l,
So last weekend, thanks to good ol' Netflix, I was able to finally finish the Green Lantern's Animated Series by Bruce Timm. Lasting only 26 episodes, by the time I was finished, there was one single feeling that best described how I was feeling: bittersweet sadness. A sentiment that I had been all too familiar withas of recent years when it came to superhero cartoons.
I want to put a disclaimer up front that I am in my late 20's so I am fully aware that I am a grown man writing an opinion piece on something that is made ostensibly for kids. So...yeah...there's that.
But anyway, lately I have been thinking, "why aren't there anymore good, quality superhero cartoons and more importantly why do the good ones get cancelled before their time?" Green Lantern TAS, Young Justice, Spectacular Spider-man, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes- all great cartoons that can be enjoyed from anyone from the age of 5 to age 50. All critically lauded and beloved by the fans. All cancelled.
Now, to be fair, some of those toons faired better than others. Avengers for example did get a full 52 episodes before it was cancelled which, in all honesty, is not a bad run. However, as fans of that show can attest to, even with 52 episodes there was still so much more to explore and there were plotlines that the show set up that would never come to fruition.
Young Justice came close to Avengers, ending its run at 46 episodes. Yet, even more so than Avengers, there were plotlines and story potential that were never to be reached before the show's conclusion.
Spectacular Spider-man and Green Lantern both ended their runs at a mere 26 episodes. Beware the Batman (which I have not watched but it seems to receive critical praise amongst the fans) was also cancelled at 26 episodes.
So, my friends...what's going on? What exactly is going wrong that these great shows which faithfully and impeccably adapt the source material that we love so much get cancelled before living up to their full potential? Why is it that in this day and age where superhero popularity seems to be at an all time high that we cannot seem to sustain a quality Saturday Morning comic book show for more than two seasons?
The answer? Because there are no more Saturday morning cartoons.
I mentioned earlier in this article that I am in my late 20's which makes me a 90's kid. Any 80's or 90's kid will know that those two decades were the era of Saturday morning cartoon. Fox Kids, ABC Kids, WB Kids, UPN...pretty much every major non-cable network had their own Saturday morning cartoon block from about 8am to around noon. This meant that anyone who didn’t have access to Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon or Disney still had access to a plethora of amazing cartoons. Batman: TAS, X-Men, Spider-man: TAS, Superman: TAS…all shows that enjoyed great success during this era and as a result were able to last for several years and tell the stories they wanted to tell. This is what kids were tuning into bright and early every weekend. So, what happened? What’s changed between then and now?
All of those major networks have pretty much dismantled their Saturday morning cartoon blocks which are where I believe the major problem is: distribution. The reason why superhero cartoons do not last these days is because there are no more outlets to showcase them anymore.
Nowadays, if you want to see superhero cartoons or, heck, cartoons in general, you need to have cable and tune into Cartoon Network or Disney XD. Those are pretty much it. Therefore, it makes it more difficult for kids to be able to easily catch these shows…which leads to low ratings…which leads to cancellations.
Let’s use the Spectacular Spider-man for example. The show debuted on the Kids’ WB and was doing very well until a year later when the WB transitioned in “The CW” and then gave Spiderman to Disney XD where it apparently just wasn’t reaching enough eyes. Now, I’m fully aware there seemed to have been other factors contributing to the end of that show pertaining to Marvel/Disney acquisition of the tv rights but we’ll save that for another article.
I don’t want to prattle on too much as you’re most likely getting bored of my ranting already but the point I am trying to make is I truly believe the demise of great, all-ages superhero programming is a direct result of there just not being enough outlets to enough eyes. I believe that if Green Lantern or Young Justice had the same broadcasting opportunities that our beloved shows from the 90’s did then they definitely would have been able to last longer.
What this all comes down really is it’s just a sign of the times. I think it’s just a plain fact that in 2014, an age where television viewership in general is nowhere where it used to be, kids just aren’t watching toons anymore. There’s too many other distractions these days that's taken their attention away from these things. Not to mention we are heading in a direction where On Demand programming is becoming the norm so there is no more urgency to wake up early and watch the latest episode of your favorite show.
Either way, you know something is horribly wrong when a BATMAN cartoon is being cancelled after only 26 episodes. What is it about these shows featuring Batman, Spiderman and the Avengers that’s causing their primary demographic to not pay attention to them? Especially when these very same properties are making hundreds of millions to billions at the box office? Why can’t these shows gain any traction the same way Ben 10 or Avatar: The Last Airbender or Spongebob are? Are there not enough channels showcasing them? Is there not enough promotion? Do kids and teenagers simply just not care about superhero cartoons like they did in the 80’s and 90’s? What are your thoughts?
Peace and love, y’all!