The DC Nation looks to be in trouble as both Young Justice and Green Lantern: The Animated Series won't be back for the 2013-14 TV season. Courtesy / WARNERBROS.COM
Horrible news out of the DC Universe as both pioneering shows of Cartoon Network’s DC Nation block, Young Justice and Green Lantern: The Animated Series, have been canceled and will not be a part of Cartoon Network’s 2013-14 TV lineup. This comes from Cartoon Network themselves as they
revealed their upfronts and both shows are missing from the list. This does not bode well for Cartoon Network’s plans for the DC Nation as the two shows coming in might not be able to deliver what these shows brought to the table each week.
The absentee shows
Young Justice was coming in at the right time for Cartoon Network. The show Batman: The Brave and the Bold was into its second season and was doing alright on the network, however DC really hadn’t had a semi-serious show for itself since Justice League: Unlimited as The Brave and the Bold was a more on the campy side of things. Right off the back, Young Justice was a breath of fresh air for the universe. The show perhaps had the most serious tone ever for a DC animated show and followed a serial format where a story arc was followed over an entire season and not a one-and-done format like their past shows. Also, with the recent success of the DC Animated movie universe and under the supervision of Greg Weisman, the show was very heavy on action and had excellent crafted fight scenes throughout every episode. The show was well received by critics during its Friday night time slot and then all of a sudden... it was gone. Cartoon Network pulled it from the airwaves for unknown reasons and it stayed off the air for six months. In September 2011, the show came back on the air, once again on a Friday night. Nine more episodes aired and once again it was taken off the air.
This time Cartoon Network stated that it was being taken off the air for now so it can come back as one of the flagship shows of its upcoming block dubbed the DC Nation with Green Lantern: The Animated Series, a show that Cartoon Network previewed in November 2011. March 3, 2012, rolls around and the network officially kicks off its DC Nation with the two shows. Young Justice finally wraps up its first season; quickly goes into its second season while Green Lantern: The Animated Series starts off strong with its first batch of episodes. Both shows are praised by critics and Young Justice even won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation. In June, the two shows take a break for the summer to return in September when two episodes into its fall season... Young Justice is once again pulled from the airwaves, along with Green Lantern. Once again, no reason is given as to why the shows were pulled. The shows then return on Jan. 5 of this year, but by Jan. 28, the two shows are nowhere to be found on the 2013-14 list of scheduled Cartoon Network shows.
It was already established that both shows had a faithful following, was critically acclaimed by critics and Cartoon Network had even spun out from the series with the creation of comic book companions for both as well as other merchandise for the two. However, when a network continuously shelves a show, unless you are keeping constant track of news hopefully telling you when the show will return, it gets rather hard to stay invested with the show. Also, with a serial format, missing an episode can throw you completely out of the story. It's tough to understand what Cartoon Network was thinking by removing their shows for lengthy period of times. Was the show getting poor ratings? If so, why not just flat out cancel it rather then take it off the air for months on end, bring it back, pull it again, create an entire block centered around the shows, bring it back, pull yet again and then cancel it? It seems Cartoon Network really has no idea what to do with the shows, especially Young Justice, and because of the mishandling of it, the show suffered and was a probable factor of its demise.
DC Nation: The Next Generation
Since these two shows won’t be back for the 2013-14 television season, that means the DC Nation will have to be lead by two freshman shows. The two shows are “Beware the Batman” and “Teen Titans Go!” Without a strong lead-in, these two new shows are going to have to prove themselves quickly in order to keep DC Nation afloat. But problems can already be seen over the horizon for them.
Beware the Batman: It is already well known that Batman has an audience. Batman has gone through several animated incarnations and they have been able to hold their own over the years, however this show in particular will be doing something rather curious for itself. It will be the first time Batman is without his well-established rogue’s gallery. It was stated at this past year’s Comic Con that this
Batman will be handled like a police procedural focusing more on his detective skills and the audience shouldn’t expect him to be duking it out with villains like The Joker or The Riddler. Also, with its police procedural process, kids may be turned off by it as that type of show is perhaps more liked by an older crowd who watch shows like "NCIS" or "CSI."
Teen Titans Go!: This show could go either way for the DC Nation block. The show will have all the voice actors returning from the original Teen Titans cartoon that aired from 2003-2006, but won’t focus on the team fighting crime. Rather, the show will focus on the team’s day to day lives in between fighting crime and will feature a more comedic side of storytelling and will come off feeling like a sitcom from the sound of it. This really isn’t all that new for the Teen Titans as the original show had more comedy than any other DC show out there, but the avoidance of fighting crime may off-put viewers who tune in to see their heroes fighting bad guys.
These shows are by no means “doomed to fail” and could be a hit among viewers, but without solid lead-ins from the likes of Young Justice or Green Lantern: The Animated Series to help carry them a little bit, it is hard to see if Cartoon Network knows what to do with its DC Nation now that 50 percent of their television block is absent from the next television season. What do you think? We want to hear from you in the comments below.
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