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Uh-huh.... *googles syndication, among other things*


And I'm back. So after researching, I have learned a few things!

The Hub is losing money, and MLP:FIM is one of it's best IPs, which means in theory MLP could outlast the Hub, and MLP:FIM is the highest ranking show on the Hub.

From that info, I find it unlikely they would terminate the series this early. if the channel is struggling, it seems... well GW levels of poor planning to cook the golden goose, if they actually expect the Hub to last long enough to grow to rival CN/Nick/Dis and sell more toys because of it.

While they could sell more toys initially through syndication, I think they could sell more by continuing the series.


To be fair, this is after like 30 minutes of googling syndication, MLP ratings, the Hub, and looking on the other Pony threads in other forums. Someone that actually knows what they are talking about can, and prolly will, prove me wrong.

This from the same story on EQD

(And since everyone is freaking out in the comments, season 3 was finished quite a while ago, and as far as I can see, Meghan is still working at DHX, so you can be pretty sure there are more episodes, or a movie, after season 3.)

A movie.....


I'd totally go to that Midnight showing.

My only problem with that prediction is it's based simply on someone who worked on MLP still being employed at the studio, as though MLP is the only thing she can and will ever work on during her career.

Keep in mind the show costs money to make but doesn't see a huge return (hence the struggling HUB network) and it is really the toys where the make their profit. So if they can stick the show into syndication and just sell toys that can save them a rather large amount of money.

A movie might make more sense as they can potentially tap into the Brony audience but it is also a large investment of money and toyline movies don't have a really good track record.

This is just speculation but it seems like it would make sense (in Hasbro's view) to stick MLP into syndication where it will continue to get high ratings and sell toys while moving the creative team onto another project to try and build up another franchise. Hasbro seems to have think that their Care Bare revival is going to be the next big thing and might be gambling that they can hit gold twice without really understanding why MLP is popular in the first place. As we've seen with the early G4 toys, they don't really get their audience and what they like or how to appeal to them. That is pretty much something only the animation team seems to understand.

Let's be honest, who's going to watch Care Bears? I probably won't.

liquidjoshi wrote:Let's be honest, who's going to watch Care Bears? I probably won't.

No one will, but Hasbro doesn't know that. Although they later retracted the statement one of Hasbro's higher ups was saying about how he looks forward to "Bearnies" posting CB stuff all over the internet. Not only is this insane to assume Care Bears will have an MLP like fan base, it ignores the better fan name of "Carnies".

Get rid my ponies?! NEVER!!!! NEVER, I SAY!!!!

Exactly. Nothing can replace Twilight and co.

Especially not Care bears. They're like the Space Wolves to our Dark Angels.

http://joelashimself.deviantart.com/

And he doesn't (didn't) even know what a Necron was when he did this!

Oh, Snap!

well, 13 episodes is depressing but a movie just might make it up ^.^

1000th post, it had to in this thread /)^3^(\

I'll second the "yay"s for a movie. If it were up to the standards of the Spongebob movie then I'd pay to see it in the cinema.

I still am curious on the demographic makeup of that theater audience.

Indeed. Although it would likely draw me out of my cave if others went to see it.

AduroT wrote:http://www.equestriadaily.com/2012/07/meghan-mccarthy-interviewed-on-nerdist.html

.... And here is a link i got from another site i'm much more on ....

http://willheim.deviantart.com/journal/don-t-worry-317411927

Kris Knives wrote:

Iur_tae_mont wrote:It's been on the MLP wiki for a while now.


Kinda disappointing. Maybe Hub will order a 26-39 episode season 4.

A half season in season 3 usually indicates they are doing the minimum for syndication and terminating a series. This happens a lot. Batman - Brave and the Bold 2.5 Seasons and done. Jem 2.5 Seasons and done. Transformers Animated 2.5 seasons and done. This is not a good sign. 60something episodes is all you need for normal animated syndication. Not to be a doomsayer but given Hasbro's usual manner of doing business a half season now suggests they intends season 3 to the best last of FIM which likely means that plan to either but MLP on hiatus for a bit and just release toys riding on G4's success or retool directly into Gen5 in 2014 like what happened between Transformers Animated and Prime. T_T

To be fair, the Transformers Animated snafu is due to Cartoon Network(who decided to air the 1st and 2nd seasons back to back, leaving a near year gap between 2 and 3), not Hasbro. Hasbro had a 4th season planned, including having design work for the figures underway. Marty Isenberg actually wants to bring it out in comic form someday if they're able.

I sort of have this mental image of My Little Pony running to a life boat with "syndication" written on it, as the ship they are on burns and sinks.

Unless its a made for TV movie.

hotsauceman1 wrote:Unless its a made for TV movie.

In which case it's just basically a super long episode and we still win?

I think it's likely going to be a direct to video release.

Isn't there a form of Syndication that allows the show to be sold and new episodes be produced.


If so, that would be a great idea.

So I know there is at least one other Brony that goes to my local GW. Was setting up for the first game of the stores 40K summer campaign when I look up at the Marine player I'm about to go against and notice that his yellow t-shirt has three pinkish butterflies on it.

I congratulated him on it and then proceeded to table him in the name of Rainbow Dash as best pony.

My best friend growing up (the one that introduced me to 40K and sold me most of my Tau Army back at the start of 5th, when he started Vulcanmarines) talked for the first time in about a year.

We talked about the new edition and our new tactics for our armies. I mentioned I was a brony, then for the next good 30 minutes we talked MLP before making plans to get a 40k game in sometime in the next couple weeks.

So this was asked on a blog I follow and I wondered what your answers and thoughts would be. What would you do or what do you think would happen if Season Three was the last season and there were going to be no more new episodes? Would the fandom fall apart or would it rely on itself for fan content to fill the void and self perpetuate? Do you think there would still be a Bronycon and other such conventions?

Just to get this out of the way first: I'm hoping for 5-8 seasons of the series myself.


To the Actual question: I think the Fandom could probably propel itself on the fan context for about 1.5-2 years before it starts to die down, assuming nothing major happens to draw more fans in. Forum MLP threads (like this one) will probably die down, as everyone converges onto the Major sites and everyone starts keeping in contact in other fashions. I think most of us would still stay in contact after that, either through the Major sites or other methods.

Bronycon would most likely happen once more and, depending on how well it goes, maybe one more after that. Most likely not a threepeat unless something major happens that draws the fans in.

The fanbase would stay.

There is already a 20-year old MLP collectors fanbase that organizes its own toy fairs and meetups, going right back to G1 days.

Hell, I joined the Futurama online fanbase after it was cancelled, and that was still going strong for a full 5 years right until its renewal (shame that the renewal came too late for me to be interested it in much anymore though..).

G5 would be a dead cert 4-5 years after the end of G4, animation style might even be kept and tweaked a little... the change to anime-style ponies pre-dates FiM by quite a number of years, and hasbro won't want to retool their toy moulds if they can help it. :p

I'd say with a movie or 2 in between, the fanbase could easily persist until g5, at which point it will either continue on, or be completely dropped like a stone if Hasbro screws it up and does Bratz ponies or a more "typical patronizing juvenile" show or something equally lame.


However, Will Anderson's comment has me completely re-assured, and I can *definitely* see MLP hitting the 130 episodes + 2-3 movies mark. Hasbro's toy division is doing horribly badly, with ponies being pretty much the only thing that isn't and is instead selling like crazy (20% growth per quarter!).. I'd put good odds on them not wanting to kill the golden goose just yet.

MLP has the advantage of being cheap to produce, thanks to flash.

Carebears is going to cost 3x as much per episode due to all the top-notch CGI and look like complete crap in comparison. Cancelling MLP in the hope that bronies will all become "belly-bros" has got to be beyond the realm of even the most deluded corporate meddling.

Plus, in our favour - The daughter of Hasbro's CEO loves MLP, and Cadence was named after her. If anything, the suits might be a little biased towards the show!

If it is cancelled then here's what I see happening.

First, there'll be a huge Firefly-style drive to get it back on the air.

This will either work and we all rejoice or it won't and the fanbase will shrink slightly to a solid nucleus of committed fans, who continue to make fan content to carry it on. It continues like this until it eventually returns in which case we either rejoice that it's back and exactly how we remember or different but still great or cringe and moan because it's changed and lost the spark which drew us to it in the first place.

I think the Fandom would continue on fairly strong. The Brony phenomenon is at least as strong as the Harry Potter craze, and that's still generating fan content years after the 'finale'- The strongest contributors will end up being fan-made original content set in the world. MLP RPGs like Unkown Ponies and Pony Tales- Fanfiction, both crossover and non, such as the Fallout: Equestria, MyStara Little Ponies and Dresden Fillies style crossovers- Fan-music, created by people like The Living Tombstone and Wooden Toaster, and the fan-created animations. Dr. Whooves and Assistant, the .mov series- there's enough Bronies and Pegasisters out there who both animate, write, and do amateaur VA work (and really good quality stuff, too!) that, if the 3rd season was the final one, there'd probably be a fan-made 4th and 5th season following, barring interference from the Hasbro legal team. The MLP fandom, after all, is stupidly talented and artistic.

So where do you guys buy your MLP shirts?

I looked online and couldn't find any that I liked.