Change the show's episode format?

[TheMarkz0ne 962]

Two part opener

Slice of life

Two part epic finale with villain

 

You think maybe the show should scrap this and do something different? Have a saga per season. I don't watch Adventure Time, but they have been doing this for a while. I think the show would have more focus. But I also understand coming up with one big evolving story for 26 episodes is a hard thing to do. 

[TheJLeeTeam 914]

I thought Season 4 had a saga. The saga of finding keys.

[TheMarkz0ne 962]

I thought Season 4 had a saga. The saga of finding keys.

Yeah but it didn't feel fluid. It felt fragmented.

[StoneCold 144]

Honestly... no. MLP does slice of life well. Amazingly, in fact. Part of what makes the adventure episodes so interesting is that they are a departure from the average episode. If  every episode was an 'adventure' episode, they just wouldn't have the same episode.

 

Also, considering this is set in the mystical world of equestria, even slice of life episodes can still hold adventure aspects. (I point to episodes such as "Spike at your Service" and "Somepony to watch over me", both of which are slice of life, and both of which feature monsters of the week.)

[TheJLeeTeam 914]

I'm personally fine with the format as it is. Since this is a TV Y show and is targeted towards younger kids as well the format should be kept simple.

Honestly... no. MLP does slice of life well. Amazingly, in fact. Part of what makes the adventure episodes so interesting is that they are a departure from the average episode. If  every episode was an 'adventure' episode, they just wouldn't have the same episode.

 

Also, considering this is set in the mystical world of equestria, even slice of life episodes can still hold adventure aspects. (I point to episodes such as "Spike at your Service" and "Somepony to watch over me", both of which are slice of life, and both of which feature monsters of the week.)

Agreed, I love the slice of life moments and it reminds me of my childhood and Disney films.

[A Joe in the Bush 255]

I do wish the episodes would be more related to the actual Saga though. In Season 5, we have the Cutie Map Saga, but the first Cutie map episode hasn't even aired yet.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,522]

While I do love the slice of life episodes (FiM does this better than pretty much any other cartoon IMO), I do wish that the actual subplot would get more overall focus. That way more could potentially be explored. It could still be done in the format of slice of life, I just think it would be nice in the arching plot got more attention overall. They don't have to abandon one for the other As The Only Joe pointed out, we have yet to even see a Cutie Map focused episode yet which is quite surprising. 

[Sidral Mundet 1,666]

I would love to see a villain's arc in the show and with someone who actually is morally grey and threatening. Basically I would love to see an Empire Strikes Back sort of set up where the heroes winning is them just barely managing to get away with the villain being pretty much like Darth Vader, ruthless, cunning and angry, but that sort of controlled anger. 

[The Awesome One 1,314]

If it isn't broken, why fix it? However I will say that there is a little room for improvement. They could slightly reduce the Slice of Life and bring in a little more action and mystery and MOAR pop culture references but in general the current format seems fine. I actually like seeing the Mane 6 dealing with daily life problems.

[Wind Chaser 4,767]

The format is fine if only it wasn't so rigid and allowed for flexibility as the story called for it. I wouldn't mind a multi-part episode, successive, or concurrent (like "Games Ponies Play" and "Just for Sidekicks") episodes in the middle of a season, if it was planned on need. Also, some episodes may require more recent continuity than others, thus that should be doubled-down on need as well.

 

The format itself is not a problem. It isn't hindering too many episodes. However, there are some examples of times where this would have worked, namely "Magical Mystery Cure" being too short, and the possibility of "Equestria Games" having been a series of episodes with distinct plots rather than just a single Spike episode.

[Pastel 7,627]

The current format is the best for this show, because it's mostly a "slice of life" show.

However, I wouldn't mind a saga/big adventure for the last season(s).

[colt_following 169]

Two part opener

Slice of life

Two part epic finale with villain

 

You think maybe the show should scrap this and do something different? Have a saga per season. I don't watch Adventure Time, but they have been doing this for a while. I think the show would have more focus. But I also understand coming up with one big evolving story for 26 episodes is a hard thing to do. 

 

I do think this would be cool, and it's what I WANTED season 4 to be. Adventure Time has a nice way of making each episode individual and fragmented enough that they can mostly be watched out of order, yet there are plenty of story elements to follow it straight thru. I guess MLP works better in this way because not only can they show re-runs, but those who don't watch it as a serial won't feel like they're missing little chunks of story.

I would love to see a little bit more of a single story line throughout a season, though.

[Singe 2,109]

Season 5 two-parter had the right idea. They should push more of the other characters to assist the Mane 6. The Mane 6 could split up or go solo while having other characters step up.

 

It would be neat to have Zecora, Luna, Trixie, or Macintosh tag along.

Edited May 21, 2015 by Singe

[colt_following 169]

Season 5 two-parter had the right idea. They should push more of the other characters to assist the Mane 6. The Mane 6 could split up or go solo while having other characters step up.

 

It would be neat to have Zecora, Luna, Trixie, or Macintosh tag along.

I get the impression this season is gonna focus more on everyone around the Mane 6. Heck, I wanna say we've only had ONE episode so far that is about any character from the M6- the rest have been ALL 6, CMC, or other characters. Pretty cool way to go for far, I think. It would be cool to see some other more 'background-ish' characters star a bit more.