Oops, They Did It Again

Being a Transfan, I was watching Transformers: Cybertron last night. It's their latest animated show and comes on Cartoon Network's Toonami block Saturdays at 6pm Central. I had such high hopes for this show, I really did. Everything seemed to be going along wonderfully. Until last night.

Without giving away the plot, a block of Thundercracker's lines were spoken by, not his voice actor, but by Starscream's. Yes, that's right; instead of screwing up the names like they did in Energon and Armada, they completely screwed up some of the dialogue. I heaved a sigh, looked over at Prime and said, "That's it. I am done."

I know, I know. It's only one mistake. But it's a pretty damn big one. One that should have very easily been caught and corrected. One that should have never gotten through at all. But it did.

Many Transfans have whined and bitched and complained about how poor in quality the original 1980s Generation One cartoon was, with its miscolored characters, silly plotlines and many retcons. There were many fans who considered it the absolute worst Transformers series in the toyline's history. Until Armada and Energon with their many dubbing and writing mistakes came along.

What happened to the Transformers? How did things get so bad? Is there anyway of turning this around and saving the franchise?

I cannot help but wonder if the series needs another break, like back in the early 90s. Some time to rest, rethink and retool may be what is needed. Until then, we may very well be doomed to the same pattern of failure.

A pattern that could cause the franchise to collapse. Or worse yet, die.

--Weasel, transforming and rolling out