Cartoons that you think are overrated

[ShadowDude112]

So, I've been trying to find a way to make this thread for a while, but I'll just make it a direct statement thread. The point of the thread is just as the title suggests. My contribution, I guess I have two. Feel free to also give criticism to my thoughts and why you disagree if you do.

First up, Invader Zim. Okay, for real, guys, I don't get what's so great about this show. I've watched a few episodes here and there, and maybe because I didn't watch it when it first aired so I don't have the nostalgia goggles to really enjoy, but, really, it just seems more "LOL GUYS, ZANY THINGZ WITH SOME DARK ELEMENTS!!!! BUT MOSTLY ZANY THINGZZZZZZZ!!!!!" Which, I mean, I'm okay with that in Adventure Time and Regular Show, because those show's are great in their own right and I haven't had them shoved down my throat as one of the "best cartoons in a long time". I mean, really, I don't like Invader Zim. It feels off to me. Maybe it's not just the zany elements maybe that's not it at all. Maybe the show just doesn't appeal to me, but I still think that it's entirely overrated and it's really not all that dark.

Second, Teen Titans. Okay, so I watched this show when it did first air. I thought it was pretty good. Now, having gone back to it after having watched other super hero shows that came after it like the Spectacular Spider-Man, Young Justice, and Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Even shows that pre-dated TT and watching them with more understanding like Batman: the Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Justice League, and JLU. Compared to all those shows, and just regular comics in general, Teen Titans just falls flat. Slade has no motive in Season 1, and when he comes back and does it's "Trigon stole my soul," which is just really dumb. It's decent at it's best but kinda bad at it's worst. Yet I hear some people say it's their favorite super hero show. One of my best friends says he still thinks it's the best super hero show ever because "it's my childhood" which pisses me off to no end. Maybe it's because I know so much more about comics and just better super hero shows that has kinda turned me off from Teen Titans, and I've heard a lot of people say they love Teen Titans so that's why I feel it's overrated.

So, Escapists, what are some of your cartoons that you feel are overrated.

inb4: A bunch of people say MLP:FiM. Which, I agree. It's overstayed it's welcome.

 

[M K Ultra]

Anything that McFarlane does.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Seconding Teen Titans. Not only does the theme song annoy the absolute fuck out of me, but it was made during that period when American cartoons were ripping off anime. Except that rather than taking what was good, such as interesting character dynamics or arcing storylines, they took the stuff that makes anime shit. Mainly the ridiculous overreaction faces, random graphical effects and emphasis lines that completely draw you out of the show.

It also doesn't fit with the DC animated universe shows, which I find much superior. Hell, even Static Shock, with it's rather lame music and less than threatening villains was a better show. At least in it Harley Quinn showed up once.

 

[Rose and Thorn]

I don't judge cartoons or the people that watch them. If I don't like a show, I don't watch it.

I was never huge on the Simpsons, but it was super popular. It just wasn't my thing, I guess I can see why people like it and sometimes I wish that I could, ya know..."get it", but I don't. Doesn't make my day any worse or better.

I have never seen MLP, but fuck if it isn't popular. So is Adventure time, I gave that one a watch and really enjoy it. Maybe I would enjoy MLP? Who knows, but even if I didn't enjoy it who am I to say a show is overrated? If I didn't like MLP who am I to say that I think the show isn't as good as everyone else thinks and that it has...

"It's overstayed it's welcome."

...like Shadowdude here says. A shit ton of people like the show, and it isn't hurting anyone. I am just sick of this "overrated" crap everyone keeps talking about.


On another note

Anything that McFarlane does.

Ouch, that one hurt me a little bit. *BUT LIKE I SAID, TO EACH HIS OWN*

 

[M K Ultra]

Ouch, that one hurt me a little bit. *BUT LIKE I SAID, TO EACH HIS OWN*

It's the musical bits, repetitive humor & carbon copy characters that I can't stand. But ratings show that I'm in the minority. There are some hilarious bits in FG & AD though.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Seconding Teen Titans. Not only does the theme song annoy the absolute fuck out of me, but it was made during that period when American cartoons were ripping off anime. Except that rather than taking what was good, such as interesting character dynamics or arcing storylines, they took the stuff that makes anime shit. Mainly the ridiculous overreaction faces, random graphical effects and emphasis lines that completely draw you out of the show.

It also doesn't fit with the DC animated universe shows, which I find much superior. Hell, even Static Shock, with it's rather lame music and less than threatening villains was a better show. At least in it Harley Quinn showed up once.

The character designs alone were just terrible. It wanted to look anime, but at the same time retain that Bruce Timm/DC aesthetic, and Jesus, did it look like a mess. Don't tell me the studio who did Teen Titans was the same who did the Batman and Superman series?

OT: I'm going to say Futurama. I don't hate it or anything, but from what I've seen of it (which is quite a bit I must say) I really don't get the popularity of it. 90% of the jokes have this really weirdly obvious punchline that you can see from a mile away. For me the show actually started to get funny after it returned from being canceled, which ironically was when most fans apparently started disliking it.

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

G1 Transformers for me.
True enough it does have some good moments and I kinda like seeing references being made to it in shows like Transformers Animated and High Moon Studios' games but out of all the Transformers cartoons I've watched, it really is the most merchandise driven which, while being the point of its existence, is something which I don't like. If you look at shows like Beast Wars, Animated and Prime there is a lot more emphasis on the story being told, which can be pretty damn good at times and can be shown by keeping to a relatively small cast to focus on throughout. Sure enough it does throw in new characters every now and again, but it doesn't feel as hamfisted as it was with G1. Atleast when Animated introduced Grimlock and Soundwave there had a reason to exist and their origin and purpose was given.

Case in point being the much lauded Transformers: The Movie. Again, I love it, and the existence of Michael Bay's atrocities make it shine all the brighter but as soon as we step onto Earth we immediately see new characters like Hot Rod, Arcee and Ultra Magnus who appear completely out of the blue and are introduced like we already know who they are. And naturally, the majority of the old cast gets brutally slaughtered in this film (killing off favourites like Wheeljack, Ironhide, Starscream and Optimus Prime) while the newbies and Dinobots live on to create the incredibly lackluster Season 3 of the show.

All in all, I love G1 but mostly because it started a franchise which I love and it created a series of traditions and characters who continue to live on to this day. I love how the franchise has evolved, mostly for the better, but I really don't get why the so-called 'G-Whiners' insist it is the greatest incarnation to ever grace the planet and harshly dismiss anything that comes after it. Hell, the Transformers fandumb pretty much invented the term Ruined FOREVER [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Ruined_FOREVER]. I guess it's the old fashioned argument of "each to their own" but I can't help but feel there is large sense of denial involved when people call G1 their favourite Transformers show.

 

[AngloDoom]

Invader Zim [... it's really not all that dark.

While I'm an 'each to their own' kind of person, Zim once an organ from every student in his school and planted it in his body to the point where he was a swollen mass with intestines spewing out of his open mouth. He also has a captive person in his lab with a giant electrode drilled into an exposed brain that electrocutes them into forced, painful elation.

I mean, I can't really think of a more twisted cartoon off of the top of my head. That's not to say you should like the show for it of course.

OT:

None, now I think about it. I've not really watched a popular cartoon that I haven't gotten some kind of kick out of. The popular ones right now seem to be MLP, Adventure Time and The Marvellous Misadventures of Flapjack - shows that I enjoy.

 

[Silly Hats]

Anything that McFarlane does.

This.

If Family Guy was 11-15 minutes long like every other [AS] program then it might actually be entertaining. It just has way too much unnecessary filler and jokes that aren't funny and plots that are as interesting as Turd on Toast. I used to like it when I was about 15, but there are better shows around.

Though, Aqua Team Hunger Force got pretty boring after the first couple of seasons.

 

[Neverhoodian]

inb4: A bunch of people say MLP:FiM. Which, I agree. It's overstayed it's welcome.

Eh? It's only been on the air for two and a half seasons. I'd say the show still has plenty of fuel left at this point in time. Or were you referring to the "brony haters vs. brony zealots" flame wars that infest practically every corner of the internet? I'll agree with you if that's the case. Shit's seriously getting old.

Ouch, that one hurt me a little bit. *BUT LIKE I SAID, TO EACH HIS OWN*

It's the musical bits, repetitive humor & carbon copy characters that I can't stand. But ratings show that I'm in the minority. There are some hilarious bits in FG & AD though.

Well, I'm apparently part of that minority as well. Most of his attempts at humor are either too violent, crude or forced for my tastes. It doesn't help that the animation isn't all that good either. The only McFarlane show I somewhat enjoyed was American Dad, but that one still fell into those same pitfalls too often.

I don't care for South Park either. I always got an unpleasant feeling whenever I tried to watch the show. It exudes an intensely jaded, cynical vibe that doesn't sit well with me. I don't buy claims that it's supposedly "smart" and "incisive." Rather, it comes across as an excuse to spew bottom of the barrel, juvenile gross-out humor while pretending to be intelligent with the occasional half-baked social commentary.

 

[Myndnix]

Anything that McFarlane does.

So much this.
I also need to second Invader Zim. I really don't understand how that show became the 'classic' it's regarded as, considering how crap it is. It's surreal, but...it isn't funny. It's just kinda gross. While not even approaching the realms of 'funny' or 'entertaining'.
Then there's every cartoon that Cartoon Network has aired in the last five years or so that isn't Adventure Time. Once again, they aren't funny or entertaining. They're surreal, and 'whacky', yes, but they're also quite grotesque and rely way too much on 'random' humour, which is very, very difficult to do correctly.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

Transformers. Generation 1. Yeah. I just said that on the internet. I don't much care for it, I find it to be poorly animated, its only saving grace a voice cast that seems to understand the dreck they're reading so ham it up as much as possible. I'm not saying it isn't enjoyable, but... eurgh. I am a Transformers fan though; that Fall of Cybertron game turned me. I'm enjoying Transformers Prime.

I say this many times with varying levels of sarcasm, but I think old TV shows should be outright ashamed of themselves for aging poorly.

I don't care for South Park either. I always got an unpleasant feeling whenever I tried to watch the show. It exudes an intensely jaded, cynical vibe that doesn't sit well with me. I don't buy claims that it's supposedly "smart" and "incisive." Rather, it comes across as an excuse to spew bottom of the barrel, juvenile gross-out humor while pretending to be intelligent with the occasional half-baked social commentary.

No no, it's "supposed" to be subversive. I don't think it has any pretenses that its at all smart, though I would say it say it is cutting.

South Park is an odd one. I think it requires a bit of a "step back," so to speak, to really find any kind of enjoyment from it. There's a point between the show and your disdain for it where it clicks - I've been there, I hated the show but as I slowly took it in there was a point where I "got" it. I don't that forgives it any issues you have with it - a show that requires a deft touch to view won't win fans overnight - but I think there is definitely a distance from which South Park's wit can be appreciated as sharp, instead of blunt.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I don't understand how anybody liked Catdog. I also don't understand how people liked Jimmy Neutron and what really baffles my mind is how Jimmy's friend Sheen got his own freaking show! Seriously though: Catdog is probably the one that really, really confuses me. I don't get how anybody could like a show so mean spirited and downright bleak.

 

[repeating integers]

...

Seconding Teen Titans. Not only does the theme song annoy the absolute fuck out of me, but it was made during that period when American cartoons were ripping off anime. Except that rather than taking what was good, such as interesting character dynamics or arcing storylines, they took the stuff that makes anime shit. Mainly the ridiculous overreaction faces, random graphical effects and emphasis lines that completely draw you out of the show.

It also doesn't fit with the DC animated universe shows, which I find much superior. Hell, even Static Shock, with it's rather lame music and less than threatening villains was a better show. At least in it Harley Quinn showed up once.

Alright, yes, the theme song annoys the absolute fuck out of me too. But... the show did have interesting character dynamics. That's a big part of its appeal to me - the traits & flaws of the characters and the way they interact.

 

[Charli]

Every show that has ever coined the phrase 'overrated' is usually spewed from some old bitter fan who longs to return to the scene but can't for fear of societal pressures or someone who's never managed to see anything they like about it (in which case it's not overrated you just don't like that kind of thing)

I don't judge, I love animation and all it's mutant children and a show has to be pretty abysmal to turn me off and usually isn't ever 'overrated' by any means.



Overrated is a term that should be reserved for things like Apple products.

 

[Gabanuka]

With a voice like that Slade doesn't need motivation.


I think people overate how good Legend of Korra was. Animation wise it was stella but God-damn was it badly paced, its not a bad cartoon by any means but its not in the same league as Legend of Aang, hopefully now they have more episodes season 2-3 will be better planned.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Obligatory mention of anime... Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, and so on and so forth...

Other than that... Family Guy (the musical bits kinda bugged me) and South Park

I don't care for South Park either. I always got an unpleasant feeling whenever I tried to watch the show. It exudes an intensely jaded, cynical vibe that doesn't sit well with me. I don't buy claims that it's supposedly "smart" and "incisive." Rather, it comes across as an excuse to spew bottom of the barrel, juvenile gross-out humor while pretending to be intelligent with the occasional half-baked social commentary.

... what this guy said...

*shrug* As has been said 'each to his own'...

 

[xPixelatedx]

First up, Invader Zim.

I mean, really, I don't like Invader Zim. It feels off to me. Maybe it's not just the zany elements maybe that's not it at all. Maybe the show just doesn't appeal to me, but I still think that it's entirely overrated and it's really not all that dark.

Not saying Zim was the bestest show ever, but like 'Cabin in the Woods' this show often goes over many people's heads, and can appear terrible if you don't get it. It was never a matter of it being "dark", but a matter of it being fantastic social commentary on the human race. If at any point someone said it was good because it was "dark", they may have been referring to the disturbing nature at which it portrays humanity, which, while an exaggeration, isn't entierly far from the truth.

 

[Dead Seerius]

Adventure Time. Obviously to each their own, and the show doesnt bother me or anything, but I cannot see why people love it as much as they do. Aside from the nostalgic animation style, I don't see it.
The humor just seems random and spazzy - no real depth. The plots are just as sporadic, usually. A fine show, I suppose. But not great.

Don't know if I like the term "overrated" though. It's just a minority opinion.