Harpuia

This is just an idea that me and a friend came up with once while talking about MLP. Basically, how would you react if MLP started incorporating little comedy skits before or after an episode that were completely unrelated to it? Or maybe in-between episodes? Personally, I think it'd be a great way to expand on secondary/background characters and maybe even throw some nods to the fandom. I know I'd love to see Celestia and Luna interacting with each other in a way that isn't just spouting exposition. I'm aware that a few episodes have done things kind of similar, but they usually take place in the episode or serve as a set-up for it.

Since my review thread on the main show discussion is apparently going nowhere, I guess I'll just post my review here. Boast Busters - I really wasn't looking forward to this. First of all, the entire idea behind this episode is just infuriating to me. Trixie is a goddamned stage magician, she's supposed to be boastful! It's like complaining about a fire performer or a circus acrobat for being a show off. Not only that, but the mane six were heckling her. When you're on stage and someone is heckling you, you're supposed to deal with them harshly and put them in their place. Not only that, but the mane six were just beyond unlikable in this one and that includes Rainbow Dash's hypocrisy. It becomes even more infuriating when the writers make Trixie's stage personality her actual personality and it's just all so stupid. Also, this episode introduced Snips and Snails and that is just unforgivable. Unlike the last two episodes that were forgettable but not bad, this one just screams "This is awful!". The only redeeming quality I can think of is one kinda funny joke in the beginning Grade: D-

I would've done this yesterday but my allergies were kicking my ass and impaired my ability to do any actual critiquing. Anyways, I've got three more episodes watched and here are my opinions. Applebuck Season - I find it ironic that the first character-focused episode we got was an Applejack one, and it's the episode where Big Mac has his largest speaking role. Not gonna lie, this episode is pretty rough around the edges. The main problem here is that it relies on the same joke of Applejack being too tired to do anything and it's just not that funny for the most part. The plot isn't very interesting either so it really needed humor to be entertaining and without that it just sort of falls flat. In addition, the character interaction (something I think MLP usually excels at) wasn't as interesting or amusing as it was in the previous three episodes. There's a few funny moments and there's nothing that really screams "this is awful" so I'll say it's just a very average episode rather than a bad one. Grade: C- Griffon The Brush Off - I like this episode slightly more than I do Applebluck Season, but it still mostly garners the same "meh" reaction from me. You can't really discuss this episode without talking about Gilda. I like her design, voice, and what her personality COULD have been like if she was written better. I can't really say there's much else about her that's interesting or entertaining. I don't really know what to write here besides "meh". Very few jokes that made me smile or laugh, and nothing that really stood out to me or captured my attention. Grade: C Boast Busters - I really wasn't looking forward to this. First of all, the entire idea behind this episode is just infuriating to me. Trixie is a goddamned stage magician, she's supposed to be boastful! It's like complaining about a fire performer or a circus acrobat for being a show off. Not only that, but the mane six were heckling her. When you're on stage and someone is heckling you, you're supposed to deal with them harshly and put them in their place. Not only that, but the mane six were just beyond unlikable in this one and that includes Rainbow Dash's hypocrisy. It becomes even more infuriating when the writers make Trixie's stage personality her actual personality and it's just all so stupid. Also, this episode introduced Snips and Snails and that is just unforgivable. Unlike the last two episodes that were forgettable but not bad, this one just screams "This is awful!". The only redeeming quality I can think of is one kinda funny joke in the beginning Grade: D- Unfortunately, none of these episodes can match Ticket Master or Friendship is Magic in either comedy or overall writing, but perhaps the next bunch will fare better. As always, discussion is encouraged.

Yeah, I was surprised by exactly how funny the episode was. All the jokes were just really well-timed and none of them fell flat to me. I didn't really find many of the season 4 eps to be very funny, so maybe the humor was just better in the earlier seasons, I dunno.

Earn't those just for discussing the individual seasons though?

Basically, I'm re-watching mlp seasons 1-3 and posting my thoughts on each episode this thread. Friendship is Magic: Part 1 - Holy nostalgia. I've seen the S1 opener called one of the weaker episodes, and I can sort of see why but I also don't see much wrong with it. I enjoyed all of the character's introductions with Rainbow Dash's being my favorite and Applejack's being my least favorite. Character interaction felt natural, there were some good jokes thrown in there and it definitely had me smiling. Honestly if the series opener had been just this but with all the Nightmare Moon stuff cut out, I'm not really sure if it'd be any better or worse. Grade: B Friendship is Magic: Part 2 - Overall, I don't quite like this one as much as the first part. It's fairly straightforward; the mane six have to find the element's of harmony while also dealing with Nightmare Moon's trials, all of which can only be beaten by a trait that one of the mane six have. It's predictable, but it works and for the most part the trials and their solutions are pretty entertaining. We also got a catchy song, which is nice. Add in a satisfying conclusion, some good jokes and dialog, a cool villian, and you've got a pretty decent set-up for the rest of the series. Grade: B- Ticket Master - Being the first "real" episode of FIM, it's gets very little wrong and does a lot of things right. At first I thought it was going to feel forced that all six of these characters with vastly different personalities would all want to go the same place, but the reasons that they all give seem fairly convincing. I really enjoyed Twilight's skepticism/cynicism towards her friends' favors and it made for some really funny/clever dialogue (Fluttershy's "Yes, we are doing this for the ticket" really made me crack up). Grade: B+ The reason I'm not doing this as a blog or anything is because I want to see some discussion here. I want to see what YOU, the brony community, think of these episodes.

Once again, thanks for all the fantastic responses. There's quite a few varying replies here, and I do understand those who are just recommending to watch all of them. Keep in mind that I have watched the series before so even though my memory is limited I still have an idea of what I liked and what I didn't like. I'll skip the obvious ones (Mare-do-well, Spike at your service) and use the responses from this thread along with my own preferences and memory to decide which other ones to skip. For example, I'll watch Over a barrel and A bird in the hoof simply because I fondly remember those episodes but I'll skip Show Stoppers just because the CMC earn't really that interesting to me and Boast Busters because I like Trixie but I don't like that episode's plot.

Thanks for all the responses! I'm glad to see Party of One listed as a standout ep, it's still one of my favorites. I'm curious as to why Over a Barrel seems to get a lot of flack, that was one of my favorites although maybe just because Breaburn and Strongheart are my favorite one-shot characters. Even though it's one of the weaker episodes, I think I'll watch the S1 opener simply for nostalgia's sake.

I didn't mind that one when I saw it, looking though it had it's issues and I think I'll skip. That adultery joke at the beginning is great though, that's probably the highlight of it for me.

I haven't been watching MLP much lately besides S4, and I'd like to get back into it. Basically, I'd just like to know which episodes are generally considered the worst by the community and are worth skipping. Also, if there's any standout episodes I should look forward to then that could be worth mentioning as well.

Honestly, as long they actually develop his character into something likable enough to be worthy of appearing again, I can't really say I'd mind. I'm kind of a sucker for romance in cartoons and it'd be interesting to see if he actually had a personality. Of course, a good portion of the fandom would probably still hate him, but there's still bronies who think Fluttershy is a one-dimensional character so some of us can be quite stubborn.

Oh goddamn yes, haha, I can't believe I didn't remember that. That's pretty much my favorite part of the episode.

Dat swallowing animation. I can tell someone had fun animating this, haha.

Wait, really? That is amazing.

I'm pretty sure it's some kind of drug reference

Why did the name of my topic get changed? Is crap not an okay thing to have in a topic title? And YES! I was just about to mention the blanket thing. Would anyone else actually like to see the writers play around with this kind of thing more often? I dunno, a lot of the jokes in the newer eps seem to fall flat to me and I'm a total sucker for sneaking crap past the radar. Hell, I'm pretty sure that's the only reason Rocko's Modern Life became such a popular show.

Obviously hidden adult jokes earn't a reason to watch MLP, but I've still seen people mention things like innuendos being sneaked in. So, what do you all think? Do you think mlp has gotten crap past the radar before? Are there any moments you interpreted as the writers sneaking crap past the radar? For me, there's one particular line of dialog that surprised me, I wish I could remember it though.