Back to the Future: TAS Returns on Fox Box

[Tommy Lawson]

Is anyone else excited that the old CBS cartoon "Back to the Future" is returning in a couple of weeks to Fox Box? It is nice to finally see someone pick it up after all these years. It will replace Stargate at 8:00am ET/7:00am CT & PT on Fox Box. It does seem funny though, that the show returns to the network which is running new episodes of TMNT. Ah, the good 'ol days of CBS in 1991.

http://forums.toonzone.net/showthrea...threadid=68731

[Chibi Kageboshi]

4kids is on crack.

[Tommy Lawson]

Originally posted by Chibi Kageboshi
4kids is on crack.

I believe this is the more correct description of what 4Kids is doing:

4Kids wants to do anything that will improve their ratings performance. They are well behind Kids' WB and ABC Kids this season among the broadcast networks. The Ultraman Tiga hiatus and now this tell us that they will take off any show at any time if it doesn't perform. Instant and unexpected changes are almost certain when a network is near the bottom of the ratings charts.

[Chibi Kageboshi]

so they but in a show that got canceled years ago? doesnt sound very smart. They have to take off every show on foxbox cuz none are very good except the turtles. They have really good properties they just dont use them or the kiddyfy them to the point of dumbness.

[wonderfly]

When Foxbox brought back Dungeons and Dragons in the year 2000 for the summer, (and early fall) I figured it was two things: 1. A way to get older older fans to tune in and 2. Fox was trying to provide a little diversity in their lineup. It worked for me, I definently tuned in that summer.

But this? It's nice to see them bring back another old cartoon, but this doesn't make sense. I don't see this as a way to get older cartoon fans to tune in: I don't even remember this cartoon!!! And the Back to the Future franchise didn't really seem cartoon friendly, if you ask me. And if this is Fox trying to provide diversity....yeah, it works, but come on, I can think of a million other cartoons to bring in for diversity...

[Lucky Bob]

Wasn't Back to the Future cancelled after one season?

[Dark Spider]

Every time I hear about Back to the Future TAS, I hear nothing but good things from it. But it is kinda weird that the FoxBox is showing this rather old cartoon out of the zillions of other possibilities.

[Captin "Hank" Murphy]

It's cool to see that cool series again. but why on FoxBox? It makes no sence, Is there a fourth BttF movie coming that I haven't heard of, or are they just that stupid? Why not bring it on Cartoon Network or even Toon Disney?

[Gary L Thompson]

I don't know about your description of Kiyone, if she really was, wouldn't her football be a certain total goofup and shame of the Galaxy Police Force (who shall remain unnamed to protect the guilty)?

Seriously, getting back on topic, I am rather skeptical of the move. Ratings is kind of an overnight phenomenon, and everything in the history of broadcast shows that a new network establishing itself in the ratings is absolutely never an overnight thing. If Just4Kids is serious about competing with Kids WB and ABC, it should be trying to carve out an identity and getting ready to hunker down for the long haul, rather than sending its shows through a revolving door.

Also, I recall that Just4Kids wasn't planning on relying a TV ratings to turn a profit on FoxBox, but rather on the merchandizing of their shows. It seems to me that any merchandizing of Back to the Future: TAS would simply be lumped in with the merchandizing of the original three movies, it's hard to imagine Just4Kids getting cut for more than a pittance of that, if at all. It's true the three movies have been rerun continuously on cable of late, and that would like spark interest in the animated series, especially if the effort was one of the better Saturday morning efforts of yesteryear--but it's hard to see how even blockbuster ratings on this show would serve Just4Kids' long-term interests.

[BlackoutCreature]

I remember watching this show when i was a kid. It was the lead-in for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for a time. I remember liking it to, although i cant imagine how well it holds up with age. Itll be interesting to see it again.

I do hope this may become a pattern for Fox Box. I loved it when they started airing Dungeons and Dragons again. Id love to see them pick up the old episodes of Mighty Max and Exo-Squad. Maybe even The Tick (does Comedy Central still own the rights to that show?).

[Anthonynotes]

Ah, yes, the BTTF animated series...

The show actually ran from 1991-1993 on CBS (not just one season like the website refers to). It took place after the first three films, with Doc and the Brown family back in the (then-)present with an apparently-new DeLorean time machine (along with the train from the end of the third film). Most of the stories focused on Marty and Doc's kids, Jules (older, well-spoken, Doc-level-intelligence sibling) and Verne (younger, video game-playing, dumber/more bratty sibling). They usually went to the past (except for one episode) and met up with various ancestors of Biff Tannen. Christopher Lloyd appeared in live-action wraparound segments at the beginning and end of the show that demonstrated some science aspect (which leads me to one reason I think it might've been brought back by FoxBox: to help fulfill the E/I requirement). These segments also featured the first TV appearance of Bill Nye the Science Guy.

The woman who played Clara in the movies and the guy who played Biff also returned to do the voices for the animated portions, but Lloyd didn't do his cartoon counterpart's voice: that fell to "Homer Simpson" himself, Dan Castellaneta---who did a pretty decent Doc imitation (though a few bits sound like the 1991-era-Homer, particularly when Doc screams :-) ).


While entertaining, the show's faults included the mediocre-to-weak animation and the overreliance on slapstick humor (seemed like Marty or Doc was always hitting themselves on the head with something/tripping over something) and cartoonish elements (Doc having various cartoonish inventions like oversized mechanical hands to do something-or-other, or whatnot).

Why it was cancelled originally: besides the faults listed above, my guesses are...
- time travel as a central theme for a TV show aimed at kids might not've struck their interest...too "geeky", perhaps.

- two of the main lead characters (Jules, Doc) are genius-level intellects---which kids probably aren't as attracted to as watching someone lower on the IQ scale...also "too geeky", perhaps.

- its timeslot. BTTF aired as the last show on CBS' time schedule (12:30 PM EST) and thus kept getting pre-empted a lot for college sports. Not the best way to keep up viewership.

There was a "Happy Meal" toy line based on this show (one of which, Doc's DeLorean, was recalled, and thus a bit rarer to find; others included Marty on a hoverboard, Einstein in a locomotive, and Verne).

Either way, figure this'll easily beat whatever else is airing on the FoxBox (save for the Turtles) in my book... though I have a few of the eps on videotape, it's not the highest quality. Would be nice to see this show re-released to DVD (*cough, cough*) at least...

-B.

[wonderfly]

Perhaps Fox is trying to win the label of "Best network for bringing back really obscure cartoons"???

[sockhead]

Cool. I never caught the show the first time around. Or i don't remember it. I do have a few of the Mcdonald's toys though. Doc's delorean being one. Why was it recalled?

[Lucky Bob]

Originally posted by sockhead
Cool. I never caught the show the first time around. Or i don't remember it. I do have a few of the Mcdonald's toys though. Doc's delorean being one. Why was it recalled?

The DeLorean consisted of a plastic car emitting sparks inside a plastic case attached to the back as it rolled. I believe they were recalled because the plastic tended to crack. My brother kept his.

[Auggie Doggie]

Originally posted by Chibi Kageboshi
4kids is on crack.

Yeah, they are insane.

Why would they put reruns of a decade-old series that lasted only one season on a network Saturday Morning lineup, instead of letting a cable channel buy it or something?

What next? Yo, Yogi!?

[Tobias]

I can see Fox Box bringing back "The New Archies" as a lead in for the Archie Mysteries.

[Anthonynotes]

Originally posted by Auggie Doggie
Yeah, they are insane.

Why would they put reruns of a decade-old series that lasted only one season on a network Saturday Morning lineup, instead of letting a cable channel buy it or something?

What next? Yo, Yogi!?

Uh, like I said, it lasted *two* seasons, not one. :-)

As for "Archie's Weird Mysteries", that's what I'd been watching when seeing Sat. morning TV, for lack of much else on...still, the thought of a "New Archies" revival---*shudder*...

-B.

[RZetlin]

Back to the Future: TAS?

WTF? Why are 4Kids picking up such an old show when they are losing the battle against the other networks?

Back to the Future: TAS wasn't that popular when it first aired why do 4Kids think it will do better this time around?

BTW, here's an article on 4Kids and their advertising race.

[LD1984]

I only remember one thing about this series.

In the beginning of one of the episodes, Marty is riding around on his hoverboard. There's a monster movie playing right in front of him.

He says something along the lines of "It's a good thing Doc installed this holgram movie projector on my hoverboard!".

I was only 6 at the time, but I knew when something was stupid. Just thinking about it makes me gag...

[Elven Moon]

Although I'd like to see it again, where on earth did this come from? If they're going to rerun old series, I could make a list of better ones to pick for 'em