Best and Worst of Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang, HBO Max, and Cartoonito in 2021

[Asa]

What were the best and worst things Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang, HBO Max, and Cartoonito did this year?

For me the best to come out of this year:
- ACME Night
- Finally saving the original Total Drama from cancellation
- Bringing back original classic shows. I’m hoping they will continue to do this for the channel’s 30th anniversary in 2022.

And the worst to come out this year:
- Lack of new Mao Mao episodes

 

[JMTV]

Best of CN

1. The launch of Cartoonito and ACME Night. I'm so happy that CN are making new blocks again, something that hasn't happened in a long long time now. Acme Night I love the most because it was throwback of the Flicks, but feels fresh and new. Cartoonito is a good one, too. I really like their cute little bumpers. It reminds me of the Powerhouse era. Even though the shows themselves are not made for me, but at least it did bring variety for the network. Plus, unlike Tickle U, Cartoonito is a much stronger brand that I can see it lasted much longer as long CN plays their cards right.

Now if only CN do more blocks after the two...

2. Redraw Your World. I gotta say, this branding is probably the best branding that CN has in a long time. I'm so glad they got rid of Check It because that branding has been on for WAY too ******* long, so it needs a change. Redraw is the best change, yet. Sure, no one can top Powerhouse, but it's definitely one of the better brandings for Cartoon Network for the past decade or so. Don't get me wrong, I grew up with Check it, but I think it's time to let it go.

3. Cartoon Network airing Classic Christmas Specials. It's been a long while since CN aired their specials of old shows, and I'm happy to see them again. How come they didn't it years ago is beyond me, but nonetheless, it's nice to see them again, even if it just one last time.

4. The Amazing World of Gumball Movie has been Confirmed! It's really great news for all Gumball fans. After that cliffhanger from the original show, a lot of fans hoping that the movie can provide some closure. Now, the synopsis is pretty interesting, but I hope this movie can wrap up the original show perfectly and answer a lot of the questions. As some who love Gumball as a kid (and I'll defend Season 1 til the day I die), I'm looking forward to it to see how it plays out.

5. Jason DeMarco Getting a Promotion. Major congrats to the guy. He's been working on Toonami for decades, and deserves getting a new role for Cartoon Network and Adult Swim when it comes to producing anime and action content. I had mad respect for Toonami, so I wish him the best of luck.

6. Airing HBO Max Cartoons on CN. Even though I wasn't a fan of any of their programs (with the exception of Looney Tunes Cartoons), but it's really cool to see them airing on Cartoon Network every so often. Thought, I really wish CN should aired them more often. Just for variety sake, and not just use it as a token promotion for the service.

7. Adding Rodger Craig Smith to do voiceover promos. This maybe a bit minor, but Smith's voice is a lot more easy on the ears than the other guy. No offense to the other one (I think it's Reed or something, for what I have heard), but I do not like his voice at all. I find him very annoying and over the top that's make me cringe. Rodger's voice is smooth, fun, and naturally energetic. He did remind me of a mixture of Tom Clark and Will Arnett from Powerhouse and Noods respectively. He did pull off very well. I hope he sticks around.

8. The ''new'' CN logo. I don't care what anyone said, but the new proposed logo for 2022 looks really good. Sure, the inverted colors and the Eagle Black font took some time to get used to, and some are not, but it did grew on me overtime. I hope it's greenlight for the new year.


Worst of CN

1. No Mao Mao. You just greenlight for a second season last year, yet there's no reruns, no release date for Season 2. No promotion. Nothing! We're almost in the end of the 2021, and there's no Mao Mao reruns this year. You would've think CN aired this show more often to let people know that the show is still going, not quietly swept it under the rug. I heard even the creator doesn't know when Season 2 is going to be released. Although, this may sounds a bit of a stretch, but it's plausible. I have a strong feeling that Mao Mao will become a HBO Max exclusive next year. I'm hoping not, but considering that the way CN is treating it at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if they do that.

As someone who enjoyed Mao Mao (not as much compared to OK KO), I hope CN give us updates on Mao Mao's future pretty soon because it cannot stay in limbo forever.

2. Lose the 8pm hour to Adult Swim. I really tried my best to adjust this change, but I still can't. Don't get me wrong, I do understand why had to do it since Adult Swim's ratings are too good for CN to get the 8pm hour back, but I am accustomed to CN airing shows on primetime, so it doesn't make any sense to me for AS having more hours than CN. Then again, CN didn't really do much during those hours since they mostly aired encores anyway. So, I guess it's justifiable, but I don't know.

If Adult Swim wants to keep the 8pm hour for the rest of its existence, then be my guest. But have CN use the 8pm hour exclusively on the weekends. Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. That's a good compromise. Though, personally for me, I'd want CN ends at 9p/10pm, but I digress.

3. Other Shows Not Getting Enough Airtime. I know this may sound trivial considering that we already had HBO Max, but it's pretty ridiculous that CN didn't aired them that often. It would be nice if they aired Eiliot from Earth, or Tig n Seek, or non-TTG WB Animation shows on the network once in a while. Not saying that I want them on the schedule every single day, but more variety would've been nice.

4. Xfinity moving CN to the Higher Tier. As someone who owns Dish Network, I find it very stupid on Xfinty's part to put CN on basic cable to a higher tier package. I feel bad for the Xfinity users had to go through this since they had to pay extra to watch the channel. It also doesn't help that such of a ridiculous decision hurts CN's ratings. I mean, come on, below 200,000?! That's sucks! I know TV ratings are low across the board, but not like this.

I know it's not going to happen, I hope Xfinity do reconsider this because it did not help them whatsoever.

5. Infinity Train and Billy and Mandy Movie's Cancelation. Both of them are on the same caliber since they are the most beloved CN Originals for years and fans wanted to see more of them. However, both of them got canceled for very confusing reasons. Infinity Train got canceled due to lacking of a child entry point, despite they aired on freaking streaming service. And the Billy and Mandy Movie got canceled due to kids are not being familiar with the show, even though they greenlight a Steve Urkel Christmas Special. Classy.

It such a shame that both got canned. I was disappointed with Infinity Train Season 4 since I feel this whole journey was a complete waste of time. It would be cool to see Billy and Mandy came back as a movie, but yeah, it's a shame that it never came to fruition.


Neutral of CN

We Baby Bears, HBO Max's Fionna and Cake Spinoff, and New Gumball Series. It's great to see CN current franchises (that are not Ben10 and PPG) are ongoing in a new form, but at the same time, it's one of things in which you keep asking yourself this question: "does anybody really asks for this?''

Because that's how I feel about it. Again, I'm not against the idea, but it really perplexes me.

 

[Markus Nelis]

Good:
- Launching Cartoonito.
- Launching ACME Night.
- Making something for everyone again.
- HBO Max cartoons on linear.
- New rebrand, no more inconsistent looks for now.
- Having a new announcer. Craig Smith seems to completely takeover and Reed Shannon was probably - - released. Smith made vóice-overs for the newest next bumpers. I actually liked Reed Shannon but it was time for a change for sure.
- Airing classic cartoons again. While I wouldn't have wanted them to rerun those since kids are not familiar with those shows but still, that's good news.

Worst:
- Losing the 8p hour again but it was expected.
- Not a single new episode of Mao Mao has aired this year.
- Bad scheduling, mostly the same boring schedule during the first half of the year.
- Only giving 3 shows a lot of airtime every daily while others barely get airtime. We know this and it isn't a new thing. They like milking their most popular shows.

 

[Silverstar]

Best:

The Redraw Your World branding. This current branding is good, and there's so much potential to be had here if done correctly. Plus I really like the catchphrase 'Redraw Your World'. It sounds very cool, gets me excited.

Cartoonito. I'm light years away from the intended audience for a preschool block, but Cartoonito looks like fun. I like the devotion to diversity, creativity and imagination that the shows strive for, the mascots are cute and others are free to disagree with me but the block adds some much needed variety to the channel; Cartoonito's not for everybody, but it's a heckuva lot better than CN spamming the same 3 shows all day.

ACME Night. While some of the programming choices for it have been a tad strange, I like the look, feel and design of the bumpers. I hope we can start seeing some decent specials on here as well as movies.

New Cartoon-Cartoon shorts. Any attempt to bring in new shows and new talent to CN is a plus in my book. I'm glad the network isn't depending solely on nostalgic pandering. I hope we can get some new shows that pique my interest so I can finally start watching CN again regularly instead of just from time to time.

The CN/HBO Max Synergy. It's good that people who don't have HBO Max can get an opportunity to see the likes of Looney Tunes Cartoons and Jellystone!.

Worst:

We still have to wait for Bugs Bunny Builders, Tom & Jerry Time, Batwheels and Jessica's Big Little World. I'm particularly curious to see BBB, but quality takes time.

No action shows announced aside from Unicorn: Warriors Eternal. I'm personally a comedy guy, but I understand that variety is necessary for a channel to strive. I know there are lot viewers who want to see more action on CN, and I hope the Powers That Be decide to give them some more shows to scratch that itch. On the subject of which...

No announced prime time blocks a la Cartoon-Cartoon Fridays, Har Har Tharsdays or You Are Here. I know I'm showing my age here and I try not to be one of those overly nostalgic people, but I miss premiere blocks like those.

Neutral/On the Fence:

The addition of live-action shows. Whether I'm in favor of this or not depends on the types of shows we'll be getting: if it's more reality type stuff like the majority of the CN Real shows, then no thanks, but if the shows are fun and are least cartoonish enough, as in with the appropriate amount of fantasy, action, colorful, cartoonish characters/puppets/costumed mascots, etc. and special effects (essentially 'live-action cartoons', then I'm on board. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[Goldstar!]

BEST:

1. The Redraw Your World theming looks good and has tons of potential.

2. The additions of programming blocks such as ACME Night and Cartoonito add some much needed variety to Cartoon Network's schedule.

WORST:

1. Cartoon Network loses the 8PM hour to Adult Swim (again!) - CN could have aired some cool premieres at 8PM, but I understand that AS gets good ratings.

2. No new weekend premiere block on Friday and/or Saturday nights. I think that CN could use a new Cartoon-Cartoon Fridays or You Are Here on weekends.

3. No announced date yet for Season 2 of Jellystone! - I realize that animated programs require time to be produced, but I've seen all 10 episodes of season 1 at least twice now.

CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC:

The decision to produce live action programs for the network. Ideally, the number of live action shows on Cartoon Network should be zero, but I understand that live action shows are less expensive and take less time to produce than animated series, and as long as the types of shows that are selected are at least cartoon adjacent (such as The Aquabats Super Show or the Sid and Marty Krofft shows) and as long as the live action programs don't outnumber the cartoons, things should be OK for the most part.

 

[KeldeoKitty]

I didn’t watch Cartoon Network much this year though I still preferred it over Disney Channel and Nick overall.

Best:
-For HBO Max, Jellystone was my favorite cartoon of the year. I wondered for years if Warner Bros. would do anything with Hanna Barbera characters and I couldn’t think of anyone better than C.H. Greenblatt to revive them. To those who think Greenblatt ruined Hanna-Barbara’s legacy, Correction: Hanna-Barbera ruined themselves (Yo Yogi!) as well as John Kricfalusi (His Yogi Bear shorts).
-Elliott from Earth: It was probably my favorite original cartoon this year.
-Airing Christmas specials of older CN shows
-ACME Night airing movies including Detective Pikachu. I don’t support live action adaptations of games or cartoons but it’s nice that Cartoon Network has aired something Pokémon related since 2017.
-Looney Tunes Cartoons and Jellystone getting linear airings.

Worst:
-No Info of Mao Mao Season 2. At this point I don’t care if Season 2 is the last but I at least would like new info on it.
-Though I don’t mind Cartoonito a few of their show choices are honestly questionable namely Caillou.
-Infinity Train cancelled. I personally was not a big fan of Infinity Train Books 2-4 as much as Book 1 but because Owen Dennis was hoping 8 that’s disappointing.

3. No announced date yet for Season 2 of Jellystone! - I realize that animated programs require time to be produced, but I've seen all 10 episodes of season 1 at least twice now.

Jellystone is primarily an HBO Max series and Greenblatt stated 10 more were on the way back in summer. Besides it’s gonna take longer for Cartoon Network to air them.

 

[Goldstar!]

Jellystone is primarily an HBO Max series and Greenblatt stated 10 more were on the way back in summer. Besides it’s gonna take longer for Cartoon Network to air them.

I have HBO Max. That's where I saw all of season 1. I know that season 1 of Jellystone came to Cartoon Network a little later on, but by then, I had already seen all of the episodes. I was just pointing out that no premiere date for season 2 has been announced yet. When season 2 does air, it will undoubtedly air on HBO Max first, which is where I'll watch them.

I don't have any bests or worsts for Boomerang, since I gave up on that channel a while ago.

 

[JMTV]

Oh yeah! There are some things that I completely forgot, and I want to thank you all for bringing them up.


Additional Best of CN

Cartoon Cartoons is Back! I'm so happy they bring back the Cartoon Cartoons brand for their new shorts program because the name Cartoon Cartoons is timeless and the brand need to revitalize for new creators for new cartoons that'll become new classics.


Additional Worst of CN

No new blocks. I don't want to come off as a nostalgia nut, but I REALLY missed primetime blocks like CCF/Fridays and Har Har Tharsdays. I really wanted to see to come back. Same thing with Kids WB.

Lack of variety in the schedule. Yeah yeah, I know this is nothing new, but they can add something to the schedule instead of repeating the same shows over and over again?

No new action shows. I'm not a action guy at all, but it would be nice to air some action shows to give the network a little more variety. Yeah, we got Unicorn Worlds Eternal, My Adventures with Superman, and Batman Caped Crusader coming up, but still.


Additional Neutral of CN

Adding new Live Action Shows since 2013. I'm one of the few people who don't have a problem with CN airing live action shows as long it has something to do with animation and doesn't stray away of the network's intended purpose. Twenty Mysteries, I can let that slide. But Family Mashup on the other hand, I'm a bit iffy on since it was done by the same creators of Hannah Montana. I'm gonna wait on how that would turn out.

 

[Micahel Cataldo]

Best: CN re-airing Cartoon Cartoons.
Worst: The launch of Cartoonito. CN shouldn't air that block to begin with.

 

[harry580]

Best: CN re-airing Cartoon Cartoons.
Worst: The launch of Cartoonito. CN shouldn't air that block to begin with.

why you hate cartoonito?, is it because of tickle u?

 

[CNFan1995]

Here's the best, worst and honorable mentions for last year on CN.
Good:
- Launching Cartoonito.
- Launching ACME Night.
- Making something for everyone again.
- HBO Max cartoons on linear.
- New rebrand.
- Having a new announcer like Roger Craig Smith I like that man voicing CN I mean he's the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog and Mirage on Apex Legends.
- Scooby-Doo! Scoobtober event with premiering Scooby-Doo movies on CN that already released on DVD wish they could’ve premiered the Scooby-Doo/Courage Movie on CN.
- The Craig of the Creek: Winter Break episode and the Capture The Flag 5 day event.
- Elliott From Earth
- The Spring Breakaway event.
- The 3 Ben 10 (2017) Specials.
- The Victor and Valentino Nine Realms of Mictlan episode.
- A Week Of Star Wars Movies
- The Victor and Valentino Día de Muertos special

Honorable Mentions:
- Mother's Day Event
- The Teen Titans Go! & DC Superhero Girls Space House Event
- The Teen Titans Go! See Space Jam Movie
- DC Kids FanDome event

Worst:
- Losing the 8p hour again but it was expected.
- Not a single new episode of Mao Mao has aired this year.
- The Teen Titans Go! Takeover marathon

R.I.P.

CN

April 10, 2017 - April 11, 2021

HBO Max​

August 20, 2020 - December 16, 2021​

June 25, 2020 - September 2, 2021
​

August 5, 2019 - April 15, 2021​

 

[Silverstar]

Best: CN re-airing Cartoon Cartoons.

When did that happen? The only thing Cartoon-Cartoon related that I know about from the past year is the announcement CN will be relaunching the Cartoon-Cartoon brand name for their latest initiative to run shorts that could become potential new shows. I didn't see or hear anything CN re-airing the old Cartoon-Cartoons.

Worst: The launch of Cartoonito. CN shouldn't air that block to begin with.

You're entitled to your opinion of course, but I truly don't understand all of the Cartoonito hate, especially since the majority of the people bellyaching about the block are light years removed from its' target audience. Cartoonito is for preschoolers, and most of the folks old enough to post here are either at work or at school while Cartoonito is running, so really, what's the harm? Why can't the little kids have their own programming block on CN? Why is it OK for Nickelodeon and Disney Channel to have preschool blocks but not Cartoon Network? I don't get it.

 

[JMTV]

When did that happen?

I think he meant the old reruns on Christmas 2021.

 

[Silverstar]

I think he meant the old reruns on Christmas 2021.

Oh, OK. Got it.

 

[ToonsJazzLover]

BEST
Redraw Your World rebranding, now finally targeting more than one demographic
The addition of Cartoonito, diversifying the schedule
Playing HBO MAX originals
Various seasonal events (such as Scoobtober)
Roger Craig Smith becoming new voiceover
ACME Night (especially with filler programming)
Return of classics for Christmas

WORST
The live feed at its lowest point during the first half
CN not getting the 8pm hour back full time