Disney's Current Animated TV Output

[Foggle]

It seems to be vague stereotyping, or something to that degree, that kids all want to watch other kids doing things they can't do (again, the grand portrayal of high school that simply isn't the case in real life). I don't get it, and I don't think I ever will.

Even as a kid I hated bad child actors. I either wanted to watch cartoons or live action stuff made for adults.

EDIT: Post reads kinda' weird. Just clarifying that I didn't want to watch adult cartoons, just adult live action.

[Foggle]

I don't get why they make high school shows on kids channels.

High schoolers swear, have sex and do drugs. You can't do any of that on Nick or Disney, so why bother?

SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER!?

[Spark Of Spirit]

Can you even think of much pre-TDA Disney TV animation other than specials?

There wasn't any. Besides the specials and some packaging of their shorts and movies, Gummi Bears and The Wuzzles were Disney's first animated series.

Ah, I thought there might have been a show or two, but that just makes it worse. If you can top what you did twenty years ago, you need to try harder.

And the obsession with high school life is bothersome and it was even when I was in high school. Simply because nobody likes high school! Why would I want to spend my non-school time watching other people in school?

It's always such a grand portrayal of high school as well; one that would never be allowed to exist in any real world setting.

I don't know where it became such a given that this is what kids like watching. I mean, as a kid, I never watched TV like this. I was about 9-10 when Lizzie McGuire debuted, and I couldn't stand it. It seems to be vague stereotyping, or something to that degree, that kids all want to watch other kids doing things they can't do (again, the grand portrayal of high school that simply isn't the case in real life). I don't get it, and I don't think I ever will.

It's not like I hate everything that uses the setting. Boy Meets World is one of my favorites, for instance, but it has a lot more to it than just high school antics and it tries to tackle the problematic parts of high school as well instead of pretending high school is all sunshine and rainbows.

I've actually seen Lizzie McGuire recently and it's pretty much that anti-thesis of Boy Meets World. There's a lot of stereotypes, wish fulfillment, and plots that don't go anywhere or aren't about anything.

But unfortunately it was a hit, and yet again, the formula has since been milked for all its worth.

I also like Ned's Survival Guide because while it is about that, it actually tries to make it as cartoony and as "Nickelodeon" as possible while still informing kids on how to get through the tribulations. It feels a lot more genuine than Lizzie McGuire does.

[Kiddington]

It seems to be vague stereotyping, or something to that degree, that kids all want to watch other kids doing things they can't do (again, the grand portrayal of high school that simply isn't the case in real life). I don't get it, and I don't think I ever will.

Even as a kid I hated bad child actors. I either wanted to watch cartoons or live action stuff made for adults.

Exactly.

When I was a kid, if I wasn't watching cartoons, I was watching stuff like Seinfeld. My live-action palate was roughly the same as my parents, other than maybe the old Nickelodeon stuff (but that was way different anyway; Clarissa, Pete and Pete, Legends and the like were not in the same ballpark as what Disney's been doing for years now). You wouldn't catch me dead watching Disney Channel's live-action offerings.

[Avaitor]

I don't get why they make high school shows on kids channels.

High schoolers swear, have sex and do drugs. You can't do any of that on Nick or Disney, so why bother?

SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER!?

...

Let us never acknowledge that show's existence again.

[Spark Of Spirit]

It seems to be vague stereotyping, or something to that degree, that kids all want to watch other kids doing things they can't do (again, the grand portrayal of high school that simply isn't the case in real life). I don't get it, and I don't think I ever will.

Even as a kid I hated bad child actors. I either wanted to watch cartoons or live action stuff made for adults.

EDIT: Post reads kinda' weird. Just clarifying that I didn't want to watch adult cartoons, just adult live action.

As a kid when I was watching my Saturday Morning Cartoons(TM), and I heard the school bell ring indicating that Saved By The Bell was starting, I immediately changed the channel. I never wanted anything to do with it. I never even met anyone in my school who did, either.

I even liked elementary school as a kid, but still didn't want to watch that. School was enough school for me!

[Kiddington]

Can you even think of much pre-TDA Disney TV animation other than specials?

There wasn't any. Besides the specials and some packaging of their shorts and movies, Gummi Bears and The Wuzzles were Disney's first animated series.

Ah, I thought there might have been a show or two, but that just makes it worse. If you can top what you did twenty years ago, you need to try harder.

And the obsession with high school life is bothersome and it was even when I was in high school. Simply because nobody likes high school! Why would I want to spend my non-school time watching other people in school?

It's always such a grand portrayal of high school as well; one that would never be allowed to exist in any real world setting.

I don't know where it became such a given that this is what kids like watching. I mean, as a kid, I never watched TV like this. I was about 9-10 when Lizzie McGuire debuted, and I couldn't stand it. It seems to be vague stereotyping, or something to that degree, that kids all want to watch other kids doing things they can't do (again, the grand portrayal of high school that simply isn't the case in real life). I don't get it, and I don't think I ever will.

It's not like I hate everything that uses the setting. Boy Meets World is one of my favorites, for instance, but it has a lot more to it than just high school antics and it tries to tackle the problematic parts of high school as well instead of pretending high school is all sunshine and rainbows.

I've actually seen Lizzie McGuire recently and it's pretty much that anti-thesis of Boy Meets World. There's a lot of stereotypes, wish fulfillment, and plots that don't go anywhere or aren't about anything.

But unfortunately it was a hit, and yet again, the formula has since been milked for all its worth.

I also like Ned's Survival Guide because while it is about that, it actually tries to make it as cartoony and as "Nickelodeon" as possible while still informing kids on how to get through the tribulations. It feels a lot more genuine than Lizzie McGuire does.

Oh, I don't mind the setting either; it's just not that 98% of the time, high school life, as portrayed on TV, is so ridiculous and physically unbelievable in every way that it's often hard to take such shows seriously.

...Ned, by the way, was really the last great live-action Nick show. After that, they just basically went into a comfort formula of rehashing Disney's leftovers time and time again, and it was all downhill from there (seriously, is iCarly anything BUT wish fulfillment?).

[Spark Of Spirit]

(seriously, is iCarly anything BUT wish fulfillment?).

I'm glad you mentioned that because it totally isn't anything but, which is a key part to why everyone keeps milking the formula. That's why CN has all those shows about kids in school because they think kids can't relate to adult characters or don't want to. It's why we haven't seen many new shows either not starring a kid or taking place in school.

It's a weird contrast to the early 90s when Tiny Toons was made which actually didn't use school all that much and wasn't entirely dissimilar from its source material nor was it watered down in content. Can you imagine if it was made now?

[Foggle]

I feel like Ned started strong and then progressively went downhill. I stopped watching it about halfway through season 3 because I thought it was getting too idiotic and lame.

[Avaitor]

I thought it was great throughout. I think the finale might just be the greatest hour of TV Nick ever produced.

[Rynnec]

It really doesn't help that most focused on highschoolers deal with the exact same crap (dates, grades, "being popular", basic white heterosexual forced "romance", etc.) with the same tired cliche character archetypes. Would it kill any of them to just use the highschool as just a backdrop?

I feel like Ned started strong and then progressively went downhill. I stopped watching it about halfway through season 3 because I thought it was getting too idiotic and lame.

They did focus a bit too much on the Ned/Susie/Moze love triangle (ugh).

[Avaitor]

Also, I feel like posting this here.

You know how bad Disney's TV-on-DVD division is? They couldn't get a season set of Hannah Montana to sell at the height of its popularity. I mean, you could make an argument for how older shows like Gargoyles and DuckTales could underperform for Disney with no advertising put into their releases, but what might be the studio's most popular show of all time at its most marketable? C'mon.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Yeah they need a better advertising department for their TV material. Nobody ever seems to know when they release things.

[Spark Of Spirit]

So I caught the first episode of Motorcity and I think I'm going to have a seizure. This show is WAY too fast paced and loud. The voice acting and art style is really interesting, the story doesn't seem too bad, but the pacing is way too fast for me.

[Avaitor]

The recent announcement of the Weekenders sets gave me the interest to bump this thread.

What do you think this means for the future of their other shows getting full releases on DVD? Is this a fluke, or do you think we can see more shows have their runs finish on disc?