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Turner Network Television (TNT) is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner that shows a variety of programming, with a focus on dramatic programming. Since 2007, TNT has re-launched local versions of the channel in Spain, Germany, Turkey and Belgium with more European countries in the pipeline.

History[link]

1980s[link]

TNT, as a cable service, was launched with a showing of the 1939 classic movie Gone with the Wind (to which Ted Turner had acquired the rights), on October 3, 1988. It was chosen because, it was said, it was Turner's favorite movie – it would also be the first program on sister channel Turner Classic Movies in 1994. Incidentally, the film had been premiered in Atlanta, Turner's hometown and the headquarters of Turner Broadcasting, as well as being the setting for Gone With the Wind.

TNT was, at least initially, a vehicle for older movies and television shows, but slowly began to add original programming and newer reruns. When TNT began broadcasting pre-1986 MGM films, it caused a controversy when they began colorizing many black and white classics.

1990s[link]

In 1990, it obtained partial rights to the Sunday Night Football package for the National Football League, which it retained until 1997. The NFL on TNT consisted of three or four preseason games annually and of regular-season telecasts of the first half of each season. As has always been the case for cable broadcasts, TNT distributed their feed to local television stations in the market of the teams playing.

Starting in 1995, TNT was also the home of WCW Monday Nitro, the flagship show of the now defunct World Championship Wrestling, once regularly the highest rated weekly program on cable. The program defeated Monday Night Raw, the flagship show of the then-World Wrestling Federation, for 83 straight weeks until 1998.

It was also known for its late night programming, such as MonsterVision, which showcased B movies (including a Godzilla marathon at the end of every month), with occasional guest hosts Penn and Teller. MonsterVision eventually found a permanent host in cult personality and drive in movie aficionado Joe Bob Briggs. Every Saturday night, from 1995 to 2000, he would host a pair of horror films (such as Friday the 13th Part 2 and Wes Craven's New Nightmare) provide a running commentary, trivia, off-color jokes and a drive-in total. Also included in his host segments were jokes at the expense of Turner Network Television's Standards & Practices department for heavy censorship of the featured movies. This running joke culminated in a Friday the 13th all-night marathon during Halloween of 1998, where it was implied that Ted Turner was out to kill him.

Up until 1998, TNT would also show cartoons from the Turner library, such as The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, the DePatie-Freleng Pink Panther cartoons, Dexter's Laboratory, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, among many others on a block called "TNT Toons". The Rudy and Gogo World Famous Cartoon Show was also a TNT original show featuring classic Warner Bros., MGM, and Popeye shorts, hosted by marionettes and a nanny goat. Cartoons are now exclusively on Cartoon Network and Boomerang.

In the 1990s, TNT scheduled a lineup of shows for weekday afternoons including Due South, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Babylon 5, and Ellen. In 1998, TNT took over production of the fifth and final season of Babylon 5 from the defunct Prime Time Entertainment Network. In 1999, TNT produced the Babylon 5 spinoff series Crusade but it was canceled after 13 episodes, when TNT decided science fiction did not fit their brand identity.

During 2001, TNT had its then most successful original series, Witchblade, which ran for two seasons, ending its run in 2002.

"We Know Drama" era[link]

On June 12, 2001, TNT relaunched itself, with a new logo (by Trollbäck + Company) and a new slogan, "We Know Drama", which emphasized the channel's new focus on programming with drama and energy, such as sports and network TV dramas like Angel, Law & Order, Charmed, NYPD Blue, ER, Without a Trace, Alias, Judging Amy, Las Vegas and Cold Case. It is in direct contrast to sister channel TBS, which shows more comedy related programming, and by extension Cartoon Network, which showed exclusively animated programming at the time (it still has a predominately animated schedule). In addition, NASCAR coverage moved to TNT from TBS starting in the 2001 season, as Ted Turner  believed that it would fit more with TNT's new look and theme than TBS.

On January 1, 2003, "TNT Plus" began broadcasting as a substitute for TNT, although it does not appear this was ever reflected in the channel's on-air identity. The apparent sole purpose of its establishment was to force rate renegotiations to help pay for TNT's new NBA and NASCAR contracts, well before the channel's rates were scheduled to come up for renewal with most cable and satellite providers. In theory, TNT Plus was to have been the sole carrier of Turner's NBA and NASCAR coverage from that point forward, while any providers still carrying the original TNT would have seen replacement programming instead.^[1] Although it appears that Comcast did not immediately sign on for TNT Plus, there is no evidence of Turner actually pulling sports programming from the "original" TNT.^[2]

In 2004, TNT became the first Turner channel to begin broadcasting in high definition. TNT is also one of the Turner-owned channels which now shows the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

On 7 December 2008, TNT unveiled a newly stylized update of its logo, mainly in shiny silver (onscreen during programming and on the TNT website) but sometimes in gold. The campaign will continue to use the channel's tagline "We Know Drama" but with more of a focus on its original series and its plan to have three nights of original primetime programming starting in 2009.^[3]

On 6 November 2009, TNT announced that it had obtained exclusive syndication rights for The Mentalist and would begin airing old episodes of the series starting in the fall of 2011.^[4]

2012 rebrand[link]

In 2012, TNT rebranded itself with a new slogan: "Drama, Period.", and the logo was simply recolored to match the themes of their shows.

TNT HD[link]

TNT HD is a 1080i high definition simulcast of TNT. TNT HD is criticized for its practice of airing a significant amount of 4:3 standard definition content stretched to 16:9 through a nonlinear process similar to the "panorama" setting on many HDTVs that some viewers have nicknamed Stretch-o-Vision; though other simulcasted HD cable channels have also fallen into this practice, TNT is usually cited since it was one of the first channels with an HD simulcast. The nonlinear stretching process leaves objects in the center of the screen with approximately their original aspect ratio; objects at the left and right edges are distorted. In addition to true HD content at 16:9, TNT HD also airs unstretched upconverted standard definition content in its original aspect ratio.

Widescreen movies[link]

Below a list of some of the movies TNT HD provides in a non-stretched widescreen format and airs frequently. Movies will be noted if they were aired in their original aspect ratio (OAR).

• The Grudge (provided in OAR)
• Jerry Maguire (provided in OAR)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• Titanic (provided in OAR)
• Forrest Gump

Programming[link]

Drama[link]

TNT's success with original series includes the critically acclaimed The Closer, ad-supported cable's #1 series of all time; Saving Grace, which averages more than 5 million viewers along with Leverage; and Raising the Bar, which set a new ad-supported cable viewership record when it premiered on Labor Day 2008 (but has recently been canceled). Hawthorne premiered in the summer of 2009 to 3.85 million viewers, while Dark Blue premiered to under 3 million viewers. The channel also picked up Southland after it was canceled by NBC. In 2010, TNT premiered three new dramas; the light-hearted Men of a Certain Age, cop drama Memphis Beat, and police procedural Rizzoli & Isles. Rizzoli & Isles premiered in July 2010 and set a new ad-supported cable viewership record for a series premiere.^[5]

Syndicated series and films[link]

As of 2012, TNT is home to eleven syndicated television series including Cold Case, Bones, CSI: NY, Numb3rs, Charmed, Law & Order, Angel, Las Vegas, Smallville, The Mentalist, and Supernatural seasons 1-6.

TNT also owns cable television rights to various films, which are generally dramatic in scope (with comedic films airing on TBS), including action, science fiction, and war dramas (it has uncut broadcast rights to Saving Private Ryan, for example).

In June of 2011, it was announced that Castle would join the line-up in the summer of 2012, airing seasons 1 and 2. ^[6]

Sports[link]

TNT Sports (under the Turner Sports division) mainly consists of NBA basketball games and NASCAR races. The NBA on TNT (with studio hosts Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O'Neal) dates back to 1988 and has aired, either by itself or in combination with a similar package on TBS Superstation, ever since. It is considered one of the best studio shows on television. NASCAR came to TNT in 2001, carried over from TBS by their shared parent company. From 2001 to 2006, the race package was split with NBC; as of 2007, it stands alone, with six races telecast annually. Currently, TNT has the cable rights to the first two rounds of two of golf's major championships, The British Open and The PGA Championship.

TNT will air Major League Baseball postseason games in the event TBS' MLB coverage has a scheduling conflict (e.g. the end of one game overruns into the start time of another game). In 2011 TNT aired Game 2 of the Tampa Bay Rays vs. Texas Rangers series, Game 2 of the Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees series and Game 3 of the Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Milwaukee Brewers series.

TNT inherited the telecast of the 2001 UAW-GM Quality 500 NASCAR race at Lowe's Motor Speedway from NBC due to the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom.

TNT's coverage of the 2009 NBA playoffs earned the highest first-round ratings ever for a cable television channel.^[7]

NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on TNT[link]

On April 22, 2010, a monumental 14 year 10.8 billion dollar agreement was reached with Turner Broadcasting to receive joint broadcast rights along with CBS for the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. Starting with the 2011 tournament, in addition to CBS, TNT along with its sister networks TBS and truTV, will carry the first and second round games of the tournament as well as regional semifinal games. Beginning in 2016, CBS and TBS will alternate coverage of the Final Four weekend and broadcast of the championship game.^[8]

Upcoming series/pilots[link]

• Dallas - A continuation of the original 1978 Dallas series, set to star Larry Hagman reprising his role as J. R. Ewing. On July 8, 2011, TNT ordered 10 episodes of the series which will premiere in summer 2012.^[9]
• Major Crimes - A spinoff of TNT's The Closer starring Mary McDonnell as Captain Sharon Raydor. On May 18, 2011, TNT announced that Major Crimes had been picked up for a 10-episode season, which will premiere in summer 2012.^[10]
• Perception - A new crime drama series starring Eric McCormack as Dr. Geoffrey Pierce, a neurologist who works with the FBI to solve major crimes. On March 22, 2011, TNT ordered 10 episodes of the series which will premiere in summer 2012.^[11]
• American Flesh: Examination of social, political, racial, and sexual issues during the Golden Age of Porn in Southern California. Cast: Holly Hunter.^{[citation needed]}
• The Command - An elite squad of detectives are handpicked to served in Borough Command, where they are assigned the most high profile cases.^[12]
• Enigma - A modern day Sherlock Holmes type series. From CSI creator Anthony E. Zuiker.^[12]
• Gateway - Set in the late 1860s, the series tells the story of two brothers as they try to build a new life after the Civil War in a town called Gateway.^[12]
• Scent of the Missing - The show revolves around the working life of a Search & Rescue Officer and her dog.^[12]
• Seconds of Our Lives: Life in suburbia (a la American Beauty, Far From Heaven, and The Ice Storm). Written by Todd Haynes and Burr Steers.
• Snatched - Described as a new take on the late '90s series Relic Hunter, Snatched revolves around the daily life of a woman in her mid-thirties as she performs her day job of collecting priceless ancient artifacts, while also attempting to maintain a normal personal life.^[12]
• Untitled Mitch Alborn Project - This series follows the exploits of the station manager of a Detroit radio station.^[12]
• Untitled Shaun Cassidy Project - A family centered drama about a southern family who must adapt when they take in their recently widowed daughter-in-law and grandson.^[12]
• Untitled Jay Cocks Project - Based on the Tess Monaghan book series by Laura Lippman, the series centers on a former reporter turned Private Investigator.^[12]
• Untitled Eric Garcia Project - The series revolve around a police clerk, who's overactive imagination is used to help solve crime.^[12]
• Untitled John Wells Project - Set in the Pacific Mid-West, the series revolves around a family of cops as they investigate the paranormal on-goings in a small town.^[12]

International[link]

European, Australian, Latin American, Spanish and Asian versions of TNT were launched in the 1990s but were exclusively dedicated to movies, mainly from the MGM and Warner Brothers archives (The UK and Scandinavian TNT did show WCW Monday Nitro on Friday nights just four days after its US broadcast, and the Latin American version aired a children's block called "Magic Box"). The European, Australian and Asian versions of the channel were paired with Cartoon Network, while the Latin American version of the channel was paired with CNN International. The EMEA, Asian and Australasian TNT channels eventually became Turner Classic Movies, while the Latin American version retained the TNT branding. The most known signal broadcast from TNT in Europe was (and still is) the signal feed in France, and used similar graphics to what the US signal feed was using at the time. TCM is still operating and broadcasts MGM and Warner Brothers films like the old TNT used to. There is now also a TCM 2 in the United Kingdom which broadcasts films from MGM and Warner Brothers also.

Germany[link]

In January 2009, a version of TNT launched in Germany as TNT Serie. The channel shows the German premiere of 30 Rock and Friday Night Lights, as well a wide variety of old and recent American drama and comedy, including Murder, She Wrote, Northern Exposure, Monk, Third Watch, Rescue Me, Six Feet Under, Seinfeld, ER, The King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond, Caroline in the City, Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones and Falling Skies. Shows on TNT Serie are broadcast with two audio channels, one with the original English soundtrack and one with a German-dubbed soundtrack.

In June 2009, the German version of TCM was relaunched as "TNT Film". After Boomerang (2006), Cartoon Network and TCM (both 2007) TNT Serie is the fourth German Turner channel.

As of fall 2010, both "TNT Serie" and "TNT Film" are also available in HD as "TNT Serie HD" and "TNT Film HD".

Spain[link]

The TNT brand came back to the Spanish market in summer 2007, when it launched exclusively on pay TV platform Digital+ becoming the 6th Turner channel available in Spain after TCM, TCM Clásico (launched alongside the new TNT), Cartoon Network, Boomerang and CNN+, a joint-venture between Turner Broadcasting and the Spanish Sogecable. As of 2012^[update], TNT is available on several cable operartors. TNT España its divided in two blocks: Movies and TV Series, airing TV shows such as: The Vampire Diaries, The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, and Falling Skies. TNT España was the first channel which produced a TV series for a pay/cable channel in Spain.

Turkey[link]

A local version of TNT in Turkey launched in 3rd March 2008 by Doğan Media Group as a film channel. Foreign TV series and movies were aired and the original red-gray TNT logo was used. In 24 January 2011, it was re-launched as an entertainment channel with new TV shows. ^[13]

Belgium[link]

On April, 10, 2012 TNT started in Belgium, exclusively on Telenet. First one month for free, after that a subscription is necessary. See http://www.tnt-tv.be

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• TNT HD
• The Futon Critic

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Johnny Bravo is an American animated television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network. The series stars a muscular beefcake young man named Johnny Bravo who dons a pompadour hairstyle and an Elvis Presley-like voice and has a forward, woman-chasing personality. Plots typically revolve around him trying to get a woman that he has targeted throughout the episode to fall in love with him. He is often beaten up or stunned by his target or companions, or is ditched by them in the end.

The series was originally part of a series of shorts on Cartoon Network's animation showcase series World Premiere Toons (also known as the The What a Cartoon! Show.) The popularity of the shorts led to the network commissioning a full series for the show, which premiered on July 14, 1997. The series was renewed for multiple following seasons and finally ended its official run on August 27, 2004.

The series was the second series to be spun from World Premiere Toons, and is the second series under Cartoon Cartoons (a collective name for early Cartoon Network original series). A spin-off of the series, JBVO, was unsuccessful and ran for one season. Many of the writers and directors on the series went on to become famous for their own projects (writer Seth MacFarlane for Family Guy and writer/director Butch Hartman for The Fairly OddParents). Johnny Bravo is today considered a classic Cartoon Network series, the title character is labeled as "iconic", and his catchphrases (including "Oohh, Mama!") are relatively common in popular culture.^[2] Reruns of the show are played on Boomerang.

An 11-minute short titled Johnny Bravo Goes To Bollywood was made and aired in India in 2009, and in August 2010 in the United Kingdom. A 70-minute movie with the same title aired in Australia on November 20, 2011.^[3][4]

As of March 20, 2012, this series has returned to Cartoon Network in re-runs on the revived block, Cartoon Planet.^[5]

History[link]

The series takes its roots from a senior thesis project creator Van Partible did for Loyola Marymount University, about an Elvis Presley impersonator.^[2] Mess O' Blues (1993) was shown by Partible's animation professor at the college to a friend working for Hanna-Barbera Cartoons at the time. The studio loved the film and asked him to develop it into a pitch for a seven-minute short. Partible sold the project to Hanna-Barbera shortly afterward.^[6] The short would be aired on Cartoon Network's new animation showcase, World Premiere Toons.^[2] Also known as the What a Cartoon! Show, the series' short cartoons (three per half-hour episode) mirrored the structure of a theatrical cartoon, with each film being based on an original storyboard drawn and written by its artist/creator.

Partible initially roomed with Craig McCracken (creator of The Powerpuff Girls), Paul Rudish (a designer on that series) and Genndy Tartakovsky (creator of Dexter's Laboratory.)^[2] The only two cartoonists fresh out of college were Partible and Seth MacFarlane.^[2] Partible changed his character from Mess O' Blues around so that "he would be more of this '50s iconic James Dean-looking character that talked like Elvis". Partible picked voice actor Jeff Bennett to play Johnny Bravo solely based on his young, hyped Elvis impression.^[2]

The short, Johnny Bravo, premiered on World Premiere Toons on March 26, 1995, and involved Johnny trying to score with a zookeeper girl by capturing a runaway gorilla. Partible, with a small team of animators, animated the short themselves in-house at Hanna-Barbera using digital ink and paint (the latter shorts and seasons 1 and early season 2 of the series would instead use the traditional ink and paint and film camera.)^[7] Two more shorts on the program followed (Jungle Boy in "Mr. Monkeyman", and Johnny Bravo and the Amazon Women) and the shorts were so popular that Cartoon Network commissioned a first season of series based around Johnny Bravo, consisting of 13 episodes.

The crew of the first season of Johnny Bravo consisted of several writers, animators, and directors from World Premiere Toons, including the aforementioned MacFarlane and Hartman, Steve Marmel, and John McIntyre. Veteran cartoonist and animation legend Joseph Barbera was also a creative consultant and a mentor for the first season of the series.^[8][9] Partible stated in a 1997 interview that the goal of the series was to have "animation reminiscent of the old Hanna-Barbera cartoons".^[9]

The series premiered on July 14, 1997 and the first season completed in December of that year. The series was put on hiatus, until it was picked up for an unexpected second season in 1999. During that season, the show undertook a major creative re-tooling, in which new characters were introduced, re-designs of characters with new personalities were prevalent, and the tone and humor of the show changed considerably. Some of the changes the show experienced during the re-tooled version were the heavy emphasis on Johnny's stupidity, the removal of the Jungle Boy characters and new catchphrases. Most viewers did not take kindly to the changes while others thought the show greatly improved and took off with a slapstick style. The show kept this format until the series' third season ended in 2002. The series sat in limbo once again until it was renewed for a fourth season in 2003, which aired in 2004. The final season of the series returned to the humor of the original shorts and first season of the series (Although the Jungle Boy characters from the first season never returned). The show was cancelled officially in late 2004. Reruns premiered on Cartoon Network's sister network Boomerang and the series returned for a short time to Cartoon Network in November 2009.

Today, the series is often labeled a classic of the late 1990s Cartoon Network cartoons (the collective Cartoon Cartoons). For a short time, a live-action film starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in the title role was rumored to be in production. The catchphrases of the show are relatively common in popular culture. After the series ended in 2004, The #5 Kellogg's Chevrolet was given a special paint scheme with Johnny Bravo on the hood. It was driven by Kyle Busch in the 2005 Sharpie 500 NASCAR race. On the long lasting impact of the show, writer/director Butch Hartman states:

A large majority of the show's creative team has gone on to create many successful television series throughout the 1990s and 2000s (decade), most notably writer Seth MacFarlane, who is the creator of the popular animated series Family Guy. Shortly after the series' first season was completed, writer/director Butch Hartman left to work on Nickelodeon's Oh Yeah! Cartoons, from which those shorts spun off his own success, The Fairly OddParents. Steve Marmel, writer for Johnny Bravo, has been a producer and writer for The Fairly OddParents since its premiere in 2001. In addition to Johnny Bravo, director John McIntyre directed episodes of several other Cartoon Cartoons, and more recently served as a supervising director on Cartoon Network's original series The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.

The show is currently airing on Boomerang every Saturday & Sunday at 10:00 PM EST And all week long at 9:00/9:30 PM EST.

In 2009, IGN ranked Johnny Bravo #71 for its Top 100 Animated Series list.

Voice cast[link]

• Jeff Bennett as Johnny Bravo (Marc Silk in the UK version) / Additional Voices
• Brenda Vaccaro as Bunny Bravo
• Mae Whitman as Little Suzy
• Tom Kenny as Carl Chryniszzswics
• Larry Drake as Pops
• Brian Tochi as Master Hamma
• Cody Dorkin as Jungle Boy
• Mark Hamill as King Raymond / Himself / Additional Voices
• Frank Welker as Animals' vocal effects (uncredited)^{[citation needed]}

Characters[link]

• Johnny Bravo (voiced by Jeff Bennett and Marc Silk impersonating Elvis Presley) — The muscular main protagonist of the series. His middle name was rumored to be Boston. He has incredibly narcissistic and dim-witted traits, though still hardly the only questionable figure in town, which lead to a severely incorrigible inability to attract women, becoming a running gag throughout the series. He claims to dislike his "best friend", Carl Chryniszzswics. Some clain that Johnny can also be interpreted as a male representation of the "dumb blonde", for other this does not make sense since the dumb blonde is just that, dumb, but Jonny is not only dumb but annoying. Also the dumb blond is not, normally, the target of violence by the opposite sex. with the notable exception during Cartoon Network The 1st 13th Annual Fancy Anvil Awards Show Program Special: Live in Stereo, during which Johnny served as the host and was very witty and suave. The character is memorable for his incredibly quick movements (usually done while trying to impress women), which were accompanied by the loud crack of a whip sound effect. Johnny's catch phrases are "She wants me!" and "Ohhh Mama!" after women beat him up for refusing to leave them alone. He dresses in a very big skin tight black t-shirt and very small jeans. Three running gags are his trademark sunglasses, which he always wears, never revealing his eyes; breaking the fourth wall and Johnny being beaten up by women, who reject him. The name "Johnny Bravo" dates back to an episode of The Cheyenne Show, and was also Greg Brady's would-be stage name in an episode of The Brady Bunch. However, Van Partible stated in an interview for Cartoon Network that he also derived the name from his full given name, "Efrem Giovanni Bravo Partible." It has also been said that his birthday is on Valentine's Day and he likes Kung-Fu chick shows. When voicing Johnny Bravo, Jeff Bennett made his voice sound like that of Elvis Presley.^[10]
• Bunny "Momma" Bravo (voiced by Brenda Vaccaro) — Johnny's mother. She has had a lively past and sometimes reveals a surprising hidden talent. The show's original format portrays her as a calm, nurturing woman, but was made into a louder, more extroverted character once the show was retooled. She's very dedicated to her son, but as a result of her awareness of his low intellect and womanizer attitude, does not always treat him and his problems seriously. Like Johnny, Bunny has her own trademark sunglasses which always cover her eyes. Bunny hopes that Johnny will find that special someone he's been looking for. Bunny is mostly referred in the show as "Momma" by Johnny, who pronounces it in an Elvis-esque manner.
• Little Suzy (voiced by Mae Whitman as a child and Pat Musick as an adult) — A little red-haired, intelligent girl from the neighborhood (often called "Little Neighbor girl" by Johnny), who is very cunning and talkative. In many episodes, Suzy is shown to have a major crush on Johnny (although the feeling is not mutual). Her parents were never shown, but she is often shown to be related to big time celebrities. For example, it was revealed in an episode during her birthday that Farrah Fawcett is her cousin. She also has a crush on an 8-year-old country music singer Lonnie Dash. In the early series, Suzy was more of a cute-type character with a round head, while in the retooled series, she is thin-looking and more grown up. Suzy has many interests (such as selling lemonade and participating in the Buttercup Scouts) and has proven to be very successful in most of those interests. It is very obvious that Johnny finds Suzy annoying as he won't even go to her birthday parties or school dances.
• Carl Chryniszzswics (voiced by Tom Kenny) — A local nerd, also known as Carl Shocker, considered by many (especially Johnny) to be extremely annoying. He is Johnny's "best friend". He is a local genius and geek, who is very intelligent, but somewhat eccentric and timid. He was introduced after the show's retooling following the end of the first season, and seems to be Johnny's only friend, although Johnny often denies that. Carl sometimes uses Johnny for his experiments' sake. Carl really likes Johnny and he continues to hang out with him, even after all of the mean things that Johnny does to Carl and says about him. Carl remained in the show after the return to the original style, but was relegated to smaller roles.
• Pops (voiced by Larry Drake) — The greedy owner of a local diner. He often gives tips and advice to Johnny; however, his advice often turns out to be useless, sometimes provoking trouble for Johnny. His diner's chili is made from rather suspicious ingredients and he serves food made from many animals, such as possums, pandas, cougars, seals, horses, and bald eagles. Like Carl, Pops was introduced in season two after the show's drastic retooling and remained even after the return to the original format, although he was relegated to brief cameo roles.
• Master Hamma (voiced by Brian Tochi) — A Japanese martial arts instructor. Johnny has taken, and failed, several of his martial arts classes and frequently ruins Hamma's life trying to learn his lessons. Like Carl and Pops, Master Hamma was introduced after the series was retooled. His rival is another martial arts instructor named Panteen Claw who has a daughter named Ting.
• Jungle Boy (voiced by Cody Dorkin) — A little boy with incredible strength, who lived in the jungle with talking animals (similar to Tarzan). He shares a bitter rivalry with King Raymond (voiced by Mark Hamill, similar to Kerchak). His appearances on the series were short-lived and he and the other animals were removed from the show after Season 1.

Episodes[link]

Hallmarks[link]

The series had many recognizable hallmarks, whether it is running gags or the humor revolving around Bravo's bravado itself.

Pop culture references[link]

The series was abounding in pop culture references. The original short that preceded the series, Mess O' Blues, was based around an Elvis Presley impersonator.^[2] Johnny Bravo lives in "Aron City". Aron was Elvis Presley's middle name. Even from the first season, creator Van Partible intended for the show’s middle segment to be a form of "Johnny Bravo Meets...", intended as a parody of The New Scooby-Doo Movies.^[2][6] An entire episode of the first season of the show is based around homages to "The Twilight Zone’’ (or, as the show dubs it, The Zone, Where Normal Things Don't Happen Very Often.) In that episode, which consisted of three Twilight Zone parodies, opened and closed by the words of a narrator, and would consist of Johnny encountering something strange, for example, being at the mercy of a boy who can seemingly alter reality at will, or fighting a personal war with a clown trying to damage a plane's wing (only to discover he was one of two clowns kept to "balance" the plane) - the episode also included a talking doll that attempted to commit murder.^[11]

Johnny makes a references to Johnny Carson' Tonight Show, in an episode when he enters a bar announcing, "Heeeeerrreeee's Johnny!"

Johnny sings the first few lines of the Depeche Mode song "Just Can't Get Enough" in "A Johnny Bravo Christmas", as well as several other songs, films, and other TV shows. Also in the intro video the text "Johnny Bravo" can be seen written in the same font and style as the Back to the Future logo. As a testament to the show's pop culture references (which lasted for the show's entire seven-year long run), one of the Village People can be seen in the background of "The Island of Beautiful Men" in the series’ third pilot episode, Johnny Bravo and the Amazon Women.^[7]

In the episode "The Time of My Life", Johnny's song about his first love is a parody of "Da Doo" from "Little Shop of Horrors", A subsequent scene pays homage to "Grease".

The episode "The Hunk At The End of This Cartoon" is a direct parody of the 1971 book "The Monster at the End of This Book".

In the episode "A Johnny Bravo Christmas", a male pilot is named "Shirley". A reference to the famous joke in the film "Airplane!"

In "Chain Gang Johnny", the warden twice references a famous line from the movie "Cool Hand Luke"

Humor[link]

Much of the humor of the series revolves around the antics and dimwitted-ness of Johnny himself. The entire series revolves around Bravo's undying desire to go on a date with a woman, and most women beat him up when he asks them. In turn, Bravo asks them in a very confident, almost cocky manner. Johnny also has been seen to do absurd things just to see a woman. Though narcissistic, Johnny has a relatively innocent nature, which, in conjunction with his lack of intelligence, can occasionally land him in the middle of others' dastardly plots (where he often remains oblivious even as they unfold). When Johnny enjoys something, usually something he tastes or sees, he often exclaims enjoyment by saying, "Mmm, (object)-y!" This joke was introduced and was most prevalent in the second season. This is similar to one of Homer Simpson and Pee-wee Herman's catch phrases.

Sly adult humor is found in many early episodes of the show. In one episode, when Little Suzy calls Johnny to ask if he wants to come over, Johnny nonchalantly tells her to "[call] back in 15 years when [she is] a co-ed." In regard to the adult humor, Butch Hartman stated "...being concerned with the content of the episodes wasn’t our main focus", and creator Van Partible remembers that "No one was really watching Cartoon Network [...] As far as content, they were pretty lenient on all the kind of things that were going on."^[2]

Guest appearances[link]

The series has had numerous guest stars, which include: Don Knotts, Jessica Biel, Alec Baldwin, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Rick Springfield, Luke Perry, Farrah Fawcett, Vendela Kirsebom, Adam West, Dionne Warwick, Jack Sheldon, Mick Jagger, Richard Simmons, Joey McIntyre, Mr. T, Mark Hamill, Shaquille O'Neal, Donny Osmond, Seth Green, Allyce Beasley, Curtis Armstrong, Chuck D, Jeffrey Tambor, Tia Carrere, and Laraine Newman. Initially, the goal of the first season of the show was to have popular 1970s icons (such as Osmond and Fawcett) to appear on the "Johnny Bravo Meets..." middle segment of the show, but guest stars were used informally after the second season began.^[2]

The episode^[which?] featuring Adam West inspired Seth MacFarlane, who also wrote the episode, to incorporate a similar character into Family Guy. Other, more famous Hanna-Barbera characters have appeared in Johnny Bravo Episodes, including the cast of Scooby-Doo, Speed Buggy, Jabberjaw, Fred Flintstone, Yogi Bear, The Blue Falcon, Black Widow, and Huckleberry Hound.

[edit] JBVO: Your All Request Cartoon Show

JBVO: Your All Request Cartoon Show was a short-lived television series on Cartoon Network. The series aired on Sundays from April 2, 2000 to May 21, 2001. It was hosted by Johnny Bravo, along with some infrequent guest stars such as Chicken (from Cow and Chicken). Callers would write in to the show via mail or through the Cartoon Network website^[12] to call the show and request a cartoon from Cartoon Network's cartoon library, which would then be played, with an exception of half hour-long shows. Notably, one caller of the show requested an episode of Dragon Ball Z. Being that it was a half hour long, Johnny regretfully had to fast-forward through the entire episode with Johnny providing only expositional commentary. Afterward, Johnny apologized to the caller for the inconvenience.^{[citation needed]}

There was also a similar spin-off of the JBVO concept itself entitled Viva Las Bravo,^[13] a summer block that aired in 2005 and 2006 in certain European variants of Cartoon Network. Every day Johnny would announce three cartoons, with the one getting the highest votes via email or on CartoonNetworkHQ.net would be shown for two hours the next day. He would also constantly appear in commercial breaks, cracking jokes or answering humorous emails/phone calls.

DVD releases[link]

Warner Bros. stated in an interview that they are "...in conversations with Cartoon Network" for DVD collections of various cartoons, among which is Johnny Bravo in 2006.^[14] Johnny Bravo: Season 1, a two-disc set featuring the complete first season which contains all 13 episodes, was released by Madman Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand (Region 4) on October 10, 2007. On November 4, 2009, the complete second season was released. MVD Company Limited also released Season 1-5 in 2009.

A Region 1 release of the first season, with different cover art and new special features, was released by Warner Home Video on June 15, 2010. The release is first in an official release of several Cartoon Cartoons on DVD, under the "Cartoon Network Hall of Fame" name.^[15]

Region 1[link]

Other releases[link]

• Scooby-Doo and the Toon Tour of Mysteries: "Bravo Dooby Doo", "Noir Johnny"
• Cartoon Network Halloween: "Bravo Dooby Doo"
• Cartoon Network Christmas: "A Johnny Bravo Christmas"
• Cartoon Network Halloween 2: Grossest Halloween Ever: "Frankenbravo"
• Cartoon Network Christmas 2: Christmas Rocks: "Twas the Night"

Video games[link]

Johnny Bravo appears as a playable character in every Cartoon Network video game.

References[link]