Special Note: Please note that this scenario is meant to be read as entertainment, not as an accurate prediction of the future. Also note that the viewpoints and opinions that may come across in this scenario are not necessarily the viewpoints and opinions of the author.
Current Cartoon Network logo.
Cartoon Network will excusively play kids cartoons throughout the day, while being the least popular childrens channel until about 2033. In 2062, Cartoon Network will change its network to make competition with Disney Channel and Nickelodeon.
Appearing only on cable and satellite television, Cartoon Network is not a factor for impoverished rural children. Similar channels are found outside the United States; like Teletoon in Canada for example. By the 22nd century, Cartoon Network will become available on the Moon in addition to most of the civilized planets in our universe.
Summary
Cartoon Network will have cartoon blocks throughout the weekends and the weekdays, but more preteen and teen oriented live action and anime series will take place in the evening, similar to what Zoog Disney is like. Cartoon Network's original will take place weekday after Saturday morning. It will become difficult to find cartoons on the Cartoon Network after a while, just like MTV is having trouble playing music videos. By 2023, Katy Perry had a short-lived talk show on Cartoon Network; likely sponsored by American Girl, emphasizing key points about issues that girls ages 7 through 13 face in their everyday lives. Cartoon Network will release a new segment called Cartoon Network Rewind, which will show vintage programming such as Ed, Ed and Eddy and the Powerpuff Girls from the 90s and 2000s by the late 2010s-early 2020s.
Adult Swim will play, while a whole channel for Adult Swim will be released. At late night, more classic cartoons such as Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry will be played. After the passing of the Better Entertainment Act of 2018, NSA officials will oversee who is watching the Adult Swim channel at all times. Violence in the media has become a commonplace affair. Does television violence result in more aggressive or deviant behavior' Is such behavior likely to lead to criminal behavior' Recent studies have indicated that even the most seemingly benign programs on television, such as cartoons, are filled with violence. Violence in the media influences human behavior in a negative manner. Hundreds of studies have been conducted in recent years evaluating the effects of violence in the media. The results are at best, daunting and somewhat alarming. Some have raised enough question about the effects of media violence to cause researchers to claim the results are inconclusive. However others prove strongly enough that media violence can lead to criminal behavior, and many sociologists have concluded that violence in television media impacts viewers in a negative manner. Television violence impacts youths and adolescents much more frequently than it impact adults. Human behavior is the product of internal influences, such as a person's biological pre-disposition or genetic make-up, as well as external factors such as the environment.
Toonami will have a separate, all anime channel in 2075, showing anime for all ages 24/7, directly competing with Funimation Channel. Boomerang, Cartoon Network's retro counterpart, will eventually air classic episodes of TMNT for grandparents to watch with their grandchildren. Other classic shows include the Super Mario Show along with Sesame Street from 30 years ago.
TV Shows
- Adventure Time (2010-2018) - Cartoon Network's most popular show since Ed Edd n Eddy.
- The Amazing World of Gumball (2011 - 2019) - The series ended due to legal issues with Alex Hirsh, creator of Gravity Falls
- Ben 10 (Franchise) (2005-present)
- Johnny Test (2005 - 2014)- The series was cancelled after its creator Scott Fellows was sued by the uncredited co-creator, with whom Fellows had created the idea in 1995. The series was never that popular to begin with, though CN continued airing it anyway so they could fund the more popular shows
- Mega Man: The Animated Series (2015-2021) - Extremely popular series based on Capcom's Mby Rebecca Sugar, former storyboard artist and composer on Adventure Time; the show stars Bryce Papenbrook as Mega Man/Rock, Tiffany Grant as Roll, Gilbert Gottfried as Rush, Paul Eiding as Dr. Light, and Scott McNeil reprising his role as Dr. Wily from the Ruby-Spears cartoon.
- Pokemon (1997-present) - Moved to Disney XD until 2019 due to Cartoon Network confining all anime to the Toonami block.
- Powerpuff Girls (1998-2005, 2016-2020) - Revived following a TV movie for the 15th anniversery in 2014, but with the original animation style. The reboot was cancelled in 2018 after Tara Strong and Elizabeth Daly (the original voices of Bubbles and Buttercup who had been replaced) sued the network for replacing them over their ages, as well as its general unpopularity and signs that it had been influenced by the moral guardian plot detailed below.
- Regular Show (2010 - 2017)
- Steven Universe (2013 - 2019)
- SuperNoobs (2015 - 2019) - Cancelled due to irregular airing schedule thought to be the direct result of the moral guardian plot detailed below.
- The Tom and Jerry Show (2014 - 2021)
- Teen Titans GO! (2013 - 2022) - Cancelled due to the TTG Movie.
- Uncle Grandpa (2013 - 2017) - Cancelled due to poor ratings and a controversial 2016 episode in which the series directly insulted other Cartoon Network programs in an egotistical manner. There is evidence to suggest it was affected by the moral guardian plot detailed below.
- Clarence (2014 - 2018) - This series was canceled after Skyler Page was fired, and multiple early episodes revealed signs of his mental instability. Due to its down-to-Earth nature, the series was not affected by the moral guardian plot detailed below.
- Chowder (2007 - 2010)
- Mighty Magiswords (2016 - 2019)
- We Bare Bears (2015 - 2022)
- Milxels (2014 - 2016)
- Ben 10 (2016-2021)
- Craig of The Creek (2018 - 2020)
- Victor and Valentino (2019 - 2021)
- Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (2019 - 2021)
- Steven Universe Future (2019 - 2020)
- Infinity Train (2019 - 2020)
- Summer Camp Island (2018 - 2022)
- Apple & Onion (2018 - 2022)
- Unikitty! (2018 - 2021)
- Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu (2011 - 2020)
- DC Super Hero Girls (2015 - 2018,2019 - 2021)
- Transformers: Cyberverse (2018 - 2020)
- Power Players (2019 - 2021)
- Total DramaRama (2018 - 2022)
- Bakugan: Battle Planet (2018 - 2020)
This list is incomplete.
Teen Titans GO! Scandal
In 2016, a series of insider reports from Cartoon Network revealed that network president Christina Miller was using the widely-hated series Teen Titans GO! as a weapon to kill shows she deemed "too violent, raunchy, and homoerotic". The series she was targeting in particular were:
- Adventure Time - Targeted due to its raunchy subject matter and humor, lesbian subtext between Princess Bubblegum and Marceline, and storylines considered too "complex" for children
- Regular Show - Targeted due to its extreme violence, use of realistic firearms, and sexual innuendos
- Steven Universe - Targeted due to blatant lesbianism, violence, the gruesome nature of The Cluster, and storylines considered too "highbrow and complex" for children
- Transformers: Robots in Disguise - Targeted because Miller never wanted the show in the first place, having had it dumped on her when Hub Network became Discovery Family; the show was placed in a death slot in an attempt to kill it
- Sonic Boom - Targeted because Miller disliked the Sonic franchise
- Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu - Targeted because Miller felt the series was a 30-minute toy commercial; she moved it from its old weekday slot to a Saturday morning slot in hopes kids wouldn't wake up on time to see it
- Wabbit and Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! - Initial plans were to move it to Boomerang in order to keep timeslots open for Teen Titans GO! This was later reversed, but the series were moved to Boomerang full-time shortly thereafter, for the initial reason.
Series that were not targeted include:
- Clarence - Not targeted due to its down-to-earth nature
- We Bare Bears - Not targeted as Christina Miller couldn't find anything inappropriate about it, and also found it funny
- Everything on Adult Swim - Not targeted due to being specifically for adults
- Pokemon - Not targeted due to being pre-censored by the dubbing company, as well as lack of any objectionable content
- Everything on Boomerang - Not targeted due to being a separate channel not accessible by cable systems, though Teen Titans GO! reruns were on the channel, though in lower numbers
- Uncle Grandpa - Not targeted due to lack of objectionable content (though Miller was a bit unnerved by the subtle sadistic tendancies displayed by Beary Nice)
The leaks were made public on May 5, 2016, and needless to say, the fan communities of the shows targeted exploded in rage. The fan community of Teen Titans GO! tried in vain to defend Miller, but were ultimately drowned out by the outpouring of fury and anger from the livid fanbases.
On May 6, Miller issued a statement saying she was not sorry, and that Cartoon Network was full of shows too violent and raunchy for today's kids. She announced the shows targeted by her campaign were cancelled, effective immediately. Several minutes later, Cartoon Network's website was hacked by Anonymous, and three hours after Miller issued her statement, she was fired from her position. The network's replacement president immediately renewed all of the shows affected, and moved Teen Titans GO! to a death slot on early Sunday morning, with no re-runs during the week. Conversely, Transformers: Robots in Disguise was moved to a Wednesday night premiere slot, with reruns throughout the week, and even secured the rights to rerun the original 1980s Transformers cartoon every weeknight at 7 PM in an hour-long block.
As for Teen Titans GO!, the move to the death slot proved to be its undoing, and the show was unceremoniously cancelled on July 9, 2016. The network vowed to never air the series again, and all knowledge of it was disavowed as "a mistake as bad as CN Real".