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Hasbro and Discovery TV have announced plans to form a new family/children oriented network featuring some Hasbro brands. From their press release:

"Hasbro and Discovery Communications today announced an agreement to form a 50/50 joint venture, including a television network and website, dedicated to high-quality children’s and family entertainment and educational programming built around some of the most well-known and beloved brands in the world. As part of the transaction, the joint venture also will receive a minority interest in the U.S. version of Hasbro.com."

Hopefully this means a greater opportunity for fans to enjoy more past and future TF programming.

To read the Hasbro press release, click the link below:
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zht ... highlight=

Thanks DevastaTTor

Best part of the Press Release:

New programming will be based on brands such as ROMPER ROOM, TRIVIAL PURSUIT, SCRABBLE, CRANIUM, MY LITTLE PONY, G.I. JOE, GAME OF LIFE, TONKA and TRANSFORMERS, among many others

Someone going to Botcon had better ask them about this!

I can see it now.

"And now you know. And knowing is half the battle...

GI JOE!"

UltraPrimal wrote:I can see it now.

"And now you know. And knowing is half the battle...

GI JOE!"

You have no idea how hard it has been to relegate those PSA's to the status of "repressed memory".

With any luck we may yet see the whole spectrum of the TF cartoons hit the airwaves again or at least have them all accessible from this new corporate creations website. An entire 25 year library of Transformer or GI Joe Cartoons all in one place would be awsome. Well, the idea is awsome but we all know that it will never come to pass. Hasbro has been gradually slipping for the past few years in the "keep the fans happy" department and I don't see them turning that around any time soon. It's just not profitable for them.

the educational line worries me. perceptor doing a bill nye-esque show comes to mind.

Oh god why do i forsee Megatron teaching kids how to count? I shudder just thinking about it. It'll be awesome if they show all the shows based off the toy lines. All the TF series and GIJOE ones would be kick ass. But i really really doubt it.

Madness? This is HASBRO!!!!!!

*kicks Cartoon Network*

Well, I see this as being good, but costly news. From the sounds of it it's going to be mixed content, not only educational, so I see this as a bright future for Hasbro and Transformers. Unless this turns out to be a failure, but I figure they're pretty rich off the movies now anyway...

I am cautiously optomistic. First, anything that would eat away at the evil triumvirate of Cartoon Network, Toon Disney and Nickelodeon (the axis of evil?) gets my approval, especially if, during the first few months to a year, to be viable, they're going to have to suck up to the audiences the MOST, to carve their marketshare.

Second, because this could mean replays of great TF and GI Joe series to a whole new generation.

Third, because, if I dare to dream, this might be the answer to the 'why god why!' of ending TFA at season three--perhaps a newer incarnation is somewhere in the brainchain.

However, Hasbro has a loooooong history of mismanaging their intellectual property--cramming new toylines into Beast Wars, for example, and the obvious major plot-amputations happening with the decision to end TFA.

And 'educational' stuff doesn't have a great track record of working--it's not generally popular with kids, and there's really no proof that it actually 'educates'. Besides, what's the fun of, say, Joe, if the educational message is to solve differences through compromise and negotiation? Destro and Duke chatting it out over cocktails? (Oh, wait, that's alcohol, hrm....)

HK, conflicted. But, hey, Yo, Joe anyway.

One of the more interesting tidbits noted is the fact that Cartoon Network owns the TF:Animated series so they can do what they want with it. There is also discussion of a new TF television series for after the ROTF line. I doubt we will see an enlarged Classics/Universe line so one can only assume that we have a new incarnation of Transformers coming soon. Another potential prospect: G1 cartoons airing again, along with Beast Wars, on this new channel in an "action block" kind of like what Boomerang does currently in the evening hours (Boomeraction). Now, throw into the mix a new series (movie based maybe? not likely; completely new methinks) and we could have TF shows debuting new eps on two channels at once. Farfetched, but possible. This will be very interesting to see as it plays out...

a new cartoon based on the live action movies = Massive increase in animator suicides.

It could be far worse,
Oh no!, Swindler is taking all the energon
SWINDLER NO SWINDLING, SWINDLER NO SWINDLING

hellkitty wrote:Third, because, if I dare to dream, this might be the answer to the 'why god why!' of ending TFA at season three--perhaps a newer incarnation is somewhere in the brainchain.

First-Aid wrote:One of the more interesting tidbits noted is the fact that Cartoon Network owns the TF:Animated series so they can do what they want with it.

So, let's see if we've got all the facts straight here....

1)Season Three is really and truly the last season? But in recent interviews, it seems like there is some big announcement coming at BotCon, and it also seems that no one has given a definitive "yes, it's over." answer. There always seems to be more of a "decline to comment" kind of answer. We all assume that means it's over.

for example (from http://www.allspark.com/content/view/4966/20/Derrick Wyatt's panel at TF Con):

Q: Will we see a Season 4?
A: (careful pause) I can't confirm or deny that. Sorry. (At the second panel he would suggest that Hasbro may be waiting for Botcon--er, "a certain other convention further south"-- to make an announcement about Animated)

Q: With Animated reaching a close, were you approached to design for another show?
A: I'm sorry, I can't answer that.



2)What exactly are Cartoon Network's rights over the cartoon? They developed it? They own it? They are simply the studio that animated it? Transformers is a Hasbro property...Marvel created the bios for the original characters as pretty much work for hire, right? Yet, Marvel retains no legal standing/ownership over these things once their initial license ran out...The comics have since been reprinted through Titan Books and IDW, current Transformers license holders. So, what exactly does this mean for Cartoon Network?

I'm no expert in copyright/licensing/etc....BUT, I would like to hypothesize the following:

All parties have been instructed to be purposefully vague until the completion of Cartoon Networks/Hasbro's joint venture of TF: Animated, so as to not jeopardize any ongoing negotiations over the last few months.
In the meanwhile, Hasbro has established their own proprietary channel to air new animation, as well as classic stuff.
At BotCon, I suspect the announcement will be made that TF: Animated will continue, either as a series of specials on the NEW Hasbro channel(btw, conveniently announced three weeks before the con), or perhaps direct to DVD specials (anybody catch the sales figures for the first two seasons?), or even new seasons (ala when GI Joe made the switch from Claster/Sunbow to DIC) airing on this new station.

Or, maybe I'm just being overly optimistic that the awesomeness that is TF:Animated will continue.... Any further insight out there?

NicholasPrime wrote:All parties have been instructed to be purposefully vague until the completion of Cartoon Networks/Hasbro's joint venture of TF: Animated, so as to not jeopardize any ongoing negotiations over the last few months.
In the meanwhile, Hasbro has established their own proprietary channel to air new animation, as well as classic stuff.
At BotCon, I suspect the announcement will be made that TF: Animated will continue, either as a series of specials on the NEW Hasbro channel(btw, conveniently announced three weeks before the con), or perhaps direct to DVD specials (anybody catch the sales figures for the first two seasons?), or even new seasons (ala when GI Joe made the switch from Claster/Sunbow to DIC) airing on this new station.

Or, maybe I'm just being overly optimistic that the awesomeness that is TF:Animated will continue.... Any further insight out there?

NP,
First, I sincerely hope you're right. Nothing would make me happier than to see TFA continue. And someone better frickin' post it ASAP if that's what breaks at Botcon.

However, it's my job to be cynical, so I remain doubtful.

First, because orders to be deliberately vague can be given for a number of reasons. One, to increase suspense/buzz/attempts to keep a property alive by consumers/fans. Two, to give leverage in other negotiations--Hasbro might not want to make a solid break with Cartoon Network while the Discovery negotiations are in progress, so if those negos go pear shaped (as my Brit friends say) they can fall back on and resurrect TFA for season four.

Second, watching this third season of TFA is occasionally painful--you can sense the compression--lots of new characters in the first episodes who (one likes to imagine) could have entire episodes about them such as Strika or Blackout. It's as if they had two seasons' worth of plot ideas and were told last minute to squish it all into one.

HK, cautiously pessimistic. But I'd be delighted to be waaaaay wrong.

First off, this news doesn't affect me directly, 'cause I doubt it will be available anywhere outside of the states.

But this is interesting due to the posibilities for potential programing. If Hasbro has that amount of control, then they can do a number of interesting ideas.

- doing decent dubs of transformer shows like headmasters and zone.
- character spotlights
- a 'news' show for upcoming ideas.
- interviews for hasbro/takara employees about what they do.
-
- plus the potential to do new shows for older properties that other networks may have passed on.

and thou I doubt it would ever happen, because I know some people wouldn't like to see it, but I would love for them to do a timeline based show that could set a single continuity for most of the properties they now own and give us a Hasbro based continuity containing G1, GIJoe, Go-bots, MASK, Inhumaniods, Robotix, Visionaries, Jem, and any others i'm missing.

Some people hate the idea, but personally I think a combined history would work better for those of us collecting multiple lines.

Good thing it said this will be geared for kids. If not I'd be bracing for some kind of reality series based on toy collecting, like, "Toy Hunters" featuring saps like me driving around all weekend trying to find figures, chucking away hunderds of dollars at toy shows, and aimlessing milling about the flea market rummaging through piles of colorful plastic looking for the next big score.

ponycorn wrote:Good thing it said this will be geared for kids. If not I'd be bracing for some kind of reality series based on toy collecting, like, "Toy Hunters" featuring saps like me driving around all weekend trying to find figures, chucking away hunderds of dollars at toy shows, and aimlessing milling about the flea market rummaging through piles of colorful plastic looking for the next big score.

Careful, you never know where they might be trolling for program ideas.....

Educational? Bah, just watch, it's going to be a rip off of Sesame Street.