User blog:Celrock/Splat Rant and a Rugrats Marathon Theme Suggestion

Hello there, Yes, this is my first blog post, so let me just say, welcome. I should also apologize for my first blog post being a rant, but it's hard to rant about something like this on Twitter, when you're limited to only 140 characters per tweet, thus, a blog post is a better option for this type of thing. For starters, I have a rant to inquire about The Splat that while I've gotten it off my chest any number of times vocally with people, I feel it needs to be posted somewhere in writing, so this issue can eventually, be dealt with. For those of you who don't know, The Splat is a late night block of programming that airs 7 nights a week from 10:00 p.m. to 06:00 a.m. Eastern, 09:00 p.m. to 05:00 a.m. Central on Teen Nick in the United States, airing old programs from the 90's. Shows this block includes are Hey Arnold, Rugrats, Catdog, The Angry Beavers, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Guts, Double Dare, Clarissa Explains it All, The Mystery Files of Shoby Woo, Roundhouse, All That, Pete and Pete, You Can't Do that on Television, Hey Dude, As Told by Ginger, Rocket Power, Doug, The Wild Thornberrys, Kenan and Kel, Rocko's Modern Life, Ren and Stimpy, All Grown Up, and AAAHHH!!! Real Monsters. More shows will probably air as the block continues to exist, but those are the shows I've seen air on the block at this time. However, it's not the shows I have a problem with, even though there are some shows I like more than others, I tune into the ones I wish to watch, and turn it off on nights they're not airing anything I wish to watch. It's their timing with programming that gets to me.

While the block airs from 10:00 p.m. to 06:00 a.m. you'd expect shows to start right at the top and bottom of the hour, seeing that the bulk of these shows are half hour programs. Sadly, you'd be mistaken. I don't know if they run extra commercials or what, but while the first show starts at 10:00 p.m., the next show doesn't start until 10:33 p.m. then 11:06 p.m. then 11:39 p.m. This causes the show in the 11:39 p.m. time slot, to be trunkated, if the program afterwards starts at 11:57 p.m., which I find really annoying, as lately, Rugrats has been in that time slot, giving us only one 11 minute episode. By 03:00 a.m. in the morning, they get the schedule such that things start and end at the top and bottom of the hour, to ensure they're off the air by 06:00 a.m. to make way for the new day of Teen Nick's programming, but I honestly feel as a regular viewer and supporter, not to mention, fan of The Splat, they could do a much better job at getting their timing straightened out where starting their shows are concerned. When these shows aired originally on Nickelodeon in the 90's and early 2000's, things started and ended on time at the hour and half hour mark, and we didn't have all of this rubbish to contend with. The only time shows were shortened, is during things like Stick Stickly's Nick and the Afternoon segments, a 3 hour block of programming that aired in the afternoons, beginning 7/31/95, and airing until sometime in either 1996 or 1997, I forget when that block officially quit for good, but anyway, where that block is concerned, well, when all Nicktoons very often, only aired one 11 minute episode, the only shows that aired in half hour form were shows that were originally half hours, like The Secret World of Alex Mac and Wild and Crazy Kids for example. But the rest of the time, shows aired in full, and on time. So why can't The Splat get it together, and have things start at the top and bottom of the hour, not 3, 5, or 10 minutes past that time? I've also heard from people who record the programming on their DVR set top boxes, that this messes up their recordings as well, which can be a real humdinger, especially if this is the only way you can catch the programming, because you can't stay up late at night, and or cannot afford to buy the shows on DVD, provided DVD's of the programs are available. When I was growing up, you set your VCR to record, but even with that, had programming been off, and you set your VCR to record from say 11:30 to 12:00, and the show aired from 11:39 to 12:06, you'd miss 6 minutes of the show, because the VCR's timer recording feature would stop recording at 12:00, because that's how long you set it for, figuring the show would end at 12:00, like one would expect. However, because programs ran on time back when I recorded stuff with a VCR, I very seldom ran into this problem, unless my VCR's clock was off by a minute or two, in which case, I'd adjust the timer recording start and end time accordingly. The same went for when I had to use a cable box to get channels back then, programming it along with my VCR, I had some interesting times getting everything to work properly together, so I wouldn't miss a moment of my favorite shows, but I'm glad I don't do that anymore, or I'd be a wreck trying to keep up with The Splat's crazy schedule. Of course, the main reason why I don't do that anymore, is I've lost all of my site that allowed me to program the VCR's on screen timer menu on the TV screen, and before you ask how do you watch TV if you're blind, well I listen to it dummy, so there. But anyway, this is something that I'm really getting tired of, and I seriously hope that now that The Splat has been on the air for over 6 months now, as it premiered on 10/5/15, and it's 4/10/16 when I'm writing this, I hope between now and their 1 year anniversary, they can get this scheduling flaw of theirs, worked out, so all shows air in full, and start and end on time at the top and bottom of each hour.

Next up, you'd be surprised that I, one of the oldest and biggest fans of Rugrats to ever live on planet earth, would be disappointed in a Rugrats marathon that The Splat is airing all weekend long, but I am. Back when the block started in October of 2015, they had themes each week, and towards the middle of the month, they had a week dedicated to Rugrats with the theme of Reptar Takeover for that week, and all week, they aired Reptar themed episodes. Some of the episodes that aired were classic Reptar eps, like At the Movies, Reptar 2010, Journey to the Center of the Basement, The Big Showdown, Reptar's Revenge, Reptar on Ice, Chuckie's Complaint, and Runaway Reptar, but then, they went a bit overboard with the whole ordeal, and ran episodes where Reptar made a tiny appearance, but that I, personally, wouldn't consider Reptar episodes, like Partners in Crime, Cooking with Susie, Junior Prom, The Turkey who Came to Dinner, and then this weekend, they've been running Part 2 of Acorn Nuts and Diapied Butts, Fall Stinks Part 2. And why did these episodes air? Obviously there's the use of the Reptar wagon in some of them, like in the case with Partners in Crime and Junior Prom, and they ate Reptar cereal in The Turkey who Came to Dinner and Cooking with Susie, where she made Reptar cereal bars, but honestly, there are better choices. One of these, also on The Return of Reptar video cassette, hasn't aired at all, it's called Candy Bar Creep Show, and yes, while it's a Halloween episode, well duh, you're gonna stoop down and play the Thanksgiving episode cuz they eat Reptar cereal in it? A better choice would be Candy Bar Creep Show, where the entire episode focuses on discovering and getting Reptar bars from the haunted house. I mean come on people, can't you study your episodes a bit better, and make sure Reptar or some part of the Reptar franchise plays a major part in the episode before airing it? And where Reptar cereal is concerned, if you go by the video cassette releases, it was released on Tommy's Troubles, so guess it's a Tommy episode by Nickelodeon's standards, but it could also be a Reptar episode too, it's called Incident in Isle Seven, and again, Reptar cereal, is the major focus of this episode, when Tommy sees the commercial for it on TV, and while at the supermarket with his grandpa, he goes off in search of a box of the cereal. Cooking with Susie I rank as a Susie episode, and it's a bonus episode on the Rugrats Qwanzaa video, which proves that it's considered a Susie episode, not a Reptar episode. Maybe I'm nuts, but these are just my opinions on what could have been improved about the Reptar themed marathons, and I was disappointed that Candy Bar Creep Show and Incident in Isle Seven, didn't air during either time of the Reptar Takeover marathons, either back last October, or even this weekend, as those episodes aren't scheduled for tonight's final night of the marathon. Also, another episode that would make a better episode to air where Reptar has a smaller role, but a bigger role than in Junior Prom and Partners in Crime, would be Faire Play, again, which wasn't scheduled for either marathon. You may be thinking, what does it have to do with Reptar? Well hello, Phil wished for Reptar to come to Fairy Tale Land and beat the dragon to save Tommy's dad, and Reptar showed up, giving them the fight of the century. Sorry, but if you want to air an episode where Reptar plays a smaller role in the episode, Faire Play would have been a better choice, and his role makes a lot more sense, while these other episodes they've aired, like Partners in Crime and Junior Prom, I'm sorry, but I feel airing those during a Reptar marathon, is just a means of cheating in my opinion. Sure, Reptar makes an appearance, but that's just it, it's only an appearance, and not a major focus of the episode. I mean really, if you're gonna stoop that low, why not also air Vacation, where near the beginning of the episode, Phil mentions how he wants to ride Reptar to the moon, and Lil reminds him that he can't fly, and Phil says he can on his vacation, but Lil comments that he can't if he's being her little baby, and she cuddles with a Reptar doll in her arms, while they're in the RV, heading into Los Vegas. So if this marathon airs a third time in the future, here are all Reptar episodes that should air, listed down below in production order, that I, personally feel, would be better choices for the marathon. If you don't see an episode listed that has aired, it's because in my opinion, it's a dud, and shouldn't be included in future Reptar Rugrats episode marathons.

At the Movies Candy Bar Creep Show Incident in Isle Seven Reptar's Revenge Reptar on Ice Reptar 2010 Faire Play Journey to the Center of the Basement Chuckie's Complaint Runaway Reptar, Part 1 Runaway Reptar, Part 2 The Big Showdown

Now that I've gotten that bit out of the way, let's move on to the final piece of my blog entry, a new theme for a Rugrats marathon, which I hope is considered for the future when The Splat decides to give us a Rugrats marathon. It's called, the Rugrats Firsts. Now, some of you may or may not remember New Years Eve of 2001, when for the final 4 hours of New Years Eve, Nickelodeon gave us the so called, Rugrats Firsts, featuring 4 hours of episodes themed around firsts for the Rugrats. I've edited this list, as they aired 2 episodes during that marathon that I couldn't make a lick of sense out of where their first was concerned, and one of them was actually an error. During that marathon, and yes, I obtained the information about this particular marathon from http://rugratonline.free.fr/rrws1201.html, if you wish to go have a look for yourself, but they aired Send in the Clouds, which I couldn't figure out what first for the Rugrats this episode signified, and for Dil's first appearance, they aired A Dog's Life, when technically, that was his second episode, his first episode was Chuckie's Duckling, if you're going in production order, and maybe Nickelodeon forgot that both, Chuckie's Duckling and A Dog's Life, aired in that order on the night Dil made his premier, at the tail end of the Baby Blast Marathon that aired on January 18, 1999, Martin Luther King Day of that year. There's probably several firsts I didn't include, but I went with the assumption that The Splat has been airing their marathons sully on the weekends, giving 3 nights for them to air, running them from 11:00 p.m. to 01:00 a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and if they could get their timing straight, all episodes can air in full, as a couple of 22 minute episodes are listed in the list down below, and while some of these aired during that marathon, I've come up with some that didn't air, and corrected Dil's first appearance episode in the following list. Also, if they went by the marathon that aired on New Years Eve of 2001, they'd only cover Friday and Saturday night of programming, so found a few more firsts episodes to cover a 3 day weekend span of 2 hours for each marathon. I also cut out Send in the Clouds, since again, I don't understand what first that episode represented during that marathon in 2001 to begin with, if anybody knows, feel free to leave a comment and tell me, as while I do recall watching the marathon, I'm taking a guess at what firsts they represented, since only the episode titles were listed, further details were not, I just do recall that being the theme of the marathon from when I watched it, though I believe I tuned in late, and I didn't catch all of Finsterella, since my folks wanted to put on Live from NYC Rockin' New Years Eve, so we'd be in time to watch the ball drop at midnight to ring in 2002. With this long speal out of the way, here's the list down below. Notice I didn't put it in production order, but who cares, I came up with enough to fill what The Splat considers time for weekend long marathons, so enjoy!

The Rugrats Firsts and what they Represent

Tommy's First Birthday (the first episode, and the first birthday to be celebrated together as the Rugrats) Weaning Tommy (first exposure to a cup) Chuckie vs. the Potty (the first potty training experience) Meet the Carmichaels (Susie's first appearance) The Legend of Satchmo (the Rugrats first campout) Chuckie's First Haircut (the first haircut) The Last Babysitter (first time the Rugrats are babysat by someone other than grandpa, also Alisa's first time babysitting) The First Cut (the first booboo) Under Chuckie's Bed (the first exposure to a big person bed) Moving Away (the first time someone almost moved away, in a flashback, the first time the Rugrats met one another) Chuckie's Bachelor Pad (the first bachelor pad) Uneasy Rider (the first bike) Chuckie's Duckling (Dil's first appearance) Finsterella (Kimi and Kira's first appearance) NOTE: This was Kimi and Kira's first television appearance in the U.S. even though elsewhere, it was Angelicon, but since The Splat is a U.S. based programming block, I'd expect them to go with U.S. programming debuts, rather than outside the U.S. where episodes aired in production order, and or how they're presented on the season DVD's. The Big House (the first trip to a daycare) The Shot (the first booster shot) At the Movies (Reptar's first appearance) Moose Country (the first imaginative backyard adventure) Toys in the Attic (the first trip to Boris and Minca's house) Stu-Maker's Elves (the first basement adventure) Quiet Please (the first library card) Happy Taffy (Taffy's first appearance)

I should also note that when that marathon aired in 2001, Quiet Please may have premiered by that time, but I know for sure Happy Taffy didn't premier until either 2002 or 2003, so that episode couldn't be included. However, it could be included this time around.

Anyway, I've said a mouthful here, but I do hope everything I've said here will eventually, get considered, and if this first themed marathon should air down the road, you bet I'll be watching with bells and wistles on, and hopefully, it airs on a regular weekend, not New Years Eve, allowing me to enjoy the marathon in full, without the interruption of having to watch the ball drop elsewhere. Though if I'm home and not with my folks late at night on New Years Eve, chances are I'd watch the marathon on The Splat if that's when they chose to air it, regardless. I can't get The Splat at my folks home, only at my place, so when I can, if something's airing on The Splat I want to watch, well, I'd prefer to be home, where I can catch it.

Hopefully, my next entry won't be as ranty, but now that I've gotten this off of my chest, I feel so much better. With that, you all take care, and have a nice day.