A small tribute to Jamie Kellner
Mr. Challeron
Sibs (enough to have written three original fanfics about them, one with
Jess Wolfman), but I don't "live and breathe Animaniacs" (I do have a
life, even if it is up for sale) -- I think some of the feelings
expressed toward Kellner ("et al"; what a convenient way to blame
faceless executives) have been more hostile than the truth warrants; and
since 'Tis The Season, around here, to Thank Everyone Involved In Our
Beloved Animaniacs, I think Kellner should get a small amount of credit
too.
"What?" I hear the protests already; "You're talking about the MAN WHO
KILLED THE ANIMANIACS!!" No, actually, I'm not, because he didn't; but,
as with politics, the Facts are rarely reflected in the Feelings.
Permit me to elaborate:
The entire "WB Network", as well as "KidsWB", began as most businesses
do, with an Idea that hopefully attracts Followers; in many businesses,
these would be Stock Holders (anyone know what "IPO" stands for?), but
in Commercial Broadcasting, the primary hoped-for "followers" are
"National Advertisers": Any student of Broadcasting History recognizes
that the so-called "Golden Age" of radio or TV was a time in which
programs had actual names like "The Johnson Wax Show Starring Fibber
McGee And Molly" and "The United States Steel Hour" and such; it was
easy to produce Quality Shows when you knew for certain that there was
Someone Behind You, paying the bills; and there was little actual
Competition in any case (hell, NBC used to run *two* of the three radio
networks).
Now, of course, the situation is different: "National Advertisers"
aren't interested in Sponsoring entire Shows out of some 1940's sense of
"Obligation To The Community" (they actually expect a *profit* from
these silly-ass ventures!); and when Kellner (as a symbol; no single
Executive does all these things himself) pitched the idea of a "KidsWB"
to these "National Advertisers", he guaranteed them a certain Market
Share, in return for Up-Front Money so he could convince (i.e., pay) a
whole bunch of Independent Broadcasters to "form" the "WB Network".
The Bottom Line? When everything was said and done, and The Numbers
Were In (this was about two years ago), Kellner Hadn't Delivered; and
the National Advertisers wanted their Money Back. Kellner took a Hard
Look Around, and saw that he had a handful of Cheap Projects in the
works (the ill-fated Calamity Jane for example), which were Unique
Enough to maybe get more stations to sign on to his "Network" (remember:
He was still competing with "Fox Kids", and Rupert Murdoch was more than
willing to lose money on "Fox Kids" -- even though he didn't -- to prove
that he was a "Responsible Broadcaster"; this from the man who publishes
that London newspaper famous for its "Page Three Nudes"); and he also
had a Very Expensive To Produce show, for which he already had enough
episodes "in the can" to sustain it in re-runs for a while. Forced into
a corner, Kellner made the same decision anyone else (who actually knows
enough about running a business to become that level of Executive) would
have done:
He stopped production on the Very Expensive Show: Animaniacs.
He did not "cancel" Animaniacs; he did not "kill" it; he does not "hate"
it (well, he may not be too thrilled with this ng); and he is far from
blind to the Power Of A Good 'Toon. (His personal collection of TV
stations is corporately known as "Acme Television".) But Animaniacs
wasn't self-supporting, for the same reason that Hanna-Barbera never
produced a "Tom And Jerry" TV-show that looked anything like the
theatrical cartoons they'd produced for M-G-M, either: In the World Of
TV, Simple Animation Rules. (Think "Batman/Superman" and "Men In
Black".)
So, here it's the End of 1998, the End of an Era (the revival of
Really-Good Cartoons), and the End of the Animaniacs (sigh).... If
Kellner were half the ogre we're all trying to denounce him as, Episode
99 would never have seen the light of day (*all* production on
Animaniacs *could* have ceased two years ago during the KWB Cash Crisis;
yet, somehow, money was found to eventually finish even the
least-started projects); and how many of the satirical WBA comments
about Kellner within the show would have survived the "Standards And
Practices" editor's scissors if Kellner didn't have a sense of humor?
And *who*, since Keeper raised the question, would have been more able
to "convince" the "Kids WB" stations "not to have a voice-over and
squish-box during the ending credits" than the WB Network's Chief
Executive?
Or do we all believe that the "Animaniacs Marathon" -- the real "End" of
the series, since it marked Animaniacs' removal from the Saturday
Morning Lineup (a situation forced, in a real sense, by Disney's
purchase of ABC and their subsequent Saturday morning programming) --
happened spontaneously?...
So "all the comedy is being sucked out" of Saturday mornings (and let's
all thank the Federal Busybodies for that); and those of us who like
Really Good Cartoons will "wait ... and wait ..." for Animaniacs Episode
100, just like we'll wait for the DTV movie; but if we're waiting for
anything at all it's for Tom Ruegger to convince Paul Rugg, Sherri
Stoner, and a few other key people to come back to work for him
(Disney's got *lots* more money than WBA) ... and maybe for Rob Paulsen
to teach Nathan Ruegger how to kick his voice back up into "Skippy"
range....
Who knows? Louis Gonsalves's "Save The Animaniacs" petition's arrival
on Kellner's desk (presuming it ever gets there: Unsolicited
"manuscripts" are usually tossed, unopened, into the trash) might turn
out to be a Good Thing: Maybe Kellner could use the evidence of the
*real* demographics of the Animaniacs' audience to convince a few
National Advertisers to tack some commercials (read: "Up-Front Money")
onto the DTV movie which nobody can currently afford to produce (The
"Rugrats Movie" does *not* define a "missed opportunity": their whole
movie cost less than an Animaniacs Theatrical Short)....
So, let's raise a toast to *all* of the people who helped keep
Animaniacs alive for these five years (no, no, Alsis, not *that* kind of
"toast": Put down the blowtorch), even one or two who don't seem to
deserve any thanks; even ones who had to make Executive Decisions that
were unpopular, just to keep the boat afloat. Will there be an
Animaniacs Episode 100-and-beyond, or a Direct-To-Video movie? It's
getting less and less likely, true -- especially with Disney competing
on a Real Network *and* a Cable Channel -- but Miracles Have Happened;
Pigs Have Flown; Microsoft will invent an Operating System that
*works*.... (Okay, so that's stretching it a little.)
I welcome opposing comments that actually refute my statements without
devolving into slander, lies, and name-calling (that's my real e-mail
address up there); that is, if there's anyone still here after all the
Tearful Goodbyes this weekend (sigh)....
-- Mr. C (who just discovered how itchy asbestos underwear is)
(Damn this server: I think it barfed....)
CAlf6...@aol.com
"Mr. Challeron" <chal...@ibm.net> wrote:
> The Bottom Line? When everything was said and done, and The Numbers
> Were In (this was about two years ago), Kellner Hadn't Delivered; and
> the National Advertisers wanted their Money Back. Kellner took a Hard
> Look Around, and saw that he had a handful of Cheap Projects in the
> works (the ill-fated Calamity Jane for example), which were Unique
That was a French Animated cartoon (A Canned show!)
> Enough to maybe get more stations to sign on to his "Network" (remember:
> He was still competing with "Fox Kids", and Rupert Murdoch was more than
> willing to lose money on "Fox Kids" -- even though he didn't -- to prove
Give the thanks to Power Rangers! That's how the Animaniacs leave FOX Kids,
to make things worse.
> that he was a "Responsible Broadcaster"; this from the man who publishes
> that London newspaper famous for its "Page Three Nudes"); and he also
> had a Very Expensive To Produce show, for which he already had enough
> episodes "in the can" to sustain it in re-runs for a while. Forced into
> a corner, Kellner made the same decision anyone else (who actually knows
> enough about running a business to become that level of Executive) would
> have done:
>
> He stopped production on the Very Expensive Show: Animaniacs.
Wait a moment! Is Batman and Superman to Expensive to produce? What about
Histeria? Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain? Sylvester & Tweety? Men In Black?
Are they so expensive to make that they cannot find Money to make Animaniacs?
>
> He did not "cancel" Animaniacs; he did not "kill" it; he does not "hate"
> it (well, he may not be too thrilled with this ng); and he is far from
> blind to the Power Of A Good 'Toon. (His personal collection of TV
> stations is corporately known as "Acme Television".) But Animaniacs
> wasn't self-supporting, for the same reason that Hanna-Barbera never
> produced a "Tom And Jerry" TV-show that looked anything like the
> theatrical cartoons they'd produced for M-G-M, either: In the World Of
> TV, Simple Animation Rules. (Think "Batman/Superman" and "Men In
> Black".)
If Warner Brothers has the Hanna/Barbera Corporation, why not let them use it
to make the Animaniacs? Did they do it with Captain Planet? (Yuk!) Also
with Scooby Doo on Mystery Island?
> So, here it's the End of 1998, the End of an Era (the revival of
> Really-Good Cartoons), and the End of the Animaniacs (sigh).... If
> Kellner were half the ogre we're all trying to denounce him as, Episode
> 99 would never have seen the light of day (*all* production on
> Animaniacs *could* have ceased two years ago during the KWB Cash Crisis;
> yet, somehow, money was found to eventually finish even the
> least-started projects); and how many of the satirical WBA comments
> about Kellner within the show would have survived the "Standards And
> Practices" editor's scissors if Kellner didn't have a sense of humor?
And to this date, he keep canceling more shows! BTW Were is Brats of the Lost
Nebula? Can he answer? He spend money that could be used to make more
Animaniacs, and ended canceling the show! Isn't that fair?
>
> And *who*, since Keeper raised the question, would have been more able
> to "convince" the "Kids WB" stations "not to have a voice-over and
> squish-box during the ending credits" than the WB Network's Chief
> Executive?
I though that the ending credits din't have a voice over because those were
pre-recorded months before the new Kids WB line up started. And Animaniacs
was out of the Line up!
>
> Or do we all believe that the "Animaniacs Marathon" -- the real "End" of
> the series, since it marked Animaniacs' removal from the Saturday
> Morning Lineup (a situation forced, in a real sense, by Disney's
> purchase of ABC and their subsequent Saturday morning programming) --
> happened spontaneously?...
Disney's programming does not appear until 10:00 AM Eastern Time. And they
only offer a very poor quality cartoon (If they were offering Mickey Mouse
shorts, that's other story) named Peper Ann, followed by Dough (Im not a
follower of the cartoon since appeared on Nickelodeon a few years ago). If
WB were to place Animaniacs earlier in the morning and not later, that could
help change the tinghs. But they ruin it!
>
> So "all the comedy is being sucked out" of Saturday mornings (and let's
> all thank the Federal Busybodies for that); and those of us who like
The FCC Perhaps created that stupid law to impose 3 hour of Educational TV
(What about PBS?) and they were forced to create Histeria which took most of
the expenses that could have made into new Animaniacs Episodes.
> Really Good Cartoons will "wait ... and wait ..." for Animaniacs Episode
> 100, just like we'll wait for the DTV movie; but if we're waiting for
> anything at all it's for Tom Ruegger to convince Paul Rugg, Sherri
> Stoner, and a few other key people to come back to work for him
> (Disney's got *lots* more money than WBA) ... and maybe for Rob Paulsen
> to teach Nathan Ruegger how to kick his voice back up into "Skippy"
> range....
>
> Who knows? Louis Gonsalves's "Save The Animaniacs" petition's arrival
> on Kellner's desk (presuming it ever gets there: Unsolicited
> "manuscripts" are usually tossed, unopened, into the trash) might turn
> out to be a Good Thing: Maybe Kellner could use the evidence of the
> *real* demographics of the Animaniacs' audience to convince a few
> National Advertisers to tack some commercials (read: "Up-Front Money")
> onto the DTV movie which nobody can currently afford to produce (The
> "Rugrats Movie" does *not* define a "missed opportunity": their whole
> movie cost less than an Animaniacs Theatrical Short)....
And the Save the Animaniacs Campaing Will also follow this too!
>
> So, let's raise a toast to *all* of the people who helped keep
> Animaniacs alive for these five years (no, no, Alsis, not *that* kind of
> "toast": Put down the blowtorch), even one or two who don't seem to
> deserve any thanks; even ones who had to make Executive Decisions that
> were unpopular, just to keep the boat afloat. Will there be an
> Animaniacs Episode 100-and-beyond, or a Direct-To-Video movie? It's
> getting less and less likely, true -- especially with Disney competing
> on a Real Network *and* a Cable Channel -- but Miracles Have Happened;
> Pigs Have Flown; Microsoft will invent an Operating System that
> *works*.... (Okay, so that's stretching it a little.)
>
> I welcome opposing comments that actually refute my statements without
> devolving into slander, lies, and name-calling (that's my real e-mail
> address up there); that is, if there's anyone still here after all the
> Tearful Goodbyes this weekend (sigh)....
>
> -- Mr. C (who just discovered how itchy asbestos underwear is)
>
> (Damn this server: I think it barfed....)
>
Slappy said "Dying is easy, Comedy is Hard"
Save the Animaniacs!
Carol Alfonso
Save the Animaniacs Campaign & Web Ring
http://members.tripod.com/~saveanimaniacs/index.html
E-mail: Save...@aol.com CAlf6...@aol.com
-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own
Jessica M. Wolfman
episodes. That's a *lot* for a cartoon. How many other modern kids' cartoons
have that many episodes? And they've never really bothered to market the show
all that much. It's not like with Looney Tunes, which have merchandise available
every 10 feet, or like with anything Disney. In a way this is a *good* thing,
since it never cheapened the characters to the same effect as the others.
Animaniacs never had to be toyetic.
It's not really cost-effective for them to produce more episodes, no matter
*how* many people like the show. There's no reason for them to do it. They could
market the hell out of it, but, as I mentioned above, this would destroy the
show IMO. And while they may be more powerful than any ten gods, they can't
really afford to do this show out of the kindness of their hearts.
I'd love for there to be more episodes. I *really* hope that they will take the
petition to heart and make more. I'd love for another season, or two, or three,
or twelve... *if* they could keep up the quality.
I feel pretty bad for saying this, but the last few seasons have had more misses
than hits. There have been many good, fun cartoons, but far too many of them
have sported bad animation and/or badly overdone jokes. I have a feeling that if
A! *were* to continue, it would continue to go downhill.This happens with a
*lot* of shows, live action and animated. They start out good, but as time
progresses they go downhill. To paraphrase one of Rostler's Rules: "Shows never
get better, they only get worse." It's probably for the best that they stopped
it now.
Again, I hope that they will make more shows, or a few specials, or a second
(third, fourth) movie, in the future. But I'll take quality over quantity any
day of the week.
At the moment, we still have the comic book series, which we've been told has a
fairly long future. We also have whatever fanfiction we write ourselves (I'm
available for cowriting and severe editing any time). I know that neither are a
replacement for the show. But it's what we have.
Jessica Wolfman
"It is said that whomsoever the gods wish to destroy they must first make mad.
In fact, whomsoever the gods wish to destroy they must first hand the equivalent
of a stick with a fizzling fuse and Acme Dynamite Company written on the side.
It's more interesting, and it doesn't take so long."
--Terry Pratchett, "Soul Music"
The Adventurers Guild - Recently Updated!
http://members.tripod.com/~theguild
Replace nospam.com with boo <dot> net to reply via email.
AmbushBug4
>a fairly long future. We also have whatever fanfiction we write ourselves (I'm
>available for cowriting and severe editing any time).
I've been looking for a cowriter for "Star Warners: The Original Series" for
some time now, but coming from someone who takes such a dim view of the show I
doubt I'd suggest it. LOL.
Trigger
| | Garrett Gilchrist AKA Ambus...@aol.com
| | anthropomorphic tiger & fozzie bear journalist
.. _| \ basement-dweller, director, artiste
'( .-._____) Do Visit :
http://members.aol.com/AmbushBug4/mybrainhurts.html
Jessica M. Wolfman
>>At the moment, we still have the comic book series, which we've been told has
>>a fairly long future. We also have whatever fanfiction we write ourselves (I'm
>>available for cowriting and severe editing any time).
>
>I've been looking for a cowriter for "Star Warners: The Original Series" for
>some time now, but coming from someone who takes such a dim view of the show I
>doubt I'd suggest it. LOL.
Hey, I love the show! Just not every segment of it...
> Trigger
>
> | | Garrett Gilchrist AKA Ambus...@aol.com
> | | anthropomorphic tiger & fozzie bear journalist
> .. _| \ basement-dweller, director, artiste
> '( .-._____) Do Visit :
>http://members.aol.com/AmbushBug4/mybrainhurts.html
Jessica Wolfman
Lari, the Teenage Goddess of Heavenly Bodies and Brownies
like to say a few words.
I honestly don't have anything personal against the man. I don't think
that most people here do. I'm sure that, were any of us to meet him in
person, we wouldn't haul off and slug (anvil, mallet...) him; we might have
some rather earnest words to say about A!, F!, and PatB, but it wouldn't be
particularly angry or violent. He's just a really convenient target, kind
of like one of those little stress balls that you get that look kind of
like the president -- you wouldn't really smoosh the head of the "Leader of
the Free World" around like that were you to meet him in person (I hope)
but it just kind of makes you feel better about being American (this isn't
really making sense, I know. Rest assured that somewhere, deep down, I
think I know what I'm thinking about.)
I mean, if we could point to, say, Captain Kangaroo as being the cause for
everything that happened to A! and related programs since the move to KWB,
I'm sure that you'd find plenty of anti-Kangaroo posts full of violent,
comical anti-Kangaroo plots and language. If you could blame the elves who
make those pickles, it would all be directed toward them.
It's hard to personify marketing/economic/demographic realities.
Larissa (the personification of the teenage goddess of heavenly bodies and
brownies, which is enough for right now.)
Paul Neubauer
[deletia]
[ defense, or reason about J. Kellner - (my notes are not
directed at aperson but at some small group or a faulty
process) ]
> Enough to maybe get more stations to sign on to his "Network" (remember:
> He was still competing with "Fox Kids", and Rupert Murdoch was more than
> willing to lose money on "Fox Kids" -- even though he didn't -- to prove
But now it would seem KWB is following, trying to out-action the
action stuff that came before and promoting Histeria! in the crudest
manner possible evidently tryimg to paint it as Rugrats or Beavis &
Butthead or even (arrgh) South Park. It may be the easiest, but is
far from the best. You can't lead by following, and they are following.
>
> He did not "cancel" Animaniacs; he did not "kill" it; he does not "hate"
> it (well, he may not be too thrilled with this ng); and he is far from
>
> So, here it's the End of 1998, the End of an Era (the revival of
>
The problem, as I see it, is not simply that Animaniacs is over or
very nearly so, but that there is no heir apparent. With the posted
rumor (and let us hope it is just that, a baseless rumor) of changes
at WBA it would seem that any successor will not be soon in arriving.
Where's the funny? There are four choices left on WB. One is that
the occassional humorous Superman or Batman will get made, but this
is far too infrequent for those of us who don't a rip about
'Heavy Duty.' Another is PEatB, which has yet to overcome the E
part of it and match what PatB was - and even then is a limited
plot device, honestly. It can't do whatever it wants just for the
sake of funny. It tries valiantly, but still has that limit.
S&TM, the third choice, has the same limitation, which it also tries
to work around. For waht it is, it is remarkable, but still has that
limit. Fourth, there is Histeria! which is likewise limited by the E/I
requirement. H! has honsetly surprised me with how good it can be
and still have that E/I rating. You can quibble, but E/I that isn't
watched is worthless - H! is worth the watching.
But the real thing sought is the unmentioned fifth option.. an all
out unlimited funny for the sake of funny cartoon. Perhaps one is
in the works or being mulled over. There's many of us that'd like to
hear that, yet we fear as one person said, "We got the quality of
Animaniacs...and stopped. Like we went to the moon..and stopped."
We don't want to stop.
> So "all the comedy is being sucked out" of Saturday mornings (and let's
> all thank the Federal Busybodies for that); and those of us who like
> Really Good Cartoons will "wait ... and wait ..." for Animaniacs Episode
> 100, just like we'll wait for the DTV movie; but if we're waiting for
> anything at all it's for Tom Ruegger to convince Paul Rugg, Sherri
> Stoner, and a few other key people to come back to work for him
> (Disney's got *lots* more money than WBA) ... and maybe for Rob Paulsen
> to teach Nathan Ruegger how to kick his voice back up into "Skippy"
> range....
Here is the real frustration - through the faulty process, the belief in
numbers that lie (at best), and perhaps bias and ineptitude in cases, the
creative team that came together to spark the whole works off has been
disbanded, some of them driven away.
This means it will be a likely be a long wait until we see anything
even close, let alone 'better.' Yes, better is possible, but it is
brutally aggrivating to see this incredible state of 'almost.'
Yes, Animaniacs had a good run and maybe, just maybe, it was time to
stop before it degenerated - or degenerated more as some would likely
say. (Mary Tyler Moore show "Quit while you're still a hit..")
In some things, 'There is always next year.' Here, we haven't seen
anything that looks like there will be. Maybe in several years.
But we don't want to wait. At least I don't. And I have looked
around - I don't see CN or Teletoon or YTV - and all I have found
(besides thw WB shows listed above) is stuff with ugly characters,
or poor animation, or lousy writing, or some combination.
It's looks like a long time til 'next year.'
---
Vakko's ata post no.78 for 1998.
JungleRed7
> >The Bottom Line? When everything was said and done, and The >>Numbers
>> Were In (this was about two years ago), Kellner Hadn't Delivered; and
>>> Look Around, and saw that he had a handful of Cheap Projects in the
>> works (the ill-fated Calamity Jane for example), which were Unique
>That was a French Animated cartoon (A Canned show!)
A french studio did most of the boards and animation, but it was produced here
in sunny SoCal by Gary Hartling. A lot of very nice work, too, which at least
Canadians are getting to enjoy.
>> He stopped production on the Very Expensive Show: Animaniacs.
>Wait a moment! Is Batman and Superman to Expensive to produce? What >about
>Histeria? Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain? Sylvester & Tweety? Men In >Black?
>Are they so expensive to make that they cannot find Money to make >Animaniacs?
I guess they could siphon money from the Hurricane Mitch fund on the 5th
floor....
>If Warner Brothers has the Hanna/Barbera Corporation, why not let them >use it
>to make the Animaniacs? Did they do it with Captain Planet? (Yuk!) >Also
with Scooby Doo on Mystery Island?
HB is busy with thier own line up for the Cartoon Network.
>> Will there be an
>> Animaniacs Episode 100-and-beyond, or a Direct-To-Video movie? It's
>> getting less and less likely, true -- especially with Disney competing
>> on a Real Network *and* a Cable Channel -- but Miracles Have >>Happened;
Sure, "Wakko's Wacko Wish" should be appearing as a direct-to-video in a few
months. TMS animated it, so it's going to look great.
Mr. Challeron
>
> >At the moment, we still have the comic book series, which we've been told has
> >a fairly long future. We also have whatever fanfiction we write ourselves (I'm
> >available for cowriting and severe editing any time).
>
> some time now, but coming from someone who takes such a dim view of the show I
> doubt I'd suggest it. LOL.
>
Take her up on it, Bug: She made "Twas The Night Before" a much-stronger
story; believe me.
-- Mr. C (at work)
Jessica M. Wolfman
wrote:
>AmbushBug4 wrote:
>>
>> >At the moment, we still have the comic book series, which we've been told has
>> >a fairly long future. We also have whatever fanfiction we write ourselves (I'm
>> >available for cowriting and severe editing any time).
>>
>> I've been looking for a cowriter for "Star Warners: The Original Series" for
>> some time now, but coming from someone who takes such a dim view of the show I
>> doubt I'd suggest it. LOL.
>>
>
>Take her up on it, Bug: She made "Twas The Night Before" a much-stronger
>story; believe me.
Thanks. And I'm serious on the offer. The one-and-a-half fics I've co-written
were fun.
By the way, could you send me a copy of 'Twas the Night, Toon Noir, and that
third one (An-inn-maniacs?) I have the first two stuck in my Hotmal account and
it won't let me get to them.
Also, does anyone know if there an *updated* archive of fanfics? The ones I know
about haven't been added to in a while.
>-- Mr. C (at work)
Jessica Wolfman
marinaro
Jessica M. Wolfman <wolf...@nospam.com> wrote in article
<36506e83...@news.comm-plus.net>...
> But also look at it this way: the show has been on five years, with 99
> episodes. That's a *lot* for a cartoon. How many other modern kids'
cartoons
> have that many episodes?
"Batman" has 109 and goin' strong.
Craig
marinaro
funny. It's no A!, but it's definitely funny. But the biggest limitations
are in plot & characers. A!'s best points were the wacky plots & especially
the lovable cast. H! is completely lacking in each category.
Craig
Jessica M. Wolfman
>
>
>Jessica M. Wolfman <wolf...@nospam.com> wrote in article
><36506e83...@news.comm-plus.net>...
>> But also look at it this way: the show has been on five years, with 99
>> episodes. That's a *lot* for a cartoon. How many other modern kids'
>cartoons
>> have that many episodes?
>
>"Batman" has 109 and goin' strong.
>
>Craig
Well, OK, one that has fifty, sixty years of history and a tremendous
non-cartoon fan following behind it.
marinaro
Mr. Challeron <chal...@ibm.net> wrote in article
<36500F...@ibm.net>...
Alright, I've made as many anti-Kellner posts as anyone here. Fact is, I
never pictured him as human. He was some odd alien blobby thing who spent
WB's hard-earned cash on stupid shows, which he got some joy out of buying
only to cancel them three weeks later. So, I'll try to imagine him as human
and humor you for a second...
So, what you say first is that Kellner actually _came up with_ the idea to
have a whole network built around A! You go on to explain that A! had
become too expensive to produce. So...
Forced into
> a corner, Kellner made the same decision anyone else (who actually knows
> enough about running a business to become that level of Executive) would
> have done:
>
> He stopped production on the Very Expensive Show: Animaniacs.
Ah, but B/S is even _more_ expensive than A!. For one thing, the writers
get more (I think). For another, the VAs get more (especially celebs like
Mark Hamille, Dana Delaney, etc.--and Bernadette Peters was too
much--HAH!). Finally, they get the good, expensive animation studios.
how many of the satirical WBA comments
> about Kellner within the show would have survived the "Standards And
> Practices" editor's scissors if Kellner didn't have a sense of humor?
A sense of humor...Kellner? Okkay, well, perhaps. Or, perhaps he didn't
even catch them. I missed some until I rewatched it on tape. Some of the
parallels were subtle (admittedly others weren't...). I dunno if he even
bothers to watch the shows before they air. That what the S&P people are
for. After all, he can't watch every episode of every show on the WB.
>
> And *who*, since Keeper raised the question, would have been more able
> to "convince" the "Kids WB" stations "not to have a voice-over and
> squish-box during the ending credits" than the WB Network's Chief
> Executive?
And who says it wasn't someone else?
>
> Or do we all believe that the "Animaniacs Marathon" -- the real "End" of
> the series, since it marked Animaniacs' removal from the Saturday
> Morning Lineup (a situation forced, in a real sense, by Disney's
> purchase of ABC and their subsequent Saturday morning programming) --
> happened spontaneously?...
But why WAS it removed from Sat. at that point in the summer? Couldn't it
at least last till Sept. as originally planned? For two SaTM, to "see how
the show would fair in each slot." They could've given us another month or
two.
Okkay, so maybe he was justified in it. He wasn't making money off it, and
that's the general purpose of having a network. Perhaps he did care about
the show, even enjoy it. It's not his fault his network has crappy
programming. Give the public what it wants. It's the only way to be
successful. And that all he ever cared about...
Which is the problem. As the Brain said in "Broadway Malady" (loosely
quoted), "N-no, I won't do it. I won't compromise myself. It's about more
[than success]. It's about what's in here." Something like that. Although I
don't remember the exact words. If Brain is willing to give up the world
for what he truly believes in...well, we're all willing to give up our
biggest goals for what we really believe & love. If Kellner really, truly
did care about A!, he wouldn't have compromised himself. Even if he got no
more new eps, he could've at least given the reruns a decent slot. In the
end all he really cared about was $$$. $$$ is what drove him to form a
kids' network. $$$ is what made him make A! the center of attention because
A! was the in thing at the time. $$$ is what drove him to bring in the
"Heavy Duty Dubbas." And $$$ is what eventually led him to replace any
decent programming with crap. Because that's what people want. $$$ makes
the world go 'round. The only reason he spends $$$ on B/S, an even more
expensive show (as I mentioned), is because it brings in $$$$$$$$$. Pity,
but it's the truth. However, thanks for at least reminding me that he's
human. I'd kinda forgotten. =)
BTW, I've written a letter to WBA, not to make more eps, but just thanking
them for 5 great. It's the least I can do after all they've done for me.
Craig
Now, it'll only be another month or so before I actually get around to
mailing it... =)