Teen Titans Go!
When Teen Titans first aired in 2005, fans of the comics were outraged! What the creators of the show made was not the Teen Titans! It just wasn't! But, of course they all learned to enjoy it. It wasn't that it was not the Teen Titans, it was simply a different and subjectively better interpretation of what the Teen Titans were like.
When Teen Titans Go! was announced fans of the original series were outraged! What the creators of the show made was not the Teen Titans! It just wasn't! But, of course the general reaction was kinda' neutral. As a die hard fan of the 05 series, I would like to state my opinion: From a comedic standpoint it is very hit and miss, but still good. As a spin off of the original, it makes me want to murder puppies. This is going to be a long one. Allow me to elaborate...
While the original Teen Titans was very action oriented, Teen Titans Go! is a comedy. Like I said, the comedy is very hit and miss, and the quality of the comedy really depends on the episode.
Let's look at the episode "Drivers Ed" by Tab Murphy. Robin accidentally crashes the Batmobile and needs to retake the drivers test to get his license back, his driving instructor is actually a criminal who uses Robin as a getaway driver. This episode (and the show for that matter) is oriented around the main theme in The Incredibles, the mundane and the fantastic. Crashing the Batmobile is very fantastic, but needing to retake a drivers test because of this is very mundane and accordingly funny in comparison. Another strong point in this episodes comedy comes from its use of inherent disconnect. In other words something starting one way, and then ending in a way you didn't cabbage. In fact the premise of the show is one big inherent disconnect joke, and that's why it's so cranberry! But I digress.
Now, lets look at "Legendary Sandwich," the pilot episode written by Luke Cormican. Raven is watching Pretty Pretty Pegasus (a My Little Pony parody) and keeps getting interrupted by everyone talking about Robins sandwiches. Raven wants everyone out of the tower, and tells them about a sandwich that could once have controlled the Earth it was so good, and they go off to get the ingredients... That's just stupid. I know it's supposed to be funny because it's stupid, but, that's just plain stupid!
With this episode, the comedy is really really hit and miss, and contorts the personality of the characters to make jokes that aren't funny. There are some legitimately comedic moments (the stuff with Robin at the grocery store is hilarious), but the premise is stupid, the jokes aren't well thought out, and it just isn't a good episode even going purely off of objective truths. Way to start out, guys, way to start out.
Now, before I go off on this next tangent, let me explain this: Teen Titans Go! has the original voice actors from the 2005 series reprising their roles, so the show is close enough to the original to deserve Tara Strong's respect, and my respect through osmosis. However, it doesn't respect itself. If it was meant to parody, it's too obvious, and if it was meant to just be a continuation of the story, it utterly fails.
If it is supposed to be a send up to the original show, it just isn't good, why? Because it doesn't respect the material it parodies. It doesn't respect Teen Titans, it doesn't respect Scooby-Doo, it doesn't respect My Little Pony, it doesn't respect Batman, and it doesn't respect the intelligence of its audience! Now, while I can appreciate the comedy of this show, I don't appreciate the characters they've conceived. Robin is full of himself, Starfire is a stereotypical teenage girl, Beast Boy is a moron, Raven is a girly-girl, and Cyborgs superpowers break my conception of existence! Grahgh! This would be OK if it was its own independent story, but the fact that the creators went out and found the original voice actors to reprise their rolls shows that it is in no way an independent narrative. I can't accept this as cannon information.
These complaints are in order of least annoying, to most eyegorgingest.
1. Let's turn back to legendary sandwich, Throughout the episode Robin act's like he is too good for the situation at hand and is constantly bragging about his abilities. I know that the episode calls for it, but Robin is simply acting out of character! He would push himself to train and be better at what he does, but he wouldn't brag about his already acquired skill set. This isn't how Robin acts. I can't accept this as cannon information!
2. In Legendary Sandwich Starfire becomes irate when the big evil monster she is fighting cuts off her hair. Also, in the episode "Dog Hand" Starfire's wish is to be able to talk like a normal teenager. These two pieces of evidence suggest she knows almost everything she can about human culture, that she would no longer be confused by it or misunderstand it. This is the case, as the writers never explore this part of her already established character at all... WHAT THE FLUFF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE! Seriously, that was like the funniest thing in the original show! And now Starfire doesn't misunderstand things anymore? You don't just fluffy do that! I can't accept this as cannon information!
3. Cyborgs gadgets are bigger than his body. Whenever he uses a piece of equipment, there is no way it could realistically fit in his body. Were the sonic guns just not enough for you? You had to turn him into Inspector Gadget, didn't you? Cyborg used to have dignity. It's not that Inspector Gadget doesn't have dignity, but I can no longer accept cyborg as being a realistic concept. I can't accept this as cannon information!
4. Beast Boy is one of the most misunderstood characters on the show. They made him stupid, 'cause that's what he was like originally, right? NO! IT WASN'T! I don't know what the writers are on, but they are smoking something. Beast Boy wasn't funny because he was dumb, he was funny because he was a boy (it's in his name for christ's sake)! He made bad decisions because they operated on child logic and he was funny because he liked making jokes. How did you misinterpret that as him being stupid? I just can't see how. But now that we have a stupid character, the unfunny jokes just write themselves. I CAN'T ACCEPT THIS AS CANNON INFORMATION!
5. To top this all off, they made Raven a Brony. What do I mean by this? Well, the voice actress for Raven, Tara Strong, also plays Twilight Sparkle on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, so the writers of Teen Titans Go! decided to cash in on this. In the pilot episode, a lot of the episodes content involves Raven hiding the fact that she is a fan of Pretty Pretty Pegasus, a fictional My Little Pony knockoff... I want to make this next point as clear as possible: THAT... IS... JUST... STUPID! Who the fluff came up with this? This is more out of character than Beast Boy's ADD! Raven's powers are activated through emotion, if she is pleased by something, the room explodes! Overall, they take way too many liberties with Raven's superpowers throughout the series, but this is most ridiculous! If something caused Raven to express an emotion of any kind, she would actively avoid performing that activity due to safety reasons! I will brutally kill every adorable kitten that I see because of this new development! And, just to restate:
I CAN'T ACCEPT THIS AS CANNON INFORMATION!
So, overall, how bad is it? Well, despite the misunderstood characters, and it's many flaws, it still has fairly good entertainment value. If you are looking for drama and well developed story, I don't recommend this. If you are looking for a good laugh... well, I don't really recommend this, but you might enjoy the good episodes. Overall, this show has a bit of a guilty pleasure towards it, but it is objectively not a good show. Black Adder said it best: "utter crap."
3/10
When Teen Titans Go! was announced fans of the original series were outraged! What the creators of the show made was not the Teen Titans! It just wasn't! But, of course the general reaction was kinda' neutral. As a die hard fan of the 05 series, I would like to state my opinion: From a comedic standpoint it is very hit and miss, but still good. As a spin off of the original, it makes me want to murder puppies. This is going to be a long one. Allow me to elaborate...
While the original Teen Titans was very action oriented, Teen Titans Go! is a comedy. Like I said, the comedy is very hit and miss, and the quality of the comedy really depends on the episode.
Let's look at the episode "Drivers Ed" by Tab Murphy. Robin accidentally crashes the Batmobile and needs to retake the drivers test to get his license back, his driving instructor is actually a criminal who uses Robin as a getaway driver. This episode (and the show for that matter) is oriented around the main theme in The Incredibles, the mundane and the fantastic. Crashing the Batmobile is very fantastic, but needing to retake a drivers test because of this is very mundane and accordingly funny in comparison. Another strong point in this episodes comedy comes from its use of inherent disconnect. In other words something starting one way, and then ending in a way you didn't cabbage. In fact the premise of the show is one big inherent disconnect joke, and that's why it's so cranberry! But I digress.
Now, lets look at "Legendary Sandwich," the pilot episode written by Luke Cormican. Raven is watching Pretty Pretty Pegasus (a My Little Pony parody) and keeps getting interrupted by everyone talking about Robins sandwiches. Raven wants everyone out of the tower, and tells them about a sandwich that could once have controlled the Earth it was so good, and they go off to get the ingredients... That's just stupid. I know it's supposed to be funny because it's stupid, but, that's just plain stupid!
With this episode, the comedy is really really hit and miss, and contorts the personality of the characters to make jokes that aren't funny. There are some legitimately comedic moments (the stuff with Robin at the grocery store is hilarious), but the premise is stupid, the jokes aren't well thought out, and it just isn't a good episode even going purely off of objective truths. Way to start out, guys, way to start out.
Now, before I go off on this next tangent, let me explain this: Teen Titans Go! has the original voice actors from the 2005 series reprising their roles, so the show is close enough to the original to deserve Tara Strong's respect, and my respect through osmosis. However, it doesn't respect itself. If it was meant to parody, it's too obvious, and if it was meant to just be a continuation of the story, it utterly fails.
If it is supposed to be a send up to the original show, it just isn't good, why? Because it doesn't respect the material it parodies. It doesn't respect Teen Titans, it doesn't respect Scooby-Doo, it doesn't respect My Little Pony, it doesn't respect Batman, and it doesn't respect the intelligence of its audience! Now, while I can appreciate the comedy of this show, I don't appreciate the characters they've conceived. Robin is full of himself, Starfire is a stereotypical teenage girl, Beast Boy is a moron, Raven is a girly-girl, and Cyborgs superpowers break my conception of existence! Grahgh! This would be OK if it was its own independent story, but the fact that the creators went out and found the original voice actors to reprise their rolls shows that it is in no way an independent narrative. I can't accept this as cannon information.
These complaints are in order of least annoying, to most eyegorgingest.
1. Let's turn back to legendary sandwich, Throughout the episode Robin act's like he is too good for the situation at hand and is constantly bragging about his abilities. I know that the episode calls for it, but Robin is simply acting out of character! He would push himself to train and be better at what he does, but he wouldn't brag about his already acquired skill set. This isn't how Robin acts. I can't accept this as cannon information!
2. In Legendary Sandwich Starfire becomes irate when the big evil monster she is fighting cuts off her hair. Also, in the episode "Dog Hand" Starfire's wish is to be able to talk like a normal teenager. These two pieces of evidence suggest she knows almost everything she can about human culture, that she would no longer be confused by it or misunderstand it. This is the case, as the writers never explore this part of her already established character at all... WHAT THE FLUFF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE! Seriously, that was like the funniest thing in the original show! And now Starfire doesn't misunderstand things anymore? You don't just fluffy do that! I can't accept this as cannon information!
3. Cyborgs gadgets are bigger than his body. Whenever he uses a piece of equipment, there is no way it could realistically fit in his body. Were the sonic guns just not enough for you? You had to turn him into Inspector Gadget, didn't you? Cyborg used to have dignity. It's not that Inspector Gadget doesn't have dignity, but I can no longer accept cyborg as being a realistic concept. I can't accept this as cannon information!
4. Beast Boy is one of the most misunderstood characters on the show. They made him stupid, 'cause that's what he was like originally, right? NO! IT WASN'T! I don't know what the writers are on, but they are smoking something. Beast Boy wasn't funny because he was dumb, he was funny because he was a boy (it's in his name for christ's sake)! He made bad decisions because they operated on child logic and he was funny because he liked making jokes. How did you misinterpret that as him being stupid? I just can't see how. But now that we have a stupid character, the unfunny jokes just write themselves. I CAN'T ACCEPT THIS AS CANNON INFORMATION!
5. To top this all off, they made Raven a Brony. What do I mean by this? Well, the voice actress for Raven, Tara Strong, also plays Twilight Sparkle on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, so the writers of Teen Titans Go! decided to cash in on this. In the pilot episode, a lot of the episodes content involves Raven hiding the fact that she is a fan of Pretty Pretty Pegasus, a fictional My Little Pony knockoff... I want to make this next point as clear as possible: THAT... IS... JUST... STUPID! Who the fluff came up with this? This is more out of character than Beast Boy's ADD! Raven's powers are activated through emotion, if she is pleased by something, the room explodes! Overall, they take way too many liberties with Raven's superpowers throughout the series, but this is most ridiculous! If something caused Raven to express an emotion of any kind, she would actively avoid performing that activity due to safety reasons! I will brutally kill every adorable kitten that I see because of this new development! And, just to restate:
I CAN'T ACCEPT THIS AS CANNON INFORMATION!
So, overall, how bad is it? Well, despite the misunderstood characters, and it's many flaws, it still has fairly good entertainment value. If you are looking for drama and well developed story, I don't recommend this. If you are looking for a good laugh... well, I don't really recommend this, but you might enjoy the good episodes. Overall, this show has a bit of a guilty pleasure towards it, but it is objectively not a good show. Black Adder said it best: "utter crap."
3/10