thewendyjx
New member
Well, I guess I just find some stalness in shows doing the same thing with nothing truly staying a bit. One of the reasons I stoped watching Phenias and Ferb on Disney Channel.
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Comedies with Continuity and Canon
- Thread starter Pauline !!!
- Start date
Phineas and Ferb has some suprisingly good continuity. All of the things the pair does is refrenced later, as does Dr. Doofenschmirtz's backstories. A believe there was an episode where Major Monogram told Perry that Doof was getting him a vase for Christmas, which he actually got in the Christmas episode.
pOtHead4Ever
New member
KOTH had strong continuity... But there were periods where the writers clearly forgot some. Like the episode where we go to Peggy's home and meet her mother... Again. There are scenes earlier in the show that vastly contradict this entire episode. I find that quite jarring, actually. But that seemed to be in a rather weak period for KOTH in general, so it doesn't bother me as much.
Another show would be Home Movies. Things change all the time in Home Movies in subtle ways and rarely go back to the status quo (outside of McGuirk always being their soccer coach) but you would hardly notice unless you watch the show a lot.
Another show would be Home Movies. Things change all the time in Home Movies in subtle ways and rarely go back to the status quo (outside of McGuirk always being their soccer coach) but you would hardly notice unless you watch the show a lot.
princess_zombie.
New member
I don't know if it was mentioned already but Ed, Edd, n Eddy makes reference to previous events.
Is it just me, or did South Park have a slightly stronger continuity in its earlier seasons, particularly seasons 4-6? For the past few seasons (from about 2008 to now), they seem to care quite a bit less about continuity (with the main exceptions being the numerous shoutouts to the show's history in "200" and "201").
Continuity, yes. Story, no. Futurama was just the meanderings of Fry and his gang at the Planet Express every episode; it could ultimately go on forever since there was never an established end point for the show.
Some people find it less entertaining. For me personally, I prefer more dynamic characters who develop and a developed story. I remember as a kid I always preferred those shows to things like Doug, Tiny Toons and whatever else Nick played at the time because I found it more interesting that things weren't already resolved at the end of the episode, the characters had their own goals and dynamics, and the endings weren't always happy and there was an overall story to tell through all the comedy.
Some people find it less entertaining. For me personally, I prefer more dynamic characters who develop and a developed story. I remember as a kid I always preferred those shows to things like Doug, Tiny Toons and whatever else Nick played at the time because I found it more interesting that things weren't already resolved at the end of the episode, the characters had their own goals and dynamics, and the endings weren't always happy and there was an overall story to tell through all the comedy.
Not exactly a comedy, Totally Spies have some sort of continuity. In season 3 they lived in their own house and season 5 they moved to college. When they meet some familiar vilains like Tim Scam and Geraldine, they have some references to their previous meetings.
EDIT: also Total Drama Island/Action have continuity.
EDIT: also Total Drama Island/Action have continuity.
purple red
New member
Johnny Test has continuity. Inventions show up again, bad guys show up, the General gets more and more reliant on the Test kids etc.
What's interesting about The Simpsons as that althoug the events in the title familys life almost never bring about any permanent change to them (Lisa being a curios half-exception though, by both becoming a vegitarian and buddhist and sticking with it) many other major characters experince changes that stay with them. For instance, Milhouses parents divorced, reconcilled many seasons later, and got back together still a few seasons later. Similarly, Apu have gotten married, had children, and had an affair (and affair which has been mentioned from time to time since, i should add). And there are many more examples.
I don't think anyone said that all shows should have strong continuity. Just that there should be more shows with strong continuity than there are now, since that's what a lot of people like.
It's no secret that western animation is disproportionately light on continuity, especially on the comedy side of things (even the continuity-heavy comedies listed in this topic, like Venture Bros and Frisky Dingo, are more parodies of action shows than they are straight up comedies).
The people asking for comedies with stronger continuity are in fact asking for more variety, because it's something we don't have much of right now.
It's no secret that western animation is disproportionately light on continuity, especially on the comedy side of things (even the continuity-heavy comedies listed in this topic, like Venture Bros and Frisky Dingo, are more parodies of action shows than they are straight up comedies).
The people asking for comedies with stronger continuity are in fact asking for more variety, because it's something we don't have much of right now.
No offense, but that just sounds like a bias against Western animation to me, especially since plenty of posters here have given several examples of Western animated series which have a sufficient amount of continuity to them. There are a lot of comedies that don't need to be continuity heavy, and there are plenty of USAnimated comedies that have the amount of continuity that they need. I still have yet to hear a decent argument in favor of comedies having strong continuity other than "we like it". Sure, some fans want it, but how would having strong continuity improve the overall quality of animated comedies, really? Some fans here seem to be confusing their wants with the industry's needs.
I understand the desire for more of a variety in USAnimated comedies. Myself, I would like to see more prime time animated series that didn't focus on a dysfunctional family headed by an immature loutish father and his patient wife. What I don't understand is fans being upset that Futurama doesn't have an long term goal to achieve like Avatar: the Last Airbender or being upset that shows like Back at the Barnyard, Chowder and SpongeBob Squarepants tend to hit the reset button at the end of every episode. Come on, it's SpongeBob, fer cryin' out loud! Accept the show for what it is or don't watch it. It's a different type of storytelling, certainly, but it's no better or worse than say, Full Metal Alchemist. It's just different. Perhaps having heavy continuity is a more realistic approach to storytelling, but I personally neither need nor want realism in my cartoons. I have to live in the real world, so I watch cartoons to escape from reality, not to be reminded of it.
Some people happen to prefer the looser style of storytelling and generally upbeat, positive endings and premises that could conceivably go on forever. Like I said earlier, cartoons are a release for me, so I don't need for them to be realistic. That's just not important to me.
I understand the desire for more of a variety in USAnimated comedies. Myself, I would like to see more prime time animated series that didn't focus on a dysfunctional family headed by an immature loutish father and his patient wife. What I don't understand is fans being upset that Futurama doesn't have an long term goal to achieve like Avatar: the Last Airbender or being upset that shows like Back at the Barnyard, Chowder and SpongeBob Squarepants tend to hit the reset button at the end of every episode. Come on, it's SpongeBob, fer cryin' out loud! Accept the show for what it is or don't watch it. It's a different type of storytelling, certainly, but it's no better or worse than say, Full Metal Alchemist. It's just different. Perhaps having heavy continuity is a more realistic approach to storytelling, but I personally neither need nor want realism in my cartoons. I have to live in the real world, so I watch cartoons to escape from reality, not to be reminded of it.
Some people happen to prefer the looser style of storytelling and generally upbeat, positive endings and premises that could conceivably go on forever. Like I said earlier, cartoons are a release for me, so I don't need for them to be realistic. That's just not important to me.
Barry Apuya
New member
When the subject of 'continuity' and 'canonity' come up, I think some clarification is required. Somehow we've shifted gears and are now debating Eastern VS Western storytelling styles. They're not the same thing.
I believe what was originally being discussed was continuity as in ideas, concepts and plot points within a show (in this case, comedy cartoons) remaining consistent and things and events from previous episodes being brought up again or stuck to in later ones. That's not the same thing as expecting all comedy cartoons to tell a singular finite story with dark elements, an ongoing saga with lots of plot twists and not every episode having a happy ending. Those are 2 different things entirely, and I think it's silly to try and hold Johnny Test up to same standards as Avatar, the Last Airbender.
Now in some cases I agree that there should be a certain degree of consistency within shows. It bugs me a bit when a show will violate its' own ground rules just for the sake of story: for example, one episode of Fairly OddParents depicted Cosmo as having a brother when in previous episodes it had been established that he was an only child, or how in the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode "Laser Lenses", it was shown that Frylock's laser eyes came from special contact lenses that he wore, when in all of the episodes previous to that it had been established that the jewel on Frylock's back was the source of all of his powers. Those kinds of violations do annoy me a bit; it's like how am I supposed to take the show's universe seriously when the people behind the show don't?
However, other shows have followed continuity and called back earlier episodes and remained consistent. Many examples of this have already been pointed out by others, so the argument that comedy cartoons don't follow continuity isn't entirely true.
I also don't think it's as big as issue as some people here are making it out to be. What we want doesn't necessarily matter; it's what the creators want that's important. If they want to set the rest button at the beginning of each new episode, then that's their prerogative. If we don't like the way they do things, then we always have the option on switching the show off.
Going back to the 'story arcs and sagas' thing for a second, I tend to think that the demand placed on continuity in some cases stems from young adults who feel that shows in which the episodes don't wrap everything up at the end and shows which tell a finite story as opposed to a premise which could conceivably go on forever are somehow more "mature", and therefore by association, the people who watch these shows are also more "mature" for enjoying them. It's the same mentality that leads hardcore gamers to judge every video game which incorporates bright colors rather than just blacks, browns and grays and the objective isn't to shoot everything in sight as "kiddie crap" or hardcore comic book fans who feel every superhero should be brooding and angry and have a troubled past. When in fact this method of storytelling is no more or less mature than shows like SpongeBob Squarepants or Chowder or Back to the Barnyard, it's just different. I'm an adult and I have no problem enjoying shows like Chowder or SpongeBob. 'Simple' and 'light' aren't synonymous with 'just for kids'.
When people say "Well, there's continuity on anime", that's not an entirely accurate statement: for one, the anime which gets imported over to the West only represents about 1% of Japanese animation in total. For every anime which does follow continuity and tell a singular finite story, there are hundreds upon hundreds which don't, so the likes of Full Metal Alchemist is not representative of anime as a whole, nor should it be held as such. there are plenty of anime which hit reset at each new episode as well. For another, it's not as though no Western cartoon follows a set continuity; that stereotype has already been debunked several times in this thread alone.
Ultimately, it boils down to personal tastes. It's not a requirement that comedy cartoons follow a singular continuity; if one does, then that's fine, but it shouldn't be treated as a standard requirement, nor is a comedy show "inferior" for not doing so. As stated previously, comedy and action/drama are 2 different animals.
Personally, I don't mind shows with stand-alone plots and no major episode to episode continuity beyond the fundamentals because they're just easier to follow; with those shows you can watch the episodes in any given order without the flow being interrupted.
I believe what was originally being discussed was continuity as in ideas, concepts and plot points within a show (in this case, comedy cartoons) remaining consistent and things and events from previous episodes being brought up again or stuck to in later ones. That's not the same thing as expecting all comedy cartoons to tell a singular finite story with dark elements, an ongoing saga with lots of plot twists and not every episode having a happy ending. Those are 2 different things entirely, and I think it's silly to try and hold Johnny Test up to same standards as Avatar, the Last Airbender.
Now in some cases I agree that there should be a certain degree of consistency within shows. It bugs me a bit when a show will violate its' own ground rules just for the sake of story: for example, one episode of Fairly OddParents depicted Cosmo as having a brother when in previous episodes it had been established that he was an only child, or how in the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode "Laser Lenses", it was shown that Frylock's laser eyes came from special contact lenses that he wore, when in all of the episodes previous to that it had been established that the jewel on Frylock's back was the source of all of his powers. Those kinds of violations do annoy me a bit; it's like how am I supposed to take the show's universe seriously when the people behind the show don't?
However, other shows have followed continuity and called back earlier episodes and remained consistent. Many examples of this have already been pointed out by others, so the argument that comedy cartoons don't follow continuity isn't entirely true.
I also don't think it's as big as issue as some people here are making it out to be. What we want doesn't necessarily matter; it's what the creators want that's important. If they want to set the rest button at the beginning of each new episode, then that's their prerogative. If we don't like the way they do things, then we always have the option on switching the show off.
Going back to the 'story arcs and sagas' thing for a second, I tend to think that the demand placed on continuity in some cases stems from young adults who feel that shows in which the episodes don't wrap everything up at the end and shows which tell a finite story as opposed to a premise which could conceivably go on forever are somehow more "mature", and therefore by association, the people who watch these shows are also more "mature" for enjoying them. It's the same mentality that leads hardcore gamers to judge every video game which incorporates bright colors rather than just blacks, browns and grays and the objective isn't to shoot everything in sight as "kiddie crap" or hardcore comic book fans who feel every superhero should be brooding and angry and have a troubled past. When in fact this method of storytelling is no more or less mature than shows like SpongeBob Squarepants or Chowder or Back to the Barnyard, it's just different. I'm an adult and I have no problem enjoying shows like Chowder or SpongeBob. 'Simple' and 'light' aren't synonymous with 'just for kids'.
When people say "Well, there's continuity on anime", that's not an entirely accurate statement: for one, the anime which gets imported over to the West only represents about 1% of Japanese animation in total. For every anime which does follow continuity and tell a singular finite story, there are hundreds upon hundreds which don't, so the likes of Full Metal Alchemist is not representative of anime as a whole, nor should it be held as such. there are plenty of anime which hit reset at each new episode as well. For another, it's not as though no Western cartoon follows a set continuity; that stereotype has already been debunked several times in this thread alone.
Ultimately, it boils down to personal tastes. It's not a requirement that comedy cartoons follow a singular continuity; if one does, then that's fine, but it shouldn't be treated as a standard requirement, nor is a comedy show "inferior" for not doing so. As stated previously, comedy and action/drama are 2 different animals.
Personally, I don't mind shows with stand-alone plots and no major episode to episode continuity beyond the fundamentals because they're just easier to follow; with those shows you can watch the episodes in any given order without the flow being interrupted.
Jessica.xRoxanne.x
New member
How I Met Your Mother ha scontinuity and cannon.