Showing posts with label The Hub Network Memorial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Hub Network Memorial. Show all posts

Monday, May 13, 2024

Discovery Family: 10 Years of Darkness!

Discovery Family, the network that hasn't learned a thing from Discovery Kids' failure and the two monsters responsible for the Hub's demise, not just the honcho of Discovery Family himself, but also the guy running all of Discovery, or Warner Bros. Discovery, to be precise.

It was 10 years ago, on a day, like this day, television was changed forever, but for the wrong reasons. For 4 years, the Hub was a gateway for everything nostalgia and giving us new content that would co-exist with the existing brands. A joint venture between Discovery and Hasbro, the Hub was the best of both worlds.

However, nothing last forever. On this date, October 13, 2014, Discovery, through new management, took some of the percentage from their 50/50 deal with Hasbro and turned it into the very network that is today, Discovery Family. Discovery Family as a whole is nothing more than a rehash of Discovery Kids, nothing but edutainment, dwelling in the magical world of Equestria itself and the denizens there are forced to live in that dark world of edutainment for all time.

And what makes this un-anniversary even more bleak is the fact of the very person who is in charge now, David Zaslav. Long ago, I called Henry Schleiff, who was in charge of Discovery Family the real life Tirek. So the way I see it, If Schleiff is Tirek, I guess that makes Zaslav Unicron. Ever since gaining control of Discovery and merging it with the famed studio Warner Bros., his position became very clear. Just like Unicron, Zaslav has become the destroyer of worlds. Not just with the movies, but all of television as well.

After all this time, Discovery, now called Warner Bros. Discovery, haven't learned their lesson after Discovery Kids' demise. Now, after 10 years, they are doing the same thing all over again. And through this experience is why I am a little skeptical about MeTV Toons, fearing that it will suffer the same fate as the Hub if the politics and underhanded deals get through the airwaves. But only time will tell.

In short, in spite doing the same thing that happened to Discovery Kids, Discovery Family caused us longtime Hub viewers to dwell in the darkness 10 years ago today.

And now, you know the news. Until next time.

Saraba da (Farewell), for now.

And to my fellow crusaders, we fight on, for we continue to resists modern attitudes of those of a Henry Schleiff and a David Zaslav. It's people like them is why we formed this crusade in the first place. We will not be bullied. We will make a difference and change the world for the better, one crusade at a time.

Fight the Power!!

Saturday, June 24, 2023

Let's Fail! Anime Jason vs. Discovery Family: Chapter 3: Where Everything Comes Together: The History of The Hub! - Part 3: Slow and Steady: The Hub's Early Beginnings.

The Hub Network: Where Everything Came Together!

After Fox Kids came to an end after a near decade of indulging in our childhood, Margaret Loesch continues to find success somewhere in all media. Some more than others, but none of them didn't have the same success Fox Kids and her time with Marvel Productions. However, things were starting to pick up by 2009, when she was hired by the higher ups of Discovery Communications, as they try to rebrand Discovery Kids after so many years of reruns and executive meddling among other things. And by 2010, the landscape of television changed forever, when everything, and I mean everything, comes together.


(MK3 Vs. Screen Fanfare)


Premiering on October 10th, 2010, that's 10/10/10 if you are keeping score, after a long marathon of Kenny the Shark, the Hub entered our living rooms and bedrooms and it didn't disappoint. Under Ms. Loesch leadership, along with assistance from Donna Epps, the Hub's channel premise was pretty much obvious. It combines everything we like, classic TV shows, educational shows for the preschoolers, and original content, most of them based on everything Hasbro related (mostly), hence their original slogan, "Where Everthing Comes Together". But, in its early days, it started off very, very slow, with shows that we never even saw before, which were shown recently on other channels, but sometimes never been released in North America. Shows like, Cosmic Quantum Ray, Dennis and Gnasher (which is the British version of Dennis the Menace, completely different from the other Dennis the Menace, namely Dennis Mitchell), The Twisted Whiskers Show, Atomic Betty (which aired on Cartoon Network long ago), and of course, the action adventure fantasy anime, Deltora Quest.


The main trio from Deltora Quest, Lief (middle), Barda (left) and Jasmine (right)

Deltora Quest was an anime based on the children's storybook series of the same name, written by Emily Rodda. In this one, the peaceful land of Deltora was taken over by the evil Shadow Lord, who has blanketed the entire land into darkness. And it's up to a young boy named Lief to stop the Shadow Lord and free all of Deltora. Along with his friend/bodyguard, Barda (not to be confused with Big Barda, the wife of magician superhero, Mr. Miracle from the New Gods) and forest-dweller, Jasmine, Lief travels across the kingdom to look for the 7 mystical Deltora Gems in order to defeat the Shadow Lord once and for all. That is basically the story of Deltora Quest in a nutshell. After all...

My life is but a quest.


A quest that has yet to be completed. ANYHOO...

The anime was done by OLM, Inc., formerly Oriental Light and Magic (Not to be confused with ILM, Industrial Light and Magic, a Lucasfilm company). 65 episodes were made in the original Japanese version, but only 52 episodes were dubbed in the English version, done by Ocean Productions aka Ocean Group and Blue Water Studios. It was originally aired in Australia on ABC3 and Cartoon Network, but didn't aired in the U.S. until the Hub premiered on Oct 10, 2010, like all other shows, mostly. The music in the English dub is the same as all the other shows produced by both Ocean Productions and Blue Water Studios, such as the Ruby-Spears Megaman cartoon, the Ocean dub Dragon Ball Z and Monster Rancher

Speaking of Ocean Group and Blue Water Studios, the English voice of Lief, Cole Howard, was also the voice of Megaman, in the PSP remake of the first Megaman game, Megaman Powered Up. That's right, folks, the one where he was addressed as Mega instead of his true civilian name, Rock. Obviously an homage to the Ruby-Spears Megaman cartoon, where everyone, even the villains, call Megaman, "Mega."

A small price to pay for looking back at all the nostalgia goodness I wanted to see. Anyway, to this day, Deltora Quest was the first AND only anime the Hub has ever aired. Granted, if it was still on the air, we would've seen more anime shows, such as Flint the Time Detective, Mon Colle Knights, the original Transformers: Robots in Disguise (known as Car Robots in Japan), Ronin Warriors, and even the original English dub of Sailor Moon. But we will never know now, since Discovery took the Hub away from us. And believe me, they haven't yet seen the full fury of my wrath, I can tell you THAT! Moving on...

The Hub had a few dozen blocks that formats the entire day. For starters, there is HubBub, which was a block for preschoolers (almost an answer to Disney Junior) with such shows like The Adventures of Chuck and Friends, Maryoku Yummy, In the Night Garden, Animal Mechanicals and The WotWots. Then, there was Huboom. When the Hub first aired, Huboom was originally a late night block, which consist on shows like the 60s Batman TV show, the original G.I. Joe and Transformers. But, by June of 2012, it evolved into an action block for action cartoons (more on that later).

The Haunted Hub was a Saturday afternoon block, consisting on programs that involved suspense and horror like Goosebumps and The Haunting Hour (straight from the mind of R.L. Stine).

For all your Hasbro related news and for the Hub itself, Hubworld was the show for you. It is like the Electric Playground, but with everything Hasbro. As for the shows in question, before we get to the original content, lets talk about the classic that aired on the Hub. For those in the animated and live action production perspective, most of the shows is a mixed bag, from those in the 80s from Sunbow and Marvel Productions to those that were once aired on Kids WB and Fox Kids, such as Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Men in Black: The Series, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Jem and the Holograms, Conan the Adventurer, Goosebumps, Fraggle Rock, Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?, G.I. Joe Sigma 6, and the aforementioned classic G.I. Joe and Transformers.

For those shows in the late afternoon and into the evening, these are as memorable as the cartoons, shows such as Doogie Howser, M.D., Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Family Ties, The Wonder Years, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, Sliders, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Sabrina: The Teenage Witch, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, ALF, and my most favorite out of the bunch, Happy Days.

Fonzie: "AAAAAAY!!"

How can you not love The Fonz?

And from time to time, they occasionally air your favorite movies, mostly on the weekends (and like most networks, they mostly edited them for foul language, just like some of the TV shows they aired and having some of the scenes cut due to the time being allotted).

But like I said before, these classic shows (and movies) are not the only thing kept this channel going. To maintain its balance (and its audience), they got some original content, some of them based on every Hasbro property, and some that became cult classics in their own right. Either way, this little channel's small journey was getting underway.

To Be Continued...

Next Time: Part 4: Ponies, Robots, Soldiers, Monsters, Puppies and Anger-Driven Issues, Oh My!

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Let's Fail: Anime Jason vs. Discovery Family: Chapter 3: Where Everything Comes Together: The History of The Hub! - Part 2: Margaret Loesch: The Queen of Children's Television!

Before Peggy Charren gave us boring "Edutainment", Margaret Loesch was the face of Children's Television, who listens to the people and gives them what they want, especially when making our childhoods so awesome.

As Hasbro continues to expand with their catalog of toys, they decided to expand it even further with other media, particularly with television. Although Saturday Morning Cartoons wasn't new (which goes way back to the 60s or a little bit earlier than that), our government's Federal Communications Commission, or FCC for short, put a stranglehold on that media, forbidding companies and distributors of promoting their products, such as toys, through cartoons. All that changed in 1981, when then President Ronald Reagan appointed Mark Fowler as the commissioner of the FCC at the time. Thus, deregulating the strict rules the FCC placed, allowing the aforementioned companies and distributors to promote their product through other media, such as cartoons. From Filmation with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe to promote the toys from Mattel to World Events with Voltron promoting the Matchbox toys (which were imports of the Golion and Dairugger XV toys respectively), it takes Hasbro long to follow suit. Regarding toy-based shows like G.I. Joe, Transformers and My Little Pony, they relied on two famed animation studios, talented voice actors and writers, and most importantly, producers who became well-known names in the later years like Tom Griffin, Joe Bacal, Nelson Shin, Lee Gunther, Tom Tataranwicz and last, but certainly not least, the very person who truly became the queen of children's television for a span of 4 decades, the one, the only, Margaret Loesch.

(MK3 VS. Screen Fanfare)

Born on March 28, 1946, Margaret Ann Loesch started her career working for ABC in 1971 and then later with NBC in 1979. Around that time, she was vice president of programming, then later becoming executive vice present for the famed animation studio, Hanna-Barbera Productions, back when all cartoon characters, including then mascot Yogi Bear and friends, were treated equally and not treating Scooby-Doo like a god. It was not until 1984, that she reached a new high when she joined Marvel Productions as their president and CEO. Under her leadership, along with other important people I have mentioned before, she lead Marvel Productions, along with their counterparts at Sunbow Productions, to providence with some of our favorite cartoons, whether there from Sunbow or Marvel or a little bit of both like Muppet Babies, Jem and the Holograms, Inhumanoids, Dino-Riders, the animated version of Fraggle Rock, Defenders of the Earth, My Little Pony 'n Friends, Pryde of the X-Men (which was the pilot of a failed attempt to an X-Men cartoon), RoboCop: The Animated Series, and of course, the aforementioned G.I. Joe and Transformers, among other things.

After she left Marvel Productions, she joined FOX as president of the newly launched FOX Kids block on September 8, 1990. Just with the cartoons in the 1980s, when running FOX Kids, Loesch gave us even more animated goodness with shows like Bobby's World, Fox's Peter Pan & the Pirates, Tom & Jerry Kids, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, Taz-Mania, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Eek! The Cat (later renamed Eek!stravaganza), The Tick, Spider-Man (1994) and of course, two of our favorite animated shows of all time, Batman: The Animated Series and X-Men: The Animated Series (which eclipsed the failed Pryde of the X-Men pilot). And it wasn't just animation alone, they also got some live-action shows and anime with assistance from Saban Productions, such as Mon Colle Knights, Flint the Time Detective, the first anime Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Digimon (which was their answer to Pokémon, when it was aired on Kids WB!), Beetleborgs, Masked Rider (but I prefer Kamen Rider Black RX), and finally, the very show that became a "Morphinomenon" so to speak, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which combined American footage with those from Japanese Super Sentai or any other Tokusatsu show.

After her time there, she was president of the Jim Henson Television group for Odyssey Channel around 1998 until rebranding it into the Hallmark Channel (named after the famed greeting card company) in 1999. 

Other than her other business ventures, including forming The Hatchery, a family entertainment and consumer product company in 2003 alongside Bruce Stein, things for Ms. Loesch were slowing down. That is until she was hired by Discovery Communications around 2009, where she became the CEO of the very network that was launched a year later. By October 10, 2010, just like with her previous business ventures, Margaret Loesch brought everything, and I mean everything, together, when she ran the joint Discovery/Hasbro hybrid that became simply known as...The Hub.

(The Hub Network jingle)

To Be Continued...

In memory of:



Kevin Conroy
(November 30, 1955 - November 10, 2022)



Jason David Frank
(September 4, 1973 - November 19, 2022)


Next Time: Part 3: Slow and Steady: The Hub's Early Beginnings!

Sunday, October 9, 2022

Let's Fail!: Anime Jason vs. Discovery Family - Chapter 3: Where Everything Comes Together: The History of The Hub! Part 1: Hasbro - Rise of the Toy Giant!

Hasbro's current logo since 2008


In 1996, Discovery Kids became the gold standard for children's programming (for the most part). But due to all the politics and backstabbing, everything fell apart. From their block removed from NBC due to contract disputes to being a bit more repetitive with their programming, just like other channels like USA (before removing cartoons due to their paranoia and fears of regulations from the FCC), and it was like that for 13 whole years. But by 2009, everything changed. Discovery ended up with an unlikely partnership with the most unlikely of companies. A toy company that rivals that of Mattel, known for Hot Wheels, Masters of the Universe and, of course, Barbie. And just like with their successes in the 80s, they decided to take another crack in television. And because of their partnership, by 2010, Discovery Kids became the very network that we all knew and loved. But before we talk about the very network itself, let us take the way back machine and talk about the history of the very toy company that brought everything together, Hasbro.

(MK3 Vs. Screen Fanfare)

Founded in 1923, in Providence, RI, formerly called Hassenfeld Brothers, the company was formed by the aforementioned brothers, Herman, Hillel and Henry Hassenfeld. Originally known for making pencils and pencil cases, they didn't become a toy company until 1942, when they produced modeling clay and doctor and nurse kits. It was not until 1952, when they created their first toy, Mr. Potato Head, back when they used actual fruits and vegetables as the faces when putting plastic eyes, ears, noses and mouths on them before using the plastic potato we use today. And then, by 1964, and as an answer to Mattel's Barbie, they gave us the first action figure for boys, G.I. Joe (more on that later). The name was shortened from Hassenfeld Brothers to Hasbro in 1968 and it's been like that ever since. Today, Hasbro is one of the biggest toy companies in the world. Not only with Power Rangers, Mr. Potato Head, Jem, M.A.S.K., the various Star Wars toys (originally from Kenner), and the various board games they got (which were originally owned by debunked companies like Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers), but also by their main three franchises that kept the company alive today, G.I. Joe, Transformers and My Little Pony.


Hasbro's Holy Trinity: Optimus Prime, representing Transformers, 1st Sgt. Conrad S. Hauser aka Duke, representing G.I. Joe, and Twilight Sparkle, representing My Little Pony.

G.I. Joe: Created in 1964, G.I. Joe was Hasbro's answer to Mattel's Barbie dolls. The first of many to be called action figures, just to avoid calling them dolls, just like Barbie. The name, G.I. Joe, was a form of slang for the military. That, or named after the movie, The Story of G.I. Joe. The first line were originally soldiers, each of them straight from the branches of the military, complete with camouflage, weapons and dog tags, among other things. The brand changed in the 70s, due to the unpopularity of the Vietnam War and G.I. Joe became an adventure team of sorts, just like Jonny Quest. Those figures included the now famous Kung-Fu Grip. Not even changing its brand didn't save this line. That is until 1982, when the G.I. Joe toys came back. Only this time, they weren't 13" action toys, they were shrunk to 3.75" figures, just to capitalize on the success of the Star Wars toys, among other things. Not only that, but the name G.I. Joe went from a name of a generic soldier into what Jackson Beck describes and I quote:

"G.I. Joe is the codename for America's daring highly-trained special mission force. Its purpose: to defend human freedom against Cobra, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world."

In other words, G.I. Joe is now a name of a team of soldiers fighting against the aforementioned terrorist organization, Cobra. And you can thank the likes of Larry Hama for giving us the comics from Marvel to give backstory to this relaunch, now officially dubbed as "A Real American Hero." It isn't just the comics, but it is also in the cartoon, as well, thanks to our friends from Sunbow and Marvel Productions. And to this day, although it is dormant, (along with other reinterpretations through more cartoons and movies), whenever evil terrorists strike, one day, they will hear the two little words that will take them down:

YO JOE!!

But G.I. Joe isn't the only one who got the comic/cartoon treatment.

Transformers: Originally two separate robot toys from the Japanese toy company Takara (later renamed Takara Tomy), namely Diaclone and Micro Change, Transformers came to our shores in 1984. Like with G.I. Joe, Transformers not only have a comic book series from Marvel, but also a cartoon, as well. Even though both continuities are different, the premise is the same. Far off in the universe, lies the planet Cybertron, where it is fallen apart due to a war between two factions, the heroic Autobots and the treacherous Decepticons. Their war raged so long, it drained Cybertron of all its energy. But it was not until they crash-landed on Earth, their battle began anew. For the toys in general, what a concept, two toys in one, transforming from a car, truck, radio, or dinosaur into a robot and back again. Since then, just like G.I. Joe and any other stuff from the 80s, Transformers has become one of the greatest franchises, not just in toys, but in all media. I am so glad that I have Optimus Prime as a father figure. His quote, "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings", couldn't be more true. Anyway, time for us to ROLL OUT...to the third and final franchise in Hasbro's long line of toys.

My Little Pony: Created by Bonnie Zacherle, this toyline, originally aimed for little girls was released in 1981, but it was called under its original name, My Pretty Pony.

The Rock (mocking Randy Orton as a kid): "OH NO! THIS IS MY PRETTY PONY! DON'T TOUCH MY PRETTY PONY!!"


It was not until 1982 it became the very toyline that we know today. Unlike G.I. Joe and Transformers, it didn't have a Marvel comic. However, it did have their first outing in animation in the mid 1980s, with three movies, Rescue at Midnight Castle, Escape from Catrina and My Little Pony: The Movie before having their weekly show, My Little Pony 'n Friends in 1986, which including segments with from other Hasbro franchises around that time, such as the Glo Friends, Moondreamers and the Potato Head Kids. For many decades, we got multiple universes, from those from My Little Pony Tales (Generation 2) to those from the Direct to Video specials (Generation 3).But it wasn't until 2010, that we got the most well known generation that defined MLP for years to come, Generation 4 aka Friendship is Magic (which we will talk about later in the chapter). Like Transformers, MLP continues on after Gen 4, but since I haven't seen it since 2014, I will leave it at that.

You see, Hasbro's endeavors weren't just into toys alone, as I mentioned before with G.I. Joe, Transformers and MLP, they also had a hand in television. And you can thank the very person who at the time, was the Queen of Children's Television, who defined a generation not once, but multiple times. And we wouldn't know the existence of such a vast universe, if it wasn't, for Margaret Loesch.



To Be Continued...

Next Time - Part 2: Margaret Loesch: The Queen of Children's Television!

Friday, February 26, 2021

Let's Fail: Anime Jason vs. Discovery Family - Episode 2: Discovery Kids: The Network That Wasn't!


Around the 1990s, after decades of being one channel, Discovery decided to extend their educational prowess by adding and creating more channels. From acquiring channels like TLC and The Travel Channel to creating newer ones, such as Animal Planet. By the time the 90s came to an end, Discovery Communications have a lot of channels at their disposal. However, there is one channel that, to this day, will change its format for good or for ill, but mostly ill. And that network is none other than...Discovery Kids.

(MK3 Vs. Screen Fanfare)

Discovery Kids was launched on October 7th, 1996. Launched on the same day along with the channels that came with it, such as Discovery Civilization, Discovery Wings, Discovery Science, and Discovery Travel & Living. DK was formed in 1996, but it didn't take off fully until Marjorie C. Kaplan became this channel's senior vice president.

Marjorie C. Kaplan - Discovery Kids Senior VP

Marjorie Kaplan joined Discovery between 1996 and 1997. When she joined Discovery and help out with the channel establishment, Kaplan wanted to have a channel that has the same qualities as Discovery, but for kids. According to her, Discovery Kids was inspired by children who watches Discovery programming with their parents. Thus, giving Discovery the inscentive to green-lit this idea and make Kaplan its senior VP. Anyway, DK's target audience are children ages 6 to 11. Think Discovery Channel, but for kids. GET IT?!

(Crickets Chriping; Random Cough)

Sorry, joking is not one of my strong points, mostly. Anyway, Discovery Kids' programming consists on shows that follow the Educational/Informational guidelines for little kids. More on that later. 

There are a lot of shows on Discovery Kids, but I can't list them all at once. But, I will mention the ones that are familiar to you and the ones that put DK on the map. Shows like The Magic School Bus, Timeblazers, Truth or Scare, The Save-Ums!, Flight 29 Down, Bindi the Jungle Girl, Endurance, Croc Files, The Saddle Club, Time Warp Trio, Tutenstein, and Kenny the Shark.

To extend DK's reach even further, its Canadian division formed a partnership with Corus Entertainment on September, 2001. Meanwhile, back in the states, on December of the same year, they form a partnership with NBC, resulting in forming the Discovery Kids on NBC block on September, 2002. Because of its success in the beginning and under Kaplan's leadership, DK earned 14 Daytime Emmy nominations in 2006. Discovery Kids had some promise in the beginning, but it didn't stay like this for long.


On September, 2006, DK's partnership with NBC ended, which resulted the end of its DK block itself. Their partnership ended due to a contract dispute and the fact that DK wants to focus solely on the channel itself. That decision alone ended up being their downfall. The DK on NBC block was replaced with by a new block from Qubo, which in turn was replaced by NBC Kids, and then replaced by another Edutainment block by those yahoos from Litton Entertainment, which has become the FCC's watchdogs against all of animation. Believe me, I got a lot to say about them. And I assure you, that my bark is as worse than their bite!

Joker Sting: "WOOF WOOF! But that's a whole 'nother story!"

As for Discovery Kids itself, it showed promise in the beginning, but because of its politics and backstabbing, along with their deal with NBC falling apart, with the exception of its popular shows like Kenny the Shark, Tutenstein, Bindi the Jungle Girl, Endurance, Time Warp Trio and The Magic School Bus, the rest of Discovery Kids has become...well...a little help here, Pinkie.


Pinkie Pie: "Duh! BORING!!"

Thank you. Just the word I was searching for. And it has been stale for the next 10 years.

But fate has intervined by 2009. As Discovery continues their same ol' song 'n dance, a familiar toy company, known for magical ponies, battle-hardened soldiers and transforming robots, decided to take a crack on television. With a promising premise, along with familiar people, past and present, by the time October, 2010 came about, everything, and I mean "Everything," came together.




To Be Continued...

Fonzie: "AAAAY!!"

Next Episode: Where Everything Comes Together: The History of The Hub!

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

8 Things The Hub Network Did Way Better Then Disney,Nick,and CN!

The Hub Network was great. Pre-2013,the Network was The place to be for great family and kids entertainment. They sure as hell put The Other Big 3 (disney,nick,and cn) to shame. So today,I give you:

The 8 Things The Hub Network Did Way Better Then Modern Disney,Modern Nickelodeon,and Modern Cartoon Network!

Let's begin.

#8 - Nostalgia: This is one of the biggest things The Hub Network excelled at. From giving us a Retro-Sitcom block to bringing back old faves,The Hub never disappointed in this area. Disney's Idea of Nostalgia is giving us kitty shit from the Anne Sweeney Era. Nick gives us the 90's are All That......at 10/11 at Night! And Cartoon Network doesn't believe in Nostalgia at all anymore (just look at boomerang).

#7 - Diversity: Unlike the Other Big 3,The Hub was awesome at Diversity as well. Unlike their competition,The Hub had a wide variety of shows. They never had to rely on just 1 genre of show (unlike the other big 3).

#6 - Program Direction: The Hub was superior in this area too. The line-ups just made sense. The Program Direction of the Other Big 3 Networks are just a putrid mess.

#5 - Huboom: A really great replacement for Toonami,need I say more. The Other Big 3 just don't believe in Program Blocks anymore.

#4 - Promoting The Right Shows: Unlike Today's Disney,Modern Nickelodeon,and The 2k Cartoon Network,The Hub almost Always promoted their greatest shows the most.

#3 - Creativity: When the Hub was still living,The Other Big 3 Networks were creativly bankrupt (in fact they still are). Not the Hub Network,though. From 2010-2013,creativity was overflowing on the Hub. Seriously their Bumpers,Shows,and Program Blocks were really really well done.

#2 - Consistency: The Hub was 200x more consistant than it's competitors.

#1 - Treating Their Audience Right: Up until 2013,The Hub Network always treated their auduence like they were people with smart promos and intellegently produced shows and blocks. Unlike the Other Big 3,which treated their audience like they were retards (in fact,they still do this).

Had Discovery showed this network Patience,it would've thrived and Destroyed the Other Big 3. But sadly,Network Execs are Super Retards.

So until next time,Stay Gold,Space Cowboys!

Friday, May 25, 2018

Why The Hub Network's Ruination and End Was One Of The Worst Things To Happen To TV?

The Hub Network was once considered the Only alternative to the big 3 Family/Kid Networks (nick,disney,and cartoon network). Those who were sick to death of the Big 3's incompetence could always find salvation in The Hub. Yes,it was flawed,but it was the superior alternative to Nick,Disney,and CN.

But thanks to executive stupidity,that salvation was tarnished and then taken away. This action was,without a doubt,one of the worst things to happen to TV....EVER!

Y'See without the Hub Network,there's no other sane alternatives to the Big 3. Thus Zero Competition....Real Competition! Now,thanks to Discovery Communications' incredibly Stupid decisions,the Big 3 can run unopposed,with no one challenging them. And That's No Good!

Well what about the other Kids and Family Networks? First off there Are no more Real Family Networks anymore,the current so-called "Family Networks" either cater to Women or fans of Reality Shows!

The closest thing we have to Real Family Networks are Retro Sitcom Networks. None of which air Cartoons. And as for those "Other" Kids Networks go. They fail because they're all aimed at Pre-Schoolers.

But,like I said,the Hubs Destruction was All Discovery Communications fault. Here's what lead to it:

1 - Airing the same movies over and over and over and over.
2 - Milking and overmilking MLP.
3 - The retarded Parents Just Don't Understand and that Idiotic Kid President shows.
4 - Getting rid of Huboom!
5 - Overdoing it with The Hub Family Movies
6 - Throwing out the Retro Sitcom Block
7 - Mistreating shows like Batman (adam west's) and Hercules.

Instead of having patience and allowing the network time to grow,Discovery Communications decided to just be evil retards and ruin it,which allowed them to transform it into the Lame Abomination known as Discovery Family.

Had patience been shown,The Hub would've had many more good years,with many more good shows,both retro and new.  But,Network Executives are Dumbasses,so..

And that's why Discovery Communications ruining the Hub and replacing it with Discovery Family is one of the absolute Worst things to happen to TV.

I think we need a New Family/Kidz Network to challenge and defeat the Big 3. C'Mon,surely there are Some Network Execs with brains?

*sigh* We need salvation. Y'know Saban had plenty of oppertunities to create their own TV Network. And They never took that route,Why?

Common Sense Desprately needs to make a comeback to TV again. TV is just as important as the Streaming Services. Screw The Cord Cutting Attitudes!

Hope everyone enjoyed the read? I'll have more stuff soon. Until then:

Stay Gold,Space Cowboys,Stay Gold!

Sunday, September 6, 2015

A Shocking Revelation! Three Shows on the Hub cut after the rise of Discovery Family!


Hey there, Toonsters!

    This is Rekka Dragon Jay, back from vacation and rearing to go! Before I go do my thing and all that, guess what I uncovered that will shock you, especially if you were a fan of the now deceased Hub Network.

  As the 1st anniversary of the Hub's demise and the rise of Discovery Family is just around the corner, look what I have unearthed and it's going to shock you in the worst way.

 Before the announcement that Discovery made about taking 10% from Hasbro and taking over the Hub and rebranding it as Discovery Family, there was an announcement that they were going to air three more classic cartoons on the network itself, thinking that it got one more ounce of life left. And judging from this drawing I made and crossing it out in many ways, this was indeed the worst decision Discovery has made.

  They were going to air three classic cartoons, two from the archives from Kids WB!, and one that I haven't seen in a long time and it was based on the talking animatronic toy bear from the 80s.  I am, of course, referring to Pinky and the Brain, Freakazoid and The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin.  We were hoping these shows could bring life back to the Hub, but now we will never know cause Discovery killed off that one glimmer of hope because they think it's a crime to relive the past and the past will never mingle with the future. The way I see it, it was the worst business deal/betrayal in the history of television. That means, no plans for world domination gone wrong, no Relax-O-Vision and no adventures with Teddy Ruxpin and friends.  Tirek Schleiff sees to it that those shows will never see the light of day.  And you know what's the irony about this? Pinky and the Brain and Freakazoid were some of the few shows we suggested on our list of shows that should be on the Hub, alongside Beast Wars, Static Shock, The Tick and Jackie Chan Adventures. But that dream was destroyed when Discovery Family came to be. Bummer. :'(

And that's the news. I will see you again, when I give you my Top 10 Pioneers of Animation. Until then, Stay Frosty, my friends!

(X-Men vs. Street Fighter Stage Clear Theme)

*Fade Out

Thursday, June 4, 2015

A Visualization of the Hub's demise and...why I like Friendship is Magic so much?!

Translation: Ponies Forever, Discovery NEVER!!

Hey there, Toonsters!

  This is blog I am writing is a personal one, and it's based on the dilemma we are dealing with. I know Stefan is not crazy about My Little Pony like I am, but it has to be done. But first, let me show you a couple of visualizations of the demise of the Hub Network itself.

Nikki Reed is like a Xenomorph, a parasite from within!
When Nikki Reed took over the Hub Network as programing manager, she destroyed it from within, just like the lifecycle of a Xenomorph from the Alien movies. It just sucked the ever lasting life out of the Hub and when October 14th came about, the embryo grew and came out like the parasite Discovery Family has become. Now, this next visualization is a personal one and it is tearing me apart. Before that, let me give you some backstory.

When I was a kid growing up, I am a fan of cartoons in the 80s, such as G.I. Joe and Transformers. But there was one other cartoon that came along with them and that was My Little Pony. Like the other two cartoons, MLP was based on the toyline, mostly for girls. Though I watched My Little Pony 'n Friends, (which included the GloFriends, Potato Head Kids and the Moondreamers cartoons), I wasn't much of a brony back then cause I was a fan of the other shows anyway.  Fast forward to 10/10/10 and the birth of the Hub Network and one of its launch titles was My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Both that and Transformers Prime were the most popular shows on the network at the time. I was hesitant to watch it at first cause I wanted to watch the other shows, both modern and retro. Then, because of my experiences with both Sailor Moon and The Little Mermaid, I decided to give a shot. And despite being originally being aired towards girls, FiM became an awesome show for everybody, especially for families. So much so, the Brony fanbase was born and its as strong as the Moonie fanbase for Sailor Moon. But, like the episode of Batman: The Animated Series called Old Wounds, "Things Change." When Discovery Family came to be, MLP stood behind, not because of the reasons my brother in arms think, but by force, thinking Discovery can milk it all the way like NICK did with Fairly OddParents and SpongeBob Squarepants. For so long, more like 4 years, I have watched MLP and learned every lesson of friendship down the road. But now, with the advent of Discovery Family and with no retro shows or action cartoons to support, I am torn between my duties as an animation crusader and loving MLP, especially with Twilight Sparkle as my favorite character, her and her brother, Shining Armor, who reminds me of the Lone Ranger's steed, Silver. Not to mention making a promise to a young boy who was picked on because brought his Rainbow Dash bag to school. I pledged that I will vindicate Grayson Bruce and vindicate the very character the moral guardians had a field day with, Derpy Hooves, from all the wrongs these people have done to them.  Anyway, here is my next visualization:
This one speaks volumes. Where's Ty Pennington when you need him?!

The Hub Network's demise reminds me of the destruction of the Golden Oak Library. Twilight's library was more than just a library, but a symbol of hope. A symbol of what television represents, the best of two worlds, the past and the future. And when the library was destroyed, so is all hope for the Hub's future. Even if Twilight has a castle now, I will always think of the library as her home away from home.

The power-hungry tyrant and the fun-sucking succubus!

These are the two monsters responsible for the Hub's demise and replacing it with Discovery Family. Let's start with Nikki Reed. Let's cut to the chase. She is like the Changeling queen, Chrysalis, she is nothing but a succubus, who drains the fun out of the Hub, starting by removing the action shows. Stan Lee's Mighty 7 and that new Transformers cartoon would've been the Hub's salvation, but all that was taken away from us when her superiors from Discovery decided to take 10% from their 50/50 partnership from Hasbro and call the shots. Therefore, Mighty 7 was a one hit wonder and the new Transformers cartoon, which is titled like the anime itself, called Robots in Disguise, is on Cartoon Network. And judging from its track record, and even without Stuart Snyder aka Judge Snively Snyder, CN will do the same thing they did with Thundercats, Young Justice, Green Lantern and Beware the Batman, either put it on hiatus or cancel it after a season or 2. Why not?! Transformers: Robots in Disguise is on very early in the morning at 6 A.M. Saturdays.

But the removal of action cartoons on the Hub paled in comparison, when Discovery's boss, Henry Schleiff, gave it its final nail in the coffin. Meaning no more retro shows, no more action cartoons, just girly stuff and lots and lots of "Edutainment" that will make Litton Entertainment blush. And he is using the ponies as bargaining chips, just to force use to watch Discovery Family. Where am I going with this? Cause Schleiff reminds me of the very character who embodies the devil himself: Tirek. If you think he first appeared in season 4 of MLP, you are wrong. Tirek actually first appeared the old MLP pilot, entitled "Rescue at Midnight Castle." Tirek was a monster, the embodiment of the devil himself. Did I forget to mention that at the time, he was voiced by the guy was known as the narrator of all narrators, Victor Caroli, who did the narrations for the original Transformers cartoon. Anyway, fast forward to Friendship is Magic, this version of Tirek is a dangerous as his original counterpart. But he is still evil personified, just like the person I compared him with, Henry Schleiff. But there is one setback of their evil plot. Discovery, as a whole, is not invincible. Every since the rise of Discovery Family, their dirty laundry has become exposed to the world, mostly from the channel TLC. From Mama June dating a child molester to one of the Duggar kids molested his own siblings, TLC, nay, Discovery has suffered a major black eye or two. Still think killing off the Hub would make things better? You are a mess, in more ways than one.  Bottom line, Nikki Reed is a power hunger yeswoman/succubus while Henry Schleiff is...well...let me quote the Rock, when he made fun of Daniel Bryan, saying he is the offspring of a homeless lumberjack and a Oompa Loompa:

Oompa Loompa
Doopidy- Ding
You look like a troll
from Lord of the Rings!

Look, the truth of the matter is. Like Sailor Moon and The Little Mermaid, I love My Little Pony and I wouldn't lie if I said otherwise. I will never forget the life lessons I have learned from Twilight, Princess Celestia and every other pony I have grown accustomed to. And I know there is a season 5 and I know we got the internet to catch up. But until MLP moves to another channel or so, I will not watch it on Discovery Family as long as I have a breath to breathe.  Once I finish that script on that Derpy Hooves special and bring justice for both Derpy and Grayson Bruce, I will take a break from MLP for awhile until Twilight and the other ponies are free from the wrath of Lord Tirek/Henry Schleiff.

And now I will leave you with this meme. A symbol of what I am fighting for and undermine those who want animation permanently removed forever and convincing a select few to undermine free thinking people who want both the past and the future like me and Stefan. Because one things is for sure, whether it's Henry Schleiff, Nikki Reed, Cyma Zarghami, Phillipe Dauman, Stuart Snyder, Robert Iger, or any other corporate sleazeball, because they all have one thing in common:

"THEY HAVE FAILED THIS CITY!!"

(Arrow title card theme plays)

*Fade Out

Saturday, May 30, 2015

60 Minutes: Cartoon Edition Part 2

*A hand holds an Egg.*

Announcer: This is your brain!

*The hand opens the egg and dumps the yoke into a frying pan. The yoke starts to fry.*

Announcer: This is your brain on Reality Shows! Any questions?!

Reality Shows: Just Say No!

This Message was brought to by Modern Vintage Studios!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Super Saiyan 2 Goku Son is having a difficult battle with Broly. Vegeta is watching from the background. Goku is sent flying and crash lands near Vegeta*

Vegeta: Things aren't looking to good for you,Kakarot.

Goku: *on the ground,weak* My energy is depleting fast.Who knew he'd be this awesome,huh? *weak laugh*. Hey Vegeta,you woudn't have any Senzu Beans on you,would ya?

Vegeta: Nope,though I may have something better.

*Vegeta presents Goku with a can of Brisk Iced Tea and tosses it over to him. Goku catches it*

Goku: Brisk Iced Tea? They still make this?

Vegeta: Just drink it.

*Goku gets up and drinks the iced tea and starts to power up into his Super Saiyan 3 form*

Goku: Oh,Yeah! Brisk,Baby!

*With energy fully restored,Goku rushes back into battle and beats the hell out of Broly*

Now That's Brisk,Baby!
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*A CGI version of "Macho Man Randy Savage" is infront of a table with a bag of cookies*

CGI!Randy Savage: Ah,Cookies..the worlds most perfect snack. Not!

*CGI!Randy Savage pushes the cookies away and presents a box of Slim Jims. He takes one out*

CGI!Randy Savage: Now This is the perfect snack. Beefy,Spicey,and everything Nice-y. Yeah! Need a little excitement,Snap Into A Slim Jim! Oooh,Yeeaah!

*CGI!Randy Savage "snaps into a slim jim"*
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*stopwatch ticks*

Optimus Prime G1: Welcome back. The Hub, or The Hub Network as it was sometimes called,was the most unique out of Discovery Comunications Networks. But,unfortunatly, it didn't stay that way for long. The Hub Network is now known as Discovery Family and it is nothing more than a generic Discovery Network. Anyway,during it's days of The Hub Network,Discovery Family had a sweet little weekday afternoon block called,Huboom. For more on this,here's Tom 3.0. Take it Tom.

*transitions to Tom 3.0*

Tom 3.0: Thanks,Prime. He sounds just like "The Big Guy",it's amazing. Anyway,what can be said about Huboom? It was an awesome weekday afternoon block packed with action cartoons...kinda like Toonami. Infact,Huboom was in transition to Be the next Toonami. But,sadly,it wasn't. Thanks to executive meddling,in September of 2013,Huboom was thrown out..never to be seen again. So,the trillion dollar question is: Why? Why get rid of somehing that made your Network great? Well folks,we're about to find out.

*Shipwreck from G.I Joe: Real American Hero*

Shipwreck: Ah,Huboom was a block that I really enjoyed. Bored out of my mind one day,Serpentor was on vacation so no Cobra,I decided to watch a little TV in the Joe Reck Room. I turned on the television and what did I see: lots and lots crap,man.It was like being tortured by Cobra,nothing good was on. But then Scarlett,of all people,came in and told me to switch to the Hub. I refused,because I hate baby shows. But after some persuasion,I switched to the Network.And to my surprise,I saw absolutely No baby trash. It was back to back Action Cartoons. I loved it. And from that day forward,I watched Huboom every weekday afternoon..right until it's untimely and unfair end.

*Scarlett from G.I.Joe: Real American Hero*

Scarlett: Huboom was the one thing the young and young at heart could look forward to each weekday afternoon on television. After all,it was the 1st Weekday Afternoon block since 2003. One of my favorite shows on the block,was Transformers: Prime. It was a cool reboot to G1.

*Snake Eyes from G.I.Joe: Real American Hero*

*Snake Eyes uses sign language*

Translator: I really liked Huboom. After Afternoon-Toonami ended in 2003,It was thought that there would never be another Weekday Afternoon Action Cartoon block again. But thanks to The Hub Network,that changed. Huboom became the greatest thing on that Network,because it provided a slew of great action cartoons. It was like Afternoon-Toonami had been reborn.

*Duke of G.I.Joe: Real American Hero*

Duke: To be honest,I don't watch television that much. I did see Huboom and I must say,I enjoyed what I saw. I even liked the G.I.Jke reboot,G.I.Joe: Renegades. Shame that show was cut short.

Tom 3.0: Of course the Joes weren't the only ones who loved this block. We talked to some more Huboomaniacs.

*G1 Galvatron*

G1 Galvatron: I will admit,I'm a fan of the old 80's G.I.Joe animated series and was interested in seeing the reboot. So I tuned into The Hub Network and watched it. The Mighty Galvatron was pleased about what he saw. I also like the fact that they made Cobra Commander a true threat rather than an incompetent bozo.

*Moltar*

Moltar: Huboom was a great block. And a worthy spiritual successor to Toonami. Shame it was  ut in it's prime.

*Tatsurian the Unchained,aka Bob,from Kaijudo:Rise Of The Duel Masters*

Bob: I loved Huboom. The Only thing worth watching on The Hub was that Block..that and Kaijudo.

*Dan from Dan V.s.*

Dan: Huboom was one jem of a program block. In fact it,was one of the very few things on TV that I didn't hate. So when I found out that The Hub Network was dropping the block,I didn't go ballistic,oh no. Instead,I sent Discovery Communications a couple of letters,warning them if they didn't bring back Huboom,I'd Hunt Them All Down And Kill Them!!! What The Hell Is Wrong With Those People!!!

Tom 3.0: That was a great question. Now that we're done with the testimonials,It's time to get the answers we've been waiting for. Why Exactly Was Huboom Removed In The First Place? We have theories. But we also obtained some candidly shot audio of Nikki Reed,the then program director of The Hub,giving an interview sometime last year.

*transitions to a screen with Nikki Reeds photo*

Nikki Reed on the Audio: We were told by our superiors at Discovery, that they didn't feel that the nature of the block [huboom] was appropriate for the new direction the network was going in. For the new direction, they wanted to put our child and young girl demographic first and foremost,so we were told to scrap the block. I agree with their decision. That's why I didn't bitch to them about it *laughs*

*transitions back to Tom 3.0*

Tom 3.0: *sighs* So the truth comes out. Instead of doing what's best for business,Discovery does the exact opposite..appealing to a small insignificant minority. Turning a Family Network into a combination Kiddie and Girly Network is shameful. Simply shameful. Though this does raise another question though...Were they pressured into this pathetic deed? Possibly. But then again,Network Executives Are lacking when it comes to common sence. Let's see what the people think,shall we?

*Static Shock*

Static Shock: I get that you gotta give the kiddies a little somethin'-somethin',but what busts my brain is Why the Hell would you get rid of your highest rated program block in the prosess? Can't both action cartoon block and kiddie show block co-exist on the same network? I think they can.

*The Tick*

The Tick: But The Hub Network is supposed to be a for families,not for babies and girly-girls. What fiendish foolery is this?

*Moltar*

Moltar: There was absolutely NO Need to turn the Hub into a Network for Babies and Girly-Girls. God! Besides,we already have Networks dedicated to that demographic and we didn't need anymore of those. This was horrid thinking on Discovery Communication's part.

*Dan from Dan V.s.*

Dan: Ok, Let me get this right. The main reason for huboom's demise was so That Discovery Could Make Their Own Version Of The Disney Channel?! *shouts to the heavens* DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS!!!!

*Freakazoid*

Freakazoid: Aw,no fair. I wanted my show to be part of Huboom. Nut-Bunnies!

*Ryo of Wildfire from Ronin Warriors*

Ryo: I'll bet the FCC or those meddeling Parents Groups had something to do with this travisty....woudn't put it past them.

*Shipwreck from G.I.Joe: Real American Hero*

Shipwreck: Aw,I bet those ridiculous Parents Groups had a hand in this. Typical.

*Scarlett from G.I.Joe: Real American Hero*

Scarlett: 10-1 says that those Lazy Hypocrits,the FCC,are the true masterminds behind this. It's So like them.

*Nightwing from Batman:the Animated Series*

Nightwing: Discovery Communications is run by a bunch of Retards! 'Nuff Said!

Tom 3.0: Whatever the reason for Huboom's demise don't really matter at this point. The point is that it was Screwed and will never return. Which is a shame,because it was a great block and so many shows would've fit in. Shows like: Static Shock,Freakazoid,and The Tick. The possibilities were huge. A Host would've been cool as well. Ok,that's all that I have. Back to You,Optimus. Rest In Peace,Huboom. You are missed.

*transistions back to Optimus Prime G1*

Optimus Prime G1: Thank you,Tom. Without Huboom,the Hub Network began it's downward spiral..a spiral that continued until it's bitter end. Huboom shall be missed,it was a very entertaining and memorable block. Plus,it made The Hub Network more unique. Huboom even aired G1 Transformers. For the final story of the evening,We'll be taking a look at the Rise and Fall of Saturday Morning TV. That's Next on 60 Minutes: Cartoon Edition.

*stopwatch ticks*

Saturday, May 23, 2015

The Hub Network: What Should Have Been

The Hub Network! A network that was supposed to be dedicated to Cartoons and Family Entertainment unlike no other Network. But those Mega Geniuses at Discovery Communications decided to Not use the Networks full potential and act with retardedness. After the Constant Failures of Disney and Viacom, TV viewers (myself included) were ready for a Superior Family Network.

At first we were pleased....well somewhat. The Network was greatly flawed, but had the potential to get better. Though, it was much better than the Disney Channel and the Nick Networks. Things started getting better slowly. The Hub started airing cool shows and even created it's own version of Toonami, HuBoom. The only huge flaw The Hub had was the fact that it aired the same lame movies every single month. The only upside to that was that the Hub Family Movie was solely a Weekend thing, with 2 Movies on Saturday and 1 Movie each on Fridays and Sundays.

But it wasn't long before Things went Horribly wrong. Nikki Reed,Former Disney Executive,was brought in as the Network's Program Director. Reed quickly became radical loyalist of Discovery Communications and followed their orders with no Question. And Soon The Hub Network became the very thing that we Didn't want. And now it's way too late.

Here is a brief history of what was once a Network full of Promise.  

On April 30, 2009,Hasbro announced that it would be forming a joint venture with Discovery Communications to re-launch Discovery Kids as a new, family-oriented television channel. Discovery would handle advertising sales and distribution,while Hasbro would acquire and produce programming.

While the network planned to maintain educational series,plans called for new original programs based off Hasbro-owned franchises such as G.I. Joe, My Little Pony, Transformers, and game shows adapted from its board game brands.

In Early 2010, Discovery and Hasbro announced that the new network,known as the Hub, would be launched on October of that year. The network planned to continue targeting Discovery Kids' main demographic of small children,but also planned to feature things an older crowd would like. They also made a primetime block with retro sitcoms.

The network's President and CEO Margaret Loesch stated that The Hub's goal was to be "vibrant" and "diverse" in its programming, and that the channel would not purely be a marketing vehicle for Hasbro products. The network's original imaging was developed by Troika Design Group, and built around an emblem nicknamed the "hubble"—which was designed to embody a "catalyst of action and imagination". The final logo design was the result of a number of drafts by Troika designers, some of which had incorporated typography similar to Hasbro's logo.

And So,like Hasbro and Discovery promised,The Hub Network was launched on October 10, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. ET; its first program was an episode of The Twisted Whiskers Show (a bad way to start). Some of The Hub's launch programs included Family Game Night,Pound Puppies (modern), My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (aka overrated piece of crap), G.I.Joe Renegades,and Transformers: Prime. 

In 2010,The Hub Network introduced an unnamed 2 hour block. This block aired from 3 pm - 5 pm. In 2011,The block would expand to 3 hours (from 3 pm - 6 pm). Then in 2012, the block was named Huboom and now aired from 3 pm - 7 pm.

Unfortunately,in the Summer of 2013,The Hub Network Stupidly ditched the block and it was never seen again.

In a June 2011 debt filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Discovery Communications indicated that the channel may be worth less than previously believed, based on low viewership figures (*sarcasm* gee,i wonder why?). The management of The Hub underwent a fair value analysis of the channel. 

In The Fall of 2013, The Hub Network officially began it's downward spiral.

The network was renamed 'The Hub Network'. In 2014, Hub Network introduced an updated logo and a new imaging campaign, "Making Family Fun"(feh,more like "Making Fun of Family"). 

Also in 2014,The Hub Network thought it would be a "Cool" idea to emulate Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network by adapting a "popular" Internet show. The show in question is Kid President. And things only got worse.

Again in 2014,The Retro Stitcom block was shortened to make room for Hub Family Movies. Now The Hub Family Movies aired Every Night..including double and Triple features every weekend. This was So Stupid! Not only did they waste air time with the same movies,but they also devalued the specialness that was The Hub Family Movie.

But..It got worse. Discovery decided to "get with the times" and started airing Reality Shows, Starting with "Parents Just Don't Understand". *facepalm* Thank Jesus himself that PJDU was the Only Reality show that aired...at least before the re-launch.
On September 17, 2014,Discovery Communications was preparing to acquire a controlling stake in The Hub Network from Hasbro, and then re-brand it as Discovery Family.

Margaret Loesch stepped down from her role as Hub Network president and CEO at the end of 2014.

By 2014, the network had only made $9 million per year (i'm shocked it wasn't less). Discovery staff was also unable to display a full commitment to Hub Network's operation, due to factors such as the troubled launch of the Oprah Winfrey Network (what a retarded reason!). Hasbro decided to hand over operation of the network to Discovery,so that they could put more focus on their toy business.

In re-launching Hub Network, Discovery executives noted that there would be a larger emphasis on programming of interest to both children and families (and we all believed that BS at first). The Hub Network was re-launched as Discovery Family on October 13, 2014—just over four years since the original launch of The Hub. Discovery Communications now holds a 60% stake,while Hasbro holds a 40% stake.

And Now The Worse Part: Discovery Communications decided to throw out all of the Cool shows and Retro Sitcoms and replaced them with Crappy shows from their other Networks. What Assholes!!! Plus,the Girly-Girl and Pre-School garbage became the Daytime Majority. Shit!

*sighs* And there you have it,Ultimate Destruction of The Hub Network by those Geniuses at Discovery Communications.  It's now time once again to take a look into what Shoukd have Been.
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What Happened: Too much focus on Kiddie Shows.
What Should've Been: Kiddie Shows have their place,but they Shouldn't be the main focus of a Family Network. Disney is making a similar mistake with their Networks (all of them). So Kiddie shows are only limited to a small 3-hour block every weekday morning.

What Happened: Those Damn Ponies! They Are Everywhere!!
What Should've Been: The Ponies are not overexposed(ala spongebob). They will only air once a day And Pony marathon's will never exist. Period!

What Happened: The Girly garbage..promoted with pride.
What Should've been: Girly-girl shows like 'Littlest Pet Shop' are never allowed to air on The Network. And it's way better for it.

What Happened: Nikki Reed!
What Should've Been: She Never gets hired. Seriously,that woman is/was so braindead.

What Happened: Moving the cool non-kiddie live action programming (like hercules) to unacceptable timeslots and then dumping them all together. This happened under Nikki Reed. This type of thing should've Never happened in the first place. What Should've Been: These types shows not only get better timeslots,but they get treated with love and respect.

What Happened: The cool original shows were canned too early.
What Should've Been: Dan Vs.,GI Joe: Renegades, and The Aquabats Super Show were the biggest victims of this type of executive meddling. These 3 shows get renewed and promoted.

What Happened:  Huboom..gone,but never forgotten! :(
What Should've Been: Huboom should've been kept and promoted. It also becomes the Next Toonami.

What Happened: The Censorship of Old Family Movies and Classic Cartoons. This was So Stupid.Discovery did this to complement their Pre-school base And to please Soccermoms. Why? Those shows were Family-Friendly to begin with. *sigh and facepalm* Like I said this was so stupid.
What Should've Been: Every Family Movie and Classic Cartoon is kept As Is. Period!

What Happened: Reality Shows and "Popular" Internet shows on The Hub.
What Should've Been: These types of shows should've never been allowed to ai in the first place.

What Happened: Going Crazy With The Hub Family Movies by airing them every night. This was a serious waste of Airtime.
What Should've Been: The Hub Family Movies air Only on the Weekends. 2 on Saturdays and 1 on Sundays.

What Happened: Airing The Same Damn Movies over and over. Not too diverse,ain't it?
What Should've Been: A wider movie selection and No repeats from the following month.

What Happened: The retro sitcoms got screwed.
What Should've Been: The retro sitcom block should've been kept,with more shows added in the future.

What Happened: Shows like Xena,Freakazoid,The Tick,Static Shock,etc. never made it. Mainly because of Huboom's (unfair) cancelation.
What Should've Been: Those shows (and more) really should've aired on the Network.

What Happened:  The Hub's Transformers 30th Anniversary Celebration was marred by Transformers:Rescue Bots. No Joke! The Lamest and most Pathetic Transformers show made up the Majority of that 30th Anniversary marathon. No! Just,No! The marathon was supposed to represent something special: The 30th Anniversary of a beloved franchise. But Discovery had to screw things up with it.
What Should've Been: A marathon of G1,The G1 Movie,A marathon of Beast Wars,A small marathon of Animated,And Finally,a marathon of Prime. See,much better!

What Happened: Discovery Family.
What Should've Been: Instead of turning The Hub into yet another generic Discovery Network,It should've been improved upon instead.
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Had Discovery done things the Right way, Discovery Family wouldn't be the Pathetic Joke that it is Today.

See You Next Time and Stay Gold!!

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Henry Schleiff - Dead or Alive!! (Well, just alive anyway, but you get my point)



Get a good look at this guy. Cause this is one of most shrewd, cunning and manipulative business people who are one of many people who not only despises animation, but also anything related to the word "Nostalgia." His name is Henry Schleiff, one of the head honchos of Discovery Communications. He is the one responsible for the death of the Hub Network and the rebirth of Discovery Family. And possible the one responsible for hiring Nikki Reed to destroy the Hub from the inside out like the life cycle of a Xenomorph and conspired with Litton Entertainment to ruin everything nostalgic. Why do you think there are shows like Corwin's Quest and Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin? That show has Litton Entertainment written all over it. Like some fanboys and other executives like Cyma Zarghami and Robert Iger, they hate the past. Schleiff thinks that the past is something we regret and by thinking that, thinking that the Hub Network was a failed experiment, stating that showing a network devoted to shows and animation, past and present, is a waste of time and money. It is because of people like him that we don't have animation on regular TV no more and it's because of him we don't got the Hub no more. If Hasbro was smart, they would've taken all their shares from Discovery and make their own channel, a channel free from all the politics and corruption Discovery or Litton Entertainment has given us. It is all his fault that I have to sacrifice watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic just to protest Discovery Family and all the corruption it has fallen before us. I am not going to nobody's puppet, that's for sure.

I hope Tara Strong (Twilight Sparkle) and all the Brony community can forgive me for this. One day, they will know the truth. Discovery are as evil as Viacom.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

A Sad Time for Animation, The Eulogy to the Hub Network and Saturday Morning Cartoons

Today, we say goodbye to the last two glimmers of hope for television and for all animation.  First off, although it hasn't become Discovery Family just yet, the Hub Network.  Since October 10th, 2010, the Hub Network has given us programs, past and present.  But, once again, where politics and corruption has become the law of the land in all media, the Hub ended up like Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Disney Channel.  When Nikki Reed took over the network's programming format and killing off HuBoom, it was going downhill from here.  And now, while Hasbro has 40% of it's format for 6 hours, Discovery will have most of the channel with nothing but reruns from shows from Discovery's past and present (Honey Boo Boo, anyone?).  Here's what it should be if Nikki Reed didn't become its new head of programming, we would've still have our retro sitcoms and classic cartoons and less and less movie time, but only on the weekends.  But that is not going to happen, now that the network itself is denouncing anything nostalgic.  Which means, don't expect more classic cartoons or sitcoms or animes on this network. 

Speaking of which, the one other thing that we will all miss...are Saturday morning cartoons.  As of September 27, 2014, there are no more cartoon blocks on regular TV.  NBC started this nightmare in 1992 and Litton Entertainment has finished the job.  Even though we have cable, satellite and the internet, I feel bad for those who don't have the luxuries we have.  It makes me sick to my stomach that these poor kids are going to see Maury, Jerry Springer and every single infomercials and news shows more often.  All because of the FCC, who were convinced by those so-called moral guardians that animation is the root cause of the world's problems.  If that Children's Television Act of 1990 wasn't created, none of this would've happened.  PBS is good enough, but all networks with nothing but programs to fit the educational/informational mandates is what I call crossing the line.  Besides, did you see the Count Chocula cereal boxes recently?  Seeing an evil looking Count Chocula instead of a lovable one, represents what is happening today.  The days watching our favorite cartoons and the commercials inbetween are gone.  Replaced with nothing but boring infomercials, baby-mama-dramas and news about diseases and terrorism, that has since become our new reality.  Before I log away, here is a list of my favorite cartoons and anime, which I haven't done years ago when I joined the ACF.

G.I. Joe
Transformers
Jem
Inhumanoids
Visionaries
Thundercats
Silverhawks
M.A.S.K
Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends
Mr. T
Bionic Six
The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Fat Albert
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
She-Ra: Princess of Power
BraveStarr
Denver the Last Dinosaur
Widget
Mr. Bogus
The Bots Master
Voltron
Robotech
Sailor Moon
Ronin Warriors (Yoroiden Samurai Troopers)
Beast Wars
Jackie Chan Adventures
The Tick
Static Shock
Batman: The Animated Series
Superman: The Animated Series
Spider-Man The Animated Series
X-Men
Men in Black: The Series
Batman Beyond
The Zeta Project
King Arthur and the Knights of Justice
Double Dragon
The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic SatAm
Sonic Underground
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show
The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
Captain N: The Game Master
Street Sharks
Extreme Dinosaurs
Mutant League
Megaman
Megaman: NT Warrior
Animaniacs
Tiny Toon Adventures
Freakazoid
Earthworm Jim
ProStars
Wish Kid
Filmation's Ghostbusters
The Real Ghostbusters
Extreme Ghostbusters
Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling
EXO-Squad
Highlander: The Animated Series
Biker Mice from Mars
Eek! the Cat (aka Eek-stravaganza!)
Gargoyles
The Adventures of the Gummi Bears
Ducktales
Darkwing Duck
Talespin
Chip n' Dale: Rescue Rangers
The Little Mermaid (TV Series)
Teknoman (Tekkaman Blade)
Centurions
Thundarr the Barbarian
Jonny Quest
Inspector Gadget
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Super Friends
Plastic Man

With that said, to the Hub Network and to Saturday Morning Cartoons.  Although you were in borrowed time, we will never forget all the things you have given us in the past and in the present.

(salutes; TAPS plays)

The Hub Network
October 10, 2010 - October 13, 2014

Saturday Morning Cartoons
1960s - September 27, 2014

Now if you'll excuse me.  I am going to fight this and get this CTA law repealed...and abolished.  Saturday Mornings and everything in between will rise again...someday.

(Oh, Richard by Peter Best from Crocodile Dundee plays)

*Fade Out

Friday, September 19, 2014

Breaking News!! The Hub Network Will Be No More By Next Year!

This is an ACF news bulletin, and I wish I could of given you better than this.

After 4 years of entertainment goodness and nostalgic fun, the Hub Network will be no more by next year.  It seems that Discovery Communications have decided to break up their 50/50 partnership with Hasbro and wants to rebrand it as Discovery Family.  Here's what contribute to the Hub's downfall.  First off, Nikki Reed becomes the new head of programming after Donna Ebbs left.  The death of HuBoom, with no plans for more action cartoons and anime in the afternoons.  More movies, but weekly and not 3 times a week. Margaret Loech leaving the Hub in the hands of the executives of Discovery Communications.   And not to mention more family shows like Kid President and Parents Just Don't Understand.  Nikki Reed and the higher-ups from Discovery Communications planned this since 2013.  Because of them, the tagline, "Where Everything Comes Together" becomes obsolete. Ever hear the phrase, "Those who ignore history, are doomed to repeat it."?  Just like with Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network, it is happening with the Hub Network.  Question is, what will happen with the other Hub shows, including My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and that new Transformers cartoon that is coming next year? I don't know.  But, I do this, I am almost finished with my script for a MLP special featuring Derpy Hooves for my dear friend, Grayson Bruce and no rebranding of a channel like the Hub won't stop me from making a difference for those who are disabled and different.  Bottom line, after 4 years, the Hub Network has succumb to Greed, Politics, Back Stabbing and Corruption and come next year, it will become extinct.

For more information about the Hub's eventually demise, visit http://www.equestriadaily.com/2014/09/discovery-and-hasbro-end-partnership-of.html and learn more about this miscarriage of justice.

MysticArksRevenge from YouTube was right.  He was right all along.  The Hub Network was nothing but a waste of time.  I should've listen to him.  We all have.  And Stefan, if you are reading this, add Discovery Communications to that list.  Just like Disney and Anne Sweeney and Robert Iger, this is war.  Until next time.

This has been an ACF News Bulletin

Thursday, April 24, 2014

The Hub Network's Biggest Screw-Ups

I know I should be completing my To-Do List, but I just feel the need to do this.

What I'm gonna do here is list the Biggest Screw-Ups of the Hub Network. As you all know, the Hub Network was Supposed to be the "Cool" Family Network. After the Constant Failures of Disney and Viacom, TV viewers (myself included) were ready for a Superior Family Network.

At first we were pleased....well somewhat. The Network was greatly flawed, but had the potential to get better. Though, it was much better than the Disney Channel and the Nick Networks. Things started getting better slowly. The Hub started airing cool shows and even created it's own version of Toonami, HuBoom. The only huge flaw The Hub had was the fact that it aired the same lame movies every single month. The only upside to that was that the Hub Family Movie was solely a Weekend thing, with 2 Movies on Saturday and 1 Movie each on Fridays and Sundays.

But it wasn't long before Things went Horribly wrong. Nikki Reed,Former Disney Executive,was brought in as the Network's Program Director. Reed quickly became radical loyalist of Discovery Communications and followed their orders with no Question. With Reed in charge of Programming,the Discovery Networks had a Perfect Puppet to do what they asked without Question. And Soon The Hub Network became a Clone of The Disney Channel.

And Now The American Cartoon Federation Presents: The Hub Network's Biggest Screw-Ups.

1 - Getting Rid of HuBoom. This Block had the potential to be the Next Toonami. But sadly Discovery Communications has decided that the block was too expendable.

2 - Removing and Suppressing the Cool Cartoons. Seriously, This needs no explanation, just look at their Current Line-Ups. All the Cool Animated stuff is on Early in the Morning. 

3 - Giving WAY too much airtime to the Girly and Pre-School Crap. Screw Littlest Pet Shop, I want my Dan Vs.

4 - Overly Promoting the Girly and Pre-school Garbage. What Shit-Headed Losers.

5 - Airing the Hub Family Movie Every Day (with a 2nd airing). This is Seriously stealing Airtime for the Sitcoms.

6 - Suppressing and removing Sitcoms. Some were moved to very very late at Night, While others were moved very early in the Morning. Some were even removed from the line-ups all together.

7 - Suppressing the Cool Live Action Shows. I really Hate the fact that Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Lois and Clark air at Unreasonable times (very late at night and very early in the morning).  

8 - Unneeded Censorship. They feel they need to Censor Every Family Movie that they air. Dumbing them down for small children. And it's not just movies, it's Old Animated Shows too. Any Episode of a show that has a mature or sensitive theme in it, the Hub Network will never air it with the rest of the series. Stupid! Just because a show or movie, that's supposed to be for Everybody, has some slight mature themes to them,doesn't mean that it needs to be censored for the babies. Those Movies and Shows are for ALL , not just for that tiny insignificant demographic.

 9 - Turning the Hub Network into a Kiddie Network. There is a heavy difference between a Family Network and a Kiddie Network, Seriously.

10 - Ridding the Network.of All Retro Sitcoms. This is coming soon. I assure you.

11 - Failing to see the Potential this Network has.  

With all of the above, The Hub Network has gone from okay to bad...And things are about to get worse. Much worse. 

Screw You, Discovery Communications! You Suck!