How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

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How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by Zestanor » Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:21 pm

I didn’t watch DBZ back in the day for whatever reason, probably because a bad friend of mine liked it and I didn’t really like him.

I’ve heard a few things about how the US Toonami presentation of Dragon Ball worked, and perhaps you guys can help fill in the gaps or make corrections.

The first two Saban ‘seasons’ of the show, 53 episodes, aired one a day (7 days a week? just weekdays?) at 5:00 pm, without breaks. Once they got to episode 53, then they went back to episode 1. After a few cycles of this, the first three DBZ movies were added to the cycle. When Funimation had finished season 3, which went up through Garlic Jr., the old cycle was broken out of and they aired these new episodes one a day without breaks at 5 pm. How many cycles of 1-53 did Toonami go through before moving on?

Then, I assume there was some break before the dubbed season 4 began to air. They went back to episode 1, right? When they finished airing a season, did they always go back to episode 1? Or did they try to give other arcs more rerun exposure, since it was one episode a day, and they didn’t need to rerun 200 episodes before a new season?

Were the dubbed movies aired in the 5pm slot, or at another time? How did they spread out the movies on Cartoon Network?

Dragon Ball started being dubbed and aired before DBZ was finished airing. Did Dragon Ball have “seasons” like DBZ, or did it air continuously? Once DB started airing, did dubbed DBZ begin to treat the viewer with the assumption that he had seen it? Obviously at the beginning of DBZ, they don’t treat the viewer like he’s seen DB, since it wasn’t dubbed yet.

Did GT follow immediately after the last episode of Z? Or before Z was even done airing? Did it get its own timeslot? Did GT air once a day without breaks?

Once DB, Z, and GT were fully aired on Toonami, I did they continue to rerun until the end of Toonami? During reruns, especially for Z, did they just go back to episode 1?

When they redubbed the first two seasons, were these shown in the classic 5pm slot? Did they all air at once, one a day for 67 weekdays? Was there ever a time when both the new dub and the old dub existed on Toonami at the same time?

Did the new dub inmediately replace the old dub for reruns?

When Toonami ended, was DBZ totally gone from US Cartoon Network? What was the last episode of DBZ that aired on Toonami?

Were there any “marathons” where they would break out of the once a day time slot?

I’ve heard there were some alterations made to the dub even before it was radically revisited for the season sets. Namely, the narrator was replaced, and redubbed some of the old guy’s lines during subsequent reruns. Is this correct? How similar (besides the UU episodes) would a rerun dub in 2007 have been to the dub on the initial airings?

When rerunning seasons 1 and 2, did they keep Rock the Dragon as the intro song, or replace it with the Faulconer intro? I know RtD was used even during season 3: was it replaced during subsequent reruns?

Did the Toonami presentation keep the commercial break cards? Was Zenkai Power retained in any way for ending credits?

At the time, did you get the sense that the ‘edited for TV’ dub was the main product, and the tapes and DVDs, cut and uncut, were afterthoughts? I.e. basically everyone called him Hercule, not Satan, right?

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Re: How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by VegettoEX » Tue Sep 17, 2019 3:10 pm

Will answer what I can, ask for what I don't know, but won't necessarily quote if I can't even begin to answer specific parts. Hope this helps!

(I also reserve the right to keep editing in more information and links as I find them! Hey, everyone: you know we have a giant news archive dating back to 1998, right...?!)
Zestanor wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:21 pm The first two Saban ‘seasons’ of the show, 53 episodes, aired one a day (7 days a week? just weekdays?) at 5:00 pm, without breaks. Once they got to episode 53, then they went back to episode 1. After a few cycles of this, the first three DBZ movies were added to the cycle. When Funimation had finished season 3, which went up through Garlic Jr., the old cycle was broken out of and they aired these new episodes one a day without breaks at 5 pm. How many cycles of 1-53 did Toonami go through before moving on?
Cartoon Network's Toonami block aired Monday through Friday afternoons. The first two syndication seasons from 1996-1998 aired on Toonami beginning in September 1998. "Season Three" began airing in September 1999 (with the home video releases beginning earlier that summer).

Here's something I didn't remember: the "Season Three" date was actually pushed back a week at some point along the way-

https://www.kanzenshuu.com/1999/09/07/n ... n-network/

I can't say for sure how many cycles they went through over the course of that September to September, but in general, yes, it was right back to Raditz each time (just like how it went in syndication when they ran out of episodes to air).

Garlic Jr. actually debuted on Cartoon Network as part of a special weekend "Rising Sun" Saturday morning timeslot.
Zestanor wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:21 pm Then, I assume there was some break before the dubbed season 4 began to air. They went back to episode 1, right? When they finished airing a season, did they always go back to episode 1? Or did they try to give other arcs more rerun exposure, since it was one episode a day, and they didn’t need to rerun 200 episodes before a new season?
Yeah, see above request for someone else to chime in. There were multiple "back to episode one" occurrences for sure, but yes, once the backlog of episodes increased, it wasn't always back to Raditz.
Zestanor wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:21 pmWere the dubbed movies aired in the 5pm slot, or at another time? How did they spread out the movies on Cartoon Network?

Dragon Ball started being dubbed and aired before DBZ was finished airing. Did Dragon Ball have “seasons” like DBZ, or did it air continuously? Once DB started airing, did dubbed DBZ begin to treat the viewer with the assumption that he had seen it? Obviously at the beginning of DBZ, they don’t treat the viewer like he’s seen DB, since it wasn’t dubbed yet.

Did GT follow immediately after the last episode of Z? Or before Z was even done airing? Did it get its own timeslot? Did GT air once a day without breaks?
Gonna quote a few news stories we have in our website's archives, and then dump some of those links after the pastes:
Kanzenshuu News Post (February 1999) wrote:Cartoon Network is currently in the process of airing FUNimation’s English dubs of the first three DragonBall Z movies, albeit in reversed order.

The third movie (“Tree of Might”) was aired on 29 January 1999 at 4:00 pm eastern. The version aired was the censored adaptation originally split into three parts to take the place of TV episode slots during the original syndication run of the second season of FUNimation’s dub of the DragonBall Z TV series.

The second movie (“The World’s Strongest) is set to air 05 February 1999 at 4:00 pm eastern, with the first movie (“Dead Zone”) following suit on 12 February 1999, also at 4:00 pm eastern.

Of particular note is the commercial Cartoon Network is airing for “The World’s Strongest”, which starts out with a quick mish-mash of audio snippets from the original Japanese version of the movie.
Kanzenshuu News Post (August 2003) wrote:New episodes of Dragon Ball will be starting on Monday, September 1st at 5:30pm ET, starting the Demon King Piccolo saga. This season is expected to complete the show’s run, with the final 52 episodes (102-153).

Every Friday in September at 6:00pm ET, a Dragon Ball Z “feature” of one form or another will be shown. This starts on the 5th, with a showing of the Bardock TV Special. The week after that will be the Trunks Special, then Movies 5 and 6 (the two Coola ones) in the weeks after that.

Dragon Ball GT will start on Cartoon Network on October 3rd, apparently airing just Fridays at 6:30. According to FUNimation’s announcement at Otakon, it will begin from the FUNimation-created recap ‘episode 16,’ “A Grand Problem”, as does the DVD release. They still say the first 15 episodes (whatever happened to the real Episode 16 that was not included on the first DVD?) will be released eventually, although they have not said when.
https://www.kanzenshuu.com/1999/02/01/c ... cheduling/
https://www.kanzenshuu.com/2003/08/09/d ... work-news/

DBZ movie 3 was specifically its three-"episode" version originally created and aired during the second syndication broadcast season, with the Vancouver voice cast and Levy/Wasserman musical score.

That DBZ movie 2 promo was the hottest shit ever aired.
Zestanor wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:21 pmWhen they redubbed the first two seasons, were these shown in the classic 5pm slot? Did they all air at once, one a day for 67 weekdays? Was there ever a time when both the new dub and the old dub existed on Toonami at the same time?
No, the "Ultimate Uncut Edition" redub from 2005 ran as part of the "Midnight Run" special Adult Swim block (alongside uncut Gundam Wing). Here's a news post about it-

https://www.kanzenshuu.com/2005/06/15/d ... n-network/
Zestanor wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:21 pmDid the new dub inmediately replace the old dub for reruns?
I don't actually know if post-2005 there was any Canadian-voice broadcast of those two seasons. Good question.
Zestanor wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:21 pmWere there any “marathons” where they would break out of the once a day time slot?
All the time, yeah, including before "Season Three" even began-

https://www.kanzenshuu.com/1999/06/01/c ... 0xl-recap/
Zestanor wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:21 pmWhen rerunning seasons 1 and 2, did they keep Rock the Dragon as the intro song, or replace it with the Faulconer intro? I know RtD was used even during season 3: was it replaced during subsequent reruns?

Did the Toonami presentation keep the commercial break cards? Was Zenkai Power retained in any way for ending credits?
Did they even air the openings on Toonami in the first place? My memory is that the Moltar/Tom intros took their place.
Zestanor wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:21 pmAt the time, did you get the sense that the ‘edited for TV’ dub was the main product, and the tapes and DVDs, cut and uncut, were afterthoughts? I.e. basically everyone called him Hercule, not Satan, right?
I'm certainly not the right person to answer this one, heh.
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Re: How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by TheBigBoy » Tue Sep 17, 2019 3:28 pm

Zestanor wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:21 pm
When rerunning seasons 1 and 2, did they keep Rock the Dragon as the intro song, or replace it with the Faulconer intro? I know RtD was used even during season 3: was it replaced during subsequent reruns?

Did the Toonami presentation keep the commercial break cards? Was Zenkai Power retained in any way for ending credits?

At the time, did you get the sense that the ‘edited for TV’ dub was the main product, and the tapes and DVDs, cut and uncut, were afterthoughts? I.e. basically everyone called him Hercule, not Satan, right?
A lot of questions here so I'll try to field a few of them.

Toonami, at least in it's initial incarnation never aired the real intros for TV shows. Instead they created their own custom 30(?) second intros that were basically a mismash of clips set to some music. I remember in particular they VERY LOUD, focusing on action and explosions. They were honestly pretty rad but most people would rather have the real intros to the shows. I'm sure this was done for time reasons, though I do seem to recall an interview with a Toonami staffer that said while they loved anime, they thought the theme songs were weird, especially when they were in a different language. Which should give you an idea of how TV networks viewed anime at the time. And I don't recall the source for this interview...

Toonami also made their own commercial break cards that were just some random mashup clips. Once again, they made the shows seem very hip and cool but at the expense of removing the original stuff. You can find a bunch of the Toonami intros, commercial bumpers and promos on Youtube. Here's a big collection of them for example. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cp0vp7vsII&t=576s

Zenkai the song wasn't kept in the credits, they used RtD playing over Cha La footage that was shortened to about 30 seconds. Once Garlic Jr. rolled along they changed the song to that goofy ass butt rock Faulconer theme with a completely random assortment of clips. Toonami would air the real credits for some shows but in a shortened fashion...I think. Dragon Ball had a shortened version of the real credits with an English dub of the song (I Give You Romance or whatever it's called).

I discovered Greg Werner's site and DBZ Uncensored during the year or so gap between the Saban dub and Funi dub so I knew what had aired in syndication and what was currently airing on Toonami was censored. A friend of mine got the first few Season 3 tapes uncut when they were released so it was sort of fun to compare. Dialogue, music and overall tone changes aside, the visual portion of the show wasn't *that* censored once Season 3 started airing on Toonami. I was sort of blown away by the amount of blood and violence that was being shown on a kids cable network.

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Re: How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by Zestanor » Tue Sep 17, 2019 4:29 pm

Thanks for the input so far, guys. I figured a lot of this is in the main site news backlog, but I figure a few people with good recall could answer the questions in a more timely and accurate manner than if I attempted to scour the archives.

I’ve become curious lately about the ‘original’ dub that many of my peers grew up with, hence all the questions. I imagine it was pretty hype back in tge day getting new episodes.

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Re: How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by MasenkoHA » Tue Sep 17, 2019 10:06 pm

Zestanor wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:21 pm
Then, I assume there was some break before the dubbed season 4 began to air. They went back to episode 1, right? When they finished airing a season, did they always go back to episode 1? Or did they try to give other arcs more rerun exposure, since it was one episode a day, and they didn’t need to rerun 200 episodes before a new season?
My memory isn’t infallible , but I seem to remember Toonami only playing the most recent season on loop until new episodes were ordered. I definitely remember it going from the first Otherworld Tournament episode to the episode where Vegeta sacrifices himself to kill Fat Boo and then all over again a frustrating amounts of times. I’m 99.99 percent sure they didn’t jump back to Arrival of Raditz after every season finale

Dragon Ball started being dubbed and aired before DBZ was finished airing. Did Dragon Ball have “seasons” like DBZ, or did it air continuously? Once DB started airing, did dubbed DBZ begin to treat the viewer with the assumption that he had seen it? Obviously at the beginning of DBZ, they don’t treat the viewer like he’s seen DB, since it wasn’t dubbed yet.
It had seasons, yes.

The Boo saga didn’t give much opportunity to refer to events in Dragon Ball unlike the Android/Cell saga (which made errors left and right that were never corrected for re-releases) the only weird thing is a non-episode flashback with Chi Chi and Goku “on a date” Goku going from Ceyli Delgadillo (Goku in DB movie 2 and 3 dub) to Nadolny (series dub Goku)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M4zLoeG5a1I

Also Chi Chi isn’t voiced by Laura Bailey in the flashback

When they redubbed the first two seasons, were these shown in the classic 5pm slot? Did they all air at once, one a day for 67 weekdays? Was there ever a time when both the new dub and the old dub existed on Toonami at the same time?
No it was shown late at night as Dragon Ball Z Uncut the whole thing was marketed as being “Super hardcore”
Did the new dub inmediately replace the old dub for reruns?
I don’t believe the new dub ever ran past episode 67. They just ran those 67 redubbed uncut episodes and then back instead of moving on to Ginyu Assault.

The Uncut episodes were done when Toonami was in the Twilight of its life.

Were there any “marathons” where they would break out of the once a day time slot?
They ran the entire Garlic Jr saga for 2000/2001 New Years eve. I’m sure there were others.

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Re: How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by jjgp1112 » Tue Sep 17, 2019 10:19 pm

They actually did resume showing DBZ weekly on Toonami from like 2005 all the way until Toonami was cancelled in 2008. Bizarrely, I remember them showing the Ultimate Uncut episodes with minimal edits and then like midway through the Saiyan saga they switched to the Ocean Dub. By the time Toonami was cancelled they were at the Cell Games.
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Re: How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by Arian » Tue Sep 17, 2019 11:35 pm

Alright, lemme crack my knuckles and offer what I can.
Zestanor wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:21 pmDid GT follow immediately after the last episode of Z? Or before Z was even done airing? Did it get its own timeslot? Did GT air once a day without breaks?
GT started airing in November of 2003, where Dragon Ball Z ended in April. Fortunately, the FUNimation dub made no mention of GT in the finale, unlike the Ocean/Westwood dub that did. Although GT had a more quick and less messy premiere in Europe and Canada than it did in the United States and other such markets that aired FUNimation's dub.
Zestanor wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:21 pmOnce DB, Z, and GT were fully aired on Toonami, I did they continue to rerun until the end of Toonami? During reruns, especially for Z, did they just go back to episode 1?
It really depended on Toonami/Cartoon Network's mood. For the most part, they'd play repeats of Buu stuff, but sometimes you'd get a Trunks saga run or Frieza saga episode here and there. Not to mention it was very on and off with Z after it ended. Dragon Ball had a life on that Saturday Video Entertainment System block, but after that ended and Toonami was moved from weekdays to Saturday nights, the original Dragon Ball was done entirely. GT would be seen on Cartoon Network casually between standard programming and Toonami until the end of 2005, but like I said about Dragon Ball Z, it would live on the network on and off until the end of March 2008.
Zestanor wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:21 pmWhen they redubbed the first two seasons, were these shown in the classic 5pm slot? Did they all air at once, one a day for 67 weekdays? Was there ever a time when both the new dub and the old dub existed on Toonami at the same time?
At that point, Toonami was taken off the weekday afternoon slots in favour of the Miguzi block with the intent of targeting a different demographic. Dragon Ball Z Uncut started in June 2005 airing at 10:30pm Monday-Thursday nights, right before [adult swim]. It was a pretty solid deal. At some point (October 15, 2005), they decided to move it from that slot after the run ended and decided to air repeats of the uncut dub on Toonami, as early as 7:30pm. The earlier timeslot was an interesting choice indeed.

So on a weekly basis, Toonami aired first 9 uncut episodes again week by week, until January 21, 2006 when they switched back to the Saban dub (ironically right after the robot episode), apparently citing ratings troubles, but I don't know how substantial that claim is.
Zestanor wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:21 pmI’ve heard there were some alterations made to the dub even before it was radically revisited for the season sets. Namely, the narrator was replaced, and redubbed some of the old guy’s lines during subsequent reruns. Is this correct? How similar (besides the UU episodes) would a rerun dub in 2007 have been to the dub on the initial airings?
This was true for the DVD releases, but not at all for the Cartoon Network broadcasts. Despite returning to their air in April of 2007, two months following the Season One Orange Brick DVD set, Cartoon Network were still using the digibetas they had originally received from FUNimation, so every episode they aired between April 2007 and March 2008 (keep in mind they didn't air any Buu Saga episodes during this run) had Dale Kelly's voice as narrator amongst other things the OG dub had.
Zestanor wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:21 pmWhen rerunning seasons 1 and 2, did they keep Rock the Dragon as the intro song, or replace it with the Faulconer intro? I know RtD was used even during season 3: was it replaced during subsequent reruns?

Did the Toonami presentation keep the commercial break cards? Was Zenkai Power retained in any way for ending credits?
Nope, we got an original opening (oddly enough with Saffron Henderson voice bytes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuFd5a_XLhc

And this extremely lazy ending sequence (which was 50 seconds longer on the UUSE Singles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7WqkQiHxkA

If you have any follow-up questions to any of my claims or comments, please let me know, I'd be more than happy to address them.
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Re: How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by TheBigBoy » Wed Sep 18, 2019 10:03 am

jjgp1112 wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 10:19 pm They actually did resume showing DBZ weekly on Toonami from like 2005 all the way until Toonami was cancelled in 2008. Bizarrely, I remember them showing the Ultimate Uncut episodes with minimal edits and then like midway through the Saiyan saga they switched to the Ocean Dub. By the time Toonami was cancelled they were at the Cell Games.
I remember seeing the UU episodes randomly when watching TV with my girlfriend one night in like 2006. At first I was like "Oh cool, Saiyan Saga!" then I saw Kuririn run over to Yamcha's corpse which I knew wasn't there in the old dub. The edits to the TV version really were minimal - were there any at all? I seem to recall even them showing naked young Goku a couple times. And it wasn't even shown that late in the evening. There was some mild swearing also.

The UU airing on Cartoon Network really reinvigorated my interest in the series. I even got my girlfriend watching it. She broke up with me about the time I started making her watched subbed episodes :lol:

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Re: How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by jjgp1112 » Wed Sep 18, 2019 11:16 am

TheBigBoy wrote: Wed Sep 18, 2019 10:03 am
jjgp1112 wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 10:19 pm They actually did resume showing DBZ weekly on Toonami from like 2005 all the way until Toonami was cancelled in 2008. Bizarrely, I remember them showing the Ultimate Uncut episodes with minimal edits and then like midway through the Saiyan saga they switched to the Ocean Dub. By the time Toonami was cancelled they were at the Cell Games.
I remember seeing the UU episodes randomly when watching TV with my girlfriend one night in like 2006. At first I was like "Oh cool, Saiyan Saga!" then I saw Kuririn run over to Yamcha's corpse which I knew wasn't there in the old dub. The edits to the TV version really were minimal - were there any at all? I seem to recall even them showing naked young Goku a couple times. And it wasn't even shown that late in the evening. There was some mild swearing also.

The UU airing on Cartoon Network really reinvigorated my interest in the series. I even got my girlfriend watching it. She broke up with me about the time I started making her watched subbed episodes :lol:
well yeah, that first late night weekday run of 1-67 was uncut, but I'm talking about when they put it on Toonami later on.
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Re: How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by SuperSaiyaManZ94 » Wed Sep 18, 2019 11:31 am

jjgp1112 wrote: Wed Sep 18, 2019 11:16 am
TheBigBoy wrote: Wed Sep 18, 2019 10:03 am
jjgp1112 wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 10:19 pm They actually did resume showing DBZ weekly on Toonami from like 2005 all the way until Toonami was cancelled in 2008. Bizarrely, I remember them showing the Ultimate Uncut episodes with minimal edits and then like midway through the Saiyan saga they switched to the Ocean Dub. By the time Toonami was cancelled they were at the Cell Games.
I remember seeing the UU episodes randomly when watching TV with my girlfriend one night in like 2006. At first I was like "Oh cool, Saiyan Saga!" then I saw Kuririn run over to Yamcha's corpse which I knew wasn't there in the old dub. The edits to the TV version really were minimal - were there any at all? I seem to recall even them showing naked young Goku a couple times. And it wasn't even shown that late in the evening. There was some mild swearing also.

The UU airing on Cartoon Network really reinvigorated my interest in the series. I even got my girlfriend watching it. She broke up with me about the time I started making her watched subbed episodes :lol:
well yeah, that first late night weekday run of 1-67 was uncut, but I'm talking about when they put it on Toonami later on.
I did catch some scattered broadcasts of the initial late run of the UUE dub that summer when CN was in full swing with their big Summer 2005 event, it was mostly on nights when i just couldn't sleep. While i did see a good portion of them it wasn't the whole run because there were a few times in which i did dozed off during some mostly midway through airings. If memory serves me right it was specifically some of the filler episodes that were the reason (Goz and Mez, Princess Snake, the orphans) and almost every time it would happen. Crazy memory i know, but something about that red tinged opening was just trippy to my ten going on eleven year old self at the time, and watching some of those same episodes that i'd seen in edited form with repeats of the old Season 1 and 2 dub just a few years earlier.
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Re: How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by DrBriefsCat » Wed Sep 18, 2019 11:55 pm

Zestanor wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:21 pm I didn’t watch DBZ back in the day for whatever reason, probably because a bad friend of mine liked it and I didn’t really like him.

I’ve heard a few things about how the US Toonami presentation of Dragon Ball worked, and perhaps you guys can help fill in the gaps or make corrections.

The first two Saban ‘seasons’ of the show, 53 episodes, aired one a day (7 days a week? just weekdays?) at 5:00 pm, without breaks. Once they got to episode 53, then they went back to episode 1. After a few cycles of this, the first three DBZ movies were added to the cycle. When Funimation had finished season 3, which went up through Garlic Jr., the old cycle was broken out of and they aired these new episodes one a day without breaks at 5 pm. How many cycles of 1-53 did Toonami go through before moving on?
From memory (correct me if I'm missing something):
I recall the first 53 episodes airing only on weekday afternoons from 1998 to fall 1999. After the first 3 movies premiered as a special event in early 1999(I think), Toonami started reairing them split into half-hour chunks inbetween reruns of the first 53 episodes.
Were the dubbed movies aired in the 5pm slot, or at another time? How did they spread out the movies on Cartoon Network?
I recall they were around that timeslot once a week as a special event. The usual programming on the block would be pre-empted (Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, Real Adventures of Johnny Quest, Batmas TAS, Thundercats).
Dragon Ball started being dubbed and aired before DBZ was finished airing. Did Dragon Ball have “seasons” like DBZ, or did it air continuously? Once DB started airing, did dubbed DBZ begin to treat the viewer with the assumption that he had seen it? Obviously at the beginning of DBZ, they don’t treat the viewer like he’s seen DB, since it wasn’t dubbed yet.
It aired in seasons like Z. While I don't know if dubbed Z treated the audience like they had seen it, it kind of seemed like the reverse with DB. King Piccolo's death scene was left in the airing of DBZ while in flashback, but was cut out later when the actual episode of DB aired.
Did GT follow immediately after the last episode of Z? Or before Z was even done airing? Did it get its own timeslot? Did GT air once a day without breaks?
I believe it was a while later and was treated like a separate show.
Once DB, Z, and GT were fully aired on Toonami, I did they continue to rerun until the end of Toonami? During reruns, especially for Z, did they just go back to episode 1?
While I can't say whether DBZ reran until the end of the block, it aired a lot longer than Original DB. DB was rerun in full a few times and then got pulled altogether after the first few episodes ran again without notice.
When they redubbed the first two seasons, were these shown in the classic 5pm slot? Did they all air at once, one a day for 67 weekdays? Was there ever a time when both the new dub and the old dub existed on Toonami at the same time?
They might have run either at 5 or 6pm. The redubs of the first two seasons of Z didn't run on Toonami proper, but on regular CN. They ran once in the evening on weekdays. The old dub never reran on CN, except for a freak case in a rerun where a Saban episode substituted a redub one for an unknown reason.
Did the new dub inmediately replace the old dub for reruns?
Yes.
When rerunning seasons 1 and 2, did they keep Rock the Dragon as the intro song, or replace it with the Faulconer intro? I know RtD was used even during season 3: was it replaced during subsequent reruns?
No, it had its own intro like on the Ultimate Uncut DVDs.
Did the Toonami presentation keep the commercial break cards? Was Zenkai Power retained in any way for ending credits?
No. It was the same as the dubbed angle on the Ultimate Uncut DVDs.
At the time, did you get the sense that the ‘edited for TV’ dub was the main product, and the tapes and DVDs, cut and uncut, were afterthoughts? I.e. basically everyone called him Hercule, not Satan, right?
When it came to Z, I got the feeling they were both worked on at the same time. As for original DB, sometimes the edited Toonami version felt like it came first and other times the uncut dub on DVD depending on the season.

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Re: How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by Danfun64 » Thu Sep 19, 2019 12:01 am

I honestly didn't know UUC had an edited variant on CN USA. I wish we had complete recordings of it, both cut and uncut

I mean, I may prefer watching Japanese Z or Funi Kai, but still.

And before anyone brings up the remastered sets, there's no guarantee that they didn't change anything from the original broadcasts.
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Re: How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by DrBriefsCat » Thu Sep 19, 2019 12:16 am

jjgp1112 wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2019 10:19 pm They actually did resume showing DBZ weekly on Toonami from like 2005 all the way until Toonami was cancelled in 2008. Bizarrely, I remember them showing the Ultimate Uncut episodes with minimal edits and then like midway through the Saiyan saga they switched to the Ocean Dub. By the time Toonami was cancelled they were at the Cell Games.
Danfun64 wrote: Thu Sep 19, 2019 12:01 am I honestly didn't know UUC had an edited variant on CN USA. I wish we had complete recordings of it, both cut and uncut

I mean, I may prefer watching Japanese Z or Funi Kai, but still.

And before anyone brings up the remastered sets, there's no guarantee that they didn't change anything from the original broadcasts.
The Ultimate Uncut dub actually aired on CN without edits for content. The only scene that was supposed to air edited was Goku's rear nudity in the Princess Snake episode. However, the uncut scene aired by accident because somebody at the network slipped the wrong tape (reported by Toonzone's forums at the time). I recall the UUE dub aired only once in full and when rerun switched to a Saban episode.

I recorded it at the time, but unfortunately the recordings got mangled by the VCR (it was on its last legs and was scratching tapes).

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Re: How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by Arian » Thu Sep 19, 2019 10:55 am

Danfun64 wrote: Thu Sep 19, 2019 12:01 am I honestly didn't know UUC had an edited variant on CN USA. I wish we had complete recordings of it, both cut and uncut

I mean, I may prefer watching Japanese Z or Funi Kai, but still.

And before anyone brings up the remastered sets, there's no guarantee that they didn't change anything from the original broadcasts.
It's funny you say that because,

1) They didn't edit the UUSE on Cartoon Network, that's why it was on quite late at first.
2) They did make changes to future releases, that's for certain.
Was the hate for Kai largely unjustified?
Super Saiyan Prime wrote:It's an edited, cynically produced, cheap recut with a poorly utilized ancient score and awful scene recreations that later got traded in for a weird green tint.

The story of Kai's production is far more interesting than the actual product.
Danfun64 wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2019 7:40 pm Screw Corus and it's monopoly. It should sell off the Nick, Disney, and CN assets at minimum.

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Re: How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by ABED » Thu Sep 19, 2019 5:15 pm

DrBriefsCat wrote: Wed Sep 18, 2019 11:55 pm At the time, did you get the sense that the ‘edited for TV’ dub was the main product, and the tapes and DVDs, cut and uncut, were afterthoughts? I.e. basically everyone called him Hercule, not Satan, right?
Nah, especially once the DVD's came out which never contained the edited version.
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Re: How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by LostTimeLord » Fri Sep 20, 2019 9:43 am

Arian wrote: Thu Sep 19, 2019 10:55 am 1) They didn't edit the UUSE on Cartoon Network, that's why it was on quite late at first.
As someone from outside the US who was introduced to the franchise in the early 10s, seeing the regular CN branding over something that violent does not compute.

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Re: How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by Zestanor » Fri Sep 20, 2019 11:18 am

I think what makes it look so violent is Raditz’s mouth. It’s hard to tell from the still that he’s coughing up blood. It rather looks like he’s gotten some teeth knocked out and his mouth is all cut up, which is much more violent (inasmuch as it’s something nasty that could happen in real life) as opposed to getting a devil laser pop a hole in you and begin to cough up blood. The latter seems less violent because that generally doesn’t happen in real life.

Also maybe it’s just the VCR settings, but the blood in thus actually looks like blood; it’s dark red, not bright red, which is how cartoon blood is usually colored.

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Re: How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by Arian » Fri Sep 20, 2019 8:37 pm

LostTimeLord wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2019 9:43 amAs someone from outside the US who was introduced to the franchise in the early 10s, seeing the regular CN branding over something that violent does not compute.
Oh, yeah. If you think Cartoon Network is liberal now, you have no idea how awesome they were back in the day! I'm surprised they even needed an [adult swim] block in the first place.
Was the hate for Kai largely unjustified?
Super Saiyan Prime wrote:It's an edited, cynically produced, cheap recut with a poorly utilized ancient score and awful scene recreations that later got traded in for a weird green tint.

The story of Kai's production is far more interesting than the actual product.
Danfun64 wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2019 7:40 pm Screw Corus and it's monopoly. It should sell off the Nick, Disney, and CN assets at minimum.

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Re: How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by MasenkoHA » Fri Sep 20, 2019 10:16 pm

Arian wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2019 8:37 pm
LostTimeLord wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2019 9:43 amAs someone from outside the US who was introduced to the franchise in the early 10s, seeing the regular CN branding over something that violent does not compute.
Oh, yeah. If you think Cartoon Network is liberal now, you have no idea how awesome they were back in the day! I'm surprised they even needed an [adult swim] block in the first place.
Because nothing they showed on Toonami back in the day was that bad or edgy.

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Re: How DBZ on Cartoon Network worked? Please help explain

Post by Arian » Sat Sep 21, 2019 12:08 am

MasenkoHA wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2019 10:16 pm
Arian wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2019 8:37 pm
LostTimeLord wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2019 9:43 amAs someone from outside the US who was introduced to the franchise in the early 10s, seeing the regular CN branding over something that violent does not compute.
Oh, yeah. If you think Cartoon Network is liberal now, you have no idea how awesome they were back in the day! I'm surprised they even needed an [adult swim] block in the first place.
Because nothing they showed on Toonami back in the day was that bad or edgy.
I meant compared to other children's networks. And yes, I was mildly exaggerating.
Was the hate for Kai largely unjustified?
Super Saiyan Prime wrote:It's an edited, cynically produced, cheap recut with a poorly utilized ancient score and awful scene recreations that later got traded in for a weird green tint.

The story of Kai's production is far more interesting than the actual product.
Danfun64 wrote: Tue Aug 27, 2019 7:40 pm Screw Corus and it's monopoly. It should sell off the Nick, Disney, and CN assets at minimum.

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