Cable channels who used to air cartoons?

Threshold co-owns all Mortal Kombat media projects, and the animated series is co-owned with Starz Media, whose Film Roman studio animated it. Warner Bros., who also co-owns the live-action movies and the live-action series (yeah, there was one). owns the Mortal Kombat franchise outright after their purchase of Midway Games Entertainment.

Of course, WB owns a piece of the animated series if not the whole thing (just like how WB owns the WildC.A.Ts property outright but the animated series, which also aired on AXT, is owned by Nelvana), but to tell you the truth, I'm still scratching my head how USA greenlit an animated series based on a grisly, kid-unfriendly property like Mortal Kombat in the first place.
 
I miss the old USA Cartoon Express block, there was just something so fun about it and I really wish these networks aired cartoons like they did back in the 90's, USA, MTV & TBS used to air cartoons every now and again and it was a fun treat.

With cable housing multiple animation networks I doubt we will ever see anything like this ever again, sadly.
 
I remember TNT aired the pre-1948 shorts, TBS the post-1948 shorts, and Nickelodeon the 1930s shorts. But, Jeff Harris once told me that I was wrong. It's how I remember it though.



I remember H-B shows as early as 1993. They also aired those Dr. Seuss specials from time to time.



Weekends too.
 
I do remember. And the Family Channel back when it was JUST the FAMILY Channel (pre FOX and ABC) aired the movies, the ones that were a collection of shorts, almost every weekend. A few times they even aired that `70s documentary narrated by Orson Welles.
 
I recall The Family Channel (I think this was when Christian Broadcasting Network was still in control) airing cartoons that used to air on NBC's Saturday morning block (e.g. Camp Candy, Wish Kid, Pro Stars, etc.).



First run episodes of Captain Planet (which Ted Turner himself, had a hand in creating), SWAT Kats, and 2 Stupid Dogs also aired on TBS during the '90s. They also aired the Space Ghost, Coast to Coast spin-off Ghost Planet.
 
I think that may have been during the FOX Family era.



Yeah, TBS' Disaster Zone (or was it Disaster Area) tried to be a major player in the `90s with weekday afternoon and Saturday morning line-ups, opposite big dogs like FOX Kids. TNT Toons was the more nostalgic block. Their line-ups were weekday mornings and weekend afternoons.
 
Partially. TBS showed the same Warner Bros. stuff as TNT.

However, Nickelodeon did show '30's stuff. Plenty of Bosco, some Buddy, and I remember seeing "You Oughta Be In Pictures" there, too. So, apparently, the a.a.p/United Artists/MGM/ Turner library - the "pre-1948 library" didn't include everything pre-1948. This quote from the Looney Tunes Wikipedia article may help clarify things a bit:



The thing is, I remember that same black-and-white stuff -- that we know to have been owned by WB and not Turner, and aired on Nickeldoeon, which showed the WB-owned shorts -- airing on CN's Late Night Black and White a few years before the Turner-WB merger. Perhaps because of the public domain factor mentioned in the quote above?
 
I remember that. It was 1999. I remember because I was in employment training at MCI during that time. (The job stank, but the pay was excellent.)

The block was called 'Super Retro-Vision Saturdays'. They also aired Filmation's The Brady Kids. (Larry Storch as Marlon the Magic Minah Bird gave the performance of a lifetime.) I really wish something like this would air on Boomerang; it seems like a perfect fit for the network.
 
Yeah. TBS and TNT had the same library of shorts, which were the pre-1948 shorts. Nickelodeon had exclusive cable rights to the post-1948 shorts as well as the black-and-white Looney Tunes shorts (btw, Merrie Melodies were never in black-and-white) until 2000, when they went over to Cartoon Network, which became the exclusive home of Looney Tunes until the network turned stupid. By the time Cartoon Network got the exclusive rights, TBS and TNT had already stopped airing cartoons altogether for a couple of years. Nick aired them afternoons and the occasional prime-time run.
 
The Family Channel, before it was bought by 20th Century Fox in 2000, at one time aired an animation block called Fun Town. It was all reruns, mostly of short lived Saturday morning/syndicated shows like Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater or Sylvanian Families. Fun Town also aired The All New Popeye Hour, The Super Mario Brothers Super Show! and Fonz and the Happy Days Gang and Laverne & Shirley in the Army under the umbrella title "Fonzie and Friends" (FAM would air Fonz on odd days of the week and L&S on even days).
 
WGN America used to air the Saturday morning Kids' WB strip in the pre-Pokemon era (with shows like Bugs 'n Daffy, Freakazoid, Animaniacs, and Earthworm Jim). It was essentially the same block that aired on the local WB affilates, only instead of the large multi-colored Kids' WB logo bug there would be a smaller less-obtrusive WGN logo in a black box.

WGN also aired Rocky & Bullwinkle late nights about a year ago.

The Speed Channel briefly aired the 1967 anime series, Speed Racer around 2001 and then pulled it.:sad:
 
What I remember them airing the most was the early Porky Pig shorts. I think they aired those more than Bosco and Buddy.



You say till 2000, but when exactly did this deal start? Like I said to you the last time we had this discussion, I remember TBS airing the post-`48 shorts. I even remember them airing the `60s shorts with Speedy and Daffy. Didn't Nick start airing Looney Tunes in the mid to late `90s? So, it's possible that TBS was airing them in the early `90s.
 
Uh, such famous black-and-white Merrie Melodies as Lady Play Your Mandolin!, Smile Darn Ya Smile!, Hittin' The Trail For Hallelujah Land, and many other early MM's would like a word with you.

EDIT:


Nick started airing Looney Tunes in 1988, and surrendered the rights to CN in September of 1999.
 
I honestly don't ever remember watching Looney Tunes on Nick prior to 1996. I remember Alvin, Beetlejuice, Charlie Brown, Gumpy, Inspector Gadget, and Muppet Babies to name a few. But, Looney Tunes? Not at all. Prior to 1996, the only place I noticed Looney Tunes were at TNT, TBS, and, of course, ABC with that Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show.

And if you're relying on Wikipedia, just remember that it's not always accurate.
 
Wikipedia? Heavens no, I'm relying mainly on my own memories. Oh, and also this, which is written by someone much more trustworthy than Wiki.

Also, I'm pretty sure I've posted it before, have I not?
 
You're wrong, Old Guy.

Nick was airing LT when I got the channel in 1993, and I vividly remember watching these cartoons on Nick at my cousin's house several years before that.

But yeah, the link SNES Chalmers posted tells all.
 
When I started watching cartoons around 1995 I can remember seeing all those shows on Nickelodeon that Old Guy mentioned mostly Alvin and the Chipmunks, Beetlejuice, Muppet Babies, Charlie Brown on Nickelodeon, Inspector Gadget and Looney Tunes. By 1999 I enjoyed seeing Tiny Toons and Garfield and Friends on Nickelodeon. It seemed like though by the time 2000 came around Nickelodeon began to change airing less acquisitions and more originals. Even the name was shortened on air to just Nick.
 
I stand corrected. However, read this:





and now read this:

http://looney.goldenagecartoons.com/tv/



So, there was a syndication package that was seperate from the network deal and the Nick deal. In other words, TBS which was or continues to be a superstation, meaning a local TV station with a cable signal (think WGN) could have, at one point or another, had the rights to that syndication package. There might be some holes with that theory, but I don't think its too far-fetched to think that one point TBS was airing post-`48 shorts. People tend to think that TNT and TBS are the same thing, but not really. TNT is a cable channel, so it was restricted to pre-`48 shorts but TBS is, or was, a superstation. So, they had more wiggle room.
 
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