Cartoon Network’s New ‘Acme Night’ Will Be Packed With DC Heroes, Gremlins, and More

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From now on, our troubles will be far away…
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Sunday evenings aren’t for sitting around in existential dread of the week to come anymore! Instead, they’re for families, both kids and adults, to come together and watch Warner Bros.-produced content. Specifically, families should come together starting at 6:00 pm ET on September 19, because that’s when Cartoon Network’s new “Acme Night” programming block begins. Luckily, it sounds like there’s going to be a lot of stuff worth watching.

According to a WB press release, Acme Night—named for Wile E. Coyote’s preferred maker of anti-Road Runner weaponry—premieres on September 19 with 2019’s Shazam movie. This will be followed by other “family-friendly blockbusters that include Man of Steel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sherlock Gnomes, Detective Pikachu, Scoob, and more,” beginning the question of whether Warner Bros. has somehow edited the extremely family-unfriendly Man of Steel down to a PG rating, or if we’ve finally sunk to a point where kids watching Superman murder a guy who’s seconds away from murdering a family is considered fine children’s entertainment.

Happily, it gets better. The previously announced Aquaman: King of Atlantis three-part miniseries will debut on Acme Night, as well as: Bruce Timm’s newest animated take on Batman, Caped Crusader; the prequel series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai; Genndy Tartakovsky’s upcoming action cartoon Unicorn: Warriors Immortal; and that Harry Potter Wizarding World Competition Event Series quiz show announced a few months ago. All of these shows were set to premiere on HBO Max, but now it seems the streaming service won’t make them available until 2022.

As for new content, all that really matters is Merry Little Batman. The official summary: “An animated family action comedy destined to join the rogue’s gallery of classic holiday movies. When a six-year-old Damian Wayne finds himself alone in Wayne Manor, he must transform into ‘Little Batman’ in order to defend his home and Gotham City from the crooks and super-villains intent on destroying Christmas.”

Guys, as our own Cheryl Eddy pointed out, it’s basically Batman: Home Alone, and we are uniformly here for it. You might also get excited about the new, but as-yet-untitled Looney Tunes sci-fi movie:

“Planet Earth faces the threat of an alien invasion and humanity’s only hope lies with Porky Pig and Daffy Duck! Starring the classic animated odd couple, this sci-fi buddy action comedy turns Porky and Daffy into unlikely heroes when their antics at the local bubble gum factory uncover a secret alien mind-control plot. Against all odds, the two are determined to save their town (and the world!)…that is if they don’t drive each other crazy in the process.”

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The other completely new project announced for Acme Night is a holiday special starring Steve Urkel from ‘90s sitcom Family Matters, which you probably don’t—wait, what happens in this thing?!

“From executive producer Wyatt Cenac, Did I Do That to the Holidays? A Steve Urkel Story brings back one of the most iconic sitcom characters of all time for an animated movie musical event. The holiday season has arrived, and brilliant but accident-prone Steve Urkel has already ruined his local celebration by publicly humiliating a shopping mall Santa. In his attempt to make things right and score some nice points with the big guy in the North Pole, Steve creates an invention that only makes things worse. Using his big brain and even bigger heart, Steve must find the real Santa to see if together they can help the city rediscover the holiday spirit. Jaleel White serves as producer and will also reprise his iconic performance by voicing the beloved super genius.”

The Grinch tried to destroy a city’s Christmas spirit. But where he failed, Steve Urkel succeeded.

Unfortunately, there’s no word when any of these specific new series, movies, and specials will actually premiere, so we’ll have to wait for Acme Night, I guess; again, the programming block kicks off September 19. On the plus side, based on all the cartoons I’ve seen, Acme packages seem to get delivered pretty quickly.


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