Fall Is Just Something That Grown-Ups Invented

The Fall Is Just Something That Grown-Ups Invented era of Cartoon Network (internally known as Refresh 2007, Fall Is or Fall) refers to its seventh branding period, beginning in September 14, 2007, and lasting until July 13, 2008, replacing the Summer 2007 era.
==History==
In the summer of 2007, Cartoon Network underwent significant programming changes, introducing new programming franchises called Fried Dynamite for Friday nights and Dynamite Action Squad for Saturday mornings. The fall 2007 season showcased a lineup of new series, including the network’s first original live-action show, which was a spinoff of Re-Animated (Out of Jimmy's Head). Furthermore, the programming block Miguzi was scheduled to be replaced by a new interactive block called Master Control. 
To celebrate these changes, Cartoon Network would launch a temporary seasonal branding for Fall 2007, in a format similar to the themed branding used during Summer 2007, which featured music from an well-known artist, Cee-Lo Green. Swedish rock band The Hives was selected to provide a track from their upcoming album, The Black and White Album, centered around the Fall season. Cartoon Network commissioned a music video directed by Thomas Bingham at RocketSlide Films, which was used in an interstitialLonger bumpers around the 30 to 60-second timeframe. and edited into promotional bumps and IDs. Visual effects were created by Shilo, who also produced additional bumps and IDs, to follow afterward, and was based on the design image used for the 'Fall Is' music video.
The Fall era began on September 14, 2007, coinciding with the premiere of Out of Jimmy's Head. Shortly afterward, on September 24, Master Control was launched. In the following months, several new programs premiered that had been greenlit under Jim Samples, starting with Chowder, which debuted on November 2 and achieved significant viewer success. This show notably boosted the performance of Fried Dynamite, leading to a marked increase in viewership among Cartoon Network's core audience (children aged 2-11 and 6-11). It became the #1 original series premiere on the network for that year.
Various original movies also premiered on the network, including its first live-action feature, Ben 10: Race Against Time, which aired on November 21, 2007. This film became the most-watched telecast in the network's history among key demographics in over five years at that time. Following Samples' original strategy for live-action content, the movie incorporated cartoon elements. Additionally, another crossover event, following the Invaded storyline, premiered in November with The Grim Adventures of the KND.
In October, Goosebumps premiered, followed by a weekly Saturday night showing titled Goosebumps Shriek-end. On October 12, Fried Dynamite featured a special lineup of new episodes presented in 3D, with viewers able to request special glasses to participate in the event. Master Control prematurely ended in November. Despite the proposal for more teams to join the block, it ceased airing after the individual (Jim Samples) who approved it left the network. A sneak peek of the acquired Canadian content George of the Jungle debuted in December, following the network premiere of the 1997 George of the Jungle film during Fried Dynamite. Transformers: Animated also premiered that month with a 90-minute special, although both shows officially launched in January. 
In May, Cartoon Network announced an ambitious new programming strategy during its upfront presentation, aimed at targeting a core audience of kids aged 9-14, primarily boys. The first phase featured genre-based programming lineups in specific days. Key initiatives include the upcoming Star Wars: The Clone Wars series on Friday nights, a new comedy block on Thursdays anchored by Chowder, and a Sunday night movie franchise featuring premieres of various films. Additionally, the network announced the launch of The Cartoonstitute, an innovative program designed to develop a significant number of animated pilots over 20 months, led by prominent animators Craig McCracken and Rob Renzetti.
The Thursday night comedy franchise would soft-launch with precursor branding as CN Thursday Nights on March 6, before officially launching as Har Har Tharsdays on June 5. New series launches of Total Drama Island and The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack would air on the block after the official launch. The Sunday night movie franchise would also launch on June 1 as Flicks.
===Programming ===
Unlike the previous era, Cartoon Network premiered various original programming that would later shape up the direction of the network later on, such as Chowder, Johnny Test, Total Drama, and Out of Jimmy's Head, which is the first original live-action program that Cartoon Network produced. However due to the 2007 Writer's Strike, live-action scripted programming went to a temporary hiatus until Unnatural History in 2010.
During the Fall era, it became a trend for various existing original series that were popular in the City and Yes! eras to stop premiering new episodes, beginning with Squirrel Boy, which ended on September 27, 2007. Additionally, Canadian content and acquired programming became more common in Cartoon Network's lineup during this time. Shows like Johnny Test, Skunk Fu!, The Mr. Men Show, and Chop Socky Chooks were among the featured programs. 
Fried Dynamite will continue to air, but interest has started to wane as new episodes of shows have ceased airing, leaving only feature film presentations on the network. A new programming block featuring new episodes of similar comedy content, titled Har Har Tharsdays, would later launch in June. Sunday night movie franchise Flicks would coexist with Movie Madness the same month until that block's eventual dissolution in July. Har Har Tharsdays featured a new show: Total Drama Island, which had a TV-PG rating, which was the first time since 2005 that Cartoon Network regularly aired programming given the TV-PG rating since Sunday Pants.
Music videos would air as interstitials during the Fall era which included bands such as The Hives, and The Go! Team. Some of these music videos were used to advertise upcoming albums. Another music video featured a boy named Elijah Harris (titled "Elijah Rap"). In the video, he rapped about a typical morning spent watching Cartoon Network. During this time, various characters from the channel's programs (which were Billy and Mandy, Eduardo, Shaggy and Scooby, the Kids Next Door, Tom and Jerry, and the Eds, especially Yogi, who has his own classic show on sister channel Boomerang) jumped out of his TV and began invading his home. 
==On-air identity==
The brand elements for the Fall era adopted a "hand-drawn doodle line art" aesthetic, capturing the essence of drawings made in school when students are bored. This approach incorporated many repeating cel-animated graphics that was animated by Stieg Retlin, such as moving 3D & 2D shapes, moving eyes, lips, fingers, UFOs, rivers, and more. The color palette for the Fall season included bright teal, various shades of beige and green, and coral red, along with half-tone patterns as well. Background and still elements feature patterns of isometric cubes, drawn diamonds, zigzags, circular patterns, outlines of various characters, and more. These elements were varied throughout each on-screen element, in a similar way to Summer 2007's variety of graphics. The icons used for the menus to represent the shows featured outlined characters from the respective shows, aside from their flat color skin.
During the Fall era, D&E bumpsD&E Bumps refer to bumpers that air during and after ad breaks. "D" stands for "During," while "E" signifies "Ending." Around the 5 to 10-second timeframe. showcased The Hives along with children from clips of the "Fall Is" music video. These children were seen dancing and making music—playing the DJ, guitar, and drums—against a cel-shaded cityscape. Later, it featured kids dancing while holding signs that displayed the messages "We'll Be Right Back" or "We're Back" with graphics inside. Cartoon Network also included an sign-off transition (titled "A Day in the Life") to air every day before Adult Swim would begin airing to alert viewers of Cartoon Network was finished for today. It included Elijah and his usual daily routine, in a abstract and transposed way.
==Transition==
The Fall branding image lasted longer than just the Fall season as a new programming strategy was being developed under Stuart Snyder. This included a redesign of the network, leading to the Fall branding image becoming more permanent. It remained in use until July 13, 2008.
The Flicks block featured branding with faceless vinyl figure-like characters dressed as various family member roles. These figures were officially known as "Noods" and were part of a rebranding initiative for Cartoon Network that began airing on July 14, 2008. This rebranding was designed by Tristan Eaton of Kidrobot and animated by Capacity, which had previously created graphics for the Master Control block. The Noods effectively became mascots for Cartoon Network, appearing in graphics for most of the network's events and programming blocks following their introduction in July 2008.
On September 20, 2008, Toonami ended due to low ratings and to make room for Cartoon Network's upcoming Friday night franchise with a similar genre: fantasy/adventure. The Friday night fantasy/adventure franchise launched on October 3 as You Are Here.
Category:Eras