Maybe this is why Astro isn't as popular in the US ?

[Ninjatron]

As I understand it, the 60's Astro anime was very popular in the US but shortly afterwards, black & white television was on its way out in favour of color, so Astro went with it. One could say that Astro didn't have as much of a chance to stick around and firmly entrench itself in the pop culture psyche of the nation. It's a wonder the show is as well remembered as it is, really.

In Australia, B&W TV was viable for much longer, so that meant more airtime for Astro from what I've gathered.

But yeah, in Canada the 80's Astro was around for a good long while. That's how I first got to know the character and was probably the first anime I ever saw.

Sayonara.

[AprilSeven]

Good point about the changeover from B&W to color (Disney led the way with that!). Still, we never had a chance to see either the 80s or 03 in their entirety before they were pulled. I think that hurt his popularity.

[Dr. Jerk]

It's probably why NBC sent people over to Japan to teach Mushi Productions how to make color animations...

[ASTROBUDDY]

From what I could gather "Astro Boy" stayed around in the U.S. until about 1975 in different markets. For ex. according to the book, "Hey, there boys and girls!", a book about hosts of TV kidshows, "Astro Boy" along with other Japanese cartoon imports still aired in cities like Philadelphia as late as 1975. The change in the U.S. brought about by different parent groups complaining about violence in kids shows brought about a change where more live action shows where being produced and less animated fare was being bought. Also in order to make it in the U.S. syndication market a program in the 1980s would have to have at least 65 episodes. There were some FCC rulings that brought about more cable and UHF channels, which is where a show with fewer than 65 episodes might be picked up. This is where "Astroboy" comes in. One of the UHF stations to pick it up happened to also cover the Philadelphia area. But its broadcast in the U.S. was very limited as to say that it ran its course before anyone really knew it had aired.

In Australia, it had more exposure and therefore became very popular. The same with the Canadian version.

Gotta go! My wife is calling me for dinner. But I will be back with thoughts on why the 2009 version didn't catch on!

I

[jeffbert]

Interesting discussion.

[diehard67]

well jump in guy, you have got to have some insite into this.

[jeffbert]

I have nothing to add to this discussion without pouring through the 3 Freds' books to find their views, but I am too busy right now.

[Fauna]

Also in order to make it in the U.S. syndication market a program in the 1980s would have to have at least 65 episodes. There were some FCC rulings that brought about more cable and UHF channels, which is where a show with fewer than 65 episodes might be picked up. This is where "Astroboy" comes in. One of the UHF stations to pick it up happened to also cover the Philadelphia area. But its broadcast in the U.S. was very limited as to say that it ran its course before anyone really knew it had aired.

This rule is sadly true, not just because it doomed the 1980 series to obscurity, but because some good shows from the eighties and nineties sometimes never were finished; they got up to the bare minimum of 65 episodes and the studio would let the show go.

I know the 1980 series could've done pretty well in America if not for this. I mean, heck, it was big enough in Canada for us to get exclusive merchandise!

[ASTROBUDDY]

[QUOTE=ASTROBUDDY;120606]Also in order to make it in the U.S. syndication market a program in the 1980s would have to have at least 65 episodes. There were some FCC rulings that brought about more cable and UHF channels, which is where a show with fewer than 65 episodes might be picked up. This is where "Astroboy" comes in. One of the UHF stations to pick it up happened to also cover the Philadelphia area. But its broadcast in the U.S. was very limited as to say that it ran its course before anyone really knew it had aired.

This rule is sadly true, not just because it doomed the 1980 series to obscurity, but because some good shows from the eighties and nineties sometimes never were finished; they got up to the bare minimum of 65 episodes and the studio would let the show go.

I know the 1980 series could've done pretty well in America if not for this. I mean, heck, it was big enough in Canada for us to get exclusive merchandise![/QUOTE]


Canada got exclusive merchandise connected to its dub of "Astroboy" (or "The Legend of Astroboy" as I like to call it, to distinguish it from Tezuka Pro./NTV's official English dub which you all call "the American dub")! This is very interesting to me! Like what?

I

[Fauna]

[QUOTE=Fauna;120674][QUOTE=ASTROBUDDY;120606]Also in order to make it in the U.S. syndication market a program in the 1980s would have to have at least 65 episodes. There were some FCC rulings that brought about more cable and UHF channels, which is where a show with fewer than 65 episodes might be picked up. This is where "Astroboy" comes in. One of the UHF stations to pick it up happened to also cover the Philadelphia area. But its broadcast in the U.S. was very limited as to say that it ran its course before anyone really knew it had aired.

This rule is sadly true, not just because it doomed the 1980 series to obscurity, but because some good shows from the eighties and nineties sometimes never were finished; they got up to the bare minimum of 65 episodes and the studio would let the show go.

I know the 1980 series could've done pretty well in America if not for this. I mean, heck, it was big enough in Canada for us to get exclusive merchandise![/QUOTE]


Canada got exclusive merchandise connected to its dub of "Astroboy" (or "The Legend of Astroboy" as I like to call it, to distinguish it from Tezuka Pro./NTV's official English dub which you all call "the American dub")! This is very interesting to me! Like what?

I [/QUOTE]

There's a few colouring books, a series of storybook adaptations of the episodes that were exclusive to Quebec, postcards and a few buttons. I have both the English-Canadian and French-Canadian buttons...



The original artwork we had was pretty cool, too. I'll try and dig around for it...