Is Cartoon Network better now than it was in 2004-2006?

The mid-2000s seem to be a rather controversial time period for CN. If you go on You Tube, there are tons of comments from kids who grew up with CN City, miss it, and refer to it as the "Golden Age" of the network. They hate Stuart Snyder and want Jim Samples re-instated as the president of CN. They also consider the following shows to be "classics":

• Teen Titans
• Megas XLR (can't argue with this one)
• Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
• Totally Spies
• Atomic Betty
• Juniper Lee
• Code Lyoko
• Naruto
• Bleach
• Camp Lazlo
• My Gym Partner's a Monkey
• Squirrel Boy
• Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi
• Ben 10
• Class of 3000

I find this rather ironic, since some (though not all) of these shows were panned when they debuted (mostly on Retrojunk, Toon Zone, and other sites like that). "All of the new shows suck except for Foster's and Megas" was one of the common refrains.

On the other hand, you've got older viewerss who hate the mid-2000s era of CN and consider it to be the network's "Dark Ages," mainly due to the shows I mentioned above and their "political correctness" and overall bland feel. They hate Jim Samples and think Snyder pulled CN out of a huge slump. Which side are you on?

If you wanna refresh your memory, here are some bumpers/promos from that era: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF1-E56cU84

If there's four things CN had in '04-'06 that they don't have now, it's these:

• Re-runs of the '90s shows to keep people interested (Cartoon Planet got the boot recently).
• Slightly more variety in the schedule.
• More creative bumpers.
• More action shows.

edited 7th Oct '14 11:51:29 AM by ThePrequelsSuck

I have a lot of nostalgia for the City Era, plus i haven't watched much of CN since 2007 (barring Brave and the Bold, Secret Saturdays, Steven Universe, and a few episodes of Adventure Time). So by default, not that much.

Of course, the Cartoon Cartoons era was better than both, :p

My brain says yes but my nostalgia boner says no. I actually have more nostalgia for these years than the Cartoon Cartoon years.

I'm the opposite, as the classic Cartoon Cartoons, and the classic Nicktoons, were the shows that I watched when I was, like, 4-8 years old.

Eh. I have more fondness for the powerhouse era.

Even if the Powerhouse era was best, the question is whether or not the CN City era was better than what we have now.

Well tbh I think both eras aren't that great. City era had some decent shows, but a lot of forgettable/terrible ones. I rarely watch CN now but from what I've seen, the shows are average at best. Aside from Gumball maybe.

So I guess CN now is a bit better than the city era. But not by much. Though, the ads during mid 2000s beat the cringe-worthy ones current CN has.

edited 6th Oct '14 5:01:08 PM by teddy

I personally liked Nick more at the time, I wasn't the biggest fan of Cartoon Network, but it had some shows I really liked like Fosters and Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

And did Code Lyoko seriously not get any good reviews?! That show was da shit! It holds up well even today. Now, the first season was a bit odd with it not explaining anything really, and the fact that you could watch all the episodes out of order, but it was still good. Then Season 2 it Grew the Beard and moved on to be a really great series. It had great animation, both 2D and 3D, the English dub was great, had great characters, was really intense at points, and had parts that I couldn't believe aired past CN's censors.

I looked forward every day to getting out of school to watch it.

I now own the entire series, and binged it all in 3 days. It's so good!

Honestly, Cartoon Cartoon era was probably better, just because a lot of the shows in those years did suck. Although I have a huge nostalgia boner for this summer. That was the best!

Class of 300 had some really catchy songs

edited 6th Oct '14 5:29:44 PM by the8thdigidestined

I'm surprised you posted a link to THAT summer (2006) and not CN Summer 2005, which everyone seems to love (including Rebel Taxi 99). Most older CN fans think those bumpers you like (the ones with Fred Fredburger, Cheese, Ed, Billy, and Bloo doing stuff behind a red background) were cringeworthy.

edited 6th Oct '14 5:28:34 PM by ThePrequelsSuck

Eh, it's just the summer I remember the best. It had new episodes throughout the week, including Code Lyoko, which had ads for once. I also went on vacation for the first time that year, and I remember the billboards of Cheese and Bloo I saw while there.

I mostly just played video games. I liked that summer pretty much for the bumpers and Code Lyoko.

edited 6th Oct '14 5:35:05 PM by the8thdigidestined

these were good to decent shows.

these were ok to mediocre.

didn't see enough of these to have an opinion.

yeah no.

if these shows are any indication than that era was more of a mixed bag than anything else. nostalgia going strong.

It's a cycle dude. I know people who dislike the powerhouse era and prefer CN's ads before that era!

same can be said for Nick and Disney shows. Today's trash will be tomorrow's treasure. Or yesterday's trash will become today's treasure

edited 6th Oct '14 5:40:33 PM by teddy

Yeah, I know. I was just clarifying that my opinion isn't really the best because I mainly liked it for the nostalgia and the bumpers. Didn't actually watch much of the programming.

I also don't remember much of 2005.

Other than Code Lyoko, any other program on TV I would just watch reruns whenever they came on. Never really watched new episodes.

edited 6th Oct '14 5:40:51 PM by the8thdigidestined

Really? Do you know them in real-life, or on the Internet? How old are they?

Internet. Almost everyone that's an adult irl enjoys the powerhouse era with a few exceptions. They're typically in their mid to late 20s.

I'm 18 and don't remember that era at all. I've seen bits and pieces of the shows though, and they're all pretty good, definitely better than 2004-06 era.

Okay, as far as summers go, I do remember 2005 for that damn song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3As-rvNv0w

On what forums were these posted? Were they posted in 2003 or something, or were they posted recently? It's funny, I would expect 24–29 y/os to love the Powerhouse era most, considering they had at least part of their childhood/early teen years in 1996–2004.

edited 6th Oct '14 5:52:30 PM by ThePrequelsSuck

I remember that song!

x7 lol, I can see it now! Hey man, remember Johnny Test, man that stuff was da shiz!

You know, cartoons forums like toonzone or retrojunk. The years range. Some are early 2000s and some were around 2009 (Cn real..ugh).

I haven't seen any one saying this recently (2012-)

It's likes those comments on You Tube that have people saying they were 90s kids but were born in '98 lol

edited 6th Oct '14 6:14:16 PM by teddy

I find it hard to believe that people were still complaining about Johnny Bravo, Dexter's Lab, PPG, etc. replacing Looney Tunes, The Bob Clampett Show, Toon Heads, etc. in 2009, when CN Real had overtaken both lineups.

In my opinion Cartoon Network reached it's peak in the late 90's to early 2000's. From there it was a slow decline, until it hit rock bottom in the CN Real era. Since then I'd say the quality has gone up, though still a far echo from it's zenith.

Boomerang seems to constantly be "Cartoon Network as it was ten years ago", hence it's getting worse and worse.

It's kind of hard for me to say whether or not Cartoon Network has gotten better than it was in 2004-2006. I think both eras had some ups and downs for me. Like for the City Era, I did like shows like Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and Megas XLR but I didn't like the fact that they cancelled many older shows like Dexter's Laboratory or Samurai Jack. Also, for the current era, I like shows like Adventure Time and Regular Show but I didn't like the fact that they cancelled shows like Young Justice and Thundercats, the 2009 version. At least neither era had to go through the CN Real Era.

edited 7th Oct '14 2:56:00 AM by Rabbitearsblog

The answer to this thread is that people get older and nostalgia clouds their judgement of whatever they watched/read/listened to/played when they were younger. This applies to every era. Cartoons these days are not necessarily better or worse than when you were a kid ^note and many people who discuss these things online still are kids, even if they don't think they are—you're just not in its demographic of 7-12 year olds.

I was in High School during the City-Era so Cartoon Network was a bit of a mixed bag for me then. I loved Megas XLR, Fosters, and Billy and Mandy and found the rest of the cartoons to be pretty mediocre. I was pissed that Toonami lost it's After School block to Miguzi, but I did love the beginnings of it's Saturday run.

Cartoon Network during this period did do the Month of Miyazaki, which introduced me to Studio Ghibli movies, so that was definitely a plus in their favor.

I honestly think Cartoon Network as a whole is better now. They seemed to finally found their footing that they're comfortable with (even if it meant the DC Nation shows getting screwed over). The Toonami Revival has also been fantastic.