GI Joe seasons compared to cartoons now

[jlaing2607]

I have been getting 80s and 90s cartoons for my son and putting them on DVD so he can watch what I used to watch when I was growing up instead of the crap that's on TV now like Spongebob, Ed, Edd, and Eddy, etc.

I noticed seasons were alot longer then than now. For instance, GI Joe Season 1 was 55 episodes. Granted, that's probably '85 and '86 but even then that's about 27 episodes a "season" or year. Then with Season 2 it dropped to 30. Finally, the hated Season 3 fell to 10 episodes which the first 5 was the Dragonfire mini series per se. Then we look at Centurions (86/87) and their Season 1 was 65 episodes.

Let's fast forward to 92/93 with the X-Men Animated Series and we only get about 14 episodes a season. Even more current with GI Joe Sigma 6 there are only about 13 episodes a season.

So what gives with the abundance of cartoons and episodes per season back in the 80s and now these poor kids get stuck with crap and if something cool does come on it seems to be short lived.

[The BLAY]

seems to be the way of the world now..
all TV shows including cartoons seem to have shorter seasons now.
I feel bad for kids today b/c there seems to be an abundance of crap and a lack of quality in cartoons and in toys imo.

I wish I understood why anything worth watching is short lived.
luckily kids can be introduced to the things we watched as kids thanks to cartoons and shows coming out on DVD.

For some reason I think production companies are allowed to get away with making shorter season, which in turn saves them money so they can then pop out 2 seasons per year.
I liked it better when you got a long run from September to April or May and then waited for the new season to start up again in Sept. Just wish I knew why this became common practice

[DustyOldPlastic]

I believe that when we were kids we actually watched the shows like all day on sat. Now i dont even let my kids watch saturday mourning cartoons just b/c of the crappy selection. another reason might be that families dont have time for it. i dont know the real answer but i also let my kids watch old school TF, gi joe, scooby doo and star wars all of the time rather than alot of the new stuff. they like it alot.

[northerncrowe]

In Canada, typical episode order is 26 for a kids show (22min format or 52x11mins). 13 is really tough because if it's a hit, you can't strip the show and it's not like you can order more and they are ready in two weeks. South Park can do it but scripting alone can take well over a month even when you're going full tilt.

Ideally you'd like to hit 52 so you can do a full strip but again, it's very pricey especially if the show doesn't catch on. 40 is a pain too 'cause you're on the hook for a lot of episodes.

Of course, if a toy company is willing to foot the bill and pay for a longer episode order that's great but you won't see most producers take on that risk.

[northerncrowe]

For some reason I think production companies are allowed to get away with making shorter season, which in turn saves them money so they can then pop out 2 seasons per year.
I liked it better when you got a long run from September to April or May and then waited for the new season to start up again in Sept. Just wish I knew why this became common practice

Not all producers consider 13 eps a full season. They would much rather have 26 per season. It's all perception. You could call 10 eps a season then 13 more. It's just a label.

Production companies would actually prefer to do more episodes. If they already have the staff in house, they just continue making the shows without the ramp up time of starting and stopping again. The reality is that advertising dollars are harder to come by these days and any animated show is a risk for a broadcaster. If it tanks they are on the hook and still accept the unaired episodes. If live-action tanks they just stop production.

Broadcasters would also like to have new eps from fall to spring but it's very expensive and not all young kids care. Spongebob (an exception) repeats a gazillion times and doesn't take a ratings hit. Adults are much more picky and if it's not a major hit show, will turn it off after the 3rd repeat or so.

[kneroh]

It's all about a daily show vs a weekly.

[jlaing2607]

Yeah, I hate how you have 2 seasons in 1 year now. Like now all the good shows are about to end for the season and we have to watch crap like Flashpoint until April.

Yes, I remember Sat and Sun mornings well. I would watch cartoons until like noon or later if they continued to air later. Then I would go outside after my toons were off. Now days kids don't get that luxury. Their lucky if they even get toons on Sat morning unless they watch Cartoon Network and even then the cartoons aren't that great like we had.

The cartoons today are alot more lax and boring. Granted, when we were kids out toons were more violent like GI Joe, He-Man, Thundercats, MASK but they were great cartoons. We also had the non violent stuff like Shirt Tales, Snorks, Smurfs, Care Bears, etc.

[Shogi]

13 episodes seems to be the minimum for a season. Typically that is what the first season will be as a test and if it's a hit, the second season will have more episodes. Take Batman Beyond for example, The first season is 13 episodes. However, the second season is double that at 26 episodes.

You also have to take one more thing into consideration, Only cartoon network still plays cartoons during weekdays. back in the 80's and 90's you had the bigger networs like ABC and such playing cartoons in the morning and afternoons on weekdays, then in the 90's you had Fox and the WB doing the same thing. They needed more cartoons then so they didn't have repeats all the time. Think about it, you had Transformers, GI Joe, Dungeons and Dragons, X-Men, Spider-Man, Tick, etc... all running anywhere from 1-6 days a week. Now all shows only run once a week. 13 episodes gives you 4 months or so to find out if the show is a hit and to make more shows

[Falcone]

instead of the crap that's on TV now like Spongebob

Spongebob is a fantastic show. The first few seasons were brilliant. The more modern episodes are not as good, but are still OK.
There are plenty of good cartoons on these days. You just need to know where to look, and that place is usually Japan.

[coola784]

where did you get the CENTURIONS dvd set from? i want that!

[Robowang]

I thought about doing this for my future children, but then I thought, "What if my parents made me watch the cartoons THEY grew up with?" I'll share my cartoons with the kids, but I won't deny them their "crap" either :) A lot of parents didn't like the cartoons in the 80s the same way some of us don't like the cartoons now. If I had to grow up on Woody Woodpecker and Rocky and Bullwinkle, I think I wouldn't have enjoyed cartoons as much as I did!

Robowang

[gi49er]

hey no one likes Simpson?

[Troynos]

Like has been said...

Prior the cartoons ran EVERY DAY. You had a Joe episode every day, monday to friday. And even with longer seasons, you still had a ton of episodes repeating during a given year.

Nowadays, there's no such thing as a daily show, it's weekly, so you don't need as many episodes.

Also, alot of shows now have longer storylines. Instead of each episode being completely self-contained, or two-parters, they are all part of one overall story with little chapters.

That's much harder to do in a longer season.

[NeoDragonKnight]

Im going thru season 1 of Animaniacs, and its still a brilliant show, be sure to show him that :)

[Trooper618]

Old time Jonnhy Quest the first cartoon I believe to show death in a kids cartoon. 70's and 80's toons are the best hands down. This crap today they show kids I jus don't get it , no story or plot just senseless stupidity.

[jlaing2607]

I ran across 80's Cartoons Central — All your favorite 80s cartoons! (http://www.80scartoons.net/) and I didn't realize how MANY cartoons we had in the 80s compared to now too. Seems like the options are alot more limited now. I understand that TV channels were more forgiving to toons and flops as today it's all about the profit and nothing about caring for the viewer.

[Gunzlingr]

I remember coming home after school to watch Transformers and GI Joe (and since we had like 2 channels including PBS - Heman). Sat. mornings were special because you had cartoons all morning long.

I remember when I was a kid a tv show had all new episodes Sept. - May. June-Aug were all repeats, so you could catch up. Now a days you have repeats during holidays, and mid season breaks.

Ah... the good old days.