The FANTASTIC FOUR cartoon debuted over the weekend on the Cartoon Network, and either due to the holiday weekend launch or our own holiday, it seemed to get a somewhat modest amount of fanfare. But it seems to have been a
ratings success — the actual ratings are not given, bit the premiere lifted CN’s numbers.
Citing Nielsen Media Research data, Cartoon Network announced that the new Fantastic Four animated series from Marvel Comics and Moonscoop Animation brought double-digit delivery and ratings gains among kids 6-11 with its 8 p.m. debut on Saturday, Sept. 2.
[snip]The performance of the show’s premiere helped Cartoon Network chart mostly double-digit primetime and total-day weekly delivery and ratings growth among all key demos over the same time period last year. Primetime viewership was up by 16% on Saturday, while ratings for the whole day saw an 18% rise. Fantastic Four airs Saturdays at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Cartoon Network.
Has anyone seen this?
I watched the first episode last weekend. I was bored by it. The voice acting was a bit off. It just didn’t feel right. The animation was also strange. It just didn’t feel fluid enough to me. FF is a great property but if the characters don’t look right, it makes for a tough sell.
I figure I’ll try a few more episodes but so far it has left me flat.
I saw it and my 2-word review is:
It sucked.
They lost me when Sue fainted dead away at the news that Johnny had been kidnapped by the Kree.
The only redeeming moment was a scene with the Thing at a charity event interacting with some kids.
Nothing else to see there. Keep walking.
Tony
I agree with Tony.
It sucked.
In the words of my lovely astute wife; “They cancelled Justice League for ths shit?”
I had no idea it came on. This happened to me too when JLU went away and then came back – I missed all the new episodes.
I can’t believe they started the series with a Ronan the Accuser episode.
I’m with Tony about Sue too, but am willing to give it another shot.
A) They did not cancel Justice League for this. Cartoon Network produced the Justice League and it only got decent ratings and could not be replayed during the daytime because of many of the shows themes. Fantastic Four was a European production and thus the cost/profit structure is similar to that of anime programming they air. Totally different story, no comparisons at all.
B) The show itself was alright. Ronan looked great, the basic plot (with the sentries) was interesting, the chraacters were mostly spot on and the animation wasn’t bad. Of course Sue fainting was a bit much, andthe show lacked polish on some level. It isn’t great, but it might just be a slow start. Going by the tease mention of the Skrulls in this episode makes me think the creators have a plan and that the show can only get better.
I think I fall into the “it was pretty dull, but I’ll definitely give this weekend’s Doom episode a chance.” The character designs were an odd combination of European and Japanese influences which left me cold, but might interest the kids, and the voice acting (with the exceptions of the Thing, Ronan and the Supreme Intelligence) were entirely uninteresting, just kind of flat.
All that being said, I remember not being so hot on the first episode of Teen Titans either, and I wound up loving that show, so I’m going to stick around for a few more episodes. I have to admit, I’m a lot more excited for Sept. 23rd’s LSH debut! ;-)
The only episode I can say I thoroughly enjoyed so far was “Hard Knocks” but who can’t like the classic Thing / Hulk interaction.
The last episode didn’t even air. It was supposed to be Giganto and, instead, was Naruto who I guess can defeat the Fantastic Four since they didn’t show up. Even the Brighthouse Guide said it was going to be FF.
Not sure how the show is supposed to get a fair shake when they can’t even get its schedule right.
I also heard Trial by Fire wasn’t supposed to be the first episode…this stinks of Firefly.
I can live with the animation for some of the character interaction. But a little bit too comedy oriented. The Skrulls especially.
Its a so-so show with potential but, as of yet, not meeting its potential. The other thing I have to say I like is all of the guest appearances. Though Pym looked especially weird. Moreso, because I had just watched the Ultimate Avengers 2 just beforehand.
And where the heck is Galactus???
If they do cancel it then they should just cancel it not tease us with episodes that aren’t going to air…