Why is the 2003-2009 Era of Cartoon Network so underrated on the Internet?

[DLJL731980]

Whenever you see nostalgia for old school Cartoon Network…it’s most centered around the 1996-2002 Era of the network…which is understandable because when Cartoon Network really established itself as a major titan for animated shows and the network was much better at treating it’s shows and handling it’s scheduling during those years compared to 2003-2009 Era.

But, I feel like a lot of the cartoons and shows and from the 2003-2009 Era of CN and the branding is heavily underrated by 90’s/Early-2000’s fans of the network and I don’t know why.

 

[IDOconsiderwaffles]

I think it’s mostly because most people on this board are 90’s/Early 2000’s kids, people immediately despise the late 2000’s (specifically 2009) because live action and the onslaught of Johnny test, there weren’t many cartoons on after 2007/8 (Billy and Mandy, Ed, Edd, N Eddy, Squirell Boy, Class of 3000, KND, Gym Partner, and Ben 10 all aired thier final episodes in those two years, with fosters following in 2009)

as for the Mid 2000’s, people just consider it a transitional era and not much more, people loved the city era, but it’s hard to find someone who preferred it to the powerhouse era, to be fair ‘YES!’ Looked like the textbook definition of a transition era but it was still wrongly overlooked.

TLDR:
They deserve more recognition but that probably wont get any until they become old enough to be nostalgic (that’s already starting to happen for the city era)

 

[Dr.Pepper]

I never really noticed. A lot of people seem to love the city era.

 

[Pooky]

For one thing the "Cartoon Cartoon" branding stopped in 2003, which probably makes a difference in a lot of people's minds, even if it didn't actually change the channel overnight. I also think other than Billy and Mandy (based on an earlier show) and Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends most of the shows that started in that era were either fairly short lived and largely forgotten, or for lack of a better word a little more "corporate" (Ben 10, Clone Wars, Transformers: Animated) than the kind of shows people associate with and like from the network.

 

[Vuxovich]

I actually love that era, especially because of the Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi show.

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

Honestly I don't really think 2003 and 2009 should really be counted as part of the 2004-2008 Cartoon Network era. 2003 was the post Cartoon Cartoon era as yeah though the moniker was mostly dropped those shows were still the main highlights and we still had most of the traditional Cartoon Network branding with that only changing in 2004 moving into the CN City Era. And 2009 was the era of live action series attempting to take over that was quickly rejected with things changing around quickly in 2010 when Adventure Time started. Really it's the 4 year period between them that is more specifically an era.

As for why it's underrated well I've said so before and I'll say so again; probably because it didn't have a trend setting generally beloved or at least known by pretty much everyone series that you would think of unlike other CN eras. Like the big hits from around that time were Ben 10 (which I guess is a known by most people series but more for it's merchandising and toy sales then people who just watch the show) and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends which don't compare with say The Powerpuff Girls or Adventure Time or even Teen Titans Go! in terms of overall recognition. Plus as fun as the bumpers were (and certainly better then interstials and ads we get now) they weren't as good as the previous era nor had as many shows or interesting ideas for content the more modern era does. Granted it's not a terrible period for CN but IMHO unless you directly grew up in it I don't know why anyone would consider it their favorite.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

I wouldn't say it's understand since it's fondly remembered by several fans who grew up watching the channel, AFAIK, given that this era is also known as the CN City era.

 

[Moe]

I have strong nostalgia of Checkerboard era and early Powerhouse era but didn't watch CN often during City era because I was too focused on MTV.

 

[Checkerboard]

2003-2006 is mostly fine, 2007-2009 is the underrated part I think.

 

[KeldeoKitty]

2003-2006 is mostly fine, 2007-2009 is the underrated part I think.

2010’s aside, 2007-2009 were my favorite years for Cartoon Network. Prior to that I was a full time Nickelodeon person. It was new Pokémon episodes that made me gravitate to Cartoon Network but I also watched originals like Chowder and Flapjack. I then stuck with Cartoon Network after that because of series like Adventure Time and Regular Show which kept me invested in cartoons.

 

[Checkerboard]

I think many people disliked the Noods and CN Real at the time, me included.

 

[wonderfly]

Honestly I don't really think 2003 and 2009 should really be counted as part of the 2004-2008 Cartoon Network era. 2003 was the post Cartoon Cartoon era as yeah though the moniker was mostly dropped those shows were still the main highlights and we still had most of the traditional Cartoon Network branding with that only changing in 2004 moving into the CN City Era. And 2009 was the era of live action series attempting to take over that was quickly rejected with things changing around quickly in 2010 when Adventure Time started. Really it's the 4 year period between them that is more specifically an era.

As for why it's underrated well I've said so before and I'll say so again; probably because it didn't have a trend setting generally beloved or at least known by pretty much everyone series that you would think of unlike other CN eras. Like the big hits from around that time were Ben 10 (which I guess is a known by most people series but more for it's merchandising and toy sales then people who just watch the show) and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends which don't compare with say The Powerpuff Girls or Adventure Time or even Teen Titans Go! in terms of overall recognition. Plus as fun as the bumpers were (and certainly better then interstials and ads we get now) they weren't as good as the previous era nor had as many shows or interesting ideas for content the more modern era does. Granted it's not a terrible period for CN but IMHO unless you directly grew up in it I don't know why anyone would consider it their favorite.

Agreed, 2003 is part of the Powerhouse era (even if it was the start of the transition).

It's usually 2008/2009 that people hate or get upset about.

So that just leaves 2004 to 2007, and I don't think it's "underrated" era, I think it was the culmination of what had gone on with Cartoon Network up until that point, with the City era.

 

[mqg96]

Late for this thread but I can bring up some points here, and a lot of valid points have already been brought up above. First of all, I agree that 2003 and 2009 should be separated while 2004-2008 should be its own. The Cartoon Cartoons era was still active for the majority of 2003 anyway, it wasn't 'til the Fall of that year when the branding was removed (October 2003 I think).

I visited the Cartoon Network store a few times at the CNN Center in Atlanta, and when I was over there, I saw many shirts for Dexter's Lab, Johnny Bravo, Powerpuff Girls, Ed Edd n Eddy, Cow & Chicken, Courage, Codename: KND, Samurai Jack, Foster's Home, Ben 10, Teen Titans (both the OG and Go), Adventure Time, Regular Show, Gumball, Uncle Grandpa, Clarence, & Steven Universe. I don't remember if I saw any shirts for Billy & Mandy or not. I may have seen a shirt for Flapjack or Chowder but I'm not 100% sure unfortunately either.

But even in real life at the Cartoon Network store, I didn't recall seeing any shirts of Camp Lazlo, Class of 3000, My Gym Partner's A Monkey, Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi, etc. or the vast majority of the 2004-2008 shows period. I had no control over this, but it's no surprise what had the biggest cultural impacts thru-out Cartoon Network's history. This applies to both the internet and real life honestly.