Should Transformers lore be serious or comedic? Or Both?

[SkyWarp91]

Should Transformers lore be serious or comedic? Or Both?

Simple question, I enjoy the comedic side of it more especially with all those animation errors and hilarious special effects in G1.

I do see quality in the seriousness of BW, but don't like it when it comes to TF:Prime. When TF:Prime tries to be serious it just seems boring considering how I think the characters look too cutey-animeish and it's hard to put serious storylines with such baby-looking characters (oh look at that optimus primey and his shiny flat face!)

[Verno]

It doesn't work in Prime because there are kids running around.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

For what it's worth, BW had the occasional comedic moment lore-wise too. Great-aunt Arcee and all that.
I'm inclined to go for a bit of both (from what little I've read IDW seems to pull off serious pretty well), but for myself I'm utterly incapable of taking any of it seriously.:o The Odieverse is pretty much a mish-mash of jokes and references to the craziness that is/has been TF lore over the years.
If I want serious lore in fiction I generally don't look to TFs to provide it.

[Hursticon]

It's got to have both, if you have one without the other you end up with something like the Unicron Trilogy that ends up as flat as Paris Hilton's arse. ;):cool:

The thing that worked for Beast Wars so well was the fact that it did both and nigh-perfectly, a rare quality that has raised it to the top of the ranks when it comes to Animated Transformers Media; Beast Machines skewed too far towards seriousness and basically eliminated the comedy, the rest is history.

Transformers Prime I think does it well but not as well as Beast Wars, baring in mind though it is a different program with different circumstances - Namely; One could do and say things during the 90s period that one can't today, added the fact that Human children are thrown into the mix and there are some things that will just never get touched upon that other shows have in the past.
(Give it time though, we might be surprised ;))

The TF Live Action films are on the other end of the spectrum; having both comedy and seriousness in spades but without the focus and level of writing required in order to convey either without clashing against one another.

At the end of the day humour is what has kept the franchise alive as it gives the show/characters life/personality, but that is contrasted with the seriousness of war, death and mass loss; weaving ever more elaborate tapestries but managing this loom is key to not ending up with a textile of a single colour. :)

[Paulbot]

I do see quality in the seriousness of BW

Beast Wars was full of silliness. Most of favourite scenes from that show are the funny ones (Waspinator quits, Inferno imitates Wile E Coyote before falling from the sky, Megatron's rubber duck, Rhinox's fart takes out the Predacons [well that's not at the top of the list], You remind me of the planet Venus...)

IMO the best TF cartoons mixes both the serious and the silly (BW did this, Animated did this, RID went a little bit too far silly I guess. The new MTMTE comic is better than the RID comic because it has room for humour. I gave up after two episodes of PRIME because it seem too serious and dull (I promise I do intend to catch up soon).

[GoktimusPrime]

Aaah Waspinator. ;)

It all depends on how it's done. Comedy can be put into serious story telling as means of "punctuating" tension and giving the audience a bit of "breathing" space. A great example of this was in the Beast Wars Episode "The Agenda, Part 3" when Optimus Primal is ordering the Maximals to concentrate their fire on the Ark in order to get inside -- the fate of the entire universe depends on it! A really intense action scene, but then when Rattrap remarks on how impenetrable its defences are, Optimus Primal says, "Die cast construction... it's a lost art." then looks at the audience! :D

Humour gets silly and awkward when it interferes with the narrative and stalls story-telling, like in Revenge of the Fallen when the humans are about to bust into the Smithsonian and Simmons drops his dacks filling the entire screen with a close up shot of his bum.

I like the way that some writers work in adult humour that's worded in a way that kids don't understand it, but it makes adults LOL. :) Beast Wars was chock full of innuendo! :D

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transformers/Photocomic%20Faith/photocomic_faith19.jpg

[Demonac]

Aaah Waspinator. ;)

It all depends on how it's done. Comedy can be put into serious story telling as means of "punctuating" tension and giving the audience a bit of "breathing" space. A great example of this was in the Beast Wars Episode "The Agenda, Part 3" when Optimus Primal is ordering the Maximals to concentrate their fire on the Ark in order to get inside -- the fate of the entire universe depends on it! A really intense action scene, but then when Rattrap remarks on how impenetrable its defences are, Optimus Primal says, "Die cast construction... it's a lost art." then looks at the audience! :D



I think that is a really poor example. All that joke did was break the 4th wall and remind me I'm just watching a TV show. It's also a joke that is lost on the majority of viewers.

For me, character related comedy is always welcome, as it reveals different facets to the character.

Or they can just hump your leg like a horny dog.

[Seraphim Prime]

I know not everyone likes Scrubs or West Wing, but they're probably two examples of shows that do it well.

Scrubs is comedic with a general plot sense of seriousness at times.
West Wing is drama punctuated by moments of humour - like life itself.

I think for Transformers, something more like Scrubs is a better fit (particularly the character of it's 4th/5th season) - light hearted general humour with a general plot progression - though would want less slapstick humour and more character humour than Scrubs.

[Doubledealer]

I like to see both extremes, MTMTE#1 is a perfect example of this. :)

[Spiritprime]

I would consider it both in a good way.

While humour mainly escapes me, there are times when I do have a good laugh out of it. Beast Wars was a combination of seriousness and comedy, it had its innuendo moments that only adults could understand... poor kids. XD

But perhaps the best way to say where humour was involved is Robots in Disguise. Aimed completely at kids with its anime style story-telling such as the bumbling Predacon trio, the Autobot Car Brothers, and with Optimus Prime to display humourous moments without even realising it.

However, to some people, TFP may be full of seriousness, it has its comedic moments such as Ratchet's running gag of "I NEEDED THAT!" whenever a tool of his gets broken, Optimus' answer to Jack wanting him to see something funny, and perhaps the most memorable moment is Optimus' discomfort at being cramped up in Wheeljack's Jackhammer in the latest episode.

I do admit, however, that ROTF is kind of a bad example. Geez, humping dogs, Simmons' bum, and Skids and Mudflap's street talk.

Ok, I think I've made my point. ^^;

[KalEl]

It's got to have both, if you have one without the other you end up with something like the Unicron Trilogy that ends up as flat as Paris Hilton's arse. ;):cool:

The thing that worked for Beast Wars so well was the fact that it did both and nigh-perfectly, a rare quality that has raised it to the top of the ranks when it comes to Animated Transformers Media; Beast Machines skewed too far towards seriousness and basically eliminated the comedy, the rest is history.

Transformers Prime I think does it well but not as well as Beast Wars, baring in mind though it is a different program with different circumstances - Namely; One could do and say things during the 90s period that one can't today, added the fact that Human children are thrown into the mix and there are some things that will just never get touched upon that other shows have in the past.
(Give it time though, we might be surprised ;))

The TF Live Action films are on the other end of the spectrum; having both comedy and seriousness in spades but without the focus and level of writing required in order to convey either without clashing against one another.

At the end of the day humour is what has kept the franchise alive as it gives the show/characters life/personality, but that is contrasted with the seriousness of war, death and mass loss; weaving ever more elaborate tapestries but managing this loom is key to not ending up with a textile of a single colour. :)

agreed

[GoktimusPrime]

Another problem with the live action movies is that the humour is sometimes rather crass and not terribly clever. Because Beast Wars was predominantly a kids' cartoon, it had to disguise its adult humour in a way that would escape young children.
e.g.: Silverbolt after returning from his secret rendezvous with Blackarachnia - Rattrap asks him how his mission went scouting te enemy and if he found any "new positions" ;) :D Bayverse on the other hand has dogs and robots peeing and humping which has that Australia's Funniest Home Videos level of humour; i.e. we're laughing _at_ the joke, not with it. (-_-)

One of my favourite comedic moments from TF Prime:
"You're a motorcycle, Arcee. Shouldn't you know how to build a motorcycle engine?"
"You're a human, Jack. Can you build me a small intestine?"
- Jack & Arcee (Masters & Students)

[Magnus]

I voted for both - go too far into 'serious' territory and I find things are less enjoyable and entertaining to watch, so I'll be less likely to go back for more. Sometimes you really do need that moment of lightness or brevity.

Go too far the other way, though, and it can be a bit tough to take things seriously and so, it can be easy to dismiss. I agree with previous posters in that it is a delicate balancing act to get the two together.

[Cat]

Like most stories, it needs to have light and shade, both to up the impact of the serious stuff, and also provide development and depth with lighter moments.

[liegeprime]

Both, if it were too serious it wont be enjoyable, much like watching those soap operas where in my view from having a gander at those ( not of my choice) there is NO Happiness in the lives of these people, they live to make trouble, overreact to simple problem or make problems and make others miserable ALL THE TIME. How they dont just die of stress is beyond me. Similarly if it were all gloom and doom in Tf lore, I dont think Id read it, coz Ill just conclude ... everybody dies, that's it. The ups and downs of a story makes it more interesting to read. even in every other comics or manga there are filler "light" issues/episodes - as in anime the obligatory - going to an outing/beach/picnic story just to break away and breathe a bit if the main line plot gets too heavy...

[Cat]

You need contrast, or you diminish the power of your story.