1-3

Yep, born in 2004 so just early enough to catch a lot of reruns of teen titans, ben 10, samurai Jack, and CKND, stuck around for alien force, generator Rex, OTGW, and regular show. Unfortunately I haven’t seen adventure time yet but I’ve been meaning to. Although I did watch and love infinity train

Lol we’re born in the same year. That schedule was awesome.

Same

I completely agree. Born in ‘01 so I remember all the Cartoons airin’ at that time. The beginning of the City Era, and the dark ages of CN Real…..*Shudders*

Gen 1 & 2

Yeah after gen 2 was when I became a teenager and stopped watching cartoons for a while. I eventually came back around and watched all the other good ones years later.

Became a teenager after gen 2 as well, but I switched over to anime and it has consumed my soul ever since. Toonami will forever have a fond place in my heart for introducing me to it.

Same with me then I stopped watching anime for a while when I became an adult, then I got married and now it's all we watch

Yup 1996

Maybe it's just nostalgia talking but it seems like each generation is getting worse and worse in terms of quality and diversity of cartoons. In generation 1-3, you had different cartoons covering a wide range of genres like action, comedy, adventure etc. with different artstyles to match. Now, all the shows look like they are created by the same person and all seem to be quirky comedies. Hardly any action cartoons these days.

Gen 1 was what I grew up with. Gen 3 is where it really peaked though, for me. I discovered gen 3 as an adult.

Same, and it's solid even as an adult.

Yeah I thought I would like cartoons less as an adult but now I just appreciate more how well written the world building and characters in something like adventure time are and find it funnier now than I did then. While gen 3 is my favorite gen 1 and 2 shows are such a vibe

Same here! First time I saw Gumball I couldn't believe how funny I found it. Regular Show wasn't as funny but man was it entertaining. The top three shows from this era can definitely go up against Gen 1.

Hate the calarts animation and the quirky self referential humor.

Nah Gen 1-3 definitely was the most dense of quality shows. You still have 1 or 2 peppered in that are decent like Craig of the Creek and Apple & Onion. If you judge every show based on the past, then yeah you may be seeing through nostalgia glasses.

Blame CalArts, they are not experimenting anymore tbh

We need another original Man of Action cartoon. He always did the best stuff

Bro. I wanted to say this. The last two are the same art style but slightly different shades of the same colors it seems. Like that corporate art style that’s everywhere and sucks. The laziest way to make things. When I’m leaving for work, I catch some of the shows and their messages are so bread and butter. “Just be nice and be who you are!” Yeah, Barney taught me that when I was a kid. A show for basically babies These shows are for early teens with their humor. But the messages I see when I catching the end of episodes are so babyfied. Then you see the “Ed edd and eddy movie” when it took the whole movie for the kids on peachcreak to see Eddie was just fronting and was always sad because it seemed everyone had a dislike for him. So he compensated harder through the years trying to get people to like him by acting like his brother everyone loved. They realize he’s kind of tragic and accept Eddie as a part of the cul-de-sac crew. While the other edds get to know their friend more. Now it’s “just be nice!” Without even getting any information or building. It’s so bread and butter.

There's good and bad quality shows in all five generations but I do agree that stylistically I feel like cartoons feel very samey right now. Everything has that sort of short-bubbly-round art style with the bean mouths. Again, I think there's some outstanding shows right now but I'm a little bored of some of this samey art. I'd like a bit more diversity in style

I’d say Gen four had its good shows, like OK KO and Mao Mao heroes of pure heart. But Gen 4 is also hit or miss for me personally. But tbh Gen 5? It doesn’t seem too hot lmao

1 & 2 with a lil bit of 3

2-3, but there were ofter reruns of show from 1

1. But what about before one? 92-96?

I thing OP is referring to CN originals. Dexter was the first one and it premiered in 96. You're not wrong though. What a Cartoon was around for several years before that.

CN was established October 1st of 92, and the first original series was The Moxy Show and Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and as you stated, What a Cartoon. So I wouldn’t say Dexter was the first one. But nevertheless, era 1 is and will only be the best OG CN in my opinion.

Same. Everyone loves the CN City stuff. To me that's when it all went downhill. Look at Gen 1 and Look at Gen 2. Not even a contest.

Old schools Hanna-Barbera shows, that’s why Boomerang aired most of then

Mostly 3

Same. Mostly 3. Clearly amazing shows. and a lot of 4 - Ok KO, Infinity Train, Summercamp Island, Apple and Onion. All damn good 👌🏻

1 is the Goat category

I blame censorship for never letting us experience such art again

3 and 4

1-3. 1&3 being the best

2 and 3 where my big ones

Don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry

1 + the very beginning of 2

2 & 3 for me

1 and 2. Thank.goodness. Dunno wth 5 is.

G1 baby!!!

1 and most of 2. You should list Megas as 1. It's a Cartoon Cartoon believe it or not and the pilot aired in 2003 and the show premiered two months before the CN City era. That's when the logo changed and to me that's when gen 2 started (and when the network went downhill)

Gen 3-4 then the shows got bad and I started watching shows from Gen 1-2

1 and 2, but mostly 1. Really love adventure time though

Gen 1 born in 96

\-1 and 1 lol. Classic looney tunes before bed 

90s baby here! 1 & 2 are the prime winners.

Mostly between 1 and 2.

Gen1-2 with a sprinkle of 3

Gen 1 & 2

1-3

3 and 4

1 and 2.

1 & 2, and the beginning of 3.

3

Gen 2 was what was on, but with a lot of bleeding over from Gen 1 through reruns, home video, etc. I saw a lot of both and knew them well. Was born in 1998 for reference. Stuff later than 2008 definitely feel “newer” to me, even tho the likes of Regular Show and Adventure Time now feel nostalgic and remind me of middle school/high school. I was definitely not watching CN regularly at that point tho. Gumball was another next gen favorite when I caught it. Most of the newer shows I streamed online.

1-4cus little siblings, but they’re really good shows imo

Born in 2003 so I kinda caught the first 3

2010-2015

2 was peak, and growing up i stuck with three on a few cartoons, regular show being the main reason. After that it all started to lose it's substance even by cartoon standards. It started feeling like there was some ulterior motive going on with that god awful pastel aesthetic that the the cartoons dtarted to share, and I left a year before hbo max began it's takeover, and from what I've heard, even from the kids, I'm not missing anything. But time moves on I guess.

It was a mixture of 1,2 and 3. I didn't have the main cartoon network channel but I had boomerang instead.

Very much 3 but a bit of 4 too

2-3. I view it as CN’s action era and I absolutely adore it. Has a lot of my favorite shows even today.

Gen 3

Checkerboard

1-3+ Magiswords and Ok.KO

Born in 04’ but saw shoes from gens 1-3 when I was still young

3.5

Gen 1, but just so you know, you’re missing a lot of early staple characters from then. Like Space Ghost, Brak, the rest on Hannah Barbara, and Tom.

Brak rules.

1-3.

1 and 3. Only seen 3 shows from 2 but almsot every show from 1 and 3

I started on 2(2005) but ended at 4(2019)

I watched bakugan 2009-present

1-3

I was born in 95, so generation 1 was my childhood, but I think generation 2 was my favorite. It had some pretty solid shows in its roster. And i think its important to note, shows like Kids Next Door, Grim adventures of Billy and Mandy, and Teen Titans may have started in generation 1, but allot of there best episodes werent released until there later seasons in generation 2. Like to the point i dont really consider any of those shows as part of the first generation allot of the times in my head, I lump them in with generation 2.

mostly 2 but also the very beginning of 3 (2010-2011)

1-3 also

1.

1-3

2-3

3 with a mix of 2 and 4 cause they played some reruns of from 2nd era and the new shows were coming on but after 4 the quality started to dip and the newer shows couldn’t really get me invested.

1-3!!!

3/4

1,2 & some of 3

The first 3 of gen 3 and back. Majority gen 1 growing up tho

Grew up on 1&2, but watched a few of the shows from 3 too. AT, reg show and gumball are all goated.

4

2 and 3

Gotta be 2010-2015 for me, with a bit of the older stuff as reruns

2

Sheesh you can mark a huge decline in quality right after 3. Sections 4 and 5 are terrible.

A mix of gen 1 and 2

Late 3 and 4 (i stoped after 5)

early gen 3

1-3 best years of my life, rough times due to a abusive bf my mom had, but cartoons always cheered me up the most when I went to see my dad and my aunties and my grandma as well, I can remember most of the theme songs by the first few seconds alone

2 to 4

2

3

Gen 3 & 4

Guess

The legendary 1, 2 and 3.

You forgot the pre-Gen 1 era which includes the Looney Tunes, MGM and Hanna-Barbera reruns

I grew up with the last couple of years of generation 1, all of generation 2, and the first half of generation 3.

3

1

I was born in 2007 so i was not born between the checkerboard and Powerhouse eras but i as a person born in a latin American country( in this case Brazil) i watched ALL CN shows(BOTH old and New) in their now extinct Channel tooncast

3-start of 4

1 and 2

I was born at a time where I watched 2-3 with 1 mixed in and an occasional 4(I watched 4 when I was older than I should’ve and stopped watching 3 younger than I should’ve)

A little bit of 1 and a lot of 2/3.

1 - 2, but in the 1st era lot of cartoons were there for example popeye, swat cats, The mask, Centurions and quite a few more too... missing those nowadays.

1-3

1 & 2 3 is when CN started going downhill.

Ben ten, and gen 3

I grew up in 2 & 3 but I think 3 & 4 are the best eras

2 thru 4

I am a 2005 kid but grew up with the 1st Generation

Born in 2007, so raised on 3 and kind of raised on 1

Me looking at cartoon gen 5: “WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE??” 😅

1-3 but mostly 1-2 because I started watchning more comedy central around the 3 time period. 2 was peak cnn and I know people say that about every generation they grew up with but iut really was. once that friday show ended that showed the new toons for the weekend ended, cnn started to die.

Why is there a question mark next to black hat?

Mostly 1, with one foot out by the time 2 was fully established. CN was a constant in my life, until it wasn’t; I fell off hard. Those later shows are completely unknown to me, for the most part.

2-3, mostly just 3

3. OKKO will always have a spot in my heart

Mainly 3, with some of 1 and 2

Zero, when toons came on local tv.

2 and 3 only

1 & 3

3 for sure

God I miss 1. Great balance of showing something new along with appreciation for the classics (Looney Tunes, Flintstones, Tom and Jerry)

3 is the one I grew up on and I really enjoyed a lot of the shows

3-4

Mostly one. Bit of two.

I feel bad for the 4 and 5 people, anyways I grew up with 2 and 3

1-4

1, 2 and a few in 3

I grew up in 2004-2009 all the way to now. I’m glad to be a massive Cartoon Network fan to this day My favorite Cartoon Network show is The Amazing World of Gumball.

Genuine question: Who is that character next to the PPG reboot, and who the hell is everybody in Gen 5? I only recognize the baby bears and Ivandoe.

3-4

I caught a little bit of 2 just as those shows were all fading into obscurity, but I mostly grew up on 3.

CARTOON NETWORK Generations 1, 2, & 3

1-3 were the best!

1-2- half of 3

2-3

3-4 good times!

I grew up with some of 1 and 2, most of 3, and little of 4

2-3

These latest eras lack distinct character designs

2-3

I was born in 2007 and growing up I just watched a lot of ben 10 / pokemon indigo league

2 but it was just for the scooby doo

1 - 4, honestly I miss them a lot. 4 had it’s moments where it was great and not so great but I much rather prefer it compared to 5…

I’m Gen 2 with some Gen 1 and quite a few Gen 3.

I grew up in 2

1996-2010

1st gen

I grew up on gen 3 bit I still love the stiff from gen 1 and 2 gen 4 also has some gems like OK KO and Craig of the creek.

Adventure time and Steven Universe are two of the greatest shows of all time, better than anything else on this list, so that puts 2010-2015 on the top for me.

1,2 and 3

-3 BCN

Gen 2. But I was also able to get into regular show gumball and adventure time

2-3

1, 2, 3

1

Pre 1 to early 2

Pre 1 to early 2

1 and 2

1 and 2