spoiler Would you like to see more episodes like Slice of Life?

[colt_following 169]

I for one really enjoyed the complete change of feel that "Slice of Life" brought. I think MLP is moving away from focus on the Mane 6 (given that Twilight, being the princess of friendship, has "mastered" friendship) and that gives room for background characters to expand.

 

I loved the episode but I wouldn't say I want more LIKE this- I would like more episodes that give background ponies some depth like in SoL.

 

Thoughts?

[KillerKingBakudan 702]

I want to see the background ponies integrated more into episodes focusing on any/all of the Mane 6, or the CMC. How cool would that be to have Derpy, Doc Hooves, Lyra or Octavia given the same attention that characters like Zecora and Trixie had?

[The Awesome One 1,314]

I would just prefer that in all episodes, they remain focused on the Mane 6 and their adventures but background ponies simply stop being background ponies and have some kind of speaking role in every episode. Even if it is a few lines.

 

Although one thing I'd really like to see is an episode centered on Derpy. That would be interesting to watch.

Edited June 14, 2015 by The Awesome One

[Dark Qiviut 22,173]

I wouldn't mind seeing the background ponies get a bit more focus. The core is the Mane Six, Spike, and the CMCs, but the bkg. ponies are just as important, for they make the 'verse feel alive. Play the characters straight and give them some role, but don't degrade them like Snowflake/Bulk Biceps in Rainbow Falls.

 

But as an episode exclusively on them again? Not anytime soon. Slice of Life is the exception; repeating it too early will make it feel less special.

Edited June 16, 2015 by Dark Qiviut

[Nervous Stitch 813]

Honestly as much as I appreciate the fan service and episode 100 was fantastic, focusing more on the background characters seems like it would kind of eliminate exactly what they are...just background characters. I think part of the fun of the community is being able to pick out those one time ponies and bring them to life in the fandom - if they began to drag the background characters out of the background, then they'd lose their lovely backgroundedness.   There are already a lot of main characters - quite a few for a kid's show, as well. 

 

I like the approach that they took in Slice of Life, but I think for their target audience, it may not have been that much of a hit. The pace felt a little quick (and rightly so, I understand with trying to jam so many stories into a ~22 minute time slot) and contained a lot of references that the younger audience may not remember or get, to the point where this episode barely felt canon and more like a wonderful fan animation.

 

They did an excellent job, and while I love all the background characters, I think their stories are best really left in mystery or for the fandom.  There seems to be enough of a story without making all ponies foreground ponies!

[Suukorak 354]

I agree with @Nervous Stitch, focusing too much on Derpy or Lyra or any of them would set too much canon about their characters. The fandom - fanfictioneers and artworkers and so on - need them free to fit the myriad roles we've imagined for them. I think it must have been a great challenge for M.A. Larson to feature all these ponies without setting too much of them in stone. I suppose I would enjoy another episode like Slice of Life somewhere down the line (after a bit of a break, though, especially since we seem to have a map story arc going), but only if they can keep from establishing much canon about the characters. Slice of Life pulled it off really well - maybe with the exception of Agent Sweetie Drops - so yeah, I guess. It would be fun.

I think we should wait at least until next season for another, though.

[Luna the Great of all the Russias 2,706]

As much as I loved Slice of Life, making episode like this frequently would make it lose its charm and would distance away from what made show great in first place.

 

However I would be open to having more focus on background ponies. Though I'm thinking if they were to do that it would be best to separate that into spinoff show.

[ShadOBabe 18,984]

I wouldn't mind episodes that didn't focus on the main cast.

But I'd rather they weren't like Slice of Life. Slice of Life was just WAY too much on the wild and crazy side.

I like it better as a one time deal. But more serious stories or adventures focusing on characters with smaller roles would be nice.

 

(And before someone jumps down my throat for " not liking it", I DID like it. But it's not something I'd want regularly. I was exhausted after this episode. XD)

Edited June 15, 2015 by ShadOBabe

[KingCrimson 3]

Not done in the same style and focusing on BGP I care about who aren't Vinyl(Thunderlane, Neon Lights, etc)

[Denim&Venöm 16,522]

I concur. A shift in focus on the backgrounds would kick this show into a whole nother level. Imagine the sales for Lyra, Bonbon, Timeturner, "Muffins", Vinyl & Octavia merch if the current show changed to be about them or a new spinoff was made. New material, new ideas, new concepts, new stories. MLP could go on for another 100 episodes if the backgrounds were promoted to the front. 

 

And I disagree with those that said it would make the backgrounds less special. If anything it would be recognition of all our hard work and adoration for these characters. It would be a way of saying "Hey, you made these characters mean something." We gave life to the backgrounds. DHX would just want to join in on the fun. 

 

So, I'm all for it. DHX proved convincing stories could be made w/ the backgrounds. May there be more in the future.  

[Sidral Mundet 1,666]

No, we need all the episodes to be like the 100th episode was, no more of the Mane 6 at all would make the show even better than all of the previous 99 episodes combined. I mean we all agree it was the best episode the show has ever produced, right? Clearly we all want the show to be like this. This show needs to cater to us far FAR more often.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Sidral Mundet

[Guest]

I would just prefer that in all episodes, they remain focused on the Mane 6 and their adventures but background ponies simply stop being background ponies and have some kind of speaking role in every episode. Even if it is a few lines.

 

Although one thing I'd really like to see is an episode centered on Derpy. That would be interesting to watch.

This is a really great post because I literally agree with everything you just said here. 

[Venomous 18,813]

I just want Vinyl Scratch to talk

[Happyandrenewed999 106]

I loved it but I wouldn't like to see another episode like it again for a while. Back to the mane six please!

[Sectus 246]

Yes, a thousand times yes!

 

I am not trying to say that the main characters are uninteresting or that their stories need not be told, but I would like to see the show move more toward a show that displays a collection of stories from all walks of life, be them from royalty to rags. 

 

I know this same concept has been attempted in some of the spin-off comics and other pieces of literature, but I (for some reason) find those quite difficult to access. It would be nice to see the show tell the stories of some ponies with different lifestyles, and perhaps show how they all came to come together and live in this equine country.

[Megas 27,069]

No. I was never sold on BG Ponies, and I don't see myself doing so anytime soon

[colt_following 169]

I wouldn't mind episodes that didn't focus on the main cast.

But I'd rather they weren't like Slice of Life. Slice of Life was just WAY too much on the wild and crazy side.

I like it better as a one time deal. But more serious stories or adventures focusing on characters with smaller roles would be nice.

 

(And before someone jumps down my throat for " not liking it", I DID like it. But it's not something I'd want regularly. I was exhausted after this episode. XD)

 

Yeah, I'm with this. I like the idea of focusing on background characters a lot. This episode was an exaggerated version of that which really, like I said, felt like super high-quality fan material more than an official episode (and like Nervous Stitch said, it doesn't resonate as much with the target audience), but I'd be open to more characters getting a hair of depth.

I'm not on making entire episodes about individuals, like Derpy and stuff... leave THAT to the fandom, but I do want to see them more with a liiiitle characterization. 

 

 

 

No. I was never sold on BG Ponies, and I don't see myself doing so anytime soon

On that one, I gotta ask... What do you mean? You don't see them as actual characters, just filler?

[Megas 27,069]

On that one, I gotta ask... What do you mean? You don't see them as actual characters, just filler?

Pretty much. I know the fandom loves BG characters(because they pretty much made them), but I'm not one of them. If people like them that's fine, but I wasn't sold on Slice of Life and don't see myself watching anymore episodes like it

[SpeedIsMagic 37]

Here's a solution.
 

Create a spinoff series. That focuses on the background ponies.  This could run when the Main series is off. So Ponies all around!

Then the people who don't like this sort of thing don't have to whine moan and complain about it. Despite it not really being their say in what the people who create the show actually do.

I personally enjoyed the episode as it peered into the personal lives of some of them a bit more.
Which confirmed some headcanons.

[Professor Annabella 330]

Sorry to say but the show isn't all about us. We got our special little episode, and that's probably enough for now. Don't forget that there are children that watch this episode, and probably have absolutely no idea what Slice of Life was even about. This is all to make money for Hasbro, as much as we don't want to believe it. 

[SpeedIsMagic 37]

Sorry to say but the show isn't all about us. We got our special little episode, and that's probably enough for now. Don't forget that there are foals that watch this episode, and probably have absolutely no idea what Slice of Life was even about. This is all to make bits for Hasbro, as much as we don't want to believe it. 

Some people don't see it that way. Writhe, complain, and whine about whatever they can that doesn't please them.

 

Why can't they just sit back and be entertained?

Is this not why they are here?

Are they not entertained :okiedokielokie:

[Professor Annabella 330]

Some people don't see it that way. Writhe, complain, and whine about whatever they can that doesn't please them.

 

Why can't they just sit back and be entertained?

Is this not why they are here?

Are they not entertained :okiedokielokie:

Kids are a lot smarter than they think... They look farther into it then just dancing, colorful, characters on a screen. It takes just as much to entertain them as it does to entertain us. With children, the problem is attention span.

 

To a kid watching this episode, I feel like they probably felt like they were missing something. It's like a inside joke. Your friends keep doing a bunch of inside jokes in front of you and you're just like 'what the hell?' and it eventually gets really irritating because you feel left out. We don't want the kids to feel left out, and don't say that they can just join the fandom because they can't. It's hard to escape weirdness that'd probably be hurtful to a kid here 

[Makazi 317]

Yes and no. Allow me to disambiguate:

To me I think this is one of the worst episodes of the entire series; not because it didn't focus on the mane six, I'm okay with that. In fact! I'd like episodes where the main cast isn't as involved and it focuses more on other characters - being able to see My Little Pony from a fresh new perspective is one of the things I enjoyed most about this episode. I also liked the fact that Steven Magnet returned, as I felt like he was an interesting character that stayed out of the series for too long; though him turning around and telling Matilda it's 'all about the wedding' seemed a little...odd. Granted, we don't know him very well, but it seemed unnecessarily harsh.

 

I had a few chuckles during this episode, admittedly. Lyra referencing her benches and sitting human-like during the wedding were amusing, same with The Big Lebowski characters and Dr. Whooves (though you could have probably taken both of them out and it wouldn't have made a difference). Celestia and Luna bickering was fun. Also, returning to Cranky Doodle and Matilda was great, as I really liked those characters. I'm really happy we got to see Derpy in this episode, and the muffins reference was great.

 

So why didn't I like it? Probably because the pacing was horrible. In this episode we jump from character to character, trying to cram everything into a 22 minute time-frame. I think the concept of this episode could have easily worked if it was split into two parts, but as it was it felt very slapdash to me. The only feeling I got out of this was that they were trying to fit every single character into way too short a time. Also, Vinyl Scratch. I know lots of people love her, but I think she's easily the worst character. She has no personality whatsoever. She just stands there smiling and bobbing her head, and it's ineffably annoying; so why did we need to base a whole several minute segment around her and Octavia blasting dubstep and putting Ponyville's residents in danger? It was extremely jejune, and I'd prefer it if we never saw a scene like that again. In this episode we also learn she doesn't even have the common courtesy to take off her headphones and listen to someone that's clearly in distress, which just further reinforces my disliking of her. Also, the inclusion of the mane six in an episode that's clearly supposed to be not about the mane six seemed forced. In fact, they just added to the whole 'too many characters too fast' thing. If they had taken out a couple characters and left the mane six out of it, that might have worked. If they had made the episode more mane six centric but removed several other characters while still allowing some background ponies some screen time, that could have also worked. But cramming Every. Single. Character. into this one episode, I wasn't even sure what I was watching at times.

 

There was so much going on in this episode that I felt like my mild ADD was severely intensified. Plus, you're not really going to like this episode unless you're part of the pegasister/brony fandom and have a decent understanding of it. Most kids that watch this show are going to have no idea what the heck was going on, and that's a detracting factor for me. This show has always been great for having episodes that kids can watch and understand, but also have those episodes be intelligent enough that the older audiences can appreciate. But having an episode that was 100% fandom? It was pretty fandumb.

 

 

TL;DR

Having episodes that include characters other than the main cast is a decent enough concept, but everything in this episode felt rushed and even unnecessary at times due to the sheer amount of characters.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Makazi

[colt_following 169]

I agree, MLP ISN'T about the fandom.. I guess it's nice that they even acknowledge our existence.

 

I personally liked the pacing because it felt like we actually see a Slice of Life for each of these more prominent BG characters.

 

I think what I REALLY want to see is a better fleshing out of the tertiary characters (if the backgrounds are considered "fourth-level" characters) - characters we see more often who have decently defined personalities like Cheerilee and Bulk Biceps. I would love to hear more about their origins, especially Cheery.

 

One of the IDW comics actually focuses on Cheerilee having a twins sister named Cherry... not that I'd call it canon, but I wouldn't mind that being incorporated.

Edited June 15, 2015 by colt_following

[SpeedIsMagic 37]

Kids are a lot smarter than they think... They look farther into it then just dancing, colorful, characters on a screen. It takes just as much to entertain them as it does to entertain us. With foals, the problem is attention span.

 

To a kid watching this episode, I feel like they probably felt like they were missing something. It's like a inside joke. Your friends keep doing a bunch of inside jokes in front of you and you're just like 'what the hay?' and it eventually gets really irritating because you feel left out. We don't want the kids to feel left out, and don't say that they can just join the fandom because they can't. It's hard to escape weirdness that'd probably be hurtful to a kid here 

 Yes I know but I'm talking to the group that sits there that's in the fandom; and proceeds to make angry self-entitled post about it.  :okiedokielokie:

I agree that sure kids probably did feel like they were missing out, and this episode wasn't really fair for them. To just casually say join the fandom to a foal probably wouldn't be the best thing. Considering what goes on in the fandom.

On the other hoof, to just openly whine about how it caters to the fandom, while being in the fandom being able understand whats going on is really irritating to say the least.

(I've already seen several of these self entitled posts in facebook groups)

 

I dont mind the posts that have actual points, and such. Since it brings up valid points. That's how a discussion should be.

Which is where I suggested perhaps we could have stuff like this on a spinoff series, maybe on netflix or something.