Does Disney Need More Boy Shows?

[GohanRice]

I pretty sure we've noticed Disney Channel has been in sorta a slump when it comes to targeting a male audience. I would like to say it feels like Disney is treating boys like second citizens. I mean just look:

Shows for Girls
Hannah Montana
Wizards of Waverly Place
Sonny with a Chance
Good Luck Charlie
Jonas(Fanservice pretty boys tv show girl audience big ratings)

Neutral
Phineas and Ferb
Kick Butowski(Special airing)
Shows for Boys
The Suite Life on Deck
Zeke and Luther(Special Airing)
Aaron Stone(Special Airing)


It's already sad pretty much all that stuff's live-action stuff and one cartoon I mean Disney began with Cartoons! But, Disney should at least be more Neutral when it comes to show balance. I think the last show ment for boys was "American Dragon Jake Long" they need to get better. Disney needs to work better on the Boy to Girl ratio they can't expect to generate money from Cars forever.

[Silverstar]

Disney XD was created to be the "boys' Disney Channel" in response to so many of TDC's tweencoms being girl-centric or heavily watched by girls. The irony there being that many of the shows that were originally meant to target boys (Phil of the Future, Zack and Cody, Zeke & Luther) have garnered a substantial female following.

Personally I think that Disney (and other networks too) need to stop being so gender-focused and just concentrate on making good shows. If a show is entertaining and well-written, then people will watch it, regardless of their sex or the sex of the lead character(s).

[Antiyonder]

Personally I think that Disney (and other networks too) need to stop being so gender-focused and just concentrate on making good shows. If a show is entertaining and well-written, then people will watch it, regardless of their sex or the sex of the lead character(s).

Agreed. Nick's tweencoms prove that shows can entertain both sides. Heck Spongebob Squarepants, the cartoon they've made a point of competing against is a success due to entertaining pretty much all demographs.

[GohanRice]

Disney XD was created to be the "boys' Disney Channel" in response to so many of TDC's tweencoms being girl-centric or heavily watched by girls. The irony there being that many of the shows that were originally meant to target boys (Phil of the Future, Zack and Cody, Zeke & Luther) have garnered a substantial female following.

Personally I think that Disney (and other networks too) need to stop being so gender-focused and just concentrate on making good shows. If a show is entertaining and well-written, then people will watch it, regardless of their sex or the sex of the lead character(s).
Yeah, I know but, not a load of people have Disney XD as they do Disney Channel. But, Disney has nothing pulling in the boy demograhics I read less boys have visited Disney World. Disney is made up of Princesses, Bishounen(Pretty Boys), and Girls. Zeke and Luther compared to Jonas. On Zeke and Luther there are no pretty boys aside from Zeke I guess and he doesn't act like one plus Zeke and Luther has I guess "Boy Toilet Humor?" cause in one episode Zeke used his toes to grab a set of keys which, is why I like it and no stupid Laugh Track there going for a 9-17 year-old Boy target audience with Zeke and Luther. Jonas on the other hand has bubble headed pretty boys trying to act cool and like typical teens every episode which, is bait for girls Zeke and Luther is centered around more concrete things then that typical Bishonen crap Aaron Stone has the awesomeness of fighting like Power Rangers a show ment for boys ages 6-15 years-old I actual heard Disney XD is cancelling this in favor of more comedy which is a shame. Nick's only neutral live-action is iCarly everything else except for Drake and Josh is pretty much ment for girls. Spongebob is neutral. Fanboy and Chumchum has the the boy toilet humor thing and Peiguins is comedy action.

[Kaveh77]

Disney doesn't have to make action shows when they have Marvel sending all of their new shows to XD.

[Blackstar]

I have to agree with Silverstar and Antiyonder on this one. Disney needs to stop being so preoccupied with the gender of it's audience and just make entertaining programs. Nickelodeon isn't so preoccupied with gender specifics--their current "it" show, SpongeBob Squarepants, is aimed at and appeals to all viewers, male and female--and Nick currently holds the title of #1 kids' network. What does that say?


Aaron Stone has the awesomeness of fighting like Power Rangers a show ment for boys ages 6-15 years-old I actual heard Disney XD is cancelling this in favor of more comedy which is a shame.

Disney pretty much has the action department covered with all it's Marvel shows. To me, it would only be a shame if the comedies aren't funny.

[dth1971]

What we need is besides the due in 2012 Disney Junior channel is:
Disney Girlz channel
Retro Disney channel

[Dr.Pepper]

They don't need any more boy shows, that's what Disney XD is for. What they need are gender neutral shows.

[Silverstar]

What we need is besides the due in 2012 Disney Junior channel is:
Disney Girlz channel

That's what Disney Channel proper is now, according to some. Disney doesn't need a girl-exclusive channel any more than they need a boy-exclusive channel. They just need entertaining channels with a variety of programming.



Retro Disney channelThat's basically what Toon Disney was before it went XD.

I don't know if Disney needs a whole retro channel, but a toon-centric Disney channel which shows the classic Disney shorts as well as the old Disney Afternoon shows would be nice.

[Alec]

They need to move Disney XD from Premium to Basic Cable to have a both Boys and Girls Channel so Boys like me can enjoy Disney XD. See how much more ratings Disney XD will receive if they moved to Basic, plus I'm sure Aaron Stone's ratings would be higher as well, and maybe Disney wouldn't have Cancelled it (in favor for comedy).

If Disney is going to continue down the same route it is now, they need to make the Channel more nutral and balance the Channel with both genders. Take out the Tinkerbell and the Faries promos and put those with Playhouse Disney (Disney Junior), have a more variety with the programs in Primetime instead of the 6 series on rotation, there's more to fix to please everyone.

[Ed Liu]

Nickelodeon isn't so preoccupied with gender specifics--their current "it" show, SpongeBob Squarepants, is aimed at and appeals to all viewers, male and female--and Nick currently holds the title of #1 kids' network. What does that say?
Would you change your mind about that if I pointed out that iCarly is at least as popular as SpongeBob right now (http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/06/08/cable-tv-top-25-icarly-movie-tops-burn-notice-victorious-royal-pains/53388#more-53388), if not moreso, and another girl-themed teencom (Victorious) seems to be rocking Nickelodeon's world pretty hard right now, too? I'm also not entirely positive that they made shows like Dora the Explorer or Ni Hao, Kai-lan with the intent of appealing to boys, and Dora is a rockstar right now.

In any event, my answer to this is the same as it always is, which is that I care a lot less about whether Disney (or anyone) is making shows targeted at girls, boys, adults, kids, or Martians, or if they're making teencoms vs. cartoons. I care a lot more that the shows don't suck. To my mind, one show that doesn't suck aimed at a specific audience is preferable to five mediocre-to-sucky shows that are "made for everyone." To address the question asked originally, I think Disney needs more shows that don't suck regardless of who they're aimed at, but that's true of just about every network in my mind.

[Rick Jones]

The only thing I wish the Disney channels did right now was produce more original animated series. Maybe it's just me but it seems like Disney's tv animation is at a record low right now (quantity wise) with only two ongoing series on the air (not counting the Playhouse shows).

[Rho]

Drake and Josh is pretty much ment for girls.
Uhh, how? :confused:


Also, if you don't only include original series, there's plenty of boy-oriented series airing on Disney XD (i.e Naruto Shippuden). There's also I'm in the Band, which seems to be neutral.

[GohanRice]

The only thing I wish the Disney channels did right now was produce more original animated series. Maybe it's just me but it seems like Disney's tv animation is at a record low right now (quantity wise) with only two ongoing series on the air (not counting the Playhouse shows).
Disney 2006:

Neutral
Brandy and Mr. Whiskers
The Buzz on Maggie(It did have a few girl episodes)
The Replacements
The Emperor's New School
Kim Possible
Phil of the Future
Lilo and Stitch
Boys
American Dragon Jake Long
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
Girls
That's so Raven(Though it did have it's Neutral Episodes)
Hannah Montana

I'd like to see something like that in terms of balance.



Quote:
Drake and Josh is pretty much ment for girls.
Uhh, how? http://www.toonzone.net/forums/images/smilies/confused.gif
Rho's comment


Also, if you don't only include original series, there's plenty of boy-oriented series airing on Disney XD (i.e Naruto Shippuden). There's also I'm in the Band, which seems to be neutral.





Yes, but we're talking more about Disney then XD.

[Alec]

The only thing I wish the Disney channels did right now was produce more original animated series. Maybe it's just me but it seems like Disney's tv animation is at a record low right now (quantity wise) with only two ongoing series on the air (not counting the Playhouse shows).

There's a new one premiering this Fall called "Fish Hooks." Disney does admit that they haven't had a new Animated Series in 3 years, so they do care.

[Rho]

What we need is besides the due in 2012 Disney Junior channel is:
Disney Girlz channel
Retro Disney channel

"Disney Girlz Channel" is pretty much most of regular Disney Channel right now. That's why they launched Disney XD - to have a channel aimed at boys, since a majority of Disney Channel was aimed at the female audience.

As for Retro Disney, that'd be nice, but I just can't see it happening. Including Disney Junior, there'll be 3 Disney-brand channels. (One could argue that ABC Family could be included)

[Lavenderpaw]

Disney used to be for the family. Now it's just... "It's on!" Pixar is basically the new family package nowadays.

I think the shows on are cute and spunky, but they wear on my nerves with their excess perkiness.

[Jeff Harris]

Had to move the thread from the Disney/Pixar Animation Board to the Entertainment Board because it didn't entirely cover Disney and Pixar-made animation, but mostly the live-action fare on Disney Channel.

Not really a fan of the vanilla-flavored Disney Channel programming nor the doppelgangers on Disney Channel, Disney XD, and Nickelodeon. But yeah, Disney Channel needs to balance out their programming with more programs that individuals with a Y chromosome could watch without prejudice.

Then again, I'm not a fan of gender-segregated channels. There's a reason Fox bChannel and gChannel failed.

[GohanRice]

Had to move the thread from the Disney/Pixar Animation Board to the Entertainment Board because it didn't entirely cover Disney and Pixar-made animation, but mostly the live-action fare on Disney Channel.

Not really a fan of the vanilla-flavored Disney Channel programming nor the doppelgangers on Disney Channel, Disney XD, and Nickelodeon. But yeah, Disney Channel needs to balance out their programming with more programs that individuals with a Y chromosome could watch without prejudice.

Then again, I'm not a fan of gender-segregated channels. There's a reason Fox bChannel and gChannel failed.
Not really segragated but, giving the youth more choices do boys really want to watch Hannah Montana and Tinker Bell movies all-day?

[TMC1982]

Without going too much into specifics, my personal biggest gripes with the Disney Channel at the moment include:
*The lack of animation other than I suppose, Phineas & Ferb.

*Live-action shows that seem to follow the same type of formula (in other words, most of them come from It's a Laugh Productions).

*Having too many shows that feature a female lead (e.g. Hannah Montana, Sonny with a Chance, Wizards of Waverly Place, Good Luck Charlie, etc.). I sort of place the blame on the success of Lizzie Maguire (kind of like how the success of Saved by the Bell helped kill animated shows on NBC's Saturday morning line-up back in 1992) almost a decade ago for setting things in motion.

*Basically abandoning the "general audience" mentality post-2002 (i.e. the elimination of "Vault Disney") in favor of strictly tween targeted fare.

[ABrown]

My nine year old step son absolutely loves just about everything on Disney/Disney XD. Now see, I was more about the action cartoons when I was a kid. And Disney didn't really provide a whole lot of action shows. Kids today don't seem to be as big on action as they were 10-20 years ago. So I think Disney's formula seems to be working fine for boys today.

[MasterDartz]

Actually, Wizards of Waverly Place isn't girly at all.

I think boys and girls could enjoy it equally.

[MegaJ]

iCarly is watched by just as many boys than girls, mainly because the itself isn't too girly so I don't but that boys won't watch a show starring a girl. And the thing is, Carly is pretty girly especially next to her best friend Sam. Disney needs to refocus their channel's programming instead of splitting demographics.

[GohanRice]

iCarly is watched by just as many boys than girls, mainly because the itself isn't too girly so I don't but that boys won't watch a show starring a girl. And the thing is, Carly is pretty girly especially next to her best friend Sam. Disney needs to refocus their channel's programming instead of splitting demographics.
iCarly is actually pretty neutral with most of it's episodes and plots I watch it a load.

[Light Lucario]

I don't think Disney needs more shows aimed at boys. They're really successful with the formula they have already with their shows on Disney Channel and most of their shows are aimed at girls. So, I don't think that they need to change that in order to get more shows directed towards the male demographic. Besides, there are plenty of shows on both Disney Channel and Disney XD that appeal to boys.

I do agree with the idea of Disney getting more gender neutral shows though. I think that they just need to work on creating more shows that appeal to all kids, regardless of their gender. Maybe it helps that I watched more shows that were generally aimed at boys more than girls when I was little, but I don't see the issue with placing equal importance on both boys and girls in the target audience. I think that it has worked well with iCarly and to a similar extent with Wizards of Waverly Place.

[GohanRice]

I don't think Disney needs more shows aimed at boys. They're really successful with the formula they have already with their shows on Disney Channel and most of their shows are aimed at girls. So, I don't think that they need to change that in order to get more shows directed towards the male demographic. Besides, there are plenty of shows on both Disney Channel and Disney XD that appeal to boys.

I do agree with the idea of Disney getting more gender neutral shows though. I think that they just need to work on creating more shows that appeal to all kids, regardless of their gender. Maybe it helps that I watched more shows that were generally aimed at boys more than girls when I was little, but I don't see the issue with placing equal importance on both boys and girls in the target audience. I think that it has worked well with iCarly and to a similar extent with Wizards of Waverly Place.
What shows does Disney Channel have besides The Suite Life on Deck that is aimed at boys that doesn't air at those pitiful late night timeslots?

It's different for Boys they've always been a driving force behind most tv networks I mean take a look at Rocket Power, Dragon Ball Z Kai, and Avatar the Last Airbender. Bakugan and Pokemon. Just feels like Disney is going for girls a little too much like with it's movies and shows like The Tinkerbell Shorts and Movies, Princess Protection Squad, 16-Wishes(Movie), The whole Disney Princess thing is being milked for all it's worth, and a load of other things even look at High School Musical a show about music singing high schoolers that appeals to girls even, some parents have caused a stink over High School Musical having a few gay concepts and turning there boy children Feminine and such.

But, I think the crappiest thing about Disney right now is it only has 1 cartoon that airs with new episodes they got to work on that. Is it that hard to target neutral demographics? Heck people are always making jokes about how the Jonas brothers are selling you know what to girls with there super-tight pants and such and that's how there so popular.

[Rho]

They are working on that. Fish Hooks. It's coming to Disney Channel and it's from the creator of Chowder.

Also, High School Musical isn't a show, it's a film series.

Disney XD is the source for the majority of "boy-oriented" programming. It seems to be working well for them, otherwise it probably would have changed by now.

EDIT: Yeah, iCarly is pretty much neutral, as well as Victorious and pretty much any other Dan Schneider show that's been on Nick.

[Blackstar]

It's different for Boys they've always been a driving force behind most tv networks I mean take a look at Rocket Power, Dragon Ball Z Kai, and Avatar the Last Airbender. Bakugan and Pokemon.

Sorry, but with the exception of Dragon Ball Kai (I f refuse to call it Dragon Ball Z Kai), none of the shows that you mentioned are "boys' shows"; They're mostly gender neutral. In each of them, the females' roles are just as prominent as the males'. And is Rocket Power really a good point of example, since that show was so gimmicky and mediocre and it came and went so quickly? I think before we can effectively have a debate over "boys' shows" and "girls' shows", that we must 1st determine precisely what constitutes a gender exclusive series. Just so we're clear, a shows' target gender is determined mostly by it's content. Just because a series' central cast is predominantly male, that doesn't automatically make it a boys' show. There are other factors to consider.

Also, I fail to see why Disney's aiming much of it's programming at girls is a problem. Girls are a largely untapped market right now. With the exception of Nickelodeon, no other kids' network is presently airing any kind of girl centric programming. Cartoon Network is currently avoiding girl shows like the Plague. I suppose I can understand why a boy would take issue with Disney's programming decisions, but boys always have the option of changing the channel to Cartoon Network or Spike TV or any of the many other channels and program blocks which targets young males.

I stand by my original statement; that networks need to stop worrying about gender specifics and just concentrate on making good, entertaining shows. I'm a writer, and I don't think about genders when I write. I make my stuff for anyone who's interested in reading/seeing it.

[Silverstar]

Just feels like Disney is going for girls a little too much like with it's movies and shows like The Tinkerbell Shorts and Movies, Princess Protection Squad, 16-Wishes(Movie), The whole Disney Princess thing is being milked for all it's worth, and a load of other things even look at High School Musical a show about music singing high schoolers that appeals to girls even, some parents have caused a stink over High School Musical having a few gay concepts and turning there boy children Feminine and such.

Tinker Bell, Disney Princesses, High School Musical (which is a series of movies, not a show, BTW) and their ilk are all selling like hotcakes. Why shouldn't Disney mine them while they're popular and bringing in money? For some reason, people act like a crime has been committed whenever a franchise that they don't like is successful. Anyone who says "Well, I wouldn't exploit those things if I were in charge of a major studio or company!" clearly has no desire to make money or stay business or simply has no idea how the big media machine works.


But, I think the crappiest thing about Disney right now is it only has 1 cartoon that airs with new episodes they got to work on that.As Rho already mentioned, Disney has another cartoon in the works, Fish Hooks. And what does Disney Channel's number of cartoon series have to do with the topic? Phineas and Ferb has gender neutral appeal, but its' protagonists are both boys.

[firefoxprime]

I stand by my original statement; that networks need to stop worrying about gender specifics and just concentrate on making good, entertaining shows. I'm a writer, and I don't think about genders when I write. I make my stuff for anyone who's interested in reading/seeing it.

Sometimes people find a show more entertaining, if they can relate to the
character on the screen. Which is why gender specifics are still up and
about. If your a writer, then you should be well aware of gender specifics
in literature.

Romance Novels?
Scifi Action Novels?

one screams man...while the other women.

[Rud]

No it doesn't need more boy shows, they should just keep playing their strengths, which is apparently appealing to girls, besides, thats what Disney XD is for.

[Blackstar]

Sometimes people find a show more entertaining, if they can relate to the
character on the screen. Which is why gender specifics are still up and
about. If your a writer, then you should be well aware of gender specifics
in literature.

Romance Novels?
Scifi Action Novels?

one screams man...while the other women.

Respectfully, I must disagree. The notion that "only guys like sci-fi and only girls like romance" is merely a generalization. In each case , several do, but just as many don't. Not all sci-fi is male oriented (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed and Twilight say hi), and as for romance novels, I have no opinion on them whatsoever. Don't read 'em, don't write 'em.

Furthermore, just because a character on screen is the opposite gender of the viewer, that doesn't mean that he/she can't relate to them. That's like saying that boys can only watch shows with male protagonists and girls can only watch shows with female protagonists. Case in point, one my favorite cartoons from the 1990s is The Powerpuff Girls, and the main character on that show whom I relate to is Buttercup (a girl), and I'm a guy. If you make the characters and the show cool, then people will watch them, regardless of the characters' gender.

[Antiyonder]

Disagree with romance being for girls and sci-fi being for boys. But then, I enjoy romance as well as the sci-fi and action.

Heck, I'd say in the case of the Disney Channel, that the problem isn't that their shows are girly, but the fact that they sterotype how a girl should behave. Now I haven't watched the Disney Channel in a while, so if anyone can point out some shows that go against, my statement, I would appreciate it.

But using Lizze McGuire as an example as it was one of the earliest shows which demonstrate the problem. LM and shows of a similar vein tend to spend more time sterotyping (stating that girls should focus on fashion, guys and popularity), than they do storytelling. And while XD has decent shows, the network makes the mistake of insisting that guys should be all about games, sports and well girls.

Thing I like about The Famous Jett Jackson and Even Stevens is that they contain little to no sterotyping. They just focus on telling a story, rather than telling the boys and girls how they should behave. Ren Stevens (from Even Stevens) for instance, while she's into the usual girls stuff, doesn't dwell on it as much as say Lizzie. Similar thing about Kim Possible. The character may be a fashion lover, but the show doesn't beat us over the head with it.


Sometimes people find a show more entertaining, if they can relate to the
character on the screen. Which is why gender specifics are still up and
about. If your a writer, then you should be well aware of gender specifics
in literature.

Considering that girls enjoy Spongebob Squarepants (which has little romance), and guys enjoy iCarly which isn't so Sci-Fi, I think it's proven already that gender specifics are unnecessary.

The reason why writers rely on gender specific details is simply because writing a good story takes time and effort, while sterotyping is easy.

[Rho]

Romance Novels?
Scifi Action Novels?

one screams man...while the other women.
I know several females who like Sci-Fi based stuff, and males who like romance stuff. As others have said, they can both target both genders.