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Cartoon Network Dropping Gundam and Bebop?
Lhadatt was among several who noted unannounced changes in Cartoon Networks' anime lineup. It's easy to speculate that Mobile Suit Gundam and Cowboy Bebop were dropped because of Tuesday's terrorist attacks since each show has a fair amount of violence, but nobody really knows. You can see the evidence on Cartoon Network's Listings. Tonight, episode 5 of Bebop was scheduled to air: one of the best episodes, too.
The WB didn't show the last episode of Batman Beyond (ever) on Friday because its content was too similar to the attacks. Friday was the last day they will broadcast the series. All the episodes been sold to Cartoon Network except for the last one. Hopefully they (the WB) will reschedule it for sometime in the near future.
Lasers Controlled Games!
I actually watched Bebop on CN, apparently unlike you. I also have the whole series on DVD. The ONLY 2 changes I have seen is the replacing of the word 'shit', and 'covering' the girls in porno mags(there was a porno mag in ep4). Other than that. nothing was changed so far. They even left the nasty messy headwound from episode 1 in.
Please actually watch the series before acting like you do.
-Henry
"Useless organic meatbag" -HK-47
eh the first 2 ep's hare very few edits and was edited less than it was when it was first shown in Japan (before it moved to the wowwow pay channel)
On adultswim.com's schedule, which is here. In the past, cartoon network's whole website never even mentioned bebop due to the fact they didn't want to come in the open and show that they were showing a violent thing like Bebop, or something like that. Hopefully it wasn't cancelled.
-Henry
"Useless organic meatbag" -HK-47
This could be just regular Fall season tweaking. Even though Comedy Central and other cable channels don't have a massive "Fall Season" promotion like the big three networks, they still want to dump the deadwood and get back to those things that have proven viewership. The big three "Fall Season" blitz can be rough on a cable network viewership. Remember, it's a big business.
Or, as you allude, is this a return to the 1950s and 1960s paranoia about the influence of the comic media on "young minds"? The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was the precursor to music lyric rating labels, video game rating labels, and other industry self-inflicted censorship to avoid the wrath of a Congress who doesn't care to understand freedom. (Of course, the Congress is just an extension of the general population, and the general population doesn't want to understand freedom either.) The CCA had one rating: if it wasn't CCA-approved pablum for toddlers, it wasn't put on the shelf.
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I don't watch much anime stuff. But I think its more out of respect for the victims and their families, not because they think it causes terrorism.
It's news because the creator of this web site is a big anime fan, and he felt like posting a story about it. Also because it shows a possible (regrettable) reaction to this tragedy, that may end up spreading to other forms of media, either through the pressure of the public or government regulation.
It's a bit of a dilemma, you see. On the one hand, every time we make some change to our daily routine because of this despicable terrorist act--dropping episodes, delaying the premiere of shows, editing the World Trade Center out of the Spiderman movie altogether--we are in some small sense handing the terrorists a victory, acknowledging that they've affected us exactly the way they wanted. On the other hand, people should have a right to watch TV to try to forget the tragedy for a while and destress from the whole thing without being reminded of it by what's on the set.
Hopefully the pre-emptions and delays will be only temporary, for just a month or two until such time as people are a little less sensitive. The Buffy episode that was delayed over Columbine was eventually aired, after all. The networks did pay money for these shows, and they'll want to use them sooner or later.
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
Hey, they just brought back Outlaw Star which has a fair amount of violence in it.
I really think that speculation is wrong.
I would disagree. Every time some horrible event as Tuesday's attacks happens, the bookburners try to use it as ammunition to pass their agenda. It's at the point where media companies have started to act preempttively, bowing to their sick pressure before they even place it. Yes, in this particular case it's anime that suffers (why? I very much doubt the terrorists even knew what anime was, and if they did they would certainly not watch it). But it doesn't matter what the specific victim is; what matters is that censorship is taking place.
Makes you wonder what they'll do to the Simpsons episode where Homer's car is parked between the WTC towers. They may never play that in syndication again.
As an example of previous CN dealings, the short-lived but excellent show Freakazoid had 4 episodes with reverences (both satire and just off the cuff) to Princess Di. When she died in the car accident, those 4 episodes were completely pulled from the schedule understandable; however, they did not return to the schedule for at least 6 months. I understand being sensitive for something recent in the current events, but that seems excessively overkill.
What bothers me more than much else right now is that Hollywood, all aspects of it, seem to be taking steps above and beyond what ought to be done for the short-term sensitivitly. Anything involving the WTC, even if made years ago, seems to be getting some sort of post-censoring. We cannot deny that the WTC ever existed and shows were made about it, and to do so is only giving the terrorists more of a victory.
"Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
"I can see my house from here!" - ST:
Anyone here see Episode 22(Cowboy Funk)? While one of the funniest eps, it also has a bountyhead that's wanted for blowing up tall buildings. And he does in fact blow up some, including a pair of towers that sort of reminds me of the WTC(except with a large sky bridge thing between them). Maybe this ep prompted this? It's sad cause it's one of my favorite eps.
-Henry
"Useless organic meatbag" -HK-47
Most definately.
If the tv exec's thought that watching something happen could actually cause someone to follow it, then I imagine we would see quite a different lineup for normal tv shows...
Its the same way that it would be in bad taste for them to start showing a movie about terrorism and blowing up buildings -- since it just happened so soon... I mean, maybe they feel that they should at least bury the bodies before they get back to "normal" broadcasts..
Of course, tv execs arn't known for their great morals.. it could also be that they dont want to cause media coverage to single in on their "in bad tastes" tv shows therefor showing negitave publicity.. so one way or the other, they arnt showing them b/c someone (or quite a few people) will be upset...
... and even though I love bebop and am anime Otaku I can't really blame them that much.
Do they think the terrorists were somehow subliminally influenced by Mobile Suit Gundam??? What's next on the ban list? Godzilla?
Evangelion, of course.
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
Okay.. so this is slightly off topic. (I think Cartoon Network is doing the right thing in remaining sensitive to current events. Would you rather have them not give a damn about what's going on in the world and play it anyway because they paid for the rights of it? Would you rather CNN et al played commercials every 15 minutes on Tuesday? At least this shows the mega-corporations aren't thinking ONLY about profit any more.)
Basically, Hollywood stands a good chance of coming out as a better group because of this. In the last 10 years, as the cultural decadence and decline of America took hold, Hollywood has been pandering to America's baser instincts at the expense of good old-fashioned American story-telling.
Moveis have gotten more and more bland, formulaic, and irrelevent to the modern world in the past decade than ever before. The mind-numbing parade of pure crap putout by America's entertainment complex and soaked up by America's pop culture like a kid whose parents are willing to offer him nothing but candy to eat was causing serious damage to America's psyche and attitude.
While I am deeply sorry for those who lost family members and loved ones in these horrible attacks, there is at least a little bit of a silver lining in this all. America seems to have sobered up from its drunken cultural stupor and re-discovered what's REALLY important in life. If they terrorists had waited another 10 years, I wonder if American society would be watching TRL, Survivor 12, or watching a bland violence-sex-gross-out-comedy movie to care. (Facetious)
Hopefully America will keep the unifying and sobered spirit it has re-discovered in the aftermath for some time to come. Parents having honest discussions with their children about issues of morality, crime rates in NY at their lowest levels in the history of the city (common enemy), young people not blindly assuming the world owes them something, but being cognisant of their own morality.
Hell, if the last traces of the ugly racism popping up against Arab-American can be eradicated.... America stands a great chance to come out of this a more responsible, more caring, more serious, more compassionate, more focused, more dedicated, and more selfless nation.
The point? Hopefully Hollywood will follow and put out entertainment that's more meaningful than another episode of Friends, a pointless prurient movie about sex and violence, or another dumb series about beautiful young 20-somethings whining about nothing.
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"...and Maddest of all, to see Life as it Is, and not as it Should Be."
From what I've been hearing Mobile Suit Gundam wasn't getting very good ratings, and was being considered for cancellation anyway. Perhaps this was simply a coincidence, or maybe all this just accelerated its cancellation.
It'd be nice to see a network devoted specifically to such things but I doubt there'd be enough demand in the US to keep it going. Too bad you can't just get a video feed off the net. I'd love to be able to watch Anime being aired on Japanese TV and catch undubbed episodes of Iron Chef if that's still playing there (Speaking of which, does anyone else thing that dubbing Kaga-san is just WRONG?)
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Don't get too excited. =P
The english voice acting cast for Cowboy Bebop is pretty much the same as outlaws. You aren't missing a great voice actor that you haven't heard before.
Cowboy Bebop Off Adult Swim? (2001-09-15 22:47:12)
According to the Cartoon Network web page, Cowboy Bebop will not be shown for at least the next two weeks (as far the the website lists). See here and here. Toonheads and the Bob Clampett Show will be shown in its place. One Cartoon Network representative has told us that Cowboy Bebop has not been cancelled. However, we've had some conflicting information in this story. We'll continue to update as we receive information from CN and Bandai. [ No More ]
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Stand up and make yourself heard. If you are upset about this then you should use the feedback link and let dragonball z network er, I mean cartoon network know exactly how you feel. The only reason I ever tune into that network is to watch mobile suite gundam and cowboy bebop. Cowboy Bebop is brilliant! I've only seen three episoeds to date but each one was amazing. Just my luck, as soon as I start to like something the network drops it. I with I had bland tastes so I could be part of the majority and not have to deal with this stuff.
The only way dragonball z network will make a change for the better is if everyone uses the feedback link so we can send the message loud and clear that we are pissed off. Adult swim is great but after a bonehead programming move like this I won't be at all surprised to see them drop space ghost next.
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The year is Universal Century 0079. The One Year War between the Earth Federation and the Prinicipality of Zeon has deadlocked. Unbeknown to Zeon, the Federation has been working on building its own ultimate weapon: Gundam. The new prototype is to be shipped to Earth from its home on the space colony Side 7. But a surprise attack puts the mobile suit into the hands of a teenager who just might save the world.
Cartoon network drops anime at the drop of a hat regardless of world events. I can't even remember all of the different series that they have put out there only to drop 2-3 months later.
I suppose that they have to pay a royalty for each episode they air and if the ratings aren't high enough they may not get enough ad revenue to at least break even.
CN is a AOLTW network and I work for AOLTW (not at CN, but close).
AOLTW missed their projected earnings by a long shot and have been laying off and cutting costs like crazy all year. I don't blame CN for sticking to what is safe and making a profit for now till the next earning report comes out. The more money they save, the less layoffs happen.
To make matters worse, sponsors have actually dropped from the CNN agencies so there product doesn't get unconsciously associated with it. ("this updated death count brought to you by Acme, the leader in so and so") So Cnn loses money, aoltw tells the other networks to play it safe with sponsor revenue.
This is all an educated guess mind you, based on what I have heard from different sources.
PLEASE mod the parent down, someone -- he's ruining the ending of the entire series for someone who hasn't seen it!
Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
Well, I don't know about Bebop, but Gundam (at least 08th MS Team and Wing) doesn't have any sex in it. Violence, yes, but mostly "big metal robots." Besides, from what I've seen, Gundam always shows just how real war is. There's a strong pacifistic message in Gundam Wing, and Shiro Amada (of 08th) doesn't enjoy killing either. It would be really disappointing to me if CN cancelled its airing of these shows for such shallow reasons.
-- It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
A post on alt.tv.family-guy said that Fox had *permanantly* pulled "The City of New York Vs. Homer Simpson (4F22)" from syndication.
This, to me, reeks of a Stalinist purge. I can see pulling the show out for a couple of months, like the WB did with the Buffy season finale and the "Earshot" episode after Columbine, but to take it out forever is complete and utter overkill.
Oh, there's also a bin Laden reference in one of last year's Family Guy episodes which I'm sure will be obliterated. Thankfully I have that one on tape!
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
The funny thing is that all of these TV shows & movies aren't being pulled to show sensitivity to the victims or the viewers, but for two more primary reasons: 1. Americans don't want to see the ways in which we portray the kind of violence that occurred last Tuesday in our cultural expressions all the time, so the media is white-washing itself. You would think there'd be no better time to put out a Swartzenneger movie about a firefighter who avenges the killing of his family by terrorists, but no... (This is because)... 2. History has shown that Americans want the blandest sh!t possible after major tragedies. For instance, after Kennedy was assassinated, TV turned heavily toward shows like Gilligan's Island & The Munsters. Ironically, before Kennedy's assassination there were many movies that foreshadowed it, like "Suddenly" (1954), where Frank Sinatra is intent on assassinating the president.
I used to watch Space Ghost & then Insomniac on Sunday nights, but Comedy Central fûcked up & they were both on at the same time. So I stayed with Cartoon Network & watched Cowboy BeBop, which was really cool. That was just last week, too. At least I saw it before they pulled it, now at least I can go rent it--and go to bed earlier. Subtitles are probably better than dubbing, anyway, as it was kind of disturbing to see anime that was so thoroughly white (after Akira & Ghost in the Shell). Was Battletech that white?
That seemed to be everyone's first thoughts on another message board where this was discussed. The odd thing is that they also preempted the showing earlier today (Sunday, 1pm) -- it was supposed to be the "Parent Teacher Night; Walk of Doom". The latter part does involve Zim wandering around a large city (and even going up in one of the skyscrapers), but I don't see any reason to pull it.
"I also noticed lots of other self censorship on the movie channels. You'll never see Fight Club air on TV ever again. Deterrence, a movie about a U.S.-Iraqi conflict (where Bagdad gets nuked at the end) was pulled as was Showtime's version of On the Beach."
That really, really sucks. Deterrence was a great movie that makes you think about a number of the issues. Several times, during discussions on the WTC issue, it would come up as a movie that should be watched.
It is not Cartoon Network's place to tell me what I should be watching. Futhermore, I've seen the news. The world trade centers have been hit by a terrorist attack. I know this. The pentagon has been hit by a terrorist attack. I know this, too. Another plane went down in Pennsylvania when the hostages bravely fought back. I also know this. The FBI is rounding up suspected terrorists. Yet another thing I know. Finally, rescue crews are working night and day, on little-to-no sleep, to save as many survivors from the collapsed building as possible. Like all the previous things, I know this.
So I can tune into the news and watch the plane crash footage for the 2,749th time while analysts argue over the causes and such, or I can try and partially move on with my life. Forget what happened? Certainly not. Stop obsessing over what happened? Yes.
Entertainment television is one of the few escapes from the non-stop barage of WTC information that I'm being hit with. Taking that away from me only serves to further my cynicism and desensitization. Thank you, mass media, for trying to turn me into a cold, unfeeling monster.
Nah, they just wanna be able to run DragonBall Z 4 times a day, like they are now. After all. If they did that, they could run through the whole series something like 1.5 Billion times in a year.
No offense, but just how damn often can you show DBZ? I enjoy the series, but after the hundred millionth running on Cartoon Network, I'd like to see something different. I understand that the lineup is set to market to the kids who are at home at that hour, who would watch that show ad infinitum and never watch another happilly, but there's a lotta geeks like me who just happen to be able to watch TV from 5-7.
Hey there, folks. I can't speak about Cowboy Bebop, but the original Gundam series is being dropped, but not for any reasons having to do with the attacks.
According to Ain't It Cool, it's being dropped for the simple reaon of low ratings. It may a very important anime historically, but visually, compared to, say, Gundam Wing, and 8th MS Team (which is replacing MS Gundam in its time slot) is really dated.
So, please, stop spreading FUD, people.
Ian Fay (echidnaguy@cs.com), Geek, Gamer, Evil Overlord, DNRC Member
"Oh, what a goofy work is man."
"Maybe this ep prompted this?"
I kinda doubt Bin Laden watches the Cartoon Network.
I'm the stranger...posting to
Somebody on an anime message board pointed out that September 11 is also the date of Second Impact. Is there some kind of religious significance to that particular day?
www.lucernesys.comHorizon: Calendar-based personal finance
Anyone else notice that the whole thing sounds like a plot hatched from watching all three Die Hard movies in one night?
You've got your big tall building blowing up from DH1.
You've got your airplane hijacking and deliberate crashes in DH2.
You've got exploding everything (including the subway under the WTC) in DH3.
And of course, as has been reported (too lazy to find the link) there's still several tons of gold buried underneath the WTC rubble, just like in DH3...
I'm not trying to make light of anything. It's just interesting how Hollywood and terrorism follow similar paths, with Hollywood leading the curve.
Kevin Fox
Well, if all this is happening, then I can kiss my beloved Robotech bye-bye. Why, in one episode alone ("Force of Arms"), the death toll is in the tens or hundreds of billions. In that episode, both Earth and the Zentraedi Main Fleet (4.8 million ships) are destroyed. How this can inspire terrorism is beyond me, but now I'm waiting for the shit to hit the fan...
Washington, DC: It's like Hollywood for ugly people.
Yep, they cancelled it, and we now get "Toonheads". The first cartoon in the show just happened to be some musical thing where a skyscraper gets built, and at the end a door gets closed too hard and the whole thing comes crashing down. Yeah, real good move on their part.
Sorry guys. I, wrongfully, assumed most people had already seen CB and wanted to start a thread about its future. In the future I will include the words *SPOILER* (or something to that effect) in the subject line. Again, please forgive my blunder.