(For you Chicagoland readers out there, don't read this commentary unless you want to see what the rest of America thinks of WGN-TV 9) 

Okay, Kids WB's over for today and forever at WGN-TV.

You enjoyed looking at Pokemon this morning rather than looking at it on Saturday? Can't wait for the season premieres of Batman Beyond and MIB in a couple of weeks? Well, after September 5, Kids WB on WGN is history. What? You didn't know? No wonder, they didn't say a word about it.

WGN, America's Superstation as they call themselves, is ending their Kids' WB! programming this week and their prime-time lineup in October. In case you didn't know, WGN was one of the main WB affiliates in the country. Along with KTLA in Los Angeles and WPIX in New York, these major WB affiliates provided the nation the station simply known as the WB. Sure, the network has had some lackluster primetime series and is currently the broadcast equivilent of MTV (definately NOT a compliment), but its Kids WB block of programming was one of the best animation blocks on broadcast television. Shows like Animaniacs, Pinky and The Brain, Superman, Batman: Gotham Knights, Men in Black, Freakazoid, Earthworm Jim, Calamity Jane (a show that died too soon), and Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries. This past television season didn't make much of an impact early in the season with Histeria and Pinky, Elmyra, and The Brain (the latter show was just ruined). Also, a popular fan-favorite series, Animaniacs, was cancelled, just a couple of episodes shy of its 100th episode. However, thanks to the late season additions of Batman Beyond and Pokemon, the 1998-99 season of Kids WB wasn't a total loss. Now, thanks to WGN, a good majority of the country won't get to see the WB for a long time. And there's only one person to blame. . .

Jamie Kellner. 

How could such a lowly individual do so much damage in such a short period of time is something historians will talk about for ages. Above everything else, he's the mastermind behind The WB's existance (of course, Warner Bros. would have made a network anyway!). He's the minority owner in The WB (he owns 11% while Tribune, WGN's parent company, owns 26% and Time-Warner/Turner owns the rest). Unfortunately, that makes him untouchable. Kellner's the one responsible for so many things at Warner Bros. Animation, even though he has no experience in animation nor has held a management role in an animation company. For starters, many of the controversial things Kellner has done involve Steven Spielberg productions. He cancelled two very popular animated series, Freakazoid and Animaniacs. Maybe it's just me, but if a show's popular to many people, why would they cancel it? I mean, Freakazoid was a very ingenious show, mixing hilarity with comic-book action. It wasn't even given a fair chance! Heck, Histeria, perhaps the WORST animated series the network has ever aired, had about 65 episodes; the Freak has a little under 30 eps. Now Animaniacs, a popular Fox Kids that migrated to The WB to launch Kids WB, was one of the most honored series in network television, getting accolades from all points of the globe. It was humorous, in your face, and, at times, educational without being boring! What kind of individual would cancel such a show? Probably the same individual who would cancel a series four months through the season.

In the 1997-98 season, Calamity Jane, a streamlined, very fluid Western animated series, premiered in October of that season and cancelled by Kellner three weeks after its premiere, with no reason behind it. It was promised to come back later in the season, but it didn't happen. This past season, Brats of The Lost Nebula, a Muppet series guided by Margaret Loache (the person in charge of Fox Kids before the Saban invasion season), was cancelled three weeks after its premiere as well as promised a spring return as well. It, too, never came back. The same season, Kellner greenlighted Histeria, a somewhat vulgar educational program, and Pinky, Elmyra, and The Brain. The addition of Tiny Toons' most annoying character was Kellner's idea to bring in the female audience to this show, insulting women, animators, voice artists, and executive producer Spielberg in the process. While those two shows ended production, only Histeria remains on the lineup whereas Pinky and The Brain, Animaniacs, and other WB shorts are relegated to the poorly concieved Big Cartoony Show (I'm not writing the whole name of that show anymore). Needless to say, Kellner's run as programming director at Kids WB! was over this past winter, when Susanne Daniels took over and brought Pokemon to the network with her.

So you think that Kellner's gone, right? Well, yes and no. He's no longer very involved with programming decisions at The WB, but he's still in the network game. In fact, many of his networks recently became cable-only WB networks, collectively calling themselves The WeB. The WeB's main mission is to provide all the households without WB affiliates with a cable network that airs The WB programming exclusively. However, there was already a network doing that around the nation . . . WGN!!

WGN has had a lot of bad luck this year. Major League Baseball has limited their broadcasts of Cubs and White Sox games outside of Chicago, and the NBA severely limited the broadcasts of Bulls games from many weekly games to about 10-15 per season so that the NBA can sell the rest on pay-per-view. After being told that they was going to be the exclusive nationwide home of the WB in 1994, a year before the network launched, The WB's minority owner Kellner, who also owns the largest number of WB affiliates in the country, told WGN to stop airing WB programming nationwide. Instead of fighting, they reluctantly agreed to the deals, thanks to some major finance arrangements. Of course you won't hear that from WGN. Instead, they posted this on their website:

Beginning this fall, the WB will no longer be carried on WGN Television nationally to avoid conflicts with other WB affiliates. The effective date for the Kids' WB! is September 6. The effective date for the WB Prime (evening programs) is October 7. WGN Television will continue carrying the WB Prime in the Chicago area. If you're outside the Chicago area and know of no other way to pick up the WB, you may call the WB 100+ Station Group (The WeB - J.H.) at (818) 977-5000 for more information

  Now you may ask yourself, what will be Kids WB replacement on WGN? Apparently, the folks at WGN must be fans of TNBC because their block is aimed towards the same audiences. They're replacing the block with reruns of California Dreams and Saved By The Bell. Oh well, my Sunday morning is ruined. No more Batman Beyond and Pokemon on Sunday mornings. At least my hometown still has Kids WB on a broadcast network. Oh well. Today, I say goodbye to WGN. Now that they don't have WB programming, decent syndicated programming, or many sporting events, I don't see a point for this infinite loser to continue being on cable. As for Jamie Kellner, there's a place for you at the Hall of Infinite Losers. Thanks a lot for ruining a network you have no control over!

Go here to see how the Magic Kingdom had cobwebs that were destroying their shine.