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What was the biggest downfall/difficulty for TAS?

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Ok, so I've only seen 12 of the 22, but I hope by the end of next week to have wrapped up TAS. I'm thinking to myself, what was the biggest obstacle for this short-lived series? I don't know what its original time slot was, so I can't compare it to its competition at that time, but just watching it, some of my thoughts include:

 

1) Trying to cram a 60 minute plot into a 30 minute show. I noticed this almost right away, and it comes to head most predominantly in The Lorelei Signal. Trying to put too much in an episode makes the solutions more contrived, accelerates the natural evolution of dialogue to the point of warping. It makes aspects seem way too contrived. I don't think TAS could have worked as a 60 minute cartoon show, so the writing needed to be tighter. A good example of tight writing is "Yesteryear."

 

2) Didn't always stay consistent with canon established in TOS. I use that term "canon" based on Takara's thread on the Guardian Of Forever subforum. TAS didn't always stay consistent, which may have hurt it. I doubt this one plays into it much for the next reason.

 

3) Trekkie-dom not as evolved by this point. They may have managed to save it for a third season with massive fan letters, but let's face it, Trekkies of today have much more devotion than they did in the early to mid 70's.

 

4) No Chekhov. Chekhov was a character scripted to draw out the younger crowd. Cartoons are much the same way. Without Chekhov, you lack a draw for the kiddies that Arex and M'Ress couldn't quite fill.

 

5) Cartoon/Trek incompatibility. I don't buy this too much myself, but it's always a possibility. The science fiction world would seem best suited for cartoons, given the imagination that sci-fi involves, and cartoon drawings make it so plausible, but there still seems to be some incongruity, primarily of audience demographics. By the time a person can really get into sci-fi, are they too old for cartoons? Obviously, this isn't a factor now with adult oriented cartoons like South Park, Family Guy, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force, but back then, could this have played a part?

 

6) Time slots and counterprogramming? Again, I don't know too much about its slating or what it was up against, but it's a possibility.

 

Your thoughts?

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As someone who watched TAS when it first came on, I can tell you that it came on around 9 of 10 in the morning on Saturday. As for competition, about the only thing I remember was the cartoon version of "Gilligan's Island".......................I bet most of you had no idea that there was a cartoon version of Giligan's Island, did you?........ :b-day:

 

As for the absence of Chekov, that was due to Koenig's refusal to do the series. As usual, he felt that he was the star of the show and should be paid as such........ :yahoo:

Edited by Kor37

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I liked the Animated Series. I wish that someone would show it on TV (ie: TV Land, Sci-Fi, Spike, etc..)

It's too good to be on the sidelines. I wouldn't mind seeing it remade and updated. Maybe including TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT. It would make things interesting.

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As for the absence of Chekov, that was due to Koenig's refusal to do the series. As usual, he felt that he was the star of the show and should be paid as such........ :yahoo:

 

I'm fully aware of that, but what I'm asking is, given the rationale I've put forth, could the lack of Chekhov be said to be a major obstacle for TAS or not?

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As for the absence of Chekov, that was due to Koenig's refusal to do the series. As usual, he felt that he was the star of the show and should be paid as such........ :yahoo:

 

I'm fully aware of that, but what I'm asking is, given the rationale I've put forth, could the lack of Chekhov be said to be a major obstacle for TAS or not?

 

 

I don't think it was a major obstacle. The best season of TOS was the first season which didn't include Chekov. He didn't come in until season 2. I didn't miss him at all in TAS.

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As for the absence of Chekov, that was due to Koenig's refusal to do the series. As usual, he felt that he was the star of the show and should be paid as such........ :tribble:

 

I'm fully aware of that, but what I'm asking is, given the rationale I've put forth, could the lack of Chekhov be said to be a major obstacle for TAS or not?

 

 

I don't think it was a major obstacle. The best season of TOS was the first season which didn't include Chekov. He didn't come in until season 2. I didn't miss him at all in TAS.

 

 

You took the words right out of my mouth.

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I would also have liked better animation. There are things you can do with animation you can't do with special effects (though with computer animation and live action we can get pretty close). They did have budget constraints where certain scenes were reused and it also made for only certain poses and not much else.

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I've got the TAS DVD boxed set I love it :lol:

 

TOS has the fewest amount of seasons, however it has TAS and the most movies!

 

Side note: I've got the boxed set for 'Land of the Lost' (the Saturday morning show that involved the 70's family living with dinosaurs and whatnot) and they talked about the superior scipts for that show being due in large part to the TOS writers writing for TAS (even Walter Koeing) and after being exposed to the 'Kid's show' market they turned in scripts for 'Land of the Lost' as well. Probably without TAS and those well written scripts that show would have never turned into the hit that it was.

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I have only seen one or two of TAS and it would have been a good show it was shown about Sunday mornings over here but ealry enough for people to watch but only kids really since it was on about 6am.

 

In my opinion if it was aimed more at trekkies who wanted there fix of Star Trek it would have done better but it was aimed at the younger generation more and therefore fell flat.

 

Bit I would love to see TNG TAS Or maybe a Ds9 version

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I've re-read the thread (I'm a poet and didn't know it) . . . I know; I hear the groans clear over here . . .

 

Did you know that the cartoons were shown with feature films with mostly adult audiences? Watch some of the old Betty Boop and you'll see what I mean. As for the cartoons made for kids . . . some were top quality as for the story and some even for the animation. Who says cartoons are ONLY for kids? I confess I watch 'em. I remember The cartoon 'The New Adventures of Gilligan' and and another live action Saturday morning show where Bob Denver launches his buddy and he into space (Far Out Space Nuts). Anyone for 'Land of the Lost'? With the dinosaurs and the Sleezaks. Whut? There are some cartoons now on I wouldn't give 2 cents for a whole stack of DVDs. Anyone catch some of the moronic crud on Adult Swim? There are some good ones out too and I enjoy seeing them with my seven year old son. It gives me a chance to correct his perceptions and see how kids view them. Next time ST:TAS is on, I'll watch them with him. A mom has to know what her child watches doesn't she? :blink: He's also a good excuse to play with some of the neat toys I wish was available when I was little.

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I have only seen one or two of TAS and it would have been a good show it was shown about Sunday mornings over here but ealry enough for people to watch but only kids really since it was on about 6am.

 

In my opinion if it was aimed more at trekkies who wanted there fix of Star Trek it would have done better but it was aimed at the younger generation more and therefore fell flat.

 

Bit I would love to see TNG TAS Or maybe a Ds9 version

Fell flat? It was the only Trek series to ever win an Emmy!!!

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I have only seen one or two of TAS and it would have been a good show it was shown about Sunday mornings over here but ealry enough for people to watch but only kids really since it was on about 6am.

 

In my opinion if it was aimed more at trekkies who wanted there fix of Star Trek it would have done better but it was aimed at the younger generation more and therefore fell flat.

 

Bit I would love to see TNG TAS Or maybe a Ds9 version

Fell flat? It was the only Trek series to ever win an Emmy!!!

I bought the entire DVD boxed set and it never mentioned in the supplemental section that the ratings were bad or anything of that nature. I'm leaning towards one of the major players (Shanter or Nimoy) didn't want to do it any longer. Hence no 2nd season. Or the actors wanted a pay hike... again no 2nd season.

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From Wikipedia:

 

The writers of the animated series used, essentially, the same writers' guide that was used for the live-action Star Trek: The Original Series. A copy of the "series bible", as revised for TAS, is held in the science fiction research collection at the Samuel Paley Library, Temple University, Philadelphia.

 

While the freedom of animation afforded large alien landscapes and believable non-humanoid aliens, budget constraints were a major concern and the animation quality was generally only fair, with very liberal use of stock shots. There were also occasional mistakes, such as characters appearing on screen who were elsewhere, or a character supposed to appear on the bridge's main viewing screen, but then appeared in front, indicating bad ordering of animation plates. These were typically one-off errors however. Occasionally, though, parts of episodes would be animated at a near-theatrical quality level.

 

Voice casting

Doohan and Barrett, besides providing the voices of their Original Series characters and newcomers Arex and M'Ress, performed virtually all of the "guest star" characters in the series, except for a few notable exceptions such as Sarek, Cyrano Jones and Harcourt Fenton Mudd, who were performed by their original actors from The Original Series.

 

Most TAS episodes are directed by Hal Sutherland.

 

The writing in the series benefited from a Writers Guild of America, East strike in 1973, which did not apply to animation. A few episodes are especially notable due to contributions from well-known science fiction authors: "More Tribbles, More Troubles" was written by David Gerrold as a sequel to his famous episode "The Trouble with Tribbles". "Yesteryear" is a time-travel episode in which Mr. Spock uses "The Guardian of Forever", a time gateway from the original series episode "The City on the Edge of Forever", to travel to his own childhood past. (This is the only animated Trek episode written by original series and later Next Generation writer D.C. Fontana. This was the first actual appearance of Spock's pet sehlat.) Larry Niven's "The Slaver Weapon", adapted from his own short story "The Soft Weapon". (This is the only Kirk era TV or movie story in which Kirk didn't appear. This episode is the only animated episode where anyone dies or is killed onscreen.)

 

Novelties in the series

A personal force field technology known as the life support belt was seen only in Star Trek: The Animated Series (to avoid problem drawing characters in space environmental suits).

 

Canon issues

At the end of the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, all licenses for Star Trek spin-off fiction were renegotiated and the animated series was essentially "decanonized" by Gene Roddenberry's office. Writers of the novels, comics and role-playing games were prohibited from using concepts from the animated series in their works.

 

The Star Trek Chronology by production staffers Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda does not include the animated series, but does include certain events from "Yesteryear".

 

Since Roddenberry's death in 1991 and the consequent firing of Richard H. Arnold (who vetted the licensed tie-ins for Roddenberry's "Star Trek Office" at Paramount during its latter years), there have been various references to the animated series in the various live-action series.

 

In recent years, references to the Animated Series have also cropped up again in the licensed books and comics.

 

On June 27, 2007, Star Trek's official site incorporated information from the animated series into its library section.

 

Ratings

This was Filmation's only hit series on NBC. The eight other shows lasted one season or less.

 

The animated series was, according to the Nielsen ratings, not popular enough with young children. According to series' producers it was intended to be enjoyed by the entire family. Although the accuracy of the ratings system conducted by the ACNielsen company has been vehemently disputed by its supporters and detractors since their first implementation, these results have been cited by fans and critics as justification for the show's brief run of only 22 episodes. However, in the 70s, very few animated series went beyond a few seasons as it was usually more profitable to start a new series. The series did receive critical acclaim and a Daytime Emmy award, the first such award for the franchise. According to both Roddenberry and an NBC press release, this was the justification for six additional episodes being ordered by the network for the series' second season.

END OF ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS

 

Using the writers guide (with some revisions) for the live series may have contributed to stories that should take longer to evolve. They did eliminate the teasers used on every other Trek TV series.

 

Budget constraints often can afffect the final product negatively. Use of the "Glowing Life Support belts" could annoy hardcore fans.

 

Animation problems could be distracting to viewers. And the overuse of stick shots is always annoying.

 

As great as Barrett and Doohan were at doing character voices, more variety of other voices could have been an improvement.

 

Having a different director on occasion might have helped.

 

Canon problems could upset diehard fans at that point in time.

 

Those &%$# Neilsen ratings end too many good shows!

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3) Trekkie-dom not as evolved by this point. They may have managed to save it for a third season with massive fan letters, but let's face it, Trekkies of today have much more devotion than they did in the early to mid 70's.

 

You're kidding, right? Back then there were more "unofficial" Star trek fan clubs than there are now, conventions that went from 1 to 3 days were springing up left and right again "unofficial". Back then we had to rely on telephones and snail-mail to do things. We didn't have the Paramount publicity machine and the internet to rely on. The original series got a third season because of a mail campaign that was spread by word of mouth. Star Wars and a huge letter writing campaign is what got us Star Trek: The Motion picture. Even though there was was no internet back then we got a lot done.

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