The Movie is the last hope for the show to get new seasons

[Sly 236]

Hey there. Once again I wanted to share some things I discovered lately:

http://mlp.derpynews.com/inside-the-numbers-hasbros-q2-earnings-3/

According to this, while still remaining high, MLP's sales have been off during the second quarter of 2017 and this makes me think that the show has lost most of its powers in pulling the sales of the toys (the fact that the ratings of the S7 on DF have been disastrous so far, with lows of 70k didn't help). We all know that MLP depends COMPLETELY on the sales of the merchandize, so if that goes bad, the show will be cancelled. Normally at this point I would say that because this drop the S8 will be the last, but there is still one thing that could pull the sales up in the meantime: the theatrical Movie of course (the same Brian Goldner, CEO of Hasbro, said that in the report I posted). With the show having lost most of its powers (despite the quality of S7 so far) the Movie is the very last hope to pull up the sales of the franchuse again and grant the show something more other than the S8. Unfortunately, I believe that even if succedes in that, it wouldn't grant more than a S9, because once the Movie hype will be gone, there won't be anything left to pull up the sales, so eventually the series will be cancelled. 

In short, MLP is dropping in sales, the Movie is the only thing that could pull up the sales in future and eve if it does it would grant just a S9. Whatever things will go, the series won't  get more than other two seasons after the S7. This is the idea I got from this report and the previous two (MLP started dropping even then). What you think?

[CypherHoof 26,483]

I think a lot will depend on how well MLP is doing compared to the other Hasbro products (like the petshop one) in the same market, and the market as a whole. With the movie coming at a good time to see demand pick up in the crucial run-up to xmas, I would say the post-xmas results would be a better driver of how much investment Hasbro will make into maintaining mindshare rather than this more traditionally "slack" period for toys.  I am imagining the push into the comic playsets isn't helping, at least in the UK market, as I have never seen the comics on sale in traditional big box stores, newsagents or bookstores here in the UK, so if it weren't for sites like this, I wouldn't even know they exist (and even so, the playsets don't reference anything I recognise)

[Hierok 11,831]

That's a pity, but I think S9 is just going in production either way. 

[FirePuppy 735]

Even I wouldn't mind if the show ended soon. More than half of all the Mane Six ponies all got what they needed anyway.

But once this happens, I may have to quit being a MLP fan the year after that and just live a normal, typical life for eternity.

Edited July 26, 2017 by FirePuppy

[cmarston1 5,959]

To be perfectly honest, I really don't want to see a season 9 happen.

 

[Sly 236]

22 minutes ago, cmarston1 said:

To be perfectly honest, I really don't want to see a season 9 happen.

 

To be perfectly honest.... yeah, me neither. I posted this only for mere pubblic information, but I myself don't want it happening. The s7 is turning out great despite my initial skepticism, and the revealed things of the second half seems to pointi it will stay on this quality untile the end. But if it goes on for too long the risk of a permanent quality drop will be always there.... Heck, I'm not even sure I will watch the S8 (I will rely on some friends of me to decide if I should watch it or not).

Edited July 26, 2017 by Sly

[cuteycindyhoney 13,307]

2 hours ago, Sly said:

(I will rely on some friends of me to decide if I should watch it or not).

I'd rather rely on myself. I plan to keep watching as long as I think the writing and stories are kept up to current standards. I have made the choice in the past. The show Star Trek Voyager is my example. I cold turkey quit watching after seeing after watching season two, episode one "The 37's". I found the episode to be so insultingly stupid that I have never watched another episode to this very day. The exact moment in the show that made me decide? They found a pick-up truck floating around in the interstellar void. They beamed it aboard. They STARTED IT UP in the transporter room! How? The gasoline would have boiled away in the vacuum, Vacuum welding would have locked the pistons in their cylinders, the battery would have burst as it froze solid, the oil would have hardened into tar, the insulation on the wires would have become brittle and broke apart. Also, the tires would have been useless shreds. The rubber would have turned rigid at near absolute zero, and EXPLODED from the internal pressure! 

I found that scene to be inexcusable in it's stupidity.

Edited July 26, 2017 by cuteycindyhoney

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

 

3 hours ago, Sly said:

To be perfectly honest.... yeah, me neither. I posted this only for mere pubblic information, but I myself don't want it happening. The s7 is turning out great despite my initial skepticism, and the revealed things of the second half seems to pointi it will stay on this quality untile the end. But if it goes on for too long the risk of a permanent quality drop will be always there.... Heck, I'm not even sure I will watch the S8 (I will rely on some friends of me to decide if I should watch it or not).

Yeah. When I am no longer interested in a show, I to think they should just get rid of it no matter what instead of being proactive and just.. i dunno... stop watching it.

I get that people lose interest in things or decide to move on, but it really is annoying to time after time see people wishing something they personally are no longer invested in keep wishing for it to go away regardless of whether anyone else is enjoying it instead of just doing the very simple thing of not watching it. It is not like you are bound to a show you have some issue or another with.

Also, I don't think the movie is the last hope for the TV show, I don't see where you got that from. By your own link, it stated sales are down a bit... that is a farrrrrrrr cry away from "OMG.... MLP as a product line is doomed! Kiss the show goodbye!" S8 is in the works, and depending upon what they have planned for the future, S9 might be a strong possibility. They have really been catching on that the market for MLP is larger than they originally intended it to be, as such I think they are going to try to continue to adapt it to take advantage of that. How that will turn out will depend upon a mixture of how the movie does, and what they have planned for S8. Either way I don't think it is worth considering whether a S9 and beyond will happen when we are not quite halfway through S7 yet.

[Sly 236]

21 minutes ago, GrimGrimoire said:

 

Yeah. When I am no longer interested in a show, I to think they should just get rid of it no matter what instead of being proactive and just.. i dunno... stop watching it.

I get that people lose interest in things or decide to move on, but it really is annoying to time after time see people wishing something they personally are no longer invested in keep wishing for it to go away regardless of whether anyone else is enjoying it instead of just doing the very simple thing of not watching it. It is not like you are bound to a show you have some issue or another with.

Also, I don't think the movie is the last hope for the TV show, I don't see where you got that from. By your own link, it stated sales are down a bit... that is a farrrrrrrr cry away from "OMG.... MLP as a product line is doomed! Kiss the show goodbye!" S8 is in the works, and depending upon what they have planned for the future, S9 might be a strong possibility. They have really been catching on that the market for MLP is larger than they originally intended it to be, as such I think they are going to try to continue to adapt it to take advantage of that. How that will turn out will depend upon a mixture of how the movie does, and what they have planned for S8. Either way I don't think it is worth considering whether a S9 and beyond will happen when we are not quite halfway through S7 yet.

Maybe it is still far from that, but it's the third quarter in a row that MLP dropped in sales (althought remaining still high). It's pretty much clear that the show lost most of its powers of pulling the sales and so that means that sales will gradually drop with the time to the point the show will be cancelled. Right now, the Movie is the only coming thing that could pull up the sales. And even if it does, it will just do it for a half year (approximatively speaking). But you have a point that might be soon to discuss it. Other than the S7 being still going on the S8 is still in full writing phase so... Still, I don't think it's a factor to understimate.

[honk friend 1,978]

Why does the show NEED new seasons? Why can't you just enjoy what we already have? Ideas run dry eventually, who cares if you have the occasional good episode if the majority of them are terrible?

[BastementSparkle 20,326]

18 minutes ago, Annie said:

Why does the show NEED new seasons? Why can't you just enjoy what we already have? Ideas run dry eventually, who cares if you have the occasional good episode if the majority of them are terrible?

Why does the show NEED to end? Why can't you just enjoy the new stuff coming out? There's lot's of ideas out there, who cares if you have the occasional bad episode if the majority of them are good?

I think Season 7's been mostly pretty great so far, I'm still enjoying this show a ton and am craving more episodes. I can enjoy what we already have, as I've rewatched the show multiple times, but reruns are one thing, new episodes are another.

[Luminance 2,186]

I can see that after the Movie, Hasbro will want to capitalize on the MLP franchise for as long as it can. If the demand is there, we'll eventually get more MLP in return. It can be in the form of season 9 or who knows how many more seasons but there is a point where quantity may affect overall quality. 

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,456]

I never understood some people's fascination with wanting the show to outright end. Sure, seasonal rot can happen to any show, but so far that really hasn't happened with FiM, season 7 already contains two of my favorite episodes in the show. As others have stated, as long as the film is a moderate success and there is still decent support for the franchise, we could see it going on for years to come. It is entirely a wait and see situation and I for one hope it doesn't end any time soon if they can keep it going strong.

[MAIKUN 262]

I doubt it. The movie is definitely gonna be the Grand Finale, sorry.

[BastementSparkle 20,326]

1 minute ago, MAIKUN said:

I doubt it. The movie is definitely gonna be the Grand Finale, sorry.

Season 8 is already announced, unless they can somehow rush production and then cram both the rest of season 7 and all of season 8 in before the movie, that isn't happening.

[Celli 4,338]

As long as toys sell, the show will continue, regardless of how many viewers the show gets.

1 minute ago, MAIKUN said:

I doubt it. The movie is definitely gonna be the Grand Finale, sorry.

Um, you are aware season 8 is in production and airs next year, right? The movie is not tying in with any specific season.

[Mirage 24,766]

Time to start buyin toys folks!

[Steve Piranha 29,424]

Well, it seems that ponies are still safe for now. It's other Hasbro brands that have been hurting the most. Thing is, the show may face it's cancellation if things keep dropping, but I think that's imminent, be it after S8, after S9, who knows, but it will happen. I thought to myself that it's safer to end the show after this season, as S6 can be considered the biggest seasonal rot at the time, but being only half a season and already rising the ranks of best seasons of the show, I've realized that there's still a lot that FiM can give. I think the movie WILL boost sales, but for a while, but afterwards, Hasbro has to step-up their game if they wanna keep G4 poneh. It's not necessarily the end though, they can still attempt to make G4.5, but yes, FiM may have been cancelled by then

[CypherHoof 26,483]

 

1 hour ago, RareBase said:

Why does the show NEED to end? Why can't you just enjoy the new stuff coming out? There's lot's of ideas out there, who cares if you have the occasional bad episode if the majority of them are good?

I think Season 7's been mostly pretty great so far, I'm still enjoying this show a ton and am craving more episodes. I can enjoy what we already have, as I've rewatched the show multiple times, but reruns are one thing, new episodes are another.

There is some good stuff in S7 to be sure, but perhaps it would be nice for them, once S8 is wrapped, to swing over to an EqG series for a while, then come back to a S9 once they have a dozen or so GOOD stories they can produce, rather than try to find a bunch in time to keep production going and possibly make a poor season? S7 seems to be suffering with trying to make stories that really deserve a longer treatment fit the fixed episode length, and conversely, padding stories that lack enough content to fill an episode with relatively poor filler.

[BastementSparkle 20,326]

Just now, CypherHoof said:

There is some good stuff in S7 to be sure, but perhaps it would be nice for them, once S8 is wrapped, to swing over to an EqG series for a while, then come back to a S9 once they have a dozen or so GOOD stories they can produce, rather than try to find a bunch in time to keep production going and possibly make a poor season? S7 seems to be suffering with trying to make stories that really deserve a longer treatment fit the fixed episode length, and conversely, padding stories that lack enough content to fill an episode with relatively poor filler.

I dunno, I haven't had much of a problem with Season 7 so far. Looking through the episode list I've really only had a problem with about 3 of the 13 episodes I've seen, and even then those weren't too bad. The rest of the season has been great and if it keeps up with the general quality it's had it might compete with Season 5 as my favorite. While I wouldn't mind an EQG TV show, I'm not sure temporarily stopping FIM for it is a great decision.

[CypherHoof 26,483]

Just now, RareBase said:

I dunno, I haven't had much of a problem with Season 7 so far. Looking through the episode list I've really only had a problem with about 3 of the 13 episodes I've seen, and even then those weren't too bad. The rest of the season has been great and if it keeps up with the general quality it's had it might compete with Season 5 as my favorite.

Its a good season - but Celestial Advice felt padded, All Bottled Up had that horrible "friendship retreat/escape room plus song" that I hope to forget sometime, Forever Filly...  All good solid stories, but if you cut out ten minutes or more from them they would be better for it. Not sure any edit would salvage Leans In though.

Conversely, Royal Problem felt rushed - Luna's day as PR Pony could have occupied an episode length slot all on it's own, and it would have been nice to see Celestia having to handle some normal-luna type stuff before we jump into the Daybreaker sequence (not that that wasn't awesome, or that Luna's own nightmare wasn't incredibly well done, but you can see where they could have done more if they had had more screen time to work with)

Sometimes it isn't just about good stories, but about good stories that fit the timeslot well too.

Just now, RareBase said:

While I wouldn't mind an EQG TV show, I'm not sure temporarily stopping FIM for it is a great decision.

We still need the voice actors, writers, production people, regardless of if it's a Pony or EqG focussed story, and conversely, we don't want to let any of those go and have to try and re-hire them later, because that never works out well.  By refocussing production on some EqG episode length stories, we can get some (long awaited) character development without everything having to be a leadin for a boss battle, bump sales of that toy line a bit, and take some of the pressure off the writers to find either epic-length movie storylines for EqG or episode length Pony stories.

[BastementSparkle 20,326]

Just now, CypherHoof said:

Its a good season - but Celestial Advice felt padded, All Bottled Up had that horrible "friendship retreat/escape room plus song" that I hope to forget sometime, Forever Filly...  All good solid stories, but if you cut out ten minutes or more from them they would be better for it. Not sure any edit would salvage Leans In though.

Conversely, Royal Problem felt rushed - Luna's day as PR Pony could have occupied an episode length slot all on it's own, and it would have been nice to see Celestia having to handle some normal-luna type stuff before we jump into the Daybreaker sequence (not that that wasn't awesome, or that Luna's own nightmare wasn't incredibly well done, but you can see where they could have done more if they had had more screen time to work with)

Sometimes it isn't just about good stories, but about good stories that fit the timeslot well too.

I didn't really have any issues with the pacing of Celestial Advice honestly, it felt all fine to me, wasn't ever bored during it. The song in All Bottled up was catchy, and that sequence ended with a funny joke, could have been handled slightly better I suppose, but not too bad, and again, I had no problem with Forever Filly. I don't really think cutting anything out would make these better episodes.

Royal Problem again doesn't feel too rushed for me, a bit more time for some things would have been nice but it still ended up one of my favorite episodes of the season and possibly if the show anyway, so I really don't have much of an issue with it. The show's always had some level of pacing issues though, with people wishing something had been faster or slower, all the way back to season 1.

5 minutes ago, CypherHoof said:

We still need the voice actors, writers, production people, regardless of if it's a Pony or EqG focussed story, and conversely, we don't want to let any of those go and have to try and re-hire them later, because that never works out well.  By refocussing production on some EqG episode length stories, we can get some (long awaited) character development without everything having to be a leadin for a boss battle, bump sales of that toy line a bit, and take some of the pressure off the writers to find either epic-length movie storylines for EqG or episode length Pony stories.

I'd just be worried about the show losing some of it's audience from a long wait. There are pony fans who aren't really into EQG. Whenever there's a long wait between seasons you inevitably always see the "Oh, it was so long, I just lost interest" comments. 

[honk friend 1,978]

Let me just be clear, I'm not saying the show should end, I'm just saying it doesn't necessarily need to keep going. Even if season 8 is good, who's to say season 9 won't be? Or the season after that?

I'd rather have the show end on a positive note than leave a bad taste in my mouth

[BastementSparkle 20,326]

1 minute ago, Annie said:

Let me just be clear, I'm not saying the show should end, I'm just saying it doesn't necessarily need to keep going. Even if season 8 is good, who's to say season 9 won't be? Or the season after that?

I'd rather have the show end on a positive note than leave a bad taste in my mouth

Who's to say Season 9 wouldn't be the fan favorite season and beloved by all? I feel like ending the show early just to avoid the chance that there might be a bad season a little bit silly. I want the show to end on a positive note too when it does end, but I don't want to miss out on potentially good seasons just out of the fear something might go wrong.

[Sly 236]

1 hour ago, Kyoshi said:

I never understood some people's fascination with wanting the show to outright end. Sure, seasonal rot can happen to any show, but so far that really hasn't happened with FiM, season 7 already contains two of my favorite episodes in the show. As others have stated, as long as the film is a moderate success and there is still decent support for the franchise, we could see it going on for years to come. It is entirely a wait and see situation and I for one hope it doesn't end any time soon if they can keep it going strong.

Ah... Probably I might be the only one to think this way, but while I enjoy the stories of the secondary characters, Starlight included, I still watch this show mainly for the Mane 6, and I REALLY didn't like the treatments they got in about the 60% of the S6. ESPECIALLY with the trashy treatment they got in the finale, which alone KILLED any kind of hype I had developed for this show for 5 years in 44 minutes of episode. I stayed on MLP mostly for the Movie, had close to no hype for the S7. And then.... it turned out way better than expected so far and the second half seems very promising as well. It's thanks to Songco and Lewis if most of my hype for this series has returned to me...... AND THEN THE NEWS OF HABER WRITING THE FINALE CAME UP. While still hyped for the finale, I admit that my 10% of doubt for the finale (read here for more informations https://mlpforums.com/topic/168724-the-s7-finale-has-to-be-focused-on-the-mane-6/ ) came up to the fact that Haber is one of  the writers of it (really while evidences point that it's not gonna happen, if he abzards to use Starlight and other 5 random ponies instead of the Mane 6 as spiritual successors of the six legendary ponies......)). But it's not just that: Haber and Vogel are pretty much Starlight Glimmer fanboys and I REALLY didn't like how they treated the Mane 6 in the S6 in favor of Starlight, and now the fact that they will return on the show in S8 could imply that Haber himself could return as Story editor, and I REALLY don't trust him in that regard. I may have liked most of his past episodes, but as story editor was a mess. Of course, making a judgement without having seen it would be unfair and one of the things this show thaught me, it's there is nothing wrong in relying on friends, that's why I asked to some of my closest friends who still watch the series after the Movie, to tell me after they have watched it in its enterity if I should watch it or not.