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News from around the interwebz courtesy of magazine Kidscreen:

"As for Hasbro's established stable of series, which drive the programming on its US joint venture network The Hub, the 13 episodes of Transformers Prime Beast Hunters due to launch this year represent the final chapter of the Transformers Prime story. It has grown to encompass 65 half-hour episodes that continue to roll out around the world. Look for a 75-minute Transformers Prime Beast Hunters movie to hit DVD shelves in Q4.

But that's not the end for Transformers. [Hasbro's SVP of International Distribution and Development Finn] Arnesen says a "new iteration of the animated TV series" is slated for delivery in late 2014, which looks like it might be shaping up to be the year of Autobots, given that audiences are already expecting the fourth live-action blockbuster in July."

I'm quite surprised to hear that Prime has been given the chop. It's reached enough episodes for syndication, so I suppose it's done enough. Strange to see that this decision has been made before Season Three has even aired, which makes one wonder if the ratings and demographics for Season Two weren't quite as healthy. In the contexts of the incredibly short shelf life kids toys and fads generally have, it probably should have been expected.

Also looking around the interwebz, I'm amazed at the number of folk putting the boot in and now decrying Prime as 'rubbish' and that 'they didn't like it anyway'.

Stupid grown up fans.

Yeah, not really surprising, considering that hasbro's sales during Prime were lower than their sales between Animated\DOTM aka when there was NO MEDIA

At this point I'm terribly disappointed with Hasbro's eagerness to press the reset button close to each movie, even after they said stuff like "Prime is definitely here to last, we're using stuff from the TF Bible, everything connects to it, blah blah blah".

The thing is, I've been watching Animated these days, and comparing episode numbering, pretty much nil has been happening with Prime when decked shoulder to shoulder. For all the sophisticated high definition extra detailed stuff and effects and serious, dark tone, Prime is pretty much a flashy dumb kids cartoon at this point.

PS: Oh, Skyquake, got your pm but for some reason the reply button is so off center in my screen I can't reply to you! Cheers for letting me know mate!

Given I've not had the opportunity to watch Prime, I don't have an opinion on the TV series.

However, I think Prime produced the best mainstream Transformers toy line ever - I love the balance between stylised design, detail and transformation. So I'll be sorry to see that go - but then, Beast Hunters looks a lot more hit-and-miss than the previous waves anyway.

Hopefully the same level of design ethic will carry on in future TV show based lines, but I'd be surprised...

All that said, I am not at all surprised the decision has been taken to reboot the cartoon side of Transformers and the mainstream kids toyline at this point. It's been Hasbro's style with each Movie, and it's the 30th anniversary next year: it's highly likely that they're looking to use this to grab attention, and having a fresh jumping-on-point for new fans makes sense.

This seems to be the "yeh, we've got enough of this product and we're planning another new product" type of cancellation, then.

Can't be arsed to poke around but I already thought it was common knowledge that Beast Hunters was ending the thing?

TBH I can see why Hasbro want to reboot every few years. Their key demographic is, what, 7-11 or whatever. They don't want kids to grow up with the franchise particularly, they want it to perenially appeal to that demographic (moreso than before as they've got fan-orientated lines and merchandise to cover older people; the films probably pay for themselves in tickets alone, it wouldn't surprise me if we only get half-a-dozen figs for TF4).

Skyquake87 wrote:
Also looking around the interwebz, I'm amazed at the number of folk putting the boot in and now decrying Prime as 'rubbish' and that 'they didn't like it anyway'.

Stupid grown up fans.

Hey, I tried to like this thing. But it had far too much of a kiddy vibe than I could tolerate. Nothing wrong with that as it is a kids show, but I am surprised so many adult fans rated it highly.

I too tried to like this. It actually made some pretty neat and new moves, TV TF-Fiction wise...but failed miserably on all of them. I highly doubt the third season will be much different. Either the toys were pushed forward very fast or the show pushed back, but going by toys, there's NO new autobots in the show besides maybe Magnus and all the predacons appear [though I may be wrong] to be toy-only characters.

Fascinating how a show that started with perhaps the best opener of all TF TV shows was kept so limited and empty throughout two seasons.

I was just commentating generally about fan reaction. Its just ridiculous, the amount folk around the boards going 'pfft, it were always bobbins'. I think for a lot of people, it wasn't Animated, and that was good enough. People do like their sci-fi so serious these days after all.

I think we've all been fairly critical of the show to a greater or lesser extent. For me, its the 'confuscious say' nonsense Optimus had in lieu of an actual personality and some of the poor storytelling choices. The end of Season 2 still winds me up - why not use the magical phase shifter do-dah to rescue the kids, and have Wheeljack (Remember him? Series Writers?! He has a F**king SPACE SHIP at his disposal with LOTS of guns!). I don't like deus ex machina cosmic macguffins and quests for them anyway, but if you're going to introduce them and have them as a driving part of the plot then at least utilise them properly in a military campaign. Sigh.

Oh, and the business in Season One where Miko nearly gets Bulkhead killed and gets the Autobots in a right mess, loosing them some doohicky or other (maps, was it - some cannister with something important, anyway) and is not admonished for her idiotic behaviour, ensuring she learns nothing and earns the right to carry on acting like a selfish prick.

Thats what I didn't like.

I did like Breakdown and Arcee, the generally good work done in getting Starscream away from that screeching, snivelling geewun persona (although that was all done), the outstanding 'Predatory' episode and Jack (the other human kids can all do one though) and his mum.

Considering the amount of time and effort put into the whole Aligned thing I'd be amazed if whatever comes next isn't a continuation, even if it's a relatively standalone one.

Three seasons seems to be pretty standard for TF cartoons, doesn't it? And I totally agree that that's not a bad idea for marketing to younger children. I just started watching Season 2, so I can't really judge the whole series yet, but I'm really not impressed with the Beast Hunter toys I've seen. Maybe they'll grow on me, but now that Toys R Us is charging $17 for deluxes, I really doubt it.

I wouldn't mind a new series, but I don't want a reboot again. Makes it hard to care about anything when you know "In less than three years, none of this will matter at all". Give us a sequel series instead, same continuity, with a new mix of characters and just move things forward.

Cliffjumper wrote:the films probably pay for themselves in tickets alone, it wouldn't surprise me if we only get half-a-dozen figs for TF4).

With Bumblebee, Rocket-booster Bumblebee, Battle-mask Bumblebee, Sword-thrusting Bumblebee, Break-dancing Bumblebee, and Beatbox Bumblebee, there's your half-a-dozen already for TF4.

Apparently when a cartoon series hits the 65 episode mark, they have to give the voice actors a raise.

That's why they'd sooner axe it. They got their 65 25-minute toy commercials, they don't want to pay any more than they have to.

i think the thought of another reboot after the films have done the same is going to have to work hard to keep me interested, at least. i'm finding it quite tiresome to have the same scenario - transformers crashed/ are secretly on earth, autobots fight decepticons, same key characters involved, some fighting and annoying kid character involved blah blah blah.

its quite a dry formula to follow over and over which doesn't really lend itself to continued interest. probably how it should be, as discussed elsewhere.

inflatable dalek wrote:Considering the amount of time and effort put into the whole Aligned thing I'd be amazed if whatever comes next isn't a continuation, even if it's a relatively standalone one.

The only people who put all that 'time and effort' into the Aligned thing are Walky and his pals on the tfwiki.net. I never got the impression from anywhere else that Hasbro took that whole schtick seriously.

Doesn't most of the supposed Aligned stuff already contain various contradictions anyway? It sounds more like the G1 'bible' which writers regularly ignored for dramatic purposes or, in the case of Donald Fartknocker Glut, because it was right over the other side of the desk and he knew everything about dinosaurs anyway.

Show me a writer who's bound by a corporate-devised 'bible' and I'll show you someone who isn't a writer.

Nah, the bible is a stupid excuse to meld elements from all continuities together and don't think of anything new.

13? Done since ROTF...jesus ROTF, the 2 hour film with the 7 page screen
Megatron a gladiator? Done since 1984
Prime a librarian\clerk? See above
Bumblebee being mute when he got injured from Megatron? TFTM

It's clear that at the time of WFC, the game was designed as a standalone, updated G1 universe, yet Hasbro wanted to shove it into the "Aligned" continuity because that was hip at the time. And thus we get to have those horrible Rage of Dinobots comics that try to tie Dinobots into Prime S3. Only for them to do something like 'oh, Predaking, the ancient warrior? Yeah one of his armour plates is lifted from Grimlock'.

Jaynz wrote:The only people who put all that 'time and effort' into the Aligned thing are Walky and his pals on the tfwiki.net. I never got the impression from anywhere else that Hasbro took that whole schtick seriously.

Yeah, I got that impression too. Hasbro's take on the whole Aligned Continuity thing seems to basically boil down to "Everything is one canon now, even the stuff that contradicts itself. Don't think too hard about it, just enjoy the ride". Which does tend to lead to stuff like...

Knightdramon wrote:It's clear that at the time of WFC, the game was designed as a standalone, updated G1 universe, yet Hasbro wanted to shove it into the "Aligned" continuity because that was hip at the time.

...this, where a blatantly G1 game with only the vaguest of ties to the Prime universe is totally in continuity with the TV show according to Hasbro even though it really doesn't make too much sense.

But no one really seems to take that too seriously other than the Wiki crowd, who jump through hoops to make sense of something that really isn't supposed to make sense in the first place. They put more effort into making things fit than the creators ever did, and they have to ignore or handwave a lot of inconsistencies to piece things together (much like with the whole "multiversal singularity" nonsense re: Unicron, Primus and the Thirteen).

With that in mind, I expect that whatever cartoon follows Prime will be billed as a loose sequel rather than a direct reboot. I doubt there'll be much in the way of continuity between the two though, either in terms of designs, character cast or storyline.

Hmm, what if Hasbro comes up with a Prime reboot in Beast Machines stile?

I'm not that surprised. Beast Hunters always looked to me like it would be the closing chapter of the series.

Slightly off topic but when a new transformers series starts up, what are the "must-have" aspects it should have? Obviously we have to have robots who change shape but what else do you feel is essential?

The reason I ask is Knightdramons list of things that are now tropes within the transformer universe. Megatron must be the bad guy, Grimlock must be a T-rex, we have to have a matrix etc. Would fans be happy with wholesale changes to the detriment of attracting new fans or have fans gotten to the point of "feck, same old story again???"

I would love to see an entirely new take on the universe.