... And that's not even the most disturbing part of the story.

Sure, it's upsetting that we're losing the excellent animated series from Genndy (Dexter’s Lab, Samurai Jack) Tartakovsky; But why is the Cartoon Network canceling a series that's not only quality TV, but a genuine commercial ratings success to boot?

Apparently, because there's no merch!

The relationship between art and commerce has always been both symbiotic and adversarial - after all, without a property that attracts a loyal following, there's nobody to buy all those action figures, maquettes, T-Shirts and statues - but that hunger for easy money has tainted some otherwise great television shows and films, calling for entire scenes to be scripted based around the need for a variant costume chase figure, and if you're scripting a series just for the sake of quality TV, especially in the world of animation, that's apparently no longer enough for CN's parent company Warner Bros.

An anonymous Cartoon Network associate tells the TAG Blog:

“Genddy’s moved on to Sony Pictures Animation. Titan got competitive ratings with other action shows, but what shut it down was it didn’t have enough toys connected to it. If you don’t have the [toy sales], the studios don’t want to renew for another season.”

Nothing in that should be especially surprising to anyone who knows how the business works; it is, however, disheartening, and for the show's many fans it's a damn shame.