'Young Justice/Green Lantern Animated Series: CANCELLED' Rant

Even though both of the series have ended last week and the flame from fans of both series have died down a bit, its rather important to talk about them as a means to show what kind of direction future animated series might go towards.

Both 'Green Lantern' and 'Young Justice' were part of the 'DC Nation'. a TV program on Cartoon Network dedicated to all things DC comics. They've been tossed around in terms of broadcasting, often taking months at a time to release a new episode (even though said episode has been done for quite some time at that point). Despite being very popular among younger and older fans, with Young Justice even winning an award for an episode, it was still canceled with new shows in its place 'Beware the Batman' and 'Teen Titans Go!'.

So really, what caused this cancellation? Best to look at the heads of Cartoon Network for that information, as they have the say so on what shows to continue or cancel. For one thing or another, certain series tend to get the axe and cut down before their time (these shows for instance) and others continue even though they are complete garbage ( Johnny Test ) or well past their welcome point ( Ben 10 ). There is also concern when it comes to making a profit, which some animated series get by getting companies to make toys of their characters and such.

Any way its sliced, it seems like really crappy management. Canceling a TV show due to poor toy sales is about as logical as closing down a burger joint because the local butcher can barely sell any cow meat. Odd analogy notwithstanding, its clear that the heads of Cartoon Network have their heads up their asses for such a decision, especially since this could've extended the popular 'DC Nation' programming by another hour or so and just have 'Beware the Batman' and 'Teen Titans Go!' air along with the others. Still, what do I know? Its not like I learn from other people's mistakes as well as my own.

Still, this isn't the first time good animated series have been canceled. 'Spectacular Spider-Man' and 'Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes' have been very good successes for Marvel (though Spider-Man was owned by Sony at the time due to animated rights). Like their DC counterparts, these shows had a rather fleshed out cast of characters and engaging storyline, even if a few episodes weren't up to par as much as others. Still, they were at least enjoyable, but still got canned.

When Marvel got the rights back for Spider-Man, the 'Spectacular Spider-Man' was discontinued and replaced with 'Ultimate Spider-Man' which can barely hold a candle to its predecessor. Honestly, after seeing the entire first season, its easy to see which series can deliver more. As for 'Avengers', that was canceled so Marvel Animation can do 'Avengers Assemble', which is rather stupid in the long run.

Lets face it: cancelling very good series due to bad toy sales or replacing it with a bad knockoff is a slap in the face for viewers, myself included. Making decisions based purely on greed will no doubt bite you in the ass. There are honest-to-goodness people who put in a lot of effort to make animated shows and it feels insulting just to cancel them after a very good run.

Its rather a cautionary tale for those hoping to make an animated series. The network heads are the ones with the final say and there is always that chance where even if it gets to air, it'll be screwed around with. This primarily deals with behind-the-scenes dealings, like scheduling, executive meddling, or cancellation for some stupid reasoning. Course, that doesn't mean you should give up on the subject and push on it the best you can until something comes up that won't let you continue.