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The Bulbagarden Conversational Chat Thread Vol 4

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Cap'n Jack

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I haven't really noticed the My Little Pony fandom getting worse. Basically what's happened is the exact thing I thought would happen: the novelty of it is wearing off and now it's just a typically eccentric cult fan-base. When the whole "Bronies" thing was getting started what basically happened, in my eyes, was that people were all like "HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS LIKE MY LITTLE PONIES?!?!" and the fans were all like "FUCK YEAH WE DO, LET'S SHOW YOU HOW MUCH WE WATCH MY LITTLE PONIES!!! 11! 1! 1". Now that that whole initial deal is out of the way, the fans have kinda lost their reason to be so outgoing into the public eye. The My Little Pony fan-base has always just been the usually unusual cult fan-base that we as a popular culture have already experienced, it's just the show that happened to get that fan-base this time around is traditionally a pansy show for prissy little girls and stuff, and so people reacted a bit more strongly.

Really, I've never been that rampant of a fan of the show, and I've been a fan for about a year and a half now. I like the show, and I think it's a pretty good show, but the main thing that drew people to it was the idea that the latest incarnation of this prissy little girl's show actually wasn't a prissy little girl's show and was pretty good in its own right. Time will tell if this whole "Bronies" thing has been influential or important to the future of cartoons and all that jazz, but right now I think the fans have settled down into their cult fan status nicely. There are idiots and trolls and pricks and all that, but there always have been, and I think maybe they're easier to notice now that the fans have settled down and become a little more chill. I don't really even like calling myself a Brony, I just say that I like the show.

It's a lot like the Star Trek fan-base, really.
 

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Yep, basically. The Bronies have went from a sane group of fans to well....the abyss. And as you said, eventually it just loses interest cause its a kid show, but not entirely. Pokemon is still a kid show and it has its moments, and a lot of stuff like Transformers or even TMNT offers something for the older fans.

Well, see, I haven't really been interested in the Pokemon anime since I was the target age for it. Most of my continued interest in Pokemon has been in the games.

The only kids' shows that have really had continuing interest for me are ones where there's just a lot of nostalgia wrapped up in it for me, or where they do make more of an effort to appeal to adult fans, with subtle adult humor and references and stuff. Or both, in the case of stuff like Animaniacs, which remains my favorite Western cartoon ever.

@Jack Pschitt; I do think that MLP:FIM has been influential in terms of showing how a show for little girls can be done right without any really obvious attempts to woo adults in, like with the aforementioned adult humor or references that shows like Animaniacs had and was common in the '90s, or the trippy stuff which means you have cross-over appeal with college stoners and no one else. I think it's been a great testament to just how far good writing can go, and having people who actually care about making the show good as opposed to just wanting to line their pocketbooks with a cash-cow franchise. MLP:FIM succeeds as a show that parents can watch with their kids without wanting to blow their brains out, something that used to be incredibly common on TV but which became a rarity in the last decade or so. That's all it has to be, and I think it's helping to cause newer shows like it to rethink their approach. (For example, while I only saw a couple of episodes, I was pleasantly surprised at how watchable the new Littlest Pet Shop was, and I can't help but think - even besides the fact that there are a lot of the same people working on it - that this is due to MLP's influence.)

I linked to Todd VanDerWerff's review of it for The A.V. Club in my article, and I still think it's one of the best I've read of the show out there. And I find myself agreeing with it more and more lately.
 
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Xita

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Spongebob back when it was funny had humor for all ages.
 

Mitchman

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Yep, basically. The Bronies have went from a sane group of fans to well....the abyss. And as you said, eventually it just loses interest cause its a kid show, but not entirely. Pokemon is still a kid show and it has its moments, and a lot of stuff like Transformers or even TMNT offers something for the older fans.

Well, see, I haven't really been interested in the Pokemon anime since I was the target age for it. Most of my continued interest in Pokemon has been in the games.

The only kids' shows that have really had continuing interest for me are ones where there's just a lot of nostalgia wrapped up in it for me, or where they do make more of an effort to appeal to adult fans, with subtle adult humor and references and stuff. Or both, in the case of stuff like Animaniacs, which remains my favorite Western cartoon ever.
Well yeah, Animaniacs is the best exception to the rule.

Spongebob back when it was funny had humor for all ages.
Spongebob was legit awesome from 1999 to 2006, yep even after the movie. I swear though, it kills me when kids tell me they don't know what the hell the fun song is, or why I tell them that a cardboard box is the best thing ever.
 

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Spongebob back when it was funny had humor for all ages.

Yeah, but it hasn't been like that for a while.

Now it appeals to the aforementioned stoner types, or people who like it out of nostalgia, and just about nobody else who is above the age of 12 or so.
 

Cap'n Jack

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Spongebob back when it was funny had humor for all ages.

Oh, that reminds me that My Little Pony as a show has changed its general tone over the years. I wouldn't say that it's regressing back into a prissy little girl's show, but it's not deviating away from the standard conventions of the typical kid's show as much as it did early on, I think the main things to point out in backing that up would be that the show has less cultural references and more continuity. There's nothing wrong with that, and season three definitely had good episodes in my opinion, but the earlier, more eclectic style is what I prefer in a sitcom, personally.

Hillenberg-era SpongeBob is god-tier SpongeBob. I'm glad I got to grow up on that shit.
 

Xita

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Spongebob was legit awesome from 1999 to 2006, yep even after the movie. I swear though, it kills me when kids tell me they don't know what the hell the fun song is, or why I tell them that a cardboard box is the best thing ever.

That is so sad ;__;
And agreed, after 2006, the decline started. I think I'd feel better if they just killed it off so I'm not suckered into watching a new episode to see if it has gotten any better.
 

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Did no one see my post? Mickey Mouse, by the guy who did Dexter and PPG. Go watch it, its amazing. And yeah, Hillenberg Spongebob was the best. So much crap got passed the radar its not funny. Still does, but not like the old stuff. It actually was meant for Adult Swim.
 

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@Xita; The problem is it's just easier to be unoriginal on TV, whether it comes to something for kids or adults. People would rather go with something that they already know "works" (in terms of getting in viewers, not in terms of quality), even if it sucks, rather than take chances on new stuff.

Glee is a good example. That show has never been great, but in its first season, it was at least something new and original. Nobody had ever had a truly successful TV series musical. But it's long overstayed its welcome, and is basically becoming a parody of itself at this point. Yet, because it's still so popular, they won't ever get rid of it.
 

Cap'n Jack

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I do think that MLP:FIM has been influential in terms of showing how a show for little girls can be done right without any really obvious attempts to woo adults in, like with the aforementioned adult humor or references that shows like Animaniacs had and was common in the '90s, or the trippy stuff which means you have cross-over appeal with college stoners and no one else. I think it's been a great testament to just how far good writing can go, and having people who actually care about making the show good as opposed to just wanting to line their pocketbooks with a cash-cow franchise. MLP:FIM succeeds as a show that parents can watch with their kids without wanting to blow their brains out, something that used to be incredibly common on TV but which became a rarity in the last decade or so. That's all it has to be, and I think it's helping to cause newer shows like it to rethink their approach. (For example, while I only saw a couple of episodes, I was pleasantly surprised at how watchable the new Littlest Pet Shop was, and I can't help but think - even besides the fact that there are a lot of the same people working on it - that this is due to MLP's influence.)

I do think the show has been influential in the first part of this decade at least. Whether or not we look back on it that way like we do Rocky and Bullwinkle or The Simpsons or something like that will be answered by time and time alone.

I haven't seen any Littlest Pet Shop, but I like the pretty colors.
 

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@Xita; The problem is it's just easier to be unoriginal on TV. People would rather go with something that they already know "works" (in terms of getting in viewers, not in terms of quality), even if it sucks, rather than take chances on new stuff.

Glee is a good example. That show has never been great, but in its first season, it was at least something new and original. Nobody had ever had a truly successful TV series musical. But it's long overstayed its welcome, and is basically becoming a parody of itself at this point. Yet, because it's still so popular, they won't ever get rid of it.

And that's the sad truth.
 

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(making this into a new comment because of the speed of this thread)

One encouraging thing at least for TV for adults is the rise of premium networks (like HBO and Showtime) and other stuff that goes beyond basic cable, where the more original works can survive because they don't need as big of an audience to be a "hit" for that network. Like, it's well-known that if Mad Men were on CBS or something with the numbers it has, it probably wouldn't have lasted beyond its first season. But because it's on AMC, it's one of their flagship shows and going into its sixth season. I think The Hub could turn out to be something like that for kids' television.
 

Cap'n Jack

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(making this into a new comment because of the speed of this thread)

One encouraging thing at least for TV for adults is the rise of premium networks (like HBO and Showtime) and other stuff that goes beyond basic cable, where the more original works can survive because they don't need as big of an audience to be a "hit" for that network. Like, it's well-known that if Mad Men were on CBS or something with the numbers it has, it probably wouldn't have lasted beyond its first season. But because it's on AMC, it's one of their flagship shows and going into its sixth season. I think The Hub could turn out to be something like that for kids' television.

I think the kid's/family networks just fight for money instead of ratings. :p

Speaking of AMC, I haven't watched The Walking Dead in so fucking long. Man.
 

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Like, I have a secret ambition to be a TV writer, though I think it's never going to happen because writing TV is so much harder to get into than just about anything else.

And if I were, I'd totally shop my show to HBO, Showtime, AMC, etc. long before I'd approach any of the major networks. Because I don't want to have to deal with my show being too weird to have ratings as high as Two and a Half Men.

The weirdest development in TV is the idea of Hulu and Netflix having their own original shows and releasing them all at once. Like, that just changes so much about what makes TV different than movies in some ways.

Then again, I've watched most of my favorite shows lately in marathon segments, rather than being released one-by-one on TV. Usually because they're either no longer airing (e.g. Firefly) or because they're from another country (e.g. Skins - although they aired it in the U.S., but changed too many things for me to want to bother with it).
 

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Yeah, too many of my favorite shows aren't aired here, and I marathon them as well. At least we get the closer and friends on TV, and I finally got to see all of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Thinking about marathoning Full House for the sake of nostalgia, but rumor has it that they're gonna air it. Fraiser is on at the wrong time though, Charmed takes up my 7 in the morning tv time. At least we get Raymond at 6. :p
 

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One of my best friends in the world is completely obsessed with Friends. I don't get it.

I mean, I get why people like that show but not what possesses them to be obsessed with it.

@Chespin; where do you live again?
 

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Greece. It sucks to be here cause a lot of the shows I watched from the early 90s when I was 8-9 never went through to me, and I seriously need to watch them all again. Only thing is, I need to use unsavory means to do so.

And friends is friends, it just is. No reason to hate it, no reason to live it, its existence is a pure maelstrom of perfection.
 

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Bye Jack!

@Chespin; I use unsavory means for most of the non-American shows I watch (namely, British shows and anime), because I usually find that I prefer them in their original version. Even with British shows, where obviously the language is the same and such, they usually change stuff like music due to copyright and, in the case of Skins, edit out some of the sex and drug-use scenes. So I would rather watch them in their original version.

In the case of Downton Abbey they didn't change anything but because I was a super-fan at the time, I just HAD to know what was happening and couldn't wait for the episodes to come out in the U.S. Lol.
 

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Oh oh, Downtown Abbey started airing a few weeks ago, and its amazing! And yeah, Top Gear usually gets aired here without the news segment or the cool wall, and I hate them for itr.
 
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