Regarding the Nickelodeon-Cartoon Network debate during the heady days of my youth, I always stuck on the Cartoon Network side of things.

Sure, Nickelodeon had great shows like “Doug,” “Rocko’s Modern Life” and “Hey Arnold!” and Cartoon Network had excellent cartoons like “Dexter’s Laboratory,” “Cow and Chicken” and “Johnny Bravo.”

But what made Cartoon Network win the war was its choice of morning programming. While Nick was plodding through Nick Jr. shows that I always felt too old for, Cartoon Network showed Hanna-Barbera classics like “Yogi Bear,” “Top Cat” and “Wacky Races.” The morning was capped off by a must-watch 12 p.m. hour of “The Flintstones” and “The Jetsons.” I ended up enjoying “The Flintstones” more than any of the networks’ original programming.

But as I grew up, the Hanna-Barbera programming was more and more shuttered off to Boomerang, Cartoon Network’s oldies channel and one that my family did not get. The networks became filled with anime-inspired shows, signaling the end of my childhood and the beginning of my this-isn’t-what-it-was-like-when-I-was-a-kid days.

Cartoon Network’s new series, “The Looney Tunes Show,” has the strange feeling of watching new episodes of a show that got cancelled years ago. All the requisite elements are there: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Yosemite Sam, et. al.

Essentially the series, which debuted on May 3, tries to morph the Looney Tunes format into a traditional half-hour situational comedy. Two shorts break up the main narrative’s action, with one rotating between characters and another always focusing on Road Runner and Coyote.

A modern take on Looney Tunes seems like it would not work. After all, the Looney Tunes shorts are timeless, which is why they appeal to audiences even today. The first episode of “The Looney Tunes Show” I caught was “Peel of Fortune,” and in the episode’s opening moments, Daffy is talking about pants to wear to the mall, which is humor that does not elicit more than a groan.

But the episode found its footing fast when it went into the main plot — Daffy needs money like Bugs has. Bugs got all of his money from inventing the carrot peeler, a recurring series joke that is never explained in much depth. Daffy decides to invent something like Bugs and get rich. But all the inventions he attempts — including toilet paper — have already been done. Therefore, his attempted grand revelations of his new “inventions” result in hilarity.

The main story almost always focuses on Bugs and Daffy, and who did not always dream of a “Perfect Strangers”-esque sitcom with those two? The two episodes after “Peel of Fortune” have Bugs and Daffy going on double dates, and Bugs and Daffy participating on a bowling team. Daffy’s jealousy and rivalry with Bugs is retained from the classic shorts, but it is played with more subtlety and friendliness to allow plot to get resolved without the use of explosions.

To anyone watching, though, it is obvious that the breakout star of the show is Lola Bunny. The character debuted in the 1996 movie “Space Jam,” but her personality is completely different in the show. Played expertly by Kristen Wiig, Lola is obsessed with becoming Bugs’ girlfriend, despite Bugs’ stereotypical male non-commitment. But the key word is obsessed. Lola comes off as crazed, calling Bugs constantly, talking quickly and giving off wide-eyed, insane expressions.

Her finest hour is in “Double Date” when she coaches Daffy on how to woo a girl by giving him a piece of paper of everything Lola wishes someone would tell her. The paper is filled with commitments to give up all family and friends and only spend time with the significant other. Just by the act of reading the paper out loud, Lola becomes smitten with Daffy and begins chasing him to Bugs’ understandably perplexed wonderment.

One knows an episode of the show is almost over when a CGI short of Road Runner and Coyote airs. Since it’s CGI and the rest of the show is not, the shorts stand out, but that is not a bad thing. Perhaps more so than anything else, the shorts stay true to the classic formula, advice that modern cartoons should take more often.

Yes, it is children’s programming, but “The Looney Tunes Show” is also a lot of fun. The show came back from a hiatus on Tuesday. Check it out and step back for 22 minutes into your childhood.


— Robby is a graduate student in communications. He can be reached at rodaniel@utk.edu.