Let's say 7 seasons. Suppose the G1 Sunbow TF cartoon had lasted the same length of time as the Marvel comic book (1984-1991)? It had been the same years for both cartoon & comic as it was, until 1988. Now had the G1 TF cartoon been able to stay on TV with a real 4th season, then full 5th, 6th & 7th seasons: What do YOU think it would've been like & which characters/groups would've appeared? You know we would've had Powermaster Optimus Prime, Pretender Starscream, the Micromasters, the Seacons/Piranhacon, Pretenders Bumblebee, Jazz, Grimlock among others? How do YOU imgine G1 TF's full real 4th season would've been like? & then full seasons 5-7?
Sort of don't need to. Japan continued G1 for several seasons after "The Rebirth" aired in the US. They created three major series "Headmasters", "Masterforce" and "Victory". As the years went along though, their series focused more and more on Japanese exclusive figures. That said, if the series had continued in the US, I'm sure you're right - there would have been new technologies like Pretenders released. However, I think the tone of the stories may have changed as time went along from some of the cheesier elements of G1 (such as "The Girl who loved Powerglide" and Seaspray becoming a merman) to more "serious" fare such as the huge battles seen in "Rebirth" and the "deaths" from the movie. As to which groups? If it was kept 2D animation - any and everything that had a toy.
I've often thought of this. I longed to see Powermaster Prime in the cartoons (besides that horrid guy in the costume). I remember crying when Prime died, and even more so when I realized my Prime toy was in almost as bad shape as its animated counterpart. I still remember my mom taking me to KB toys and getting me Powermaster Prime. Back then, I didn't know he was even going to be made. When I saw him on the shelf, I froze and I think I stopped breathing. I begged my mother and she got him for me. Many new adventures were had with PM Prime, Rodimus Prime, Galvatron, Ultra Magnus, and all of my other TFs. This is a long way of saying I'd have loved to see the Powermaster concept brought to the series and would've loved the series to continue on many more years. The Powermaster idea is still a good one, and brought about some interesting conflicts in the old Marvel comic.
I found some of the post-"Rebirth" Japanese episodes (with English subtitles) on Youtube once, and tried to watch them. But I found them pretty unwatchable. It seemed like the episodes were just a couple of minutes of plot being used to set up nonstop combat scenes. Yes, the American show was cheesey, but I remember the plots having a bit more substance than that, even when said plots were extremely silly.
One of the major problems with S3 was poor writing, along with poor animation. There were some good concepts that weren't nearly used as well as they could have been. I think one reason Rodimus Prime is unpopular with many fans is that some writers seemed to think he should spend most of an ep comparing himself to Optimus Prime, and saying how much he sucked. I thought he was an interesting character personally, but they really needed better writing. Same with Galvatron. "Rebirth" is one of the few episodes where he doesn't act entirely crazy, but actually strategizes the way Megatron often did.
What do you think of the G1 US cartoon's depiction of Headmasters and Targetmasters? I thought the *masters were great toy gimmicks, but the G1 US cartoon's concepts -- people in exo-suits that transformed into heads and guns -- was ridiculous. The idea that some guy sitting inside a sentient, battle-ready robot's head, pulling levers and pushing buttons to control in part or in total all of the robot's actions, is somehow more effective in combat than the robot acting on its own is laughable. The cartoon didn't show what a Targetmaster human did when sitting inside a Targetmaster gun. Did he just sit there pushing a big red fire button, hoping that the robot never dropped his gun from 15 or more feet in the air? The Japanese Headmasters series wasn't very good, but I found its *master concepts -- smaller robots who transform into heads and guns -- to be less absurd. The G1 US comics weren't consistent with how they treated the concept. In early issues it seemed like the *masters humanoids were physically altered -- turned into cyborgs or something -- although the story didn't make this clear. I never read the G2 comic, but I've heard that Spike (binary-bonded to Cerebros/Fortress Maximus) reappears as a seemingly normal human who just wears a helmet to communicate with his Autobot partner. Bottom line: *masters toys: cool. *masters G1 US cartoon depiction: stupid. *masters G1 US comic depiction: stupid. *masters Japanese cartoon depiction: less stupid. Back on topic, I would guess that a longer-lived G1 US cartoon would have shifted its focus almost entirely to the goings-on on planet Nebulos. Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus and Galvatron would gradually fade away as the stories revolved around the various *masters, and ulitmately the Pretenders, whom I never "got." On the whole my interest in G1 was on the decline by the time the Pretenders came around.
I do kind of like the Japanese version better - some of the small Master robots were Transformers who had fled the war and attempted to start over on another planet. They weren't too different from the later Mini-Cons rather than being humans in robotic suits.
I like Season 3 a lot actually, mainly because the Sci-Fi/space angle really interested me as a kid. Yet the three episodes that make up "Season 4" are just crap IMO. Never liked the stupid "headmasters" concept, watching them back on DVD its just nonsensical and ridiclious On one of the various R2 DVD releases of the movie is the first episode of the Japanese show which follows on from Season 3 and ignores the three Season 4 episodes. Everyone should watch the English dubbed version of this as its frakking hilarious! Literally the worst dubbing in the history of the universe! Just awful. The narrator can't even pronounce half the names right; he keeps saying "Cyberton" instead of "Cybertron", and all the voices sounds like they were done by some random bloke they dragged off the streets than an actual proffesional actor/s. The plot too was a vapid detritus, so I can't say I wanted to invest in the DVDs for the rest of the series
I would have liked to see a storyline where we learn that Rodimus is still the true leader, with Optimus showing him the ropes and relating to him how one year or less is far from enough time to judge his effectiveness. Maybe a parallel storyline wherein Megatron is found in Unicron's wreckage, creating a Decepticon Civil War and pain for Galvatron, ala the final G1 comics, about his past self's insanity. Maybe at one point Megs signs on to Gallie's side, but starts acting as the Starscream of the group, though more subtly. Also, the writers get on their hands and knees and beg Casey Kasem's forgiveness for those low Arab caricatures in the S3 opener. The ones who thought of that and making Rodimus whiney would be sacrificed to bring Scatman Crothers back to life.
The Japanese series actually did have Hot Rod getting the Matrix back and becoming Rodimus again, and teaming up with Optimus to defeat Galvatron after he merged with Cybertron. Or something like that.
Well I think in some ways the 'masters' would have been the focus of the rest of Season 4. Maybe the Pretenders are founded toward the end or middle of Season 5. Although I still think at that point, it would be time for a reboot or change or something to 'revitialize' the series, considering 5 years is still pretty long for a sci-fi cartoon. So they would probably bring back Megatron somehow and essentially it would go back to a very Season 1/2 feeling. With Autobots fighting Decepticons with some of the newer races. Possibly even introducing the Pretender shells or something toward the end of season 5. Season 6 would see them gradually downgrading their sizes, kinda being like a precursor to what would become mini cons. Then Season 7 would see the destruction of Cybertron and maybe the end of Prime and Megs/Galvy and Cybertronians would colonize a new planet. Which COULD lead into a 'Beast Wars' like series set farther into the future.
Season 4 - Headmasters and Targetmasters. There is heavy focus on Nebulos. Pretenders are introduced towards the end of the season. The series has a bit of an identity crisis because it doesn't know if it wants to take place on Earth, Cybertron, or Nebulos. The conflict between Galvatron and Scoroponk continues. Galvatron is phased out by the end of this season. Season 5 - Powermaster Optimus Prime. More Headmasters, Targetmasters, and Pretenders. More focus on Earth since Nebulos is secure, and to narrow down the setting after the confusion of the previous season. Micromasters introduced. Season 6 - With the exception of Optimus, most of the Headmasters, Targetmasters, and Powermasters are phased out. Micromasters and Pretenders mainly on Earth and Cyberton. Season 7 - Megatron returns, somehow the Transformers lose the ability to Transform and become Actionmasters. Pretenders and Micromasters are still around but it's like Nebulos and the other ____masters never existed.