We're very overdue for the next big fad

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irenecooke2004

New member
Let's look at the past few megaton franchises that changed the face of kids' TV for their generations.

1983: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
Span until next big show: 6 years

1989: Ninja Turtles (yes, the show technically debuted in 1987, but only as a 5-episode miniseries; kids did not get into this until it was a full-fledged 65-episode series)
Span until next big show: 4 years

1993: Power Rangers
Span until next big show: 5 years

1998: Pokemon
Span until next big show: 9 years and counting

What happened here? Where is the next big kiddie show? In my opinion, this is the main problem that's overlooked:

The toy industry never had anything like He-Man until He-Man happened. Why is that? Because He-Man was there every day. The show was one of the first original animated properties to be created for syndication. It was on 5 days a week, with 65 episodes to begin with, and kids easily developed a habit of watching it instead of the billionth moldy Flintstones rerun or whatever else the local affiliate filled afternoon time with. Then they got absorbed into the world and had to have the toys.

Now let's examine the Turtles. One of its main factors in its success was how different it was from every He-Man clone at the time; instead of dead-serious robots and muscle men, these guys just wanted to have fun. Like we did. BUT also notice what I pointed out earlier: it didn't catch on in a big way until children could watch it all the time. Five days a week.

Then, after so many Turtles ripoffs, children were introduced to Sentai with Power Rangers. Big fat Godzilla-type battles just didn't happen on TV previously, no matter how paper-mache it all was. It was also introduced as a weekday series, but that wasn't abnormal at the time anymore.

One of syndication's last shows--and the last one to hit a sonic boom--was Pokemon in 1998. At this time syndication, as well as the concept of a show being on reliably and having a full stock of episodes from the beginning, was dying. And that was the big mistake.

In order for a TV-launched franchise to truly take off, they have to start spending serious money into creating a wealth of episodes from the onset, so kids don't get bored with it too soon. In addition, it has to be in a reliable time slot every weekday, preforably when children come home from school.

Also note: Spongebob, DBZ, and Rugrats existed for years before truly catching on, and the point they became hits was the point when they'd amassed enough episodes to be on without repetition and be given a reliable slot. The same might go for grown-ups: Family Guy wasn't "discovered" until it was on several times a week.

Until the networks figure this out, we're in for a long wait until the next superfranchise. The closest they've come to the fully-stocked-episode days of old is CN making four Ben 10 seasons in two years, but, well, Ben 10 is lame.
 
I think with the growth of cable and the death of animation (and kids programming in general) on network TV, we aren't really going to see anything like this again.

TV in general is too divided nowadays.

Naruto is the closest show right now to something like He-Man or TMNT or Pokemon, and that's huge, but not really a fad.

With the concepts of 'Saturday Morning Cartoons' and 'After School Blocks' essentially dead, we aren't really going to see anything like this in the future.

We've got a much more diverse group of shows, but that's the trade off.

With 3 widely available cable networks that show a large amount of animation, as well as other youth oriented programming, and several other venues that are growing in size, we aren't likely to ever see one show that emerges above all the others.

Remember that when Pokemon became big, Cartoon Network and Disney were still largely unavailable on most basic cable packages. 5-10 years from now we could be seeing networks like Toon Disney and others available in the majority of homes, as well.

The landscape has changed, and we're unlikely to see another fad type show.
 
Yeah, but Ben 10 is one of Cartoon Network's highest rated shows. You did know that the live-action movie delivered the network their highest ratings ever, right? So while Ben 10 may not be a super franchise yet, I'd say it's definitely on it's way there.

Also, what about Yu-Gi-Oh?
 
While I'm not going to discount the popularity of Yu-Gi-Oh! (In America), it never quite reached the level of those other series.

"It's Time to Duel!" wouldn't be easily recognized by your average person the way "Cowabunga!", "It's Morphin' Time!" or "Gotta Catch 'Em All!" would be, for example.

It was a huge series, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't as big as those other series.
 
YYou seem to forget that in between He-Man and Ninja Turtles (one right after the other and both competing for popularity) were Smurfs and The Real Ghostbusters. Anybody that doesn't see Smurfs as the Pokemon of the 80's is crazy (9 Seasons back then was NOTHING to sneeze at) and RGB was the show that pretty much managed to knock He-Man off its pedestal. During its time it was ALMOST, but NOT QUITE as popular as Ninja Turtles was before the TMNT craze careened into batspit insane.

Could Scooby Doo be seen as the fad of the late 60's-70's? It's the only cross generational cartoon to survive several decades in varying incarnations and when it originally premiered (before HB cloned it to death and watered it down) there was nothing like it to be seen on TV either.
 
You know it.;)



Yeah, the Smurfs is another one of those series that pretty much anyone will instantly recognize, even if they've never seen it.

Not so sure I'd agree about The Real Ghostbusters, though.
 
The industry's changed. Cable, iTunes and direct-to-DVD have become preferable venues, most likely because they reach an audience with disposable income. Looking at the shows listed and you see a shift...

He-Man was an expensive show for its time because it minimized farmed out animation but did not look anywhere as good as its short-lived '02 series which did. Now a cult show but the movie should give it a boost.

TMNT has proven itself to be a recurring property of sorts although given that the first wave included 3 movies, a music tour and all sorts of yummy food... I don't think the revival could top that. The latest movie did well enough, but it benefitted from a minimal budget and less competitive release date on top of being what I call a Google movie (one which audiences can research instead of going in cold).

Power Rangers is still with us because it's cheap to make, especially with English footage now shot in New Zealand, and has just enough brand recognition. And while most geeks/nerds/etc. would consider Gargoyles, one of its early competitors, a far better production- the fact remains that PR performed much better in the ratings. And Bandai already had the toy molds ready for the most part- making it an extremely attractive licensing package that probably helped pave the way for anime to take over in years to come.

The card game arguably made more money for Pokemon than either the tv show or the original video games. It certainly got the most attention, didn't it? I suspect between being an existing and inexpensive-looking show that had already been budgeted to break even in the smaller Japanese market, and the PR disaster of the Porygon epilepsy incident, Pokemon's licensing rights were a bargain in comparison to a US-run show.

And in time, pay services were better for original US shows because advertising has weakened in light of TiVo. Static is a good example of that, unfortunately. Because the marketing end looks for disposable income, there's a tendency to make toys of shows with white leads and diverse side characters. (Justice League, Titans, Ben 10) Jackie Chan had a figure line but it didn't last long. And Xiaolin Showdown's didn't ship long, and only at the the end of its tv run. But it does appear that Hispanic characters are selling well with Dora, Diego, HSM's Gabby and RBD dolls as the traditional toy consuming demographic is more interested in electronics nowadays. And I think something like Bratz and HSM show the decreased interest in so many lily-white blonde toys. I still haven't found my little sister the blonde HSM boy. Is it because he's a boy doll? Probably queer? The least important of the male offerings in his line?

Avatar toys didn't seem to sell well, although Mattel made lots of mistakes there. Character selection, perhaps size (the 4" lines do seem to get more variety- like Ben 10's cousin and for you guys in the UK, Dolores Umbridge), and more of their distribution problems I've seen going back at least 5 years. I think Avatar may get a product reboot from the movies coming up but only if the toys get done right. I know movie years do improve long-running toy lines- from Aunt Beru showing up in the year Episode 1 opened and a greater selection of DC characters the year Batman and Robin came out: Huntress, Parallax, Black Lightning, Green Arrow 2, Azrael, and Batgirl.

But for now, I'd say Naruto is the hot action figure line in the mass market. It's just kids tend to prefer their electronics now. And I really think the 4" lines have greater appeal overall because they're cheaper and more varied.
 
The Timm/Dini era of superhero toon shows were pretty huge during the 90's and beginning of the new millenia:

Batman TAS
Superman TAS
Static Shock
Justice League
JLU
Batman Beyond
Zeta Project

And off-shoots like Teen Titans, The Batman and Legion of Superheroes.

They spawned a million toys and few theatrical movies and lots of straight to DVD movies. It had a great run.

Anime took over pretty much from that and still runs things right now even though I'm pretty much tired of it. I see nothing new on the horizon so far...I was hoping something from Marvel or Image comics that would pick up but the Marvel cartoon franchise is far from being a successor. Spiderman MTV looked hopeful but the writing was uninspired. That type of animation could've been the next big thing, but it didn't happen. Fantastic Four (toon) fell on its face and the new WB Spiderman hasn't debuted and future is uncertain due to the demise of Kids WB.

Avatar is excellent and is the buzz in my circle of toon watchers, but the toyline is a dismal failure so far.

EDIT: Where is "The Incredibles"? It hit like a freight train and appealed to many audiences...if they are making a 2...where is it? If they aren't making a 2 why didn't it become a weekly show like the horrible Jimmy Neutron and Toy Story franchises?
 
Couldn't Transformers be included on Martianinvader's list? I remember there being a huge collection of toys for that franchise, as well as the show itself being immensely popular.
 
He-Man and the Masters Of The Universe is not a fad to me I honestly love the franchise especially the 80s toon and toyline.

If it was a fad to me I seriously doubt I would still care about it after 20 years.
 
Yeah, those were successful, but they never achieved Ninja Turtles or Power Rangers-level popularity. With those shows, the product names were on every pair of lips, from people aged 3 to 90, for a while, and you had parents roughing each other up in the toy stores at Christmastime to get their hands on the toys; even old-school comedians began incorporating NT and PR jokes into their routines in order to stay in the loop. Comic book superheroes, like most sci-fi, have always walked the fine line between mainstream and cult popularity.
 
Right now, animation schedules are so iffy kids don't have a steady diet of whatever show they like...it may come on every day for a while, but suddenly it's time slot will get jammed into another area.
 
Yeah I think Transformers should be considered in there.



Your on an internet message board that discuss animation. Off course YOU will still care about it after 20 years!

How many times will I have to repeat it? We are geeks! We are not the 'norm' of society! To the rest of 'them' it was a fad, no matter what we think.
 
And let us not forget the uneven economy. Toy lines are faultering left and right. Unless you like Spiderman, Star Wars or TMNT (which keeps flagging every so often), you're out of luck to find a line that will do well.

All our recent small fads were rereleases of older matereal. Care Bears, Transformers, and especially Scooby Doo (whihc,as someone asked before, I do consider it a fad, as half of HB's shows in the 70's were like it). After the smaller success of YuGiOh, Naruto seems more like something made of DVD's and Manga than a toy line (and with Mattels shoddy product, it's no wonder).

So, unless someone comes up with an animation idea that blows High School Cliche 4 out of the water, we're going to have to wait. Hopefully, there will be something.
 
Maybe when these kids actually get to high school and see that it's pretty much the opposite of all these kidcoms, they`ll turn back to animation?
We can hope.
 
I think the HSM boys were shortpacked, because everytime I see those damned things in the toy aisle, all I ever see are the three girls, unless they're in the 2-packs. I've yet to see Troy and Chad (I did see Ryan at a Wal-Mart, but there were only 2 of him compared to the dozens of Gabby, Monique, and Sharpay)

The same thing could be said for the Hanna Montana line. There's an Oliver doll out, but it's only available in a 3 pack with Hannah and Lily (Who I'm sure can be purchased seperately, if not now, then by next Christmas).
 
I thought kiddie meant something for pre-schoolers. Are you telling me kiddie means "for kids"? Why do people often use it as an insult. I for one am outraged.
 
That's true. I know that I've never thought of myself as a norm of society, which explains so much.

Anyway, I'm pretty much agree with what others have said here. A big "fad" show like Pokemon or TMNT probably won't happen for a long time. There are many different factors to this, most of which have been mentioned. The timeslot for different shows can be at a certain time this week and then earlier the next. With few Saturday morning blocks left and a serious lack of any after-school block as well, that adds on to the problem of some shows not being recognized by their targeted audience. Just a few years ago, it was common for kids to come home from school and watch their favorite cartoons. I really don't know if there's any other block besides the one CN has, but that just adds onto the problem of air time giving a show popularity.

A successful toy line does help the show to be recognized, but I'm not sure if that's as important now. Aside from some toy lines, like Power Rangers and TMNT, most toy lines don't really last that long. I thought that most kids liked electronics and card games, for shows like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh!, more than figures. But I rarely buy figures myself. I'm more of a plush toy person.

For some reason, while I know that Disney puts the toy line for Hannah Montana and HSM out because they're both highly successful, whenever I see them in the store or on television, they make me feel creepy. Maybe it's because they're dolls of real people, not like Barbie, and are parts of overly-hyped franchises that I don't really like.
 
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