Cartoon Network shows pulled from HBO Max

[ThePharaohZ]

They weren't. This is unprecedented. The tax-write off law was probably written as it was because nobody ever envisioned a company outright abusing it to this extent. When it comes to corporate scumbaggery, I have found our lawmakers have a stunning lack of imagination there.

In all honesty, that's not surprising to me. Not one bit. I wouldn't put anything past these corporate dirtbags. Regulators need to back these villains against the wall in order to create any real change.

 

[Johntoonfan05]

We now have a New Villain of Warner Bros... David Zaslav and Discovery the Merger was a Mistake

 

[ThePharaohZ]

We now have a New Villain of Warner Bros... David Zaslav and Discovery the Merger was a Mistake

Yep. Isn't it funny how people with no creative vision are in charge of these sorts of things? I mean, I get it. A company's top priority is making money. However the quality of a product should not take a backseat. You'd think that these "brilliant" CEOs would understand that a product of great quality leads to more purchases and/or viewership, which leads to making more money, but no. They want to keep cutting corners. They're running a business, so I'm positive they're more than knowledgeable in ROI. Even if they themselves aren't, they have people underneath them who are.

 

[Beast of Beef]

Look, as much as we don’t want too, we have to look at this at a perspective of business. These shows weren’t very popular. Warner has been in massive debt since the AT&T Acquisition, and discovery is trying to relieve that debt. What they’re doing is taking them off the service so they don’t have to pay everybody involved. If nobody’s watching, what’s the point of paying for it? With that being said, I still think the situation could’ve been handled better. Maybe having the shows be released in other methods (such as iTunes) or other services (Hulu, tubi, roku, Amazon) Also, if a show is a max original, then it should at least have SOME other way for it to be viewed, ESPECIALLY if the show isn’t finished/still has other episodes yet. And while it sucks that some shows will be written off, and will never see the light of day ever again, we have to understand that entertainment is a business at the end of the day, and sometimes you just have to respect that. Still sucks for everyone involved in the creation of shows, though, I’d feel pretty pissed right now if I were a creator of a show that got purged.

 

[Checkerboard]

What is the point of anything when you have literally hundreds of shows in a vault because you don't play them on the channels and you don't even offer them anymore on demand? Ratings sucked? Ok, don't air them on the channel if they're older. But ditch them on your signature platform when it probably costs you zero to have them there since you own them and on demand is not about ratings but views? Only expense you have is cloud/drive space. Which is almost free these days. So what's the issue? Doesn't it make sense to offer MORE shows on your platform to offer MORE than competition? Especially when shows you are pulling aren't even bad. What is the goal here? To have just five shows like on the channel? Insane.

 

[Dr.Pepper]

Removing something from a streaming service is one thing. Trying to remove every shred of a show off the internet is quite another.

 

[Fone Bone]

Look, as much as we don’t want too, we have to look at this at a perspective of business. These shows weren’t very popular.

The Not Too Late Show With Elmo was actually super popular and generated a ton of positive buzz. And they are erasing shows successful enough to have either landed several seasons, or at least made a DVD / Blu-Ray release.

And even if they WEREN'T too popular? Where do you draw the line? Well, I mean Blade Runner didn't make a ton of money either, so that means it's okay if Zaslov makes it illegal to view, right? It's not about the shows' popularity, or even quality. It's the fact that it's happening AT ALL. And the fact that it's happening even to shows with a strong following like Final Space and Infinity Train means nothing is safe. I expect the next couple of years to have a roll-out of announcements of projects WBD is burying every other week. Nothing is safe now. Don't start with "Well, those shows weren't popular." Even if that's true, it's not a sane business decision and it shouldn't be normalized.

 

[flaboyblast]

These shows weren’t very popular.

"Infinity Train" was not popular enough for you? The show that, at some point, was in the Top 5 shows AS A WHOLE, not just animated? Close Enough was there as well. By the way, Infinity Train also had an official Art Exhibition, because of its popularity.

And it's not just the US. In Bulgaria, it was also for three months one of the top shows (that's how long it stayed here ), but it got removed two weeks after they started Book 2. And there is no alternative to this, no!!! Bulgaria will never see Infinity Train again, our iTunes doesn't have CN stuff, and we have no Hulu.

And let me add also, Mao Mao got trending on Twitter with 114K tweets.

 

[Fone Bone]

"Infinity Train" was not popular enough for you? The show that, at some point, was in the Top 5 shows AS A WHOLE, not just animated? Close Enough was there as well. By the way, Infinity Train also had an official Art Exhibition, because of its popularity.

And it's not just the US. In Bulgaria, it was also for three months one of the top shows (that's how long it stayed here ), but it got removed two weeks after they started Book 2. And there is no alternative to this, no!!! Bulgaria will never see Infinity Train again, our iTunes doesn't have CN stuff, and we have no Hulu.

And let me add also, Mao Mao got trending on Twitter with 114K tweets.

I feel your pain and rage, but really whether Infinity Train was popular or not (and it was) is besides the point. It's the fact that an entertainment company is literally destroying their entire content catalog bit by bit for a tax write-off which is the unprecedented and scary thing. Focusing on whether or not certain shows deserved to be made illegal to view for 80 years is sort of missing the point. That's not even something remotely okay on a case by case basis.

 

[Checkerboard]

Personally I'd petition WBD and spam their socials telling them it sucks.

 

[Beast of Beef]

The Not Too Late Show With Elmo was actually super popular and generated a ton of positive buzz. And they are erasing shows successful enough to have either landed several seasons, or at least made a DVD / Blu-Ray release.

And even if they WEREN'T too popular? Where do you draw the line? Well, I mean Blade Runner didn't make a ton of money either, so that means it's okay if Zaslov makes it illegal to view, right? It's not about the shows' popularity, or even quality. It's the fact that it's happening AT ALL. And the fact that it's happening even to shows with a strong following like Final Space and Infinity Train means nothing is safe. I expect the next couple of years to have a roll-out of announcements of projects WBD is burying every other week. Nothing is safe now. Don't start with "Well, those shows weren't popular." Even if that's true, it's not a sane business decision and it shouldn't be normalized.

They weren’t popular in DISCOVERY’S eyes. Prolly should have explaine.

 

[Fone Bone]

They weren’t popular in DISCOVERY’S eyes. Prolly should have explaine.

I understood your argument perfectly well. You just happened to be wrong.

(The above sentence should have a smiley at the end of it, but I'm deeply resisting it on general principle.)

 

[Dr.Pepper]

At least Infinity Train had a DVD release. The same can’t be said for the others (that I can think of).

 

[Leviathan]

They're even de-listing SOUNDTRACKS now.

 

[GonzagatotheMWC]

Cartoon Network will be fine lmao. Zaslav is trimming the fat. This manufactured outrage.

 

[Fone Bone]

Cartoon Network will be fine lmao. Zaslav is trimming the fat. This manufactured outrage.

Uh huh.

 

[Silver-7]

yeah, all of this is starting to worry me, there not just pulling shows off HBO max, there practically scrubbing these shows from existence. infinity train, mao mao, and even o.k k.o are getting there promos, clips, and all sorts of stuff related too these shows is being taken off youtube by cartoon network. if i had to guess, this is a tax write off, similar to mega xlr and sym bionic titan. what might be more worrying is that sometimes when creators speak out about this kinda stuff, they get black listed. ianjq, julia pott, and especially owen dennis and pete browngardt are at risk to that kinda thing. not saying that is gonna happen, but its 100% is a possibility

 

[the_joker]

Considering that it takes on average 7-9 months to complete one episode of an animated series, this is utterly tragic. Ultimately, the company's own actions will hurt them as people see how animation is being treated there and will avoid pitching to them at all costs, seeking out other alternatives.

Yep. Isn't it funny how people with no creative vision are in charge of these sorts of things? I mean, I get it. A company's top priority is making money. However the quality of a product should not take a backseat. You'd think that these "brilliant" CEOs would understand that a product of great quality leads to more purchases and/or viewership, which leads to making more money, but no. They want to keep cutting corners. They're running a business, so I'm positive they're more than knowledgeable in ROI. Even if they themselves aren't, they have people underneath them who are.

Screwing over the artists and producers can also discourage other potential artists and producers from working at WBD since they would just fear the executives screwing them over as well. Why work at a studio that's gonna take a dump on your work no matter what you do? And this just means less potential profit in the future. In other words, his attempt to save money might cause him to lose out on making more money especially if the detractors in real life are as against this move as we are.

EDIT: And even then, I have to wonder if this move is even saving the company that much money.

I would that the written off shows would still be available on iTunes. I mean, shows like Megas XLR, Sym Bionic Titan, and Beware The Batman are on iTunes despite all being financially written off.

On a slightly more hopeful note, Beware the Batman did get a home video release. Too bad the other two shows didn't for whatever reason.

 

[ThePharaohZ]

Screwing over the artists and producers can also discourage other potential artists and producers from working at WBD since they would just fear the executives screwing them over as well. Why work at a studio that's gonna take a dump on your work no matter what you do? And this just means less potential profit in the future. In other words, his attempt to save money might cause him to lose out on making more money especially if the detractors in real life are as against this move as we are.

Exactly right. The artists, producers, and writers for these projects are making the magic happen. They're practically doing the grunt work and yet they're viewed as expendable. Screwing them over in masses and expecting the company to flourish is like picking an orange from the bottom of the pile and then wondering why all the oranges at the top fell.

 

[Checkerboard]

This is a purge akin to megas xlr, robot jones, problem solverz, smfa, robotomy and others. This is dirty. I dont like this. You are just hurting the creators and fans at this point. And even yourself by offering less. We need to write WBD as I suggested.