Bang Cartoon

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Bang Cartoon
Image:Bangcartoonlogo.jpg
URL Bang Cartoon.com
Commercial? yes
Type of site Website
Available language(s) English
Owner John Tayman
Created by John Tayman
Launched September 2003
Current status Active

Bang Cartoon (also called Bang Cartoons or Bang!) is a website that hosts satirical Flash cartoons based almost exclusively on the NFL. It was created in September 2003. It is owned and operated by John Tayman who is a lifelong fan of the NFL and follows the Washington Redskins.

In September 2005 a podcast series was introduced hosted by Tayman and the site's producer Tom Lacks. Like the cartoons it is satirical and based mostly on the NFL. Lacks is an avid Buckeye and Cowboy fan and this is often a source humor on the show.

The cartoons grew out of Tayman's love for the NFL and his belief that many NFL fans take the sport too seriously. It has attracted both praise and criticism and has also become popular among a number of the players that they generally parody. The site hosts an active message board community which hosts discussion about the cartoon and podcasts. Links can be found on many player websites, most notably Clinton Portis and Santana Moss.

Contents

[edit] History

It began in early 2003 when Tayman produced two cartoons, about the Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder stealing players from the New York Jets and broadcaster John Madden getting his head stuck in a bucket. From there each cartoon gained an increasing audience. The release of "Booyah!", a cartoon parodying ESPN anchor Stuart Scott, Arizona Cardinals running back Emmitt Smith and Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis saw the numbers of visitors increase significantly.

The site's popularity increased significantly in December of 2003 with the release of "Michael Vick Takes A Crap" (viewable at [1]), parodying the seemingly endless praising of Vick by Mike Patrick, Paul Maguire, and Joe Theismann during a Sunday night game on ESPN against the Carolina Panthers. Traffic to the site overwhelmed its servers and Tayman was forced to search for a new server.[citation needed]

Tayman was contacted by Eric Leichter, an owner and administrator of Extremeskins, a Washington Redskins fan site. Leichter offered to host the cartoons on Extremeskins. Tayman agreed and it became Bang Cartoon's new host. It remained there until the summer of 2005 when it was removed from Extremeskins after the Washington Redskins purchased the site and determined that, due to the scornful nature of some of the cartoons, it not be officially connected with Bang Cartoon. Bang Cartoon then became exclusively featured on its own domain where it remains to date.

A new website and forum were introduced in early 2006 and the website's content was expanded in August of 2006. The site now also covers music, movies and politics through columns e-mailed to the site.

[edit] Development

In April 2004 Bang Cartoon released "Going Poston", a cartoon about sports agents Carl and Kevin Poston and their client, then NFL rookie Kellen Winslow II. The cartoon was a satirical look at the upcoming contract negotiations between the Postons and the Cleveland Browns. The following Sunday, ESPN used the cartoon on their program Outside the Lines in a segment about the Postons.[1] In the segment they showed the cartoon to one of the Postons, who laughed at it, and called it "unfortunate". Later in the program, sports agent and former NBA star Len Elmore said the cartoon was "disgusting" and carried "racial overtones", due to the accents and attitudes of the characters.[1] From there a small storm began in which the accusations of racism surfaced.[2] It culminated when Tayman appeared on sports radio in Cleveland to answer growing questions as to the motives behind the characterization.[3]

[edit] Controversy

Many fans believe that the cartoons express Tayman’s hatred for the NFL. Tayman has received a large amount of hate mail as a result.[citation needed]

Other cartoons have caused controversy, although not in the same way. A cartoon with Benjamin Franklin showing a young Eagles fan called Tommy ask why all sports teams from Philadelphia lose, raised a lot of hackles in that city. Criticism from Philadelphia fans poured in, complete with physical threats.[citation needed] When Tayman released "Child's Play", another cartoon about the Philadelphia Eagles and their problems with Terrell Owens, it set records for traffic and within a day had closed down another server and had to scramble for more bandwidth.[citation needed] Eagle fans praised the cartoon. The feedback this time was decidedly positive. Philadelphia and New Jersey are now the top traffic providing area for the website.[citation needed]

[edit] Characters

Most characters are satirical portrayals of actual NFL players, coaches and journalists. However “The Justice Guys” feature NFL players and coaches as superheroes. Non-NFL personalities such as George W Bush have also appeared. There are also a number of characters that have been created by Bang Cartoons, with news reporters Harry Sphincter and Bill Spleen and newsreader Lance Pants the most frequent of these.

Other frequent characters include:

[edit] Bang Cartoon Radio Hour

In September 2005 a podcast series called "The Bang Cartoon Radio Hour" was introduced to the site. It features Tayman and fellow site developer Tom Lacks talking for about an hour discussing issues in the NFL. Like the cartoons they take a satirical approach to most issues. They will try to avoid analysis of games or players, believing that to be something eveyone does. Lacks often provides audio of notable or amusing quotes from players, coaches and announcers.

Episodes are produced weekly and feature a contest called "The Big Bang contest" and e-mail segment called "The amazing Bang cartoon e-mail of the week". The prize in the contest is always provided by sports apparel site Banditmax.com. During the season Tayman and Lacks will make spread bets on the week's games.

In May 2006, the Radio Hour was named the winner of the Podcast-O-Rama, a contest which pitted podcasts against one another in a bracket style tournament.[4] The contest was hosted and sponsored by vitalpodcasts.com and tpsradio.net. In November 2006 a MySpace page was set up for it.

[edit] Other features

With the introduction of a new website a number of other features were added.

  • Meet the Mullettes a sitcom about rednecks Skeeter Mullette, his wife Raylene, his brother Duane and his best friend Jim-Bob Stuckey. Tayman portrays all characters. This has now expanded into a weekly cartoon feature called "The Super Awesome Football Show".
  • The Bang Music hour which showcases unsigned artists and bands which have been e-mailed to Tayman by visitors to the site.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Outside the Lines" ESPN television program May, 2004
  2. ^ Ryan Basen (December 3, 2005). "Drawing Attention". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved on 2008-02-28.
  3. ^ The Greg-O Show on WBZX, Columbus Ohio, Jan. 15, 2006.
  4. ^ 2006 Podcast O Rama

SI.com "Extra Mustard" calls the Bang Cartoon "Pacman Does Dallas" a "MUST SEE"[2] May 2008

[edit] External links