Season 5 has CLEARLY been poorly planned out

[immblueversion 331]

I have a new theory on why there's a mid-season break: it's precisely because of the dip in viewership. Some shows take mid-season breaks to boost demand; by taking a break for three months, demand for the show will rise, and more demand means more views. Discovery Family is likely trying to save the show by keeping it from us, at least this time. I just hope this means they'll get their asses together and give us a solid run for the second half.

Edited July 11, 2015 by immblueversion

[AlbaTross 1,586]

Splitting up the season would be a lot easier to deal with had the gap between season 4 and the first half of season 5 not been longer than anticipated, and had there not been 1-2 week hiatuses plaguing the season already. On top of that, Hasbro mis-tweeted that we were getting season 6 by the end of the year, which made us excited that we would be getting more MLP, not having to wait even longer for the same amount we were already promised. That's why fans are unhappy right now.

[superdogz1999 551]

Okay Everypony. I came up with a theory on when Season 5 will resume.

There will be a Heath's Warming eve episode that will be Season 5 Episode 21. It would most likely air on the Saturday before Christmas.

So I presume, if we do not get any short Hiatus periods like earlier in the Season. Season 5 Episode 14 will most likely air on the 31st of October. (Which is Nightmare Night.)

[ScarfaceOne 263]

Now that we know that season 5 is getting split into two halves, I just have to speak out about this. 

 

This is absolutely ridiculous. I don't know how the first three seasons were scheduled (season 4 was the first season I watched as it aired), but compared to how season 4 was planned out, there is a highly noticeable sloppiness in season 5's planning. 

 

Here are four ways which show that season 5 has been poorly planned and scheduled: 

 

1. The 10-Month Long Hiatus. 

 

This one's pretty obvious. When season 4 ended, there was initially little doubt that season 5 would begin in the fall. Hasbro themselves even implied that it would begin in the fall. However, once we finally reached the season of fall, not only was season 5 nowhere to be found, but we didn't even have a release window of any kind. Eventually, season 5 was confirmed for Spring 2015, and we knew that we would probably be in for one of the longest hiatuses of the show. But as the early months of 2015 passed on, we still didn't have the slightest clue of when season 5 would begin. It wasn't until early March that we finally got the release date of April 4th. Lo and behold, the hiatus turned out to be even longer than the one between seasons 3 and 4. It was just a little short of a year. 

 

What I find particularly interesting about this is that the staff of DHX themselves admitted to not knowing when season 5 would begin. It was apparently all up to Hasbro. So at least we know that Hasbro is the one to blame for all of this poor scheduling. 

 

2. Sporadic Episode Scheduling. 

 

During season 4 (and possibly the previous seasons as well. Like I said, I don't know for sure), we knew about episodes that were coming as much as three, even four weeks in advance. As for this season, we have not been given the same luxury. The best example I can use is the episode that just aired last week: Amending Fences. I was curious as to whether or not there would be a new episode on the 4th of July, so I looked ahead to find out. Initially, it showed that Bloom and Gloom would be airing on July 4th in the timeslot where a new episode would normally air. So because of this, I thought there would be no new episode on the 4th. 

 

But then what happens? 

 

Out of blue, apparently less than a week before July 4th, Amending Fences is suddenly scheduled to air on that date. This was most likely a hasty decision made at the last minute. And honestly, why air a new episode on July 4th, anyway? It's not a big holiday or anything, but surely you'd have to expect that your ratings probably wouldn't be as great as they would be on a normal Saturday? 

 

3. Episode Delays. 

 

Another thing season 4 did was keep consistent airdates. Once an episode's airdate was first revealed, they actually stuck to it. Again, for this season, we haven't been given the same luxury. Case in point, Slice of Life. It was originally set to air on May 30th, and then out of nowhere, it was delayed for two weeks to June 13th. 

 

Not once did this happen during season 4. In fact, I was quite stunned by how season 4 aired on a consistent weekly basis, with only one break throughout the entire thing. They really made up for the 9-month hiatus we had to wait. But now, after an even longer hiatus, we once again don't have the same luxury. 

 

4. Confirmation of a Mid-Season Hiatus Coming at the Last Minute. 

 

And now, of course, there's this. Out of nowhere, just days before the airing of the 13th episode of the season, we now hear that the season will be split in half. This reeks of yet another decision that was made at the last minute. We should have known about this weeks ago, and had this happened with season 4, we most likely would have. It is utterly ridiculous how carelessly this season has been planned. 

 

 

 

I know I probably sound entitled, but the point is, I know they can do better because they have done better before. So the fact that this season has been so sloppily planned and scheduled definitely shows that there's now a significant lack of care on Hasbro's part. Perhaps it's because they no longer have The Hub and have lost their ownership of most of the network? Who knows... 

 

 

If you ask me, I think the plot of this season is just as Inconsistent, the last season had a story arc, we were promised this one would have a story arc. I don't think there is any, last season there was the keys. This season seems to be somehow them talking about the ingredients of friendship. Oh, and for the final villain, it's Starlight Glimmer again. *sigh* what a surprise, I thought we were going to get Grogar or someone like that, they play the Classic villain card early in the season, and it doesn't make sense because it means that Discord had a weapon that could destroy Tirek. So he technically hid his ''Smooze''. No Story Arc, I hope that Season 6 makes up for Season 5.