THIS.

I'll admit aside from Megatronus's demise...i like that no one actually has died.

 

I'm not saying a show needs more death, you're right in that if it's needless and doesn't further the story or characters then it was unecessary. Prime is a good example of this problem.

I think what might be unclear here is that I do not mean the show needs to be darker or more for adults - I mean that the show should go for more than being about as safe as children's programming can be from a writing standpoint. Simply put RiD takes no risks, it's autobots hutning decepticons of the week with a moral lesson to tie it together. There is no attempt at subtlty, overarching plot, character development or any sense that this show is going anywhere.

Again, look at animated, that show took A LOT more risks in what it was than RiD is taking and I'd say easily that it was for just as young an audience without ever being dark trying to be more mature - it simply was just a better written and better done show.

 

I got you, thanks for the clarification  . Okay my opinion is no it shouldn't be. Primarily because it can prove difficult to support three masters. Much like Rescue Bots is aimed at a certain age group (let's say 3-8) the main objective of RID is to aim at another particular age demographic (let's say 9-14), once someone leaves a demographic the goal is to graduate them to the next one (in this case comics and maybe the Combiner Wars cartoon).

By changing the aim of RID to fit a broader audience you can lose the framework that Hasbro has established. Plus it would be counter productive to broaden RID as it would lead to responsibility creep and force the cartoon to try and please multiple groups at once. This was an okay plan during the Beast Wars era when Transforners was comparably small, but now broad appeal may not be the best option for each component in the franchise.

Again just an opinion  

True, but it was a different time, the evolution of the franchise was just beginning. Animated still had to do double duty: attract new and keep old fans. Now, there is no need.

 

I strongly disagree. Just because something is capable of appealing to one group, it does not mean it'll become less appealing to another group. Sure, it can't do anything as mature as IDW does but story and character arcs on par with what BW and TFA did wouldn't be a problem at all.

 

I heartily think Transformers should not "grow up." There are plenty of serious, mature entertainment franchises out there that my adult brain can enjoy. I'll keep my alien-robots-from-space-who-turn-into-cars the fun and kid-friendly franchise it has always been, thanks. The kid part of me can enjoy it, and even more so, I can enjoy it with my kids.

What I'd most like it to be, and what I feel like for the most part it has been achieving since Animated (with a few stumbles here and there), is GOOD kids' entertainment. Well-written, character-rich, fun television that can speak to kids and ignite their imagination without being too insipid for adults.

 

Oh you miss understand I am not saying that it couldn't be done I am saying that it is against the current framework established by Hasbro. It CAN be done, but it is more difficult to maintain a focus with something that has broad appeal and not lose site of the bigger picture.

Remember at the time Animated was the only real source for Transformers toy media. Sure their was IDW and the movies, but IDW was not part of the synergy concept Hasbro is using today and the movies were looked at as another media that was to alternate with Animated.

Now a days you have the IDW comics, Rescue Bots, Robots in Disguise, and the soon to come Machination cartoon all happening at once. The last thing Hasbro wants is to have Transformers competing with itself. If you start getting a bit too 'mature' (whatever that may mean) in RID you may risk tapping into the Machination cartoon or the IDW comics and also begin to alienate younger viewers, like Prime did.

Ultimately, Transformers is MUCH larger and very diverse then it has ever been with this increased size it must go about ensuring that it continues to develop in a manner that grows the brand as a whole.

 

Ah, I see. Well that's exactly the sort of thing that makes me utterly hate this new tactic Hasbro is using. Although, I'm still hoping the problem lies not with Hasbro but with Jeff Kline, considering TFP had the same problems. It just tried to deceive viewers into thinking otherwise. Hopefully with him leaving, things will improve.

 

Well the Hasbro strategy is pretty sound (time will tell if it proves effective), but if you have not been a fan of either Prime nor RID it may not be your cup of tea.

I myself loved Prime, but don't feel RID is my thing, but that's to be expected because I don't fit into its demographic.

 

While RID isn't the greatest iteration of Transformers, it's still okay. I admit that if they didn't have characters like Swipe, Drift, Jazz or Windblade, my interest wouldn't really be there.

On the other hand, I LOVED TFPrime. I liked the slightly darker edge it had. I also loved most of the characters (Smokescreen and Ratchet FTW). I would have loved to seen another season or three of Prime. Sure, there are storylines that I would have liked to have seen followed through on, but it was a solid show.

I also really liked TransAnimated. The main characters were fun, as were some of the 'guest' characters (how could anyone not like Blurr?). I fully admit that when Prowl made that ultimate sacrifice, the way it was written, I teared up.

Of course, I love the original G1 cartoon and all the characters.

Not every Transformers cartoon will be someone's cup of tea, and that's okay. I'm not a fan of BW, but that's just personal preference.

I don't want the cartoons to become too 'grown-up', but it would be nice to have a cartoon (along the lines of Prime) written for Transformers fans who are more mature. I don't see why there can't be a cartoon geared towards younger fans (Rescue Bots), in addition to a cartoon for the older fans (Like Prime).

 

RiD is a direct result of Hasbro wanting to move TFs away from being more "grown up". Between TF rime and the movieverse, the whole franchise has been pushing up from their very well established traditional demo, that 6-8 range, where even boys in non-nerd families are allowed to play with robot toys before they have to start peewee football. Hasbro's been growing a gap in between the Rescue Bot demo and older boys, and RiD is specifically designed to hit that gap square in the jaw.

Collectors and adult fans just have to understand at some point that the brand is very broad, and not everything is targeted to us. Honestly, if I didn't have a little boy, I don't think I'd watch RiD. But I watch it with him, and he loves it. He loves the simple humor, he's down with the simple lessons they run with because that's what our society trains our kids to understand at that age. The show makes sense to him and he loves it. One of his favorite silly words right now is "Cannoball!" Watching him watch it makes it fun for me.

Adult fans: learn to welcome the youth into the TF world. Don't demand that TF become some weird adult-focused thing.

 

Yeah he's right. SU is not subtle in its messages at all.

I also agree. There are great shows that aren't deep at all. There's The Amazing World of Gumball, We Bare Bears, and others. Those don't have a heavy handed theme, yet are still great shows.

For the transformers franchise, maybe if RID S2 got a more streamlined plot, it would be perfect. No need for a deep theme or anything like that. Just a more connected plot.

 

Well, Animated and Prime both had the same problem, these shows always get through a whole first season worth of episodes before Hasbro manages to get the toyline out in full force.

 

Fair enough - like I said I am not meaning to rag on RiD as this is just more an open topic to see if people think Transformers should go for a bit more than they are (again I think we can all agree that RiD is really playing it safe with its writing).

My opinion might differ if the show had some form of ovearching plot or characters but nothing really changes in the entirety of the first season. It's just Decepticon of the week and no sense of real story - hell the Decepticon is hardly the focus on the plot most of the time and just a device to get at the moral lesson which I just feel that Rescue Bots already does (minus decepticons) and does a better job thereof.

I just can't help but watch shows like Clone Wars (minus season 1), SW Rebels, Green Lantern and Young Justice and feel like the animators behind Transformers could still be doing so much more without alienating anyone.

 

That's sort of a plus with RID here...in some countries the toys were out long before the show...even if the toys mostly suck.