Teletoon in Fall 2019: Power Players, DC at Night, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS season 2 [Update 9/6/2019]
The fall television season is almost here, which means Canada’s animation station has a new schedule. As has been the trend for a while, Teletoon’s fall 2019 slate is big on additions from the Warner Brothers library with the sole new exception being the France-USA co-pro Power Players.
Teletoon will also add new episodes of Apple & Onion (season 2), Bakugan Battle Planet (season 1), Hotel Transylvania: The Series (season 2, Teen Titans Go! (season 5), Total Dramarama (season 2) and Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS (season 2) in the near future. Premieres continuing into the fall include Beyblade Burst Turbo, D.N. Ace, Gormiti, Ninjago, Pokémon the Series and Young Justice: Outsiders.
Infinity Train, Power Players and new Scooby-Doo join lineup
Power Players is a fun comedy-action show with real stakes, large laughs and over-the-top action. Shifting between the full-scale world of Axel and his friends and family, the mind-blowing visuals take hold when Axel crosses over into the world of his toy teammates. Comedy springs from the wild characters. Axel – responsible for the outbreak of smart toys in the first place, must save the world and his friends while keeping his role in the rescues a complete secret. And, he still has to get his chores done! The Power Players don’t hide from people, but they do fly under the radar of humans who perceive them as they would any other toys.
As stated above, there are no real surprises in regards to Teletoon’s fall acquisitions. Perhaps the only one that could fit the bill is Power Players, a 78 x 11-minute CG-animated by ZAG, the company behind Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir and Zak Storm. Their newest series is the first one they’ve produced that will not air on a DHX-owned channel in English Canada. Teletoon is set to host the show’s English-language debut with a sneak peek event on August 31st at 7AM (with additional airings throughout the week). The series will be added to the channel’s regular rotation in October.
ZAG is co-producing the show with Method Animation and Man of Action, both of whom were also involved with Zak Storm. Perhaps more importantly, the show was picked up by Cartoon Network in the United States … and, shockingly, they’re not giving it the “we don’t own this show” treatment from day-1.
Faced with some of their toughest mysteries yet, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo will join forces with some of the biggest names in celebrity and pop culture including NBA superstar Chris Paul, recording artists Halsey and Sia, Ricky Gervais, Kenan Thompson, Bill Nye, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Mark Hamill, Steve Urkel (voiced by Jaleel White reprising his iconic role) Batman, Sherlock Holmes, The Flash, Wonder Woman and many more!
Jump into the Mystery Machine for all-new comedic mystery-solving adventures where the biggest mystery will be who’s teaming up with those “meddling kids” this week!
Corus has been taking shows that Warner Bros. Animation has produced for its U.S.-only subscription video-on-demand services and have aired them on linear Canadian television. Among others, you have Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz on Treehouse, Young Justice: Outsiders on Teletoon and the upcoming premiere (TBA) of Harley Quinn on Adult Swim. That trend continues this fall as the Boomerang series Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? debuts this October on Teletoon. The channel has also picked up the new Flintstones series Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs, though no date has been set for its U.S. premiere and as a result, its Canadian launch is also a mystery. Teletoon is set to air Cartoon Network/WBA’s Thundercats Roar! in 2020.
Mao Mao, Badgerclops and Adorabat are fearless warriors who protect the people of Pure Heart Valley from monsters, villains and all kinds of bad stuff. Led by King Snugglemagne, the Sweety Pies of Pure Heart are cute, cuddly and pretty much helpless. Luckily, they have valiant heroes like Mao Mao, Adorabat and Badgerclops to watch over them. He’ll battle baddies like the Sky Pirates: Orangusnake, Ramaraffe, Boss Hosstrich and Rat-A-Rang, while learning to become a legend in his own time.
On the Cartoon Network Studios side of things, Teletoon will debut Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart on September 6th at 7:30PM. The series first premiered on Cartoon Network Canada on July 13th. The channel adds the much anticipated Infinity Train on September 23rd at 8PM. That series began on August 12th on Cartoon Network Canada.
If that isn’t enough Cartoon Network content for you, Teletoon will air Steven Universe: The Movie on September 7th at 7 and 11PM. Cartoon Network Canada hosts the Canadian premiere a day earlier at 11PM.
UPDATE: Corus has issued a press release confirming the following premiere dates:
Hotel Transylvania: The Series (Season 2) – October 12 at 4PM
Scooby-Doo! And Guess Who? – October 4 at 8:30PM
Teletoon at night, but not At Night
With the introduction of the Adult Swim channel resulting in Teletoon At Night’s closure, a lot of questions were raised about how Teletoon would cope. At first, the animation station simply reran shows it aired during the day. The fall season brings a change to the nighttime schedule, as three hours of DC Comics superhero cartoons takeover before leading into Pokémon and Power Rangers.
This is what the schedule will look like Mondays – Wednesdays, beginning September 2nd:
8PM – Teen Titans Go!
8:30PM – Teen Titans Go!
9PM – Batman: The Animated Series
9:30PM – Batman: The Animated Series
10PM – Justice League Unlimited
10:30PM – Justice League Action
11PM – Pokémon: Sun & Moon – Ultra Adventures
11:30PM – Power Rangers: Super Ninja Steel
On Thursdays and Fridays, Teletoon will air a DC Comics animated feature at 9PM. This includes Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, The Death of Superman and Freedom Fighters: The Ray. The DC Comics love starts slightly later on Fridays, as the Cartoon Network series Victor and Valentino is set for 8PM. Leading into the movie is Young Justice: Outsiders, which will see the last of its premieres move to Fridays at 8:30PM.
Saturdays see Teen Titans Go! at 8PM, with Ninjago at 8:30PM. On Sundays, DC Super Hero Girls gets the 8PM slot, followed by a tonal whiplash with a Young Justice: Outsiders rerun at 8:30PM. Assorted movies take up the rest of the schedule on both nights. Early offerings include a DreamWorks film followed by a LEGO DC movie.
Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS, Bakugan Battle Planet premieres return
Teletoon will host the English-language debut of Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS‘ second season (episodes 47-92) on September 8th at 1PM. Also joining the weekend afternoon lineup is the back half of Bakugan Battle Planet’s first season. Episode 27 premieres September 1st at 2:30PM. Encores continue on YTV on Fridays at 3:30PM.
Saturdays
12PM – Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends (new)
12:30PM – Gormiti (new – final episodes)
1PM – Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS (encore of the prior new episode)
1:30PM – Power Rangers: Beast Morphers (reruns)
2PM – Beyblade Burst Turbo (new – final episodes)
2:30PM – DC Super Hero Girls (reruns)
Sundays
12PM – DC Super Hero Girls (reruns)
12:30PM – Gormiti (new – final episodes)
1PM – Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS (new)
1:30PM – Transformers Cyberverse (reruns)
2PM – Beyblade Burst Turbo (new – final episodes)
2:30PM – Bakugan Battle Planet (new)
New episodes of Beast Morphers and the second season of Cyberverse are presumably set to return within the coming months. Both shows are gearing up for a fresh batch of episodes this September in the United States.
Télétoon has new Ninjago, la Nuit series
Onto the French-language service. New episodes continue for shows like Bakugan Battle Planet, Beyblade Burst Turbo, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, Go Away, Unicorn!, Gormiti, Pokémon the Series, Teen Titans Go!, The Tom & Jerry Show, Total Dramarama and Unikitty.
Télétoon will air the newest Ninjago iteration, as well. The Lego show’s eleventh season is sort of a soft-reboot. The 22-minute episode format has been ditched in favour of the ever-common 11-minute one. Danish animation studio Wilfilm has also been replaced by DHX Media’s Vancouver studio. Télétoon starts the new season on September 1st at 12:30PM.
In a market where the Teletoon brand is still home to an adult animation block, Télétoon la Nuit will debut the new local series Les histoires bizarres du Professeur Zarbi this fall. Produced at Salambo Animation by the team behind Têtes à claques (Knuckleheads), the series debuts September 5th at 9:30PM.
Télétoon la Nuit will also air season 11 of American Dad starting September 5th at 10:30PM. Presumably, new French episodes of usual fare like The Simpsons, Family Guy and Archer will roll out later in the month/October. Corus recently announced that la Nuit is developing another original series, Les Frères d’Apocalypse (The Apocalypse Brothers). The show will be headlined by Quebec actor Pier-Luc Funk and comedian Phil Roy.
That’s kind of it for the French channel. There have been some murmurs that D.N. Ace will air on it soon, but no official word on that yet. There still isn’t any new French Yu-Gi-Oh! beyond episode 99 of Arc-V, so don’t expect Télétoon to swap those reruns for new episodes anytime soon.
Is the new normal less Cancon?
Excluding Télétoon, you might have noticed that there are zero new Canadian shows debuting this fall on Teletoon. While Corus has promised the second season of Hotel Transylvania: The Series and Total Dramarama will be airing in the future, this is a significant change from last year. Barring any unexpected debuts, this means D.N. Ace is the only new Canadian show to launch on the English channel in 2019. Things are worse at YTV, where the sole Canadian production scheduled for this year is the television debut of Nelvana’s new CG-animated short film The Most Magnificent Thing. It’s hard to tell if 2019 is just an off-year or the start of a new normal following declining linear television revenues.
Last year, independent Canadian media production houses began stating that Corus has essentially ceased greenlighting externally owned youth programming. In a Globe & Mail interview, Corus suggested that was true. The company successfully lobbied the CRTC to revoke a license stipulation that required the commissioning of non-Corus owned material for YTV. Similar requirements for Teletoon were also dropped, though the CRTC denied an attempt to shed French-produced content.
For its part, Corus claims those funds have been moved into producing more shows it owns through Nelvana. Some of the externally produced series Corus has greenlit in recent years have had Nelvana’s involvement. The studio handled international distribution for the much-maligned ReBoot: The Guardian Code and produced the animation for Wishfart as well as Go Away, Unicorn. Nelvana’s 2019 releases have been preschool heavy, with shows like Corn & Peg, Super Boomi, Agent Binky: Pets of the Universe, The Remarkable Mr. King, plus the second season of Esme & Roy all debuting (or set to debut) on Treehouse. Teletoon has played host to D.N. Ace, Bakugan: Battle Planet and will eventually run the second season of Hotel Transylvania. Projects in development include Geki Drive, Line Friends, and, uh, an ’80s-set live-action reboot of The Hardy Boys.
All times listed in Eastern.
I Miss Bionix 
With the discontinuation of TAN, The English Teletoon channel has seen some better days but hopefully their fall schedule would be interesting to say the least especially during the nighttime which meaning less adult shows but wouldn’t it be better if Professor Zarbi’s Bizarre Stories airs on the English Teletoon channel too. I do hope Adult Swim Canada would air much less Canadian content but it would be better for both the English and French version to air the series.
And also, Teletoon’s fall schedule looks upbringing as it is but maybe a little too immature. It looks like they wanted to bring in more maturity which stands out from the programming spectrum.
Would Professor Zarbi’s Bizarre Stories air on Adult Swim Canada or on the English Teletoon channel? I’ve just heard that the series is being shown on the French Teletoon channel but will it air on either both of these channels when it becomes English?
It is an adult-oriented series. If it gets an English dub, it would almost certainly air on Adult Swim.
But what if it airs on the English Teletoon channel? I sure hope Teletoon would air adult-oriented shows again in the future.
Don’t even know if or when Teletoon will air adult-oriented cartoon shows again. Doesn’t anyone agree?
Canadian channels are horrible these days, wish it were like the old days where there was more anime options and better cartoons to watch…
What’s that suppose to mean?
So I guess Bravest Warriors is done? Not that I was expecting an announcement, having heard nothing out of Frederator/Cartoon Hangover. But speaking of which, what about the Bee and Puppycat: Lazy in Space series? Wasn’t Nelvana supposed to be involved in that, or am I misremembering?
Bravest Warriors was quite the fumble. I’m not sure who thought it was a genius idea to make the sequel to a continuity driven web-show as a TV series and not somehow repackage the webisodes for TV. If you hadn’t seen the first three seasons online (the third of which, IIRC, only became available in Canada after Teletoon began running Nelvana’s S4) you were going to be kind of lost. Unsurprisingly, not many broadcasters picked up Bravest Warriors. As far as I can tell, it ran on VRV, Teletoon, Cartoon Network Japan and not much else.
VRV could cover the costs for another season, I suppose. They’ve been tight lipped about this, but they quietly renewed Gary and His Demons (which was unceremoniously dumped on CBC Gem here).
Yeah, that was a pretty boneheaded move on Nelvana/Teletoon’s part. I thought I’d heard when they first announced the Season 4 TV series that Nelvana had acquired international distribution rights to all the previous seasons. I kept expecting Teletoon to release the earlier episodes in some capacity (especially Season 3, which as you said had not yet been made available to Canadian/international viewers), maybe over the course of the previous year, prior to the launch of Season 4. But no, they just dropped it on the air with no prior context, not even really acknowledging that it was considered to be Season 4.
Also, maybe I ought to pay more attention to CBC Gem. ;)
Guess I just assumed – it’s apparently being animated by anime studio OLM.
If Professor Zarbi’s Bizarre Stories gets an English dub sometime soon, I sure hope it does air on the English Teletoon channel during the late night hours.
From what I hear, the newer Flintstones series who suppose to be shown this fall here have been cancelled by Netflix after one episode. Not that I weren’t surprised of it. But the few pics I seen from the ”Yabba-Dabba Dinosaurs” series have no longer part of charm or love of we did known from the iconic 1960s Prime-Time animated series. Sure, there is still a fanbase and that talented artists have working these for made it good at possible, but WB Animation seems to shows tons of disdain to the whole H-B library they own and Scooby-Doo is the ones they take much cares and love.
I wouldn’t mind if Teletoon airs adult animation at night again but this time, without getting a new late-night block for adults. How about that?
How about if the English Teletoon channel airs adult animated shows again without getting a new nighttime block for adults just like they did back in the good old days? At least it’ll still be a 24-hour kids channel so why not?
IMO, the French version of Teletoon is still airing adult animated shows at night as they have their own nighttime block while the English Teletoon channel doesn’t have theirs anymore.