What should a story/show have to be good?

[Candy Blaze 119]

Sure I watch MLP:Fim and I know it's just awesome to watch for a lot of people. There are other good shows too but what makes a book or TV show watchable/entertaining

[Scootalove 10,684]

What makes a show watchable or entertaining is having interesting characters, keeping the audience's attention, and being able to make many opportunities for interesting plots to be able to seize them.

[Standard User 2,127]

I only write a story if it makes the reader think. That is what a story should do: instigate thought, introspection, and discussion. MLP:FiM did that spot on.

[Adrien Brony 21]

It needs to be MLP, obviously.

[Koelath 444]

That depends entirely on the media involved, the people watching, and the context of said watching. When I'm tired or bored, Godfather is an awful film because I want something faster-paced and cartoony to pep me up. Scarface is a fine story but the film is poor after the first viewing as it is not paced well enough to make multiple viewings tolerable. The Hobbit tells a decent story but the sets look horrid and it's horribly slow-paced.

 

I consider Citizen Kane to be an uninteresting story, but I cannot say it is a poor show because of its clear technical greatness.

 

I consider Cabin Boy, a negatively-received film that basically sank Chris Elliot's place in films (shame, he's great) to be a great film because as bad as it may be on technical levels, you will be entertained the entire time.

 

The Saints Row series is not known for its complex characters, which would be a flaw if the relatively simple ones it has weren't so incredibly enjoyable.

 

Kamen Rider is a series full of illogical mayhem and awful cheap effects, but the characters and stories are so good that the series has been running since 1971 (the 24th iteration began in October this year, featuring Pokemon-battling breakdancing fruit-themed samurai) and spawned an outright media merchandising franchise.

 

The 24th iteration of the above show also spawned this undeniably glorious moment in advertising:

 

[Gone Airbourne 21,969]

For me the most important thing is the characters... 

 

To be able to enjoy the characters and relate to them is what really hooks me in.

[Fragilistic 65]

2 things in my book.

• Concept - Animations can be dirt cheap as long as the story has good concept. If the concept were dry bread cliche, I won't even bother finishing it.

AND

• Characters - A good show must have memorable characters. Not plain, lifeless drawings . Look what happen to Battlefield 3(It's a game but a perfect example). The single player wasn't remotly exciting, and characters weren't memorable. I don't even remember the 4 dudes inside the LAV 25. NOR THE MAIN CHARACTER xD

[River 59]

The creativity, and the thought put into the show. I like MLP not only because of it's good morals, but because of the engaging plot, storyline, and antagonists. The characters have so much to them, it's hard to not think they're real. 

[Rainboom Dash 1,055]

What I like about a good show that hasn't been mentioned yet is variety. You can set the characters in new places, situations and storylines where possible. With variety anything can happen! Good characterization is also extremely important, to prevent the characters from being stiff and unrelateable.

[Sunlight 357]

A good show should have-

 

A variety in characters.

Not many stereotypes.

Relatable characters.

Well written dialogue.

Thought-out plot.

Sensitive moments filled with feels. No matter what kind of show, this is always a requirement.

Morals, as a bonus.

Princess Celestia

Humour. Even Breaking Bad had it's moments.