The Toonami channel needs a new name

Anonus · 2016-12-03 23:14:39

Clay Croker's death, and the subsequent end of its Space Ghost series, triggered some soul-searching on the part of ABC Warner's Overseer Anonus Utilis.

For one thing, extending Toonami into a 16-hour channel (the other eight belong to Adult Swim) was always kind of a tenuous proposition, because the elaborate nature of the branding (the Absolution environment) could have been too easily diluted. So I'm thinking that Toonami should just shrink back down to being a block on a channel with a different name.

Toonami has to coexist with the Super Adventures block of nostalgic action cartoons, which became a sub-brand of Toonami when the channel launched on September 27, 2015. It will become a sub-brand of this new brand.

The new name can't have "Cartoon Network" or "CN" in it, because the beauty of "Toonami" was how it tied back to Cartoon Network without being limited by the associations of that brand. Also, it risks diluting the hierarchy, and making the cumbersome nature of the name "Another Cartoon Network" seem less cheeky.

Salix Babylonika · 2016-12-03 23:19:33

I don't think it does.

Anonus · 2016-12-03 23:23:19

I was just thinking about @Section42L's concerns with it, and his fears that the Toonami brand was being stretched too thin, or robbed of character

Maybe it isn't

Tre · 2016-12-03 23:23:52

Fried Dynamite.

Anonus · 2016-12-03 23:24:08

(stretched too thin in also how people think Toonami means strictly anime, when more or less by necessity, the channel isn't all anime. It's prominently featured, but still)

Anonus · 2016-12-03 23:24:54

and yes, the Toonami channel does air reruns of The Powerpuff Girls (the original, the reboot doesn't exist in this universe) and Steven Universe

Section42L · 2016-12-04 02:54:33

Anonus said:
I was just thinking about @Section42L's concerns with it, and his fears that the Toonami brand was being stretched too thin, or robbed of character

Maybe it isn't

That wasn't exactly what I was saying.

I meant more that I wasn't sure if the channel as we had it was being configured correctly.

In terms of the name, I'd be fine with replacing it but I'm not sure if it would be possible to come up with a better one.

Anonus · 2016-12-04 02:56:27

well how should it be configured?

Section42L · 2016-12-04 03:02:16

I don't know!

I think it's mostly fine the way it is, FWIW. I think the problem is more with the relative paucity of good programming that fits.

Anonus · 2016-12-04 03:04:44

Yeah...

The thing is that ABC Warner can MAKE those shows. Maybe there just aren't enough? (Space Ghost was Toonami's lone original series, and nothing else is slated to premiere until at least next year)

Anonus · 2016-12-04 03:05:37

Also, ABC Warner owns a bunch of good programming that fits. Shows based on DC properties, PPG, SU, even Jonny Quest...

Anonus · 2016-12-04 03:23:39

Yeah, I misunderstood you

We both wanted to make Toonami broader and not just have it be perceived as an "anime" brand

It's just that I'm not sure if it came at the cost of the little things that gave the block its soul (for one thing, TOM and SARA don't appear outside of the primetime hours and the Midnight Run block on Saturday nights - instead, the Absolution environment manifests itself in a less elaborate form)

Anonus · 2016-12-04 03:24:27

I'm not sure if I should just have Toonami shrink back down to an afternoon/late night block or what.

Or if I could even nod to it by pulling a Mountain Dew/Sierra Mist with a new name.

Anonus · 2016-12-04 03:30:08

(For the record, the weekday block would still be called "Toonami" and would have TOM being appropriate for the kids. The Saturday night block would bear the name "Midnight Run" as it currently does and he could still swear and stuff)

The Toonami channel needs a new name

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