The Save Klasky-Csupo Campaign
Klasky-Csupo has been providing original animated cartoons for Nickelodeon continuously since the launch of Nicktoons (the concept, not the recently re-named Nicktoons Network) in 1991, starting with Rugrats to the more recent As Told By Ginger. However, these days, K-C (as it has been affectionately, and not-so-affectionately, often been refered to) has hit quite a slump, with All Grown Up! being their only current cartoon (and that show may be canned soon). Somehow, Nickelodeon has brought K-C down to earth in just over two years.
K-C's story
The rise
When Nickelodeon was soliciting ideas for its first-ever original animated series, Klasky-Csupo Inc., formed by then husband and wife Gabor Csupo and Arlene Klasky a few years earlier, and working on The Simpsons at the time, pitched several ideas. The one that Nick accepted, Rugrats, premiered along with Ren and Stimpy and Doug on August 11, 1991. While the other two shows would eventually finish on other networks (Ren and Stimpy was occasionally seen on MTV and VH1, and even had a more-recent limited run of new episodes on SpikeTV, formerly TNN; while Doug moved to Disney for a few seasons), Rugrats would have its entire run on Nick. While Rugrats was originally cancelled in 1993, K-C developed another new series, Real Monsters, and Film Roman replaced K-C on The Simpsons.

The second coming
Meanwhile, Rugrats reruns were proving to be popular (it even won the Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Cartoon in 1996), and Nick eventually decided to revive the show in 1997. By this time, however, one of the original developers Paul Germain had defected to Disney to make Recess along with another former Rugrats writer Joe Ansolabehere, and somewhere along the way, the show lost its charm. The storylines weren't as good as they were in the old days. That said, viewers still lapped up the show, and its second coming was stronger than its first. A movie was released in theaters in 1998, topping the box office at its first weekend, eventually grossing $100 million in North America (the first non-Disney cartoon to do so, even before DreamWorks routinely hit that mark with their 'toons), and spawning two sequels. Most importantly, the movie introduced viewers to a new baby: Tommy's younger brother Dil. It wasn't the first time Rugrats had added someone to the cast: Susie Carmichael had debuted in early 1993, but for some reason had severely limited screen time.

The zenith
Between 1998 and 2002, K-C was at the top of its game. They launched three new Nicktoon properties: The Wild Thornberrys, Rocket Power, and As Told By Ginger. They put out a more-critically-acclaimed sequel to the first Rugrats movie, this time introducing viewers to Kimi and her mom. They celebrated ten years of Rugrats with an hour-special "All Growed Up", eventually resulting in All Grown Up! two years later. They also made many of Nick's first animated telefilms such as "Summer at Camp Caprice" and "Race Across New Zealand", and were also making two movies featuring the Thornberrys. However, people were also starting to badmouth K-C's properties, where it be Rocket Power's liberal use of outdated jargon, Eliza Thornberry's unusual look, or the addition of Kimi to Rugrats. Also, after 6 straight wins for Rugrats in the Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Cartoon, The Simpsons won this award in 2002.

The downfall
In 2002, however, the most unthinkable happened. According to Forbes Magazine, only 20 new episodes of K-C's Nicktoons were ordered from Nick in 2002, as compared to 76 in 2000. Except for the new Rugrats spinoff All Grown Up!, K-C eventually ceased production on all its shows by 2003. Rugrats, Thornberrys and Rocket Power all aired their final eps by summer 2004, while several episodes of Ginger remain unshown in the US (and Nick may have problems with those episodes). All Grown Up! is the only show they're still making, and that show may not have much left either. Also, both films with the Thornberrys grossed only $40m domestically, compared to the $100m enjoyed by the first Rugrats film and $80m for the sequel. K-C also recently announced the closure of their webstore on December 1, 2005.

So, Why Save K-C?
It would be one thing if K-C had tied up all of its shows in a way that their fans wouldn't be begging for a continuation, or had ended them on normal and meaningless episodes (which in fact may be the only acceptable way to end a show on Nick, given that it has never had any real taste for real series finales). However, K-C ended its cancelled series on major changes, and for two of the series, it would be trivial (and interesting) to pick up the story with these new changes. Let's detail.

As Told By Ginger
In 2003, K-C were making a few bold moves with Ginger Foutley, by having her hook up with her neighbor, and putting her in high school. But somewhere between the production and delivery, Nick had somehow lost its taste for Ginger, and they have not aired any of the episodes at high school, except for the Thanksgiving special "Ten Chairs" (which even so, aired on the Nicktoons Network). K-C also tied up the series as a whole with a wedding (Ginger's mom Lois to a doctor) and an arrest (Courtney Gripling's dad). Ginger creator Emily Kapnek then immediately flashed forward to the future where Ginger had a baby with her neighbor and published her diary, thereby closing out the series for good, as Emily had no interest in dragging out the Foutley's sudden windfall and the Griplings' sudden loss of assets.

The Wild Thornberrys
In February 2003, Nick aired the first four episodes to take place after the recently released cinema movie based on the series. (There were actually five, but controversially, Nick suddenly withdrew the other episode remaining, and would sit on it until June the next year.) These episodes had a few allusions to a scene from the movie where Eliza threatened to get her big sister Debbie turned into a baboon. Reason? Earlier in the movie, in order to save big sis from being thrown into a river by some poachers, Eliza had no choice but to tell them about her secret ability to talk with animals, which she had been keeping since the start of the series. Long story short, after the poachers had been dealt with, Eliza made that threat so that big sis wouldn't share it with anyone else. It is easy to see how this changes the dynamic of the whole series. It used to be that Eliza went on her treks alone with Darwin, while big sis would go about her own business, and never did like Eliza. With this, Eliza could easily take her big sis along on her treks, and her dad noted in one scene of the series finale: "They're growing closer." So why not let this sisterly bond develop? Can't be any worse than what we got from Olga-Helga on Hey Arnold!

Rocket Power
In June 2004, the same month the Thornberrys finale was shown, Nick aired an episode of the show where Reggie talked about having a stepmom to a kid who lived in a shelter, and an ep that opened with a woman ducking under a table with Ray during an earthquake. That woman, however, wasn't just a random customer at the Shore Shack diner. That woman was Noelani, the stepmom Reggie had alluded to in the other ep. Nick's lack of respect for continuity (present since Nick aired the Rugrats ep "Angelica's Assistant" while sitting on "Pre-School Daze", and Rob Renzetti complains about it here) resulted in this episode airing a month before the episode in which she was introduced, and a month and a half before the episode in which she married Ray. Noelani had spent all of her life in Hawaii, and had become a bit of a safety freak after the death of a friend of hers by surfing. Not the most likely kind of person to mother two sports enthusiasts, but television has a way of making these relationships work (besides, wouldn't it be cool to see Noelani take her first snowboarding lessons?). So... why not? Can't be any worse than the post-marriage Finsters on Rugrats, no?

What you can do: Send letters
And by this, we don't mean the traditionally ineffective e-mail. We're talking about putting your pen (or pencil, or crayon) onto paper, to write about how bad it would be for K-C to close down after all it's done for Nick for more than a decade. Or you could write about how you love a certain K-C show, and would to see it continue (try this type of letter especially if you're a Thornberrys or Rocket Power fan). Just as long as you don't copy your letter from an online template or anything, which is why I'm not providing any here (though for Rocket Power I have made a handout for the common fan and a signature sheet).

Where to send letters

Klasky Csupo, Inc.
6353 Sunset Blvd. (as well as 1258 N. Highland Ave.)
Hollywood, CA 90028

Nickelodeon / MTV Networks
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
(for Nick's sub-parent company)

Nickelodeon
231 West Olive Avenue
Burbank, CA 91502
(for their West Coast Offices & Nicktoon Studios)