What If G3 was Friendship Is Magic?

[Denim&Venöm 19,384]

What if G3 MLP back in 03 was actually Friendship is magic? What if the animation style, production and voice cast from back then was paired with the writing, character development and story lines of today? 

 

Would MLP garner similar viewership as it does today? How would the fandom be different? Bigger or smaller?  3 years after airing (2006) would the size, creativity and dedication of the fandom be equivalent to what we have now?  Would FiM have a bigger legacy and following in 2014, over 10 years later?

 

Pic semi-related. G3 ponies in G4 style. 

[Scootalove 10,689]

They would look just like that, but since most people didn't exactly enjoy G3 I think it would change how most people feel about the show even though I didn't exactly see the past generations. But at least some people grew up watching the past generations, if we didn't have them the writers and animators wouldn't have changed the style of the show.

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

I think the time period it came out in (2003-2006) it would not be as popular, as the brony movement was spawned and lives on the internet. And at that time, the internet was not at all friendly (or not were the fandom spawned from at least). So due to the lack of the brony fandom existing, I do not think it would have been very popular other than a girls TV show. 

[Paleopony 703]

I don't think it would be as popular because the internet wasn't as prevalent as it is today and considering the fact that the brony fandom relies heavily upon it, there wouldn't be a lot of fan content or forums. There probably would be no conventions too. It might have become more popular later on, but there is the possibility that it would have been considered old hat by then.

[JMTV99 1,354]

Without Lauren Faust at the helm, I would've bailed out by the second.

[Cash In 22,525]

I think it would've still had a decent following, but I don't think it would've reached the heights as G4. More so a product of its time, because the internet wasn't as prevalent back then as it was around 2010-2011. 

[Tom Gallagher 33,595]

If it looked like G3? G3 just doesn't look as beautiful so even if the stories were as good as FiMs, I don't think people would have gravitated to it as much.

[Reality Check 632]

I imagine it'd be much different, though I'd probably bounce the moment I see them