Kewlopolis on CBS: You thoughts?

[Shift]

So, I managed to catch snippets of the new SatAM contender this morning. For a basic rundown:

*Basically, it seems to be a DIC-run block with it's standard shows as well as some new ones.
*Returning shows include Strawberry Shortcake and that girl's horse club show.
*There's the face of the advertisements, the show about the kids who get dino powers, but I didn't get to see much of that.
*Another show I cicn't get a close look at stars a bunch of 3D characters working with what looks like futuristic heavy machinery. Again, don't quite know the deal on that.
*There's a show that seems to be some sort of sushi action squad, with little multicolored pixie based on Japanese food like Wasabi and such. One notable thing is that it has Tara Strong back on board for a apparently Canadian production, but other than Sam Vincent and Andrew Francis, I didn't hear who else was in it.
*The last show I saw was a new version of the Care Bears, which at the very least wasn't 3D. It's a Canadian cast as per usual, but unlike previous ventures, it seems to work with the Ocean Group more than whoever Nelvana normally hired; i.e., Scott Mcneill is now Grumpy Bear. Plus, instead of a humanesque villain, the main bad guy seems to be an evil Care Bear in a robot suit (only saw the last few minutes, so I don't know his deal.) From what I saw, it seems to stick to a writing style closer to Krypto, and is much closer to the previous series than the, ugh, 3D stuff was. Never saw DIC's first stab at it, but I liked Nelvana's quite a bit, so time will tell how DIC handles their second chance with the show.

So that covers all I know, so by all means fill in the blanks if I missed anything. In any case, did anyone else catch it today, and what's the first opinion?

[dth1971]

DIC has used Canadian cartoon voice casts since it is cheaper than American casts.

Are some Canadian voices from the last late 1980's Care Bears episodes voicing again in the new 2007 Care Bears cartoon series. Will Care Bears DIC in Season 2 in 2008 ad in the return of Care Bear Cousins? BRING BACK BRIGHT HEART RACCOON!

[Mandouga]

Uh, wasn't there already a thread about this?

[J'onn J'onzz]

Uh, wasn't there already a thread about this?

He made a thread about it but had some wrong information so he made another thread to fix the mistake.

I'm surprised li_mangaman hasn't posted in here. He was talking about watching Care Bears, Sushi Action Squad, and that dinosaur show yesterday to me on AIM.

My main problem with this block is that the name is just really dumb. KEWLopolis? Really? Since when is spelling cool "kewl" cool?

[Mandouga]

I believe you mean Sushi "Pack", and "that dinosaur show" is called "Dino Squad".

Personally, I'm not worried about whether or not it's "kewl" to spell "cool" as "kewl".

Anywho, I may have already mentioned the TinPo segments which feature "8-bit" "NES" style music.

[The Non Human]

dino squad is so damn terrible that it's fun to watch...a nice homage to street sharks and other 90's ultra cheese.

the little metallic tooth looking things on the commercial bumpers called 'tinpo' i could really take or leave.

bottom line-i just want trollz back!

[DrTooth]

I had to give this the second option after worst. I mean, I didn't like it when it first premiered to a bunch of flat, girl demographic shows (Sabrina reruns? Show's like almost 10 years old. And Horseland? What's that?!?! Seems like something D.W. from Arthur would watch.) and now, I still don't. However, I give them mundo credit for actually showing original programming. I mean, ABC is pooping out the same live action stuff we all hate, and NBC's Qubo is pathetic. Who wants to watch old Veggietales episodes? And that's the strongest thing on their line up (Jacob 2 2? Dragon?).

I will say, Sushi Pack is enjoyable... once you get beyond the forced in E/I moral preachiness, and the overall rushed feeling the episodes have. Still a pretty good show.

EDIT (not finished posting)

The TinPo segues seem to be based off a toyline. And not a main stream one. Those ones the "Cool Geeks" collect. The expensive blind boxed types.

And Dinosquad, from the 3 minutes I watched did seem cheesy and almost 80's. That's because the king of the 1980's cartoon, Jeffery Scott was the writer.

[Blackstar]

If nothing else, I have to give CBS credit for airing girl-centric shows, inane as they may or may not be. Girls are an audience that is being all but ignored by Kids' WB and 4Kids these days.

[DrTooth]

I have a problem with Girl-centric shows. A boy-centric show always needs a positive female role model shoehorned in (and sometimes it ruins the series... TMNT live action, for example). And usually these female role models are much more positive than the female stars of girl shows. Look at Bratz. never have a more vapid quartet been captured on Saturday morining TV.

Which Is why I love gender nutral shows that both girls and boys can enjoy.

[tb4000]

I watch Tinpo only for the NES style music. It brings a tear to my eye.

[Blackstar]

I have a problem with Girl-centric shows. A boy-centric show always needs a positive female role model shoehorned in (and sometimes it ruins the series... TMNT live action, for example). And usually these female role models are much more positive than the female stars of girl shows. Look at Bratz. never have a more vapid quartet been captured on Saturday morining TV.

Which Is why I love gender nutral shows that both girls and boys can enjoy.

I prefer gender neutral shows as well. In most of my creative work, I deliberately try to appeal to males and females equally. In a perfect world, every show would be gender neutral. Unfortunately, making a show that appeals to both genders isn't an easy task to accomplish, and most producers with dollar signs in the eyes are unable (or unwilling) to do it. They're too busy thinking about how much money can be made off of the characters and whether more boys will buy the game/cereal/books/clothes/figurines than girls or vice versa.

[Mandouga]

The TinPo segues seem to be based off a toyline. And not a main stream one. Those ones the "Cool Geeks" collect. The expensive blind boxed types.

You may have a point there. TinPo was created by a company called "UNKL", who has also created other "...Po" toylines as well (such as "HazMaPo"). As it happens, AG is their licensing agent.

And another thing, we need to stay on topic here. This is not the place to bash "girl-centric" shows, or to complain about the whole boys vs. girls issue.

[Blackstar]

Well, not to be argumentative, but all or most of the programs on CBS's KEWLopolis lineup are girl centric, while Kids' WB's and 4Kids TV's current lineups are designed to appeal to boys almost exclusively, so the "boys VS girls" issue is somewhat relevant here.

[Gokou Ruri]

Decent. Not my thing, but Trollz was a pretty cool show. Though they don't show that much anymore.

[Mandouga]

Well, not to be argumentative, but all or most of the programs on CBS's KEWLopolis lineup are girl centric, while Kids' WB's and 4Kids TV's current lineups are designed to appeal to boys almost exclusively, so the "boys VS girls" issue is somewhat relevant here.

That's not the point. The point is that if this thread is going to start focusing exclusively on that whole issue, then this thread may have to be closed. This is not the place to whine about the state of today's animation industry and the whole boys vs. girls issue. We're talking about a programming block here. If you disagree with a program it shows, fine, but if you're going to start whining about the state of the current animation industry, then the admins will likely close this thread.

Now to get back on topic...again. I think the Care Bears series is okay, but it does KIND OF feel watered down, especially when you consider Oopsy (who doesn't have his own "belly badge"; he just draws a pretend one on his belly). You see, Oopsy is so called because he very often makes mistakes, after which all he can do is say "oopsy...", which is the reason why he doesn't have his own belly badge. If he were to get his own belly badge, then that would defeat the purpose of the character (and AG knows it, too...), which is to show viewers that nobody's perfect, and that everybody makes mistakes...even Care Bears (essentially, making him less of a character, and more of walking talking moral). That said, I suspect that the Oopsy "character" may have been created in response to some kind of criticism as a whole, but there's no confirmation about it one way or the other.

Now I won't go into the whole "character development" issue (because for most AG properties, it's not about that), but suffice it to say, they, along with SD Entertainment and DIC should have put just a little more thought into this show.

[DrTooth]

Well, not to be argumentative, but all or most of the programs on CBS's KEWLopolis lineup are girl centric, while Kids' WB's and 4Kids TV's current lineups are designed to appeal to boys almost exclusively, so the "boys VS girls" issue is somewhat relevant here.

Agreed. It is to the point, as their line up is mostly girl centric shows, and I was trying to make a point that they weren't that good. So far they added one Gender Neutral show (Sushi Pack seems like a good crossover market) and one boy show (Dino Squad).

I will restate the fact that with a new Care Bears, and these 2 shows, they are boldly trying to compete with the other networks with new programming. Something that ABC and NBC aren't a part of (and yet, due to the nature of the shows on ABC, they are constantly in second or third place in the ratings...mmmmh). In fact, Kewlopolis is the first time we've seen original programming on a big three network for some time, and the first time since, probably 1999 since CBS had original programming (though I think they may have adopted Nick Jr. in 2000 not 1999... can someone verify this?)

It would be a step in the right direction, if Kids WB not had to get liquidated at the request of CBS....

[zoombie]

Any of the non Care Bear / Care Bear Cousins characters from the Nelvana series, and the Nelvana produced movies rights belong to Nelvana, so you can't see them on this series.

If they wanted to, I guess they could bring back Professor Cold Heart and his gang, there is no legal reasons to stop that. Though they originated from the "Land Without Feelings" produced by M.A.D. He was on the 80's DIC series, but didn't originate form there.

The Care Bears themselfs will always belong to American Grettings Card Company.

[DrTooth]

Any of the non Care Bear / Care Bear Cousins characters from the Nelvana series, and the Nelvana produced movies rights belong to Nelvana, so you can't see them on this series.

In other words... no Mr. Beastly. I could not care less.

They really should have given him his own show.