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When was the show's peak?


CastletonSnob

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I started watching the show in 2017 so its hard to say for me what was the peak fandom wise but from what I have read it was probably during seasons 4-5, quality wise seasons 4-7 were consistently great with season 7 being my favorite. Truth be told, I enjoyed all seasons.  

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I'd say probably Season 2... Since then the quality of a majority of  episodes produced have dropped by a noticeable amount with each passing season after season 3 (although season 4 was still a good season), with the only exception being season 7 imo.

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25 minutes ago, Nsxile said:

I'd say probably Season 2... Since then the quality of a majority of  episodes produced have dropped by a noticeable amount with each passing season after season 3 (although season 4 was still a good season), with the only exception being season 7 imo.

I have to respectfully disagree with this argument. 

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I still think it's season 2. You can take a look at my other favourite seasons, and find certain things the show does better: 4 is more sophisticated, 6 is (at times) more ambitious. But I still don't think the show has ever combined consistency and freshness in the way season 2 did, and I generally feel like the show has had a hard time finding stable footing ever since.

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Season 3, 4, and 5 no question about it. The statistics show it.

Take a look at https://www.fimfiction.net/statistics for an example.

If you want a different perspective, Derpibooru has been pretty consistent ever since it has launched and even increasing a little bit over the years.

https://derpibooru.org/pages/stats

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I also have to say season 2, narrowly over season 1. The first two seasons always came across as the most inspired, the most psyched to bring something new to the table (other than pander-y fan service), and with exceptions, the ones packing the most talented writers. 

Since then, we've switched story editors four times, with the directors fading in and out, before handing over the reins altogether - and looking back, it really shows. As sentimental as I am to see the show end (and as excited as I am with the "big finale" stuff they seem to be going for), watching them try to pull together all the threads into one vision already shows how much the newer teams couldn't establish one.

We had Megan McCarthy trying to figure out her new direction of "Twilight steps into the role of princess" (the best attempt of the bunch, imo, once it found its footing in season 4), then trying to parlay that into a soon-to-be-pointless "Cutie Map" and a new apprentice for... apprentice things, Josh Haber trying to figure out what he's supposed to do with that and coming up with "have Starlight save the day, one time," Lewis and Songco trying to refocus the lore into a new direction about pillars and shadow ponies (noble attempt, at least), Josh Haber and Nicole Dubac throwing that out in favor of a "friendship school," and now we're told that what it all was actually building towards was getting Twilight ready to take Celestia's job. (Not that season 9, in itself, is worse off than the others in that regard. Supported by them or not, its final season "passing the torch" angle is more straightforward and more possibility-laden than most of them - or so I hope.) 

So yeah, season 2 (and 1) all the way. Right now, several fans have an allergic reaction to that answer, because present bias, aka the "so early?!/but we already did that!/bigger=more=better" phenomenon, is a thing. But honestly, this isn't even that close. The later-day seasons were fun sequels, but the first two had the best songs, the most grounded, relatable, and memorable character moments/lines (I'd like to be a tree, 20% cooler, Pinkamena Diane Pieacus... all memes that weren't forgotten in a week) and surprisingly, if you take the time to count them up, the most fan-favorite episodes.

Also, the statistics from the last post do the opposite of prove otherwise, since the picture they paint is of the first two seasons generating increasing hype that peaks going into season 3, then abruptly plateaus.   

Edited by The Second Opinion
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The fandom was at its peak at seasons 1-2. Then it died off in droves around season 4 because 4 chan and the trolls stopped pretending. It's been slowly going in cycles of reduction and stabilizing since then. The fandom is at its weakest right now I believe but I don't think it has shrunk in some time, at least since season 7 it looks like I haven't noticed a lot less activity in the number of people who like the show. So seasons 1-2 for when it was strongest and now when its weakest. Makes sense though, most shows are at their weakest base when they are near or at their end. 

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(edited)

Easily S1-2, largely due to their more unique atmosphere and creative priorities (which presented the show as a lighthearted-but-earnest satire on kids' TV at large) compared to the more generic and didactic (albeit debatably more thematically intricate) tone of the later seasons whilst additionally presenting (overall) more solid episodes (including some of the show's greatest heights) and consistent character arcs (still believe S1 to be underrated for this) than any of their successors. Watching a McCarthy-edited episode can give me the (attempted, at least) grandiosity and dramatics, a Haber-edited episode can give a certain sardonic looseness (which I can appreciate, as inconsistent and polarizing as it is) and a Lady Writers-edited episode has the merits of continuity and thematic focus (for better or for worse), but no other era of FiM can provide a unique conglomeration of brevity, earnestness and wit (particularly when amplified by the Craig McCracken-esque humor, which feels like the gold standard for the 'wacky' comedy the surrounding multitudes of kids' TV tries and fails to pull off) in the same way as the Faust seasons, and I commend them for turning out as such with so many expectations seemingly working against them at the time the show first premiered.

Edited by Them's Seeing Ponies
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@Them's Seeing Ponies You see, I just can't fully agree with that. S1-2 have more novelty, but they're not lacking in flaws.

There was a lot of trial and error in Season 1. And Season 2, while very good, was rather inconsistent and had a fair amount of lows.

Even the best shows lose their sheen as they go on, but they remain good because they evolve beyond what they originally were. This is how I feel about FiM.

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Without getting too much into detail and without too much thought put into it, I'd say seasons 3 and 4, as the fandom was much stronger and the episodes were, for the most part, memorable, fun and had good life lessons to take away from.

Ever since the ending of season 5, I've hardly paid attention to the show, except for a few great episodes.

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22 hours ago, AveryGamerDude said:

That depends. In terms of popularity, season 2 without a doubt. In terms of quality, that's up for opinion, but for me, it's season 4. :)

Season 4/5 saw the highest episode ratings and fandom activity.

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Thats my take on this:

Seasons 1-2, were fresher than the rest because the main characters well still new, they were developing, the interactions were fresh and fans could play with the characters more than in later seasons(the majority of my favorite fanfics were made prior to season 5), the mane 6 were honestly more interesting in season 1-3 but thats understandable because the more you use a character the less unique it becomes, there are less room for the imagination(thats why in movies the original is almost always better than the sequel) and that results in less fan-works. In order to keep the show fresh and not stalling you have to make changes(like twilight becoming a princess, starlight or the school), some fans might not like it because they preferred the status quo(even though its hard for the writers too make new content interesting at some point if things never change, which results in worse episodes) but changes are necessary(for the better or for the worse). Season 3, even if it was similar in a lot of aspects to seasons 1-2 was not received as well as the first 2 because it felt rushed and some of the episodes just lakes interesting ideas or they were miss handled(spike at your service might be my least favorite episode in the show, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who thinks so) but during the season there was still lots of fan made content because the season still had the freshness of the characters on its side with some development(like RD getting into the academy, discord being "reformed" and twilicorn although it was the first major change and it caused chaos in the fandom). 

The later seasons were more mature with the writing, it made for more mature stories and emotional moments but it lost some of the uniqueness of the earlier seasons, the characters by this point became less interesting because they were already explored and needed development(like RD becoming wonderbolt, twilight getting the castle and a teacher, pinkies family got introduced etc.) thats caused to less room for the fans to play with the characters and less stories could be tolled as a result, the longer the series lasts the less room for the fans to interpret the characters the less fan made content is made. Also, with time, people star to lose interest in things, when something new you like appears you explore it as much as you can because its new and has a lot of potential, but at some point it gets old and lose interest(not just shows or movies, look at some sportsman, they retire because it just becomes routine work for them and they are not getting the satisfaction they got before, of course its not always the case but it is in a lot of cases), thats why a large portion of the fans from the early seasons already left, its natural. 

Seasons 4-5 still had lots of fan content because the season balanced old and new things very well so the fans had what to work this, the last few seasons did not balance this as well, you could see some sparks after something really interesting happened in the show(like daybreaker caused lots of fan work as well as the apple parents and the pillars) but the show lost the majority of the freshness it had before although the content was great(in my opinion), but it was slightly different from the previous seasons(its a matter of taste). Fans now a days don't jump on new content and work on it as much as before because it became less exciting to the people who did the majority of the fan made content before. I think its good time to end the show, we have so much great content to come back to(and maybe look foreword to if G5 is good) while the show still did not run to the ground.  Season 8 was received poorly because some episodes were focused on something old and uninteresting for the fans(NCC is a good example) or mishandled the characters in order for the story to work(the end in friend RD and rarity were really immature and pinkie in yakity sax was kinda out of character). Season 9 so far received much better because its the last season, so the writers don't hold back, but if it was not the last season the series might have started to go off the rails, because just dumping new things without giving time to establish them is not always a smart move(like the pillars were forgotten almost entirely after s7 finale, or the students could have been handled better), so I think its a good point to end the show.

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I really think season 3 is the peak of the show. Despite only being a half season and having a few duds, it has all of the strengths from seasons 1-2, but overall feels more polished. The characters are more entertaining than ever, the jokes are on point, and the animation is the best of the entire show. 

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On 5/28/2019 at 11:38 AM, Bas said:

Am I actually the only one who liked  S09:E05 - The Point of No Returnand thinks it was a nice throwback to s1/s2 twilight and her issues? This question is especially targeted at those who love the first season(s) and dislike the later ones.

No, that is my favourite episode this season for those exact reasons. In fact, the way season 9 is going, I'm seriously tempted to change my answer to right now being the show's peak; fingers crossed it keeps up. 

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(edited)
On 5/28/2019 at 10:12 AM, TheAnimationFanatic said:

Them's Seeing Ponies You see, I just can't fully agree with that. S1-2 have more novelty, but they're not lacking in flaws.

There was a lot of trial and error in Season 1. And Season 2, while very good, was rather inconsistent and had a fair amount of lows.

Even the best shows lose their sheen as they go on, but they remain good because they evolve beyond what they originally were. This is how I feel about FiM.

I don't think My Little Pony has ever had that consistently great season; I just think that seasons 2 got the closest - I like seasons 1, 4, and 6 a lot, but my reservations are much bigger for those seasons even though I enjoy a similar percentage of episodes. To me season 2 just has the best episodes the most often - season 9 has surpassed it so far, but we're not even halfway through yet. 

Actually, do you think season 2 is one of the least consistent seasons? I think it is the most consistent of those which have finished airing. I actually find seasons 5 and 7 incredibly inconsistent, and far more so than season 2. But I guess it's a matter of opinion. 

Edited by AlexanderThrond
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Seasons 2, 3, and 4 were the most active for the fandom. As I’ve said in other places they made a big mistake by switching to a summer broadcast. For kids, and for young adults, summers are less busy than the rest of the year. They are a good time to show reruns. The school year is the better time to air new episodes. If you air during the summer and show reruns during the academic year, people are going to fall off the train during the year because they are busy. This is why I stopped watching at the start of season 5, until a year ago. After nearly a year of no new episodes, with nothing to discuss, I stopped frequenting forums and had school work to do. I really enjoyed the season 5 premiere but I no longer felt compelled to keep watching. In hindsight I really wish I’d kept watching.

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