ThunderCats Rewatch Episode 7-8 Discussion

"LiamABC, post: 108735, member: 25438" said:

That's the one major problem with the original - zero backstory. Too many unanswered questions. And when eventually some attempts were made to answer them, it didn't work, it was too late to bother and it was a different writer trying to fill in the blanks.

I agree 100%. Again I blame the writing team Rankin Bass hired. Either the shows Bible was really rushed and left out a lot of stuff or a lot of the writers just never used it.

I remember watching the bonus features on the DVDs for season 1 and they said the lack of explanations was deliberate. That was a bad decision, plain and simple. It meant other writers ended up writing conflicting bits of backstory during the show.

"LiamABC, post: 108738, member: 25438" said:

I remember watching the bonus features on the DVDs for season 1 and they said the lack of explanations was deliberate. That was a bad decision, plain and simple. It meant other writers ended up writing conflicting bits of backstory during the show.

Yeah most other shows were more consistent with the back stories like G.I. Joe, Transformers, He-Man, TMNT, M.AS.K. and Robotech etc.

I concur 100% with both Mark and Liam. :)

"Mark M, post: 108739, member: 5058" said:

Yeah most other shows were more consistent with the back stories like G.I. Joe, Transformers, He-Man, TMNT, M.AS.K. and Robotech etc.

So would it be safe to say that, plot-wise, ThunderCats was the most inconsistent cartoon show of the 1980s? Or is there another one just as guilty? I have seen many of the cartoon shows mentioned by Mark, but haven't seen their entire seasons so I can't say with 100% accuracy if they had as many or as big plot-holes or contradictions like TCats.

"Wilycub, post: 108741, member: 25043" said:

I concur 100% with both Mark and Liam. :)

So would it be safe to say that, plot-wise, ThunderCats was the most inconsistent cartoon show of the 1980s? Or is there another one just as guilty? I have seen many of the cartoon shows mentioned by Mark, but haven't seen their entire seasons so I can't say with 100% accuracy if they had as many or as big plot-holes or contradictions like TCats.

Of the shows I mention along with a few others I have seen every single episode. I should also have mentioned Dungeons & Dragons, Bravestarr, Galaxy Rangers, Visionaries, Dino-Riders and Defenders of the Earth.
I don't recall any of them having as many plot holes or contradictions as Thundercats.
I honestly thing all those shows, overall were better written, and had a better team of writers working on them.

I know it's been stated countless times, but I think it was a huge mistake letting Starr go. Multiple writers can be great, bringing different perspectives and all but having a central "head" writer if you will would have went a long way imo.

"adssse, post: 108756, member: 25051" said:

I know it's been stated countless times, but I think it was a huge mistake letting Starr go. Multiple writers can be great, bringing different perspectives and all but having a central "head" writer if you will would have went a long way imo.

I agree and Starr was the man for the job. Just think what could have been if he had stayed on.

It wasn't just Starr who was absent from the later series. Bob Haney and Stephen Perry also wrote nothing else for Thundercats after season 1.

I've compared the show's writing team to the band Styx. Leonard Starr is analogous to Dennis DeYoung, and Peter Lawrence is equivalent to Tommy Shaw. Dennis was the main singer-songwriter in that band originally, and the most talented, then Tommy joined, and they hit their commercial peak soon after, then they split, and reformed briefly without Tommy, then split again, reformed with the classic lineup, then there was a huge dispute between them and Dennis was kicked out, and they have since continued with Tommy as the main singer-songwriter, but he doesn't have sufficient creative juices to "lead" the band the way Dennis did. With Thundercats, Peter Lawrence played an excellent supporting role, but when he took over from Starr as the writer of the five-part episodes, he took the show in a very iffy direction that just didn't work.

"LiamABC, post: 108788, member: 25438" said:

It wasn't just Starr who was absent from the later series. Bob Haney and Stephen Perry also wrote nothing else for Thundercats after season 1.

I've compared the show's writing team to the band Styx. Leonard Starr is analogous to Dennis DeYoung, and Peter Lawrence is equivalent to Tommy Shaw. Dennis was the main singer-songwriter in that band originally, and the most talented, then Tommy joined, and they hit their commercial peak soon after, then they split, and reformed briefly without Tommy, then split again, reformed with the classic lineup, then there was a huge dispute between them and Dennis was kicked out, and they have since continued with Tommy as the main singer-songwriter, but he doesn't have sufficient creative juices to "lead" the band the way Dennis did. With Thundercats, Peter Lawrence played an excellent supporting role, but when he took over from Starr as the writer of the five-part episodes, he took the show in a very iffy direction that just didn't work.

Starr didn't even want bringing Mumm-Ra back so I had been in charge and got to do things his way I doubt we would have gotten the reforming of Thundera story.

Indeed. New Thundera was the point where things got really dodgy.

"LiamABC, post: 108810, member: 25438" said:

Indeed. New Thundera was the point where things got really dodgy.

Indeed. The Lunatacks I can put up with but the reforming of Thundera was going to far.

At least the Lunataks were only a matter of individual taste. Thundera re-forming just like that is just completely wrong from a scientific standpoint. You can't change the laws of physics!

"LiamABC, post: 108816, member: 25438" said:

At least the Lunataks were only a matter of individual taste. Thundera re-forming just like that is just completely wrong from a scientific standpoint. You can't change the laws of physics!

Well at least they didn't resort to Lion-O pointing his sword at it and shouting how for it to happen. I suppose the spell thing was a bit more....reasonable.

"Mark M, post: 108817, member: 5058" said:

Well at least they didn't resort to Lion-O pointing his sword at it and shouting how for it to happen. I suppose the spell thing was a bit more....reasonable.

It almost happened like that in the very last episode . . .

I'm with you, guys. The reforming of Thundera was a lot to take in, even for kids. But even though the "science" behind Thundera's reformation would have made Galileo turn in his grave, I would have been willing to accept it IF the stories that took place after the reformation had been really good. Unfortunately they were average at best.

"Wilycub, post: 108823, member: 25043" said:

I'm with you, guys. The reforming of Thundera was a lot to take in, even for kids. But even though the "science" behind Thundera's reformation would have made Galileo turn in his grave, I would have been willing to accept it IF the stories that took place after the reformation had been really good. Unfortunately they were average at best.

Yeah. Me and Liam were discussing this a while back and there was only a handful of really good episodes after Thundercats Ho.

What bugs me about the whole New Thundera thing is that first they search for the treasure while remaining based on Third Earth, you'd have thought a quest of that nature would have called for more long-term excursions. Then, the minute they have all the treasure, and Mumm-Ra is defeated in "The Last Day" (one of the few standout episodes from that era), they up sticks and head back for New Thundera just like that.

"LiamABC, post: 108827, member: 25438" said:

What bugs me about the whole New Thundera thing is that first they search for the treasure while remaining based on Third Earth, you'd have thought a quest of that nature would have called for more long-term excursions. Then, the minute they have all the treasure, and Mumm-Ra is defeated in "The Last Day" (one of the few standout episodes from that era), they up sticks and head back for New Thundera just like that.

'The Last Day' is a great episode and one of my favourites of the full series.