Geek Cast Radio Network's Top 100 Animated Series Countdown

I fully plan on watching a few of these that you guys think are worth it. I just don't want to have to sift through all the crap to find the good stuff on my own :)

I loved Mysterious Cities of Gold, Superbook, Flying House and a few other animes as a child!
 
Thats kind of the interesting thing about anime from my experience.

We go through periods of big Anime hypes in the US and it leads people to think "ANIME IS AWESOME RAWR!", but the reality is theres more animes that are complete misses compared to Western Animation and it really leads to some false illusions of grandeur.

Generally speaking, the animes that are really worth seeing tend to (not always) make there way here in some way, shape or form.

By and large, thats why I call myself a fan of animation, not a fan of anime, not a fan of western animation, and certainly not an otaku.

That being said, theres a lot of really good animes that haven't been given the proper time of day state side and theres probably a number of animes that have been given too much attention.

If you're looking for really good animes to watch, I think Death Note is the best place to start. Its truly a phenomena. Its available in sub format on Hulu right now. Being a western animation fan, you might like it better in dub format though. But overall, if you aren't hooked by episode 2, you probably wont be. Unlike many anime series, this one starts out quick. Yea, the first episode is more setup then anything, but the basis for the entire series is setup within the first two episodes.
 
Ok, I got through the 61-40 countdown.

Here's my thoughts:

She-Ra The Princess of Power: I'm no sure what I feel about She-Ra being here. It had some significance but I tend to think in the whole landscape of things, it wasn't really a tide turner nor did it really carry home a lot of the retail end.I think I'd be inclined to think this is probably ranked too high, but this isn't a horrible placement in the list. Swapping this one with Jem would probably make much more sense.

Sailormoon: This is another one thats just really hard to place. It did *A LOT* for animation in general, it had many points in the series that tore at your emotions but this series suffered horribly from the "TV Show formula" syndrome and also from filler. It wasn't as good as it could have been if they would have stuck strictly to the story.

Freakazoid: I'm personally a fan of this series and really like watching the series, but I also realize that even though the series had a good cult following. WB's marketing of this series really just failed. This is one of those scenerios I think the block failed to make the series. Because of its lack of impact, I'd probably rank this series a lot lower.

The Spectacular Spider Man: The TZ call out here was a bit funny! That being said, I think I can live with this series being where it is. I'm not particularly happy with it being this low though. IMHO, this is by far the best Spider Man to date, but I also have to sit back and take into account that this series didn't have a huge impact on the animation landscape. Heck, there are still people I am running into that are BIG Marvel fans and just didn't know this series existed. That's kind of sad =(.

Voltron: This series is probably about right. Everyone thinks Voltron is really cool, but almost everyone I run into doesn't know the first thing about Voltron. Most didn't even realize how much this series was hacked up either. Noteably though, this series likely served as a foundation for any number of other series. This series kind of set the whole idea of "5 colors for 5 team members" standard that has been seen and parody all of animationdom both here and in Japan. Overall, the story was good, but the pacing of the story was really bad, particular because of all the splicing and cutting the series went through for dubing. It's probably good right about where it's at.

The Smurfs: This is the first one on this weeks list where I have to dig my heals and say "VERY BAD PLACEMENT". 9 seasons and 400+ episodes not to mention all its awards, praises, attention, etc makes this series a very culturally significant series. Beyond that, its really pretty good in terms of how well it's aged. It wouldn't take a lot of tweaking to make an outstanding, very re-watchable DVD set out of this series. I'd say this series really should be top 30ish.

TMNT (2003): When you account for all the merchandise sales and total episodes made, this is one of the first 80s remakes that really does justice to its brand. In a lot of cases, you have to give credit where credit is due by admiting the 80s version sold more product or produced more episodes. With TMNT, the differences between this version and its predacessor is minute enough that you can almost side step its previous incarnation entirely. Beyond that; well lets face it, TMNT all but made 4Kids. Everything taken into account, I think this series should probably be in the 20s.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002): I'm glad the Geekcast guys and I are really on the same page on this one. This series was PHENOMENAL and was really cut down far too early. I tend to think a lot of that really came from the fact the writers streamlined the original story so well that they ran out of material. They essentially cut the filler out of the original series in much the same way DBZ Kai is cutting the filler out of DBZ. Sadly, as good as this series, just like what happened on the Podcast, far too few people know about this series for it to be culturally significant enough to be very high on the list. I'm pretty sure the merchandise volume was pretty abysmal too. I know for solid fact that the figures haven't retained any value what-so-ever unlike their 80s counterparts. The only reason the DC vs He-Man series is retaining value is because there's more an implied reference to the 80s series >.<

The Clone Wars (2008): For one reason or another, I haven't been able to make myself watch this series consistently. I guess its because I'm a Treky at heart. I've heard nothing but good things about it. I'm honestly in more of a position to comment about the 2003 version!

Superman: The Animated Series: Superman TAS at 47 is really a travisity. Of everything on this podcast that had some minor problems with it, this one just made me outright depressed. Superman TAS is one of my favorite installments of DCAU. That being said, I'll concede I'm probably the ONLY person in the TZ community that likes this series more then Batman TAS. It's probably not a stretch to say one of the few in the world >.< Myself and J. Michael Straczynski are probably the only two who rank it over Batman TAS >.< That being said, the cultural significance of this series is truly vast. This series truly established and tested the idea of cross overs between Batman TAS and this series. That truly enabled the birth of DCAU and later the interconnectivity between all the various DCAU properties that eventually led to Justice League. I mean this with as much cultural significance as you can take away from it: Justice League couldn't have existed without Superman. Beyond that, the whole struggle for Superman to PROVE that he is truly a force of good was such a powerful message that I tend to model a lot of my real life management practices around it. For me, this series has to be a top 15 if not a top 10.

Muppet Babies: 44 seems just about right for this series. It remained a steadfast brick for the CBS saturday morning lineup for five years but it didn't really cause any significant paradigm shifts in animation. It aged extremely well, but it didn't managed to be nearly the powerhouse for marketing that it could have been. At 44, I think it properly represents what it did and what it was.

MASK: I'm so torn about MASK at 42 for so many reasons. First and foremost I have to recognize that this series did a lot for synergy building and helped to establish the 52 episode model that remained a standard through the better part of the 90s. It was a highly competitive series for its time but frankly didn't age well. It did a lot for sales coming in at #3 strongest toy sales of all the 80s cartoons, but there's no collectors value for anything from MASK yet. I was personally one of my favorite series when I was a kid, but its hard for me to sit through an episode today (the quality of the videos I have MIGHT contribute to that though!). I think the landscape of where this series fits into the lineup is going to change A LOT in the next year or two depending what Hasbros next move with this brand really ends up being. I think the biggest reason I can say this series has to be a lot lower on the list is almost entirely because I realize the series didn't get a great deal of exposure in the western portions of the US. its fan base is easily centralized in North Eastern US, Souther Eastern Canada and in England which I find funny since the MASK base was supposedly in the Rocky Mountains >.
 
I must say I agree with 99% of what you said here, especially about Smurfs!! We seemed to be in somewhat of agreement for this portion :)
 
Word up.

HG, your list is pretty good overall, but do you really feel FLCL should be ranked over something like Rocko's Modern Life? The show is good, but it was only six middling to great episodes.
 
Yea, listening to your Podcast, there wasn't too many things I was completely shocked about.

I'm comparing your list vs Wizards and IGNs actively and I finding myself really curious what the significant differences are going to be as we close into the top.

Some of the series marked very high on their lists have already been covered.

I'm finding myself a bit scared that we're going to see some series that aged really badly or took a while to figure themselves out. I know Mike hasn't been particularly concerned about how well a series aged, but I find that to be a serious measure of quality not to mention it demonstrates how much the series truly pushed itself.

To me, a series that aged really well in the 80s is very, very, very significant and weights on it just as much as its socioeconomic impact.

I'm also really hoping the dumb college humor stuff on Adult Swim didn't push there way much higher then this point. To me, most of the college humor series on Adult Swim such as Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Harvey Birdman, The Brak Show, Sealab 2020, etc were all very damaging to their respective brands. I really think [as] was extremely short sighted and sacrificed long term potential for short term laughs/gains. The only other series from [as] that might be note worthy this far up MIGHT be ATHF and that's almost exclusively because of its impact on Boston which I am sure almost everyone forgot by now. That probably earns it a listing some place at or under 50.

In other musings, I find myself wondering how interesting it would be to do a top 100 list that focused on brands instead of individual shows. I mean, all the X-Men shows share some very common elements in their overall impact and its not really out of the question to measure that impact as a whole. It would be interesting.
 
You of all people should recognize the importance of Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Was this damaging to the brand in a way? Yes but in another sense it made Space Ghost a much bigger character and franchise than the 1960s show ever did.

More importantly Space Ghost Coast to Coast is a surprisingly significant show. For without it we probably never would have had the other Ghost Planet Industries productions most notably Toonami and Adult Swim. Without Adult Swim we would have missed out on some great cartoons (and some less than great ones admittedly). It was also quality entertainment that lasted several seasons and over 100 episodes. Not bad for a show "made from a box of scraps".

You can make a stronger case than Harvey Birdman was damaging to the brand and Hanna Barbera in general but I don't really feel that it was and it's one of my favorite adult cartoons probably only behind Futurama and Venture Bros.

IGN certainly went overboard with Adult Swim shows on their list. Of the shows that aired on Adult Swim the only ones worthy of the top 100 in my opinion are SGC2C, Havery Birdman: Attorney at Law. Futurama, Family Guy (quality of recent aside he earns a spot), King of the Hill, The Venture Bros. and maybe American Dad, Aqua Teens,The Boondocks and Home Movies but I wouldn't rank several of them very high. They're great cartoons worthy of a top 100 but not as high as IGN ranked some of them. Mind you that's just Adult Swim there's also South Park and I suppose Beavis and Butthead maybe Archer because I hear nothing but good things about it.

The Simpsons and Futurama are the two current prime time / late night cartoons I'd justify having in the Top 20. The Simpsons in the Top 10 with The Flintstones.

The Venture Bros. is a marvel in modern entertainment in my opinion and while I fully expect it to make the list I will be very disappointed if it does not.
 
I'm actually surprised that Captain Planet made on this list and was actually higher than shows like Powerpuff Girls. I don't think it was a terrible show. I remember actually kind of liking it when I was around twelve, although I can definitely see its flaws much more than I could back then and in retrospect, it was a pretty odd show to begin with. I don't think that I would have put it on the list, but I think they gave it an appropriate spot on the list. I'm not a huge fan of the Powerpuff Girls, but I definitely would have had it closer to the top fifty, if not in that range, than at the last spot. It was kind of cool that they included shows like Arthur and Magic School Bus. Those are a couple of really enjoyable educational programs with pretty nice theme songs. I might have put Static Shock a tad higher since I thought the action and characters were pretty good, but it was nice that this show, along with Recess, were mentioned. It definitely seem like an interesting list so far.
 
G1 transformers was an important cartoon. Lord knows, I was raised on that and G.I. Joe and such. I get why people remember it fondly, and it did launch a massive franchise. But, it simply hasn't aged well. Even by the standards of the time the animation is lacking, the plots were average on a good day, and it took Transformers: The Movie for Megatron to be elevated above the hapless Cobra Commander and his incompetent ilk. It's hampered by many weaknesses. Beast Wars was better, Animated--yes--was better. More interesting characters, better writing that didn't talk down to kids the way too many 80s shows often did, certainly better technical achievement....you name it.

So, when you have a cartoon that matters but has since been so handily outclassed, to my mind that is a bottom 20 program at best. Transformers should be remembered for giving us fond memories, Peter Cullen's Optimus Prime, the cool movie, and better shows bearing its namesake. But that's it. It earned a place in history, but not a place among a list of the greatest ever with or without a bias toward the 80s.

That's my view, anyway!



Eh, I have to strongly disagree. Even if the writing or characters aren't your bag, it's a well-animated and well-choreographed action show. I'd feel no shame whatsoever listing that over, say, the Super Mario Bros Super Show.
 
Dang HG, that list of yours has some massive Anime bias >.<

GCR admitted to having a major bias themselves and I think everyone has some complaints with their list, but it's dang hard to come up with a list that everyone can agree with. DANG HARD.

Sitting there and blasting them for biases and then throwing a list like that up is really like the pot calling the pan black, don't you think ?

Either way, I am downloading the list now and I'll give my feedback. Also, for everyone's amusement, I have a GSheets ready to go that compares GCR's list against Wizards and IGN's list for ease of comparison.
 
I would probably put Powerpuff Girls, Magic School Bus, Harvey Birdman, and Arthur around the 50 range. Arthur does deserve a little bit higher if only for how many episodes they have, how good the show still is, and for tackling a lot of issues, like Asperger Syndrome, Cancer, and Alzheimer recently. Hell, I'm still amazed at how they did that 9/11 episode with the school. There's also something about it's charm that work on an adult level as well.
 
Space Ghost is something of a tipping point. Did Space Ghost ITSELF damage the brand? I'm very much inclined to say no. However, it set a paradigm shift for Turner/CN/Williams Street to think "Gee, if we got this kind of reaction from THIS series, we can do other things similar!". If they made Space Ghost C2C and stopped there, I think theres no harm and no foul. Since they didn't stop there, I really have to sit back and admit that it was the starting of the downward spiral. It was essentially the map for how to hurt your brand.

I think the series did a lot of good, but it started a bad enough trend it kind of equalizes itself in the universe >.<



Yea, IGN's list gave too much credit to [as]. Thats the trend with the culture that stems from IGN though. A lot of their thinking is very short sighted. I really tend to think then and even now, they rarely ever think how something affects the brand it's representing.

Like most areas of the US media, IGN has a 3 month memory and I think that shines through in their list.



All three along with Family are easily top 20 worthy. If for no other reason, they have been extremely culturally relevant for a multitude of reasons. I was never a huge Simpsons fan, but I do have to admit its probably fair for it to really, truly be in the top 10 because of its significance. IGN and Wizards were both pretty fair in making it #1 for those reasons.



Venture Brothers is just a super fun show. Even though its a total parody of Johnny Quest, I tend to believe that this series hasn't done a lot to damage that brand, but it has probably created a condition where if we ever have another Johnny Quest, its *REALLY* going to need to step up its game. The tend to think the various pot shots that Venture Brothers took at Johnny Quest are long since forgotten.

I'd really say that at this point in this list, theres no reason we shouldn't expect to see Venture Brothers.
 
I think that The Venture Bros. "stepped it's game up" all the way back in Season 2, heck, maybe even the first one. Sure the basic premise of the show is "spoof Johnny Quest", but it's really always been more than that.
 
I predict a surplus of toyetic 80s shows in the upper areas of the list.

Too much nostalgia on most of these lists. One day someone is gonna do it right.
 
100) The Powerpuff Girls
89) The Magic School Bus
86) Recess
85) Arther
83) Static Shock
81) 1960's Spider-Man
Of that list these are the only shows I've seen.
 
That would not surprise me. I'm almost certain Thundercats, He-Man, Transformers G1, G.I. Joe and M.A.S.K. will rank higher than they probably should. TMNT 1987 will probably make the top 10.

They also have a bit of a bias against Japanese cartoons but I fully expect Cowboy Bebop and DBZ to be on the list. Also Voltron which they probably don't consider Japanese.

My bet for #1 is Batman: TAS, it's a really safe bet.

Of the 20 people who took part in this, the age ranges are from around late teens to mid 30s. So it would be people who grew up in the 80s, 90s and 00s maybe someone who was a kid for the tail end of the 70s.

The Toon Cast guys happen to love Hanna Barbera cartoons and you can note their disappointment that Huckleberry Hound was so low on their own list.
 
I dont think its fair to say that Venture Brothers was originally intended almost exclusively as a spoof of Johnny Quest, but I would certainly agree its expanded well beyond that premise sometime mid season 1; if not then, certainly by season 2.
 
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