My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

[Katie Holt]

Not to oppose the action of legally watching it, but you're probably better off being late and watching it on YouTube instead of seeing it live. I was catching the simulcast on SynchTube, and it was aggravating just how numerous the ads were. Like bloody Hell, how many times do I have to be reminded about Family Game Night or the amount I can save on my car insurance?

One reason why I DVR and fast-forward

About time someone else made the connection.

Aha. That was made by a friend of mine a couple months ago. Nice to see it again.

[Avaitor]

Finishing up the next episode now. It's a fitting conclusion to the previous ep, and a great start for season 2.

Seeing the ponies acting as they do while under Discord's power make it seem like they're all on their period, though.

[Spark Of Spirit]

That was a great conclusion to the premiere. I know some people don't like these more adventure oriented episodes, but I really do.

I also really enjoyed Rarity's relationship with Tom and Fluttershy being a total jerk.

[Eddy]

One of the best episodes yet, no doubt. Discord was a great villain (way better than Nightmare Moon) and part two had plenty of hilarious moments. I loved the shot-for-shot homage to the ending scene from Star Wars too.

My only complaint here was the ending. Felt really rushed and I was hoping they'd go a different route than turn Discord to stone again. This really felt like it could have been a three-parter (or a direct to DVD movie) to reach its full potential.

[Katie Holt]

So a member of the Ponygoons forum attended the recent broNYcon and was able to get several details from Jayson Thiessen about upcoming episodes. Equestria Daily linked to the post, but I'll summarize what I read:

*Hasbro does not put much money into FiM at all, it's more of a shoestring budget. It could've very well ended up like G3.5 in the hands of another creative team.

*"Applebuck Season" initially had Applejack ramming into trees with her head, instead of kicking them. Hasbro nixed that - and that is actually a very rare occasion of them interjecting.

*All the little 'bits' they put in, meaning Sondheim-inspired songs to adult references, that's just them entertaining themselves, not actually concentrating on the periphery demo at all.

*Hasbro is actually very lax when it comes to most things. They actually have a "Why not?" attitude. For example: Discord was completely Lauren Faust's idea. She had Star Trek: TNG on her mind and wanted to have a villain character inspired by Q. Hasbro said "why not?" so they let her do it. Speaking of which, Faust initially had a John de Lancie soundalike in mind for his voice, but Hasbro told the team they could try to get the real deal even though it would cost more money. He just happened to be free and was down with it. The rest is history.

*The cast and crew are not performing for us, or even kids, they're performing for themselves. They just do what they think is best and entertaining each other in the process. They really do have lots of fun making it.

*Mr. Thiessen's creative team that he works with, he mostly knows very well and has worked with them before. He says the better they know each other, the better they can work together to put together a high-quality show, most especially in the comedy department. They have an absolute blast.

*Hasbro's toy division and entertainment division are nearly two separate entities, which could explain the toys not being up to par. Hasbro thinks they would have to make a huge investment they don't think they can make simply because they're already in production and it would cost a lot to recall them and make new ones, but they're "looking into it".

*Lauren Faust left for personal reasons and nothing more. He said she was basically feeling burned out from everything and needed a break. He said that it was a total shock to everyone when she initially told them of her departure last October.

*Mr. Thiessen knows now why so many of us older males like the show as much as we do, that it gives us an excuse to escape the real world for a bit. (He used a lot more wordier statement, but that's the gist of what he said. And that's true at least in my case and several others I know.)

*The early S1 episodes were very chaotic and they didn't have everything done the way they could have. He says if they could go back and redo them, they would try to perfect them.

Some tidbits about the season itself:

*More 2-parters are confirmed

*There is a "scary" episode coming

*Derpy will definitely be around, and may even have her own bit.

*He doesn't foresee any "heavy" stories (things like divorce, death, etc.)

*He wouldn't mind having John de Lancie back

*A soundtrack CD has been planned from the start

*Someone asked about season 3. His response was "Answering that would probably get me fired." (in other words, most likely happening)

*The CMC probably will never actually get their cutie marks

*There will be a "new villain" (though he may have let that slip accidentally)

*They have not seriously discussed adding humans, seaponies, what have you (but he's not familiar with G1, so yeah.)

[Mr. Big]

Yeah, the "we make it for us" attitude in cartoons often brings in better than usual stuff. Chuck Jones said the same thing when he was asked who they were making the cartoons for.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I agree. The best material comes from those who enjoy what they're doing and have a lot of fun doing it.

I'm excited to see the rest of the season if they continue on this streak of theirs.

[Mr. Big]

My god, they really loved to mess with Twilight's face in the new episode. Had me in stitches.

"Hi giiirrrrrlllls"

[Spark Of Spirit]

Yeah, it was another good one. I do like that apparently Big Macintosh apparently really liked the doll regardless of the spell. 

[Avaitor]

Honestly, I didn't like this one much at all. It kind of seemed like a rehash of "Party of One" to me, and Twilight just doesn't work in that way for me at all. And the rest of it just wasn't that funny.

I do like how now she doesn't have to be the glue that holds every episode together now, though. I always hated when she got shoehorned in to tell the moral of the day when she held no ties to the plot.

[Dr. Insomniac]

So it seems that SF Debris, probably the blip reviewer whom I most respect, has turned his eyes on FIM. Other than a failed joke with "Sparkle, Twilight", fair analysis. Was expecting him to rip it apart like he does with his Enterprise reviews.

[Mr. Big]

So they just aired what is probably the most anticipated episode of the season, Luna's return.

Overall it wasn't exactly the best episode of the show, but I loved how Luna was portrayed. I can see why Twilight wanted to help her out; she was just as socially awkward as she was.

There seems to be mixed feelings about the new character, Pipsqueak, though. I think he's cute, and he'll be fine as an occasional character. Remember, alot of fans hated the Cutie Mark Crusaders, too.

The lack of Rarity surprised me, tho... (apparently she was in the script, but they took her out)

[Avaitor]

Princess Luna's a trip. She's kind of how I want Twilight Sparkle to have been handled- as in not boring.

Pipsqueak didn't leave much of an impression on me here. If anyone annoyed me this episode, it was Rainbow Dash. I liked how she got her comeuppance in the end, though.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Luna made the episode for me, especially her "lesson" with Fluttershy. I want to see more of her.

All in all, it was a pretty fun Halloween episode. Could've used some Rarity, though.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Luna made the episode for me, especially her "lesson" with Fluttershy. I want to see more of her.

All in all, it was a pretty fun Halloween episode. Could've used some Rarity, though.

Yeah, odd how an episode where almost everybody was in costume lacked Rarity. Though since the episode had Granny Smith and Zecora to go along with the ROYAL CANTERLOT ACCENT, Tabitha St Germain probably needed a break.