What is a show that has no business being as good as it is?

[Mr.O]

What is a cartoon that has or had no business being as good as it was, in your opinion? Basically, what is a show that you judged by its cover to be terrible, but was actually much better than you thought? The same could go for shows that you never heard of before hand, and turned out to be better than you would think it should be.

It doesn’t have to be a great show, in your opinion, just a lot better than it seems it should be.

 

[Zorak Masaki]

Unikitty. I didnt expect much but it turned out to be surprisingly entertaining, with interesting characters. On that note, the Lego Movie. I expected something along the lines of those Direct-to-video Lego films, but got something epic.

 

[Dudley]

My Little Pony: FIM is probably the most well known example.

Also, Ever After High. It’s rare for any cartoon to explore the concept accepting others for their ideological stance, and for that to come from a show that shills a line of dolls, no less.

 

[PinkieLopBun]

I thought Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! was going to be terrible after seeing promos and a clip leading up to its premiere, but then I saw an episode and thought it was pretty good. I ended up falling behind on it and I still haven’t seen all the episodes, but I’ve enjoyed the episodes I have seen.

 

[KeldeoKitty]

Teen Titans Go! I initially thought it was terrible and I wasn’t even a fan of the original, I just thought it was lame. I watched more of it and it’s actually not that bad, it’s got decent animation and action, at times it has clever humor and writing, parental bonuses, and occasionally they have adventure episodes like Island Adventures and Night Begins to Shine. There are way worse toons like Annoying Orange, Kid Danger and Planet Sheen.

 

[Red Arrow]

Floopaloo, where are you?

It premiered here in September 2012 and I thought it was a preschool show and didn't give it any attention whatsoever. I gave it a chance in early August 2016 and immediately loved it. I watched 102 episodes in three months... (just 11 minutes, no biggie)

All the characters are so likable. It is refreshing seeing a group of 7 work together so well. And the plots are so creative. They are on a summer camp next to a forest where the Floopaloo lives. (a creature you don't get to see) The children try to keep everything Floopaloo-related hidden from the adults.

For instance, there's an episode where the Floopaloo gives Matt a "ball and chain" (like a criminal), and every time he lies, the ball gets bigger and bigger, but they have to keep it from the adults, so they have to lie about it.

In another episode they find a blue sticky ball that helps one of the characters to become less clumsy, but the Floopaloo uses that ball to "glue" everything in the forest. So everything in the forest starts breaking (the trees, the ground, the animals)

The Floopaloo has got a computer where all of his magic is stored. In one episode the children press a wrong button and everything in the forest starts disappearing.

Or there is an episode with a large pit and you forget everything you drop into it.

 

[Mr.O]

Unikitty. I didnt expect much but it turned out to be surprisingly entertaining, with interesting characters. On that note, the Lego Movie. I expected something along the lines of those Direct-to-video Lego films, but got something epic.

That's cool to see, since I never checked it out. Unikitty was one of my favorite characters in the Lego Movie, but I thought this show was just a shameless cash grab. What kind of show would you compare it to? Also, I felt the same way about the Lego Movie, too. It's still one of the biggest animated movie surprises I've ever watched!

My Little Pony: FIM is probably the most well known example.

Also, Ever After High. It’s rare for any cartoon to explore the concept accepting others for their ideological stance, and for that to come from a show that shills a line of dolls, no less.

I knew MLP would make it here, since that is sort of a text book example for this kind of thing, for a lot of people. Even though I never got into it.

Teen Titans Go! I initially thought it was terrible and I wasn’t even a fan of the original, I just thought it was lame. I watched more of it and it’s actually not that bad, it’s got decent animation and action, at times it has clever humor and writing, parental bonuses, and occasionally they have adventure episodes like Island Adventures and Night Begins to Shine. There are way worse toons like Annoying Orange, Kid Danger and Planet Sheen.

I almost feel the same way, but I never thought that Teen Titans Go would be THAT bad. It was better than other people kept saying it was though. Like you said, there are far worse cartoons for me.

Floopaloo, where are you?
View attachment 222001

It premiered here in September 2012 and I thought it was a preschool show and didn't give it any attention whatsoever. I gave it a chance in early August 2016 and immediately loved it. I watched 102 episodes in three months... (just 11 minutes, no biggie)

All the characters are so likable. It is refreshing seeing a group of 7 work together so well. And the plots are so creative. They are on a summer camp next to a forest where the Floopaloo lives. (a creature you don't get to see) The children try to keep everything Floopaloo-related hidden from the adults.

For instance, there's an episode where the Floopaloo gives Matt a "ball and chain" (like a criminal), and every time he lies, the ball gets bigger and bigger, but they have to keep it from the adults, so they have to lie about it.

In another episode they find a blue sticky ball that helps one of the characters to become less clumsy, but the Floopaloo uses that ball to "glue" everything in the forest. So everything in the forest starts breaking (the trees, the ground, the animals)

The Floopaloo has got a computer where all of his magic is stored. In one episode the children press a wrong button and everything in the forest starts disappearing.

Or there is an episode with a large pit and you forget everything you drop into it.

This actually sounds pretty interesting. Thanks for sharing. Is there a way I can check it out in here in the U.S?

 

[Red Arrow]

This actually sounds pretty interesting. Thanks for sharing. Is there a way I can check it out in here in the U.S?

Five episodes are on their YouTube channel: Floopaloo, where are you?

 

[Zanneck]

Let's see here... I got far too many to list, but this should be fun:

Welcome to the Wayne: One negative that I'm sure turned people away (other than myself, because I'm NOT most people!) - it doesn't look all that impressive in artstyle (although the animation is quite great for something that comes from an easy to bash place like Canada, especially!), compared to the likes of Gravity Falls... Nor does it seem all that different from GF, either (and I treat this as FACT: calling something a ripoff because of similarities to something else? LAME and kinda stupid.).

I watched it all the way through (Season 1), and just like Harvey Beaks before it... I am angry this awesome show right out of the starting gate (even if not the best looking, either.) has been treated so poorly (also FACT.). I think this show would have done better and likely lasted longer on streaming like with that of Hilda and Harvey Street Kids are doing, too. For me, everything this show does in its first season? Better (at least IMHO) than GF's first - although for me, S2 is where GF truly begins to shine and I have a hard time thinking Welcome to the Wayne could easily surpass that (if it ever comes back for those us willing to see, anyway, lovely as it sounds, IMHO, to see possibly happen.).

Unikitty!: Looked dumb as hell to me, ended up being laugh-out-loud hilarious, once I gave it more of an actual watch; have been waiting for new episodes to look at since.
I could same the same about Clarence & Mighty Magiswords; I'm proud to have watched all of these examples over what's considered popular, honestly (although Craig of the Creek > Clarence, but whatever!).

Littlest Pet Shop (2012, AWOO (2018)): I never thought I'd get into either of these shows, but once Season 2 kicked in for the 2012 show, it grew on me (and it only kept doing so, especially in S3.) - Blythe is the most criminally underrated MC in a cartoon, ever and I loved the character development she got, at least up to Season 3, anyway. As for AWOO? Just a better show, because it knows where its focus is and a nice way to kill time, IMHO. I like both shows way more than anything MLP-related and it's a damn shame to me that both seem so universally hated on / virtually ignored by most people on the internet (Especially in favor of all these overall inane and boring YouTube videos of kids playing with the toys!), IMHO.

I understand MLP is popular (and a perfect example of this thread), I just actually liked LPS in general so much more. However, Dan Vs. will always be the best show the channel that had these (MLP, LPS) has ever put out - I think people are missing out by not giving that a chance for the same reasons as say, Bob's Burgers - and speaking of which...

Bob's Burgers: I thought this was gonna be no better than anything by Seth McFarlane / Modern Simpsons; I've been pleasantly surprised and have been happily keeping up with it, since. Simple art style masking a word of modern comedic beauty in every sense!4

Don't get me wrong: Tangled: TAS, Gravity Falls, Big Hero 6: TAS, Ducktales (2017), Milo Murphy's Law, Wander Over Yonder? Some of Disney/Disney XD's best works - I'm looking forward to seeing Amphibia & The Owl House joining those ranks, too. However...

Penn Zero: Part Time Hero - I know a lot of people were dissing on this show before it even came out; I made that mistake, too - however, it grew on me with the Christmas special; although not the absolute funniest or best show I've watched to come from Disney/Disney XD, it stuck with me far more than Star Vs. ever could. I'm glad I gave it a chance and would have welcomed this getting a 3rd season to keep on getting better, same case as Wander Over Yonder (which definitely needed it, and that is FACT - same case as Motorcity deserving more than one season, for another example of something else great cut down before its time like I feel PZTH unfortunately was...).

In fact, I have yet to see a valid criticism on why I shouldn't like / should diss on this show, like 4/8/whatever-chan loved doing when it was around, honestly. Same case as LPS (2012) that of course isn't involving those Biskit Idiots, anyway...

Big City Greens - A bunch of country folk living in a setting much different from what they know - when one reads it like that, all one can go easily is that of yawn or "meh". I, however, am NOT like most people. I watch it proper (just to give everything that interests me the chance it deserves), and am overall blown away by how funny and endearing it can be, despite some rough moments here and there. Glad to be keeping up with this one and glad to see creators not abusing stereotypes for once, but actually doing something endearing and smart with what could otherwise be construed as such, too.

Thanks for the platform for allowing me these unpopular opinions, m8s. These threads are always the BEST.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

I didn't expect the TTG film to be a good film before watching it.

 

[Freddy]

The Amazing World of Gumball
This comes somewhat down to personal taste, but looking at a random screenshot, this show would look like one of those "wackiness for the sake of wackiness" shows, where there are loud noices constantly and every character has more or less same personality (i.e. random and wacky), which don't appeal to me personally. But, the actual show was suprisingly smart for what it is. There are some silent moments (at leats as much as 11 minutes running time allows you to have), even minor backround characters have their own quirks and all the jokes aren't just "XDsoRANDOM.". Not the deepest show or anything, but really charming.

Rick and Morty
I mean, just look at how many red flags this show has.

Animated comedy aimed at adults that airs on the Adult Swim? Check.
Simplistic art-style/animation? Check.
Mean-spirited tone and a main character who acts like a jerk? Check.

But, weirdly enough, the show is just so smart that it makes its weaknesses work. The mature jokes are actually clever, rather than shocking for the sake of cheap shock - value, and the show is fully aware that Rick isn't a likeable human being and doesn't try to preasent him as such. Plus, the sci-fi aspect is taken full advantage of, allowing the stories go to some real memorable and creative places.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)
Nickelodeon's hit-or-miss track record mixed with this show coming after a serious and continuity-heavy version of the property, while it itself was promoted as a more softer reboot (never a good sign with action shows), didn't leave TMNT fans with a lot of confidence. In the end, while the show had its shortcomings, there are a lot of TMNT fans who consider it their favorite incarnation of the franchise and it was actually often quite dark for a kids show.

 

[Mr.O]

Five episodes are on their YouTube channel: Floopaloo, where are you?

I saw a few episodes. This is actually a pretty cool, laid back cartoon, with some nice animation and colors! I could definitely see me watching it just to past the time if it came on TV here. Thanks for sharing!

Let's see here... I got far too many to list, but this should be fun:

Welcome to the Wayne: One negative that I'm sure turned people away (other than myself, because I'm NOT most people!) - it doesn't look all that impressive in artstyle (although the animation is quite great for something that comes from an easy to bash place like Canada, especially!), compared to the likes of Gravity Falls... Nor does it seem all that different from GF, either (and I treat this as FACT: calling something a ripoff because of similarities to something else? LAME and kinda stupid.).

I watched it all the way through (Season 1), and just like Harvey Beaks before it... I am angry this awesome show right out of the starting gate (even if not the best looking, either.) has been treated so poorly (also FACT.). I think this show would have done better and likely lasted longer on streaming like with that of Hilda and Harvey Street Kids are doing, too. For me, everything this show does in its first season? Better (at least IMHO) than GF's first - although for me, S2 is where GF truly begins to shine and I have a hard time thinking Welcome to the Wayne could easily surpass that (if it ever comes back for those us willing to see, anyway, lovely as it sounds, IMHO, to see possibly happen.).

Unikitty!: Looked dumb as hell to me, ended up being laugh-out-loud hilarious, once I gave it more of an actual watch; have been waiting for new episodes to look at since.
I could same the same about Clarence & Mighty Magiswords; I'm proud to have watched all of these examples over what's considered popular, honestly (although Craig of the Creek > Clarence, but whatever!).

Littlest Pet Shop (2012, AWOO (2018)): I never thought I'd get into either of these shows, but once Season 2 kicked in for the 2012 show, it grew on me (and it only kept doing so, especially in S3.) - Blythe is the most criminally underrated MC in a cartoon, ever and I loved the character development she got, at least up to Season 3, anyway. As for AWOO? Just a better show, because it knows where its focus is and a nice way to kill time, IMHO. I like both shows way more than anything MLP-related and it's a damn shame to me that both seem so universally hated on / virtually ignored by most people on the internet (Especially in favor of all these overall inane and boring YouTube videos of kids playing with the toys!), IMHO.

I understand MLP is popular (and a perfect example of this thread), I just actually liked LPS in general so much more. However, Dan Vs. will always be the best show the channel that had these (MLP, LPS) has ever put out - I think people are missing out by not giving that a chance for the same reasons as say, Bob's Burgers - and speaking of which...

The more I here about Welcome to The Wayne, the more I feel a bit guilty. I am actually one of the people who blew it off as a shameless Gravity Falls clone and steered clear of it. Mind you I never hated on the show online or anything, I just simply ignored it. But I keep hearing nothing but good things about it here, and I wish I gave it a chance when it was new. Although, I wouldn't really have made a difference in the ratings dept.

Your the second person to mention Unikitty, so I might have to check it out. This is another series I brushed off as a "dumb cash grab." Even though Unikitty is one of my favorite Lego Movie characters.

How was Blythe's character development so great, if I might ask? I didn't really get in to LPS. but I am a sucker for good character development.

 

[Zanneck]

I saw a few episodes. This is actually a pretty cool, laid back cartoon, with some nice animation and colors! I could definitely see me watching it just to past the time if it came on TV here. Thanks for sharing!


The more I here about Welcome to The Wayne, the more I feel a bit guilty. I am actually one of the people who blew it off as a shameless Gravity Falls clone and steered clear of it. Mind you I never hated on the show online or anything, I just simply ignored it. But I keep hearing nothing but good things about it here, and I wish I gave it a chance when it was new. Although, I wouldn't really have made a difference in the ratings dept.

Your the second person to mention Unikitty, so I might have to check it out. This is another series I brushed off as a "dumb cash grab." Even though Unikitty is one of my favorite Lego Movie characters.

How was Blythe's character development so great, if I might ask? I didn't really get in to LPS. but I am a sucker for good character development.

For me, it was because they gave Blythe something to do that involved her passion in life: fashion design throughout S2. Then, combine that with her love for the pets, it slowly builds to a great finale for S3. S4 is pretty hit/miss with further developing her as a character, honestly.

Regardless, it felt good seeing her actually shine as a character (especially within those 2 seasons when the focus was on her doing what she loves, besides her camaraderie w/da pets!), rather than as a butt for some weakling comedy like Adam Lyon was in another show the creators of this worked on: My Gym Partner's a Monkey. And unlike LPS (2012), THAT show was HOT GARBAGE.

And YES, please give Welcome to the Wayne a watch any way you can. It's right up there with Harvey Beaks as one of Nick's best, if not most criminally underrated fare of this decade. And I stand by that wholeheartedly.

Also, give Unikitty! a chance, too - it is pretty laugh out funny when it wants to be, which is something I only wish TTG! was, if only to make that more watchable and worthwhile in my eyes, which it sadly isn't.

 

[LinusFan303]

Penn Zero: Part Time Hero - I know a lot of people were dissing on this show before it even came out; I made that mistake, too - however, it grew on me with the Christmas special; although not the absolute funniest or best show I've watched to come from Disney/Disney XD, it stuck with me far more than Star Vs. ever could. I'm glad I gave it a chance and would have welcomed this getting a 3rd season to keep on getting better, same case as Wander Over Yonder (which definitely needed it, and that is FACT - same case as Motorcity deserving more than one season, for another example of something else great cut down before its time like I feel PZTH unfortunately was...).

In fact, I have yet to see a valid criticism on why I shouldn't like / should diss on this show, like 4/8/whatever-chan loved doing when it was around, honestly. Same case as LPS (2012) that of course isn't involving those Biskit Idiots, anyway...

Nice to see someone else that enjoys/ed Penn Zero, I loved that show from when I first just saw the theme song I was like this seems awesome and the show was great, seemed like it got over shadowed by Star Vs.


For me it was Harvey Beaks it seem like something that would appeal to me when Nick was first promoting it and etc, I was wary because the other Nick shows at the time seemed to over the the top for me, so thought it was going to be like those (and I was just waiting for the Loud House to start) , but I watched the first episode when it first aired and it was so comfy and fun to watch I really enjoyed and glad I did.

 

[TheVileOne]

Randy Cunningham: Ninth Grade Ninja
Tuff Puppy
Fairly Oddparents
The Freemaker Adventures

 

[Red Arrow]

The more I here about Welcome to The Wayne, the more I feel a bit guilty. I am actually one of the people who blew it off as a shameless Gravity Falls clone and steered clear of it. Mind you I never hated on the show online or anything, I just simply ignored it. But I keep hearing nothing but good things about it here, and I wish I gave it a chance when it was new. Although, I wouldn't really have made a difference in the ratings dept.

I was the opposite: I got very excited about it, but didn't like the first few episodes and stopped watching. The characters didn't do it for me, and somehow I just couldn't care less about whatever the mystery was. Also, Olly's Dutch voice-actor had previously voiced Dipper from Gravity Falls, so soon all I thought was "this is Gravity Falls but bad".

Same with Harvey Beaks. It looked fantastic at first, and I wanted to like it so much, but those 11 minutes seem to last an hour. It's like the time stopped moving.

So now I'm doing my best to not get excited about Glitch Techs I don't want a fourth Nickelodeon disappointment.

I also really like Penn Zero , but I don't think it really fits in this thread. Sure, it's a bit underrated, but that's not what this thread is about, is it?

 

[Zanneck]

I was the opposite: I got very excited about it, but didn't like the first few episodes and stopped watching. The characters didn't do it for me, and somehow I just couldn't care less about whatever the mystery was. Also, Olly's Dutch voice-actor had previously voiced Dipper from Gravity Falls, so soon all I thought was "this is Gravity Falls but bad".

Same with Harvey Beaks. It looked fantastic at first, and I wanted to like it so much, but those 11 minutes seem to last an hour. It's like the time stopped moving.

So now I'm doing my best to not get excited about Glitch Techs I don't want a fourth Nickelodeon disappointment.

I also really like Penn Zero , but I don't think it really fits in this thread. Sure, it's a bit underrated, but that's not what this thread is about, is it?

In some cases with PZ, sad but true. To be fair, I didn't really expect it to be that good overall at first (IMHO), hence me bringing it up like I felt right doing, regardless.

 

[Fone Bone]

Batman: The Animated Series. It was supposed to be a cash-grab for the Tim Burton movies to sell toys and Bruce Timm made it fabulous and the definitive take on Batman instead.

 

[Zanneck]

Batman: The Animated Series. It was supposed to be a cash-grab for the Tim Burton movies to sell toys and Bruce Timm made it fabulous and the definitive take on Batman instead.

The cash-grab thing is pretty sad to here. GLAD that didn't happen, because you're not wrong, hence why said show is still so fondly remembered even today.

 

[Fone Bone]

The cash-grab thing is pretty sad to here. GLAD that didn't happen, because you're not wrong, hence why said show is still so fondly remembered even today.

Well, the moody 2 minute Pilot says Bruce Timm always had a vision, but something tells me Fox (which as a network had a spotty track record with animation up to that point) would have greenlit ANYTHING Batman, which is why we would up as lucky as we are that WBA was as good at their jobs as they were. And yeah, the toyline was definitely a huge factor in it getting greenlit.