What would you say is the most overrated animated TV show?

[OriginalGagBonke]

Seeing how we had a topic regarding on animated films that were considered overrated, I thought why not have one for tv shows. So what are tv shows(shows, and including specials that were made for the tv) that were so praised so much that you couldn't get into it? I only know three.

Invader Zim- I think I am not the only one who couldn't get into this show. I really didnt understand the hype of all of it, I mean it had some cool animation but it looked like they tried making something for an older audience but instead make something for kids instead.

Avatar: The last airbender- My entire school has stuff about this one. And the fact that it was so overdosed with hype I didnt understand why people would want to watch this. I mean it IS a hit, but I just cant understand its hype.

Also...ANYTHING from Rankin and Bass, there xmas specials and other holiday stuff made me to this day refuse to look at it since how hyped these are. Although, I did hear good things regarding on the last unicorn but i cannot express my thoughts on it since I haven't seen it.

 

[PaperBritt]

Anything made by Hanna-Barberra. I understand technology wasn't as good as it is now, that doesn't excuse horrible writing, a complete lack of comic timing, and characters as bland and uninteresting as used paper towels. The fact that people watch the original Hanna-Barberra stuff and regard them as "classics" boggles my mind beyond belief.

It's made worse by the fact that because of peoples blind nostalgic worship of these half baked mediocre shows, they keep being remade and adapted just to squeeze money out of them and are almost always reminding them of their presence, Scooby-Doo especially.

When Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. first aired, I was amazed at how good it was, it may actually be the first time the series was given to people with any form of competence, and every Scooby-Doo fan whines "WHER R TEH SCOOBY SNAX!!!", as if a horrible running gag being missing made the show WORSE. And people complaining about Fred and Velma being so different, when this is the first time they've had ANY personality, and weren't just there to solve the actual mystery while Scooby and Shaggy just kept repeating the same gag: SCOOBY AND SHAGGY EAT LOTS OF FOOD AND THATS FUNNY CAUSE.....THEY EAT LOTS OF FOOD!

Well, that was cathartic!

 

[DonkeyKongSong]

Invader Zim- I think I am not the only one who couldn't get into this show. I really didnt understand the hype of all of it, I mean it had some cool animation but it looked like they tried making something for an older audience but instead make something for kids instead.

While I disagree about it being overrated, I see where you're coming from. However, I like the fact that it's for kids - if it hadn't aired on a censored kids network like Nick, I don't think it would have worked.

I gotta go with Rocket Power. It's the one show the '90s Nick buffs go on about, and even when I was a kid, I didn't get into it.

 

[W.C.Reaf]

Samurai Jack: I honestly don't get the appeal. I've never been a fan of Genndy Tartakovsky's style but why this series gets spoken of in such reverence is a mystery to me.

The animation is very sparse. With long pans up and around something with no actual movement, most conversations just loop frames constantly, just to create the illusion of actual animation. The highly spoken of fight scenes I've seen done a lot better by fairly average cartoons.

The writing is what drags me away from this series, though. Jack is a two-dimensional character. Because of the time travel premise it makes most of the episode plots mute as if Jack gets home and fixes things it makes all the "Jack saves people from Aku's evil" episodes pointless as they were all going to get saved anyway time travel.

Yes there's some arty stories like "Seasons of Death" but that's my main problem with the show, too much style not enough substance. There's not much really to it beyond aesthetics and if you don't like those aesthetics then there's nothing else in the show for you to like.

 

[Shawn Hopkins]

I'm going to point out right now that there are many, many old versions of this exact thread and there's no need to make a new one.

https://www.toonzone.net/forums/showthread.php?t=217902&highlight=overrated

 

[Kiddington]

Eh... personally, I don't care for the term "overrated". A matter of personal opinion is just that. If the masses happen to like something I don't, that doesn't make it overrated; it just means I don't like it.

...but hey, whatever. That's just my opinion. For the purpose of this thread, I'll play along.

-begin rant-

I'll say Chowder. I see a lot of people herald it as one of CN's best, that it brought them back from the dark ages of 2005-2007, it was cancelled too soon, yada yada yada... you see where I'm going with this. Personally, I don't feel the same way at all. The first production season was OK, and it had potential... but I thought everything else after that was absolutely terrible. The characters were all flanderized into an obnoxious mess of idiotic lunacy (even Mung, and he was supposed to be the voice of reason). It became became less about witty, enjoyable humor, and more about LOUD SCREAMING. Half of the time, if not ALL of the time, this is essentially all that Chowder does during an 11-minute segment.

What really bothers me is how lazy the writing staff became. The show quickly devolved into focusing only on Chowder's antics. His tendency to freak out over the most meaningless of situations (and the LOUD SCREAMING) were usually the pointed source of "humor" in all of this, none of which I found funny at all. Occasionally, you'd still get a good one-liner from Mung or even Gazpacho... but at that point, even the characters that had a mild bit of sanity or intelligence didn't really show it anymore.

In the grand scheme of things, I'll remember this show as one thing; a series that started out promising, but quickly devolved into an unfunny, obnoxious mess of a cartoon that, in the end, really blew it. As I said; the first season was decent. This show had the potential to be something more, maybe even something great, had they built off of those early episodes. I just... don't know what happened after that; the quick degradation in quality is almost unexplainable. Did the entire writing staff from Season 1 get fired in the transition to Season 2? The mind boggles.

-end rant-

Keep in mind; this is my personal opinion of Chowder. Also note that I didn't really call it "overrated", either. I did happen to point out that a lot of people like it (to the point of a few regarding it as one CN's best series EVAH), whereas I don't really feel that way at all, sooooo... it's more of an indirect implication of being overrated, if anything.

 

[SF4Ever]

Eh... personally, I don't care for the term "overrated". A matter of personal opinion is just that. If the masses happen to like something I don't, that doesn't make it overrated; it just means I don't like it.

...but hey, whatever. That's just my opinion. For the purpose of this thread, I'll play along.

-begin rant-

I'll say Chowder. I see a lot of people herald it as one of CN's best, that it brought them back from the dark ages of 2005-2007, it was cancelled too soon, yada yada yada... you see where I'm going with this. Personally, I don't feel the same way at all. The first production season was OK, and it had potential... but I thought everything else after that was absolutely terrible. The characters were all flanderized into an obnoxious mess of idiotic lunacy (even Mung, and he was supposed to be the voice of reason). It became became less about witty, enjoyable humor, and more about LOUD SCREAMING. Half of the time, if not ALL of the time, this is essentially all that Chowder does during an 11-minute segment.

What really bothers me is how lazy the writing staff became. The show quickly devolved into focusing only on Chowder's antics. His tendency to freak out over the most meaningless of situations (and the LOUD SCREAMING) were usually the pointed source of "humor" in all of this, none of which I found funny at all. Occasionally, you'd still get a good one-liner from Mung or even Gazpacho... but at that point, even the characters that had a mild bit of sanity or intelligence didn't really show it anymore.

In the grand scheme of things, I'll remember this series as one thing; a series that started out promising, but quickly devolved into an unfunny, obnoxious mess of a cartoon that, in the end, really blew it. As I said; the first season was decent. This show had the potential to be something more, maybe even something great, had they built off of those episodes. I just... don't what happened after that; the quick degradation in quality is almost unexplainable. Did the entire writing staff from Season 1 get fired in the transition to Season 2? The mind boggles.

-end rant-

Keep in mind; this is my personal opinion of Chowder. Also note that I didn't really call it "overrated", either. I did happy point out that I lot of people like it (to the point of a few regarding it as one CN's best series EVAH), whereas I don't really feel that way at all, sooooo... it's more of an indirect implication of being overrated, if anything.

I'm with you- I don't care for that term "overrated", because the truth is, there's no animated program that fits that title. Every animated program has its good and bad points. BTW, there's always room for improvement.

 

[Gokou Ruri]

Samurai Jack: I honestly don't get the appeal. I've never been a fan of Genndy Tartakovsky's style but why this series gets spoken of in such reverence is a mystery to me.

I guess I'll go with this. Avatar is also horribly overrated, but I can at least see the appeal and respect some of the things its done. Samurai Jack, though, I can't really find anything enjoyable about it. The art is unappealing and ugly, the plot is nonexistent, and it's just a really slow and boring show. That parody Duck Dodgers did was pretty acurate ("Walking.. walking.. walking.. rock.. walking..") Plus Jack himself is kind of a boring character since he rarely talks and has no one to interact with. I'm not really sure why so many people were upset it was canceled without an ending; it had like 52 episodes to end the show and develop a plot, but it never used any of them to do so; so clearly they had no interest in giving it an ending or story to begin with. I can't really see how people hold it as one of the best cartoons of all time.

 

[Gilgamesh]

I guess I'll go with this. Avatar is also horribly overrated, but I can at least see the appeal and respect some of the things its done. Samurai Jack, though, I can't really find anything enjoyable about it. The art is unappealing and ugly, the plot is nonexistent, and it's just a really slow and boring show. That parody Duck Dodgers did was pretty acurate ("Walking.. walking.. walking.. rock.. walking..") Plus Jack himself is kind of a boring character since he rarely talks and has no one to interact with. I'm not really sure why so many people were upset it was canceled without an ending; it had like 52 episodes to end the show and develop a plot, but it never used any of them to do so; so clearly they had no interest in giving it an ending or story to begin with. I can't really see how people hold it as one of the best cartoons of all time.

You have every right to think this, but I'm not sure why anybody would assume a blatant experimental genre anthology would have a serial plot.

Anyway, most overrated cartoon? I'm probably gonna have to go with Spider-Man: The Animated Series or the 80's G.I. Joe. There's campy fun...and then there's just duds. I like me some terribad, but they reached a certain level and were a specific shade of bad that I really couldn't get behind and I have a lot of trouble seeing the appeal.

 

[Kryten]

(puts on flame-retardant suit)

Ren & Stimpy. Looking back, all it really had going for it was deranged animation.

 

[Gokou Ruri]

You have every right to think this, but I'm not sure why anybody would assume a blatant experimental genre anthology would have a serial plot..

Well the whole premier is Jack saying he's going to find and defeat Aku. I kinda held them to that, I guess.

 

[ABrown]

Anything made by Hanna-Barberra. I understand technology wasn't as good as it is now, that doesn't excuse horrible writing, a complete lack of comic timing, and characters as bland and uninteresting as used paper towels. The fact that people watch the original Hanna-Barberra stuff and regard them as "classics" boggles my mind beyond belief.

I disagree. I think that Hanna-Barberra cartoons were very well done. They're not my personal preference for cartoons. But I think that they were very good for their time.

I'm going to point out right now that there are many, many old versions of this exact thread and there's no need to make a new one.
https://www.toonzone.net/forums/showthread.php?t=217902&highlight=overrated

So what? That's a thread that hadn't been touched in over two years? A think in this case, starting off fresh was the right way to go.

In my opinion, the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon was overrated. It really was not that great of a cartoon. It did really well because it had some of the most enjoyable characters ever created. But you can't credit the creators of the original cartoon for that. It's Eastman and Laird who are entitled to that credit.

 

[PaperBritt]

I disagree. I think that Hanna-Barberra cartoons were very well done. They're not my personal preference for cartoons. But I think that they were very good for their time.

Key words being "For their time". I don't mind people liking it then. To me, they are outdated and haven't aged well at all. Nothing wrong if you still like them, just don't tell me that I should hate Mystery Incorporated and we're good

 

[W.C.Reaf]

Well the whole premier is Jack saying he's going to find and defeat Aku. I kinda held them to that, I guess.

Yeah I don't think it was ever going to get an ending unless Tartakovsky was told before hand that he wouldn't get more episodes. A friend of mine keeps wishing Tartakovsky hadn't done Clone Wars so he could've stayed on with Samurai Jack and give it a proper ending. I keep trying not to laugh out a "nope he probably still wouldn't have given it an ending."

Now it's clearly a show that should have an ending and one of the things I most hear about it is the lack of an ending from fans. So clearly there is a desired end point built into it.

 

[Sam Hill]

(puts on flame-retardant suit)

Ren & Stimpy. Looking back, all it really had going for it was deranged animation.

I remember liking it as a kid but I haven't seen the earliest episode in about a decade. I thought that the later, post-Spumco episodes were awful even when I was young, though.

 

[Manga4life]

I would clump The Simpsons, Family Guy and South Park into the "most overrated" catagory, that doesn't mean that these shows aren't good or don't offer their share of laughs but all 3 I've had my fair share of and I still hear people talk about them at work, in my personal life and on forums such as this as if these shows are gods gift to television. I'm sick of it. But again, I'm not hating on these shows, I sometimes watch 2 out of 3, but I'm just tired of the lovefest that these three shows still enjoy and it's time that people saw through the illusion that these shows were as good as they were a long time ago.

 

[Gorbash]

I'm going to throw in some Anime here since people seem to forget that it's animated as well.

Bleach- For the praise it gets, the story is very convoluted and slow. I enjoy the character development that goes on in early story arcs, but I find that the thing slowly evolves into a mess where the author seems to be procrastinating with himself on where everything is going.

DBZ- I enjoy the show just like many others, but there are times when I find it very overrated. It is people beating each other up with very little behind it but the average save the world plot. Character motivations are also on the down side because of how they are executed. Goku I can excuse for his recklessness because he is still a child at heart, and pretty much mind. Vegeta is insane though; he has twice the maturity of Goku and should show it.

 

[rattis1]

DBZ- I enjoy the show just like many others, but there are times when I find it very overrated. It is people beating each other up with very little behind it but the average save the world plot.

True. However, i think most DBZ fans (myself included) are perfectly aware of the fact that it's a very... simplistic show, narratively speaking. We just love it to death anyway because the fighting is so darn awesome.

Anyway, on topic, i think im going to have to say Animaniacs. I mean, it does have a lot of qualities, like the dialogue which is usually very clever. But dear God, people like to talk about it like it's one of the pinnacles of comedy in all of human history. In my opinion, it's really nothing special neither as a comedy or as a cartoon. The show completely lacks the attention to pacing that marked the original Looney Tunes and also certain better TV cartoons like The Powerpuff Girls or Ren and Stimpy. Also, the actual animation in the show is utterly bland. The show is supposed to be similar to the cartoons of the golden age yet is hardly ever seems to utilize the animated medium for things like funny facial expressions and poses. It also bugs me that people tend to praise this show for exactly the same reason that certain other shows like Family Guy get so much flak for. Namely pop-culture references. Animaniacs makes a reference to some 70's gangster movie? GENIUS! Family Guy does the same? A CHEAP SUBSTITUTE FOR AN ACTUAL JOKE!

 

[CyclonatorZ]

Overall, I'd say Seth Macfarlane's animated comedies are my most obvious pick. A lot of people seem to claim that they're absolutely hilarious, but what little I've seen is so juvenile that it feels like some pre-adolescent wrote it. Tons of pop culture jokes that are neither witty nor clever, non-existent "plots" that are generally an excuse to debauch the already flimsy characterizations of the cast, and a boatload of "humor" that attempts to be edgy but ends up coming off as just plain tasteless. How is this supposed to be funny, again?

As for non-comedy shows, the most recent example I can think of is... wait for it.... Young Justice. I know this might come as a shock to some people, as the show is still of rather high quality. My problem is that, only four episodes in, a lot of members here seem to be praising it as one of the best things on television. Personally, as much as I'm a fan of Greg Weisman, this show just isn't nearly to the level of some of his other efforts (Gargoyles and Spectacular Spiderman come to his mind), and I think people are being to quick to praise every aspect of it when it's only been running for about two weeks. Is it good? Yes, but is it so amazingly spectacular that it blows just about everthing else out of the water? I don't really think so.

 

[Savoury Sauce]

When Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. first aired, I was amazed at how good it was, it may actually be the first time the series was given to people with any form of competence, and every Scooby-Doo fan whines "WHER R TEH SCOOBY SNAX!!!", as if a horrible running gag being missing made the show WORSE. And people complaining about Fred and Velma being so different, when this is the first time they've had ANY personality, and weren't just there to solve the actual mystery while Scooby and Shaggy just kept repeating the same gag: SCOOBY AND SHAGGY EAT LOTS OF FOOD AND THATS FUNNY CAUSE.....THEY EAT LOTS OF FOOD!

I can't say I agree with everything Hanna-Barbera being overrated, but I do very much agree with your standpoint regarding Scooby-Doo. There are definately some real gems in the character's history, particulary Zombie Island and, as you mentioned, the recent 'Mystery Inc' series, but otherwise, I struggle to see any appeal, especially concerning the original series.