What to Expect from Tom Ascheim’s Cartoon Network by Felix Anthony Saenz
As of July 1, 2020, Tom Ascheim has become the president of Warner Bros.Global Kids Young Adults and Classics (which includes Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and TCM). Previously, he played a huge part of Nickelodeon in the 90s and the 2000s and then he joined ABC Family where he was responsible for renaming to Freeform. Judging from his resume, it looks like he’s going to be a much better CEO for Cartoon Network than Christina Miller ever will and I will explain why.
It’s only been 6 months and Ascheim’s Cartoon Network hasn't been in effect right away. What’s happening right now is that just like with other networks when they have a new management team, they will just cancel shows from the previous CEO and get prepared for a bunch of new shows. Unfortunately, 2020 was such a messy year to be a Cartoon Network fan. As you can see, only ONE new show premiered on the linear network and it’s the widely hated show, Thundercats Roar. It only lasted one season, leaving the network devoid of exciting new shows. The schedule has become fully automated at this point as the only shows constantly getting screentime and new episodes are Teen Titans GO, Gumball, Craig of the Creek, and Total Dramarama. What makes it even more frustrating is that Gumball already ended back in June 2019, and yet it somehow continues rotting as a zombie. Yes, if you’re unaware, the remaining crew members of the show have decided to do clip shows because they are desperate to keep this show alive for two reasons (most likely to keep viewers patient from the Elliott from Earth premiere or the 10th anniversary in May). It’s a slap in the face that newer shows get shoved aside while an almost decade old show is still dominating the network (Disney Channel have the same issue with Jessie as well but you can pretty much guess why that show is still airing). But I don’t want to complain about the schedule, but it’s something that new management has got to improve. What I want for Tom Ascheim to do as a president for Warner Bros kids division is to cool it with the spinoffs and reboots. From the look of the upcoming series, We Baby Bears and that Tiny Toon Adventures reboot, they don’t seem to be winning people over (especially since we’re already having a PPG 2016 moment with the TTA reboot). And besides, we already HAD enough of the whole baby trend anyway (WBB has more than enough episodes focusing on the bears as cubs). And yes, thanks to Ascheim’s involvement, it looks like he will be pushing preschool to CN for the first time since Tickle U was a thing back in the mid 2000s. And I can see why everyone is so skeptical of this idea. While I have hopes that Cartoon Network get better again, I fear that this is going to be more watered down than the time they tried to do PG shows. I already saw those darn anime weebs whining about how safe this channel is these days. I don’t blame them. They stopped showing anime constantly (unless you’re Bakugan which only airs at 6:30AM on Sundays) and with Steven Universe being reduced to promotions like the “Don’t be racist” PCA short, so they must find a new show to fill in the void. Enter another new show from Genndy, called the Unicorn Warriors, which seems to be more of his usual genre: action/adventure. I don’t know how many shows he have created, but unlike Butch Hartman, he haven’t lost his touch whatsoever, who knows? If the show can impress the audience, then this and Kid Cosmic (another cartoon from Craig McCracken coming to Netflix) will prove that Genndy and Craig are the best veteran cartoonists to come out of the early Cartoon Network days. Sorry Butch. I forgot to bring up the elephant in the room, but while we learn that most of the recently ordered shows will be airing on the live feed and HBO Max, this got me an idea. You know how certain projects like Tig N Seek, The Fungies, Distant Lands, and Infinity Train Book 3 headed to HBO Max instead of Cartoon Network? Well, to keep this network alive, they should be doing a TV premiere of those shows so that people can watch them the old fashioned way (we can continue the daily premieres for the latter two, even though I think they are becoming outdated in an age of streaming). I don’t understand why the first two shows are HBO Max originals as they don’t have that story driven fare that most modern CN shows have. Right now, CN is finally outperforming Disney Channel because the Disney+ hype train is that strong. What they should be doing is the most important thing of all when you get a new CEO: a much needed rebrand. You see, this channel has the exact same branding style since they made a slight logo change back in 2010. It may no longer be called CHECK IT anymore, but the influences are still there (even if things have changed a lot during the last 10 years). It was good when it was new, but now it has become stale as heck. Who even uses CMYK branding these days? At least Boomerang’s current branding is a little more appealing to the eyes (and yes I’ll go into more details about the future of Boomerang later). A new look is long overdue. Next, the bumpers should look livelier. Most of them are poorly designed nowadays and look like they were made in 5 minutes. I want to see CN characters interacting with each other like during 2004-2006 (I’m bummed that didn’t last long). So bringing back CN City would be a perfect solution. It will bring back the charm from many years ago. As for Boomerang, they have been getting better in recent months and I wonder if that Ascheim’s first major decision. Either way, the schedule is shaping up and is certainly a lot more bearable than CN’s sluggish lineup right now. Classic tv shows reruns still have a reason to exist and if METV are to be concerned, Boomerang also needs a rehaul. Anyway, I’m losing track on what I’m saying in this journal, so that’s all I’m going have to say. Cartoon Network needs to start fresh this year with their new President on board, everyone is bored of the emptiness the live feed has for a while.
