Nick no longer in Constant Payne

[pencilsharp]

What's the title of that old Hall & Oates song? Missed Opportunities?

Nick has decided to abort Constant Payne, a show by Micah Wright that blends pulp mags and anime (for an idea of its art style, think along the lines of Powers, but for kids) Wright has completed a ten-minute pilot, but Nick decided to pass, alleging that Wright was coercing the writers of other Nicktoons to join the Writers Guild of America - West (WGAw).
Wright denies the charges, saying on his website...."Here I am, running a show that hasn’t even officially been picked up, yet I'd somehow managed to threaten all of these writers, many of whom have their own shows which have been picked up, and who have more money and power than me? Utterly and totally ridiculous."

Soooo... Once again, the old Nick/WGAw war has erupted. Now, I've written about this topic before, but I've tried to not take sides, offering Nick the benefit of the doubt. Now, it's getting silly. Nick is shooting off its nose to spite its face. I can't imagine a talented creator willingly going to Nick now, knowing what kinds of heck they'll have to face with management. Seriously, would it drive Nick off the air to pay some kind of residuals?

At least Micah has held on to the rights to his creation, which puts him one up on every other Nick creator. Maybe it will find a new home somewhere. One can only hope.

To read Wright's comments on his website, click here.
To read some more on Constant Payne, or to see this 10-minute pilot (not for those suffering from low-bandwidth-itis), click here .
For some earlier diatribes of mine about this, click here or here.
And thanx to Jerry Beck's Cartoon Research (again) for posting it originally on his website!

[JustJack]

This is the first time I've seen or heard anything on this, & I must say I like what I see. Has a real Cowboy Bebop/Gunsmith Cats/Batman kind of feel to it. And I do like it.

What the frick is he doing at Nick?! Having your show on Nick is one thing. But, having it on Cartoon Network, who will allow the show to be good, and let you keep the character rights & whatnot....thats worth everything to me.

The whole situation sounds stupid, anyway. Sheesh. Screw-you-Nickelodeon!

[Zorakfan]

Damn nick to hell I say! To television hell! Along with Reality TV!

[Gromit]

Let me keep Spongebob and Invader Zim,then you
can blow that steamin' pile of bile up.

[Chibi Kageboshi]

i like: That Ginger show, Fairly Odd Parents, Invader Zim, Rugrats, and the new Rugrats All Growed Up(if they pass it as a series).

[pencilsharp]

This is pretty typical of the reactions I've seen here at AniGen about Nick. There's Spongebob, Zim, and maybe the Oddparents, but nothing else.

That's the sad part about this, and what will spell major trouble for Nick further down the road. Nick owns all of these shows, and pays nothing to anybody, no matter how many times they air them. Nick's management considers this to be the goose that lays golden eggs. As long as somebody keeps watching, they can charge advertisers for ad space, and they get to keep all of it.

But how much longer will they be able to keep it up? It was this problem that helped burn out Stephen Hillenburg on Spongebob, so now Nick will have no more new eps made of their hottest show. Not that they care.

Sorry, Nick. With what you did to Micah Wright, you just lost your one apologist here.