ABCFamily's new Fall Schedule, and DROPPED shows (Talkback)...

[Christopher N. Denner]

Well... ABCFamily has their schedule listed for the new fall season...

http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42244

Looks like we are getting a new show, Tokyo Pig... A more expanded Power Rangers line-up... And a few FoxKids imports, Galidor and Nascar Racers. One would think that I should be happw them them getting new shows and focusing more on their material than they have in the past. But... I'm not.

With that said, I must now ask... WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LINE-UP?!?! Where are the ABCFamily staples like Digimon and X-Men? Both are gone. Where are The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man Unlimited, Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, Big Guy and Rusty and Shinzo... ALL of which were recently hyped up and just started 3 weeks ago?!?!

And in 2.5 months it's going to just vanish without a trace??? Am I missing the logic of the universe here? I just bought $30 worth of videotapes for them... sheesh.

I am not pleased at all. :mad:

[The Penguin]

:eek: Nooooooo! Don't take away my X-Men! I wish it wasn't on so early, but I was really enjoying seeing it some again. Maybe someone needs to tell ABCFamily about the popular X-Men movie franchise!! :rolleyes:

[czyznyck99]

My guess is that X-men will return when the promotion for X-men 2 starts in 2003, probably around March or April. That really stinks to me. It might even just take Spider-Man's future everyday slot, so it wouldn't be so bad (7 eps a week is good :cool: ). Other than that, I don't understand the schedule at all.

At least Spider-Man is on everyday. Maybe ABC Family will finally start airing the episodes in the original order. They don't have to worry so much about multiparters now if they air one right after the other.

What really gets me is how much they cut down on episodes, but still keep the five hours for more repeats of shows they already have. Take a look at X-men, first it was on twice a week, which was fine. Now it's on once a week, and it will soon be gone. Best of Power Rangers is now down from four eps a week to three. I thought they would air the classics everyday, then air new Wild Force eps on the weekend. I was really looking forward to the Marvel Cartoons of Avengers, Iron Man, and the Fantastic Four. Now we probably won't see them for a long time. A long time ago I feared that ABC would play the "we buy it so no one else can air it" game, and it looks like I was right :( . Where's the variety?

But hey, now I can give my complete attention to Kids WB, or rather only to X-men: Evolution.

Later.

[Behonkiss]

No...more....Digimon.....

WHAT?!

[Steve Jester]

WHOA! HOLD IT! Digimon, gone?! I bet I know why. Digimon 4 may be comming out on FOX and ABCFamily doesn't want to rerun the series from 01.

[optimuslives]

This new schedule sucks..plain and simple

I am very displeased :mad: :mad: :mad:

[JohnStewart-GL]

Well i wont be watching ABC family to much any more. this sux!

[katya]

I was just starting to really get into Shinzo. I can't believe it's gone already! Is there any chance any other network will pick it up?

[Tommy Lawson]

Originally posted by Christopher N. Denner

I am not pleased at all. :mad:

I agree. I'm very angry right now. :mad: I wanted Forever Red to premiere on broadcast ABC, but now it appears that won't be the case. I'm truly hoping that those more prevalent "Power Rangers Ninja Storm on ABC" rumors are accurate. I mean, PRWF will most likely have only 40 episodes, yet it's being aired 8 times a week? And BoPR airings cut down instead of increased? What's up with that? :confused:

The absence of Digimon entirely marks a very grave turning point for the series. I have a gut feeling that Disney may simply be trying to cancel the series, but instead of doing the honorable thing and saying "We're not interested in making any more episodes of this series" they're going to doom the show by moving it to UPN according to Megchan's board at megchan.com. Then they'll use the excuse "Well, Digimon's ratings are really low this season, and as a result we do not believe in continuing this series" rather than look at the obvious reason, in much the same way Fox is ignoring the pre-emption effect on Futurama, which has a very large fanbase. :(

Reading the description of Tokyo Pig really got me wondering why Totally Spies couldn't be included in the kids action block. Is it going to be forever exempted from this block, even though it has 26 new episodes on the way? It certainly would be better to air new episodes of Totally Spies than rerun Nascar Racers IMO. Keep in mind that this particular block is being run by the Disney Channel management, which explains why it appears so different from the rest of ABC Family. After this incident, I really wish the ABC Family people would take control of this block. Eliminating the comic book series after such a short amount of time "just ain't right" as Hank Hill would probably put it.

[James Harvey]

I'm disapointed in the new schedule as well. I can already see this block slipping slowly downhill. I'm sure this will change in no time, anyways. the X-Men cartoon will be back conveniently in time for X-Men 2, much like how ABCFamily saturated the airwaves with Spider-Man when the movie hit. The weekend schedule looks more like an old FOX weekend schedule than anything else.

[Joe Wagner]

I too had been looking forward to seeing some of the other Marvel toons on ABC Family but for the time being it doesn't look like Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, the Avengers or the Hulk will be given the time of day. If nothing else I've finally gotten the chance to tape the Ghost Rider episode that I missed during it's first airing on UPN. Hopefully someone will notice a decline in ratings and bring back the Marvel toons and Big Guy. However this does open up my Saturday mornings to be more concerned about Ozzie and Drix and the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. Hope ABC Family doesn't mind the loss of viewership. :rolleyes:

-Joe!

[JohnCrichton]

Big Guy and Rusty are leaving me again?

:(

[jkoolpe]

I'm pretty annoyed that ABCFamily opted to not show the original SpiderMan series (from the '60's).

I was really looking forward to seeing that show again as I haven't seen it broadcast in the US for somewhere around 20 years! I know you guys up in Canada still get it (lucky devils:))...

Once again, I'm forced to conclude that most network execs are just plain stupid:(...

Hey...ABCFamily...show the old SpiderMan series! We old-timers would surely give you a nice ratings boost!

Jonathan

[CookieS]

I really don't understand this either. I recently saw a promotion that hyped up the super hero line-up. Does anyone even like that NASCAR show? Either way, I was expecting this to be a somewhat perment fixture, not just a summer deal. Then again, ABC Family is in the Disney family. We should lower all expectations.

[loyalheart]

Glad to see Galidor on that schedule

[Vin]

Originally posted by jesteranimefrea
WHOA! HOLD IT! Digimon, gone?! I bet I know why. Digimon 4 may be comming out on FOX and ABCFamily doesn't want to rerun the series from 01.

No, no. "Digimon" will not air on FOX. FOX is becoming the FOX BOX and will be programmed by 4Kids Entertainment. "Digimon" will air on another network. I had hoped and thought it was ABC, but things may have changed.

[Burgundy Ranger]

Originally posted by Vincent Benenati


No, no. "Digimon" will not air on FOX. FOX is becoming the FOX BOX and will be programmed by 4Kids Entertainment. "Digimon" will air on another network. I had hoped and thought it was ABC, but things may have changed.

It still could be, no?

True, I don't understand its total removal from the ABCFam lineup. We've seen with KWB, the old Fox Kids weekdays and others the benefits of weekday support of the Saturday lineup.

I'm kinda in the minority. All the shows at the top of my concern list -- PR, Galidor and Medabots -- are all secure in the new Fam lineup.

I live in DC, where the ABC station moves or pre-empts 9 out of the 10 1SM shows on Saturday morning. Kinda tough to catch your fave shows when the local station prefers 2 1/2 hours of informercials.

[Chibi Kageboshi]

idiots.... it's as simple as this:

Galidor
Power Rangers (new episodes)
Totally Spys (new episodes)
Digimon 04
Braceface (new episodes)
Beyblade (new episodes)
Spiderman
X-Men

i believe it has something for everyone....

[Vin]

Originally posted by Chibi Kageboshi
idiots.... it's as simple as this:

Galidor
Power Rangers (new episodes)
Totally Spys (new episodes)
Digimon 04
Braceface (new episodes)
Beyblade (new episodes)
Spiderman
X-Men

i believe it has something for everyone....

Idiots? If you are referring to the posters, not cool, man.
As for your information, "Digimon Frontier," "X-Men" and "Totally Spies" are not confirmed for ABC Family. Next time, do not be so quick to judge, especially when you are wrong.

[Chibi Kageboshi]

mmmm maybe i should have made myself more clear... i was talking about ABC Family.

[Vin]

Originally posted by Chibi Kageboshi
mmmm maybe i should have made myself more clear... i was talking about ABC Family.

Okay, so you were talking about ABC Family should do, then? Sorry, I misinterpreted it.

[Mister Intensity]

I want my Marvel block back. While I don't share the same admiration for X-Men that lots of other people do (the clunky dialogue just gets to me), I am really enjoying the rest of the block. I was looking forward to seeing Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer and Iron Man as was promised by the commercials. I'm also enjoying the run of Spider Man and His Amazing Friends, which while it was made in the early 80's had much more enjoyable characters and better dialogue than X-Men. The 90's Incredible Hulk must be one of the most underrated cartoons made during the period. It doesn't get the hype of some of the other shows but I am constantly amazed by how well done the show was (although Bruce's tortured solliquies does get annoying at times). Hopefully, the Hulk (along with its 1960's and 1980's counterparts) will return when the hype for the Hulk movie starts. I was also hoping they would provide a glimpse of the 1980's solo Spider Man series as well.

BRING BACK THE MARVEL BLOCK!

Mister Intensity

[Elven Moon]

Well, looks like the only things I'll even consider watching are Medabots and Tokyo Pig(?!?).

Though, my college schedule might not even allow that - I'll have to check.

[spyke]

1. This new block sucks.

2. Like jim said, this block looks like an old fox lineup (from the last couple of years to be more precise). This is probaly because some of the people/excutives behind this block were the same people behind the fox block over the last 2 years.

3. The ratings will drop.

4. Shinzoo was a great/cool/phat show that had little or no promotion from ABC family outside of a press release on the internet or a quick clip when they were first anouncing their new summer lineup. I have yet to see a comercial promoting shinzoo by itself.

[Supernovametalstar]

Originally posted by jkoolpe


Once again, I'm forced to conclude that most network execs are just plain stupid:(..

Jonathan


I pretty much say the same thing whenever I see a schedule disaster like this. Why is Beyblade being hyped up so much when it is probably the worst animated show I've seen? I virtually saw no promotion for Shinzo, and it is ten times better on all levels than Beyblade is.

And why is Medabots still around? Unless they have some new episodes that continue the series from where it ended on Fox Kids, give the show a rest already. It wasn't that great to begin with, and has been on for almost a year nonstop. I doubt anyone cares anymore.

And let's not get started on they disaster that is the so called "Best of" Power Rangers.

With so much stock of good programs that they already have, why do they do such stupid things?

[Jeff Harris]

Originally posted by Christopher N. Denner
Well... ABCFamily has their schedule listed for the new fall season... With that said, I must now ask... WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LINE-UP?!?! I am not pleased at all. :mad:
You know, after observing CBN/Family Channel/Fox Family/ABC Family's evolution over the past . . . geez, almost 20 years now, I have seen them evolve from a network which used to show "Leo The Lion" and old shows to a network that has a marquee show like "Tokyo Pig."

With that being said, I've decided that everytime this network gets "good" for a brief period, they turn into a garbage pit afterwards.

The majority of the CBN lineup was old, black and white "family" shows and a few 70s sitcoms. It wasn't that bad actually. Shame we had to endure the "right-thinking" institution that is the 700 Club, but it didn't exactly please my pleasure palate. When it became The Family Channel they actually did make the network a little more watchable with shows like Inspector Gadget, Dennis the Menace, Heathcliff, Popeye, Captain N, and Dinosaucers, and many others. Of course, they were all dropped as the network became more "crafty" and Western-oriented.

When Family became Fox Family, it launched with a myriad of good Fox shows like Eek the Cat and non-Fox shows like Pee-Wee's Playhouse and The Real Ghostbusters (although the latter was edited for commercial space WAY too much), not to mention a decent "YTV-like" channel space and a few original shows. All of a sudden (I think it happened around the time they launched bChannel and gChannel), it was all dropped, and the network became more like MTV for girls (this is a BAD thing, BTW, especially with those with Y chromosomes). All the "girl" oriented stuff aired on Fox Family and all the "boy" oriented stuff was relegated to Fox Kids, with the "Made in Japan" Sunday block treating anime as if it was a fad or something.

Months before Fox Kids ended weekday transmission, many FK staples like Digimon crept into the Fox Family lineup on weekends. When Fox Family became ABC Family, it was pretty much business as usual except for the fact that ABC Family realized that they have access to the bulk of the Marvel animation library. They built their Saturday morning lineup around those shows as well as a few FK fatalities, like Big Guy and Rusty. And just when you think they get it right, ABC Family gets rid of it all and decides to start from scratch again.

*sigh* You know, with Disney having access to the Saban library, you'd think they'd utilize it to their advantage. Instead of making ABC Family and Toon Disney powerhouses, they made ABC Family into a very, very weak version of the Fox Kids Network and Toon Disney into the One Saturday Morning Graveyard, a place for unwanted cartoons.

I'll stop ranting now. :D

[Tommy Lawson]

Originally posted by Jeff Harris
Instead of making ABC Family and Toon Disney powerhouses, they made ABC Family into a very, very weak version of the Fox Kids Network and Toon Disney into the One Saturday Morning Graveyard, a place for unwanted cartoons.

I'll stop ranting now. :D

Well, I don't think Toon Disney is just a "One Saturday Morning" graveyard with unwatchable cartoons. I like the new lineup. Less repeats, some new stuff. Seen my other post Jeff Harris? Toon Disney has revamped its on-air look. They don't show any TV-Y7 FV rated cartoons right now. I don't know if that's written or unwritten policy but that's the case right now. One big reason that nobody here has mentioned yet why ABC Family's lineup is changing is because they are repurposing (quickly rerunning) new episodes of Power Rangers Wild Force on ABC Family. There are a ton of top 25 market ABC affiliates who mess with the Saturday morning schedule. The ABC Family weekend lineup will very likely change again in November when Digimon heads for ABC Kids on 11/30/02.

[Gary L Thompson]

Re: Re: Disappointed as well:((


quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Supernovametalstar

And why is Medabots still around? Unless they have some new episodes that continue the series from where it ended on Fox Kids, give the show a rest already. It wasn't that great to begin with, and has been on for almost a year nonstop. I doubt anyone cares anymore.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Actually, I think they made a second season of Medbot shows, and I've heard some place that the new episodes are supposed to air on ABC Family.

Medabots is a pretty decent spoof on "Pokemon," but the cancellation of "Shinzo" is an outrage. I was disappointed that show was announced for Fox Kids but never showed, and now that we finally get to see it, it's taken off before we get to see the conclusion! Shinzo got off to a bit of a slow start (it wasn't helped by the beginning episodes evidently being squashed together, like was done with Moncolle Knights), but things were just starting to get good. From the eyecatches ABC Family was using, apparently the show will be adding a second girl character, but now it looks like we'll never see it.

The cancellation of Digimon was just plain stupid. That show has had considerable exposure by now, but with three seasons of 50+ episodes, the episodes aren't going to wear out their welcome that fast by repeated viewing. If I were in UPN's shoes, I've seriously considering a switch in program providers for my kids' block. Taking off the original at this time seems calculated to only hurt the launch of Digimon's fourth season....

I'll probably watch "Tokyo Pig" to see what it's like, but if ABC Family likes airing anime pigs, why not "Super Pig" (better known by many as "Tonde Buurrin"), which is long overdue an airing on these shores? And they should run Moncolle Knights, which is really a copy (but much improved) of "Flint, Time Detective." Actually, it's similar to Medabots in being another spoof of the "mon" genre, so I think it would make sense to alternate the two shows in the same time slot, so their 50-some episode count wouldn't wear out so fast in weekday reruns.

[Tommy Lawson]

Originally posted by Gary L Thompson
If I were in UPN's shoes, I've seriously considering a switch in program providers for my kids' block. Taking off the original at this time seems calculated to only hurt the launch of Digimon's fourth season....
.

UPN is likely going to change providers for the kids block, but not until after the end of this upcoming TV season, from a 4-year programming contract made with Disney in 1998 and that took effect in fall 1999. Shows like Rocket Power are rumored to be on next year's UPN kids lineup, which definitely makes much more sense from Viacom's standpoint than continuing on with a rival programmer's lineup.

[All-Star 1.5]

Let me set the record straight Digimon is not cancelled it will be air its seasons on ABC kids an affiliate of ABC FAmily both are owned by disney.

And Medabots was not a spoof off of Pokemon. I mean when you get to shows that do similar things then yeah there will be similarties. I mean pokemon is happy go lucky. Medabots is a bit more sarcastic and funny. I like the show, and I am glad it is still on.

Shinzo, this show was great I wish they had kept it. It looks like the only thing I will be watching on ABC family will now be Spider-Man, Medabots, and probably Beyblade, but first I will give Tokyo Pig a go.


Shinzo come back I have to now what happens. You just can't cancell a show that dosen't get to its season finale. Can someone please start a petion.

[Gary L Thompson]

Originally posted by Batman192
UPN is likely going to change providers for the kids block, but not until after the end of this upcoming TV season, from a 4-year programming contract made with Disney in 1998 and that took effect in fall 1999. Shows like Rocket Power are rumored to be on next year's UPN kids lineup, which definitely makes much more sense from Viacom's standpoint than continuing on with a rival programmer's lineup.

Those rumors do make sense. I wondered why a network closely tied with CBS would carry programming from the owner of rivals ABC, ABC Family, Disney and Toon Disney.


Originally posted by J-GL
Let me set the record straight Digimon is not cancelled it will be air its seasons on ABC kids an affiliate of ABC FAmily both are owned by disney.



As far as I know, the only Digimon airing on ABC Kids is Digimon Frontier. If the first three seasons are not airing on ABC Family, I'd say it's safe to say they have been canceled. Like I said, it's stupid cross-programming strategy because ABC Family is undercutting Disney One Two and ABC Kids, since any audience drawn by the reruns would likely watch the new shows too.

[Dee]

Originally posted by czyznyck99
My guess is that X-men will return when the promotion for X-men 2 starts in 2003, probably around March or April. That really stinks to me. It might even just take Spider-Man's future everyday slot, so it wouldn't be so bad (7 eps a week is good :cool: ). Other than that, I don't understand the schedule at all.

At least Spider-Man is on everyday. Maybe ABC Family will finally start airing the episodes in the original order. They don't have to worry so much about multiparters now if they air one right after the other.

What really gets me is how much they cut down on episodes, but still keep the five hours for more repeats of shows they already have. Take a look at X-men, first it was on twice a week, which was fine. Now it's on once a week, and it will soon be gone. Best of Power Rangers is now down from four eps a week to three. I thought they would air the classics everyday, then air new Wild Force eps on the weekend. I was really looking forward to the Marvel Cartoons of Avengers, Iron Man, and the Fantastic Four. Now we probably won't see them for a long time. A long time ago I feared that ABC would play the "we buy it so no one else can air it" game, and it looks like I was right :( . Where's the variety?

But hey, now I can give my complete attention to Kids WB, or rather only to X-men: Evolution.

Later.

You may be right about that---- movie-connected shows will manage to pop up. Ozzy and drix comes around now when 2 summers ago it was in theater. I'm waititng for word on the new MIB myself because people are still in the dark about that one...

[Burgundy Ranger]

Originally posted by spyke
4. Shinzo was a great/cool/phat show that had little or no promotion from ABC family outside of a press release on the internet or a quick clip when they were first anouncing their new summer lineup. I have yet to see a comercial promoting shinzoo by itself.

If you've noticed, ABCFam did not produce a single show-specific promo for ANYthing that ran before 9 a.m. in the first version of the weekend block. I can see not promoting the 7 a.m. Beyblade, since it's a rerun and the emphasis is on the 9 a.m. new ep. And both Spidey series are not new.

(If you've also noticed, the new block DOES have pre-9a.m. promos -- there's the "new eps of PR at 8:30" promo [even if it does have the wrong graphic] and the Ikky/Tyson combo promo for the everyday 7/7:30 showings of Meda and Bey.)

But Shinzo was never given a fair shake. I would argue that it would have been better for Shinzo if Big Guy were in the 7:30 slot and Shinzo at 9:30, to have a first-run combo hour with the new ep of Beyblade.

And these past few eps of Shinzo have been quite interesting, with the expanded backstory of Yakumo's father and the explanation of the Seven Generals, which all but defined the remaining journey.

All this nice set-up, for nothing.

[Zerokun]

I still cannot believe that the mind-shattering, soul-destroying horror that is Nascar Racers has returned to plague us once more... -_-;

[optimuslives]

Looks like I will be able to return to landscaping my yard on Saturday mornings now that the Marvel Blocks will no longer air.

It was great while it lasted.........

[J.C.]

Really going to miss X-Men, Big Guy and Rusty, and the Incredible Hulk. Especially X-Men, which I had actually forgotten how good it was 'till the reruns started airing on saturdays again. Well, we've still got X-Men: Evolution, for better or worse.