Thoughtnami™

I was writing a post about who I would consider to be worthy of the television equivalent of Mount Rushmore when I heard about the passing of Ted Turner on May 6, 2026. He would definitely be on that hypothetical monument (which I will get back on later), so I do have a reason to say a few words about a man who changed television and, in a way, the world as a whole. Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III was probably one of the most important figures of the 20th century whom more people should respect more than they do.  He was man of peace.  A man of vision.  A creative man.  An arrogant man.  An imperfect man. A humbled man.  I didn't know Ted Turner personally as many of my peers have, but I know what he had accomplished in his life and what he had created and achieved. He transformed his late father's advertising company into a radio and television operator and took a hell of a gamble and transmitted WTCG TV-17, a small Atlanta-based independent station, into s...

January 31, 2007, is a day that would live in infamy in Adult Swim's lore. On that day, an ad agency hired by Cartoon Network installed LED light panels featuring Mooninites from the Adult Swim series Aqua Teen Hunger Force throughout several major cities, most notably Boston, Massachusetts, to promote a movie based on the series.  The light panels were placed in random points throughout the city that people felt they were explosives, and this caused a bit of a panic. A lot of chaos and fallout came out of that incident that would ultimately lead to the craziest cycle of events in media history to the point of having a pair of media juggernauts, a nepo baby-lead company that has completely ignored the media company he just bought and a tech company that has altered the film and television industries this century, are fighting each other for control of the biggest media company on the planet, Warner Bros Discovery. It's a wild ride, so let me try to explain each domino as much ...

 I have seen a madman completely destroy a major American institution to build a bloated, gaudy monument to themselves thanks to billionaire friends largely flipping the bill.  But this article is not about what the current Administration has literally done to the White House.  This is about how David Ellison destroyed Paramount to create a media empire that conservatives have only dreamed about thanks to his billionaire daddy largely flipping the bill, radically changing CBS News into a conservative-leaning propaganda group and canceling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.  Even after that, he wants to buy a second, much larger media company, Warner Bros Discovery, to solidify himself as the Big Media Thanos that rules Hollywood and the complete backing of the Administration. Let me be abundantly clear.  I don’t want ANYBODY to buy Warner Bros Discovery. At all.  I don’t want Comcast to buy them. I don’t want to see a tech company like Netflix, Amazon, or ...

Do you watch Cartoon Network? I have to ask this question because I get the feeling a lot of folks who claim to be fans of the channel really don't. The ones who have been so vocal about the latest news , especially in regard to the library and studio (who kind of missed the news that both were folded into Warner Bros Animation back in 2023 as well as literally anything regarding the network itself since then ) and the latest from Comcast saying they're dropping Cartoon Network from Xfinity's Core linear package and putting it in the More Sports and Entertainment package for an additional $10 a month where it'll be included with fellow WBD network TCM and NBA TV as well as NFL Network, NFL Red Zone, Big 10 Network, CBS Sports, and Military History Channel starting on August 12. Oh, and DirecTV dropped Cartoon Network from its entertainment-only package but kept Adult Swim there (they literally air nothing in that channel space from 5 PM to 6 AM E/P every day now).  They...

Hey, remember last month when I talked about the rumored split of Warner Bros Discovery and how I'd think it would go down even though I had doubts it would happen? Well, it's no longer a rumor. It's happening , and yeah, it's not going down like I hoped it would. You remember when you were a child, you were told to not touch a hot stove because it would burn you and hurt you? Hopefully, you weren't one of those kids who decided to touch it anyway. If you did, I hope you learned your lesson and never did it again.  Unless you're a weirdo who loved the pain and the scent of burning flesh. The C-suite of the soon-to-be-divided Warner Bros Discovery are apparently these kinds of weirdos. So... what's the breakdown? Warner Bros is cutting off Discovery. And the Turner channels, including CNN. And Bleacher Report.   They're keeping TNT Sports globally but getting rid of it domestically. As I said, sports is big business around the world, so the Streaming/St...

A couple of weeks ago, I began writing an article after reading  a recent interview   Puck 's Matthew Belloni had with HBO's Casey Bloys about the current direction of the MAX streaming platform . And I put it off because something was off in the air. About a week later, I started to rewrite that article after reading  a feature story from Bloomberg Businessweek 's Felix Gillette about the current woes of the Cartoon Network brand . Both articles had a lot to be desired to say the least. People like to paint Casey Bloys as some kind of wunderkind at HBO, and yes, his reputation at the network over the past two decades speaks volumes for how the HBO brand has evolved and changed. But in Belloni's interview, Bloys came off like an aloof numb who just seemed to be parroting what his superiors tell him to. Belloni suggested to Bloys that Netflix should sub-brand their content the way HBO and others within the WBD serfdom do, but Bloys just blew it over. I should note that ...

Here's Part Four, which celebrates Warner Bros' Black history from 1994 to 2003.This was one of the most groundbreaking years for Black talent and characters across the company. Powerful stories, memorable characters, and great entertainment that still endures today. As with my previous three rewinds, I had to add a few titles I missed from last year's initial social media posts.  With that out of the way, on with the show. Natasha Irons (Steel), DC Comics, 1994 "We don't discriminate. We'll use a hammer or a particle beam, whatever gets the job done." John's niece Natasha Irons has become just as much as a hero as her uncle, even donning the Steel name herself as well as making her mark as one of DC Comics' LGBT heroines.   The Wayans Bros , 1995 The Parent ‘Hood , 1995 On January 11, 1995, The WB Television Network launched, and the very first series to air on the young network was The Wayans Bros , a sitcom about a pair of brothers played by Sha...

  Here's Part Three, which celebrates Warner Bros' Black history from 1984 to 1993.As you'll see, plenty of Black stories featuring Black talent truly emerged in this decade. Purple Rain , 1984 Krush Groove, 1985 The Oscar-winning Purple Rain (1984) and cult classic Krush Groove (1985) are two films with all-star talent that embodied the growing impact of the Black experience in music in the 1980s. Funk, R&B, rap, and hip-hop are all still part of our collective souls today. The Color Purple (Warner Bros/Amblin, 1985) "I'm poor, Black, I might even be ugly, but dear God, I'm here. I'm here." 1985's The Color Purple was a critically-acclaimed drama from Steven Spielberg based on Alice Walker's novel. The legacy of this timeless film remains strong today. Should have won tons of Oscars. Amanda Waller (DC Comics, 1986) "Good guys. Bad guys. Whatever they are, they are all just one thing to me: assets." DC Comics' Amanda Waller ...