Ongoing Plot Vs. Episodic

Which is better Sup Forums?

Episodic with continuity.

Ongoing.

Phineas & Ferb

Sup Forums prefers ongoing plots because they watch the shows in order, keep their eyes peeled for new episodes, marathon the thing, etc. etc. In a word, they don't watch the show like a kid would.

I'm not talking about Phineas and Ferb, I'm just talking about cartoons in general

Steven Universe and Phineas n Ferb were used as just examples

Neither. They're both good.

Filler is a cancerous word though.

Episodic works better with comedy. If an episodic show doesn't have comedy, it'll probably be boring. That's why shows with less comedy are better with an ongoing plot.

I like to think you can mix the two.
Like, have a show where you have the best of both worlds, Episodic and Story. (Steven Universe was kinda like this in the beginning, but it's more story now, which isn't a bad thing, but I do miss the episodic stuff)

Depends on the writer.
Some people can write funny or interesting stand alone plots but can't handle one major ongoing story.

Likewise drama focused shows like Steven Universe while excel in ongoing plots and foreshadowing aren't particularly humorous or action oriented enough to make stand alone stories.

Ongoing plot that goes fucking nowhere isn't a good thing. Most tv shows trying to stretch their story out season after season after season end up turning to shit. I wish more shows would have an exit plan. Pick a number of seasons and stick too it. If you leave it open for more stories great. Come back to it some day.

ON GOING!

Ongoing, when its done right, so not SU.

/thread
first post is best post

How is SU not done right? Sure it has some pacing issues, but it's pretty good overall so far

Steven Universe is at its best when it's episodic. Steven Floats was GOAT.

Phineas & Ferb a shit. The art style is just gross and I never found it funny.

>gross
I think you mean ugly? It was never really gross, just weird to look at.

I thought it was funny especially in the beginning of it's run

I think he means gross as in just being generally unattractive. It might not look that bad, but it doesn't really look good.

This is why I like GitS: stand alone complex. The episodes where either stand alone (episodic) or complex (ongoing plot) but it still felt like there was the ongoing story happening in the stand alone episodes

Episodic for the comedy, long plot for the drama

Ongoing *with a planned beginning middle and end.*

Ongoings reward fans who stick with it. From a network perspective, ongoings may be harder for new viewers to jump into, but this is less of a problem with online availability, legal or otherwise.

There are good episodic cartoons, but few are able to avoid recycling plots and cliches, and most end up with nothing to say.

Define "better" you raging faggot.
Each has it's advantages and disadvantages, so it's completely dependent on what the show is.

That's basically Steven Universe, in all honesty.

episodic.

look how many successful and well received episodic cartoons have been out: star, loud house, and regular show are recent examples. they have a loose continuity at best but the overall focus is having fun.

the plot cartoons always disappoint. you have SU which looks like shit so it was doomed from inception. AT had potential but it ended up being a status quo spamming cocktease. GF was good up until the manlet made a mad dash to the finale because he was fed up with taking orders from conservative disney execs. even avatar, the best example of a plot cartoon, suffered from weak spots in the first and third seasons and ultimately ended on an ex machina bullshit that needed a shitty comic to tie up loose ends.

This, really. It's part of the reason why Avatar was such a great show, the premise was simple. You had a setup and you had a goal that you could see very early on. Not only does this allow for organic buildup, it also keeps things simple for the intended audience. A guy with elemental Kung fu powers has to stop fire hitler before he destroys the world. I explained the plot in a fucking sentence, you can't do that with SU or even Korra.

bump

Regular Show and South Park come to mind

I like this one.

>nothing to say.
Pseudo intellectuals were not invited to this thread.

Can you really consider Steven Floats episodic? I mean there was continuity in it, it involved Steven's return home and all that

Ongoing plots are good but they work better when it's a streaming series like on Netflix or Hulu. That way people can always watch it in it's intended order, they don't work as well on TV because you're sort of left at the mercy of the network to play the episodes in order and you have to catch the episodes at the right time, it results in more people pirating the episodes and not supporting the official release.

Episodic. If you fuck up a story line in an ongoing plot it could mean the demise of the entire show. Episodic allows an almost infinite run as long as ideas stay fresh. Ongoing plots also hinder you in possible situations you'd like to have happen and is much harder to write for since you have to stay within the lore of the show. Episodic can shit in the face of its lore.

neither

They are pretty much equal, its just very rare anymore that people can pull off an episodic show that feels different than the hundreds came before it

>but it's pretty good overall so far
Not even close

No, that's what Steven Universe WANTS to be, but can't pull it off well.

>t. Someone who only watches cartoons