Is Boomerang going down the tubes? Options

[Nelson]

I have been getting Cartoon Network's sister channel, Boomerang for two years now and I have oftened wondered that if this channel is geared towards adults, then how come there has never been any b&w cartoons shown?As of now, I'm getting very bored of Boomerang and I wished that they would expand their roster, show more rare cartoons, show more of the other MGM cartoons and of course the b&w treasures from MGM, Paramount and Warners.

My other problem with Boomerang, is that they don't show all the entire episodes to a series, such as Underdog, Bullwinkle and the recently picked up Mr.Magoo, where three remaining first run Magoo episodes have yet to air since the show started back in September of last year.Boomerang has to drop this eight hour line-up and expand their roster, considering the large library that Time Warner owns, one would think we would see a better selection of cartoons.

The way that I see it, the CN executives see Boomerang as another kids channel and not for adults and I don't see the channel getting any better.When you have a channel that shoves more Scooby Doo, Pebbles And Bam Bam, Tom And Jerry and The Smurfs it can really sicken a viewer to death.It's getting so bad that I wouldn't be a bit surprised if some of the Cartoon Network original shows start to pop up on Boomerang in the near future, than adding a show like Toon Heads or Bob Clampett to their roster.

So does anyone agree with me and what would your thoughts be on Boomerang?

[CaptGeorge]

Was Boomerang ever in the spotlight to begin with?

I think the fact Boomerang started being more exclusive and only available with deluxe cable packages (or satellite at first?) only hurt its chances at succeeding.

The fact that it's being turned into a pure kiddie channel is not good news.

But then again, it was never advertised as being a great balanced meal, either. It's more like junk food, and there are plenty of channels like that on regular cable. I could honestly do without at least half of the early 1960s Hanna-Barbera shows, and definitely anything H-B produced after 1968/1969.

Jerry Beck said it best: the CN executives generally don't care what adults think and program according to their whims and really don't listen to hardcore animation fans. It's the same condescending "for kids only" attitude that's been around general animation for 50 years and the current CN/Boomerang chiefs don't have a clue.

If you really don't believe me, you ought to have read the quote Amid Amidi (who I don't agree with at least 75% of the time) captured from a CN exec awhile back about the way CN approaches Adult Swim programming. It's a sad thing but reflects the reality of CN right now.

[Jorge Finkielman]

In Argentina, Boomerang is in basic cable and I think it is quite idiotic to have such channel in premium packages (which I consider a repugnant idea to begin with).

I never watched that channel for more than five minutes. In the Boston area is available, for free, only on "On Demand".

As a commercial TV channel for kids, it's quite obvious that Boomerang is a total loss, specially when there are no advertisings.

Anyway, I don't care about the promotions of the cable or dish companies nor the internet providers... I still have to watch Argentinean television on my computer (including silly cartoons) because its low quality shows are much better than what I can see here.

What I do miss are the flea markets where I managed, on occasions, to find things that really fulfilled what I wanted for entertainment.

[Jon Lyrik]

Boomerang was never that good in the first place. Half the time it's another Scooby-Doo marathon followed by five hours of 1970s Hanna-Barbera crapfests.

They do show Looney Tunes more often than Cartoon Netowrk does, but that's not saying much.

[corey3rd]

i thought Boomerang's mandate is to just run the H-B cartoons since it's free programming for the company. I'm still ticked that the Cartoon Network - Boomerang in-demand channel is void of content.