Discussion: Does the Block make the Show?

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roxyychick !

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Throughout animation history, we've seen many really good programming "blocks" that help to tie together various akin series.

Some of the big examples in the past have been Toonami, Adult Swim (as a Block, not its own network), KidsWB, FoxKids and Cartoon Express.

If popular shows such as DBZ, Inuyasha and Pokemon weren't introduced to us from these strong programming blocks, would they have been as popular?

If a series had potential but ended up folding; do you think it would have done better if it was introduced or supported through a block, would it have survived and prospered?
 
Pokemon was popular when it was airing in syndication before it aired on Kids WB, so maybe! Dragon Ball Z was not popular when airing in syndication and got cancelled, so no!
 
The programming block doesn't necessarily make the show, but I do believe it can have an impact on the perceptions of viewers. I don't think I would have enjoyed Digimon nearly as much if it didn't have the awesome "packaging" that Fox Kids gave it, or Dragonball Z without that of Toonami. Even watching those shows today, it feels like the programming blocks they aired on are like natural extensions of those shows.
 
I don't think that a block can make or break a show. I think that the show and its quality should stand out more than the bumpers packing it. It can add a special touch to the show to make it stand out a bit more, but I don't think it's really necessary. As powergate92 already mentioned, Pokemon was already popular before it aired on Kids' WB and I think that DBZ would have done well if it started airing in syndication before airing on a block like Toonami.
 
But...DBZ was airing in syndication for a year or two before Toonami picked it up...That's why we had the Saban dub.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmmJckvpyjY

And it failed horribly there, because nearly all syndication markets kept burying it at 5am. IIRC, Cartoon Network picked it up because one of the people in charge of acquisitions during the 1997-1999 period spotted it while flipping through local channels at that ungodly hour, and felt it was perfect for Toonami.
 
I'm finding myself believing that strongly supported blocks are very good at propping up series that have strong potential.

Look at this way, one of the big problems with programming today is there is very little fanfare done to help get the word out about a good series.

Now lets look at some of the major factors why I think Toonami and KidsWB made many of the series advertised on it. Both blocks have viewer-ship that was coming back daily at a fixed time to see shows. It allowed for both blocks to continue to fanfare and build excitement for series and episodes to garner maximum hits on their shows. Oh and if they need to change the scheduling of something or remove something for the schedule, its easier to transition your fans because they are already tunning in to watch that block.

The more powerful proof is in what they managed to accomplish over the years. We saw Toonami manage to garner so much support for Sailormoon and Reboot that we got new episodes. It also garnered so much support for Gundam Wing that we got more Gundam series in the US.

Adultswim (as a block) was so successful with Futuruma and Family Guy that it got new episodes for both series.

Could we have seen any of these feats without the blocks that propped them up? Probably not!
 
The block does not make the show, the shows are what makes the block. Period.

I don't care what kind of a block it was, it could be Kids WB, Toonami, CN's Friday Night Action, FoxBox, Adult Swim, or whatever, if the shows on the programming block suck then nobody is going to watch that specific block. And if people are watching a programming block for anything other than the shows then I have to wonder if the viewer has their priorities straight. I love programming blocks as much as the new guy but I'm not going to support a block unless the block is supporting me with quality content (cartoons!), that wouldn't make any sense at all.

Maybe once in a while a show will take off because it's airing on a block, but what was it that helped to make the block popular I wonder? Oh yes, it was the programming that helped to get the block off of the ground initially and because of that other programs could possibly find an audience, but I don't know anyone that would watch a show just because it airs on a block that they like, they would have to find something to like about the cartoon in the first place before they can like it.
 
A good brand can help a show reach viewers and generate interest. A well-executed block can be such a brand. But it's strong programming that does the most to build a brand in the first place.

How's that?
 
The show makes the show, and to a lesser extent, the content standards make the show. Can a specific block be known for looser content standards or bringing a group of good quality shows into its stable? Yes, but the shows are the primary attraction. When you think "block X" you think their shows are good, or their shows are bad.

The biggest example I can think of recently is Archer. I love Archer. It is funny, it is well written, and it gets a prime viewing slot on Thursdays with virtually no editing. Why oh why would you want to put it on Adult Swim? Why would you want to reduce its viewership level, censor it further, and in general reduce some of its attractive qualities? It doesn't make sense.
 
So I have to ask you: if a block is tailored to YOUR interests and a show comes on within that block that you don't immediately find appealing or weren't hyped about when they announced it, are you going to turn the TV off or switch to another channel immediately as soon as it comes on or are you going to watch a little bit of it and give it a chance?




So when Dragon Ball Z came to Toonami, were you watching Toonami for Toomani or were you watching Toomai for Dragon Ball Z?

That might be a bad example as I seem to recall you saying at some point you didn't watch Dragon Ball Z on Toonami. If thats the case, try replacing Dragon Ball Z with --- errr --- Outlaw Star.
 
I definitely didn't say that as far as I can recall, because it's absolutely not the case. I watched just about every Toonami program. For me, it was all for the shows. I was watching Cartoon Network on afternoons before Toonami ever started, if only for G-Force and Swat Kats (what else, I couldn't tell you now). That all said, I think it's fair to say that I was more liable to try a show blind on Toonami than, say, the FoxBox. So in that respect even I wasn't immune to the brand.
 
Ah, I didn't know that. I've only heard of DBZ airing on Toonami and even though I've heard of the Saban dub, I thought that there were different dubs of the series airing on Toonami at certain points. Sorry about that. Though, if the syndication markets didn't bury it during early morning hours like that, I think that it probably would have done pretty well for itself.



I agree. I enjoy watching cartoon blocks since they can be fun and have some nice bumpers in-between commercial breaks and all, but I don't watch the block for the packages. I watch them for the shows and I still think the quality of the shows should stand out more than just how they're presented to the audience through a block. Once they don't have any shows I'm interested in, I just stop watching it.
 
Programming blocks can be fun, but they're not what makes a show great. Shows make blocks, blocks do not make shows. Blocks are like attractive wrapping paper: they can be pretty and they do their job of keeping the gift inside all nice and organized, but the present inside the box is what you're really looking forward to. A show can not be sandwiched inside a fancy program block and still be good, but if a block has no decent shows (ref: Toonami in its' final days), then all of the clever, hip and attractive bumps in the world aren't going to keep most viewers from tuning out.
 
Then thats my bad, I seem to recall it coming up in the Anime forum at one point. My apologies =).




Once again, the heart of the debate is essentially: Did Toonami entice you to watch something you otherwise would have never considered?

The packaging is what entices you to get into the show, but if you never would have in the first place, did that package pull you in?
 
Does a good block help me gain interest in shows? Not necessarily, but it doesn't hurt. If a block has likable production values and enough series that interest me, I'll be more likely to check out something I wouldn't otherwise than I would if it was somewhere else.

While I would have checked out a lot of the shows from then by themselves, I'll have to admit that a couple of the series that aired on Toonami and Kids WB! from when I was younger caught my attention more because they were sandwiched between shows I watched on the blocks at a time when nothing else I was interested in watching was on. .hack//SIGN and Cardcaptors come to mind in particular.
 
The block definitely makes watching more than one show easier for me. For example, Kids WB! and Toonami made it exciting for me to try the other shows on the block. If it weren't for their special brand of advertisements/promos I'd probably just watch the show I was familiar with and turn to something else. But I'm speaking about myself personally not everyone else.
 
I watched Hamtaro. I think that says something about the power of a programming block.




But in all honesty, a block is basically a way of organizing shows on a channel. Organization makes it easier to find things. Hence, a block makes it easier to find shows you might be interested in.


It goes like this:

1. A really popular show attracts viewers.

2. Said show is on a block with a bunch of similarly themed, but less popular, shows.

3. People now notice the less popular shows, and thus are more likely to watch them.
 
Thats a solid point, but what happens when that show finally leaves the block. Do the viewers leave the block too?

In the case of Toonami, we know that's not true. They (generally) stayed to see what was next.
 
Depends on how good the other stuff is. And how solid the theme is. Toonami had a really strong theme (action animation) and a lot of good shows that fit that theme.
 
To that point, I think we can note a huge decline in audience for Toonami when the block started to lack a unified direction towards the end of its life.
 
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