Standards a show has to meet to become your favorite

1. Little to no toilet humor. I am not interested in a show that constantly tries to gross me out, pin a fart on someone, etc.

2. Characters that I can become attached to. I don't necessarily have to relate, but if I find myself up to spending a Saturday afternoon hanging out with them, they've done their job.

3. It helps if there's romance or at least characters I can pair up.

4. Passable animation. The more heart and style put into it, the better.

5. Humor helps, but that doesn't mean it has to be an all out comedy.

6. It must ENTERTAIN me.

7. Rewatchable and well written.
 
It really depends on the genre they're taking, but just to clarify with a few list of my choices:

1. If it's a cartoon that mostly relies on humors and gags, then it must be funny. For the most part, I don't mind the immature gags that many childrens' cartoons are plagued with, but only if they're sophisticated for the most part. Nothing turns me off then having to hear raunchy fart jokes. Throw in something intelligent every so often. Not all kids (and the olda' folks watching) are dumb. And don't rely on repetition. I also don't like jokes that goes on for too long, especially if it's so obvious (I'm looking at that Super Mario short in Cavalcade of Comedy - I've heard that joke so many times). I can only take so much.

2. When it comes to cartoons that rely on stories, character development. An Arc only works for me if there is significant character growth in the series. Seeing how they turned from a naive hero to a mature warrior will make all the difference and satisfy both the main characters and the viewers.

3. If a villain is the type that doesn't get character development, then I hope for something interesting that makes him stand out. Makes him likable (or easy to hate). I love villains that entertain. In fact, this is a rule for the main cast: be likable. There are a number of stereotypical personalities to use beyond what it says on the description. A brilliant writer will be able to take advantage of that instead of leaving them dull, straight-to-the-point characters. The typical male hero can be goofy while deadset on saving the world or the standard chick can be a chatty, witty one-liner, etc.

4. The right kind of pop culture. True, many writers attempting to write teenage dialogue are adults old enough to have teenagers, but that's no excuse. Having to hear outdated jibber-jabber makes me cringe...so badly. The same goes for references to various popular whatzits of today. Knock it off with the surfer accent, that was so over. Stop with the bullet time parody, it no longer carries relevance as it once did. And so forth.

5. Be original. Now, I don't expect an innovative twist; nothing is truly original these days, but take that old method and give it a different spin. Even if the outcomes will be the same, the difference will have all been worth it to keep me on the edge of my seat.

6. Parental Bonus. I like the idea that writers can sometimes sneak in an adult reference that only the grown-ups get. It's fun to look back and see how many you can spot and wonder how they got that past the radars.
 
This is an interesting topic. Well, thinking about some of my favorite shows, I'll chime in with these:

1. Art Style -- For a medium that relies completely on visual stimulation, an attractive set of designs are a must. Heck, an anime I recently discovered called Soul Eater has my attention mostly because of it's art direction.

2. A Fun, Enjoyable Story -- I know nothing's completely original these days, as long as you can try to give me something I haven't seen too often, or attempt to steer away from general cliches, I'll give ya a watch.

3. Compelling Protaganists -- I don't have to relate to them, but make me care for them. Make me entertained by them. Make me think it would be awesome to be around them if they were real or even be in their own shoes.

4. No Blatant Fanservice -- I have NO objections to seeing beautifully drawn females in animation, however as someone well into his 20s, the show should not have me thinking I should be a horny teenager to enjoy it with their all to conveninent camera shots & whatnot. (Code Geass instantely comes to mind with me)

5. Great fight scenes (Action Shows) -- As someone that enjoys a lot of action shows, their needs to be at least one fight that wows me and keeps my eyes on the screen. (Spectular Spiderman has done this very well). Oh, and nothing against shonen like DBZ, Naruto, Bleach, etc, I'd like the fights to start & end in the same episode.

That's basically it on the surface level atleast. I'm fairly easy to please as far as cartoons go, but for a show to be one of my absolute faves, it's got to hit the mark on these points here.
 
The first few seasons of the 2003 Ninja Turtles series would fit for the most part, but that's definately a show that would have benefited from ending quite a few seasons ago.
 
I'm not really that picky....I like series that are funny and have interesting/likeable characters....Ongoing storylines are nice,but not really a necessity for me (I like series like Futurama,which has stand-alone episodes,but they keep making references to things that happened earlier in the series,and some characters in the series have changed over time)...I'm also not fond of "toilet humor",and mostly avoid shows that have alot of it (strangely enough,I love South Park,and Shin-Chan,though)....
 
Hmmm... this is a very vague question.

You know how sometimes, near the end of a movie, or episode, or whatever, your just sitting there in awe thinking "that was so awesome", and, if it was a play, you would be clapping?

Well, my favorites should have at least one of these moments.

Then you have the exact opposite of the above, those painful moments where you roll your eyes and say "that's so stupid". These should be kept too a minimum.

Thats... all that pops into my head, as of now. Comedy has a much harder time than action/adventure, but I'd still rate some comedies among my favorites. This is a very hard question...
 
All I ask for in an animated series (heck, any series) is character development. I want the character's to grow and change over time, and in the process, seem more like real people you could relate too. Could I enjoy a series without any of it? Sure. But for a series to be my favorite, character development is a must. The only things that are exempt from this are one-shots.
 
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