Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Schneider Bakery Scorecard

SCHNEIDER'S BAKERY SHOWS SCORECARD by Felix Saenz 

All That 

Kenan & Kel

The Amanda Show

Drake & Josh
Season 1
Pilot: Decent
Dune Buggy: Great
Believe Me, Brother: Decent
Two Idiots and a Baby: Great
First Crush: Good
Grammy: Amazing

Season 2
The Bet: Great
Guitar: Great
Movie Job: Amazing
Football: Good
Pool Shark: Good
Smart Girl: Great
Little Diva: Decent
Blue Brothers: Great
Drivers License: Amazing
Number 1 Fan: Good
Mean Teacher: Great
The Gary Grill: Amazing
Drew and Jerry: Great
Honor Council: Great

Season 3
The Drake and Josh Inn: Great
Peruvian Puff Pepper: Good
We're Married: Decent
Mindy's Back: Great
The Affair: Good
Playing the Field: Good
Helen's Surgery: Great
Paging Dr. Drake: Amazing
the Foam Finger: Great
Girl Power: Good
Sheep Thrills: Good
Megan's New Teacher: Good
Little Sibling: Great
Theater Thug: Amazing
The Demonator: Great
Alien Invasion: Good
Dr. Phyllis Show: Decent

Season 4
Josh Runs Into Oprah: Great
Vicious Tiberius: Good
The Wedding: okay
Mindy Loves Josh: Good
Who's Got Game?: Great
The Great Doheny: Great
I Love Sushi: Good
The Storm: Amazing
My Dinner with Bobo: Great
Tree House: Decent
Josh Is Done: Amazing
Eric Punches Drake: Decent
Megan's Revenge: Good
Steered Straight: Good
Megan's First Kiss: Good
Battle of Panthatar: Great
Really Big Shrimp: Amazing
Helicopter: Good
Dance Contest: Amazing

Go Hollywood: Amazing
Merry Christmas: Amazing

Zoey 101
Season 1
Welcome to PCA: Okay
New Roomies: Meh
Webcam: Bad
Defending Dustin: Mediocre
Prank Week: N/A
Jet X: Meh
The Play: Decent
Quinn's Date: Meh
Spring Fling: N/A
Backpack: Decent
Disc Golf: Great
School Dance: Okay
Little Beach Party: Good

Season 2
Back to PCA: Okay
Time Capsule: Good
Election: Meh
Bad Girl: Decent
Robot Wars: Good
Haunted House: Great
Broadcast Views: Good
Lola Likes Chase: Good
People Auction: Okay
Quinn's Alpaca: Great
Girls Will be Boys: Okay
Spring Break Up: Good

Season 3
Surprise: Good
Chase's Girlfriend: Okay
Hot Dean: Decent
Quarantine: Good
Zoey's Tutor: Good
The Great Vince Blake: Good
Silver Hammer Society: Decent
The Curse of PCA (1) (2): Amazing
Wrestling: Good
Zoey's Balloon: Good
Chase's Grandma: Great
Michael Loves Lisa: Good
The Radio: Decent
Favor Chain: Mediocre
Zoey's Ribs: Good
Drippin' Episode!: Great
Paige @ PCA: Great
Son of a Dean: Good
Hands on a Blix Van: Great
Dance Contest: Good
Miss PCA: Good
Logan Gets Cut Off: Great
Goodbye Zoey (1) (2)?: Great

Season 4
Trading Places: Good
Fake Roommates: Good
Alone at PCA: Great
Rumor of Love: Decent
Anger Management: Good
Quinn Misses the Mark: Okay
Walk-a-Thon: Decent
Vince is Back: Decent
Dinner for Two Many: Mediocre
Coffee Cart Ban: Meh
Roller Coaster: Good
Chasing Zoey/PCA Confidential: Decent / Meh

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Zoey 102:

Victorious
Season 1
Pilot: Good
The Bird Scene: Decent
Stage Fighting: Meh
The Birthweek Song: Decent
Jade Dumps Beck: Mediocre
Tori the Zombie: Okay
Robarazzi: Meh
Survival of the Hottest: Okay
Wi-Fi in the Sky: Good
Beck's Big Break: Okay
The Great Ping Pong Scam: Okay
Cat's New Boyfriend: Mediocre
Freak the Freak Out: Okay
Rex Dies: Good
The Diddly Bops: Decent
Wok Star: Okay
The Woods: Meh
A Film by Dale Squires: Decent
Sleepover at Sikowitz's: Great

Season 2
Beggin on Your Knees: Good
Beck Falls for Tori: Okay
Ice Cream for Kesha: Decent
Tori Gets Stuck: Decent
Prom Wrecker: Mediocre
Locked Up: Okay
Helen Back Again: Good
Who Did It Trina?: Decent
Tori Tortures Teacher: Okay
Jade Gets Crushed: Decent
Terror on Cupcake Street: Good
Blooptorious: Decent

Season 3
A Christmas Tori: Good
The Breakfast Brunch: Decent
The Gorilla Club: Okay
The Worst Couple: Meh
Andre's Horrible Girl: Okay
Car Rain and Fire: Meh
Tori and Jade's Play Date: Decent
April Fools Bank: Mediocre
Driving Tori Crazy: Meh
How Trina Got In: Meh
Tori Goes Platinum: Great
Crazy Ponnie: Mediocre
The Blonde Squad: Okay

Season 4
Wanko's Warehouse: Meh
The Hambone King: Decent
Opposite Date:Okay
Three Girls and a Moose: Mediocre
Cell Block:Meh
Tori Fixes Beck & Jade: Okay
One Thousand Berry Balls: Decent
Robbie Sells Rex: Good
The Bad Roommate: Meh
Brain Squeezers: Bad
The Slap Fight: Okay
Star-Spangled Tori: Okay
Victori-Yes: Meh

Sam & Cat

Game Shakers
Season 1
Sky Whale: 4/10
Jacket, Falling Pigeons: 3/10
Dirty Blob: 5/10
MeGo the Freakish Robot: 4/10
Tiny Pocket: 3/10
Scared Triples: 5/10
Trip Steals the Jet: 4/10
Lost on the Subway: 5/10
You Bet Your Bunny: 6/10
A Reggae Potato Christmas: 7/10
Poison Pie: 3/10
Party Crashers: 6/10
The Girl Power Awards: 5/10
A Job for Jimbo: 3/10
Shark Explosion: 5/10
Nasty Goats:  4/10
Babe's Fake Disease:  2/10
The Diss Track: 7/10
Revenge at Tech Fest: 6/10

Season 2
Armed and Coded: 3/10
Secret Level:  5/10
The Very Old Finger: 5/10
Buck the Magic Rat: 4/10
Baby Hater: 3/10
Byte Club: 5/10
Babe's Bench: 3/10
The Mason Experience: 3/10
Burger Games: 5/10
Wedding Shower of Doom: 5/10
Bears, Butts, And Lasers: 6/10
Air Tnp: 5/10
Llama Llama Split Split: 4/10
Clam Shakers: 5/10
Wing Suits and Rocket Boots: 4/10
Game Shippers: 6/10
The One with Coffee Shop: 3/10
The Trip Trap: 3/10
The Switch: 5/10
Dancing Kids, Flying Pigs: 6/10
?: 5/10
Spy Games: 7/10
Babe Gets Crushed: 4/10

Season 3
Babe Loves Danger: 6/10
Lumples: 5/10
Subway Girl: 7/10
Snackpot!: 5/10
Babe and the Boys: 6/10
Escape from Utah: 6/10
Super Ugly Head: 7/10
Hot Bananas: 6/10
Snoop Therapy: 8/10
Flavor City: 5/10
Wet Willy's Wild Park: 8/10
Demolition Dollhouse: 6/10
Hungry Hungry Hippo: 6/10
Breaking Bad News: 5/10
Bug Tussle: 6/10
Why Tonya: 6/10
Boy Band Cat Noise: 7/10
He's Back: 7/10 

Sunday, May 2, 2021

Why Does The Loud House Get a Mixed Reception These Days?

 Why Does the Loud House Gets a Mixed Reception These Days?

It’s been 5 years since The Loud House came out. What made the show stood out from most of Nickelodeon’s animated shows is that it was an immediate success. The rest didn’t stood a chance against the yellow sponge. But there’s something appealing to a show about a white haired boy and his 10 sisters (for better or worse) as opposed to a dog becoming a secret agent, a robot and a monster, a boy and his snake go on gross adventures (to be fair, that one didn’t got burned off to Nicktoons), two ducks delivering bread, a blue bird spends time with two weird creatures, etc. The show has a large cast of characters to choose from. At first, Lincoln (the only boy of the titular house) was the main focus of the show and would usually speak directly to the audience, much like Clarissa Darling. Add that and the comic strip art style and you’ll have yourself a 90s-esque cartoon. Now you’ll know why it won the audience over. However, over the past 5 years, opinions on the show has changed a lot. And I’m going to give a few reasons why.


First of all, it was created by a man named Chris Savino. You may have remembered his works for cartoons such as Rocko’s Modern Life, Dexter’s Lab, The Powerpuff Girls, Kick Buttowski , the latter three in which he took over as showrunner and director. A lot of people had their doubts on the guy’s resume since he happened took over two of the aforementioned Cartoon Network shows while their creator moved to their second creation, while other think he’ll do just as great as Kick Buttowski (where he directed all the episodes for the show). For the first year and a half into its run, people trusted him to make a decent show that everyone could enjoy. But on October 2017, the bad news happened. It turns out he was a sexual predator and his history of molesting women dated back to the 2000s. What made the situation even more awkward is that the first cartoon he ever worked on was Ren and Stimpy, also created by another sexual predator (in this case, a child predator). Which adds another asshole creator for Nickelodeon. Thanks to the situation, people’s views on The Loud House has suddenly shifted. They went from claiming to be the savior of Nickelodeon to being one of the most generic cartoons they’ve ever seen.  In my opinion, it became the Fairly OddParents of the 2010s. Both are Nicktoons created by an animator from Michigan and went out to outlast the other Nicktoons from its era (except for SpongeBob, of course, when it comes to 2000s Nicktoons). TMNT 2012 had a decent run as well and up until now it was Nick’s longest running animated show from the 2010s, but that was based off an existing property. In spite of all the behind the scenes mess, The Loud House is still going strong and is now the longest running Nicktoon from the 2010s. Savino has been replaced by Michael Rubiner, story editor of the show, and a longtime Nick veteran.


Second, the show’s writing. A lot of people are very divided on its reputation, whether it deserves to be Nick’s biggest animated success in recent years. Even during its early seasons, the show was accused as being predictable. It was noticeable, but it wasn’t to the extreme in later seasons where there seems to be a formula for most episodes. Most episodes will begin with the problem of a plot kicking in, the characters (usually Lincoln) messing up, they must fix things, and everything is all solved in the end. In recent years, they have went overboard with formula is that you can’t almost not go an entire episode without hearing a soft piano tune, usually played on sentimental moments. It has gotten for the point that it has became exactly what The Fairly OddParents suffered: Strictly formula writing (again, both are created by Michiganders who aren’t nice people at all). People has simply stopped watching TLH altogether.


Last and the worst part of them all: the show has a questionable fandom. Now don’t get me wrong, the show has its fair share of nice people of the fandom as I follow them. They represent the show very well and are friendly people. But here’s where the creepy side of the fandom reside in: DeviantART. If you even dare to look up the Loud House on the Internet (especially on DA), you’ll see nothing but porn art of the show. It’s been this way since it’s first year of existence and it has gotten worse over time especially after the whole scandal surrounding its creator. I understand why people are turned off from this show. Since it has a large character of sibling character, there’s this nasty shipping called Loudcest. Which means if you ship Lincoln or any of the girls together, it’s considered to be incest ship. Because it worked so well with Pinecest (Dipper and Mabel from Gravity Falls)...not to mention, everyone except Lori as of season 5 are minors. So you might as well as call it Pedocest while we’re at it. (At least Lori happens to be dating someone, which is Bobby Santiago)


In the end, what was once to be considered the savior of Nickelodeon, ended being up a punching bag within the cartoon community (unless you’re still a fan). Other reasons why they’re getting sick of it might’ve something to do with its popularity (some people wished Harvey Beaks was the savior of Nick). The Loud House will be remembered as the show that wasn’t good enough to save Nick’s reputation because of the bad things associated with it. I don’t blame you if you’re not into the show these days, but it wouldn’t killed you if just respect it for paving the way for comic influenced shows for Nick. We are getting a few Nicktoons that are based on comics like Big Nate and they’re so boastful about acquiring the rights to Garfield. Frankly, I has grew tired of the competition surrounding both it and SpongeBob. They came out a day apart (by 17 years) and the fans attack each other for minor things. But who knows will be the next big thing for Nicktoons branding?

Sunday, April 11, 2021

Pokemon Sun and Moon Scores

Season 20
Alola to New Adventure!: 10/10
The Guardian's Challenge: 9/10
Loading the Dex: 8/10
First Catch in Alola, Ketchum-Style!: 8.5/10
Yo, Ho, Ho! Go Popplio!: 9/10
A Shocking Grocery Run!: 6/10
That's Why the Litten is a Scamp!: 9/10
Lillie's Egg-xhilarating Challenge!: 10/10
To Top a Totem!: 9/10
Trial and Tribulation!: 9.5/10
Young Kiawe Had a Farm!: 8/10
The Sun, the Scare, the Secret Lair!: 8.5/10
Racing to a Big Event!: 8/10
Getting to Know You!: 10/10
Rocking Clawmark Hill!: 7.5/10
They Might Not Be Giants!: 8/10
Crystal-Clear Sleuthing!: 9/10
A Seasoned Search!: 8/10
A Guardian Rematch!: 9/10
Partner Promises!: 8/10
One Journey Ends, Another Begins...: 10/10
A Shivering Shovel Search!: 8/10
Getting the band Back Together!: 9/10
Alolan Open House!: 8.5/10
A Team on Team Tussle!: 9/10
So Long, Sophocles!: 8.5/10
A Glaring Rivalry!: 9.5/10
Pulling Out the Pokemon Base Pepper!: 9/10
Lulled to La-La Land!: 8/10
The Ol' Raise and Switch: 9/10
The Island Whisperer!: 7/10
Treasure Hunt, Akala Style!: 8/10
Big Sky Small Fry!: 8/10
A Crowning Moment of Truth!: 8/10
Currying Favor and Flavor!: 7/10
Trials and Determinations!: 8/10
Rising from the Ruins!: 8/10
Mimikyu Unmasked!: 9/10
Mallow and the Forest Teacher!: 8/10
Balloons, Brionne, and Belligerence!: 8/10
Mounting an Electrifying Charge!: 9/10
Alola, Kanto!: 10/10
When Regions Collide!: 10/10

Season 22
A Dream Encounter!: 810
Now You See then, Now You Don't!: 8/10
Deceiving Appearances! 8/10
A Masked Warning!: 9/10
Night of a Thousand Poses! 9/10
Mission: Total Recall: 8/10
Faba's Revenge!: 9/10
Family Determination! 9/10
Revealing the Stuff Of Legend! 10/10
Rescuing the Unwilling! 9/10
10,000,000 Reasons to Fight! 10/10
The Professor’s New Adventure!: 9/10
Let Sleeping Pokémon Lie!: 8/10
The Dex Can’t Help It!: 6/10
Fighting Back the Tears!: 8/10
Tasting Bitter With The Sweet!: 8/10
Getting a Jump on the Competition!: 8/10
A Mission of Ultra Urgency!: 9/10
Acting True to Form!: 8/10
Pushing the Fiery Envelope!: 8/10
Satoshi and Nagetukesaru! A Touchdown of Friendship!!: 5/10
Turning Heads and Training Hard!: 9/10
Smashing with Sketch!: 9/10
Love At First Twirl!: 7/10
Real Life...Inquire Within!: 8/10
Rise and Shine, Starship!: 8/10
The Young Flame Strikes Back!: 8/10
Dewpider Ascending!: 6/10
Sours for the Sweet!: 8/10
Why Not Give Me a Z-Ring Sometime?: 9/10
Tough Guy Trials!: 8/10
Some Kind of Laziness!: 7/10
A Battle Hand Off!: 8/10
Guiding an Awakening!: 8/10
Twirling with a Bang!: 9/10
Showering the World with Love!: 8/10
Not Caving Under Pressure!: 8/10
A Young Royal Flame Ignites!: 9/10
All They Want to Do is Dance Dance!: 9/10
Dummy, You Shrunk the Kids!: 7/10
The Shape of Love to Come!: 8/10
The Long Vault Home!: 8/10
I Choose Paradise!: 9/10
Filling the Light with Darkness!: 9/10
Full Moon and Many Arms!:9/10
The Prism Between Light and Darkness!: 9/10
Securing the Future!: 10/10
A Plethora of Pikachu!: 7/10
Turning the Other Mask!: 9/10

Season 22
Lillier and the Staff!: 9/10
A Haunted House for Everyone!: 9/10
Sparking Confusion!: 8/10
Don't Ignore the Small Stufull!: 8/10
No Stone Unturned!: 9/10
Bright Lights, Big Changes!: 8/10
We Know Where You're Going, Eevee!: 8/10
Battling with Beast Within!: 9/10
Parallel Friendships!: 9/10
Alola, Alola!: 10/10
Heart of Fire! Heart of Stone!: 10/10
That's Some Spicy Island Research!: 8/10
Showdown on Poni Island!: 8/10
Evolving Research!: 9/10
Run, Heroes, Run!: 8/10
Memories in the Mist!: 8/10
A Grand Debut!: 9/10
Keeping Your Eyes on the Ball!: 8/10
Show Me the Metal!:  7/10
Got Meltan? 8/10
This Magik Moment!: 9/10
Beauty is Only Crystal Deep!: 8/10
The Dealer of Destruction!: 9/10
The Secret Princess!: 8/10
Drawn with the Wind!: 8/10
Aiming for the Top Floor!: 9/10
A High Speed Awakening!: 8/10
The One That Didn't Get Away!: 9/10
A Recipe for Success!: 8/10
Spying for the Big Guy!: 9/10
A Fiery Training Camp Trick!: 8/10
Living on the Cutting Edge!: 8/10
A Timeless Encounter!: 8/10
Pikachu's Exciting Adventure!: 5/10
Chasing Memories, Creating Dreams!: 9/10
League Offenders and Defenders!: 8/10
Battle Royal 151!: 8/10
Battling Besties!: 9/10
The Battlefield of Truth and Love!: 8/10
Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Strategy!: 8/10
Battling on the Wing!: 9/10
The Road to Semifinals!: 9/10
The Final Four!: 9/10
Getting Down to the Ire!: 9/10
The Wisdom Not to Run!: 10/10
Final Rivals!: 10/10
Enter the Champion!: 10/10
Z-Move Showdown!: 10/10
Exhibition Unmasked!: 9/10
A Full Battle Bounty!: 9/10
Fiery Surprises!: 10/10
From Z to Shining Z!: 10/10
Dreams of the Sun and Moon!: 10/10
Thank You, Alola! The Journey Continues!: 10/10

Saturday, March 27, 2021

Why Disney Channel Feels Dead At This Point?

Why Does Disney Channel Feels Dead At This Point? By Felix Saenz

 I wrote a journal about why Disney XD needs to die and I decided why not do the same for Disney Channel? The channel doesn’t seem to be as dead as Disney XD, but compared to Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network (when they eventually rebrand later this year), it’s looking to be one of the next kids channels to shut down, even if it won’t happen for a long time. But with a streaming service under its belt, it makes you wonder if watching Disney shows on linear tv is worth these days. I won’t be as critical as I was towards DXD but it’s still going harsh since I was never big on Disney to begin with.


First of all, I think Disney Channel has no purpose as a network anymore because most of the exciting stuff are now on Disney+. The linear network these days has nothing to offer outside of new episodes. There’s a person who runs the Disney Schedules account and you’ll notice how dead their channel are, especially Junior. https://twitter.com/DisneySchedules?s=20 All they do is constantly air the same shows over and over again. I’m pretty sure the target demographics will get sick of seeing nothing but Jessie, BUNK’d, Big City Greens, Puppy Dog Pals, Bluey, and TOTS fast and beg for the network to air other shows (but they can’t because those shows get all the ratings). I talked about how uneven the animation and live action ratio is and while 2018 show promise (with animation returning to Disney Channel full time), it’s too late to go exactly the same it was many years ago when they were perfectly balanced especially with its own streaming service being prominent. If you’re not preschool, BCG and Miraculous Ladybug (somehow that show is getting more screentime than the other Disney cartoons currently running), then animation is useless on Disney Channel. Even Disney and PIXAR movies have stopped airing on this channel for the most part. They are now mostly on Freeform if you can watch on live tv. They have aired a few times in the past year but only for certain events. As for DCOMs reruns, they have ran out of stuff to air. It’s mostly Descendants and Zombies reruns with the occasional standalone movies (that aren’t musicals). Basically there’s no variety anymore. I mean it’s sad since it used to take an advantage from Nick and CN: not having an adult themed block. But even their overnight schedule is a waste. It used to be a 6 hour block for ended shows (never mind the fact that their currently most played show is a show that already ended back in 2015), but now currently running shows get to play during those hours as well. Where’s Disney Replay when you need it? It’s getting so sad that freaking Disney Junior has lost better ratings than the main channel. And yet their scheduling aren’t any better (it’s been crap for years now even though the first few years were diverse). I think it’s time for Disney to shut down their channel in the States, if the time ever comes. Granted it used to be a premium channel so I don’t know how it’s ratings were like during its first 15 years of existence. But if they don’t do anything to impress the viewers the next few years, it’s time to say bye bye bye. Oh and another thing, the promos these days are atrocious. If you thought Nickelodeon being hip and cool was bad, then Disney is even worse at it and that may be the main reason why I’m slowly growing out of it. I’ve given up on the channel a couple times and this will be my next time if they don’t shape up. So long, Disney Channel. You were fun during my childhood but now it’s time to let it go. At least I’ll still have Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network on my side to watch for kids cable networks (and Disney+ for all the stuff related to Disney but that’s streaming). Keep in mind while I’m still looking forward to some of their shows, I’m better off watching them on Disney+ instead so I can have a better binge watching experience. I tried to not make this an essay because I didn’t have three reasons why. It was mostly about the streaming wars being a huge factor of declining interest in Disney networks.

Saturday, March 6, 2021

Why TV Animation Is Better Position Now?

Why Is TV Animation in a Better Position Than They Were 12 Years Ago?

Hello this is Felix Saenz, writing a series of journals that will make people argue with me over my differing opinions. For this journal, I have decided to write about the state of television animation and how much it have came from their dork age in the late 2000s. And even though streaming is taking over, western animation is going strong more than ever. And here’s why...


First of all, better access. This can applies to tv in general but cartoons have a much better access to watch outside of cable, even if it’s piracy. Around 2010 is when cable being available in households started to decline and Netflix subscribers start to rise. During this time, Viacom had a deal with Netflix to stream their shows. This lasted until May 2013 where they suddenly got removed. Around the same time, Turner struck a deal with Netflix to stream their content. The biggest problem with this was that Netflix only streamed one season at a time, which means you had to wait a few months to see the other seasons. Unsurprisingly this didn’t last long as Viacom’s contract with Netflix and by 2015, they were gone. Both Viacom and Turner content went to Hulu for several years until they migrated to their own streaming services. And look where we are now. Thanks to streaming services, we now have a much better access to short lived and older shows. 


Second reason (and this is relevant to the journal), animation have seen a strong reassurance since 2010 started. If you people are feeling for nostalgic for the late 2000s, I urge you get to fuck out of this journal. I don’t have the nicest things to say about tv networks around this time period (especially aimed at kids). There’s a reason why I don’t look fondly back at Cartoon Network and Disney Channel during those years. Not so much with Nickelodeon but even they started to have their own problems like dedicating so much screentime to SpongeBob and by the time Cyma Zarghami became the president, Nick started favoring live action shows more than cartoons that wasn’t popular. The Noods era was beginning for CN in July 14, 2008 and you’d expect a fresh new outlook for CN’s future. Wrong! At the time, some greedy executive named Stuart Snyder thought it was a good idea to do live action on a network that have the word cartoon in its name. It was a rough time for us Animation fans. If you go up and ask any Cartoon Network fan, the general census that 2009 was THE WORST YEAR of all time. There were no new original cartoons from their own studios and all they did was shove CN Real down our throats. The only good thing to come out of was the schedule and to give this era credit is something I don’t want to do, because they did had more shows airing at the time as opposed to just Gumball and Teen Titans GO dominating the schedule (even with better content). By the time Snyder left, we never heard of those shows again. However, he did gave us CHECK IT era, where the network suddenly made its comeback by being Cartoon Network and not the Reality TV Network. There were shows like Adventure Time, Regular Show, Sym-Bionic Titan, Gumball, Steven Universe, etc. Yep, it was clear that CN was back to its old roots. Though its a matter of time before the schedule was no longer important to the live feed and became limited to just a few shows because binge watching is the hip thing to do. Now let’s discuss the Disney Channel debacle. This is purely my opinion (and other cartoon fans), but I also feel like Disney Channel itself (not the movie studios, the live action remakes won’t be a main thing until the mid 2010s) was starting to drift away from animation and instead show more content that was aimed at tween girls. Stuff like High School Musical and Hannah Montana weren’t exactly what tween boys who are animation fans want to watch Disney Channel. I did the same thing and didn’t watched much of the network until Phineas and Ferb and Fish Hooks were prominently airing. They’re in a better position now with extra animated shows on their channel (especially since Disney XD is about to be irrelevant) but only if they can let BUNK’d end so that Jessie can stop rerunning more than the other shows that are still airing new episodes. Nick on the other hand, had one of the most notorious and stricter business practices ever. Any new cartoon would dead if they didn’t stand up to SpongeBob’s ratings. It was a Cyma thing and it got worse over time. With Brian Robbins at the helm, this had only happened to Rise of the TMNT only because it was made from the previous management. But rest assured you, Nick is going to get better with this. They’ll have Netflix and Paramount+ to work with so we don’t have to deal with shows being dumped to Nicktoons and Teennick for low ratings. 


And last but not least, the quality of animated shows themselves. Many people will claim that television animation peaked in the 80s, 90s, or 2000s, but I digress. It doesn’t matter when animation was at its high point, there’s no end point when cartoons stopped being good. The 2010s and so far the 2020s prove that tv animation is still going strong. Don’t listen to what anime profile pictures on Twitter have to say, they are not going woke. They are jealous that western animation is taking more risks than their fanservice driven shows ever have. Some of the examples are representation of various culture like ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. They also have expanded beyond comedy, and there’s various of cartoons with story arcs (even if they are going overboard in recent years), as well as sci-fi, slice of life (which was very popular in the 90s) and more. Now it doesn’t mean I’m dissing anime or the classic cartoons, but animation is evolving, and I mean that in a very good way. I thought most cartoons during the late 2000s were hit or miss. There were more misses because there weren’t that many memorable cartoons unless you look for a few quality ones like Phineas and Ferb and Chowder. All I’m saying, if it wasn’t for those shows and Flapjack and Adventure Time, we wouldn’t be in the position we are right now. And while there are quite a bit of revivals and spin-offs for some companies especially Nick, I really hope they don’t overshadow the promising original ideas from animators. What matters is that TV Animation is still in good hands. Nothing will ever go the way of 2009 ever again...let’s continue supporting new cartoons, regardless if their quality. Even if streaming takes over, there will still be quality cartoons on cable, it’s just the risky stuff have to be on streaming for having story arcs.

Sunday, January 17, 2021

What to Expect from Tom Ascheim’s Cartoon Network

 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.

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Fanboy and Chum Chum Scorecard

FANBOY AND CHUM CHUM SCORECARDS
Season 1
Wizboy/Pick a Nose - Okay / Mediocre
The Janitor Strikes Back / Dollar Day - Decent / Meh
Trading Day/The Hard Sell - Meh / Decent
Digital Pet Cemetery/Fanboy Stinks - Mediocre / Bad
I, Fanbot / Berry Sick - Mediocre / Good
Chimp Chomp Chumps/Precious Pig - Okay / Mediocre
Monster in the Mist/Fangboy - Meh / Decent
Brain Drain/Fanboyfriend -  Meh / Okay
Chicken Pox/Moppy Dearest - Okay / Bad
Norse-ing Around/The Janitor's Apprentice - Decent / Okay
Excuse Me/Night Morning - Decent / Okay
Marsha, Marsha, Marsha/Secret Shopper - Meh / Good
Prank Master/Little Glop of Horrors - Decent / Good
Total Recall/Refill Madness - Good / Decent
Cold War/Fanboy in the Plastic Bubble - Meh / Okay
Sigmund the Sorcerer/Fanboy Ahoy - Great / Okay
Fan vs Wild/the Incredible Shrinking Fanboy - Decent / Meh
Separation Anxiety/Strings Attached - Okay / Decent
The Book Report of the Dead/Stan Arctica  - Okay / Good
Man-Arctica the ride/Fanbidextrous - Good / Meh
Saving Private Chum Chum/Jingle Fever - Good / Great
Eyes on the Prize/Battle of the Stands - Decent / Okay
Lord of the Rings/The Incredible Chulk - Good / Decent
Norse Code/The Great Bicycle Mystery - Decent / Good
A Bopwork Orange/Freeze Tag - Okay / Decent

Season 2
I'm Man-Arctica/No Toy Story - Decent / Okay
GameBoy/Crib Notes - Okay / Good
Schoolhouse Lock/Back from the Future - Meh / Decent
Tooth or  Scare/The Big Bopper - Good / Okay
Present Not Accounted For/The Sword in the Throne - Good / Meh
Brain Freeze - Great
Slime Day/Boog Zapper - Great / Okay
Risky Brizness/Kids in the Hall - Decent / Good
Frost Mart Dream Vacation/Field Trip of Horrors - Okay / Decent
There Will be Shrieks - Great
Igloo of Irritation/HypnotOZed - Okay / Good
Robo-mance/Rattleskunkupine! - Good / Good
Bubble Trouble/Lucky Chums - Okay / Okay
The Last Strawberry Fun Finger/Power Out - Okay / Good
Champ of Chomp/Dental Illness - Decent / Good
Get You Next Time/Lice Lice baby - Meh / Okay
A Very Brrr-y Icemas - Okay
Funny Face/Put That Cookie Down! - Good / Good
The Winners/Two Tickets to Paladise - Okay / Decent
Hex Games/Speed Eraser - Great / Decent
Heroes vs. Villains / Face-Eating Aliens From Planet X - Great / Okay
The Cold Rush/Camp-Artica - Good / Meh
Buddy Up/Normal Day - Okay / Decent
Freezy Freaks/Microphonies - Okay / Good
Super Chums - Great
Attack of the Clones/Secret Club - Okay / Good

Thursday, December 17, 2020

Why Disney XD Needs to Die?

 Why Disney XD Needs to Die? By Felix in the Future Productions

Another journal is about to published and to make this relevant to current events, I decided to talk about how Disney XD is useless now. First of all, let me tell about the history of this channel. It all started in 1998, when Disney wanted to make a premium channel about their animated lineup. And thus, Toon Disney was born. I remembered watching it a few times as a kid, but I didn’t fondly remembered as much as I did with Nicktoons and Boomerang. The name lasted until February 12, 2009 where it rebranded into Disney XD. During its final years under the Toon name, they were starting to milk the Jetix block as much as they can and they even started airing some live-action shows (especially from Disney Channel). It can explains the name change because DXD is basically your boy version of the original Disney Channel. As you can see, when High School Music and Hannah Montana became popular, the main channel became a cesspool of being a pop star, which is something that appeals to tween girls. Now I didn’t mind some of the shows, but Hannah Montana, Cory in the House, and Jonas weren’t my cup of teas. And when it become dominant on the channel, that when I stopped watching for a while. Disney in general is supposed for everyone (hence why they’re more safe than their rivals), not a tween factory. But back on topic, Disney XD at first was a cool channel, especially if you wanted to get away from all the saccharine shows the main channel was airing at the time. It was also different in that it was ad supported. So instead of seeing proud sponsors, you’ll see regular commercials. I had memories watching it when I used to have Dish Network. I watched shows such Kick Buttowski, Zeke and Luthor, I’m in the Band, Pair of Kings, and more. Notice how they all had male leads? Yep, this is the boy Disney Channel alright. As the years went on, some genius executive had the brightest idea ever by deciding that animation doesn’t belong on the main channel, so DXD eventually became a grounding dumping for Disney Television Animation production. Especially during the mid-2010s, outside of the occasional Phineas and Ferb and Fish Hooks airings, the only time Disney Channel ever aired animation was during the Disney Junior block and whenever they air Disney/PIXAR movies. Good for animation fans, but not good either because of the cable package. DXD has less viewers than the main channel and relying on a premium package just to watch Disney cartoons was ridiculous. This lasted for good awhile until it was announced in 2018 that most of the new cartoons (including Star vs, Milo Murphy, Ducktales) would move to the main channel. There were some hope after all! But wait, here’s one big problem we have to deal with in the future: the streaming wars. Disney decided to enter the streaming business by creating a service simply titled Disney+. To me, it is proven without a doubt that Disney XD has become a goddamn zombie once that service launched. It is an irrelevant, afterthought of a network that I regret being a viewer in the first place. I always more of a Nicktoons and Boomerang person anyway. And this is my bias on Nick and CN speaking, but even though I grew up with some Disney shows, I never look fondly at Disney’s tv content as much as I did with their movies growing up. But with D+ being a thing, you would expected less burnoffs to that channel. Wrong! In the year of 2020, they decided to burn off Ducktales and Big Hero 6 the Series over there instead of Disney Channel because they do better in ratings. And thus, the boy ghetto animation strikes again. Thankfully, they’re both ending, so we don’t have to worry about them rotting at a dead channel any longer. Oh did I forgot about two elephants in the room on what this damn channel has become? It is now an anime and gaming channel. I mean, who in the hell wants to watch a Disney network for those things? If G4 haven’t died, none of this wouldn’t be happening. But nope, hope you enjoy Player Select, which refuses to go away. As for the anime part, yes you heard it here. There is anime on Disney. They started it with Naruto Shippuden (which was too mature for Cartoon Network) but it left after a couple years. And then, they decided to form an anime block. It clearly flopped because who wants to see kid anime on Disney XD? If Cartoon Network wasn’t so stubborn with their Teen Titans GO and Gumball fetish, this would’t happened either. Nowadays, anime and superhero shows are the only thing airing new content. And yes Pokemon was there at one point, for the Sun and Moon series, but now the Journeys anime is now at Netflix (which have more viewers than DXD). And once all of those shows end (including the aforementioned two Disney TVA shows), it’s B-Y-E B-Y-E to Disney XD. I wouldn’t miss this channel at all, I’m sure most of you wouldn’t, either. All of this shit would’ve been avoided if the executives at Disney Channel gave a shit about animation and now thanks to Disney Plus, it’s too late to have the channel feel like it was growing up: a perfect balance of live-action and animation. But it’s still uneven and they still air Jessie a lot because Bunk’d refuses to die (yes, it got five seasons) and Big City Greens, as good as it is, seems to be the only cartoon they constantly give screentime whenever the others are on hiatus. Oh well, Disney+ is the future of Disney TV anyway. Thanks for reading this journal turnt into a rant in the end. Next time, I’m writing a journal on TV schedules and why I believe cable TV won’t being dying anytime soon.

Monday, November 30, 2020

Why Side Hustle Might Be the Start of Nick Sitcoms Renaissance?

 Why Side Hustle Might Be the Start of Nick Sitcoms Renaissance? a TV review by Felix In The Future Productions

        This is my first journal in a while after focusing on graphing past kids tv schedules. And I want to resume with a Nick themed essay. This month, they have premiered two new promising live-action shows. One is about 5 kids becoming astronauts after accidentally launching a spaceship. This particular show that I will be talking about follows two girls Lex and Presley (played by actual best friends named, Annie/Jules LeBlanc and Jayden Bartels) who must find part-time jobs in order to repair their friend’s father’s boat (who is actually their school principal). With the help of Presley’s brother Fisher, they use an app called Kid-DING to find jobs to pay the money they owed. With a concept like this, do you think this show would only last one season? Well, we’ll have to keep watching to find out. Even if the girls finally pay their principal back by the end of the first season, the next season will probably have them doing something different and they break another property, leading to more job shenanigans. After watching this show, let me just say that it is a breath of fresh air for Nick sitcoms and it could save their live-action lineup for years to come and here are a few reasons. First of all, it is not another Dan Schneider production. For years, Nick has depended on the same producer to create their sitcoms much like how CBS loves to rely on Chuck Lorre to make cheap sitcoms with laugh tracks. I don’t count Young Dylan nor Danger Force as the sitcom that’s gonna save Nick’s live-action content because the former is created by someone who is divided and is dominating BET and the latter is spinoff of a popular sitcom which is only remaining influences from DanWarp. And last, it’s not another sitcom that has to do with superheroes or singing talents (I felt like we have too many of those shows for Nick and Disney). And plus, the concept haven’t been done by Disney before, so Nick gets positive points for being original. I started this review a few weeks ago, but now that I watched the first 4 episodes, I can gladly say that show is more bearable than the likes of later iCarly, Fred the Show, Sam and Cat, Henry Danger, Game Shakers, Knight Squad, etc. The characters are tolerable although Fisher should dial it back with her crush on Lex. Munchy (who is played by Terry Crews’ son Isaiah) is the funniest character on the show imo (and his brother Jaget have just as much as memorable one-liners). The writing isn’t the strongest aspect of the show, but as a TV critic, I  came for the entertainment. It can get formulaic and there’s moments that make you “OH, I know what’s gonna happen in the end” and roll your eyes. But it’s harmless and not as frustrating as Cyma greenlit sitcoms where every most of them had that writing style. Oh, and the overacting is present, but it’s not as force as it was in 2010s kid sitcoms. Sure, Annie and Jayden should’ve used a little more work on their acting skills as they’re social media stars. Right now, Jayden is somewhat better as she had more TV experience than Annie who fame started through video blogging with their family. The theme song is a bop and yes it continues the tradition of main stars performing it. I just wish it last a little longer but you know, they gotta make room for commercials. Vitamin D-iaster is the best episode from what I’ve seen so far because it takes its usual Nick absurdness to the next level. Currently, Trashy Jobs is my least favorite episode because of Ruby and I knew she was going to do something to get rid of the girls just to be closer to Fisher. On the subject of live-action programming, I feel like with the new VP in charge, Nick is finally making quality sitcoms again (they’ve always been good with game shows since they made them relevant). Hopefully, the next sitcoms like Brendar the Barbarian and Warped! (If it does get picked up which I hope, we should use for a new sitcom featuring an All That 2019 member right about now) will finally be the part of this long awaited sitcom comeback Nick desperately needs. I recommend this show for the target audience especially if you’re fans of the main stars. Their star power might be the reason why we might have another hit on our hands for Nickelodeon. 7/10

Sunday, September 20, 2020

Why Nickelodeon's Current Management Is Interesting?

You know how much I have high hopes with Brian Robbins' tenure and the shows and movies greenlit or premiered under him so far? Well, here is the list of all the department in the past year or so:

*Ordered before Robbins took over
Spinoff or revivals/reboots are underlined.

Animation (run by Ramsey Naito)
Middle School Moguls (miniseries) * (Gina and Jenae Heitkamp)
The Casagrandes * (Michael Rubiner)
It's Pony * (Ant Blades, co-productions with Blue Zoo)
Glitch Techs * (Eric Robles and Dan Milano)
Kamp Koral (miniseries) (Marc Ceccarelli and Vincent Waller)
Adventures in Wonder Park * (David Zuckerman and Anne Flett-Giordano)
Rugrats * (Arlene Klasky, Gabor Csupo, and Paul Germain)
Man in House * (Michael Molina)
Meet the Voxels * (Chris Young)
Middlemost Post (John Trabbic III)
Star Trek Prodigy (Dan and Kevin Hageman)
Garfield
Big Nate (Jim Mortensen)
Phoebe and Her Unicorn (Dana Simpson)
Real Pigeons Fight Crime
The Patrick Star Show
The Twisted Timeline of Sammy and Raj (co-productions with Nick India)

Scripted Live-Action (run by Shauna Phelan) + indicates descendants of a DanWarp production
Cousins for Life * (Kevin Kopelow & Heath Seifert, 20 episodes)
All That (revival) (Mike Tollin & Brian Robbins)
Are You Afraid of the Dark? (Revival) (BenDavid Grabinski)
Young Dylan (Tyler Perry)
Danger Force + (Christopher J. Nowak)
The Astronauts
Side Hustle + (Dave Malkoff)
Erin and Aaron (Dicky Murphy)

Unscripted Live-Action (run by Rob Bagshaw)
The Substitute
Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?
America's Most Musical Family
Top Elf
The Crystal Maze
Group Chat The Show
Unfiltered
Unleashed

Preschool (run by Eryk Casmiero)
Butterbean's Cafe * (Johnny Belt and Robert Scull)
Ryan's Mystery Playdate (Albie Hecht)
Blue's Clues and You * (Traci Paige Johnson and Angela Santomero)
Santiago of the Seas (Niki Lopez)
Baby Shark's Big Show! (Gary Doodles and Tommy Sica)
The Tiny Chef Show

If not counting the shows that were leftovers from the previous managements, 28 shows has been ordered under Robbins' tenure so far. And I think what suffered during Cyma Zarghami (and to a lesser extent, Herb Scannell) is that they relied too much on the same certain creators, producers, as well as having musical prodigy and annoying and dimwitted for main characters. I think Nick is finally understanding that we can't depend on them forever. So with this new management, we can the following stigma that Nick has suffered:
-That their animation lineup is nothing but SpongeBob clones, which isn't entirely true. We just need more shows that are different from it. And also to prove that the channel is more than SpongeBob. People hate the idea of the show getting spinoffs, so we have protested to Nick that we want more originality. Even if they're relying too much on existing IPs, I would also recommend to check out on shows like Star Trek Prodigy, Big Nate, etc. so we can support more non-Spongebob Nicktoons.
-That their live-action lineup is nothing but Dan Schneider's productions. Yeah, he was the main producer at Nick for a long time, but I felt like Teennick's schedule is the reason why we have this stigma. Most of his shows succeed, while the other sitcoms not created by him barely thrived (except for The Thundermans which still airs on TV regularly). So it has got to stop now, and hopefully the future sitcoms will prove that their live-action shows can still be fun.

It's not a long journal, but I just wanted to point out that Brian Robbins is doing a decent job as president of Nickelodeon right now. He may not make the best decisions, but rest assured, that Nick will be great again.