The Future of My Little Pony and the Brony Phenomenon

[Umbral Noir 1,556]

Well, if it did, I don't know if it would be able to keep up it's quality. If it could keep running as long as the Simpsons AND keep the same level of quality, then it would be a perfect world! The more likely possibilities are that it will either have a long running, but deteriorate in quality, or keep it's brilliant standards and have a shorter running.

[Shanks 10,816]

G4 could last as long as Spongebob but it is very very unlikely that it will last as long as The Simpsons, if they play their cards right they might be able to make it last as long as Spongebob while still having decent quality but even if it dosen't that is not the end of the world. The new franchise precedent of appealing to teenagers and adults in addition to young girls may actually become a staple feature which could last well beyond G4 which could make the franchise itself have that same lasting appeal. There will be a G5 cartoon eventually and though we don't know what it is going to be like yet it is likely that Hasbro will want to try to keep their newfound brony audience so it will probably share some similarites with G4 even if it is completely different.

[DusK 1,264]

G4? Probably not. There's no selling power if the brand doesn't continuously evolve. But across the whole series, MLP already has the Simpsons beat, being about five years older (1984 vs. 1989).

[Fhaolan 4,483]

They'd have to change the formula to do that. And there's signs that they may in fact be doing this, but we'll have to see how season 4 goes.

 

Basically, cartoons are usually built with the idea that nothing really changes. The characters are what they are, and do not radically change in appearance or characterization because to do so would invalidate the toy lines or make it impossible to show the episodes out of order, which is a normal requirement for cartoons. Because the characters can't change, the writers will run out of ideas eventually. Which leads to the 'generation' model, where once it goes stale the producers dump the current generation and move on. The next generation may retain some aspects, but the characters are redesigned in significant ways so that the writers can start over again.

 

There are very successful long-running non-cartoon series who have maintained 'quality', and retain fanbases for ten, twenty, thirty years or even more in extreme cases. They follow a much different formula, one that many bronies would be unable to cope with, going by the freakouts and drama that the various forums are inundated with.

 

Basically things would have to change. In fact, they'd need to change constantly. You'd not be able to mix up episodes running order, because there would be enough changes over time to make it confusing to do so. Characters would need to age, develop, and be rotated out when their personal character arc was done to be replaced by others with *different* arcs.

 

If Season 4 switches to an evolutionary formula rather than an episodic formula it may be able to carry on. We'll lose a chunk of the fanbase because they won't be able to handle it. But honestly, those kinds of fans make the fandom as stagnant as they want the show to be.

[Super Derpy 535]

I don't think so. I don't really want it to have that longevity. I mean look at Spongebob. Only the first 3 or 4 seasons were good and the rest just doesn't have the same quality as those seasons same with The Simpsons. I think the show will go for somewhere between 5 and 7 seasons before ending.

[Geek0zoid 1,468]

There's always a chance. I mean, this show has a very loyal and dedicated fanbase. As long as they stay true to themselves and don't decrease in quality (*Cough* Spongebob *Cough*), then it just might. But a part of me feels like if it lasted as long as The Simpsons, that'd be a bit of an overkill.

Edited July 27, 2013 by Stevenearthpony

[Wonderbolt_Spitfire 235]

Unfortunately for a kids show there are definitely a finite amount of lessons to tell before you run out and the quality of episodes start to degrade. Since MLP is not a pop culture comedy cartoon it just isn't logicistically possible for MLP:FiM to have anywhere close to the longevity that the Simpsons have had. I expect maybe 1 or two more seasons.

[cmarston1 5,959]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31g0YE61PLQ
I would hate to see it go for that long because it would eventually wither down and become an atrocious mess like how people talk about the later seasons of Family Guy, The Simpsons and Spongebob.
It would hurt me deeply to see one of my favorite shows eventually lose it's steam and become absolute garbage and considering how great it is now it would really suck for it to eventually lack everything that made it great and be unwatchable. ):

Edited July 27, 2013 by cmarston1

[MichaelxXxTrixie 433]

FiM wont last for a long time because it's episodes have some consistency to each-other and characters accomplish goals they set for themselves as the series progresses. So I think it will only last into season eight at most.

 

However, I am mostly certain there will be a G5.

[CT-1138 3,182]

I'm prepared to be lynched with this comment, but I really don't. Even Simpsons gets a little repetitive after 20 years. I expect 6 seasons out of MLP. If they do more, I'll be happy, but 6 seasons seems reasonable to me. 

[Oh Akatosh why 43]

Hasbro HQ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut9BzjcFYPg

 

I really hope it doesn't end up like this. I personally believe that all TV shows will eventually reach a point of complete lack of quality the primary example being the Simpsons.

 

At least they'll always be able to re-boot it with a G5 (Which I will definitely watch)   

[Castle Bleck 19,334]

Ideally and/or realistically? About 2/3 as long as those shows have currently been running.

 

Regardless, I hope G5 retains G4's art style (Ben 10: Omniverse and Teen Titans Go! completely changed their predecessors' art styles that we'd fallen so deeply in love with, and I HATED it!).

[Proton 565]

It will most certainly not achieve that much longevity. But this thread has led me to an even more intriguing question: What will us bronies do when the show ends?

[Castle Bleck 19,334]

@Antidermis-

 

You say, "It will most certainly not achieve that much longevity. But this thread has led me to an even more intriguing question: What will us bronies do when the show ends?"

 

I say, "Probably stuff like this:

 

[Dark Horn 430]

I want it to last as long as it can without failing... and then move onto Generation Five, leaving G4 as something epic to be remembered by the fans forever.

[Veylon 255]

With four seasons, it's already relatively long-lived. It's already beat out G1 MLP series and is set to beat the original Star Trek. That said, I very highly doubt it will become the next Spongebob or Simpsons. Maybe five seasons? I don't know.

 

Heck, I'm surprised there's going to be a Season four. FiM feels like one of those shows that gets cancelled too early and the fans bitterly commiserate about all the potential that was lost. Except that now we're going to have upwards of ninety episodes, so maybe that's not a justified feeling any more.

[Misty Rose 3,216]

When the author of My Little Dashie mentioned in his fic that MLP had stopped after eight seasons I was like YEAH I WISH!

But it really just depends on quality. Spongebob and the Simpsons are no longer as good as they once were. So as long as the show maintains good quality and doesn't get stale, it'll have a good farewell from the fanbase after a long time and legacy.

[Pinkie D Pie 1,036]

In all honesty, I would hate for it to go on that long. Shows such as spongebob are really just mindless entertainment in my eyes. Sorry to those who still watch it. I mean I would love for it to go on for a long time, but the quality would eventually suffer even with the talented writers we have. For me, 8, maybe 9, possibly 10 seasons and I would be happy. As long as the seasons remain good I would be happy with that.

[Rough Pathway 157]

I don't want it to last more than eight or nine seasons unless the writers could still mantain the quality of the show as it is now. Eventually, though, it'll get stale and drag on too long...I would love a spin off series after the show ends, though. I think it'll probably last at least another season or two and at the very most ten-elevenish seasons.

[RockinRarity 1,605]

I have found that a lot of sitcoms that last for more than 7 seasons tend to have an 8th season that sucks.

 

Due to the changes that are being made to MLP, it isn't going to be a sitcom, obviously, but it will rely on a formula similar to that of a sitcom, where characters develop decently slowly yet maintain their core personalities, and yet they obviously grow up. Sitcoms are the kinds of shows that you can also watch out of order to a point. I mean sure you get the chance to be spoiled if you watch something later in the series before you really get there, but it is not a big deal.

 

And I just want to say that The Simpsons being on the air still completely baffles me. I mean, I don't know ANYBODY who watches The Simpsons anymore. So who watches it? I guess the only thing to blame is the Nelson Rating system... they probably make the families who are part of their program watch The Simpsons. :V

[AlbinoThunder 42]

I HIGHLY do not see this happening at all. The franchise, totally. MLP will probably go on for as long as...well, ever. But G4? No. Besides, there's going to be more generations anyway, so we can't really expect G4 to last forever. Even if it did, it would probably lose the touch it had in the first few seasons and just start digging at the bottom of the barrel for any scrap of an idea that they could use for an episode. I dunno, just the idea of G4 lasting as long as at least Spongebob is just plain silly to me.

[notdog1996 315]

I'd like it to be about 10 seasons long.  I'm sure the show has potential to be long but not Simpsons long.  After a while, it'll get bad and the series would be better rehashed into G5.

[Fhaolan 4,483]

I have found that a lot of sitcoms that last for more than 7 seasons tend to have an 8th season that sucks.

 

Due to the changes that are being made to MLP, it isn't going to be a sitcom, obviously, but it will rely on a formula similar to that of a sitcom, where characters develop decently slowly yet maintain their core personalities, and yet they obviously grow up. Sitcoms are the kinds of shows that you can also watch out of order to a point. I mean sure you get the chance to be spoiled if you watch something later in the series before you really get there, but it is not a big deal.

 

And I just want to say that The Simpsons being on the air still completely baffles me. I mean, I don't know ANYBODY who watches The Simpsons anymore. So who watches it? I guess the only thing to blame is the Nelson Rating system... they probably make the families who are part of their program watch The Simpsons. :V

 

Yeah, Sitcoms and standard Dramas usually stretch the episodic model about as far as it can go, which is the reason why a lot of 'successful' series go for about seven seasons before falling apart. Networks used to run with this pattern a lot, because when the people in charge were paying attention they also noticed. So you got a lot of shows that were one season, several that ended after three seasons, and a couple that lasted seven seasons. Back in the 80s and 90s it was built right into the production contracts because the pattern was too strong to deny. The ones that attempted to go beyond this pretty much all withered and died. Or just withered and limped for way too long.

 

To get examples of a really long-term run, you have to break away from the standard Drama/Comedy and go further afield: Coronation Street (53 years and counting), Doctor Who (50 years and counting), etc. The dreaded soap opera model. The *average* soap opera runs 10 years, and many break 20 years before petering out. If you want your series to stay strong for that length of time, this is the proven way to do it. Continuously change up your character line-up, regularly run multi-episode arcs, and to get the full effect have multiple overlapping arcs that begin and end at different times. Which in a way would suit Hasbro, if they thought it through. It would allow them to produce more toys in a continuous 'collectors' style, and they could re-use old molds by just switching up colors and cutie-marks. To fully follow this however, they'd have to get into the mindset of 'retiring' toys once they're no longer in the show. And that's a tricky one to get into for them. That's just not the way they currently think.

[Mr. Jaguar 1,403]

I'd only want it to last that long if it could maintain the around the same level of quality writing that it currently has. But I really doubt that the writers could maintain it that long without running out of good ideas for episodes. I think eventually it'd just get to a point where it's obvious that the show is being milked for what it's worth, and it'd no longer be worth watching. I'd rather it end at season 4 if that means it doesn't go downhill to craptown. Sometimes less is better.

Edited July 28, 2013 by Mr. Jaguar

[--Thunder Bolt-- 534]

I would be surprised if G4 lasted past S5, or even the end of S4.  One issue FiM has that shows like the Simpsons don't, is the aging of its core demographic.  While the original "wave" of girls could grow up to be Pegasisters, bringing new "waves" in (e.g. current toddlers and children yet unborn) becomes difficult once there's too much backstory to cover without chewing up whole episodes for recap.  "Mommy, why does that one have wings and a horn and her friends don't?"  As I understand it, Magical Mystery Cure was almost a show finale.  Once they've worked through the implications of Twilight's Alicorn transformation and resolved the other major story arcs (cutie marks for the Crusaders, Wonderbolt Dashie, Rarity becoming a huge Canterlot success but deciding she prefers to run her little boutique in Ponyville, etc.), I think they'll be done.  Unlike the Simpsons (and, I'm guessing, SpongeBob, which I never got into), FiM doesn't have the Sitcom Groundhog Day Effect, where neither the characters nor their life situations, relationships, etc. ever, ever change.  That's one of the things I like about the show, but it means that backstory accumulates.

 

One thing they could do to extend FiM's life would be to let it gradually mature and target the pegasister/brony demographic as the girls who started with S1 grow up.  The high school setting and hint of romance in Equestria Girls might be something of a trial balloon in that direction.  As this takes place, a G5 show, perhaps centered on the post-cutie mark CMC's, could step in as the MLP for the next "wave" of young girls.  Otherwise, I think G4 has a definite time limit.

 

I just hope no suits at Hasbro think, "I know!  Let's go back to the show's roots and start spooning out horrible saccharine glurge with creepy Uncanny Valley!horse ponies!"  That would suck.