Blog Talkback: Toons of the 2000s: Top 25 Animated Television Series Countdown #5-1

I gotta say, I like how one person's saying we have too many comedy shows, while someone else says there's too many action cartoons. It really proves my point earlier that you can't please everybody.

Just for the hell of it, here is a list of shows that got multiple support when we compiled the list but didn't make it in the Top 25:

Megas XLR
Jacob Two-Two
Moral Orel
The Spectacular Spider-Man
Batman Beyond
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Ed, Edd n Eddy
X-Men Evolution
The Penguins of Madagascar
American Dad!

Also of note:
American Dad was going to tie with Family Guy.
Morel Orel was originally going to take the 16th spot, but was taken out near the last minute since none of the participating mods could write an article for it.

And to put it out here, in case people didn't scroll down low enough to see it:
rabroad-collage-600.jpg
 
I'll do some commentary:

King of the Hill - Wholeheartedly agree. Nice, underrated series from Fox. (On that tangent, I have a feeling that AD won't be on this list...)

El Tigre - Nice little show that I foolishly overlooked when if first came on the air. Some of the best Flash on TV I've ever seen.

Home Movies - It had a rocky start, but it's still a great show. It's also my introduction to the awesomeness known as H. Jon Benjamin.

Chowder - Good first season. Bad second. Sorta-bland visuals. Would have agreed with its placement a year ago, but not anymore.

Teen Titans - Enjoyable show, but not what I would call Top 25-worthy. If there's any DC show that should be on this list, it's Batman: TBATB.

South Park - Would have put this a bit higher. It has its flaws, but it's still a pretty great show most of the time.

WordGirl - The show is enjoyable, and anything by Soup2Nuts is a plus for me, but I don't really think it should have been on the list.

Danny Phantom - Really overrated show. While not as mindblowingly awful as FOP, it's a textbook example of what I hate about Butch Hartman's style.

Justice League - Didn't see much (with the exception of JLU). Liked what I saw. I wish they would air the first couple seasons on Boomerang again.

Paranoia Agent - Sweet, did not expect anyone to remember this gem. It's one of my favorite anime of all time, and I recommend anyone to check it out.
 
Now, I know we all have different opinions and all, but there's no way one of the most popular cartoons of recent times should be in the 20's. If anything, it should be moved to the Top 5.
 
You know the thing about lists like these?

They're not going to be popular, but they're going to be an interesting conversation starter. Are we going to agree on every choice? Absolutely not. We're not machines. We're all going to have differing opinions. Heck, even when compiling this list, we all disagreed about the placement of certain shows. Some wanted King of the Hill, South Park, and Family Guy to be ranked higher. Some wanted them to be ranked lower. Some didn't want them on the list at all because they didn't exactly premiere in the 2000s.

Same deal with Spongebob Squarepants. Yeah, it's the biggest, most popular series of this decade, but it didn't premiere in this decade. It premiered in 1999, so it would make sense that a bulk of the list, primarily those at the top, reflected those shows that premiered in this decade.

And yeah, there were a few oversights, unintentional and intentional. Personally speaking, I love The Boondocks, Fillmore, The Weekenders, Clone High, The Spectacular Spider-Man, GitS: Stand Alone Complex, The Batman, and 6Teen and would have loved to seen Curious George, Jacob Two-Two, Ruby Gloom, Martha Speaks, Sons of Butcher, and a few others get some love, though a lot of shows didn't get any play in the US and some are written off because they're E/I. And some shows ranked higher or lower than most would expect, but that's reflective of the writers and such.

In the end, it is just a list. It may reflect your opinion, it may make you scream out loud. If your favorite show wasn't present, take solace that it ranked #26, barely missing the top 25.

That's where I'm placing Jacob Two-Two. Love that little mop-top kid who says everything twice.
 
Wow, the color makes that splash even more awesome. Marvelous.

On the Simpsons, man, I always thought it hit its stride in the 1990's myself. That's when it became super famous, that's when its massive cast was established and made familiar to America, and that's when many of the most memorable episodes were made. Simpsons did do some good things in this decade, but I think the 90's owns it much more than the 00's. I think that'd be true even if every season this decade had avoided being a disappointment.
 
King of the Hill: I used to hate this show, but I started getting into it when Adult Swim started re-airing it. Underrated.

El Tigre: A funny/cute show that should've gotten more attention than it did.

Home Movies: Never seen it

Chowder: Funny at times, but sometimes the characters got on my nerves.

Teen Titans:I thought I would hate this show, but it was much better than I thought it would be. Starfire and Cyborg were (are?) my favorites.

South Park: Crude, yet still manages to get their messages across. Had a few rocky seasons (the one where the boys played WoW)

WordGirl: Never seen it

Danny Phantom: Some episodes were okay, but the show was boring overall.

Justice League: Never saw much of the first season, but Unlimited was excellent.

Paranoia Agent : Only saw a couple of episodes. Satoshi Kon sure knows how to mess with people's heads (and I mean that in a good way).
 
They focus on it enough that Seth has stated when Trey Parker called him out on this, among other things, that he does base many of the story lines on his Liberal ideas. He has though stated that due to Obama winning, the character will change his viewpoints and still hate the government.

It still seems like his initial statement sticks with many people who don't care for Liberal values.
The popularity is due to the generations view of comedy, where shot gags works, while in reality, comedy exist in storylines. If it is popular, that is ok, but I believe this list isn't a popularity countdown, but a quality countdown or known cartoons.
 
Like Jeff said, funny thing about lists. None of these 6 would even make my top 25.

And most of us do believe Batman Beyond and TSSM to be that good, thank you very much. ;)
 
I guess this list goes to show you that the 4kids Ninja Turtles cartoon was practically unknown outside its core fanbase and will go down in history as one of those cult shows nobody knows about.
 
Justice League should have been higher, probably top 10. most of these i have never seen or disliked (chowder, Danny Phantom). South Park is great as well, and should have been top 15.
 
"Epic" does not neccesitate "unpredictable". The show pretty much spells out what the scenario for the final battle will be- during Sozin's Comet- only eight episodes in to the show. What matters is execution.

Stand-alone episodes? Dumb? Ok, "The Great Divide" was a stinker, but stuff like "Jet"? "Bato of the Water Tribe"? (thanks to June) "The Deserter"? What exactly are you looking for in an episode?

"Characters were boring?" My friend, you stopped at season 1. You never got to know Toph or Azula. Or see Zuko's extended character developement.

"Animation"? What is there to compare to it? Sure, there's Spongebob. But that's not something to compare. Spongebob is a comedy, non-action cartoon with simple designs and a BIG budget. It's Nick's #1 show. Avatar's fluidity isn't going to compare. You should really compare Avatar's animation with other action shows, like Ben 10, Secret Saturdays, and various anime. Disregarding the animation during the action scenes is like saying "Aside from the jokes, Spongebob is really not funny".



Whoa whoa whoa. Season 3 let fans down, as in "was not as good as season 2", but that does not mean it was bad by any stretch. I think season 3 was better than season 1. I can't make you watch, but you can't really judge a show with a continuous story arc when you've just watched one season.
 
^ Thanks, that's what I was trying to say, (but it doesn't come out in words very well...)

And most fans agree that Season 3 wasn't bad, it was just that it didn't fulfill the awesomeness that was season 2. It was kind of a let-down to them. (I have no problem with it, however.)
 
Must every discussion about ?Family Guy? devolve into a debate over ideology? It?s a comedy. If you laugh at it, keep watching, but if it offends you, you?re free to change the channel. You don?t have to keep watching it. However, the people who do keep watching it tend to enjoy it, and obviously, people appreciate it enough to warrant such a high spot on the list.
 
I'm surprised One Piece didn't make the list...everybody here is in love with it XD I knew Kim Possible would be in the list but that high is surprising.

Avatar deserves that spot for sure.

I don't see what's so wrong with a good E/I show that's not just pandering. I used to watch Cyberchase just because it was FUN!

*checks Wikipedia* Yup toon in this decade...heh.



You should have done a piece of Canadian animation then Jeff :). Japan got one and we produce more stuff per-capita than they do >.>

With the Total Drama series showing up folks in the US seem to have just realised Canadian Animation exists! Ah!

Sorry about being opiniated about that :sweat:
 
Robot Chicken: Pretty interesting. I do like the usage of stop motion and the comedy style of it. I'm sucker for comedy skit shows.

Flapjack- Oh yeah, my favorite show airing on Cartoon Network right now earns this spot with it's art style, likable characters, and interesting stories. I don't even mind buying the single DVD packs for this series, it's just that good. Guess it helps that that I always like stories that take place out at sea.

Futurama- Another worthy show, the humor always appealed to me for some reason. Again, likable characters, nice stories linked together, and I think it was one of best things to air on FOX, well next to KOTH.

Spongebob- Does deserve the spot of the list for lasting this long, and while many people think that Spongebob has changed, I barely notice it and I still enjoy the recent crop of episodes.

Family Guy- I do think it deserves it spot, with it actually starting the craze of being revived due to Adult Swim airings and DVD sales. That and I think the show does get better with every season.

With this list, I am curious to see what cracks the top 5.
 
Say... shouldn't this list be essentially a synthesis of all those 'Top 5' lists you guys have been making? Like the Top 5 Nicktoon, Disney toon, etc... so essentially nothing in there should surprise us right?

Obviously nothing Canadian will make the top 5. I would have put 6Teen in my top 25, but certainly not near the top so its obvious no Canadian show will be in this list at all.
 
The Venture Bros.: My favorite currently running show period. This is an amazing show. It's not just hilarious, but it's also full of excellent characters and stories. More animated series need to be like this show. Definitely deserves its place so close to the top.

Kim Possible: This was a fun series. This was the last Disney series I ever really watched and I never saw the final season. I followed this show for years and loved so many moments, but I didn't see the last ones...

Samurai Jack: Perfect, it only lacks a true ending.

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: And here's the last Cartoon Network series I followed. This show is great from start to finish. Comedy that was way smarter that what ever other Cartoon Network show was on. Style and great characters to boot.

Avatar: The Last Airbender: Too much to say, so I won't. Simply amazing, too bad the live-action movie probably won't.
 
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