Dec 20, 2006

Imagine If . . . I Explained That Section

I know people don't read my regular site like they used to. I think it has to do with the fact that Toonami only has one show worth watching. So, when I relaunched the Opinions section with the creation of BXT: The Flipside of TXB, I know people aren't really checking it out (either that, or they just don't want to tell me it sucks).

One of the flipside moments I have included is Imagine If, something I actually created back in September 2005. The reason I created that section is because I happen to be a history buff.

I know, I know, history can be boring to some people, but I find it fascinating. Animation and entertainment history are so enjoyable and kind of more relevant to my life. For instance, did you know that Nickelodeon and MTV were co-owned by Warner Communications? Did you know that Ted Turner almost bought CBS? Did you know that Hanna-Barbera was almost bought by Viacom and Warner Communications was almost bought by Paramount? Heck, a couple of years ago, Comcast almost bought Disney.

The crux of Imagine If was to think about these scenarios actually taking place. The entertainment world would be drastically altered in many ways.

Ted Turner merging CBS News with Cable News Network to create, well, CNN: The CBS News Network. Warner Bros. using MTV and Nickelodeon's resources to create a general entertainment cable network called The Warner Bros. Channel while Tiny Toons and Batman would make their world premiere on Nickelodeon. Nickelodeon developing a 24-hour animation channel created by Betty Cohen after Viacom buys Hanna-Barbera while producing new episodes of The Flintstones for Nick at Nite after the success of The Simpsons. Warner Bros. and Paramount, now jointly merged after Paramount buys Warner Communications, forming the country's fifth network, the Warner Paramount Network on January 1995.

These are the way things could have been had certain scenarios had taken place. Or at least that's what I would have done if I were in their shoes.

I also looked at what happened if certain events did and didn't happen, like if Saban kept distributing Dragonball Z, DiC continued Sailor Moon (and Fox Kids aired more than one episode of it), The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest had more than one season under its belt, USA continued airing the USA Cartoon Express, Williams Street was actually given their own channel, Fox Kids and Fox Family continued beyond 2002, and if Cartoon Network didn't create Toonami.

Things would be drastically different. Some could be pleased. Some could be disappointed. Huey Freeman said it best. It's fun to imagine.

And that's what I do.

One small postnote to end this post: Imagine if Bobobo-Bo Bo-Bobo was actually as popular as Naruto. Seriously, the title character alone has the potential to being under our Christmas tree (or as a Hanukkah gift) in the form of a Chia head. Ch-ch-ch-Chia Bobobo-Bo Bo!

Dec 11, 2006

The Birth of BXT and What It Means For Thoughtnami

In case you haven't visited The X Bridge in recent weeks, you probably didn't realize that I launched BXT, a new subsection of the Opinions section that is the flipside of what's normally talked about at The X Bridge.

I created BXT after realizing that although I'm kind of bored talking about just action-animation and "whitching and bining" about Cartoon Network over and over, I needed a forum to talk in a longer format, something that I couldn't do on a regular basis at Thoughtnami.

That whole Defending the 80s article couldn't be written here in full without taking up a huge chunk of the screen, and I know that readers may not have the patience to read a long screen of pictureless text. I hope Toon Zone doesn't mind. I just wanted to make an unfiltered section where I could just vent about everything.

That said, this is not the last post of Thoughtnami. I feel that this place has a lot of potential, perhaps as a place where I could be a little more personal with the readers, at least those that still check out TXB from time to time, not really the fareweather readers that only come to the site when something big happens in the world of Toonami and want to see what I might think of it. I like this place, and I feel it's a little side-project of sorts where I could just talk and have a little fun.

In this hectic world of ours, I need to have a little fun now and then. Hope we could have fun together.