Worst Cartoon Shows

[FalloutJack]

There are too many cartoons of the 2000 era to count that are awful. Let's just go with YES and move on.

 

[A random person]

Normally I'd say something about how Naruto, DBZ, etc. is a bad way to judge anime.

Evidently, I didn't make myself clear; I have been exposed to A LOT of anime, NO thanks to my friends. I simply don't get it. I find it boring, it has plotlines that run amok, the female characters voices (Gods, why do they have to sound like harpies getting hammered?) make me want to poke my ears out with a pickaxe, and it seems like every damned central character in these things are 'the relectant hero who has to find inner strength and love/has the support of friends/family' or some other such hackeneyed plotline device. But, in the end 'they have to do everything alone.' And, on that, I call bullshit.

I'm sorry; I tried, but this stuff just reminds me of a bad soap opera.

Again, like Naruto or DBZ. What you described fits firmly within the confines of shonen (which, due to certain factors, drags itself out and resembles a soap opera for the same reasons soap operas are like that). I won't ask for more, I've been down this road before, but I'll mention that I typically prefer things more along the lines of Kino's Journey or Darker Than Black (I liked Bleach until Soul Society went on too long).

As for why many shonen things have reluctant heroes rising to a challenge and facing it alone, I could spew some crap about Joseph Campbell, the hero's journey, and the dramatic motifs that go along with all that, but I'll cut it short and say lots of things are cliche (and a good bit of anime fans stay within certain genre confines, sadly).

But King of the Hill? Really? Sure, the later episodes got a case of the stupids (the MySpace episode comes to mind), and Lucky shouldn't have stepped beyond center of a few B-plots, but the series exemplifies comparatively subtle humor in animation, not to mention probably the best use of running gags/traits in most things (translation: it's deadpan compared to, say, Family Guy, and I fucking loved Hank's obsession with propane). And a large chunk of what Dale does is gold.

To me, this is a case of where the show had just overstayed its welcome for me. After the second season, the set pieces were no longer charming or interesting and it seemed like the writers were really stretching to find new things to do with the characters.

And, I'm sorry, again; but considering where I live, I can watch amusing redneck antics whenever I pass the trailerpark on my way to work.

The four main characters aren't actually rednecks, Kahn calling them that is just a gag about his elitism. The real rednecks seem to be relegated largely to the Lucky-centric episodes, in which case those are bad.

Also, I'd put the line well beyond the second season, but even I'll acknowledge the charm went out a good bit away from the end (even if the last few minutes of the finale made me feel legitimately fuzzy inside).

 

[Small Waves]

I think you're referring to MAD.

Yes. Yes I am. I could go on a tirade, but I already posted a review for it in the Review forums.

I hope my schedule is accurate, because otherwise there was the possibility you were referring to Regular Show, aka probably one of the 5 best non-Adult Swim things Cartoon Network did within the past few years.

Regular Show is cool, but it's relying too much on surreal twists. I mean, the first episodes are surreal, but they're really using it as a crutch, and what is supposed to make no sense now makes sense. It's as if Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff was made into a TV Show, and it finally fucked your mind so hard that it cannot be fucked ever again.

Pokemon (in fact, all anime is shite), Spongebob, Powerpuff girls...I could go on.

When it comes down to it, no modern cartoon can hold a candle to the classics: Top Cat, Roadrunner, Foghorn Leghorn, Whacky Races and so on.

Wardy

I used to think Top Cat was great, until I watched it again.

LOL NOSTALGIA SUCKS

Adventure Time.
That show and others like it must make the Japanese say, "WTF America?"

The content of Adventure Time might have been weird 15 years ago if we were still baffled by inanimate objects being sentient beings. MIGHT. It's a modern-day example of a cartoon being wildly creative instead of lolrandumb, and it's a damn shame that so many think it's the latter. It's a shame that imagination has now become synonymous with "making shit up off the fly".

Anime is even more sober. The most fucked up and imaginative stuff to come out of Japan today is their amazing experimental music scene and their game shows.