Words can't even express how passionate I am about "Transformers." The recent DVD releases have let me revisit the entire series, and it's been one of the happiest experiences of my life. I wasn't entirely surprised how clearly I remembered individual bits of certain episodes (rare character appearances, etc.) as I watched them, even though I hadn't seen them in 15 or 20 years.
The following are my season-by-season impressions:
Season One - In the cold light of retrospect, this is the one that holds up the least well. There are too few characters (or the same ones are spotlighted too often,) the action is generally tame compared to later seasons, and the stories are too campy and repetitive. The one standout episode is the last one, "Heavy Metal War." My guess is that they weren't sure if it would be back next year, and decided to pull out all the stops.
Season Two - My sentimental favorite, because it had the best characters (my favorite Autobot was Tracks, my favorite Decepticon was Starscream - yes, he'd been around since Season One, but he was spotlighted more in Season Two,) but the quality level is so uneven it can be frustrating. The first few episodes are basically a continuation of season one, as no new characters are introduced yet, but these include two of the series crown jewels, "Atlantis, Arise" and "The Insecticon Syndrome." Once the new characters started rolling out (pun intended) the episode-to-episode quality still fluctuated, but there were still plenty of keepers.
Season Three - Very underrated in my opinion. Yes, it's a shame that a lot of the best characters were either killed off or re-invented in the movie (which I didn't like - it had no story) and that their replacements were a pretty boring bunch (except for Cyclonus.) But the quality of the writing was much more consistent (the five-part season opener, "The Five Faces of Darkness," was everything the movie could have been,) some familiar characters really blossomed (Grimlock was so cool,) and the show had a darker tone and more action, changes which sat well with me (most of my favorites of the earlier episodes were along those lines.)
"Rebirth" - The three-part series closer. Too much like an average Season Two episode. The DVD has an excellent interview with writer David Wise, who genially explains why it didn't turn out as well as it could have.
My dream come true would be if there were a brand-new series with the Gen 1 characters. I just hope they don't start until I've broken into the industry, so I can write for it.
The following are my season-by-season impressions:
Season One - In the cold light of retrospect, this is the one that holds up the least well. There are too few characters (or the same ones are spotlighted too often,) the action is generally tame compared to later seasons, and the stories are too campy and repetitive. The one standout episode is the last one, "Heavy Metal War." My guess is that they weren't sure if it would be back next year, and decided to pull out all the stops.
Season Two - My sentimental favorite, because it had the best characters (my favorite Autobot was Tracks, my favorite Decepticon was Starscream - yes, he'd been around since Season One, but he was spotlighted more in Season Two,) but the quality level is so uneven it can be frustrating. The first few episodes are basically a continuation of season one, as no new characters are introduced yet, but these include two of the series crown jewels, "Atlantis, Arise" and "The Insecticon Syndrome." Once the new characters started rolling out (pun intended) the episode-to-episode quality still fluctuated, but there were still plenty of keepers.
Season Three - Very underrated in my opinion. Yes, it's a shame that a lot of the best characters were either killed off or re-invented in the movie (which I didn't like - it had no story) and that their replacements were a pretty boring bunch (except for Cyclonus.) But the quality of the writing was much more consistent (the five-part season opener, "The Five Faces of Darkness," was everything the movie could have been,) some familiar characters really blossomed (Grimlock was so cool,) and the show had a darker tone and more action, changes which sat well with me (most of my favorites of the earlier episodes were along those lines.)
"Rebirth" - The three-part series closer. Too much like an average Season Two episode. The DVD has an excellent interview with writer David Wise, who genially explains why it didn't turn out as well as it could have.
My dream come true would be if there were a brand-new series with the Gen 1 characters. I just hope they don't start until I've broken into the industry, so I can write for it.