More and more I find myself...

[danreyes1]

More and more I find myself watching cartoons on the internet rather than on TV. Saturday mornings are all but dead, Nick and Disney have shifted focus to tween comedies, and Cartoon Network is in a huge slump. Animation on TV is almost dead to me. What do I do? I turn to the internet. Time Warner has multiple internet channels filled with cartoons, including Cartoon Network Video, Toonami Jetstream, Adult Swim Fix, Saturday Morning Forever and in2tv, with quite a few quality classic cartoons to watch. I'm quite sure that Nickelodeon and Disney have their own online episode services, though I haven't really taken the time to explroe them. And of course there's always Youtube.

Ther are of course upsides and downsides. On the positive side, we get cartoons we haven't seen in years (those of us that don't have Boomerang at least), and we can choose our episodes much of the time. On the downside, there's still adverts, and the loadtimes can be annoying depending on the computer.

So is this the future? Will I be watching more internet TV (and the occasional DVD set) than regular TV from now on?

[Golgo13]

I'm living proof buddy. I've been without cable for six months and have been able to keep up with Adult Swim and Comedy Central shows.

[Alph]

Between internets and DVD sets (for the stuff you REALLY like) I haven't had use for TV channels (cable or local) for years.

Adverts are always going to be a reality, unless you buy the show on DVD, but at least they are less obtrusive on the internet.

[AardvarkDog]

Yeah, with all the good shows on at times when I can't watch them, the next best place to watch them is on Internet. (Don't think I can bother with DVDs, though. They always leave out my fave episodes from certain shows)

Plus, I guess another reason to turn to the Internet for entertainment is that they have some animations almost better than the ones on TV. Flash Cartoons, Stop Motion Films or Original Animated Films (2D or 3D), the possibilities are endless! And the best thing is whoever makes them can do whatever they want without being too "PC Friendly" :D

[Harukuro]

I agree with you. I'm always looking around the internet for the shows I like and if not I always see if they're on DVD. Oh well when you have the technology use it.

[Gokou Ruri]

Exact opposite for me, animation has only improved since the slump that was the 80's and 90's. No more 30 minute toy commercials like G.I Joe, we get actual adventurous shows with continuing plot and character development like American Dragon, Avatar, W.I.T.C.H., Danny Phantom. Sadly, all we had back then was Beast Wars and Gargoyles, and they were in the minority. I find myself more and more interested in TV these days.

[Dr.Pepper]

It seems like lately I have been watching cartoons from DVD's or Comcast On Demand unless its a new episode of something.

[Hordesman]

Exact opposite for me, animation has only improved since the slump that was the 80's and 90's. No more 30 minute toy commercials like G.I Joe, we get actual adventurous shows with continuing plot and character development like American Dragon, Avatar, W.I.T.C.H., Danny Phantom. Sadly, all we had back then was Beast Wars and Gargoyles, and they were in the minority. I find myself more and more interested in TV these days.

It's not that the toy commercials are gone- it's that the industry standard keeps going up and toy companies recognize that good shows sell toys just as well, if not better, as well as offering an extra revenue stream for years to come. Nickelodeon greenlit Avatar with toys in mind and aren't we all better for it? :anime:

But the content industry is moving towards digital, customized programming.

[Leviathan]

Er, count me guys in the gorup of those who don't watch cartoons on television that much (the only show that i've gone out of my way to see was Billy and Mandy

[Dark Fact]

This doesn't surprise me. I also wouldn't be surprised if more and more animators chose to make their cartoons online where they are free from the FCC and strict regulations. If more people are choosing to watch stuff online whereever and whenever, it ought to come as a huge wake up call to the networks to start putting in some creativity and get people attracted to TV again.

[Gokou Ruri]

This doesn't surprise me. I also wouldn't be surprised if more and more animators chose to make their cartoons online where they are free from the FCC and strict regulations. If more people are choosing to watch stuff online whereever and whenever, it ought to come as a huge wake up call to the networks to start putting in some creativity and get people attracted to TV again. People who watch stuff on the internet are in the minority, though. Television is as strong as it ever was, and television is still creative and innovate. Looking at the weekly ratings should show that.

[Dark Fact]

Even cartoons? What cartoon premiered in the fall of 2006 and/or winter of 2007 that was creative and innovative?

[danreyes1]

Exact opposite for me, animation has only improved since the slump that was the 80's and 90's. No more 30 minute toy commercials like G.I Joe, we get actual adventurous shows with continuing plot and character development like American Dragon, Avatar, W.I.T.C.H., Danny Phantom. Sadly, all we had back then was Beast Wars and Gargoyles, and they were in the minority. I find myself more and more interested in TV these days.

Well of course that's all a matter of opinion. We still have 30 minute commercials... they just come from Japan now (Yugioh, pokemon). I'll admit looking back those shows weren't as good as our childish minds told us they were, but nostalgia always fixes that problem, and if it doesn't it's often quite fun to laugh at how bad it really was. And I feel that slump of yours was fixed in the early 90s, with the Silver Age of WB animation, the DCAU and World Premier Toons (later known as Cartoon Cartoons). I feel like we have a new slump only within the last couple of years.

And of course on all these internet channels it's more than just 80s and 90s. We have the classic stuff from Hanna Barbera which is always a good romp.

[Tay the Cat]

*Watches only Toon Disney, Nicktoons Network and Boomerang*

(Except on weekends when I can watch Monster Allergy and Liberty's Kids)

[Beat]

The internet is slowly but surely replacing the linear, scheduled way we watch television. Eventually the only time you'll need to watch something on a schedule is to see it live. Not for a long time though.

[Gokou Ruri]

Even cartoons? What cartoon premiered in the fall of 2006 and/or winter of 2007 that was creative and innovative? Depends what you consider creative and innovative, I guess. I'd say that Foster's and Jimmy Neutron are creative shows, along with Avatar (even if not really original). Despite the incredible amount of hate the movie got, Reanimated was, if nothing else, creative for blending live action and animation, since it has only been done a handful of times before (Roger Rabbit, Cool World). Spongebob also manages to blend live action, claymation, 2D, and CG all together.