The Stuart Snyder era of CN is underrated

[cartoonnetworkpoke]

I agree, but I don't think it was his Intentions, I think the Writer's Strike and the Great Recession are the reasons why Live Action exists on the channel.

Yeah no one mentions this as well. There was gonna be cuts regardless.

 

[Stumpos]

I do wonder how much the lack of new original cartoons in 2009 came from the recession. Like considering The Cartoonstitute got cancelled because of the economy according to Craig McCracken, it is possible.

 

[Stumpos]

In terms of the number of shows they cancelled from 2007 to 2009, one should first note when the cancellation announcements were made.

For Ed Edd n Eddy, it was Danny Antonouci who made the call to scrap season 6 and focus on the series finale movie so that definitely had nothing to do with the swap from Samples to Snyder.

Maxwell Atoms confirmed Billy & Mandy's final regular episodes wrapped up production before Samples left. Though it was apparently because of Snyder that Underfist didn't become a TV show and was instead the series finale.

Sparagmos Industries

Was Billy & Mandy cancelled or was it your decision to end it? I know many CN shows were cancelled around 07-08 as the new president wanted to focus on live-action shows and wondering if you suffered…

www.tumblr.com

Craig McCracken similarly said that Cartoon Network had a "six season limit" at the time when asked why Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends ended, so that also would've still been canned regardless of the transition from Samples to Snyder.

x.com

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And I'm guessing with the "six season limit", Codename Kids Next Door also would've still been canned regardless of who was in charge by then.

That leaves Camp Lazlo, Class of 3000, Ben 10 2005, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, and Squirrel Boy.

Ben 10 2005 is kinda debatable since it was immediately followed up by Alien Force and that was announced back in February 2007, so it also would've still ended simply because of the sequel in production.

Class of 3000 was definitely confirmed to have been canned partially due to a change in executive and because the ratings weren't high enough to justify high production costs:

https://www.deviantart.com/comments/1/42346299/653147397

Camp Lazlo was canned because Joe Murray refused to appear in a McDonald's commercial (when did that commercial come out?).

Rocko’s Modern Life: Inside the Barely Contained Chaos of a Nickelodeon Classic

Creator Joe Murray and his team reminisce about their weird, wild, occasionally obscene cartoon—which was even loonier behind the scenes.

www.vanityfair.com

So far no one involved in My Gym Partner's a Monkey and Squirrel Boy said anything regarding what happened behind the scenes and why they ended.

 

[Stumpos]

Following up on this by mentioning that Michael Oulween was the one who fired Maxwell Atoms and refused to let Underfist be a full series. So it looks like Stuart Snyder had nothing to do with Underfirst not being greenlit or Maxwell Atoms leaving.

Billy & Mandy Creator Says They Were Fired for 'Ruining Cartoon Network'

Maxwell Atoms, creator of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, says Adult Swim's current president fired him for "ruining Cartoon Network's brand."

www.cbr.com

Guess this also means we may not get a Billy & Mandy revival for a while as long as Oulween is in charge right now (then again it is airing on Checkered Past now, maybe he's lightened up on the show since then?).

 

[Red Arrow]

I must note that Out of Jimmy's Head (the first live action series) was greenlit under Jim Samples, so it's likely the push for live action still would've happened even if Samples stayed after 2007.

This is exactly what I believe.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

I do wonder how much the lack of new original cartoons in 2009 came from the recession. Like considering The Cartoonstitute got cancelled because of the economy according to Craig McCracken, it is possible.

I might not be 100% when I said that the great recession and the writers strike were the reasons why CN real came to be but there were some delays that happened because of those two. Adventure time and generator rex were supposed to premiere on cartoon Network in early 2009 instead of 2010, so cartoonstitute was not the only one that was affected by this, take that for what it's worth.

I do wonder how much the lack of new original cartoons in 2009 came from the recession. Like considering The Cartoonstitute got cancelled because of the economy according to Craig McCracken, it is possible.

 

[MissionHill4Ever]

Idk how many of you are wrestling fans, but Stu Snyder was featured in the last episode of Who Killed WCW?

Really the main point they make is that Time Warner and Turner in general invested in their product and allowed a lot of freedom. WCW never had anyone in charge and they didn't understand it as a property. They also did not like it and once it wasn't winning ratings any more...

Well I did not know this but Stuart Snyder was an executive for WWF in 2001....and he helped arrange the deal for WWF to purchase WCW for $3 million. Stu gets back to Time Warner soon after....Jamie Kellner was the one that wanted to kill it...

But really it goes on to show that when the AOL Time Warner merger happened in 2000-2001, that the company really did not have great leadership. Cartoon Network had it's own thing going....they let the HB! and CN studios kind of do it's own thing. But you kind of see slowly as that merger happened, it became way more corporate.

Basically, the people in charge viewed CN on the balance sheet. They viewed the ratings and AD numbers. They saw that a general animation network wasn't cutting it, they wanted fully to be about kids. You saw things like moving out all the old shows to Boomerang, which was subscription and ad free at first so it made them money. But as 2004-2005 approached, they wanted to maximize profit with kids. Disney had teen girls and could create their own stars like Lizzie McGuire, Hannah Montana, etc. Nick had Spongebob and that was a big thing. CN wanted their own Spongebob. The original network was dead as the people in charge were more Time Warner than Turner folks....the HB era people were gone. By 2008, EEnE, Fosters, Billy & Mandy, and the rest were wrapping up.

Because AOL/TW merger was a big failure, they had to really focus on profit at all costs. They were bad business people. Nick became very corporate, but even for a while they at least sort of held true to what they were....until they just became all about $$$$.

This timeline should explain things better....Time Warner and what is WarnerMedia are the true villains of CN.

Look at the timeline:

Betty Cohen 1992-2001
Betty was brought in and Ted Turner still had control. She had all the toon and all the freedom. She let the artists do it and it was her vision.

2001 AOL Time Warner Merger Happens, Cohen was brought in as a Turner Employee
Betty Cohen leaves CN after disagreements with JAMIE KELLNER (see above).

Jim Samples 2001-2007
Samples wasn't as bad because he was a Turner employee. Now he was put in by corporate...but still knew how the network worked. Corporate was killing it, but he still had the relationships. Adult Swim takes form and becomes a giant.

Stu Snyder 2007-2014
Snyder was brought in by the NEW TURNER. He didn't work with the other guys or the old network. Corporate fully brought him in. The guy that liked him was the guy that ran off Betty Cohen. Samples was balancing corporate and the old CN.....Stu was fully the new corporate. He had no ties to the old CN. So he fully went in to making it his own thing. The first 2-3 years were rough because he was tearing down the whole old operation. He made it his own thing and it ended up being good. Also a good time to bring up that the CW Network is formed and KIDS WB! is essentially dead, pushing all WB animation to CN.


Christina Miller 2014-2020
Time Warner was basically trying to get sold during this period. Fox tried to buy them and ultimately AT&T did buy them. She basically was trying to keep costs down to make their unit look profitable. Teen Titans Go! airing 24-7 was the way to do it for them. This is the first time that kids programming is declining for everyone.

Tom Ascheim 2020-2022
So the AT&T purchase was a failure overall. COVID hurt cable TV. THey're trying to merge with Discovery and push streaming more heavily. So he was put in by corporate to oversee this era.

Michael Ouweleen 2022-NOW
Discovery Merger happens. AT&T spins it off. They're going all in on streaming. THe linear network is a zombie that will live until people stop buying cable. Now will CN the brand survive? Will WB animation or MAX animation be the brand? It's all TBD because they don't have a plan. WBD is not doing well.

 

[cartoonnetworkpoke]

Idk how many of you are wrestling fans, but Stu Snyder was featured in the last episode of Who Killed WCW?

Really the main point they make is that Time Warner and Turner in general invested in their product and allowed a lot of freedom. WCW never had anyone in charge and they didn't understand it as a property. They also did not like it and once it wasn't winning ratings any more...

Well I did not know this but Stuart Snyder was an executive for WWF in 2001....and he helped arrange the deal for WWF to purchase WCW for $3 million. Stu gets back to Time Warner soon after....Jamie Kellner was the one that wanted to kill it...

But really it goes on to show that when the AOL Time Warner merger happened in 2000-2001, that the company really did not have great leadership. Cartoon Network had it's own thing going....they let the HB! and CN studios kind of do it's own thing. But you kind of see slowly as that merger happened, it became way more corporate.

Basically, the people in charge viewed CN on the balance sheet. They viewed the ratings and AD numbers. They saw that a general animation network wasn't cutting it, they wanted fully to be about kids. You saw things like moving out all the old shows to Boomerang, which was subscription and ad free at first so it made them money. But as 2004-2005 approached, they wanted to maximize profit with kids. Disney had teen girls and could create their own stars like Lizzie McGuire, Hannah Montana, etc. Nick had Spongebob and that was a big thing. CN wanted their own Spongebob. The original network was dead as the people in charge were more Time Warner than Turner folks....the HB era people were gone. By 2008, EEnE, Fosters, Billy & Mandy, and the rest were wrapping up.

Because AOL/TW merger was a big failure, they had to really focus on profit at all costs. They were bad business people. Nick became very corporate, but even for a while they at least sort of held true to what they were....until they just became all about $$$$.

This timeline should explain things better....Time Warner and what is WarnerMedia are the true villains of CN.

Look at the timeline:

Betty Cohen 1992-2001
Betty was brought in and Ted Turner still had control. She had all the toon and all the freedom. She let the artists do it and it was her vision.

2001 AOL Time Warner Merger Happens, Cohen was brought in as a Turner Employee
Betty Cohen leaves CN after disagreements with JAMIE KELLNER (see above).

Jim Samples 2001-2007
Samples wasn't as bad because he was a Turner employee. Now he was put in by corporate...but still knew how the network worked. Corporate was killing it, but he still had the relationships. Adult Swim takes form and becomes a giant.

Stu Snyder 2007-2014
Snyder was brought in by the NEW TURNER. He didn't work with the other guys or the old network. Corporate fully brought him in. The guy that liked him was the guy that ran off Betty Cohen. Samples was balancing corporate and the old CN.....Stu was fully the new corporate. He had no ties to the old CN. So he fully went in to making it his own thing. The first 2-3 years were rough because he was tearing down the whole old operation. He made it his own thing and it ended up being good. Also a good time to bring up that the CW Network is formed and KIDS WB! is essentially dead, pushing all WB animation to CN.


Christina Miller 2014-2020
Time Warner was basically trying to get sold during this period. Fox tried to buy them and ultimately AT&T did buy them. She basically was trying to keep costs down to make their unit look profitable. Teen Titans Go! airing 24-7 was the way to do it for them. This is the first time that kids programming is declining for everyone.

Tom Ascheim 2020-2022
So the AT&T purchase was a failure overall. COVID hurt cable TV. THey're trying to merge with Discovery and push streaming more heavily. So he was put in by corporate to oversee this era.

Michael Ouweleen 2022-NOW
Discovery Merger happens. AT&T spins it off. They're going all in on streaming. THe linear network is a zombie that will live until people stop buying cable. Now will CN the brand survive? Will WB animation or MAX animation be the brand? It's all TBD because they don't have a plan. WBD is not doing well.

How do you think CN would have been if Fox had bought Time Warner?