There is a promo for Fox Kids from 1995 that I really love. I was too young to be watching Fox Kids at that time, but I know all of those shows very well (except for Masked Rider). Just a dream line-up of kids entertainment with plenty of hits to spare. However a year later Fox Kids started to decline. Part of that had to do with the inability to use shows from Warner Bros. Animation anymore but Fox Kids just didn't have their finger on the zeitgeist anymore. So I started thinking, what could they have done to keep the good times rolling on Fox? After that I went into a weeks-long rabbit hole of researching cartoon and schedules to create my own fantasy retcon schedule (did something similar about Fox Kids' successor).
The following is how I would have scheduled Fox Kids (I know they rotated shows a lot more, but just sharing a skeleton of the schedule for simplicity's sake). I tried to be realistic in this. Like I didn't just put SpongeBob SquarePants on the schedule, these are all shows that Fox could have made happen.
So I hope you enjoy my alternate history TV schedules (a project I am fully aware has limited appeal).
1996-1997 Season
Fox Kids still had plenty of hits, but they were running their course. Power Rangers Zeo wasn't as popular as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Carmen Sandiego, Eek!, Batman and The Tick all entered their final seasons. With only Beetleborgs and Casper as any new shows resembling some success. For new shows I would have continued the relationship with Saban and launched Incredible Hulk and Samurai Pizza Cats on Fox. The network had plenty of success with its other Marvel shows that were still running and Samurai Pizza Cats would fit the network's irreverent humor.
The big show I would add I went back and forth on, but I decided to build the schedule around it: Dragon Ball Z. Sure it would have been edited more but Jeff Harris already argued for this alternate history years ago. DBZ was a show that Saban had that Fox Kids should have taken a chance on. An edgy, unique show with loads of episodes that could run for years. Sharing a cultural origin with Power Rangers should have convinced Fox to give it a chance.
Mondays-Thursdays Fridays
6:00 Bobby's World Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?
6:30 Life with Louie Eek! Stravaganza
2:00 Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Power Rangers Zeo
2:30 Big Bad Beetleborgs Goosebumps
3:00 Batman and Robin Batman and Robin
3:30 Dragon Ball Z Dragon Ball Z
Saturdays
7:00 Casper
7:30 Power Rangers Zeo (Turbo midseason)
8:00 Spider-Man
8:30 Incredible Hulk
9:00 X-Men
9:30 The Tick
10:00 Samurai Pizza Cats
10:30 Dragon Ball Z
The three new additions from last season would still be going strong. On Saturdays I would add Extreme Ghostbusters (Fox would later air a lot of shows from Sony, Fox Family would later air Real Ghostbusters). X-Men would continue airing favorite episodes until Silver Surfer took over in midseason (tying in with the galactic themed Power Rangers in Space). Would strengthen the weekday lineup by repackaging Bart themed episodes of The Simpsons into a new program called The Bart Chronicles. The Simpsons had been around for close to a decade at this point and had become an institution so it wouldn't be too controversial. This move would keep Bart as a kid's icon and be a segue into Fox primetime for younger audiences. The Bart Chronicles would complement the older skewing Dragon Ball Z in the afternoons. The Bart Chronicles would in turn be complemented by reruns of Garfield and Friends, which had just finished its run on the Turner networks (Fox Kids Video released some Garfield cartoons, Fox later made the live-action movies). The combination of Power Rangers, Garfield, Bart Simpson and DBZ would keep weekday afternoons a popular destination for action and comedy for kids and adults.
Mondays-Thursdays Fridays
6:00 Bobby's World Casper
6:30 Life with Louie Samurai Pizza Cats
2:00 Power Rangers Turbo Power Rangers Zeo (in Space midseason)
2:30 Garfield and Friends Beetleborgs Metallix
3:00 The Bart Chronicles The Bart Chronicles
3:30 Dragon Ball Z Dragon Ball Z
Saturdays
7:00 Casper (Goosebumps midseason)
7:30 Power Rangers Turbo (in Space midseason)
8:00 Spider-Man
8:30 The Incredible Hulk
9:00 X-Men (Silver Surfer midseason)
9:30 Extreme Ghostbusters
10:00 Samurai Pizza Cats
10:30 Dragon Ball Z
1998-1999 Season
This would be the final season for Life with Louie and Bobby's World reruns, would keep Magic School Bus as the e/i friendly show but also pick up the recently ended CBS show Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat for Friday mornings. With the shows airing on Fox Extreme Ghostbusters and Incredible Hulk could have survived for additional seasons (the latter show airing in a green monster power hour with Godzilla). Would give Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog a chance but the other shows I've been omitting would go to Fox Family which premiered this season (and is honestly where Fox Kids really went wrong).
Mondays-Thursdays Fridays
6:00 Magic School Bus Bobby's World
6:30 Life with Louie Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat
2:00 Power Rangers in Space Power Rangers Turbo (Lost Galaxy midseason)
2:30 Garfield and Friends Spider-Man
3:00 The Bart Chronicles The Bart Chronicles
3:30 Dragon Ball Z Dragon Ball Z
Saturdays
7:00 Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog
7:30 Power Rangers in Space (Lost Galaxy midseason)
8:00 Godzilla
8:30 Incredible Hulk
9:00 Ultimate Goosebumps
9:30 Extreme Ghostbusters
10:00 Samurai Pizza Cats
10:30 Dragon Ball Z
1999-2000 Season
This would still be a big transition season for Fox Kids with Digimon making its premiere. With Fox's relationship with Sony, Dragon Tales would premiere on mornings as a big, merchandisable hit. With the success of DBZ on Fox, Dragon Ball would air a season earlier than it did on Toonami. The three new D-shows would have bolstered the other new shows and would have put Fox on top of Kids' WB's Poke-Ratings.
Mondays-Thursdays Fridays
6:00 Magic School Bus Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat
6:30 Dragon Tales Dragon Tales
2:00 Power Rangers Lost Galaxy PR in Space (Lightspeed midseason)
2:30 Garfield and Friends (Digimon midseason) Digimon Adventure
3:00 The Bart Chronicles The Bart Chronicles
3:30 Dragon Ball Z Dragon Ball Z
Saturdays
7:00 NASCAR Racers
7:30 Power Rangers in Lost Galaxy (Lightspeed Rescue midseason)
8:00 Godzilla
8:30 Spider-Man Unlimited (Avengers: United They Stand midseason)
9:00 Digimon Adventure
9:30 Big Guy and Rusty
10:00 Beast Machines: Transformers
10:30 Dragon Ball
2000-2001
Fox Kids would continue its great previous season with the premiere of X-Men: Evolution (with Fox distributing the movie this year and the entire network owing its success to X-Men: The Animated Series, how did they not have their finger on this one?). In addition to the other new shows I would also pick up the Canadian Hoze Houndz because the network needed a better comedy than Woody Woodpecker. Would have shared Muppet Babies with The Odyssey Network (run by former Fox Kids head, Margaret Loesch) after its run on Nickelodeon to give mornings an extra jolt. Surprised that Fox Kids never did anything with The Muppets franchise before Disney bought them.
Mondays-Thursdays Fridays
6:00 Magic School Bus Muppet Babies
6:30 Dragon Tales Muppet Babies
2:00 PR Lightspeed Rescue PR Lost Galaxy (Time Force midseason)
2:30 Digimon Adventure Digimon Adventure 02
3:00 Bart Chronicles (Dragon Ball midseason) Dragon Ball
3:30 Dragon Ball Z Dragon Ball Z
Saturdays
7:00 Hoze Houndz
7:30 Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue (Time Force midseason)
8:00 Monster Rancher
8:30 X-Men: Evolution
9:00 Digimon Adventure 02
9:30 Big Guy and Rusty (Flint the Time Detective midseason)
10:00 Beast Machines: Transformers (NASCAR Racers midseason)
10:30 Dragon Ball
2001-2002
Totally Spies would have premiered here instead of Fox Family with Rescue Heroes running alongside Dragon Tales on mornings.
Mondays-Thursdays Fridays
6:00 Rescue Heroes Hoze Houndz
6:30 Dragon Tales Digimon Adventure
2:00 Power Rangers Time Force PR Lightspeed Rescue (Wild Force midseason)
2:30 Digimon Adventure 02 X-Men: Evolution
3:00 Dragon Ball Medabots
3:30 Dragon Ball Z Dragon Ball Z
Saturdays
7:00 Totally Spies
7:30 Power Rangers Time Force (Wild Force midseason)
8:00 Los Luchadores (Galidor midseason)
8:30 X-Men: Evolution
9:00 Digimon Tamers
9:30 Flint the Time Detective (Mon Colle Knights midseason)
10:00 Medabots
10:30 Transformers: Robots in Disguise
2002-2003
This would be the last hurrah for mornings with affiliates ending any morning cartoons, but afternoon would continue to be strong with old favorites and 4Kids' Kirby, Right Back at Ya! and Ultimate Muscle airing as Friday exclusives. Saturdays would stand against the competition with premieres of Beyblade, Transformers Armada and Dragon Ball GT (the first two were shows Fox would have had if it continued). Midseason would be powered by ninjitsu with the premieres of Power Rangers Ninja Storm and the much anticipated relaunch of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Mondays-Thursdays Fridays
6:00 Rescue Heroes Rescue Heroes
6:30 Dragon Tales Dragon Tales
2:00 Power Rangers Wild Force PR Time Force (Ninja Storm midseason)
2:30 Galidor Kirby, Right Back at Ya!
3:00 Digimon Tamers Ultimate Muscle
3:30 Dragon Ball Z Dragon Ball Z (Medabots midseason)
Saturdays
7:00 Totally Spies
7:30 Power Rangers Wild Force (Ninja Storm midseason)
8:00 Beyblade
8:30 X-Men: Evolution
9:00 Digimon Frontier
9:30 Dragon Ball GT
10:00 Medabots (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles midseason)
10:30 Transformers Armada
2002-2003
The final season I am going to do for this post, but in all honesty Fox Kids really could have lasted until at least 2009 with better decisions. The network would have done well to create their own original content or adapt popular kids properties (Captain Underpants, Mario, continued pushing the Marvel craze that cinemas were craving). This season would premiere Sonic X and Daigunder but Fox had enough hits with X-Men: Evolution, Digimon, Dragon Ball and Medabots dying down and Ninja Turtles, Totally Spies and Beyblade hitting up to keep going for a long time.
Mondays-Thursdays Fridays
2:00 Power Rangers Ninja Storm PR Wild Force (DinoThunder midseason)
2:30 X-Men: Evolution Kirby, Right Back at Ya!
3:00 Digimon Frontier Ultimate Muscle (Totally Spies midseason)
3:30 Dragon Ball GT Medabots
Saturdays
7:00 Totally Spies
7:30 Power Rangers Ninja Storm (DinoThunder midseason)
8:00 Beyblade VForce
8:30 X-Men: Evolution
9:00 Sonic X
9:30 Daigunder
10:00 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
10:30 Trasnformers Armada (Ultimate Muscle midseason)
So what do you think? Agree? Disagree? Please share. I had a lot fun doing this and I know that if this was a true alternate history about saving Fox Kids I would also have to do an alternate history of Fox Family...
Showing posts with label Fox Kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fox Kids. Show all posts
Friday, March 24, 2017
Saturday, March 2, 2013
10 Most Important Animated Series of the Animation Renaissance
The animation renaissance that I would date from 1982 to 1994 is my favorite era of entertainment. I was born in 1991 and grew up with the influence and impact of these cartoons. The renaissance is when animation was able to reach new audiences, new levels of success and heights of quality. The medium reestablished itself as an indispensable part of our culture. Here is a look at the most important animated series of this exciting period.
10. Tiny Toon Adventures (98 episodes, 1990-1992, Syndication and Fox Kids)
They're Tiny, they're Toony, they're all a really great. Tiny Toon Adventures was the first television cartoon that Steven Spielberg was a producer on. This was Warner Bros. animation's return to fame, the studio would reach heights they hadn't seen since the Termite Terrace shorts. Tiny Toons is unlike any other franchise update, it creates its own characters and identity while being true to the spirit and quality of the original Looney Tunes. The characters match up with Bugs and Daffy but are able to have their own identities and dynamics. Also this series features great appearances from the original Looney Tunes, bridging the two generations. This series is full of sight gags, pop culture irreverence and wit. It is everything that Warner Bros. does at their best.
9. Gargoyles (78 episodes, 1994-1997, Disney Afternoon and ABC)
Disney theatrical animation was the king of the animation renaissance, but the output of Walt Disney Television Animation was just as influential. The Disney cartoon with the biggest following is easily this action cartoon. The tight storytelling, heavy action and high quality designs were unseen in television animation. TV animation is normally economical and made for the assembly line, but everything about Gargoyles (the writing and the art) was an artistic endeavor. This show has a strong, dedicated fan base. The legacy of the show has continued in comics written by series creator Greg Weisman.
8. VeggieTales (48 episodes, 1993-present, Home Video)
Not a TV series like the rest of this, this was an original series for a whole different medium. VeggieTales is important because it was created by nonprofessionals for a market that was not being reached. The fun characters and funny gags were different from the sanitized, uncreative material that conservative Christians usually receive and they have supported the franchise for twenty years. The series with a message is so accessible that it has a large following outside of Christian children. It is rare to see animation used for something outside of money, but VeggieTales is continuing proof that the medium can be used for anything. It is also a great example of early successful computer animation.
7. Animaniacs (99 episodes, 1993-1998, Fox Kids and Kids' WB)
Tiny Toons brought Warner Bros. back, and the studio continued to improve with this fun series. Irreverent and wacky, Animaniacs pulls no punches and follows no formulas. It is a return to animation for the sake of fun and it really holds up. The series gifted us with great characters, jokes and really catchy songs. The series spun off into Pinky and the Brain, continuing the incredible collaborations of Spielberg and WB.
6. Batman: The Animated Series (85 episodes, 1992-1995, Fox Kids)
This is the best comic book adaptations have ever been. This is better than superhero movies and even superhero comics. This series had a great grasp on Batman in the characterization and the visual style of Gotham. The series was dark and mature, but exciting and fun enough to win over kids as well as adults. The universe was so real that it expanded into feature films and further adaptations of DC comics: Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond and Justice League. This show was so good that it did not stop with this show, the legacy of it is still being felt in the comic books.
5. DuckTales (100 episodes, 1987-1990, Syndication and Disney Afternoon)
Disney's greatest television success. It was made in a time when toyetic, cheaply produced assembly line animation ruled the airwaves and audiences responded with this change in quality. DuckTales had a high budget, the best animation a TV series could have and great characters. The series had varied adventures, rather than sticking to one formula. It kept the spirit of the Carl Barks comics, immortalizing Scrooge and his nephews and gifting the world with the breakout character of Launchpad. DuckTales was successful well into the nineties and is still remembered fondly today.
4. Ren and Stimpy (52 episodes, 1991-1996, Nickelodeon)
Television animation is rarely associated with an artist or creator, Ren and Stimpy is the exception. The star of the series was really the style and personality of John Kricfalusi. Animation die hards watched this series as well as mainstream children audiences. Today, Nicktoons are the most successful cartoons on television and that started in 1991. But while the other initial Nicktoons were runaway hits (Rugrats) or supported by the network (Doug), Ren and Stimpy was remembered as a great piece of animation. The surrealism and mature humor is still unlike anything in TV animation.
3. Adventures of the Gummi Bears (64 episodes, 1985-1991, NBC and ABC)
While this is one of Disney's best animated series it is hard to argue that it is better than DuckTales or Gargoyles. Other cartoons from Walt Disney Television Animation such as Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, Darkwing Duck and many others seem to have larger followings but this was the start of quality TV animation in general. Disney put money into the animation and storytelling, it was unlike the cheap efforts from Hanna-Barbera or the cheaper efforts of Filmation. Gummi Bears was when television animation became more than just a pastime or diversion for children. Gummi Bears' influence is still being felt today.
2. Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures (19 episodes, 1987-1988, CBS)
While this popular series only aired 19 episodes due to resistance from watchdog groups (in one of the most ridiculous controversies of all time), the field of animation was watching. Read any animation article or book from 1987 on and chances are this series will be mentioned. Animators and aficionados hold this show in such high regard because it was the first time on television that a cartoon was lead by an artist's vision. This was not made to sell toys, it was made to entertain by luminaries that believed in it. Ralph Bakshi, John Kricfalusi, Andrew Stanton, Bruce Timm, Rich Moore and many other animation luminaries worked on this show or got their start on it. The humor of the series led to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Ren and Stimpy, Animaniacs and many others. This series was pleasing to the eyes, the heart and the funny bone. It was short lived, but its influence was monumental.
1. The Simpsons (521 episodes, 1989-present, Fox)
This was not just a cartoon that was enjoyed by animation buffs. It was not just enjoyed by children. This was a pop culture phenomenon that everybody was watching. It had an older target audience, but found its way into pretty much every demographic. One of the few times that a cartoon had that large and lasting of a reach. The Simpsons is continuing today and holds a lot of weight worldwide. Definitely the most important television cartoon of all time.
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