My (personal) opinion on the downfall of CN and [as]

I will start this by saying I did not grow up with CN or [as], so this is all personal opinion and not nostalgia bias.

CN‘s downfall was caused by [as]’s separation.

CN has always tried to position itself to an older audience. This culminated with the launch of [adult swim] in 2001.

And on March 28, 2005, [as] was separated from CN. Before, if you bought [as] merch for instance, it would be dual-branded with CN. CN’s website had a space for [as] along with other programming blocks. [as]’s website linked to CN’s too. But then they separated.

Sure it was the same channel space, it got an extra hour, who cares?

[as]’s separation was terrible.

For starters, [as] shows became more obsessed with being edgy than funny. Minoriteam, Moral Orel, etc… Aqua Teen Season 4 and Robot Chicken Season 2 were much, much more violent and edgy than before, and they hadn’t even reached their peak in violence. [as], as seen in warning bumpers, shifted from 14+ audience to a 17+ audience.

This gave a feeling that CN should become more of a children’s channel like Disney or Nick. Sure, there were warning signs, like CCF getting replaced with Fridays, but that wasn’t so bad?!

We got Tickle-U. Sure there was Big Bag, Small World, Baby Looney Tunes, Krypto the Superdog, but this was different. None of the shows/blocks I mentioned were great or even good, but they weren’t mind-rotting to an adult audience like Tickle-U was.

And of course this culminated in CN Real. An absolute piece of crap, and not deserving of the CARTOON Network.

Jim Samples was planning to take this rebrand even further, with a very ugly looking logo, but (un)fortunately? (It’s not like Stu Snyder was better), but the Boston Bomb Scare nipped that in the bud.

CN was different then. It was for everyone, (except after 11pm). And a gradual process caused that to stop starting from March 28, 2005.