Is TMNT thriving because all other action cartoons are being canceled?
 

Does anyone else think the reason all little kids are watching Nick's TMNT is because a lot of other action shows are being canceled?

If you haven't heard the sad news, both Young Justice and Green Lantern are confirmed to be canceled by CN after the remaining episodes air.

Thundercats was canceled after one season. Spectacular Spiderman and Wolverine & the X-men were both canceled after 26 episodes. Avengers ended after 52 episodes.

And the only other superhero show airing with new episodes confirmed is Ultimate Spiderman, which everyone agrees is crap. Other than, "Beware the Batman," there are almost no other action/superhero shows going to be in competition with TMNT for a while.

So to keep count:

1. Young Justice = canceled
2. Green Lantern = canceled
3. Spectacular Spiderman = canceled
4. Wolverine and the X-men = canceled
5. Avengers = canceled
6. Thundercats = canceled

While it makes me sad that all these great superhero shows are being canceled, it makes me wonder if it'll lead to the longevity of Nick's TMNT, because kids will probably want to watch at least one action show instead of all the usual comedies that both CN and Nick go for otherwise.

It's thriving because it's f**king good and has people handling it that care. The other hero shows have handlers (not writers/artists whatnot... the people that make decisions on renewal) that don't give a poop.

The official word on YJ and GL getting canceled, today, is a terrible scar I'm still trying to bear, though. Especially since the last episode of GL was so damn amazing on so many levels that I was wondering how they'd top it next season :/

Well, you don't need to wonder about that anymore.

I suppose we should be lucky that Nick owns the TMNT IP 100%, rather than just co-funding the show like Fred Wolf or 4kids.

Nick spent $60 million to purchase TMNT from Mirage, so here's hoping we get a nice long run out of this show. My hope is 7 seasons, but my dream is to see it be the first TMNT cartoon to reach the milestone 200 episode barrier.

If the show keeps up with 26 eps per season, we'd get there by around Season 8 or 9.

the nick remake is better than all of those cartoons imo. I like thundercats, but the remake (minus the good animation) was pretty crap. Nick's show has good writing so it should have a nice healthy run

Humans are out, turtles are in. ;)

TMNT wins because their show is THAT GOOD. ;)

I still can't get over the Young Justice thing.....but all those hiatuses......

Nick seems to be handling TMNT with alot of care :3 hopefully it continues :D

im not sure the cancelations of the other shows are helping nick
but I just think TMNT2012 is just plain good :3

but now with all the canceled shows...it might help TMNT.....I know I'm gonna be a little more obsessed since young justice and green lantern are going to be over soon....

Trying to look at it from a kids standpoint, it has fun and entertaining episodes, always introducing new things and characters, really kick ass CGI, and has some fun toys.

Going into the Nick cartoon I had pretty low expectations, wasn't a fan of CGI cartoons, thought the turtles feet and wraps were going to look stupid, new voices to get used to, I figured I'd dislike it to be honest. But once I saw the final product I was and am impressed. Absolutely love this series and I hope it coninues on at this high quality for several years. Can't wait to see more of Splinter, the Kraang, Leatherhead, now the rat king as well, heck yeah. I hope we see more of metalhead at some point too. I'm just really excited and there's a lot to look forward to.

I think it's the other way 'round - the shows are being cancelled because not enough lil kids are watching it. The ones that do will probably continue to do so up until the cancellations.

As people have already mentioned it's because TMNT 2012 is just awesome. It's the only reason I started watching TV again.

I think that with the cancellation of these shows kids have fewer options, and that helps boost the viewing for TMNT, but we cannot assume this is the sole or main reason for the cartoon thriving.

As many said before, it is a good show. Well thought out, well paced, well written, well designed and well animated. The character models grab the eye and are certainly appealing to kids.

You bring up a really good point CC. I will start by saying I'm not too worried about the future of TMNT due to Nick's 100% ownership and it's toyline. However, I am very concerned about the future of action adventure cartoons like this. It's been weird to see so many great shows from popular franchises pulled after 1-2 seasons. The Avengers and SSM were pulled because of the Disney acquisition of Marvel. A new head of Marvel TV wanted his own version of Spider-Man and the Avengers. I'm worried that the new Avengers Assemble show will be done in the same crappy way as USM. The other shows just didn't have the ratings. Will a similar show in the same timeslot have the same bad performance in the future? Based on what the younger generation is watching now, probably. Especially if the channels they are on continue to make baffling scheduling moves (long hiatus, last second preemptions, timeslot changes to Sunday at midnight)

It's a sad day when you only get 1 season of Tron Uprising and Green Lantern but a crappy show like USM that has a childish cut scene every 60 seconds gets to live on. Now I'll never get to see Tron being repurposed into Rinzler or the introduction of the Black Lantern Corps.

I think Young Justice (even though I wasn't a fan of it) should have not been canceled. So what if the toys don't sell? If people like it, they like it. Don't keep crap on if nobody really cares for it. Yes, I am mad at the executives down at CN and their incompetence. I feel bad for you Young Justice fans. It deserves another chance. It's stupid they're doing this.:tgrumble:

As for Green Lantern - yeah, I saw it coming. I felt it should have been canceled. Not only did it not have a toy line, but its show got bizarre at some point, and just boring. That's why there's going to be another Batman show, so it won't bore kids. I don't know, but the new Batman show doesn't look that strong to last. Honestly, Cartoon Network better make a separate network like Boomerang and call it "DC Nation" so all kinds of DC toons will exist instead of two. Disney should start doing that with Marvel. Make a separate channel based off of Marvel superheroes. That could work.:tidea:

Now about TMNT. I think it's doing just fine, not just because it's doing well, but because kids are watching it (especially the ones who watch Spongebob first). Plus, it seems the toys are selling. If it's not Avengers or Star Wars right now, it's the turtles.:tsmile: Also, it's got heavy advertising, and it looks like it's getting a lot of attention.

Just to add - to anyone who want this show to go for several years, I hope that means at just four or five seasons. I mean, Nick already has a contract that ends at 2015, which means it could last at three seasons, unless the contract is renewed. I think it should be at four seasons. Here's why - We could get over 100 episodes if possible, but four because their are four turtles in the team. I mean, three seasons won't mean one is excluded, but I just think it would go with the franchise.:twink:

And to Cybercubed: I know you want it to go over 200 episodes. That's your wish. But let's be realistic. I don't think it will go that high. Plus, the minimal the series, the better the cartoon is. If it goes on for too long, God only knows we'll be getting something as bad as Fast Forward or Back to the Sewers. So three or four seasons may keep the show at a high note. Just saying.:twink:

Plus, where does it say Tron: Uprising is canceling. I've heard nothing about that. Besides, that's on Disney XD.:tconfuse:

Thankfully since nick owns TMNT and it isn't licensed we can look at Nick's other shows to see trends and determine how and when they are likely to shut the show down... and all signs point to it having a very long life. After all the money they spent to acquire it they are working really hard to make sure it is a success.

I do think other shows folding is to TMNT's betterment though. Those viewers are going to want something to look forward to and TMNT can easily fill the superhero void for a lot of young fans. But is it doing so well as a direct result of this? No, I feel it is merely an added benefit and not a deciding factor at all.

People here are saying that the reason TMNT isn't canceled is because it's 'good'. They clearly are forgetting that TV shows get canceled because their toy sales run dry. Nick TMNT is a pretty new show and kids are running out to their local Target or Toys 'R' Us to buy their favorite turtle.

In fact, most of the cartoons on Cybie's list were very good. Better than 95% of the junk on TV today. Superhero cartoons have been doing pretty darn well as of late.

Let's take a look at why cartoons have been canceled.

:(:(:(:(:cry::cry::cry:
I'm not sure why these shows are being canceled, but it's probably because toy sales were running low and besides, Cartoon Network treats its shows like horse poop.

Spectacular Spider-Man had lots of trouble. It originally aired on CW4Kids, and after a year of never-ending reruns it was moved to another obscure station, Disney XD. Also, Marvel bought Disney around here. Sony (owner of Spider-Man) and Disney are direct competitors, though I'm not sure if that affected anything. Not to mention, SS was in part canceled because a NEW Spidey cartoon , Ultimate Spider-Man, was being made. If anyone's seem an ep, you know it's terrible.

The show was expensive to make (those character designs were GOOD) and the action was too little. Didn't make much of a profit.

Actually, it was only canceled so that a new Avengers show could be made - Avengers Assemble. It's target group will be dumb little children. And it will be a copy of last May's blockbuster film.

No idea. I've never seen this show, though I've heard it's good.

It's because the show has something everyone age 2 to 32.

It's vivid, colorful, has whacky characters, lots of jokes, plus action, more action, continuity, running mysteries, and heartfelt moments.

Also, the stand-alone nature of each episode makes it highly accessible. I love Young Justice to death, but even me at 21 and after watching every episode multiple times, I still would get a little lost on certain things (mainly because of the long and frequent hiatuses CN would put it on), so kids probably didn't bother with it. Especially not after the bastards never reran the show.

I really just feel like marvel and dc cartoon shows are really tired, they keep rebooting the shows with replacements and i'm tired of it. I don't even watch them anymore. I wish they would give some of these franchises a break and stop running them into the ground. DC and Marvel should create something new for a change.

Tron: Uprising isn't cancelled, per se, but it hasn't been renewed. And it spent the second half of its season airing Sunday night at midnight. On the Disney channel, that's pretty much a middle finger. Disney, apparently had a commitment to run 19 eps, but I think they gave up on it a long time ago.

It was the only other show I followed week to week...

the fans for young justice and gltas are going ballistic XD

they are getting lots of support even from other fandoms

I don't know if young justice and gltas are going down (at east not without a fight)

Of course they're going down, and with a bunch of screaming fans too. Spectacular Spider-Man, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and Wolverine and the X-Men were all well-written, intelligent shows, but greedy people running the companies didn't care and flushed them all down the potty.

And even today people mope around, wishing that Spider-Man could have gotten a third season or whatever.

Because the people that make these cartoons aren't non-profit organizations. And if you're hoping for long-term, quality shows on an adult level as an adult while looking at shows for little kids... that would be a mistake.

I thought the days of toy-driven TV shows were over. I was under the impression video games, phone apps, and online app tie-ins were more lucrative these days.

Good as the Nick show is, that's just B.S form a blind TMNT loyalist. Spectacular and YJ are leauges above it. You'd know that if you actually watched them.

I really enjoyed Spectacular Spider-Man since there had been quite a few years since the 90s Spidey cartoon was on TV. However, I never could get into Young Justice because I wanted to see more Teen Titans and the Bruce Timm/Paul Dini DC world.

Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal isn't cancelled. Also Power Rangers isn't dying anytime soon.

Unless SSM got better in the second season (that I never even knew existed until it was over), I'm going to have to disagree. While the best Spidey series ever, I felt it got way more praise than it deserved.

That is an incredibly stupid reason to not want to watch something.

Where do you think Nick TMNT gets its money from? Practically no one is going to buy the $60 season on iTunes. I don't see any video games anywhere, nor any apps. Just toys.

I think TMNT will be around for awhile due to the range of age group this seems to be attracting. I'm a father who watches it with his kids and likes the show. I was a big Spider-Man, GI Joe, He-man, Thundercats, etc. fan as a kid and I can tell you that I expose my kids to the re-makes of any of them that come out. They have really only loved one, TMNT 2012. So, just because adult fans are interested and they have a fandom following, that fandom has to be large enough for a decent profit to be made, regardless of how great the writing or artwork is/was. Good writing for adult audiences, doesn't really translate well at times to kids 2-8, which these animated shows are targeted towards by indication of their time slots etc. Now, I'm not a comicon sort of person, not a big fanboy per say, but could the writers of some of these shows that fail perhaps try to broaden their watching ages too much? Perhaps the super fans on sites like these actually influence the writer to make it more adult action driven and little kids don't need to be exposed to heavy action at a young age. As a parent, you see what too much 'action' scenes do to a kid at play time and from talking with other parents, restrictive viewing of action cartoons seems to be a popular trend. Now, I know, there is no blood and guts etc., but to some even the little scenes in TMNT 2012 fulfills this weekly quota. I think TMNT will survive just because of the nostalgia of parents remembering their childhood turtles and watching it along side with their kids.
IME, Toys DO sell in this age bracket by evidence of my living room and bare wallet, so if this demographic doesn't 'get' the show, the show is doomed to fail. The Turtles add a bit of childish comedy to the show and Mikey being the 'party dude' he is, the kids have a character to relate to. Leo being a leader, Raph being the muscle and dealing with anger issues, and Donny being into 'geeky' computer gizmos gives everyone something to enjoy.
As a side note, I was never into GL at all, even as a kid. X-men seems to be more adult orientated now a days, focusing mostly it seems on wolverine, which I collected all his comics as a kid though. I was how ever really disappointed with the cancellation of Thundercats. I did not even see an episode air, it was cancelled in the first season and didn't bother to air up in the North here at all. I have seen a few episodes, and although the setting seems to be dark (it could have used a bit more colour), I would have watched it. My kids didn't love it, they watched it with me, but wasn't asking to watch it again. So, that brings me back to my original point, it seems if the kids don't watch, the show gets cancelled.

Good point.

Its thriving cuz I can GUARANTEE there is not one kid these days who watch super hero shows other than ultimate spiderman and TMNT

I have to be bluntly honest: if it wasn't for GLTAS, I wouldn't have given TMNT a second bat of an eyelash.

Granted, that only happened because of the sudden/forced hiatus for GLTAS and I was left sitting bored out of my skull on Saturday mornings (since I had now found my Saturdays completely free after I got my current job), but the point still stands.

To be honest, I'm not sure why TMNT is succeeding, or at the very least, doing well. I bristle at some of the DC Nation fans blaming/taking their anger out on other shows (and I have seen TMNT caught in the crosshairs at least once), despite the fact TMNT was on a whole hour or so after the DC Nation block, so it's not like it was taking away viewership.

At the very least, I'm thankful TMNT is guaranteed at least one more season. Whether or not Nick still has enough confidence to greenlight a season 3, well... that remains to be seen.

p.s. I'm gutted about GLTAS' cancellation, but not in the least surprised. This IS Cartoon Network. They were the ones who screwed over Sym-Bionic Titan, Thundercats, and Transformers Animated, after all.

Like I'm saying, 3 seaons or 4 would be just enough for this series. 100 episodes or so will do.:tsmile:

No it won't. The TMNT lore is large enough for the series to go on a large number of years, as well as the new ideas Nick comes up with.

We've never had a TMNT cartoon make less than 150 episodes, we should expect the same here.

I guess, but I feel it's just your wish of having 200 episodes. No matter what happens, your life won't be ruined if it's at least 100 or 150.:tsmile: I mean, do you really want a lot of seasons for TMNT and not anything else? What if the writing becomes bad, or what if we have another Fast Forward or Back to the Sewers? You see my point here?:tconfuse:

CyberCubed wouldn't care if all the episodes in the future had nothing but Donatello picking his nose. As long as they added up to 200, he'd be happy.

No the finish line for a tmnt show is 10 seasons.

I swear this same conversation has come up so many times I can feel my eyelids getting whiplash! CyberCubed, I know you like to speculate, but for the love of God could you please live in the moment and quit looking into the distant future?

I can see this show's version of Michelangelo doing that, but not Donnie.

Way to miss his point.

I got the point, but I was just pointing out it doesn't sound like something we'd ever see that character doing... unless we got another Turtles Forever type story where they're depicted as moronic goofballs!