Just something I noticed.

[lithera]

Silverhawks came out on DVD yesterday. This just brings something to mind.

There were 65 episodes of this cartoon made.

It ran from September 8, 1986 to December 5, 1986.

65 episodes. Four months. One season.

In comparison there were 65 episodes of The Batman produced.

It ran for 5 seasons, from 2004-2008.

Comments

[lipsavvy.livejournal.com]

God I loved that show! Right after Thundercats. I somehow remember it being on longer than 3 months.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

Well, probably because they showed it /much/ longer than that in reruns.

I loved that show too. I'm a little afraid to pick up the DVDs.

[flusterbunny.livejournal.com]

They shot lasers out of their shoulders. And one was a hillbilly.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

Yeah.

And there were empathic twins with cybernetic hearts.

[flusterbunny.livejournal.com]

I did like Monstarr, though. I always mix him up with Mumm-Ra, though. And then I think of Monstarr's toady Yes-Man, and I want to throw Deviline from Tranzor Z into the mix.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

Well, this was a direct follow up to Thundercats, so that's understandable. They even used a lot of the same voice actors.

[koga.livejournal.com]

Well, really, it was the same show, just one was in space. Exact same formula.

[fobok.livejournal.com]

I never saw this show, but I noticed the same thing when looking back at some of the 80s cartoons I used to watch as a kid. A lot of them ran only one season but daily and had a ton of episodes. Even those that were once a week had more than we see today.

It could be the changes in animation writing after the last writer's strike, or could just be companies wanting to spend less money, not sure. Whatever the case, cartoons hardly get any episodes these days.

[koga.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of it has to do with the inability of the Hanna-barbara model to keep up with the edge of animation...

And, most importantly?

The early 90s petering out of the Toy/Cartoon model as video games and electronics devoured the market share for childrens toys and attention.

Without those massive crossover marketing platforms, you just cannot afford to put a show on that much, and without the heavy re-use of stock footage and standard backgrounds, you can't MAKE Them that quickly. Even with computers. A lot of the old cartoon shows, if I recall, were strung together stock clips redubbed for dialog, with a few unique sequences as needed for the plot.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

You've got a lot of valid points. I'm just sad and wishing I could get more cartoons.

[koga.livejournal.com]

I look at some of the modern shit, and they ahve no storylines. No continuity from episode to episode, save for some of the Japanese imports and their animation style just PISSES Me off.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

Well, there is some good stuff out there but it is few and far between. I'm really looking forward to The Brave and The Bold.

[koga.livejournal.com]

Well, thats true for all things. And.. uh... I'm such a geek to necromance this thread.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

*chuckles*

No worries. I'm more than happy to make new friends.

[elsewhere7.livejournal.com]

Originally, in the 80s, syndicated cartoon series would get orders of 65 episodes, which they would show daily (in the days before everyone had their own talk shows), which would go 3-4 months, then cycle back around. Stuff on Saturdays Only back then would only be shown then.

Now, cartoons are usually once/week, so a 65 ep order would seem longer.