Whatever happened to Saturday morning cartoons??

According to the article below, the last stronghold of an American institution, Saturday morning cartoons, is over.  The CW has decided to scrap its Kids WB!

Now, I know this isn't earth-shattering news...hell, it shouldn't even matter right now given how messed up other things are in the world today.  But it strikes a chord in me because I grew up in an era where Saturday morning cartoons were the refuge of children seeking to escape the mundane world, when the world was seemingly much safer, more innocent, less fucked up.  Or that I was just less aware of the state of humanity.

Used to be that all the major channels on "free TV" had a cartoon block on Saturday mornings.  It's what made the weekends special.  Kids got to select from Muppet Babies and the Wuzzles, from The Smurfs to Gummie Bears, from Superman/Batman Hour to Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, from Dungeons and Dragons to Scooby Doo, Where Are You?  Even crappy stuff (anybody remember the Mr. T cartoon? or the Punky Brewster one?) made Saturday mornings that much better than the rest of the week.

Saturday mornings were gold to me.  How miffed was I that my folks made me go to Chinese school.  On Saturday mornings?!?!?!  They so didn't understand what I needed as a child.  It's no wonder I failed Chinese school.

Anyway, this bit of news made me sad and nostalgic for my childhood.

CW REPLACES KIDS WB! WITH 4KIDS

by Steve Fritz

The animation world was sent spinning yesterday when Variety announced the CW TV network will be shutting down its Kids WB! Saturday morning animation block at the end of the 2007-8 season. The 12 year old Kids WB! was the last remaining animated block of Saturday morning programming left on any network, cable or broadcast that was produced in-house.

Starting with 2008, the five-hour block will be filled by 4Kids Entertainment, which currently does a more preschool-oriented syndicated block for Fox. 4Kids will handle all national commercial advertising, Variety reports, and will share in ad revenue with the CW. The CW's share will be applied against a guarantee 4Kids will pay the network. The deal will kick off in September of 2008, with 4Kids covering the 7:00 am – 12:00 pm timeslot.

The primary cause of this decision was simple: ratings and advertising revenue. An inside source confirmed what Variety reported that Kids WB! was losing a substantial number of viewers to cable networks including Nickelodeon, Disney and the Time-Warner owned Cartoon Network. According to the trade, the final blow came when a major sponsor, cereal manufacturer Kellogg’s, announced it was withdrawing all its advertising due to recent government pressure regarding child-oriented breakfast foods.

"This is a great transaction for both the CW and 4Kids Entertainment," CW chief operating officer John Maatta told the trade. Maatta added that 4Kids offered "substantial resources and laser-focus in this arena."

The news has left fans of not only comic book-based animation but also long term franchises like Scooby Doo and Tom & Jerry speculating on the future of their favorite weekend programs. According to the source, fans of The Batman, Legion of Super Heroes, the upcoming Spectacular Spider-Man and other comic book and animated stables should not be too concerned.

Simply put, the end of Kids WB! does not mean the end of Warner Bros. Animation, the source explained, pointing out that they are two completely separate entities. For many shows, Kids WB! was the outlet Warner Bros. Animation series used, but those series aren’t going to be cancelled at the end of the 2007-2008 season. “We are exploring a number of other avenues to direct this programming, from other networks to direct-to-DVD options,” the source said. “There are a wide field of possibilities to be explored.”

For example, Toon Disney’s Jetix block of programming is now showing Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series, and will soon begin airing Pinky and the Brain. Clearly, when Disney is airing Warner Bros. animated series, the distribution picture as well as visions of old studio rivalries needs to be re-thought.

An additional possible distribution outlet – T-Works, the upcoming online animation-centric Warner Bros. site. While the WB source stopped short of saying that T-Works would be the home for new episodes of animated series, it was announced that the new online venture would be the home to a yet-untitled Batman shortform series as well as an animated Wizard of Oz project.

Another distribution channel for Warner Bros. Animation’s projects – direct to DVD films. According to the source, sales of both Superman: Doomsday and the latest original Scooby Doo DVDs have exceeded projected sales by approximately 30%.

"We absolutely intend to stay true to our heritage," Warner Bros. TV Group President Bruce Rosenblum said to Variety. "This is an important business that touches many of the Warner Bros. divisions, and we have confidence that Lisa Judson and her team at Warner Bros. Animation will continue to build toward future opportunities.”

Rosenblum had more to say in a statement released to the media:

“Clearly, this was an issue that we examined closely with our partners at CBS,” Rosenblum said. “We fully believe it makes the most business sense for The CW in this broadcast marketplace. That being said, Warner Bros. has a long, successful track record in the animation business and we absolutely intend to stay true to our heritage by producing world-class animated entertainment for the children's market be it for cable, direct-to-DVD, broadband, wireless and platforms of the future.”

Meanwhile, 4Kids appears to be very pleased with themselves. Their contract with Fox has been extended to at least 2009, and now they also have a five year deal with The CW.

“We are delighted to be in business with The CW and secure distribution of 4Kids’ content for the next five broadcast seasons,” said Alfred R. Kahn, 4Kids Entertainment’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We have had tremendous success over the years collaborating with CW Network partner Warner Bros., to whom we licensed 4Kids’ hit TV series and movies such as Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!. We think The CW’s outstanding affiliate lineup and young target demographic make the network a perfect fit for our programming and business initiatives,” said Kahn.

“We have tremendous faith in Saturday morning kids television, and with this deal we’ve renewed our commitment to remain a major player in children’s entertainment,” said Norman Grossfeld, President of 4Kids’ subsidiary 4Kids Productions. “We look forward to embracing the fans of Kids WB! and we welcome the opportunity to work with all the production companies, program distributors and advertisers that share our passion for the kids business. We also continue to value our relationship with the Fox Network and its affiliates. Fox recently exercised its option to extend the term of our deal with them through the end of the 2008-2009 broadcast season.”

Matt Brady contributed to this article

Myanmar troubles continue...

From The IrraWaddy (www.irrawaddy.org)...

Security Forces Raid Homes Under Cover of Darkness

In the dead of night, Burma's security forces are hunting down pro-democracy protesters in Rangoon, checking on residents and pulling people out of their homes.

[Photo: Reuters]

Residents say military trucks patrol neighborhood streets during the night with loudspeakers broadcasting warnings: "We have photographs. We are going to make arrests!"
 
Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva condemned "violent repression" in Burma and called on the junta to allow its investigator to visit for the first time in four years.

"Light must absolutely be shed on what happened," Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Burma, told the council, which adopted a resolution by the EU deploring the killings, beatings and detentions.

"We are deeply concerned by the fate of thousands of peaceful demonstrators who have been arrested," Pinheiro said.

In Burma, figures on the number of dead, injured, disappeared or arrested varying widely depending on who is reporting the numbers.

While the official government figure for dead and injured demonstrators in Rangoon is 10 dead and 11 injured, two leading advocacy groups say the number of dead nationwide is probably at least 130 and people imprisoned during the course of the protests could exceed 3,000.

"According to hospital sources, witnesses and members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association, we concluded that the death toll reached 130 on September 30," Nilar Thein, a leading activist of the 88 Generation Students who is in hiding, told The Irrawaddy by phone on Wednesday.

The opposition group said at least 2,000 people—including 135 women and nuns; 80 elderly monks and 50 novice monks believed to be age 5 to10—are detained in a windowless building on the campus of the Government Technical Institute in Insein Township in Rangoon alone.
   
Tate Naing, the secretary of Thai-Burmese border-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), said the group is concerned by reports that detainees were being moved to a new location—two police battalions based in Hmawbi Township on the outskirts of Rangoon.

"We are very concerned about the reports we received now," Tate Naing said. "Unconfirmed reports are saying that some detainees have even been moved to the hard labor camps outside of Rangoon."

"We also are gravely concerned about the conditions of detention. We believe that many of the detainees sustained injuries during the demonstrations, but they are not being provided proper medical attention," the AAPP said. "All those being held are not given enough food or water, and many are kept in crowded facilities where the spread of disease is likely."

The main detention locations are believed to Rangoon's notorious Insein Prison; the Government Technical Institute in Insein Township, near Insein Prison; Kyaikkasan Stadium in eastern Rangoon; and two police battalions based in Hmawbi Township, located on the outskirts of Rangoon.

On Wednesday, the junta released 80 monks and 149 women believed to be nuns who were rounded up last week in a crackdown.

In one of the first sinister descriptions of the detention process, a relative of three released women told Reuters that people being interrogated were divided into four categories: passers-by; those who watched; those who applauded and those who joined in demonstrations.

One of the freed monks told the news agency that the monks were held at a government technical institute in northern Rangoon's Insein Township and subjected to verbal—but not physical—abuse during interrogations.

Meanwhile, residents living near monasteries in Rangoon are on alert in an effort to counter the roundup raids by soldiers.

"We have asked the monks to make noise if the security forces surround the monastery," a Rangoon resident said. "Then we can gather to confront the soldiers."

On Tuesday, Buddhist faithful prayed and touched their foreheads on the ground at one shrine in downtown Rangoon while two dozen soldiers patrolled outside. But there were no barricades along the street and stores were open even in the late afternoon. Rangoon and Mandalay are under a dusk to dawn curfew.

Racism or religious fervor?

Here's something hilariously funny and grossly disturbing at the same time...

http://break.com/index/jewish-girl-prank-calls-her-parents.html

This little episode just speaks volumes about racism and the freakiness of religion.

Myanmar vs Iraq

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