Big franchises, small/humble beginnings.

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MikeJames

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Part of the reason why we get an overdone airing of the current cartoons is due to the fact that some new titles just don't seem up to par as far as the ratings go (or so it seems). But as I and some other rabroadrs have said, it seems like the networks (Disney, Nick and Cartoon Network) have rediculously high expectations for a new cartoon. A decade ago, it seemed like they just had to be successful, whereas today if it's not a fad, it's garbage.

Now some have said high expectations are essential for a network to make a profit. Someone stated that Disney needs to have those expectations because they can't afford to have poor programming. While it makes sense to a degree, it has been proven in the past that a hit tv show can come when you don't try too hard or least expect it. Which is the point of the thread. Some examples which standout as of right now. I'm using a few comic characters as an example as they are returning to animation:

1. Fairly Oddparents- It's one of the few continuing Nicktoons, right up there with Spongebob Squarepant. Except that it wasn't the big hit in it's first year. It took Season 2 for the show to climb up the ratings ladder, but it was still deemed successful enough to continue. Proves that patience can bring success.

2. Power Rangers- Not a cartoon, but it proves my point just the same. It was the big thing in the mid 90s, which was obviously the intent when it was produced right? Nope, it was planned to be nothing more than network filler. It was suppose to end with 40 episodes, but the ratings took the execs by surprise.

3. Spider-Man- We all know how Spidey came to be. Stan Lee wanted to try for a teen hero who wasn't part of a team or a sidekick to an established hero. Marvel finally agreed to publish the story in Amazing Fantasy #15, which was the last issue for the series anyway. Yet the character became a big character for the company, has had many merchandise tie ins and is an iconic character. If this doesn't prove that success can come from low expectations, I don't know what will.

4. Wolverine- One of the most well known X-Men characters. Got his own solo comic, is a member of both the X-Men and Avengers and is getting his own solo spinoff from X-Men. Not bad for a character planned as a one shot opponent for the Hulk.

5. Rugrats- This post from Blackstar says it better than I could:


And again as Fairly Oddparents goes, had it been produced today with the same results, Nick would have given it the same treatment of My Life As A Teenage Robot, All Grown Up and Wayside School.

So, any other big franchises than had a humble beginning?
 
I thought SpongeBob's Saturday morning start didn't do too well in the ratings at first. Not sure if I could back that up. And of course, we also have Family Guy to mention.
 
The Powerpuff Girls and Ren and Stimpy came from pretty humble beginnings (CalArts-esque independent shorts).

and of course there's the grandfather of all cartoons that come from humble beginnings; Mickey Mouse.
 
Ed, Edd n Eddy comes to mind. If I recall correctly, it premiered very much in the shadow of The Powerpuff Girls and for a while I don't think it was expected to go beyond its first season.

I was surprised when they announced a new season, and even more surprised when it eventually became a hit show.

Someone else can probably shed more light on this one.
 
Gundam. Did poorly, to the point it lost some episodes. Most of the staff to this day say it was intended to be a one shot anyway. But the series caught on in reruns and it's now become a juggernaut, to the point where the nicest thing creator Yoshiyuki Tomino can say is that he believes it's up to the new generation to handle it, not him.
 
Actually, I believe the logic about "either it's a hit, or we toss it" was actually far more prevalent back in the day than it is today.

Take two of my all-time favorite animated shows: King of the Hill, and The Critic.

The Critic- face facts, never even had a chance. Basically, Fox execs said "either it's a hit, or we toss it". We know what happened.

By the time King of the Hill came, they realized "yeah, we don't get a Simpsons every day...we might have to take a cult hit here or there", and that's why King of the Hill is still around.

That's why they still air that abomination 'Til Death.

But DUE to shows with cult appeal not being given a chance back in the day, WKRP in Cincinnati got cut off directly following the cliffhanger, which wound up being the series finale.
 
I'm not saying that the previous decades didn't make the same mistake, but it seems to be more commonplace now, mostly with the Cartoon Network, Disney Channel/Toon Disney and Nickelodeon.

As I've stated for before, the previous decade Disney seemed to have more animated success than they do now. Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers and Talespin, while not the hits that Ducktales, Darkwing Duck, Goof Troops and Aladdin were, still got the full 65 episode treatment. Whereas today they would probably have ended at 39, 52 at the highest.
 
The Simpsons: From a crudely animated skit on the Tracy Ullman Show to a (at the time) crudely animated half hour series to Fox's million dollar baby. You can't come from more humble beginnings than that.
 
Actually, The Critic aired for a full season on ABC before coming to Fox. And the reason it didn't make it was, quite frankly, because it just wasn't very good overall. Some of the individual gags were OK (like the film parodies), but the characters and stories were flat, IMO. Plus, far too often The Critic came off like a Simpsons wannabe, especially when it aired on the same network as The Simpsons. (The shows' writers even lampooned this by having one episode begin with a Fox exec calling Jay on the phone and asking him how he'd feel about opening each show by writing on a chalkboard like Bart, changing his name to Homer, wearing a big blue wig like Marge and sucking on a pacifier.)



WKRP didn't end on a cliffhanger. Its' final episode, "Mother Nessman", was just an ordinary stand-alone episode. Unless you're talking about The New WKRP in Cincinnati.
 
Thinking about it, South Park had a pretty small beginning. The creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker made a quick film school project in 1992 called "Jesus Vs Frosty" that was seen by Brian Graden who commisioned them 2000 bucks to make another one a few years later. The second one "Jesus Vs Santa" circulated around and ended up in Comedy Central where they gave Matt and Trey the greenlight for six episodes. Which ended up becoming quite popular and let to the show being the most watched program on Comedy Central. I'd say that was a small to big start. Then again most of the big/most popular programs have small starts and the only ones who don't have humble beginnings are the ones that have been pimped out a lot or are the second offstpring of creators.
 
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