Thoughtnami™

A recent thread at the mothership convinced me to write this, so here goes: I'm young (29), but some things make me feel like an old-ass man, especially a lot of shows and movies that have come out as of late. But if I had to choose three movies that defines MY generation . . . that's kind of tough, especially since I have to pick just three. I know it's a magic number, but it's kind of limited, you know? I guess I'll start with Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I was a little kid when this movie initially came out in theaters, but as a young teen, this movie spoke to me like no other movie had before at the time. A recent conversation a lot of us mods had in the super extra secret room we have around here really made me appreciate the movie even more. The protagonist wasn't a label, that is, he wasn't a nerd, a geek, a jock, a preppy, a goth, a class clown, a slacker, a drama student, et. al. He was simply Ferris, a guy who pretty much has his life together, o...

G4 (you know, the channel that killed TechTV a couple of years ago that has nearly zero viewers) has acquired broadcast rights to two of the 21st century's most iconic series so far, ABC's Lost and NBC's Heroes. The Comcast-owned network has rights to strip Heroes and Lost daily in a few years, but Heroes premieres in a few weeks on the channel. Cartoon Network, which is one of the most watched channels on cable (currently number seven) is investing funds in developing new live-action properties as well as spending money to acquire older shows. Comcast is giving G4 a ton of money, which allows them to make eye-opening purchases like that. Time Warner gives Cartoon Network a very limited amount of money, since they do generate ad revenue on their own, which is used for proudctions and on their own third-party acquisitions. I'm not saying I wanted Heroes or Lost to air on Cartoon Network (because I really don't), but the deal does show that Comcast is willing to provi...

I haven't had cable for six months now, but strangely, I'm not missing it. No extra-high bill for limited programming choices. No clatter of talking heads talking about nothing. And best of all, no dents in my walls from the idiotic changes at . . . you know where. However, in the light of tonight's season premiere of The Boondocks on Adult Swim tonight, I feel that I need to talk about the things I do miss about cable, in no particular order: - Adult Swim: Well, there's a stretch. Adult animation with humor and action. Uncut Family Guy (compared to the abomination in syndication right now, ugh), Venture Brothers, Robot Chicken, The Boondocks, Frisky Dingo, and others made my week complete. - Doctor Who on Sci-Fi and Torchwood on BBC America: I missed the entire third season of the Doctor's adventures through time and dimensions and the first season of the raunchier, darker spinoff on BBC America. - USA Network's original programs: Monk, Psych, The 4400, and The...

Sprinter. Hurdler. State champion. National champion. Hall of famer. Olympic gold metalist. Until last week, LaTasha Colander was all of these. She won a gold metal in the 4X400 Meter Relay at the Sydney Olympics of 2000. And she was fast. She was always fast as long as I knew her. We weren't friends in the traditional sense. We had common friends at Wilson High, but we rarely came across each other in the halls. She was a year ahead of me as well. But my school and my city was proud of her and her efforts. In 2000, the city gave here a homecoming parade to celebrate her Olympic victory. My then three-year old cousin even posed with her and wore the gold metal around his neck (I would have shared this photo with you, but some bastard stole my photography portfolio, which included the photo AND the negatives, that semester). It was a proud moment for Woodrow Wilson High School (where Perry Ellis held his first ever fashion show and where Missy Elliott first performed) and a grander ...

It was unbearably hot today. Almost sticky hot. Remainder of the week likely to be just as hot. Today's weather got me to thinking . . . isn't Christmas and the holiday season just a mere two months away? I know it is because, it is October, and stores are already stocking Christmas products in the stores. Lights, stockings, wrapping paper, garland, wreaths. They're in stores right now. Thought that people were supposed to be "declaring a war on Christmas." At least, that's what I heard from egotistical, smug folks on talk radio. Something I urge you not to do. Listen to talk radio. Speaking of people talking and yet saying nothing, why do people with webpages still post under pseudonyms? Are they ashamed of who they are or are they just afraid to reveal themselves? I know I was guilty of hiding behind a comic book character's name for a number of years online, at least on forums. Of course, nowadays, I post freely. I'm proud of what I write, for the m...

Remember that Looney Tunes cartoon with a mouse tormenting this cat throughout it, and the mouse kept on calling the cat "Sucker!"? Well, I'm going to reenact a scene, sort of. Playing the role of the cat, The CW Television Network, who handed over control to their lucrative Saturday morning block to a competitor, 4Kids Entertainment, who is, again for the uninitiated, THE WORST ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY ON THE PLANET. And playing the role of the mouse, moi . Say, "cat," have you seen the latest ratings reports? Yeah, I know, ratings are a generally a joke, but this week, the joke's on you. Presenting, this weekend's ratings for ages 6 - 11. Kids' WB vs. 4KidsTV 8 AM (all times Eastern): KWB: Tom and Jerry Tales 1.4/7 4KT: Adrenaline Project 0.4/4 8:30 AM: KWB: Tom and Jerry Tales 1.8/8 4KT: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX 0.7/3 9 AM: KWB: Skunk Fu! 1.6/7 4KT: Chaotic 1.2/5 9:30 AM: KWB: Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get A Clue - 1.6/7 4KT: Fast Forward - 1.3/6 10 AM: KWB: Eon Kid...

As you've probably heard by now, 4Kids Entertainment, again, The WORST ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY IN THE WORLD, is now going to control 2/5 of Saturday morning programming on broadcast television after The CW handed them control of their Saturday morning block currently housed by Kids' WB. 4Kids is managing all aspects of both The CW and Fox in the 2008-09 season. Now, Bruce Rosenblum, president of Warner Bros. Television, gave a statement yesterday to Variety Magazine essentially spinning the story of his division's apparent laziness and lack of confidence. He didn't say so much, but I broke down what he said for those that refuse to pay attention. His words are quoted. My translations aren't. "Clearly, this was an issue that we examined closely with our partners at CBS." The same CBS Paramount Television that has access to a library of characters, including classic properties like TerryToons and television properties that could have been adapted to animated f...

I'm sure you've heard by now that 4Kids Entertainment, the WORST COMPANY IN THE WORLD (not to be confused with the MOST POORLY RAN ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY IN THE WORLD, which is still Time Warner), has a new knotch in its belt. Starting in the fall of 2008, 4Kids will program the Saturday morning block on The CW. That's right, Kids' WB is about to go the way of Fox Kids, literally. And they're going to continue to program Fox's Saturday morning block at the same time which begs the question whether this is legal. But something popped in my head a few moments ago, so excuse me if it's not totally coherent: What if Time Warner is about to turn Cartoon Network into Kids' WB? I mean, the Kids' WB name and brand, like the Cartoon Network name and brand, are valuable assets to Time Warner, and since the KWB name isn't going to be used on the Saturday morning block on The CW after next season, they, meaning the idiots at Time Warner, might attach the name...

Remember what Cartoon Network and Boomerang promos used to look like before they got stupid? I found out where the spirit that guided Cartoon Network for nine of its 15 years went to. It's in Canada. Today, ironically 15 years after ol' checkerboard launched, Teletoon launched their own classic animation station, Teletoon RETRO. Oh, and here's the promo: As you can see, it's very much like Cartoon Network pre-Time-Warner. Cheap but fun. And boy, is that fun. It launched at 6 PM today, and I wish it much luck in the future. Wish I could see it.

It's hard to believe it's been 15 years since Droopy pushed the Acme dynamite plunger launching the world's first all-animation channel called Cartoon Network. Twenty-four hours of cartoons was a radical concept back in 1992. Fifteen years later, it seems to be an even more radical concept since there are only a handful of all-animation channels on the air worldwide. Cartoon Network isn't one of them anymore. Since 2005, Cartoon Network has been pushing an agenda of live-action to gain viewers. The network that has been the exclusive home of Looney Tunes and the home of Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, Toonami, Adult Swim, Samurai Jack, Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, and other cartoons is now the home of live-action properties like Out of Jimmy's Head and Goosebumps, not to mention older movies with very little connection to animation. I remember my first time looking at Cartoon Network. I remember my last time looking at Cartoon Network. So, ...