RID cartoon possibly ending next year

[griffin]

Word from an Asian corporate event for TV licensing says that the Robots in Disguise cartoon will only have two seasons, and the second season will be shorter with only 16 episodes, plus a 3-part finale "movie" like TFPrime finished with.

That will result in 42 regular episodes, or 45 if the 3-part finale is split up for regular TV broadcasting.


What do people think?
Will you miss it, or didn't have any interest in it to begin with and can't wait for a new show in a couple years time?


It seems strange that the series is only lasting two years, as this one seemed to be aimed at the younger demographic that are the primary recipient of Transformers toys... at least, compared to the darker, more serious/mature TFPrime cartoon.
TFPrime wasn't really for the younger kids who are more likely to get toys as gifts, so I think it ended up missing the point of being a toyline cartoon, which is to market to your intended customers.
The RID cartoon also had better TV coverage than TFPrime, here and in America, as we had the RID cartoon on free-TV at the same time as America, and America had it on a more mainstream channel, as the HUB channel had a significantly smaller number of subscribers than Cartoon Network.

For me, I'm disappointed that it is ending so soon because it will probably mean that we won't see too many more Decepticon toys (who are already light in numbers), as Hasbro would already be working on the next cartoon toyline... which might come out in 2018, as 2017 will have their marketing focused on the TF5 Movie toys.

[MayzaPrime]

I really think that it should have been given 3 seasons....

It will depend what they are replacing it with, if it is the Combiner Wars series then I would be happy.

I have enjoyed RID, but I think that I have got more enjoyment out of my kids watching and enjoying the series.

[Bladestorm]

I like what RID was trying to do but I think the aesthetic of the cartoon let it down.

My kids like the show but they hate the animation. They'd rather watch G1 as they feel the animation is better (!!!)...
They loved the Decepticon of the week; my son got the McDonalds Clampdown toy and has hardly put it down for the last 2 weeks. He loves mimicking Underbite which says to me he liked the characterisations.

So I think the tone of the show hit the right demographic but the presentation of the show and the lack of diversity in toys (ie not enough of the Decepticons) may have put people off.

The other problem my kids (especially my son) seemed to have is he didn't like Bumblebee being "leader". He wanted Optimus (that's probably my fault) or Rodimus or Ultra Magnus or Smokescreen (as was alluded to in TFP). He couldn't get his head around why Bumblebee was the leader... and he disliked Grimlock being green despite Grimlock being his favourite all-time Transformers character.

Admittedly since the Combiners Wars lines came out all my son wants is G1 because all his favourite toys are in that show and he LOVES he can have his big bad guys like Devastator and Menasor to re-enact the G1 episodes. So maybe Hasbro confused kids by having the 2 toy lines and only one show?

If they released a cartoon with imagery similar to the Devastation game my son would be all over it as he has been watching gameplay videos on youtube...

[Paulbot]

I'm not surprised it's a short series but hopefully the overall series comes to a good finish. I've still got the second half of season 1 to catch up on.

I thought RID was a pretty accessible and fun cartoon, with enough in it for adult fans to enjoy as well as the kids. The Decepticon designs have a lot of puns and silliness but were very creative.

Presumably there'll be some other attempt to tie in to TF5 and it will be interesting to see the other ventures (like the Combiner Wars cartoon) come along.

[UltraMarginal]

I find this news fairly disappointing.
I am 75% of the way through the box set for season 1. I'm enjoying it, it is pretty light hearted and not as complex as TF: Prime but it's pretty well written and quite entertaining.
I have slowed down watching the DVD's as I found I was pumping through them and I'd be left with nothing to watch if I didn't slow down.

It is a constant source of frustration that Transformers shows and other similar shows seem to constantly be cut short of their initial run expectations, not because the show is necessarily doing poorly but for some other non specific nondirect reason.

The art is different but I like it, the voice acting is exemplary and the writing is subtle enough to reference a lot from other worlds of the transformers.

[SMHFConvoy]

I didn't find the end of season 1 particularly satisfying. If they have an ending planned out that makes sense I'll be happy.

[griffin]

This has surfaced, relating to a new partnership between Hasbro and a digital release platform, suggesting that the RID cartoon could be continuing as a digital only release cartoon (which I think netflix has various exclusive shows that don't get released to TV, at least for a while). If true, this could explain why it was leaked by a show writer, that they were currently working on season 4, while the TV episodes look to only be two seasons (with the second season only being 13 episodes).

Considering a lot of young kids are now being "babysat" by digital devices/pads and content downloaded onto them by their parents, this would be a reasonable direction for Hasbro to release cartoons, that otherwise get screwed over by the major networks... who are known to air episodes at inconsistent times or periods (in America), cut up episodes to fit in more advertising or kids content (in Australia), or force the early end of a cartoon series for the marketing of "new" content to their customers (by Hasbro, with Animated).
If this is true, or happens eventually anyway, we might actually see longer Transformers series if they prove popular (like Animated), as the natural progression of the show will dictate its end, rather than the Networks, Retailers, or Hasbro launching its own cable TV channel (the HUB, which killed off Animated early).