DC Series that are hard to rewatch

[Lighthammer]

I wanted to see if anyone else feels this way or if I am the loner in the room here.

Of all the DC series that are out there, I find some really easy to rewatch while others are difficult to impossible for me to get into a rewatch.

Here's the biggest example that stands out to me:

Virtually everything in Timverse for me is EXCESSIVELY rewatchable. I'll rewatch Justice League at least once a year usually more as background noise, but a series like Young Justice, which I felt on the initial watch (and still feel) was extremely good, I just can't get into rewatching the series as a whole even though while it was premier, I could easily rewatch that week's episode 2-3 times.

That being said, series like Young Justice or even Arrow are so much fun to watch as the episodes come out to try to figure out the various mysteries and how they connect, but once everything is revealed, for me, the magic is over.

I find this odd because Season 2 of Justice League Unlimted had A LOT of big reveals but yet, its not the same for me: rewatching it again is practically as enjoyable as the first time.

It seems psychology sound to suggest that in the case of series like Young Justice and Arrow where all the episodes are so interwoven, its almost overwhelming to try to rewatch it, but I'd also be forced to concede that a non-DC series like Death Note who also has such a highly interwoven story remains very enjoyable to rewatch.

Does anyone else feel this way trying to rewatch these series?

 

[trance2009]

So....was there a DC series that you didn't find watchable?

 

[JTMarsh]

Young Justice also had the disadvantage of being cancelled before it could finish its story. That's bound to suck some of the fun out of repeat viewings.

 

[BigFatHairyDeal]

The technical aspect comes into play here. Things like STAS are 18 years old, and I think the animation quality has noticeably aged. That makes things a little harder to rewatch. Obviously, BTAS was an even older show, but since it's better than STAS, I find the former to be more rewatchable.

 

[Lighthammer]

So....was there a DC series that you didn't find watchable?

That wasn't obvious from my post? =(

Young Justice also had the disadvantage of being cancelled before it could finish its story. That's bound to suck some of the fun out of repeat viewings.

I try to tell myself that but the truth of the matter was I didn't find Young Justice rewatchable between Season 1 and Season 2, when I wanted to rewatch it just as a refresher leading into the series.

I REALLY don't want to go on a "Greg's stuff is un-rewatchable" because that's certainly not true with most of series, but I found the same problem (for me) to exist for Spectacular Spiderman too. I loved watching it while it was live, but I cant make myself REALLY sit down and get into it even now, that there's a few years of dust on it. But I have to admit, even when I compare Spectacular Spiderman against Avenger's EMH, the later is much easier to rewatch.

The technical aspect comes into play here. Things like STAS are 18 years old, and I think the animation quality has noticeably aged. That makes things a little harder to rewatch. Obviously, BTAS was an even older show, but since it's better than STAS, I find the former to be more rewatchable.

Its not a secret I actually enjoy Superman TAS better, but I do find both series rewatchable; for me the later Batman Episodes, especially when they shifted to other animation studios after the initial run are even easier to watch.

Part of my conclusion I am coming to (and I guess asking the peanut gallery if they agree) is: do series with season long archs cause the series to be harder to rewatch?

 

[Dusty]

I can re-watch Most DCAnimated shows often, but some I have to give some more time between.

***Shows I can pretty much watch endlessly or at least once or twice in a year.
Justice League
TNBA
BB
GLTAS
Most DC: DTVs


***Shows I have to give a little time (like once every year or two)
Static Shock
JLU
Young Justice
The Batman
BATB
LOSH
Zeta
Superfriends
Filmation DC Shows


***Shows I have a hard time watching for some reason, as I think they have lost some of my interest.
BTAS (I did love this show though.)
STAS (I loved this show too.)
Teen Titans (this show was okay, so I may watch it every few years, but probably not as much as the two above.)


***Shows I probably won't watch again (because I never really liked them, lol.)
Plastic Man
Teen Titans Go
Beware The Batman


I think I have a harder time with BTAS and STAS because I was pretty young watching them. I was 5-6 when BTAS came out, and 9-10 when STAS came out. So when I go back to watch them they seem less exciting now compared to what I thought of them when I was a kid. I think the same thing will eventually happen with the other shows. I hope not too much as I want to introduce these shows to my kids. But I think naturally as we all get older and other things in life appear that is when I think we gain our nostalgic glasses for stuff. D.

 

[Toddman]

I sometimes find it hard to watch the first season of Justice League.

In my opinion it was easily the worst single season of any DCAU series. While it's fun to watch for nostalgic reasons, I find myself thinking about how a particular episode didn't live up to its potential or ways an episode might have been better. That's especially true when compared to the improved quality of Season 2 and the entire run of JLU.



Toddman

 

[Yojimbo]

Shows I can't rewatch or will never after my first viewing are the Super Friends, Filmation stuff, Superman: Brainiac Attacks, Teen Titans, The Batman and Teen Titans Go!. Just not my cup of tea.

The others ones I can watch all the time. The most rewatchable ones for me have to be Mask of the Phantasm and Return of the Joker. I must have watched those 100s of times. Sometimes, just to have something great playing in the background while I work.

 

[CyberCubed]

This is a strange thread.

I've rewatched all the DCAU many times. I've seen B:TAS, Superman, Batman Beyond and Justice League so many times I've lost count. I've rewatched Teen Titans 4 times. I've watched through Young Justice 3 times.

I suppose The Batman might be the show I don't intend to go back to. I mean I watched through the entire series, but the show just wasn't that good. The series had too many poor episodes to warrant buying the DVDs, and there are only select episodes I would rewatch.

 

[Lighthammer]

Shows I can't rewatch or will never after my first viewing are the Super Friends, Filmation stuff, Superman: Brainiac Attacks, Teen Titans, The Batman and Teen Titans Go!. Just not my cup of tea.

The others ones I can watch all the time. The most rewatchable ones for me have to be Mask of the Phantasm and Return of the Joker. I must have watched those 100s of times. Sometimes, just to have something great playing in the background while I work.

I've certainly done that with DCAU so many times I've lost count how may times I've watched each series. Batman - Return of the Joker stands out as one I could rewatch once a week and never get tired of it.

I'd certainly agree on anything Superfriends related (or Super Powers related) as well as Teen Titans (all versions). Teen Titans for me is GREAT when its an action episode, but the campy episodes are too campy for my tastes.

This is a strange thread.

I've rewatched all the DCAU many times. I've seen B:TAS, Superman, Batman Beyond and Justice League so many times I've lost count. I've rewatched Teen Titans 4 times. I've watched through Young Justice 3 times.

I suppose The Batman might be the show I don't intend to go back to. I mean I watched through the entire series, but the show just wasn't that good. The series had too many poor episodes to warrant buying the DVDs, and there are only select episodes I would rewatch.

The Batman, I actually found a lot better then I expected it to be. I essentially finally pulled The Batman out last year or 2012 when I finally said "I've seen BTAS too many times and I need new episodes". When I finally watched it, I found it to be really enjoyable, particularly in later seasons where Greg Weisman and Brandon Vinetti started doing a "bulk" of the episodes (term used loosely). I was pretty obvious on a lot of levels that towards the end of The Batman, the ideas were cooking for Young Justice which makes it neat to watch when you can put in perspective that it was "almost", kind of, sort of, after a fashion the lead in series for Young Justice. Its obviously not in continuity, but some aspects feel like they may as well have been.

 

[the greenman]

Young Justice is done for me. The shift between seasons and the downer ending just doesn't sit well with me. I have yet to watch all of The Batman yet, and I wouldn't imagine watching Batman Beyond again either. As for other shows in the DCAU, I willhave revisit often. I have to admit though I have to put some distance between seasons and series by months at a time.

 

[Lighthammer]

Young Justice is done for me. The shift between seasons and the downer ending just doesn't sit well with me. I have yet to watch all of The Batman yet, and I wouldn't imagine watching Batman Beyond again either. As for other shows in the DCAU, I willhave revisit often. I have to admit though I have to put some distance between seasons and series by months at a time.

Huh, that's interesting on the Batman Beyond end. I actually find that generally more rewatchable then BTAS. Batman Beyond, to me, always felt like they were getting to perfecting the episodic formula. I'd almost say the did IMHO, but they obviously changed it for Justice League and again for Justice League Unlimted; not to mention if you ever let yourself think its "perfect", you're probably going to write yourself into a corner.

What set you off about Batman Beyond? Just not interested in the series or was there something else that made it harder to watch?

 

[Shredhead]

The Batman: It was an ok show but it hasn't aged well the animation is fine its just the bad designs they feel so dated like back when the whole amerimanga thing was cool. Watching this show is like going back and reading old issues of X-Force drawn and written by Rob Liefield. Sure it was fine for the 90's but its just laughable now. Unlike most DC shows you could see there was some effort and love put into them. This on the other hand felt like it was made by network suits and toy makers at least in the first season it did. While there are some great episodes and and a really great movie because of the bad outdated action figure designs I just cant rewatch it.

Teen Titans: I can rewatch it I like the show but if the episode wasn't one of the action and drama heavy episodes I just cant get into it. Also I hate Beast Boy he can be good when your focusing more on the character instead of the bad jokes like the Terra stuff but past that he's a no go. Not to say I cant enjoy some comedy the Mad mod episodes will always be a rewatch to me.

Batman: Brave and the Bold: I know this show has its fans and I can understand it and I don't consider it a bad show I even like some episodes but really I find this show is pointless to me. I can go to scans daily or Superman is a dick and see that wow the Silverage is wacky. i get the whole its a celebration of the DC silverage but I think that works better in small doses not a premise for a show.

Zeta Project: I love Batman Beyond I have re watched that show to death probably as much as Batman TAS but its spinoff not really. Infact I don't think I ever finished the show at all. Zeta never felt like it was part of the DCAU unlike Static Shock.

Legion of Super Heros: The show was forgettable it never struck a cored with me I completely forgot this show existed all I can remember is it had a Superman clone that ripped off Wolverine's origin attitude and claws yeah I think I'll pass on any re airings of that.

Young Justice: I love this series but the crappy way it was treated and the fact that we will never get a continuation or least some type of closure in some form just kills any interest in re watching it. I will rewatch them one day but like I said its tough to do.

Super Friends some of the other Pre-Bruce Timm animation: The shows were before my time and when I finally watched some of them like I think it was the USA Network I was only watching them to kill time before the good shows came on. In short they were before my time and BTAS got me to expect more from my action cartoons.

 

[Goldstar!]

For me it's The Zeta Project and season 5 of Teen Titans. The former I just found to be boring and the latter was a complete mess that should never have happened. TT should have ended after season 4, like it was originally going to. Also, for some reason I have no interest in re-visiting Batman Beyond after it ended.

A couple of people here have mentioned Super Friends, and I don't know about that. Super Friends wasn't a great show, or even a good show, but the series still has a certain campy charm to it. Only the first episodes of the series with Wendy, Marvin and that dang dog in a cape were/are truly difficult to sit through. If anything, Super Friends is a fun show to riff on.

 

[ABrown]

There's a few early episodes of Batman: The Animated Series that are pretty tough for me to sit through. "Christmas With The Joker" and "I've Got Batman In My Basement" come to mind. But that's about it. I think that most of the DC animation from the 90's on that I enjoyed then, I still enjoy now. Unfortunately I just don't have the free time that I used to have to rewatch cartoons.

 

[the greenman]

What set you off about Batman Beyond? Just not interested in the series or was there something else that made it harder to watch?

I had already grew up reading the Dark Knight Returns and they did have a graphic novel called Batman digital justice. I just couldn't take the idea of a Spider-Man version of Batman and the supporting cast of the series never felt right to me either. The episodes were mostly boring and the villains just felt like something from a brand new cartoon series that had nothing to do with the DCAU. I was slightly intrigued by the introduction of Kobra which was more in line with what I wanted to see from the show. Unfortunately they pushed the idea toward the end.

 

[Silverstar]

The 5th season of Teen Titans. Just an ill-conceived, convoluted mess. Several TT episodes are hard for me to re-watch since many of them felt like 10-minute plots padded out to 22 minutes.

I could never get into Batman Beyond. The whole idea of teenage Spider-Batman in a cyberpunk future never gelled with me, and the plots were just too 'high-school' for my tastes. The only BB episode I really liked was "The Call", which featured future Supes and some other cool heroes not tied to the Bat mythos.

Young Justice lost me after the time-skip. Way too many characters, plots and twists for me to try to keep track of. Plus, I just plain don't like time-skips.

I haven't seen it since its' initial run on Kids' WB!, but I don't know if I'd be able to re-watch Legion of Super Heroes if that were to ever resurface somewhere.

 

[CyberCubed]

Batman Beyond was NOT Spider-Batman, and people should be glad they went in a different direction with the villains in this show.

Rather than do something lame like Future Joker, Future Two Face, Future Catwoman, etc....they made a whole bunch of unique villains and some High School related plots. It felt more like monster of the week than a generic superhero show which was a good thing.

What did people want, Batman to fight Future versions of the B:TAS villains? Even Bruce Timm commented that would have been a stupid idea and said they almost didn't use Inque because she was too similar to Clayface.

 

[the greenman]

Batman Beyond was NOT Spider-Batman, and people should be glad they went in a different direction with the villains in this show.

Rather than do something lame like Future Joker, Future Two Face, Future Catwoman, etc....they made a whole bunch of unique villains and some High School related plots. It felt more like monster of the week than a generic superhero show which was a good thing.

What did people want, Batman to fight Future versions of the B:TAS villains? Even Bruce Timm commented that would have been a stupid idea and said they almost didn't use Inque because she was too similar to Clayface.

Actually now that you bring it up, Return of the Joker is my favorite of that show. That was well done, and no I did not want every villain future counterpart. I did want to see other aspects of the DCAU brought into Gotham of the future. However they really didn't flesh the universe out until JL/JLU came along, so it is unfair of me to judge it on that. The show as a whole has too many unenjoyable episodes.

 

[Silverstar]

Batman Beyond was NOT Spider-Batman

In the words of the Big Lebowski, "Well, that's, like, your opinion, man." Spider-Man pioneered the genre of the "teenage hero who saves the world all the while facing the same problems that real kids face every day" (TM), so whenever another one pops up, Spidey is usually the first character's name to be brought up by association. I know in terms of personality and origins there were noticeable differences, but at bare bones level, they're both "teenage heroes who save the world all the while facing the same problems that real kids face every day" (TM). Just sayin'.

And people should be glad they went in a different direction with the villains in this show. Rather than do something lame like Future Joker, Future Two Face, Future Catwoman, etc....they made a whole bunch of unique villains and some High School related plots. It felt more like monster of the week than a generic superhero show which was a good thing.

What did people want, Batman to fight Future versions of the B:TAS villains? Even Bruce Timm commented that would have been a stupid idea and said they almost didn't use Inque because she was too similar to Clayface.

I honestly couldn't give 2 squats about what kind of villains the show had. I just couldn't get into Batman Beyond personally, and I didn't enjoy the majority of the episodes, so it wasn't for me and I can't re-watch it. Simple as that.