Boomerang dead?

Good idea, but I don't like the aspect that you have to order the channel to get the online service. It can do better as a standalone service; there are classical animation fans who don't have cable, after all.

"You can run, but you can't hide from the Buzzinator!"

I like the idea of a premium online streaming service for classic cartoons. If I was to run such a thing, I'd even have a couple series free at any time to peruse, with the available series rotating in and out. Like having Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? and The Snorks free this month, Wacky Races and Bugs Bunny cartoons next month, and Daffy Duck cartoons and The Flintstones after that. Some series, of course, would always be behind the paywall outside of maybe a few episode clips, but there'd be enough that you could tempt new customers.

Reminder: Offscreen Villainy does not count towards Complete Monster.

Although at the same time, given that the elderly are more likely to be watching TV (if not any one specific show) than any other demographic, you'd think Boomerang would have its niche. I know my Grandpap used to like watching Tom and Jerry up until about a year before he passed, and hell, Comcast bumping TCM off of the basic lineup was enough to get BOTH of my grandparents' households to change service: mom's parents got Comcast Digital and dad's parents moved to Directv

But then that would limit Boomerang's appeal range to 50s Hannah Barbera at best, when the real meat for me comes from 90s H-B and some of the 70s and 80s action cartoons.

Who in the hell has the rights to Challenge Of The Superfriends? I want to see that again.

Challenge Of The Superfriends should be lock, stock, and barrel under the control of Warner Bros. On the character side, they own DC Comics. On the animation side, the cartoon was by Hanna-Barbera. All of H-B was bought by Turner, which merged with WB years ago. In short, I think the only barriers to putting Superfriends on the air would be whoever's in charge of programming at Cartoon Network.

EDIT: And according to the trope page, there is a DVD release, so it's not impossible to track down to this day.

edited 18th Nov '14 11:29:22 AM by 32_Footsteps

Reminder: Offscreen Villainy does not count towards Complete Monster.

Ah, but you forget one thing: All the heads at Warner Bros hate each other and will fight tooth-and-nail to kill and sabotage any and every cross-department work.

Of course, don't you know anything about ALCHEMY?!- Twin clones of Ivan the Great

Right. Despite all the brand ownership and whatnot, it was The Hub that had syndication rights for Superman TAS, Batman Beyond, and Batman TAS, Cartoon Network could only run the first two seasons of The Batman (and that was screwy because i never even KNEW that the series ran any longer than two seasons becuase i only ever saw it on CN or Boomerang) and there seemed to be rerun issues with Boomerang and Justice League, as they were only rerunning the very last season, last i saw it on there.

Rights issues can be confusing. For example, WB can and has aired the chuck norris and mr t cartoons (theyre even out on dvd), but several of the scooby doo "movies" cant be released due to certain actors/estates not signing off (or rights deals involving the copyrighted characters not owned by Turner or WB). Same for the tv/movie adaptations (Jeannie, Fonz and the Happy Days gang, Laverne and Shirley in the Army, Mork and Mindy, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures). Then there's the 60s fantastic four cartoon and the 70s "thing rings" cartoon, and i dont have any idea who owns those.

edited 18th Nov '14 1:55:49 PM by R79

It's almost 2015. The 90s WERE twenty years ago. I know that many of the self-proclaimed "90s kids" refuse to acknowledge or simply didn't remember 1990-1994 (which sets my teeth on edge, by the way), but they can just wait a few years.

I disagree. If the networks would just look beyond their precious 18-49 demo, they'd find huge audiences. Money is money.

80s-90s nostalgia is so redundant nowadays. How about some other eras?

Supports cartoons being cartoony!

Right. Despite all the brand ownership and whatnot, it was The Hub that had syndication rights for Superman TAS, Batman Beyond, and Batman TAS, Cartoon Network could only run the first two seasons of The Batman (and that was screwy because i never even KNEW that the series ran any longer than two seasons becuase i only ever saw it on CN or Boomerang) and there seemed to be rerun issues with Boomerang and Justice League, as they were only rerunning the very last season, last i saw it on there.

And the licenses for Cartoon Network's comics adaptations, which used to be under DC's umbrella, now are mostly split between IDW Comics and Boom! Comics. So it kinda goes both ways.

A lot of the 90's kids who proclaim it the loudest weren't even born during those years.

How is it redundant?

I wouldn't consider anyone born after 95 to be a "90s kid" and I'm being generous. 1985-1993 is probably a better frame for "90's kid" 90-93 might as well be a 90s/00s hybrid. Old enough to remember the 90s, young enough that you still had your childhood in the early noughties.

Well, in about 5-10 years you're gonna be seeing a lot more 2000s nostalgia, then 10 years later 2010s nostalgia, and in each decade probably some more '80s and '90s nostalgia because the nostalgia cycle typically goes back 20 years and remembers the nostalgia of the decade it remembers (which is likely why we had a brief '70s revival for a few short moments in the past couple years), inevitably getting weaker each time (which is why we're not seeing a resurgence of '50s nostalgia like there was in the '70s).

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

I dunno there's no real nostalgia for 50's tv shows or music but we still hear the

"Oh my God life was so much better back in the 50s ignoring the segregation, nobody talking about domestic violence, divorce being taboo leading to unhappy marriages, teenage pregnancies being hush hush, etc etc etc"

Yeah, but only stupid and ignorant people say that.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

I see a lot of things online and even on tv that dedicated only to shows in that era. Odd1 is right though.

I enjoy many 50s cartoons and other things from that era to a lesser extent like movies. Wouldn't mind seeing more of them on Boomerang. Along the side of other classic cartoons. I obviously wasn't born then, but I appreciate the majority of the entertainment that came from then. Even with its cons..

edited 18th Nov '14 9:27:06 PM by teddy

Supports cartoons being cartoony!

Yeah, that's VERY generous. I was born in October 1983. I was six when the 90s started and sixteen when they ended. That's the ultimate 90s kid. I don't refer to myself as an 80s kid, because those few years really didn't shape my youth the way the 90s did.

I hate it when I'm in the middle of an online conversation about great kid things from the decade with people my age and some youngster chimes in with "And POKEMON! Don't forget Pokemon!"

I agree!

See my above post https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=14161565690A61589600&page=2#38

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

Being that I was a teen in the 90's, nostalgia for it seems kind of strange. Sure, I liked the music of that era a bit more than since then, but to say that things were better overall back then? Just to take cartoons for an example (since this is the Western Animation subforum), sure, I was a kid still when Animaniacs came out - and to enjoy that while it came out was a blessing. At the same time, though, let's keep in mind that Yo Yogi! was from the same era, and that was badly dated the second it came out. Back then had just as much crap as now; it was just packaged a bit differently.

For the rights issues... okay, granted, there are sometimes rights issues related to individual pieces (such as music or voice work) from certain works that might still keep certain works out of circulation (the number of series that saw DVD releases due to residuals for the performers is immense, after all). But given that Challenge of the Superfriends did get a release, I think the rights for that, at the very least, have been cleared up.

I think one problem that nostalgia channels have is that people frequently only have limited appetites for nostalgia. Sure, I'd reliably tune in if the old Disney Afternoon block (yes, I know, not even remotely appearing on Boomerang, but I can't lean on the same shows as examples each time), but only for certain shows (Duck Tales, TaleSpin, and Darkwing Duck) while completely skipping others (yeah, others can savor Goof Troop and Bonkers; I'm good without them). And even then, I'd get tired of watching the same stuff repeatedly and switch the channel eventually.

edited 19th Nov '14 8:57:39 PM by 32_Footsteps

Reminder: Offscreen Villainy does not count towards Complete Monster.

And people who missed the point of Mad Men.

I think i'd prefer an on-demand service like hulu, netflix, wwe network, simpsons world, etc for classic animation. That way you're not tied down to a schedule and can watch a specific episode whenever you want. And yes, hulu and netflix do have some classic animation (though not enough IMO).

That seems like the best idea for an nostalgia channel.Problem is that I don't think people would want to pay money for something with such a small library unless it was more than just one channel.

My Tumblr "If theirs one thing I'm good at, it's blowing" Jesse Cox 2013

Eh, one of the things I like about channels like Boomerang is the chance of being introduced to something I hadn't heard of. You don't get that when you actually need to seek out the shows yourself.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

Could be fixed with a "related" or "recommended" function. Then once you've watched an episode of The Flintstones, it recommends an episode of The Roman Holidays.

Edit: Though i'll add that your critique is the very reason i prefer TV to streaming: much more passive experience, turn it on and watch what's on, not constantly hunting for new stuff to play.

edited 19th Nov '14 3:30:33 PM by Ogodei

Believe me, I know. It doesn't help that so many things were packaged "TO THE EXTREME!" in the mid-90s. I now realize how annoying that was. Every decade had its crap. People just tend to view the past with rose tinted glasses. That being said, I do understand why the 90s is often referred to as the last great decade (even in the title of a recent documentary on those years).

Hear hear. I don't know what I'll do if traditional TV becomes obsolete.