More than 11 years after Cartoon Network unleashed the toon tsunami, known as Toonami, the tide has finally turned.
Toonami ran for the final time on Saturday (9/20) and contrary to the goodbye message (video below) it ended not with a bang but a whimper.
Over the years Toonami became more and more watered down. TOM was a dead man walking and apparently he was the only who didn’t know it (poor SOB). But all the fans saw it coming, from the host’s personal de-evolution (a radioactive supervillain transformed into a Thomas the Train look-a-like) to the degradation in programming (such “quality” programming as Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo) it was only a matter of time (and ratings) before – TOTAL FAIL.
With any luck Cartoon Network will learn from its mistakes.
But it’s not looking good. Next week’s schedule lists the live-action Spider-Man movie in its place. That’s Spider-Man O-N-E ! (yeah cause that’ll draw in the masses) And while the following week actually looks promising with the premiere of the Batman: Gotham Knight movie, I fear Saturdays will end up being a lot of non-cartoon related movies like Honey I Shrunk the Kids Again(er).