MLP YouTube channel. Not exactly imprisoned.

https://kidoodle.tv/2826/my-little-pony-equestria-girls-specials?category=Ages%205%20to%208

Pony Life's on iTunes and Amazon Prime too, so it's easy to watch there too.

I think this page covers that list here:

Western Animation - TV Tropes

Warning: Some of these posts are a bit old, or out of date. Try searching digital retailers like Apple TV or streaming services to see if some of these have been rescued. Rescued works are on on their own page. Disney is notorious for treating …

tvtropes.org

 

[Takao]

Boulder Media's Micronauts series was written off by Hasbro before any official release. The show was finished.

 

[FirePuppy]

I thought the Equestria Girls movies were on KiDoodle.tv right now and they're on the official MLP YouTube channel. Not exactly imprisoned.

https://kidoodle.tv/2826/my-little-pony-equestria-girls-specials?category=Ages%205%20to%208

Pony Life's on iTunes and Amazon Prime too, so it's easy to watch there too.

I think this page covers that list here:

Western Animation - TV Tropes

Warning: Some of these posts are a bit old, or out of date. Try searching digital retailers like Apple TV or streaming services to see if some of these have been rescued. Rescued works are on on their own page. Disney is notorious for treating …

tvtropes.org

Neither of those count. They have to be from a major streaming service, where you do  not have to buy and own them to see them.

 

[Stumpos]

Neither of those count. They have to be from a major streaming service, where you do  not have to buy and own them to see them.

I'm confused though. You still have to pay money for Netflix, Disney Plus, Paramount Plus, and Max subscriptions anyway so how's that different from paying for iTunes and Amazon Prime.

The fact they're on iTunes or Amazon Prime is still better than flat out having no legal way to see it at all. And that still doesn't make KiDoodle.TV and YouTube less valid since they're actually free (meaning even easier to access).

 

[Goldstar!]

Infinity Train, Final Space and Close Enough - Removed from HBO Max as a tax write-off.

Alladin: The Series, Mickey Mouse Works and House of Mouse - Not on Disney+ (no reason given and no home video releases).

Neither of those count. They have to be from a major streaming service, where you do  not have to buy and own them to see them.

The shows aren't "imprisoned" if there's still some way to watch them. You just don't want to pay for them. The shows listed above can't be viewed anywhere, except for Close Enough, which is on Prime Video, but behind a paywall.

It's your own choice if you don't want to buy a DVD set of MLP, but don't claim that MLP is imprisoned just because there's no way for you to watch it for free. It if truly meant something to you, you would do whatever you needed to do in order to enjoy it. At least with physical media, you pay for it once, then you own it.

 

[Surreal Kangaroo]

Infinity Train, Final Space and Close Enough - Removed from HBO Max as a tax write-off.

At least the first two chapters of Infinity Train are on DVD.

 

[FirePuppy]

I'm confused though. You still have to pay money for Netflix, Disney Plus, Paramount Plus, and Max subscriptions anyway so how's that different from paying for iTunes and Amazon Prime.

The fact they're on iTunes or Amazon Prime is still better than flat out having no legal way to see it at all. And that still doesn't make KiDoodle.TV and YouTube less valid since they're actually free (meaning even easier to access).

The Adventures of Chuck and Friends also is available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon Video, AND is streamable on Tubi and The Roku Channel. Littlest Pet Shop and Pound Puppies are both available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon Video, AND are streamable on Tubi. All three shows also still air on Discovery Family.

The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries not only airs on Discovery Family, but also is available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon Video AND for streaming on MAX and Amazon Prime's Boomerang channel.

But My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Pony Life do not deserve to be just available for purchase, especially the last five seasons of the former. Both shows need more options than that.

And yet, all I'm hearing is "No one cares about your theories. Also, if we don't like them, we're entitled to that opinion."

 

[Silverstar]

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Pony Life do not deserve to be just available for purchase, especially the last five seasons of the former. Both shows need more options than that.

And yet, all I'm hearing is "No one cares about your theories. Also, if we don't like them, we're entitled to that opinion."

And all we're hearing from you is "I want to watch Ponies for free." What you've been posting aren't theories, it's one specific gripe about one specific show. A show's not "imprisoned" if there are other ways to obtain or watch it. You want Hasbro and/or Discovery to give MLP:FiM and Pony Life the royal red carpet treatment and keep running them somewhere forever when that particular branch of the franchise has been over for five years now and isn't making either company any real money anymore and as such neither company is under any obligation to do so. Even if MLP were still in regular rotation on TV somewhere, you'd still have to pay for a cable/satellite subscription and/or internet fees, so the premise of this entire thread is flawed logic.

In a perfect world, every single animated show or movie legally owned by Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network would be available for viewing perpetually on Max, but they aren't, because the people in charge have "better ideas". It sucks and I wish that weren't the case, but I don't own WBD and I have no say or control what they decide to do with their properties; as a result I just get what I can where I can (legally, of course).

There are ways to watch and enjoy this show, some of which actually are free, as @Stumpos laid out. Hasbro doesn't owe you unlimited access to MLP Gen 4 any more than they owe you a reason why they're not 100% behind it anymore. You've been presented options, it's not our fault if you choose not to take advantage of them just because they don't fit your very specific wants. Sometimes you just have to make do with what's available.

 

[Stumpos]

But My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Pony Life do not deserve to be just available for purchase, especially the last five seasons of the former. Both shows need more options than that.

Again, did you ignore the part where I mentioned KiDoodle.tv and YouTube (on the official MLP YouTube page) where the later seasons of Friendship is Magic are available on those platforms? Heck, and it's free so you aren't even spending any money on those.

Several Friendship is Magic seasons are also on DVD here:




So that at least covers up to seasons 1-7.

And the point I'm trying to make is that Friendship is Magic and Pony Life aren't imprisoned shows if there already is a legal way to view them. Could there be more? Sure. Is there absolutely no legal way to watch them? Definitely not.

 

[JMTV]

(sigh) There are TONS of them that I can go on forever, but I think a lot of people already pointed out major examples for me. So, there ya go.

Hanazuki,

Yeah, Hanazuki used to available for free on YouTube, but for some reason it got taken down years ago. I honestly don't know why Hasbro did that since Hanazuki cartoon got a lot of positve reviews. Does the toy sales REALLY did not exceed their expectations?

the Disney animated series "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command".

True.

The fact they're on iTunes or Amazon Prime is still better than flat out having no legal way to see it at all.

Yup. Nickelodeon is a good example. Despite most of Nickelodeon content being removed off of Paramount Plus, at least those shows were available legally on iTunes and Amazon.

Infinity Train, Final Space and Close Enough - Removed from HBO Max as a tax write-off.

Don't even get me started on those shows. To be fair, I haven't seen Final Space, so I can really say. The other two however, hurts me on a personal level. Granted, Infinity Train did get a DVD release for the first two seasons, but not the last two unfortunately.

Alladin: The Series, Mickey Mouse Works and House of Mouse - Not on Disney+ (no reason given and no home video releases).

Brandy and Mr Whiskers, Buzz on Maggie, and Dave the Barbarian for me.

But My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Pony Life do not deserve to be just available for purchase, especially the last five seasons of the former. Both shows need more options than that.

And you completely missed the fact that MLP FIM is available for free on KiDoodle.TV, just like all the members were pointing it out. How come you are not taking advantage of that?

And yet, all I'm hearing is "No one cares about your theories. Also, if we don't like them, we're entitled to that opinion."

Okay, now you are just making stuff up that we are not even saying. No one has ever said that no one gives a crap about your theories. We give you the facts right in front of you, you just didn't take advantage of it just because it didn't fit your specific need. As long as MLP FIM is legally available somewhere, then I don't see what's the issue here, purchase or not. Besides, at least that show didn't get write off as a tax release just like almost EVERY other project Warner Discovery had.

Also, speaking of that, here's this:

In a perfect world, every single animated show or movie legally owned by Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network would be available for viewing perpetually on Max, but they aren't, because the people in charge have "better ideas". It sucks and I wish that weren't the case, but I don't own WBD and I have no say or control what they decide to do with their properties; as a result I just get what I can where I can (legally, of course).

QUOTED FOR THE TRUTH!!!