Most Annoying TV Series Ever?

mr3urious

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
3,921
Reaction score
1,408
Ultimate Spider-Man is another one I'd like to add. I like the show and all, but after binging on the brilliant Spectacular Spider-Man, this comes up as underwhelming and too Family Guy-esque with all its random cutaway gags. I did like that Spider-Ham episode, though.
 

jvcarroll

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2012
Messages
2,354
Reaction score
2,001
Opinion equals quality. I get it. Seems you're dislike for anime is the main reason you don't like it, and that's fine. That said, I'm sure you're one of those fans that thinks this completely raped the franchise but swoon over Tiny Titans. I know those. Saying this is a baby show is a bit much though.

Anyway, if there's one show that started to slowly frustrate me, I'd say it's Monsters Vs Aliens the series. Now, I do like the show, but I feel that Nick and Dreamworks wrote it off (though not in the way CN writes something off and it disappears forever... they rerun it endlessly on Nicktoons), refused to give it a second season, and they wound up setting some great stuff up, only to let it dangle and go no where. All the while, the series was nothing more than a gag series and the big villain who vowed to destroy the world ended up being no more a menace than clumsy 1980's girl show baddy. Yeah, sure, there were episodes where he actually had some take over the world schemes, but his villainy was reduced to trolling the Monsters.

And you know what the worst part is? This was the franchise's second chance. Kung Fu Panda probably isn't getting another season, but whatever... it's at least getting another movie. And as I always say, whatever happens in the cartoon series of a movie, no matter how cannon the movie is to the cartoon and how superior the concepts are, it all matters nothing and this was just a piece of merchandise, no different from a coloring book. Plus, KFP:LOA obviously takes place in between the first and second film. But MVA is never going to get another film. While it has a cult following, DW didn't make craploads of money from it overseas, and a sequel is considered a waste of money and effort. Their second chance was blown, and the episodes are formuliac involving alien technology that Coverton uses to troll instead of for evil, and he's not even vanquished by the end of the series. On the plus side, unlike Penguins of Madagascar, they actually showed all the episodes in one year.



UG is a special show that delights in its own weirdness. It kinda roped it in second season, but it was delightfully madcap if you really like abstract, wacky animation. Coconut Fred was a cash grab. Sure, the idea of having reality warping imagination that drones on the nerves of unhappy people has merit, but the show basically turns into a lame Spongebob with fruit and reality warping. Every character's an expy, and there's essentially 2 Patricks. Even the worst of the new Spongebobs were funnier and more clever than that was. Plus, even though there was some top notch Canadian voice talent, the voice acting was grating. Even from Rob himself, and I couldn't be a bigger fan.
My disdain for most anime aside, I give everything a fair shake no matter what the genre. Every portion of Teen Titans I saw was poorly written and I felt emotionally detached from the characters and the premise and that's the bottom line. Beyond style, it just wasn't done well. But heck, most people like McDonald's food and that's total garbage.

The one cartoon I loathe above all others? Eeep. I've said it before. I shouldn't say it but you know it's coming - particularly since I've mentioned the Teen Titans. Muppet Babies. From the screechy voices that have the affect of nails on a chalkboard, to some of the sloppiest animation I've ever seen on television, this series bothered the frog out of me. I do admit to liking the first season because I was a kid and it was something new. But it soon became clear that I liked the idea of seeing something Muppety than the actual show itself which really wasn't all that Muppety in the first place. I will admit that the writing was pretty solid, the use of real film footage was something different and having an original song each episode shows some quality. It was just everything else I didn't like. While I understand the purpose of Skeeter, she is definitely the insufferable Scrappy Doo of the series. The greatest offense to me is that the Muppet Show and its characters were Jim Henson's first successful mainstream attempt at making puppets palatable to adults and then agrees to reduce them to fodder for toddlers. I know this program was the first Muppet exposure for some fans and I don't know how to feel about that. For me it was SS, TMS followed by FR. That makes me lucky, I guess. But as a show, and particularly in a discussion about Teen Titans, it deserves a mention. Also, I think the program is one of the reasons why most non-fans focus on Animal so much. The Muppet Babies is the first time Animal is off the leash and without his band members to balance him out.

Anyway, done with that discussion. I'd like to mention a few of the best animated shows to balance out that negativity. :smile: I always found DuckTales to be amazing. Solid animation, character development and a respect for the history of the Disney properties mixed into it. I also liked the Smurfs until the later seasons when they introduced Grampa and Baby. Classic Scooby Doo was always fun. Even though it's not a cartoon, as a lead-in to Muppet Babies, Little Muppet Monsters showed a lot of promise. It just wasn't done baking before they served it to the public.
 

Drtooth

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2002
Messages
31,718
Reaction score
6,707
Ultimate Spider-Man is another one I'd like to add. I like the show and all, but after binging on the brilliant Spectacular Spider-Man, this comes up as underwhelming and too Family Guy-esque with all its random cutaway gags. I did like that Spider-Ham episode, though.
The first season was a bit... off, I'll admit. The problem is any Spider-Man series after Spectacular Spider-Man would come up short. The thing that gets me is the idea that Spectacular was cancelled for Ultimate when nothing could be further from the truth. I followed Spectacular from the beginning, and it was pretty much born under a bad sign. The show was this close to being entirely released on DVD without getting a network to run it. Yes. The show couldn't even find a network early on. I'll also give a passing mention to the fans that were up in arms because it wasn't the overrated, not really that good 1990's series.

So when it finally managed to find a place on Kid's WB, that was the last year of their programming block. I swear this is CW partner CBS's fault, you can tell they never wanted a Saturday Morning line up. Like the really bad newlywed who hates their spouses' parents and goads them into putting them in a nursing home. So they sold it all to 4Kids who couldn't afford to run the show a second season on the network. Skunk Fu they kept. They kept freaking Skunk Fu. As soon as the second season was produced, Sony was telling people to pack up their desks. Yes. The show was canceled well before the Disney buyout of Marvel. In fact, everywhere in the world got the second season before us, and the show remained without a network (CN was too busy ripping off Discovery Kids at the time) until Disney intervened and put it on Toon Disney either just before or just after the XD re-branding. While there was the faintest amount of hope the show could have a third season if the ratings were good, XD reran the show from the beginning. So it was another year before the second season aired in the US, and by then, Sony moved on with the series. Not to mention the fans already pirated the second season before Disney took it in, so...

Essentially the best Spider-Man series ever got screwed beyond belief, and no other Spidey show could have taken its place. Ultimate's a bit of a let down, sure. And brand unity having them redub characters with USM voice actors in Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" didn't help their cause. Even though they dumped the thing for low ratings anyway and rebooted the Avengers to be more like the film with a new series, making any connections of continuity moot.

Overall, I think USM gets a little too much hate. The SD cutscenes and Zach Morris Narrations have been toned down second season. And personally, I find it Marvel's equivalent of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Spidey constantly teaming up with obscure characters of the Marvel Universe and ones that can't get their own cartoon. I'd say it's my third favorite Spidey cartoon right after Spectacular and His Amazing Friends. That said, the crossover episode with the cast of Jessie is inexcusable. So I can't entirely disagree there.
 

Drtooth

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2002
Messages
31,718
Reaction score
6,707
That last post was long, so I'll double post here...

i think rabbits invasion is annoying
You know what? Yeah. And I kinda like it, I guess. The characters don't work for a full half hour series, even though they're broken down into 3 short cartoons. Part of me wants to say that Nick wanted Universal to make a Minions show, and they couldn't, so they went with the next best thing. Minion Mania hit hard as any one who watches kid's programming can vouch for. Every commercial changed their mascots to Minion clones. McDonalds, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Chips Ahoy... And yes I know Rabbids came first. Problem is, those wacky antics barely are tolerable in 6 minutes at a time form. They really should have been interstitials (like CN's Mixels), not full episodes. What they really should have done was made a Rayman cartoon with a 3 minute Rabbids short at the end.

That said, you needn't really worry about the show. For some reason, Rabbids gets lots of advertising, but it's never actually on Nickelodeon. And the merchandise just came out too.
 

mr3urious

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
3,921
Reaction score
1,408
Overall, I think USM gets a little too much hate. The SD cutscenes and Zach Morris Narrations have been toned down second season. And personally, I find it Marvel's equivalent of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Spidey constantly teaming up with obscure characters of the Marvel Universe and ones that can't get their own cartoon. I'd say it's my third favorite Spidey cartoon right after Spectacular and His Amazing Friends. That said, the crossover episode with the cast of Jessie is inexcusable. So I can't entirely disagree there.
And props to the Rhino episode in the 2nd season for making a good anti-bullying message. I liked Rhino's more animal-like design here, as well.

Drtooth said:
I'll also give a passing mention to the fans that were up in arms because it wasn't the overrated, not really that good 1990's series.
The insane potential-hurting censorship of that series (to the point where even the '60s Spidey was more violent) baffles me, as I don't recall the X-Men series that aired around the time being that neutered.
 
Last edited:

scooterfan360

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2013
Messages
851
Reaction score
413
That last post was long, so I'll double post here...

yeah i would like it if they made a rayman cartoon and just make the rabbids shorts the rabbids would be less annoying to me if they did that instead of having the rabbids scream on the tv for an hour and a half

You know what? Yeah. And I kinda like it, I guess. The characters don't work for a full half hour series, even though they're broken down into 3 short cartoons. Part of me wants to say that Nick wanted Universal to make a Minions show, and they couldn't, so they went with the next best thing. Minion Mania hit hard as any one who watches kid's programming can vouch for. Every commercial changed their mascots to Minion clones. McDonalds, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Chips Ahoy... And yes I know Rabbids came first. Problem is, those wacky antics barely are tolerable in 6 minutes at a time form. They really should have been interstitials (like CN's Mixels), not full episodes. What they really should have done was made a Rayman cartoon with a 3 minute Rabbids short at the end.

That said, you needn't really worry about the show. For some reason, Rabbids gets lots of advertising, but it's never actually on Nickelodeon. And the merchandise just came out too.
That last post was long, so I'll double post here...



You know what? Yeah. And I kinda like it, I guess. The characters don't work for a full half hour series, even though they're broken down into 3 short cartoons. Part of me wants to say that Nick wanted Universal to make a Minions show, and they couldn't, so they went with the next best thing. Minion Mania hit hard as any one who watches kid's programming can vouch for. Every commercial changed their mascots to Minion clones. McDonalds, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Chips Ahoy... And yes I know Rabbids came first. Problem is, those wacky antics barely are tolerable in 6 minutes at a time form. They really should have been interstitials (like CN's Mixels), not full episodes. What they really should have done was made a Rayman cartoon with a 3 minute Rabbids short at the end.

That said, you needn't really worry about the show. For some reason, Rabbids gets lots of advertising, but it's never actually on Nickelodeon. And the merchandise just came out too.
 

Drtooth

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2002
Messages
31,718
Reaction score
6,707
The insane potential-hurting censorship of that series (to the point where even the '60s Spidey was more violent) baffles me, as I don't recall the X-Men series that aired around the time being that neutered.
I really wanted to love that series, since everyone had it in high regard. The problem was, I never watched it when it was on because it was opposite something else I can't remember. So after multiple false starts, and just missing opportunities to get the DVD, I finally got to see it online and I was less than impressed. I'm clearly watching the wrong episodes, and I should give it a second chance. What happened with the censorship was completely unfair, and you're right. X-Men was never harshly censored, neither was Batman TAS. That show got away with references to Drug Smuggling. Why Spider-Man was the only series that got 1980's levels of censorship is a mystery. But beyond that, the episodes I watched all seemed rushed and the pacing was off. Like a good 2 minutes was cut off. The writing was there, the heart was there, they put a LOT of effort into the show (they flew down a bunch of Canadian voice actors for the X-Men crossover), and I genuinely feel bad about not liking it.

But the point is, Spectacular Spider-Man got a lot of hate when it was announced, and by the same fanboys that flipped out when it was canceled. :big_grin:
And props to the Rhino episode in the 2nd season for making a good anti-bullying message. I liked Rhino's more animal-like design here, as well.
Actually, I was mixed about that one. Then Paul Giamati came on screen in the second movie with his Boris Badenov accent.... Yeah.

The three things I like about that series are the team ups (not being produced by Sony, it was the first Spidey series to have crossovers since TAS), the sneaky sort of tie in to the MCU (Agent Coulson being played by the same guy as in the movie), and frankly, I was absolutely impressed that they didn't make Aunt May the load for a change.
 

mr3urious

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
3,921
Reaction score
1,408
The three things I like about that series are the team ups (not being produced by Sony, it was the first Spidey series to have crossovers since TAS), the sneaky sort of tie in to the MCU (Agent Coulson being played by the same guy as in the movie), and frankly, I was absolutely impressed that they didn't make Aunt May the load for a change.
I also caught up with the two-part Blade and the Howling Commandos crossover just in time for Halloween, and it was really awesome. I love how they got Terry Crews to voice Blade. :smile:
 
Last edited:

Drtooth

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2002
Messages
31,718
Reaction score
6,707
I also caught up with the two-part Blade and the Howling Commandos crossover just in time for Halloween, and it was really awesome. I love how they got Terry Crews to voice Blade. :smile:
I wish more comic book fans out there would appreciate the series more as Marvel's very own Brave and the Bold Team up show. This series gets to show rare characters who have never been animated before. But the Jessie Team up was bloody awful. Disney didn't need to flex their corporate synergy on that show. it came off as a commercial for the other show with Spider-Man playing second. I love this show and all, but that definitely hurt my feelings for it. And I admit, the Spider-Verse bit was a little disappointing, but decent. Wish they spent more time with Spider-Ham.

But back to annoying shows? Friggin' Mr. Pickles. And not the awesome character from Boxtrolls, either. It's just a terrible show that's everything wrong with adult animation. Everything is so over the top, and not in a good way. Every filthy little joke that every adult series has done gets regurgitated for cheap laughs when the concept is admittedly kinda brilliant. But it's wasted on flat characters that are none note jokes (heh... I totally accidentally typed in that n, but I'm leaving it in), and it all comes off as a 4 year old screaming "DOODIES!" and "PEE PEE!" instead of something clever and satirical like it claims to be. Worst off, you can try to avoid the series, but they advertise the heck out of it when you're watching better shows on [as].

And it's a right shame as their shows are getting better outside of that. Black Dynamite is back, Rick and Morty draws them in even on reruns, and Mike Tyson Mysteries looks like a fun nod to their original parody Hanna Barbera line up. But this... this is just a lame crossing the line because it's funny with no substance series.
 
Top