Paging Drtooth

[Starchamberfall]

I wish I had some hummus.

 

[robodog]

All the bad cartoons listed are masterworks compared to Little Clowns from Happytown. I swear this existed in the 80s. I suffered through a couple episodes as a kid while waiting for something else to come on. They could replace waterboarding with forcing prisoners to watch episodes of this but truthfully waterboarding is the less cruel option. This POS made Strawberry Shortcake look like Batman:TAS. I hated it even as a kid and back then I'd sit through crap like Care Bears and My Pet Monster.

 

[Drtooth]

Heh... I'm not subjecting myself to that one.

That's probably one of the Off-Smurfs. There were so many of those terrible Smurf-like shows back then. Some I actually liked. I tried watching a Snorks a while back. I REALLY wanted to like it again, but it was so bland and generic.

I like the Smurfs and all, but somehow, I like it better as the original Belgian comic. I'm SOOOO glad we're getting those published at long last.

 

[robodog]

You are wise not to do so. Fortunately most of what I remember about it has been mercifully erased from my memory. Little Clowns From Happytown has always been my ace in the hole when talking to people who think 80s cartoons are the be all and end all of animation. Nothing from the 90s or 00s has ever been that insipid.

I never liked Snorks. Of all the miniature critter Smurf alike type shows that came around in the 80s the only one I like is The Biskitts. This may not be so much that it's a good show, but because I have a high tolerance for any show or movie involving dogs. It's my one weakness. If it has dogs as main characters I can't hate it. I've had this tremendous soft spot for dogs all my life. I've never seen a show or movie involving dogs that I didn't like at least a little bit.

 

[Drtooth]

You are wise not to do so. Fortunately most of what I remember about it has been mercifully erased from my memory. Little Clowns From Happytown has always been my ace in the hole when talking to people who think 80s cartoons are the be all and end all of animation. Nothing from the 90s or 00s has ever been that insipid.

Not that I remember, I don't think my whatever the heck network that aired it actually showed it in my area. However, I do remember either bad knock knock jokes or PSA's with those characters in it.

I never liked Snorks. Of all the miniature critter Smurf alike type shows that came around in the 80s the only one I like is The Biskitts. This may not be so much that it's a good show, but because I have a high tolerance for any show or movie involving dogs. It's my one weakness. If it has dogs as main characters I can't hate it. I've had this tremendous soft spot for dogs all my life. I've never seen a show or movie involving dogs that I didn't like at least a little bit.

Hanna and Barbera were geniuses when it comes to one thing... the motto of the studio was "put a dog in it and people will watch."

I'm no fan of real dogs, but cartoon dogs are my second favorite cartoon animal (after Ducks of course). I mean, Goofy, Scooby-Doo, Hong Kong Phooey, Ace Hart, Snoopy... you can't go wrong there.

Wanna know what the hardest animal to make a good cartoon character is? Monkeys. unless you pull it off right, Monkeys for humor is trying too hard. They are the funniest animal in nature, and there's something that you just can't replicate in animation to get the same feel. There are some great cartoon monkeys, sure... Captain Huggyface, Mr. Teeny, Coconuts of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. There aren't as many cartoon monkeys as there are dogs and ducks. Now, I stress monkey, not gorilla. Gorillas are pretty hit or miss too, but you can do some great things with gorillas. look at Gorilla Grodd.

 

[robodog]

You're right. If I'm remembering correctly the Little Clowns characters appeared in bumpers between shows on ABC Saturday mornings. The foul things were inescapable if you watched any cartoon on that network.

For the most part I'm not an animal person at all. Most pets seem to be more trouble than they're worth to me. But I love dogs with all my heart. One of my greatest fears is that I'll find myself in a position where I'll be unable to have a dog. I collect various dog robotic pets in case this ever happens. I need to have a dog in my life in some form even if it's a simple animatronic version that responds when I pet it. Dogs are probably the only thing that really makes me happy. If not for them I probably wouldn't be here. Suicide would look like a pretty good option without dogs.

Snoopy has been one of my heroes since I was very young and I'm glad you mentioned Ace Hart. I never missed an episode of Dog City if I could avoid it.

I get what you're saying about monkeys. They seem to lose something when trying to anthropomorphise them unless done right.

 

[minor muppetz]

Phineas and Ferb
Regular Show
Adventure Time
Adventures of Gumball
Batman Barve and the Bold (but first, you have to remember the campier 1960's and 70's Batman cartoons and get those thoughts of Batman TAS out of your head... then the true Magic can start)
Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc (Heaven help them if they refuse to make a second season after the cliffhanger they left on)
I give pretty good reguard for the Looney Tunes Show, but it's not for everyone
Mad is BRILLIANT! A million times better than that sad live action TV SNL ripoff, and MUCH closer to the magazine's roots.
WordGirl
WildKratts (especially if you like nature).

I agree that Regular Show, Gumball, The Looney Tunes Show, and Mad are all good shows, though I don't watch them all the time. I'm a bit surprised that Mad is included in the regualr Cartoon Network line-up as opposed to Adult Swim (If I had to give the magazine a rating I'd give it an R or at the lowest a PG-13). In fact I feel Regular Show would be better if it was an Adult Swim show, though I feel that's the channel's best current show (I feel The Looney Tunes Show and Gumball have similar humor to the show, though).

 

[Drtooth]

I'd wonder what Mad would have been like if it was on Adult Swim. So far, I find it highly superior to Robot Chicken in every context. I do like how Mad's parodying stuff that wouldn't be in the magazine at all, like Kung Fu Panda. And It's a million times better than MadTV ever was (even when it was good). It's very close to the original source material.

I've noticed that those shows are all "pre-adult Swim" for older kids, yet they aren't all that adult. That holds them back in a lot of cases... but these shows have genuine appeal beyond tweens. This was a revolution. Pre-teen/teen shows that weren't idiot pop stars that anyone could like... and best of all, ANIMATED!

Still, why the heck are those live action kid's shows still on the freaking channel?

 

[Drtooth]

I'm also going to add, on the subject of Adult Swim...

King of the Hill has no dang business being there.

I like KOTH and all, but it doesn't have that "thing" that AS shows have. Plus, it takes an hour out of the young adults programming for something you can see on just about every other cable channel. Now, I know someone's gonna say "what about Family Guy?" But without AS's hand in FG, we wouldn't have had the show comeback. So even though FG is on every single syndicated channel anyway, AS brought it back... plus, they have special uncut footage.

KOTH is like the animated version of Wings, in so much that it's on every channel syndicated out there anyway. Yes, we're all sorry it came to a satisfying ending and rode off into the sunset while it was on top, yet had 10 seasons under its belt... but putting it on AS makes about as much sense as the live action programming reruns they had for a while. Except for PeeWee... at least that's wacky enough to fit with everything else.

 

[Starchamberfall]

Worst-ever cartoons: with a shudder this 80's cartoon has come to mind, a low point for Western culture:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYs_GCy9PRk