I know it’s been a while (health concerns are problematic) but I would like to break back into this website. To that end I was having a conversation not long ago with someone close to me. She remarked that she was out of current shows to watch and was looking into finding something new. I suggest a show called Beast Wars, an old program that I grew up with (1996-1999). I then wondered at the recommendation. Sure, I had loved the show as a kid but how does it hold up now? There are many things I enjoyed back then that I would not recommend to peers today. The question becomes: does Beast Wars hold up? Short answer: yeah. Longer answer:
For those who may not be familiar, Beast Wars (titled Beasties in its native Canada) was a computer-generated sequel to the 1984 show, Transformers. Yes, the same property that Michael Bay has been turning into crappy blockbusters for the past six years. While the first series dealt with the war between Autobots and Decepticons (two machine races who transformed into cars and planes respectively), Beast Wars dealt with a much smaller conflict set in future. This time we got Maximals and Predacons (pretty much Autobots and Decepticons) at war on a strange, Earth-like alien planet. Oh, and this time they turned into animals instead of cars: awesome.
So why am I recommending this show? Not for the animation, I’ll tell you that right now. While Beast Wars was ambitious in its day, the style has not held up (it’s been nearly twenty years). Here is some idea of what I’m talking about:
It’s not horrible but certain things (namely shadows) are lacking. Really the animators should be praised, it’s just old technology at this point.
Luckily the look got better as the show progressed. Seasons two and three show noticeable improvements over season one.
Anyway, the look isn’t why you should watch it, although it does have something to do with it. Let me explain why Beast Wars was made: to sell toys. That’s the honest answer. Same reason the first Transformers series began back in the 1980s. However, Transformers was traditionally animated and there was no budget increase when they wanted to bring in another transformer. The result: there are a lot of robots on that show. A privilege that Beast Wars did not enjoy. Another transformer meant another 3D model and that took a lot of money to animate. So Beast Wars was forced to have a much smaller cast and that turned out wonderful.
Why: because fewer characters meant stronger characters. They only had a few robots to work with so every character on that show was fully flushed out with motivations and traits. Everyone felt different and not because they turned into a different beastie but because they thought differently.
Every form of every Maximal who was in the series. It’s not a huge cast but it is a strong one.
Head writers Bob Forward and Larry G. DiTillio deserve most of the praise. They were given essentially full control of the show and created a tight-knit story with characters and consequences. Beast Wars blessedly has more plot than just Maximal=good and Predacon=bad. There is a complete story told throughout the three season arch that doesn’t leave much in the way of dangling plot threads.
Strong points include characters such as Megatron (the Predacon leader), Tarantulas (the Predacon mad scientist) and Dinobot (Maximal version of Hamlet). The alien plot line also provides an additional level of intrigue as well as a break from the Maximal-Predacon conflict. Episodes to check out: “Code of Hero” (best episode of the series), and “Transmutate”. Personally I’m also a big fan of the bizarre romance between Silverbolt and Blackarachnia.
Yeah they’re both robots. Yeah one is the knight in shining armor while the other is a villainous back-stabbing widow. Yeah they’re on opposite sides. It’s still a better love story than Twilight.
Season one is the weak point of the show. It looks better on re-watching but the consequence hasn’t entered the series yet. What do I mean by consequence: people die in this show. Don’t get used to your favorite character because odds are they are not going to survive the series. For an animated children’s show back in the 1990s, this was a crazy development.
Is it the best show ever made: not even close. Still there is enough in Beast Wars to make it a show worth watching. I recommend it to anyone out there looking for a fun story that doesn’t require a ton of thought. This show isn’t super serious (it’s about robots that turn into animals) but it does have a heart and more importantly, a brain.
In addition, I should mention the sequel series, Beast Machines. I’m not really going to talk about it – it is not nearly as well remembered as its predecessor, and for good reason. Also there are two sequel series that were produced solely in Japan (Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo) but approach those at your own risk.
Due to the show’s success, Beast Wars has inspired a wealth of graphic novels and specials that have continued the story. Sadly there has still been no true successor in terms of a television show.
When I was in high school (back when dinosaurs ruled the Earth), I remember one show achieving an incredible cult status. Family Guy was a short-lived comedy series which had aired a couple years before and been subsequently cancelled. This was before the days of the Netflix instant queue so whoever had the DVD sets of the three seasons (Family Guy‘s initial run) was Johnny Cool. There were fifty-one episodes of exceptional quality. The show was like a newer version of The Simpsons in terms of a family-oriented comedy but with a splash of (at the time) refreshing randomness in the humor. It had characters you could care about, stories that were interesting and jokes that made you laugh. In short, everything needed to be a great comedy. And there were 51 episodes so it hardly pulled a Firefly (only 13) before being cancelled.
The holy grail of television comedy between 1999-2004.
Still, what if it came back? That was the hope on everyone’s mind. The first three seasons had been so good, imagine if there was more? Thanks to tremendous DVD sales (very similar to Austin Powers) Fox granted our request and, in 2005, Family Guy returned to television. Since then one hundred and fifty new episodes have appeared and Family Guy is still going strong, ready to begin its twelfth season this fall. But is it any good?
Short answer: no. Blunt answer: it really sucks. Commercial success is no guarantee of quality, simply look at The Simpsons‘ current twenty-four season run to validate that statement. So the question then becomes: what (in my opinion) went wrong? I was a big fan of Family Guy‘s original run, why do I hate the new episodes so much? Happy to elaborate.
In general, this sums up a good portion of my criticism.
Let’s start with the characters. As highlighted above, they did not return to television as they left it. Stewie in particular underwent a drastic change in the style of his humor. Gone were all his inventions, all his over-the-top, nowhere-near-remotely-plausible plans to take over the world. Instead of those jokes, we got gay jokes… which was great since there was no other source of homosexual humor present in Family Guy (besides Jasper, Bruce, Rupert, Herbert, Mr. Weed, etc). Point being, a unique source of jokes was substituted for cruder humor. None of these characters really portray any sophistication either, pretty much every one of them revolves around the concept of “ha ha ha, he likes guys – and he is a guy! That’s so gay and funny!” So why did Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy‘s creator) decide that we needed yet another character dedicated to that style of humor, who knows? Maybe he was too busy with things like American Dad!, The Cleveland Show, and Ted to care.
This persona inspired nearly all the quotes that made Stewie Griffin a famous persona among teenagers. Still it was quickly changed when Family Guy returned.
But more about MacFarlane’s role (or lack thereof) in a moment. Remember those side characters I named. Just a list of five names, did you know all of them? I believe side characters to be an essential tool to increase longevity, especially in the case of comedies. When solid side characters (with depth and personality) are developed, it allows for a few episodes to shift their focus away from the main family, thus helping to prolong the freshness of the main cast. Let me use shows like the Simpsons and South Park for examples. Both developed their town ensembles ridiculously well. In this way, say South Park can devote an entire episode to Mr. Garrison while giving the boys only a cameo appearance. The episode is still funny since Mr. Garrison is more than a cut-out character.
This episode from The Simpsons, entitled “The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase”, made fun of the idea of spin-offs while at the same time devoting an entire episode to some of their stronger side characters.
In my opinion, Family Guy never had the wealth of side comedy enjoyed by the other two shows. Aside from Peter’s immediate neighbors and in-laws, there isn’t much personality to be found in the town of Quahog. And when there is enough personality to salvage maybe an episode or two away from the Griffins, MacFarlane and company decided to take this route instead:
The Cleveland Show (2009-2013) was a poor decision on the part of Fox to further divide MacFarlane’s jokes and comical talent. These characters should migrate back into Family Guy.
When side character strength is a problem, don’t move the stronger ones out of town. This ties into another point: MacFarlane is a funny guy. Love him or hate him, it’s hard to argue with the amount of success he’s had… or didn’t have then suddenly had. Thanks to Family Guy‘s cult success in the DVD market, Seth MacFarlane went from obscurity to household name in a very short time. However I don’t think this success has been properly employed. Rather than simply putting Family Guy back on the air, Fox decided to do that in addition to giving another previously failed MacFarlane pilot the green light: American Dad!. Let the record show that, of the current MacFarlane comedy creations, American Dad! is my favorite. However, it’s creation would further the decay of Family Guy by removing writing talent from its staff. Watch American Dad! and Family Guy close together while remembering that formula I talked about back at the beginning of this article. Characters + story + random jokes = good Family Guy. American Dad! now has the stronger characters and story, leaving Family Guy to survive solely from its bouts of randomness.
Matt Weitzman and Mike Barker were two of Family Guy‘s more prominent creative staff who left to work on American Dad!. Their absence was quickly felt.
But here is the real question: given how lucky Seth MacFarlane’s success was, did he really deserve so many venues for his comedy? Family Guy was not successful the first time it aired, the only reason the series survived to rebirth was because of the DVD sales. That isn’t roaring success by a long shot. Yet Fox was willing to give him multiple shows. Sure, you could argue and say that Fox did the same thing with Matt Groening (The Simpsons‘ creator) by giving him Futurama (we’ll talk more about this show later) but Futurama aired in 1999, the same year as season 11 of The Simpsons: the point where many people feel that The Simpsons began to drop dramatically in quality. Coincidence, I think not.
Imagine a show that combined all these characters and all these stories into one setting. That would be a dynamite comedy on the level of the original Family Guy.
With Seth MacFarlane’s success now branching off into movies (I personally wasn’t a huge fan of Ted – thought it was okay), it is a real question as to how involved he still is with the show that made him famous. Sure, he may voice half the cast but that isn’t the same level of commitment as writing or helping to create characters. I don’t think his heart is in it anymore. But hey, don’t take my words for it – here’s his: “Part of me thinks that Family Guy should have already ended. I think seven seasons is about the right lifespan for a TV series. I talk to the fans and in a way I’m kind of secretly hoping for them to say we’re done with it. There are plenty of people who say the show is kind of over the hill … but still the vast majority go pale in the face when I mention the possibility.”
So there you have it, Family Guy was a short-lived gem that was resurrected into a bloated brand name used to sell evenings on Fox. I don’t think the show has many years left. It will always be remembered as the show that made Seth MacFarlane famous and (for me personally) a highlight during high school in the early 2000s. Yet this was clearly one case where everyone should have left well enough alone and Family Guy should have simply been allowed to rest in peace. Oh well, at least American Dad! is still okay.
Thoughts? Comments? Am I full of it or onto something? Let me know now in the feedback section of this article.
After making some comments on M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender, I figured it would be fun making serious comments on something actually Avatar-related. The Legend of Korra is the second show in the series, picking up roughly 70 years after the events of Avatar: the Last Airbender. Avatar Aang has passed and now the fate of the world rests on the shoulders of Korra, our new Avatar and central protagonist. I can still remember how excited I was when this show was announced: a new Avatar with a female main character? Anyone who knows the first series knows that this show is second to Buffy with how strongly the female characters are written. Toph, Katara, Azula, Suki, Ty Lee, Mai: every one of these is a flushed out and interesting human being. In a world where strong feminine characters are still evolving, it is nice to see that there is an animated series already doing it right. Creators/writers Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko should be proud of the work they’ve done. Anyway, I’m getting sidetracked, back to Korra.
So naturally, with all that in mind, I was excited for the Legend of Korra. For the most part, I walked away from this first season happy. Twelve episodes is a short running time and it forces a concentration in story and in characters. Does Legend of Korra accomplish this while still being an entertaining series: yes. Was the season finale adequate for a first season: yes. Was the season finale adequate as a series finale (as intended by the creators): NO. What went wrong then? Ironically enough, I believe that the strengths of Avatar: the Last Airbender became the Legend of Korra‘s weaknesses. In short, Korra is not a strong female character.
Woah, bold declaration there. At first glance, this seems obviously wrong. Korra is a confident, physically and emotionally strong woman. So how is she not a strong female protagonist? Warning: spoilers to follow.
Let’s focus on the last two episodes, the season finale of the Legend of Korra. In these two episodes a lot happens. Amon is unmasked and defeated, Asami confronts her father, Korra loses her bending ability, Korra becomes a full-fledged Avatar, Korra and Mako get together. Lots going on, most of it involving Korra.
First thing: Amon. I’m not going to debate whether his reveal (anti-climactic or not) was well-executed, I’m more going to focus on Avatar Korra’s role in it. Essentially, she has none. Yes, she outs Amon as a bloodbender but there is no earning of knowledge. We’ve already established Korra as a headstrong fighter, but how about an intelligent human being? Aang and his friends discovered truths in the first series. Here, Amon’s identity drops right into Korra’s lap courtesy of Tarrlok. Without him, Korra never would have figured it out and it’s not like Avatar Aang hadn’t been trying to help her.
Throughout the first season, Korra experiences flashbacks into Aang’s life. As she cannot directly converse with him until the end, these visions are all Korra has to go on. They deal with the character of Yakone, an especially powerful bloodbender whom Aang defeated years ago. Korra uses these visions to figure out the identity of Tarrlok (Yakone’s son) but fails to connect the larger dots that Aang is trying to warn her about Amon as well (Yakone’s other son). With such focus on the visions, it is bizarre to see them dismissed so quickly by Korra after the Yakone reveal. So Korra does not appear overly intelligent, but it does fall into the realm of realism.
Really this is a problem more with the show’s writing than with the character of its protagonist. As I said, we spend a good deal of time with the visions throughout the first season only to have them dropped immediately after Tarrlok’s reveal. If Aang was trying to warn Korra about Amon (and why wouldn’t he be?) the visions should have continued after Tarrlok’s defeat. Stopping them sent the message, to both Korra and the audience, that there was nothing more relevant about the nature of these flashbacks. Giving even one more would have given Korra an opportunity to think things out and not rely so heavily on Tarrlok for literally every crucial bit of information regarding Amon. She’s supposed to be strong yet there is a man solving one of her problems.
Next time a man solves her problems: Mako. Korra is defeated by Amon and stripped of her bending ability. Woah! Amon is powerful, and Korra cannot enter the Avatar state so this is believable. It loses me when Mako is able to best Amon in combat, allowing the two to escape. The whole first season has established two things: how strong of a bender Korra is and how unbelievably powerful Amon’s abilities are. In the finale, the audience is expecting to see these two forces clash. They do and Amon wins. Now comes in Mako, also established as a talented bender (although not so much as Korra) and he does more against Amon than the main protagonist. It is good to show Korra needing help, that’s fine. But how is Mako able to do what she cannot? Why does she need him to save her in that situation? Korra’s character has weaknesses and faults but her bending ability isn’t one of them.
Why did no one do this before?
True, Korra does deliver the final blow to Amon later, using her airbending to knock him out a window. How exactly the reveal of Amon as a bender defeats the Equalist Movement is beyond me (if anything I think it strengthens their case) but this is not an article focused on that aspect of the ending. We’ll stick to Korra and leave the (so disappointing) finale with the Equalists for another day.
Downfall of a man but not a cause.
So Korra defeats Amon with some help. That’s fine. Tarrlok ultimately kills Amon, which is also fine. Korra doesn’t need to be a killer to be strong. Yet at the finale she is weak, fragile. She has lost all her bending ability except for her airbending. This is huge. As stated before, Korra is a character who prides herself on her bending ability, it is central to her identity as the Avatar and as a person. Now, she has lost most of it. Will this begin a new struggle of Korra redefining herself and growing through loss and setback? Oh wait, Aang is going to appear and give her back everything she lost in two seconds… that just doesn’t work.
I can understand why the writers did it. They said before that they did not want the Legend of Korra to follow a similar story structure to Avatar: the Last Airbender. The audience has already seen a show about an Avatar learning the bending arts, I can understand not want to see one about an Avatar re-learning the bending arts. Nevertheless, Aang’s actions are simply too jarring. He does everything for Korra. She literally just cries and gets her way. Aang appears, restores her powers and everyone is happy. Did Korra grow as a person? Debatable. Being sad is not really character growth. This is yet another instance of a male character appearing to give great aid to Korra. She really has needed a lot of help and contributed very little to this season finale so far.
Avatar Aang: dead and still more capable than Korra.
Let’s move onto the final thing: the kiss with Mako. This is probably my largest problem with both the finale and the series so far. Who the hell is Mako and why do they like each other? The romance between Aang and Katara in Avatar: the Last Airbender was sweet and, more importantly, developed with a very natural and believable flow. The romance between Korra and Mako does not possess these qualities. Yes, we get the Korra has a crush on Mako but why? Mako is honestly portrayed as a jerk in the season. He kisses Korra right after she dates Bolin, then leaves her to date Asami. He then leaves Asami for Korra right after Asami loses her father, her money and essentially all her identity. Wow, sounds like a winner so far. He has no real strong aspects to his character (having a scarf does not count).
The sole thing Mako does in the first season to institute a romance is carry Korra in his arms after finding her. Does this mean that Korra naturally develops relationships to male saviors? Does her character want to be protected after all? Is the tough girl attitude all an act? I don’t know but it warrants exploration. Exploration that I hope the rest of the series pursues. Exploration that is, at the moment, completely unsatisfied by a bizarre kiss and a declaration of “I love you”. Do they? I may not be a smart man, but I know what love is… and that shit ain’t it.
“Korra, look at my scarf. Look at my face. I’m gorgeous, you’re gorgeous – we should date.”
Despite all these problems, I do like the Legend of Korra. I enjoyed the season finale when I watched it and still think it’s fine. It’s saving grace is just that: it’s a first season. Hopefully the audience will get to watch these characters grow throughout the series and most of these issues will be addressed. If not, rest assured you will be seeing another one of these articles.
One last note and a bit of a side thing: when writing a tight story in twelve episodes: everything has to be essential. Pro-bending, arguably the most fun aspect season one, takes up several episodes before exiting halfway through the season. Was it awesome to watch: yes. Was it completely unnecessary to the plot: yes. Could that time have been spent better developing characters and avoiding the above-mentioned problems: sadly yes. Something to work on in the coming seasons.
Thoughts? Comments? Am I full of shit or onto something? Let me know now in the feedback section of this article.
Colin McMahon 