by o.supreme » Tue May 08, 2012 9:42 am
Thanks MG for bumping this thread. Now my rant which I had planned since I heard the above mantioned news a while back...
I’ve been following season two since it began airing a month ago, and while it isn’t quite as epic as season one was, I think it is still very good. What ticks me off however are all the rumors going around that the series is getting cancelled. Truth be told, I don’t think it’s getting “cancelled” as much as “not being renewed”. There is a huge difference. A show not being renewed indicates that the decision was made not to make any additional episodes past the ones made in the original (or extended) contractual agreement. “Cancellation” to me indicates that a series will be cut short due to significantly underperforming.
Some examples: The original Batman TAS received 2 contractual extensions beyond its initial 65 episode contract from 1992-1994. 20 additional episodes in 1995 and 24 more in 1997 for a total of 109 by the time the series ended. For Godzilla the animated series FOX kids purchased 40 episodes which aired from 1998-2000, and no more were ordered, thus it simply ended. Wolverine & The X-Men was legitimately cancelled however since Season 2 was under development, stories and character designs were being completed, however The powers that be decided to cut it before it got too far. Legion of Super Heroes & Spectacular Spider-Man are also examples of “cancelled” series that both had a 3rd season planned, but never came to fruition.
Now all that being said, I am still angered if the opinions of one man, Jeph Loeb ,will cause this series NOT to be extended for a 3rd season. Those familiar with comics will recognize the name as he has written much for both Marvel & DC as well as many different TV series. Apparently in late 2010 he became the Executive Vice President, Head of Television, for Marvel/Disney and would work with publisher Dan Buckley, to create both live-action and animated shows based on Marvel’s catalog of characters.
So basically his first act is to get rid of all the “old guard”, which currently consists of Iron Man:Armored Adventures on Nicktoons & Avengers:EMH. While I don’t see much more that can be done with the Nick IM series, I am immensely frustrated that the first Marvel animated series to be really good since Fox’s X-Men in 1992 is not going to have a 3rd season. I’m even hearing rumors that the 2nd half of season 2 of Avengers: EMH is pretty much reduced to “stand alone” episodes because Loeb doesn’t like the idea of long story arcs. (It isn’t clear whether he doesn’t like them personally, or if he thinks kids are too dumb and wouldn’t watch for fear of having missed something). This I find a bit hypocritical however since I just watched at least an hour of interview footage with Loeb praising the Iron Man & X-Men Anime as seen on G4, which were in fact a singular long story arc told over 12 episodes each. Loeb seems to be planning a new Avengers series more in line with Ultimate Spider-Man. If this happens, then I’m done with Marvel animation for the time being. It took 15 years to bring me back, and now after a brief shining series, I’m gone again. Is anyone at Marvel (including Loeb) watching DC nation on CN? Young Justice has a very complex story arc, especially for kids, yet I’m assuming (hoping) it is probably one of the networks most successful shows. If a new Avengers animated series is made and reduced to 22 minute stand alone episodes that all mimic what will be seen in this springs blockbuster movie, or Ultimate Spider-Man this would be very sad IMHO.
There has never been a "Scientifically Accurate" Dinosaur portrayed on any Television Show, Movie, or Documentary. Only what the human imagination can conceive, and I'm ok with that.