Nickelodeon Petition

[Yorick]

Tell you the truth, I hate the 70's a LOT more than the 80's. I actually like most 80's cartoons... especially the 1980's DIC era (Inspector Gadget, Dennis the Menace, Heathcliff, AND Mario? what's not to like there?) It's just a really awkward time when you learn the history. Plus, I object to giving any cartoon characters non-canonical children. Popeye and Son? I though Swee'Pea was his son. Not a blood relative, but he took him in. I can respect a lot of cartoon classic redux type stuff... I liked the 90's Woody Woodpecker for some reason... just... when they have kids the show focuses more on them. Plus, I gotta say I dug the 90's Pink Panther.

Good call on the 80's cartoons you like, and I agree it can be a bit of a stretch with the whole "here's a kid Popeye never knew about and a few for Pink Panther, too!" - ha. Great to hear you enjoyed the 90's Pink Panther!

I respect what [Filmation] did right there, but every animator that came out of it has horror stories. So basically it's a 2 sided deal. They were the only studio to keep cartooning in the US... problem was their budgets were stretched tight, they had all these deadlines, and they did just so many cartoons at once. I like a good portion of them... especially Fat Albert (their masterpiece, I feel) and their take on Mighty Mouse. I have NO love for their Tom and Jerry or Droopy Dog shorts (which would have been an ideal place to use animation they were unfortunately not capable of)... and I honestly never cared all that much for He-Man (I just preferred Thundercats). So, it is a mixed blessing if you think about it.

You make good points, and I can't argue with Thundercats! Also, Fat Albert is a great selection to call their masterpiece. Love that show! And I'm not sure if I saw their Tom and Jerry or Droopy, but I know there is some later Tom and Jerry I see on Boomerang the last few years that have a totally different feel from the originals...though I know it's hard to keep up a style when the decades/styles change, it was still a bit strange!

That said a LOT of people from Mighty Mouse The New Adventures came from the Filmation Mighty Mouse series... John K, Kent Butterworth, Tom Minton (as cartoon dorks know, the model for Brain of Pinky and the Brain), Eddie Fitzgerald.... only one who didn't work on it (or for filmation) was Ralph Bakshi... who worked with Mighty Mouse in the Terrytoon era.

That clip of the Snake gag episode of Mighty Mouse from Filmation made is seem like New Adventures was kind of a continuation of that mold (but with more freedom, I can tell from how you describe it).

In as much as I'm not a big Superman fan (sorry, but I'm with Bats), I find [Superman 96] a very well done amazing show. I really enjoyed it, especially Gilbert Gottfried as Mr. Mxyzptlk. Just... I always find Superman a little dry. I like him, but again... I'm going with Batman.

I like it too, and I actually never saw it until recently. LOL you never know where Gilbert will show up, and then when his voice come on the show - you know...obviously

 

[Drtooth]

I just realized something. Nick ALWAYS had tweencoms. heck, they wewre among the first to have tweencoms. Stuff like Salute Your Shorts (meh) and Hey Dude (blech). I rmember being stuck at an aunts house on a Sunday afternoon and getting bored to death by that stuff waiting for cartoons to come on.

And let's not forget SNICk minus Ren and Stimpy... what was it? Alex Mack, Pete and Pete, Roundhouse... I mean, I liked Pete and Pete and All That, but I always liked their cartoons better.

And I still disliked their preschool dubbed animes in the 80's. Too bad Doraemon could never have been on that network.

 

[Redsonga]

It's all well and good to say we're old and to 'got over it' but not everyone shares the same distaste of certain shows and thinks the same shows are classic or good shows to raise their children on. That doesn't make one side 'geeks' and the other side the light and the way..
It's fine and well to be well researched, but not wishing to know the background drama of animators and liking shows for their own sake is just as respectable IMHO .

I don't think liking or disliking certain shows makes anyone less of a fan of a channel (I loved Nick with things like Doug, Salute Your Shorts, Hey Dude but hated Ren and Stimpy) or that wanting older shows back is a fluffy dream made by those that don't 'get' what Nick is about. Of course we can never have it all back, and everyone knows they are older, but showing older shows in the time that they would be showing a re-run of the same episode of SB that even the fans may have gotten bored with isn't asking a lot IMHO. What they are missing I think, is that even though the shows are older, even though we are older, older shows still have value to be shown to this generation that may have never seen it before. They may actually *gasp* like it and learn things, or find the jokes funny. If they are raised with the idea that new series are always better and all older tv shows are boring and should never be given the time of day of course they are going to react that way when they are shown the shows/cartoons at an older age.
All and all, a re-run of something good and older that hasn't been seen on tv in ten years vs. something newer but so-so that was rerun six times in a week..I think a balance could be made without the new cartoons dying forever/the channel losing the money that one single re-run would bring :3. Maybe if they did a block of older cartoons like they use to, that was not shown at a weird hour no one ever watches, using the time normally taken up by a 7th SB or talking to the tv moment on Nick Jr. or Mickey's Clubhouse, Nick and Disney Channel might get a feeling of their history back.
It may lose them money to start with, but I think they would regain it in older customers loyalty, who in the end are the ones paying the cable bill to get the channel to even have their child watch any Nick or Disney channel to began with.
Channels don't have to be for us, but it would be nice if they understood we were still alive, or at the very least, that storytelling and animation as it was when we were alive to them, still has value that can outlast marketing kids as 'tweens':\.

P.S. Yes I'm one of those annoying lovers of the 80's dubbed anime that use to be on Nick Jr., and yes I know that isn't coming back ;3

 

[Yorick]

We're old... get over it.

Well, we all know that, but all of us still seem to agree that they used to do it better, whether we prefer the 80's or 90's. I don't think it simply comes down to what we grew up with - today's stuff isn't so great, overall. There are exceptions, of course, I do like certain new shows, etc...but that's not the point of this thread.

Besides... to me, Nick wasn't Nick until the 90's when they launched Nicktoons. Nick ALWAYS had live action programming AND animation... just we're getting more of the former and less of the latter.

And frankly, I'm in the small minority that thinks that 1980's Nick (outside of You can't Do That on Television and Pinwheel... that's all I saw at my friends house) was overrated. Noozels? David the Gnome? I just wanted them OVER so I could watch DangerMouse or Count Duckula... and I never did until I watched them online 20 years later. No. Doug, Ren and Stimpy, Rocko, Angry Beavers... that's where it's AT!

Think of what you said up top about being old. Perhaps you never liked David the Gnome or Noozles even as a really small child, but I'm surprised about that. They were really good shows for children. They weren't violent, they were more gentle, but they were not dumbed down by ANY means. And these were great adventures! It was a magical time, honestly. They were a lot more cerebral and thoughtful (with tolerance, caring for the environment, and animals and other lessons) than the stuff they cram down their throats now. However, I agree with you on Pinwheel, Danger Mouse and Duckula being good. LOVE Duckula. Never saw YCDTOTelevision.

I'm going to make comments on 90's stuff you mentioned, but I promise it's not just to be defiant! LOL These are my true thoughts. By the third Doug episode I lost interest. He's too whiny about everything. Ren and Stimpy are great, Rocko was pretty cool, Angry Beavers too...but better than the previously mentioned stuff? More popular, and well remembered, yes. I will lose this once again, as a popularity contest, but as for content, and quality, I maintain that there's something special (and if I must choose, easily better, with much more heart) with the 80's stuff. But heart isn't everything, I know - sometimes you just want to laugh - and then the 90's is your time. I find some of it a bit dumbed down at times (but not like today where it's REALLY dumbed down) but as stated by Redsonga, we all have our own thoughts on this stuff and are entitled to them, as I know we'd all agree.

 

[JJandJanice]

See when someone says "oh that channel use to be better" it's because it's what THEY GREW up with. It's actually somewhat debateable over whether or not Nick use to be better. A lot of us here would probably say Nick use to be better, but if you found a young preteen that watches Nick, I'm sure that preteen wouldn't want to change Nick for anything.

See I don't think you guys totally understood what DrTooth means by "We're getting old...get over it" and perhaps took that in a bit of a more "hurtful" way than I image DrTooth meant. I mean I don't want to speak for the man, cause he's more than able to speak for himself. But I'm pretty sure what he meant by that statement is that Nick or Disney channel for matter ISN'T trying please us older fans in their 20s and 30s. They're still making money off what their doing now bringing in younger kids. Some of us take that a little harder than we should, cause we want it to be the same as it was when we were teens and preteens, but the fact is Nick probably won't do quite as well.

See and saying "this channel should play this show like they use to and maybe kids today would like it" is a bit silly. I mean like I said, Nick's format, while not our cup of tea, is doing just fine for them...for now.


I for one totally agree with DrTooth on the 90s being the best era for Nick.

 

[Redsonga]

See when someone says "oh that channel use to be better" it's because it's what THEY GREW up with. It's actually somewhat debateable over whether or not Nick use to be better. A lot of us here would probably say Nick use to be better, but if you found a young preteen that watches Nick, I'm sure that preteen wouldn't want to change Nick for anything.

That's the thing, many of them never get even the choice to like anything more than what ever they are shown on the channel today, are they? Not like, just a one day 'which is better? If you pick the old ones everything new goes away forever!' test, but a longer one?
If they never see anything else how can they know if they like a show/storytelling style, not maybe better than the shows on today, but equally? For example, there are some cartoons for the 30's Disney showed me as a child I still love just as much to this day because to me, they are good. It didn't matter they were made generations ago or what my peers thought.
I just think, well that freedom to pick favorites among generations of animation and sitcoms should be open for everyone on tv, younger viewers most of all. You can't like or dislike something you don't even know exists after all

cause we want it to be the same as it was when we were teens and preteens, but the fact is Nick probably won't do quite as well.

I don't think wanting to share one or two good shows to a new generation once an a while where a 7th re-run of a newer show would be is like asking for the whole channel to go back to 1993 . I really don't think it would hurt them that much...

 

[JJandJanice]

Actually kids DO have a choice as to let Nick or whatever channel know what they like or don't like. If they don't like whatever show Nick puts on the air, it's not like anyone is forcing them aganist their will to watch it, they could very easily change the channel or go outside. If you really want to share an older show to a younger generation, than you're best bet would be to buy the DVDs or pay your cable company the extra ten bucks a mouth to get the Nicktoons Network.

And honestly saying you like Disney cartoons from the 1930s (I think that's what you meant) like say...Snow White and the Seven Drawfs is actually pretty different than trying to get kids to enjoy cartoon shows from the 80s and 90s. You have to remember animated movies back than and even today, have to be made to please current and furture generations in order to still make money. That's why people 15 years later are still going on about how much they love Toy Story, heck it's easy to find kids that were born in 2007 that love the first Toy Story and that was made in 1995. TV cartoons however are for the most part, made to please their CURRENT fanbase, esp cartoons that were made to please kids. A lot of those jokes from said shows might go over the younger fanbase's head.

Plus another VERY IMPORTANT factor that you guys are either overlooking and/or don't seem to understand how truly important it is, is sponsers, that's right as in MONEY. Most sponsers would rather pay top dollar to nick for a show that's currently popular like ICarly or Spongebob, cause they know a LOT of kids are watching, they wouldn't be so quick to sponser a show that hasn't aired on Nick in ten plus years. Those older shows might not be in the money ICarly brings in right now and like I said in another past post, MONEY IS IMPORTANT.

The original idea for this thread was a petition to get Nick to stop airing the shows that they currently air, cause some 11 year old kid doesn't like them. Sorry but that's just annoying fanboy whinning. Saying I want this channel to be like it was back than is selfish. I'm not at all a fan of what Nick shows nowadays other than Spongebob and Penguins of Madagascar, but to go on the net and complain that they should be showing shows that I liked as a kid like Angry Beavers or whatever would be selfish on my part.

Look it's like this, if there was a problem with Nick's programming they would fix it. And we I say a "problem" I don't mean "oh well us older fans don't like what you're showing," I mean that Nick isn't making any money off there current shows problem, which they are making good money. Again, we may not be fans of what Nick shows, but again NICK ISN'T TRYING TO PLEASE US. They still have a large fanbase. It's on the same level of some of us here, complaining about how Sesame Street shows too much Elmo. Sure it may not be us "older fans" cup of tea, but Elmo sells, kids today LOVE Elmo. It's pretty silly and downright selfish to get all worked up over things like that.

 

[Redsonga]

I was talking more about the 30's cartoon shorts than the films, but okay :3.
Anyway, I still don't think asking for a little bit of the older shows is a selfish thing that I am suggesting just for my own benefit. I honestly think some shows/shorts are very timeless (not just because I grew up with them, some of them were very old when I was born), and they seem to, from what I've learnt letting friends children watch my DVDs, stand the test of time very well.
It's a sad world if every single episode or short has to have a sponsor to even be shown for a half hour vs. a single episode of Spongebob that, even though it may be the best thing ever (and don't get me wrong I say this loving Spongebob), has been shown over and over again to the point of death where even the little ones have gotten bored of it and are playing outside (true story).

It would be selfish if we said that nothing but old shows should be shown (I don' think any one is really saying that besides maybe the topic starter), but I don't think it is selfish to want to raise children to be exposed to more series/cartoons and pick from a more varied line up. I'm just thinking of those families who can't afford the classic Nick channel or many DVDs...
For what it is worth, that is why I have a big collection, to *share* it with everyone ...
Where tv fails, people can help I guess...

All and all though, there are sillier things we could be worked up about. As far as talk on forums being selfish, it's not like it is actually going to seriously effect the line up. I am realistic, I know these things don't happen unless the people running the channel think there is a problem...
The funny thing is depending on who is running things they seem to see different things as a problem toward getting money, and fix things that don't need to get fixed, or try to follow a fad for the wrong reason and then wondering why it failed if they put it on at a weird time *lol*
They are their own brand of silly :3.

 

[frogboy4]

I think kids are programmed by advertising to discard anything old and go after the new shiny-surfaced items. That can and should be counteracted in the home. As always, I blame absentee parents...or just the ones with bad taste.

 

[Redsonga]

I think kids are programmed by advertising to discard anything old and go after the new shiny-surfaced items. That can and should be counteracted in the home. As always, I blame absentee parents...or just the ones with bad taste.

I agree . I mean, if left to their own many children will be just as happy with old toys and empty boxes.
I'm not saying throw out the new for the old, I just mean a little more of the old isn't going to kill the new .
I guess when all else fails if someone has a family but not a lot of money and wants to see things that tv isn't showing anymore they could stop getting cable and just rent and stream with Netflix to see/share a bit more of everything (muppets, Looney Tunes, even Dora if they love that) ...