Talkback: 4Kids TV Final Broadcast 12/27/08

[peterg14]

The demise of Saturday Morning cartoons on network television is depressing. It was a tradition for children of two generations, but the networks have all pulled out. I simply do not understand it. Is there really more money in infomercials than in cartoons? Certainly, they will get fewer viewers. While watching shows as a child and early teenager, I never saw this coming. I always assumed that the presence of cartoons on Saturday mornings was as stable as the networks themselves. It was not until Kids WB disappeared that it occurred to me that the end could be near.

It ended because back then, Saturday mornings were the only outlet for cartoons. But now with cable networks having cartoons on the majority of their schedule, things like OnDemand and DVD boxsets, kids can enjoy cartoons whenever they want, so Saturday morning cartoons just got lost in the shuffle. It's a bit sad, but things move forward.

 

[Lord Mawdryn]

It could be said that the demise of Saturday morning cartoons on the broadcast networks is linked to the rise of cable channels that show cartoons as well, in particular Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Toon Disney.

Last time I checked, broadcast networks are required to broadcast at least something that could be considered educational for children (I was shocked to see Saved By The Bell fall under that category), but informercials are too tempting a substitute for original programming for most local stations...

 

[PC!]

Interesting that they actually aired a promo mentioning the CW.

If anyone happens to upload the commercial or find it uploaded anywhere, I'd appreciate a link.

 

[CyberCubed]

Well, 4kidsTV is dead.

I wonder what will happen if 4kids ever runs out of money for the CW block after their contract expires.

 

[warnerbroman]

Just saw the bump where they explained that 4K!dsTV was going off the air and certain shows were moving to CW, sad....

who was the guy anyway

 

[Burgundy Ranger]

Last time I checked, broadcast networks are required to broadcast at least something that could be considered educational for children (I was shocked to see Saved By The Bell fall under that category), but informercials are too tempting a substitute for original programming for most local stations...

The government requires three hours per week (and that goes for each digital subchannel they might have as well) .... most stations get that three hours out of the way at some ridiculous hour (6 or 7 am) during the week (one show a day takes care of 2.5 of the 3 hours) or on Sat mornings.

My ABC station moves the Hannah/Suite Life hour from 11-12 to 8-9, then runs infomercials from 11am to as long as they can before the network has a sports event. Today, with no sports events on, the infomercials run from 11am to 6pm. And they don't need a single viewer to get their money.

 

[Burgundy Ranger]

Huh...strange that they only aired that "Our shows are moving to The CW" promo once. I'm betting that they wanted to slip it in and hoped FOX wouldn't notice.

I missed it. Did it run during one of the shows that's moving?

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

What would Fox do to them anyway? Kick off their block? Oh wait,, it's already leaving.

 

[D Dubbs]

who was the guy anyway

Pretty sure it was David Willis (a 4Kids VA).

I missed it. Did it run during one of the shows that's moving?

No, it was during Kirby.

Okay, since I can't upload the promo, I'll give a rundown for those who missed it:

Willis: 4Kids TV is going off the air!
*4Kids TV logo explodes and white noise appears*
*Willis appears in a voice-acting booth reading off a script*
Willis: Starting next Saturday morning, you can catch Sonic X and Chaotic: M'arrillian Invasion on The CW network.
*Rolls clips of Sonic X and Chaotic: MI*
*Willis looks up from his script, looks at the camera, shakes his head and raises his eyebrow*
Willis: THE CW?!?!
*Rolls clips of CW4Kids shows*
Willis: Joining GoGoRiki, Dinosaur King, TMNT: Back to the Sewer, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's and The Spectacular Spider-Man.
*Rolls clip of 4KidsTV.com*
Willis: And you can watch all the other 4Kids shows online at 4KidsTV.com
*Shows more clips of Sonic X and Chaotic: MI*
Willis: And remember, starting next Saturday morning, Sonic X and Chaotic: M'arrillian Invasion are moving to...
*Willis is shown looking at the camera with his fist clenched*
Willis: The CW Network!

It was actually a pretty humorous promo.

 

[Daxdiv]

What would Fox do to them anyway? Kick off their block? Oh wait,, it's already leaving.

Reminds me of the time that WWE RAW was moving back to USA network after being on Spike really, they took shot after shot against the network, they tried to censor it, but after a while they gave up.

 

[Spideyzilla]

Hm, looks like my affiliate's showing three hours of Degrassi from 7 till 10 and then the two hours of Weekend Marketplace.

It's a real shame, my affiliate was always pretty good to 4Kids TV unlike a lot of the other ones by the sound of it. It's been at least a year since half the block was preempted for sports too, which was a pretty common occurrence here in the Pacific timezone, so that was nice.

4Kids TV is one of the few blocks where I'm old enough/actually had the channel (I never got the WB, and thus no Kids' WB until the merge into the CW) to clearly remember the whole thing, and yeah there was a lot of crap on the block but there were some great gems on there as well, like Ultimate Muscle, TMNT, Shaman King, and the like.

I'll miss it, since it beat the hell out of over-dramatic tween edutainment and infomercials.

Degrassi? Yeah I can see kids waking up to that. I see a lot of upset parents, especially the kids who missed the "moving to CW" promo. I know what it's like to have your favorite block simply not be on that channel with no explanation. Kids WB! did it, and I stopped watching Saturday morning cartoons for years. Then, with cable, I found it again, and enjoyed it briefly for about a month. Then what happens? The WB and UPN merge into CW, and it's gone! I found it again, when it had about two months to live. At least I was there at the very end....

 

[PC!]

Aw man, that commercial sounds awesome. It seemed to do a bunch of "unorthodox" things: showing a 4Kids voice actor, announcing a block going off the air, and advertising a competing network. Now I wish I hadn't missed it.

 

[dth1971]

4 Kids TV had no farewell fanfare after Winx Club!

 

[jerrymouse16]

Pretty sure it was David Willis (a 4Kids VA).



No, it was during Kirby.

Okay, since I can't upload the promo, I'll give a rundown for those who missed it:

Willis: 4Kids TV is going off the air!
*4Kids TV logo explodes and white noise appears*
*Willis appears in a voice-acting booth reading off a script*
Willis: Starting next Saturday morning, you can catch Sonic X and Chaotic: M'arrillian Invasion on The CW network.
*Rolls clips of Sonic X and Chaotic: MI*
*Willis looks up from his script, looks at the camera, shakes his head and raises his eyebrow*
Willis: THE CW?!?!
*Rolls clips of CW4Kids shows*
Willis: Joining GoGoRiki, Dinosaur King, TMNT: Back to the Sewer, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's and The Spectacular Spider-Man.
*Rolls clip of 4KidsTV.com*
Willis: And you can watch all the other 4Kids shows online at 4KidsTV.com
*Shows more clips of Sonic X and Chaotic: MI*
Willis: And remember, starting next Saturday morning, Sonic X and Chaotic: M'arrillian Invasion are moving to...
*Willis is shown looking at the camera with his fist clenched*
Willis: The CW Network!

It was actually a pretty humorous promo.

Was It During Kirby Today? Because I Don't Remerber Seeing That Promo.

 

[Mugsy]

4 Kids TV had no farewell fanfare after Winx Club!

I was a little bummed that there was no official farewell

 

[jerrymouse16]

Here's KDSM (My FOX Affilate)'s Schedule Starting Next Saturday:

The Other Two Hours:

7:00 A.M. Sabrina's Secret Life
7:30 A.M. Missing

Then From 8-9AM, Local Infomericals, Followed By "Weekend Marketplace".

 

[simpsonsfan]

Fox 23 WPFO's New Schedule

7:00am Aqua Kids
7:30am Whaddyado
8:00am Saved by the Bell
8:30am Real Winning Edge
9:00am Saved by the Bell
9:30am Paid Program
10:00am Weekend Marketplace

 

[Martin Juneau]

Fox 44's schedule starting next saturday

8:00am: Animation Exploration
8:30 to 10am: Paid Programming
10am to 12pm: Weekend Marketplace

Even if i don't like so much 4kids, it's still a big loss for me. So much memories to watch Sonic X saturday mornings.

 

[Light Lucario]

No, it was during Kirby.

Okay, since I can't upload the promo, I'll give a rundown for those who missed it:

Willis: 4Kids TV is going off the air!
*4Kids TV logo explodes and white noise appears*
*Willis appears in a voice-acting booth reading off a script*
Willis: Starting next Saturday morning, you can catch Sonic X and Chaotic: M'arrillian Invasion on The CW network.
*Rolls clips of Sonic X and Chaotic: MI*
*Willis looks up from his script, looks at the camera, shakes his head and raises his eyebrow*
Willis: THE CW?!?!
*Rolls clips of CW4Kids shows*
Willis: Joining GoGoRiki, Dinosaur King, TMNT: Back to the Sewer, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's and The Spectacular Spider-Man.
*Rolls clip of 4KidsTV.com*
Willis: And you can watch all the other 4Kids shows online at 4KidsTV.com
*Shows more clips of Sonic X and Chaotic: MI*
Willis: And remember, starting next Saturday morning, Sonic X and Chaotic: M'arrillian Invasion are moving to...
*Willis is shown looking at the camera with his fist clenched*
Willis: The CW Network!

It was actually a pretty humorous promo.

Wow, that does sound like a funny and great promo. I feel bad that I missed it, but I appreciate the rundown of information. I'm surprised that 4Kids was able to mention the ending of 4KidsTV, the move to the CW and the shows on their website. They usually don't allow things like that, or at least the ending of a block, to be promoted like that.

While I can see this being sad for those who have been watching the block, I honestly don't think that 4KidsTV is dead, at least in a sense. For starters, most of the shows that were on its recent lineups are on the CW4Kids and they've had a website setup with episodes of all of their series long before they went over to the CW. I do hope that the Winx Club will be eventually on the CW and with its ratings, being one of the most downloaded shows on their website, getting a fourth season and a movie at some point, there's a good chance that will happen.

 

[Space Cadet]

Fox 44's schedule starting next saturday

8:00am: Animation Exploration
8:30 to 10am: Paid Programming
10am to 12pm: Weekend Marketplace

Even if i don't like so much 4kids, it's still a big loss for me. So much memories to watch Sonic X saturday mornings.

What's Animation Exploration?