Gems in the rough

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seprough

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There were a couple gems in the rough over the years in animation. Series that were locked into weird schedules that never made it to mainstream.

I'd like to see what series some of you can come up with.

Here's a few that I think were pretty good but never managed to take off:

  • King Arthur and the Knights of Justice: This series got shafted as one of those "Sunday Morning Cartoons" that just never took off. The series ended WAY earlier then I think it should have.
  • Bucky O'Hare: I think this series only ended up lasting 7 episodes. In some ways, I tend to think that this series was a predecessor to Megas XLR (in terms of basic theme). I mean, they even have the same enemies!
  • Wildcatz: This series was another networks (WBs I think) attempt to rival X-Men. It was a great series and actually aged a TON better then Uncanny X-Men. I wish this series wouldn't have gotten rejected so fast >.>
 
As far as i am concerned, Dilbert is the best example of this. It was a show with amazing writing, even funnier than the comic strip, and it deserved to go on for much longer than just two seasons.
 
I thought the term was "Diamonds in the Rough"? (lol aladdin.)


Anyways, I'd have to say Whatever Happened to Robot Jones is my main choice. I loved the Schoolhouse Rock style of animation, and I really enjoyed its writing. All the characters were fairly likable, and Robot himself was an interesting protagonist.

My second choice would be Sonic SatAM. Imo the only really decent Sonic show to ever be on TV. If the writers had toned down the use of Antoine and kicked off Dulcy the Drago, the 3rd season would've been awesome. Screw you, Power Rangermania!
 
For a 90s series, Sonic SatAM was probably one of the best of its time.

I'm still annoyed at Disney for pulling a "ZOMG THIS IS TOO VIOLENT" and forcing it to be pulled.

ABC finally had a really good line up at that point and I tend to think, at the time, Disney really screwed it up =(.

If ABC would have continued that direction, they could have been serious competition for WB and Fox later in the 90s.
 
Is that why Sonic the Hedgehog was dropped? I always thought that Sonic Satam was dropped because Disney purchased ABC and wanted to have a lineup of Disney studios produced programming.
 
Really? I heard that ABC put Sonic SatAM up against Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and since Rangermania was around, you can guess the results of that brilliant move. Hence my "screw you". :shrug:

That's interesting to hear that SatAM was too violent for Disney standards, though. From what I've seen, it's fairly tame - unless you're talking about Robotnik's protrayal. He'd probably scare the crap out of little kids.
 
I was interested in seeing King Arthur and the Knights of Justice, when the series was released on DVD. However, when I found out that the series ended on a cliffhanger, I decided not to even bother with it.

The theme song to this series does rock, though. :D

As for X-Men, while the animation hasn't aged well, I still find the stories and characters in the series to be quite entertaining.


I enjoyed Dilbert (I even own the series on DVD), and agree with you that they should have made more episodes to that series.

My pick of a diamond in the rough would have to be Ruby-Spears' Superman series. The series only had a season of 13 episodes, when it aired in 1988. This series had some pretty good stories, and it definitely should have lasted longer.
 
Chalk up another point for Whatever Happened to Robot Jones. It was actually one of the cartoons that got me back into them, after my short falling out when I reached middle school. While the idea of a robot in a human society has been done before, I liked the way it was presented, especially the retro art style.
 
That's pretty much exactly what I mean by this thread; series that had a ton of potential but because they weren't popular due to X, Y, Z circumstances, they either got pulled long before their prime or canceled.

Knights of Justice was a well founded, good hearted, action packed series that never found its potential.

I think if this series got to finish, it could have ended up being the US equivalent of Ronin Warriors >.>
 
I believe 'Wild C.A.T.S.' originally aired on CBS during it's final years of it's 'traditional' Saturday morning lineup.
How would 'Bucky O' Hare' be comparable to 'Megas XLR'? 'Bucky O' Hare' was a serious action show with some humor while 'Megas XLR' was just a clever send up of anime shows, and their cliches.
 
I was just going to mention that when I saw this thread. Stop stealing my ideas!:anime: I've been saying this for years. This show never got to develop on its own. I had an old VHS tape, and I watched it constantly. I watch on YouTube every so often, and relive my old memories. An incredibly underrated show, that's all there is. Awesome action and a fantastic theme song.
 
Surprised no one's mentioned The Secret Saturdays. One of my favorite cartoons ever, with its ongoing plotline, good humor, great action, and possibly the evilest villain ever shown on Cartoon Network. Yet it fell victim to schedule changes and lack of advertisements. If Cartoon Network had promoted it better, I'm pretty sure the show would still be running.
 
I just wikied it and yes, it was CBS. I remembered it was on some network that was getting ready to fold. Some might recall that it ended up on Cartoon Express for a while.

I'm actually surprised that even the Wiki cites it has good reviews. It just got lost to a dieing Saturday morning lineup.



I compare Bucky and Megas in two ways. First off, the enemies from both series are so similar in so many ways. It almost feels like the enemies were systematically transplanted from Bucky to Megas. Beyond that, minus the comedic feel of Megas (which arguably is the main theme), there's a lot of the series that reminds me of Bucky when they aren't exploring the comedic elements. Maybe thats just me or maybe I am insane. Take your pick!
 
Spacecats. It came out during the last year of NBCs saturday morning lineup (1991-92) and was a witty satirical sci-fi show that was well-done (it was also the final non-comic based marvel productions show). Sadly, it never found an audience, due in part to being put in next to stuff like yo yogi, prostars, and wishkid (IMO).
 
I pretty much agree what everyone says about Sonic Satam, that shouldve lasted longer for about 2 more seasons. That one had a lot of goodness wasted by Power Rangers{Which is the reason why I never look at anything from PR, they canned something that was good over ratings. Thanks alot :(.}

Spicy City deserves some part of this as well, even though there might be a few people on here that might even have heard of it. I pictured this having 3 seasons. I did hear that there was a second season planned but I'm just gonna say creative differences got in the way of it. The world needs more film noir animation that takes it seriously and not a joke. Spicy City is the closet thing I can get for someone taking film noir seriously.

I am surprised that nobody even mentions Cybersix or even Swat Kats. For Cybersix is one of the most coolest shows Ive watched. How often can you find an animated show that has great animation and has an interesting female main character? On a scale on 1 to 10 I say the chances of finding a show like Cybersix are not likely in my book. Then there is Swat Kats. My brothers and I loved this show. The only reason why this show that had the coolest cats and how they got axed is because of Ted turner.
 
I know exactly how you feel. I tend to view 'Power Rangers' as a 'style over substance' fad that slowly poisoned the kid vid landscape right in the middle of the great TV animation renaissance of the 90's. Killing off many shows with great potential.
(No offense to the 'Power Ranger' fans out there. Especially Linkara. :sweat: So once again, have a fat free yogurt.)
 
I'll go with My Life As A Teenage Robot. I actually only began watching this show on Nicktoons a few months ago, even though I've vaguely known about it's existence for years. I was already a fan of Rob Renzetti based on his work in Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (he co-directed Destination Imagination and wrote some hilarious half-hour episodes), so I decided to check out his show.

I wasn't sure if I'd like it at first; and to be perfectly honest, it has some flaws in terms of pacing and consistency. However, the minimalist art style is so charming (right up there with Powerpuff Girls) and the characters are so goshdarn lovable that it makes up for everything else. Jenny XJ9 is such a sweet, loyable yet believably flawed female protagonist which is very rare in most cartoons, and the rest of the cast is just as cool and refreshing.

The high school setting is something I usually dislike, but thankfully MLAATR wasn't merely a "teenage issues" show as it had a fun variety of action/adventure plots and ideas, and the high school elements were handled in a mostly tolerable fashion. Another thing I really enjoyed was the sense of genuine friendship between Jenny and her friends even as they got tangled in all kinds of toony mischief.

From what I've read since, it seems MLAATR was neglected for much of it's run and was lost in the shuffle of other Nicktoons... I'm still baffled to hear how long it took for the final season to be made (and broadcast). And IMO, it seemed much more like a Cartoon Network original with it's retro aesthetic (and I know Renzetti is close pals with McCracken and Tartakovsky)

Really, this and The Secret Saturdays are two of the most underrated cartoons from the past decade. Great characterizations, great retro styles and overall very refreshing compared to many other toons out there.
 
Cybersix was actually so good that when Jetix started playing it, I thought it was a new (lower budget) series. I'm sad to say I never caught many episodes of it, but the few I saw was real good.

Swat Kats I never got into, but what I did see of it was really very good in terms of writing and animation quality. It just never appealed to me and I can't put a finger on why exactly.
 
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