Some of us committed the unpardonable sin of not liking IDW  

 

Leading to "it's not G1", "yes, it is", "nope", "well, it was", "it was in context, now it's not", "well, it can be a cousin..."

 

IDK.

I rather like IDW. Probably my favorite continuity that is not Marvel or Sunbow.

But I never cared about any generation label slapped on it.

It is what it is, mostly its own thing. Quite possibly only for the best, because how many retellings of G1 one can read again and again?

 

More importantly, did I seriously write "You a thread..."? Shit. Fixed.

 

I understand, but because some of us stated IDW, the conversation began moving that way.  

 

I don't think I'd dislike IDW nearly as much if the Autobots and Decepticons weren't both evil.. It seems like kind of a pointless continuity.

But as for my least favorite tv cartoon series.. I guess as cliche as it is I'm going to have to go with Beast Machines, and not because of the aesthetics of the show, but because it eventually got so far up it's own kesiter it got lost there.

 

That's not even what's being discussed but OK.

It's kind of complicated, but I think that IDW is much closer associated with G1 than, say, Animated or Prime is. For the most part, the characters are the same. You may have original characters showing up, but you don't have people like, say, a character called Red Alert showing up with an entirely different design and personality as was the case in Armada.

Despite what detractors keep telling them self, there are very few characters in IDW who haven't had their personality and design lifted directly from G1 continuity. There's who? Star Saber (personality-wise)? Overlord (who was chosen for the express reason that he's never had an English depiction and as such was a blank slate and then again only personality-wise)? I think a better comparison would be with something like Ultimate Marvel, a reboot from the ground up that keeps the fundamental rules and characters from the original series (and even then IDW has more in common with G1 than Ultimate did with its mainline personality-wise). The fact that IDW designs show up in G1 homage toylines seems to support this viewpoint.

Literally the only thing that I can think of that suggests anything different is IDW Roller's role in Grand Galvatron, having been pulled from a different dimension same as Armada Thurst and Prime Breakdown.

While there's some moral ambiguity about some of the choices certain Autobots make (it is war after all) there is no doubt who the villains are and while they birthed from oppression by a corrupt Governing Party, the Decepticons are definitely the evil ones.

 

It's a sin to not like IDW? Huh. I don't like it and I never saw it as a sin.

 

I don't think so either, hence the  

 

1. Energon
2. Cybertron
3. Armada
4. Animated
5. RID '15

 

Ah ok!  

I tried watching TF Prime but I found it...boring. Like, not bad boring, just plain old boring. Even Optimus sounded bored the whole time. Maybe it's just my distaste of the Stotic character type in general but I really didn't like this take on Optimus, it's not as bad as the blood-crazy Movie Optimus but Prime stotic Demigod Optimus was a downgrade from G1's more down to earth Optimus.

 

Let's put it another way, using your example.

Would anyone conflate Golden Age Superman and Batman with New 52 Superman and Batman?

There are definitive cut-off points. With Transformers now being a 30+ year franchise, I'd say we've hit the point where you can easily split the eras. G1 ended with Beast Machines...the last story that actively attempted to continue the story that began in 1984 (discounting, again, KISS Players and Re-Generation One).

Subsequent G1-inspired reboots have come and gone. Dreamwave and IDW. Animated, movies and Aligned. RiD and A/E/C less so but still inherently a story about Autobots vs. Decepticons featuring Optimus Prime vs. Megatron.

But I think we can all look back and say post-Beast Machines was the clear break when Hasbro actively and decisively veered left with the franchise, declaring that we're moving into "Final Fantasy-every-game-is-a-reboot" territory.

So, no, IDW is not G1. It is "Transformers: IDW". While it uses many characters from G1, it is not alone in modern Transformers fiction to do so. But it is the definitive MODERN Transformers fiction right now, whether I like it or not.

 

IDW is my favorite.

G1 is a close second. Enjoyed it muchly when I was a child. Can't get into it anymore though. Can't even get my daughter to like it. Though she found Transformers: The Movie, somewhat entertaining.

I very much dislike the real-life movies and everything in between G1 and IDW. So no prime, animated, beast wars, etc etc.

 

The series I least enjoyed? Probably the new Robots in Disguise show.

At first I liked the show, new characters, new leader and new story.
Then came the problem.
The plot began to repeat itself many many many many times. Nearly every episode became the exact same team. They find a new Decepticon(s) that's on the lose, they lose on the first try and they come back and capture them. It repeats itself so much that I got bored of it.

But, RiD is not the only show I can't watch. Armada so far for me is extremely boring. I can barely sit through one episode without facepalming at the pure stupidity of the humans and even the action was boring.
Tried to finish Beast Machines, but the music and visuals were more than awful.

 

Beast Machines. Didn't even finish watching it. I just couldn't get past the character designs.

 

Machinima's Combiner Wars.

 

Combiner Wars, Energon and Bayformers movies are terrible, those I didn't even enjoy.
I certainly didn't enjoy Beast Machines, what a boring series, and an underwhelming follow-up to such a great cartoon.

 

Least enjoyed series:
Bronze medal: Energon. It had some good ideas going in but never really did anything with them. And then ran out of plot halfway through leading to a repeat of the entire plot in the second half.

Silver medal: Beast Machines. Bad story and pacing, and a complete disregard to the personalities established for the characters in 3 seasons of Beast Wars.

Gold medal: IDW. G1 characters acting and (in some cases) looking nothing like their classic selves, too much content which seems to be purely for shock value which I consider highly inappropriate for a franchise based on kids' toys. The only TF franchise that I can't find any redeeming value to - even BM had good toys.

 

Beast Machines.

 

I'm not sure it's a series, but the Live Action Movies are awful.

As for animation, Zone is the worst thing, then Armada.