Firstly, sorry if there is already a thread for this its just I couldn't find any and if there was I didn't want to revive a dead thread. So over the years we have had amazing Transformers shows that I think could take their place in a long list of amazing cartoons and then we have had our share of shows that were eh at best, easily forgettable and only remembered as their elements can be found in later lore. So, in your personal ranking how would you rank the Transformers shows YOU have seen?

My list...
Beast Wars
Prime
Animated
G1
Cybertron
Armada
Robots in Disguise 2015
Robots in Disguise 2001
Headmasters
Energon
Super God Masterforce
Beast Machines

Now granted, while shows like Beast Machines & Energon are at the bottom of the list does not mean that in my eye they are bad but they are not as good as say the new Robots in Disguise cartoon.

So, discuss away!

 

for me, i would have to say...wow this is actually kinda hard
G1
BW
BM
prime
animated
cybertron
RID 2015
armada
energon
RID 2001

a lot of them are pretty tied

 

Beast Wars and Animated are tied.
Beast Machines
RID 2015
G1
Cybertron
RID 2001
Armada
Prime
Energon

The last five kind of blend together in quality save for Energon, which is definitely at the bottom for me.

 

This exists: http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-general-discussion/1061802-best-transformers-cartoon.html, but it's kind of different, so I think this thread is safe.
Anyway...

1. Beast Machines
2. Victory
3. Robots In Disguise 2015
4. Cybertron

Car Robots, Armada, Animated, Beast Wars, Masterforce, and G1 tie for "Average" or "decent". Prime, Headmasters, and Energon tie as the worst TF shows created thus far.

 

1. Animated
2. Prime
3. RiD 2015
4. G1

Huh... you know putting them all together, my list seems small. I should really start considering watching the other series.

 

1. Animated
2. Beast Wars
3. G1 I guess
4. Armada
5. Prime
6. Beast Machines
7. Energon
8. Cybertron
9. RiD 2015

 

1. Animated
2. Beast Wars
3. G1
4. RID 2015
5. Rescue Bots (Kind of an odd choice but whatever)
...
99. Prime
100. RID 2001

 

The only ones I've ever watched in their entirety are the ones made in, or dubbed into English. Also, my preferences jump around quite a bit. Only the top three are permanently fixed.

10.) Energon: This show's flaws are well documented. I'll leave it at that, mainly since it's been years since I've been able to sit through more than a couple of episodes of it.

9.) Armada: This show really deserves a better dub, as that, along with the poor animation of the early episodes, are the only things that really keeps this series so low. The characters have good arcs, the Decepticons are treated well and the animation gets better as time goes on. It's just the dialog and early animation that makes it hard to sit through. That and some of the most annoying human characters.

8.) Robots In Disgues 2001: This series is kinda forgettable. It feels more like a generic anime than TF. The early episodes don't have much of an arc, and the Predacons are insufferable comic relief. The show has really anime humor (don't know if other Japanese media has that humor). Things do get better when the bad ass, if somewhat bland Decepticons turn up, and the search for the O-parts starts going somewhere. The series does have a passable dub and animation.

7.) Prime: Easily the most frustrating show. Nearly every component works, especially the animation and voice actors, both of which could really bring the show's characters to life. It's just such a pity that the glue that holds every part together, the writing, is so weak. The episodes kept repeating the same three plots. The series had no ongoing story, which meant the Decepticons couldn't build towards something. The overuse of Vehicons resulted in the named 'Cons being underused and 50% of action scenes being rubbish. Even named 'Cons died all the time, while the 'Bots went untouched. Characters on both sides would forget their development. Worst of all, the series' dark atmosphere and overuse of death (exclusively with the 'Cons) tried to trick you into taking the show more seriously.

7.) Cybertron: No, that's not a mistake, both Cybertron and Prime are ranked the same. I just can't make up my mind on which is better/worse. Cybertron actually has a story, and starts out with very powerful Decepticons. On the other hand, it's animation isn't great and the Decepticons were badly outclassed by the series' end. Not to mention, things got repetitive when every episode started ending with Optimus using a power-up to beat the Decepticons with lousy stock animation. Plus, while the fall of the Decepticons wasn't as humiliating as Prime's, having 90% of them change sides was ridiculous. It does have a good dub, which helps it compare with a series made in English, like Prime. So I don't know which series is better. Or worse.

6.) Robots In Disguise 2015: This series is much like Prime, but without so much deception. It's mostly honest about it not being a show to take seriously. It exists, and that's kinda it. The Autobots are a little bland, the Decepticons are unorganized but powerful, there really isn't a story and the series tries (with varying levels of success) to be fun. Season two makes a shitty move in trying to trick you into thinking the 'Cons are an organized force, yet chickens out from using large groups of them, or even regularly showing them simply interacting with each other.

5.) Rescue Bots: This series, much like RID15, is honest about how it's not trying to do much. It's aimed at extremely young kids and doesn't have an ongoing story. However, it does have more original characters, and the concept of Autobots acting as an emergency response force for humans is a unique concept. It's a fun show.

4.) Generation One: Yeah, it's a toy add, and little else, but it's from the 80s so I choose not to expect much. It's a fun, crazy series that isn't dubbed, and established the franchise's villains as actual characters with interesting interactions (by the show's standards) even if they weren't very threatening. Overlook the many animation errors and plot holes, and embrace the cheesiness of it, and it's an entertaining series.

3.) Beast Machines: A series that actually earns it's dark tones by tackling interesting subjects, and giving each character their own, unique struggle. It's interesting seeing a group of heroes who are put in such an extreme situation, they end up being rather antagonistic towards each other. The Vehicons weren't the best threat, but were trouble in large numbers, and the Generals were really enjoyable characters. This also had one of the most menacing Megatrons, despite him rarely doing anything himself, but unlike RID01 or TFP's Megatrons, who also did little in person, BM Megatron actually had a plan he was orchestrating, giving a reason for his presence in the show. There may be some inconsistencies with it's predecessor (not as many as people claim) and the tone might be too bleak for some, but I say it's one of the best shows TF has gotten.

2.) Animated: On the opposite side of the spectrum, at least when it comes to tones, is Animated. This show manages to have a ton of goofy fun, while also telling stories that often dealt with dark subjects. The Autobots being genuine underdogs, not trained for war, fighting Decepticon veterans, made for Autobots who I could really root for, and Decepticons who were really threatening. Unfortunately, having the 'Cons be regularly beaten by a maintenance crew is rather humiliating. The stories lasted entire seasons, and the show was tied together with interesting themes about being a hero. The animation style did take some getting used to. Overall, it's a genuinely great show, and it's a pity it was canceled before it could finish its story.

1.) Beast Wars: The show that set the bar for TF story telling. Despite a poor start, the show gets pretty good over the course of it's first season, leading to a second season that is, IMO, the pinnacle of TF writing. The third season wasn't as great as the second, but was still really good. The characters were great, with the Predacons managing to be a good threat. The Predacon dynamic is particularly interesting, as Megatron would often steer the treacherous members of his crew towards something he wants to accomplish, letting them do the dirty work before swooping in and taking control himself. He made for a great manipulator, who's able to push the show's time travel story forwards. The show's ending could've been better, but despite that, BW is my favorite TF series.

 

From what I've seen.

Beast Wars: It revolutionize how to do TF stories, character growth, and revived the Transformers brand as a whole in bad down years in the early/mid 90's.

Animated: Only thing keeping this from #1 is the forced ending. Clearly more was planned.

Beast Machines: Darker and interesting takes of the characters. Loved Jetstorm so much.

RID 2001: Scourge....

Cybertron: A bit stretch out, but liked some of the characters.

TFP: Started good, but then went downwards. Season two was a bored fest to me. Bumblebee playing R2D2 got so old. Then Optimus Prime, after seeing how the character was portray in Animated. It's like Ben Stein's voice coming from a piece of cardboard.

G1: I know it's the first, but it's still a product of the time. G1 was just a long toy commercial. Characters just appearing for no reason. Huge animation errors in good amount of episodes. Stuff dropped for no reason, like here's Optimus Prime and the Autobots flying. Then it's "Autobots can't fly." I liked some of the characters, but the series just suffers from the time it was done in.


Now for the latest series Transformers 2015/RID 2015. I like the series, more so than say Transformers Prime. Once it's all over, it'll probably be in my top 5.

 

G1
Beast Wars
Armada
Cybertron
Animated
RID2001
RID2015
Beast Machines
Energon
Transformers Prime

 

1) G1/BW/BM/RID (the two of 'em): Man, it's really tough to choose between these cartoons. G1 of course was the start of it all. The first season was composed of a linear story about the Autobots getting used to live among the earthlings as well as keeping the Decepticons from stealing energy from them. Season 2 was composed of standalone stories which would be either brilliant (the multi-part episodes, War Dawn, Starscream's Brigade, The Immobilizer, The Golden Lagoon, The Gambler, The God Gambit, The Revenge of Bruticus, etc.) or completely crappy and disastrous (B.O.T.). However, after the movie, season 3 was much more sophisticated. Episodes like Ghost in the Machine, Webworld, The Ultimate Weapon, The Dweller in the Depths and The Burden Hardest to Bear are quite possibly among my favorites in the entire show. But this season did have some stinkers, like Carnage in C-Minor and The Return of Optimus Prime two-parter, but hey, they're still pretty enjoyable to watch thanks to the epic season 3 music and the intensity of the performances. Season 4 was originally going to be a five parter, but due to a budget cutback, it got trimmed into a three parter. Despite this, The Rebirth remains my favorite multi-part episode in the entire series. The story is just brilliant, the battle scenes are epic, the concepts are solid and the new characters (despite the fact that they don't get a lot of character development) are pretty intriguing. So this was a pretty satisfactory and epic finale for the show. When Beast Wars came along, I was just three years old, but my memories of watching the show on it's first run are really vivid. I loved this show. The voice performances are flawless, the animation was pretty basic but pleasant to look at and the stories were always great. And of course, I immediately fell in love with poor Waspinator, he was just a great comedic character. Beast Machines was pretty intriguing for me, because it was pretty much like watching seasons 3 and 4 of G1. The stories were a lot more sophisticated and the whole mystical concepts were kinda interesting. And of course we have the two RID shows (2001 and 2015). Man, these are just so great and enjoyable. They really are just a lot of fun. The comedic moments remind me a lot of old time radio comedy. I loved every single character in both cartoons. My favorites from the 2001 cartoon were the Predacons. Megatron, Sky-Byte, Slapper, Gas Skunk and Dark Scream are just a lot of fun to behold. The 2015 cartoon gave us pretty entertaining versions of Grimlock, Sideswipe and Bumblebee, while also giving us great new characters like Strongarm, Windblade, Underbite (Tha's 'cause ah ate it!!!!) and, my favorite one of all, Thunderhoof. These shows not only deliver great stories but they're also priceless fun for all the family.

2) Rescue Bots: Yes, it's a kiddie show, but one that adults can enjoy as well. The characters are endearing, the interactions are great and the plots are very simple yet effective. A very fun show.

3) Masterforce/Victory: These two shows were a big improvement over Headmasters. I always enjoyed the characters in these two shows. Minerva in particular became my favorite character in Masterforce as well as my favorite Female Transformer. The villains were also pretty cool. Victory in particular had some pretty fun villains. Pretty enjoyable shows overall.

4) Headmasters: Here's where the disappointment starts. Headmasters wasn't too bad, but it was really hard to watch. Daniel and Wheelie are pretty badly written here, being completely annoying and unlikable. There is also a lot of dull moments too. But still, it had some pretty solid dramatic moments (like the destruction of Cybertron).

5) Prime: Man, this show has me so torn. There were a lot of good concepts and story ideas, but I always felt most of the characters were pretty dull, annoying and unrelatable. I mean, the only characters I liked are Wheeljack, Knock Out, Smokescreen, Bulkhead, Shockwave and Starscream. This particular version of Arcee is just so annoying and unfriendly, that there were a lot of times that I wished she was the one who got the ax instead of Cliffjumper. Ratchet felt a lot more like Gears instead of Ratchet, and he really got too easily pissed off at times. Also, Megatron and Optimus aren't as memorable as they were in the original cartoon. In the G1 cartoon, they were pretty much opposites (Optimus was cool and collected, while Megatron was bombastic and easily angered), but in here, that dynamic is just non existent. A show full of wasted potential.

6) Animated: I was pretty excited about this show at first, but when it finished, I came out with a very meh attitude toward it. All the concepts were good, but a whole bunch of them got pretty badly executed (the clones). Some of the characters were pretty cool, but a lot of the guest characters were totally wasted (Wreck-Gar, The Constructicons, Arcee, Rodimus, etc.). Some good things I can mention about this show, however, is the casting of David Kaye as Optimus and the concept of Shockwave being a double agent. Other than that, this show always leaves me with a very meh attitude.

7) The Unicron Trilogy: I know a lot of you love these cartoons, but I passionately hate them. The whole trilogy is filled with scripting errors, bad direction and totally dull moments. And the fact that every single character was just expendable really made me hate these cartoons a lot more. The only good things I can say about these cartoons are the characters of Starscream, Cyclonus/Snow Cat and Vector Prime. Those characters were quite possibly the only ones I cared about in the entire trilogy.

Okay, that's me and my senile rambling done. Hope you understand my reasons for liking or disliking the stuff mentioned here. Take care and "Till all are one!!!"

 

Beast Wars
Prime/Animated
Beast Machines
G1
Takara Trilogy
Car Robots
BWII
RID
Unicron-not-a-trilogy

 

Lists like this are subjective, and are all just based on each person's opinion. That being said, personal preference:
1.) G1
2.) BW
3.) Animated
4.) Prime
5.) 2001 Robots in Disguise
6.) Current Robots in Disguise

The others I would just list after this in no particular order, as I really didn't enjoy them that much

 

Beast Wars
Armada
Beast Machines
Cybertron
Animated
G1
Prime
RID 2001
Energon

 

1.) G1
2.) Prime
3.) Animated
4.) Beast Wars/Machines
5.) Headmasters
6.) RID 2001
7.) Super God Masterforce
8.) Armada
9.) RID 2015
10.) Victory & Zone

I haven't watched the other shows yet (Beast Wars 2nd / Neo, Energon, Cybertron, and Rescue Bots).
As for Prime: It may have some flaws, but I really liked their take on the characters. Even the humans are sympathetic (yes, even Miko). Actually, Prime and Animated are the only shows after G1, that I really enjoyed to watch.
The two Beast shows on the other hand were sometimes boring, and tough to sit through. Also, I found that some of the characters are just annoying *cough*Rattrap*cough*
The Takara shows have some good and interesting characters, and stories, but they are often too silly for my taste. Also, some of their characters are ridiculously overpowered (Star Saber, Ginrai...). But at least they gave us Sixshot, and (the toys of) the Seacons.
As much, as I wanted to like RID15, it just didn't appeal to me. The animal-themed Decepticon were just weird (also: since it felt like 90% of them where crimelords/heads of various gangs of criminals... How much crime was there on Cybertron. How could the sheer ammount of gangs exist? Why didn't Megatron used them in the war? It just raises too many questions). The Pokedex-exposition a tad too long (just show their file and be done with it), Fix-It's speech defect was already annoying the first time he "showed" it, and the humans (unfortunally) a huge step back from their Prime counterparts.

 

BEAST WARS!! *guitar riff*
Followed closely by Animated






The rest? meh.

 

I haven't seen all of the shows, but of the ones I have, I guess I'd go with:

Animated
Beast Wars
G1
Unicron Trilogy
Beast Machines

 

This seems about right:

Beast Wars
Animated
G1
Robots in Disguise 2015
Cybertron
Robots in Disguise 2001
Armada
Prime
Energon
Beast Machines

But it sure isn't easy, there are episodes in every show that i would rather forget and some shows i would list at a shared ranking.

 

1.) Generation 1
2.) Prime
3.) Beast Wars
4.) Armada
5.) Cybertron
6.) 2015 Robots in Disguise
7.) Animated

 

For me:

My favorite cartoons of all time:
G1, TFA, BW, Prime

Fun and watchable:
RID 2015, Rescue Bots

Has selected episodes and arcs I like, but has some big problems too ranging from meh/boring to awful:
Headmasters, BM, RID 2001, Cybertron, Energon, Armada

Haven't seen enough of any of the rest to make a call on them but for me, North American writing teams are always better at TFs shows.