Episode Count in Season 4 Confirmed

[Mr Dash 1,820]

I will take 26 over 13 or 16 any day of the week. Certainly good news. I hope that we get a season 5 to go along with it. I can't wait for the next season to come around, but we will probably have to wait a bit. Oh well, more episodes can be dedicated to all of the mane 6 and the CMC.

 

I don't like it when TV shows catch the 13 episode fever. Glad they took their medicine.

[MadDoggyca 710]

well all should prey that no one dies in the mean time. what horrible way to go, that makes me feel sorry for the people that never made it to see the ending to harry Potter, Starwars, and Lord of the rings..

[Fluffy Pinkie 417]

With 26 episodes i'm sure we'll hear less people being worried about there being not many quality episodes since there's a higher chance that there will be "good" episodes. Though in my opinion S3 has been mostly good except maybe "Spike at your service" and both parts of "the crystal empire".

 

now to see how Alicorn twilight plays out

[Java Jive 440]

Feels good to be back at that old number 26. I am thinking that this 13 episode partially had something to do with broadcast syndication. Supposedly most childrens' cartoons have that set at 65. Now atleast i know pony season is going to last a whole lot longer next time.

[Betez 1,734]

I like 26 more than 16, to be honest.

 

Anyways, this is truly great news! I was disappointed with how short Season 3 has ended up being.

I like 26 more than 16 too. But I hate typos.

 

Anyway, I'm glad the Hub decided to go back to 26 episodes. We'll have to wait longer, but we'll also get to enjoy the season longer.

Edited February 5, 2013 by Betez

[Emerald Flame 381]

Great news indeed! The more pony we get, the happier I am.

 

I think the reason we got thirteen episodes this season was so the show would hit the minimum amount necessary for syndication. I think Hasbro was planning on doing that long before they knew it would be as popular as it is, but now that they know they've made something special, they'll want to keep it going for a while longer.

[Mr. Forest 135]

I feel like Twilight when she was taken on as Celestia's student. So very happy and cannot wait! Hopefully this means season four will star in late September/early October.

[An Old Head 4,816]

 

This is brilliant news! And considering it's following our first 13-episode season, it'll be more welcome than ever before. Oh man, this plays happy music on my Brony heart.

[NavelColt 22,880]

Huh, well if this is true then it would appear I and a lot of people were completely wrong xP Hmm. Perhaps they were using this alicorn build-up as their excuse to lay low on the episode count for a while, so that they could focus on other things. Anyway, woo, that's awesome ^^

[Wingnut 6,992]

What's the secret to getting 11 brohoofs...and counting...in just an hour?  Post the official announcement of season 4 and it's highly anticipated 26 episodes.  W00t! 

 

Best news I've heard in a long time! 

[Zygen 6,066]

Sounds like some good news, 26 episodes in a season is always good, the only thing that I'm going to be worried about is the wait between Season 3 and Season 4, and if the next season will be good, and will this be the last season coming up? These things all make me wonder.

 

Hopefully quality doesn't decline or something. And we don't have to wait to long..

 

Ohwell, overall I guess its good news.

[~Master~ Button Mash 2,307]

26 episodes in Season 4? I think Rainbow Dash says it all:

 

 

This is fantastic news! Even with all the turbulence in the fandom lately, I think we should all be happy that there's still LOTS of pony to come!

[Buttonmash1973 1,026]

Season 4 with 26 episodes, yes!

 

I hereby call in for partry time!

 

So raise all your glasses up in the air, and fire the Pinkie Pie party canon!

[Bright Honor 2,671]

Very glad to hear! I can't wait for season 4! And I take it that this means the show will be around for a while. Man I hope the CMC get their cutie marks next season. And I think the show's final season will be 13 episodes. But anyway, awesome news!

[Equus 91]

This is excellent news. I would be a lot more excited about the news if we hadn't seen evidence of executive meddling in the last while... however, I've yet to be disappointed in the FiM crew even once, and I trust that no matter what Hasbro puts on them, they'll be able to work it into something awesome! I eagerly await more news on S4 and perhaps some synopsis tidbits to see what we'll be expecting. Hopefully, the same patchwork of adventure, slice-of-life, and comedy that we're so used to. Gonna be lookin' forward to it!

[Webber1900 21]

I never really cared for the number of episodes for a season, but I am happy they are going back to 26 episodes. I can't wait to see what will be happening next season.

[Silverstream 51]

I think for any cartoons show in a season that

16 to 20 eps is good for a number but 26 is always

way much better.   I'm just hoping in season Four hasbro

just lets the writers do what they do and leave things alone.

[Fluffy Pinkie 417]

People are going to hate me for saying this but...

 

Has anyone noticed that we haven't really seen any of the Reqular background ponies this season.   Someone made a good point on another topic i was on that maybe this season may be less focused on the mane 6 due to Twilight becoming an alicorn and more focused on side and possibly background characters, which in my opionen could be interesting.

[MadDoggyca 710]

What's the secret to getting 11 brohoofs...and counting...in just an hour?  Post the official announcement of season 4 and it's highly anticipated 26 episodes.  W00t! 

 

Best news I've heard in a long time! 

I was unaware that brohoofs were a *forum* of competition. lol I just happen to post the info first. Figured ever pony would want to be aware of the future of MPL FiM

Edited February 5, 2013 by MadDoggyca

[Scootalove 10,689]

YES YES YES!

 

I guess we can all say, Season 4 will have the right amount of episodes that we want I guess. More storylines and more screentime. 

I love it.  

[TheMarkz0ne 962]

I can't wait for season 4. I'm glad we are back to the 26 episode format. Just because there are more episodes doesn't mean the series will drop in quality. Let's rejoice and hope for a season 5 =)

[Whofch 128]

Very good news indeed. The 13 episodes have just been flying by and having to wait half a year of nothing just for another 13 would be killer. 26 will keep us going a nice amount of time. Love it.

[Antismurf9001 1,271]

 

I will take this as good news.  I honestly didn't terribly mind the 13 episode season, but the thought that at this point during season 4 we will still have half of the season left is a good one.

[Phaeston-e12 173]

Based on how the third season played out and how it is going to end, I had reasons to believe that the current season is where the transtition from the originial concept and story progression developed by Mrs. Faust to a storyline that the current story-writers can work with Hasbro without causing a load of headache in terms of storyline consistency is happening. That seems to be the case as the next season's number of episode is confirmed to be 26 episodes. There was a fair amount of experiments the animators and the story-writers have tried in the current season and I'm fairly sure that they are confident to work with the new storyline base they've laid out with the third season.

 

I don't think constant bombardment of nay-saying and speculatioon is necessary. But I look forward to seeing the 'difference.' For better or worse of course.

[Creamy Arty 6,252]

 
People fearing the end of the show because of alicorn Twilight can settle down now.
 
 
The decrease in episodes this season wasn't to boost quality though I did notice some improvements in the animation. Losing the extra attention to detail when returning to 26 episodes would be a bummer but it isn't something I'm truly concerned about. Seasons 1 and 2 looked fantastic and the superb writing is what captured most of us regardless of where we entered the show. Changes in quality is non-issue to me. Everything will still be great.
 
Thirteen episodes, 26, it doesn't much matter to me so long as the show continues. They could even do 13 episodes and put a one-week buffer between them to make the season last longer for all I care. Given the amount of content MLP's fanbase churns out I think they could make good use of the extra time.
 
 

I like this  . It gives them loads of room to give everypony sufficient screentime and development, as well as toy around with whatever wacky storylines they wish.

Thanks for the info! Still curious why this one was thirteen though.

 
The reduction to thirteen episodes was to cut costs. When a show gains a following and merchandise is selling reasonably well, they'll cut the number of episodes and rely on reruns. Kids don't mind reruns as much as adults. Behold:
 
"Yeah, yeah the cash spend you really have to do when you have a successful TV Series… In fact Hasbro Studios TV Shows has outperformed other TV Shows on the Hub by 74% rating with 4 of the Top 10 shows on the network right now. So as you look at great performance of TV Shows, you are able to produce fewer episodes in subsequent series than you need for earlier series. You know, kids love watching episodes over and over again but you have to add an element of newness but you don’t need to spend to produce entire new series again. You can add 13 episodes or a 26 episodes to a pool of 52 already produced Episodes. So therefore you are able to… with a success TV Series… produce fewer in a year. Overall, Hasbro Studios has greenlit over 800 half-hours of programming. We also still have several hundreds of half-hour programming that we are producing for the network and also looking at whether there are successful tv series we obviously then spend less per new series because we are able to produce newer shows."
 
 
That's a statement from Brian Goldner, the president of Hasbro. Given that MLP's fanbase now consists of at least as many adults as it does children, and that adults are the ones who spend most of the money, it would make sense for them to invest more in this show and produce more episodes. At least that's what I've deduced from all of this.