I get the impression the Della Duck episode was a "special." It even ran only 25 minutes, apparently because it had limited commercial breaks.
Which is annoying because it feels like Disney is yanking the chain regarding its schedule, especially with no clear announcement when season 2 resumes (lest we forget, we are in the middle of the second season). The Christmas episode I understand and that's fine, but to do this one episode and then go on another long break without any clear expectation is frustrating as hell. I know the analogy isn't the same, but I'm reminded of the shitty way Disney treated Tron: Uprising, even if DuckTales isn't in any real risk of being canceled (the third season has already been ordered).
I just saw a promo saying new DuckTales episodes return in May. Kids' shows on cable often tend to have piecemeal release schedules like this, with long gaps between new episodes and an often unpredictably staggered release schedule. I've seen it with a number of shows on Nickelodeon, not just Disney Channel or XD. It might because children are more tolerant of watching reruns than adults are, so if they're watching regularly even when reruns are on, then you don't lose viewers if you have an intermittent release schedule. Something similar was the case with '70s and '80s Saturday morning cartoons when I was a kid. Since the audience would still watch the reruns, second and later seasons of animated shows tended to add only a handful of new episodes into the rotation of old episodes. That's why Star Trek: TAS's second season was only 6 episodes long -- that was pretty typical. At least these days we get full seasons -- they just aren't released as steadily as we'd like.
Well, that's something at least. Thanks for the head's up (especially since there's still nothing in the Wikipedia article).
So not only did a new episode suddenly came out today, there will be new episodes every weekday until next Friday! Seems a bit worrying for Disney to marathon new episodes over the course of two weeks after such a long hiatus (or felt like one since they couldn't bother to tell us their schedule plans ahead of time), but they're also doing it for Big Hero 6, so maybe not too worrying.
I'm reminded of the strip syndication we had for cartoons back in the '80s and '90s. It was normal then for cartoons to air new episodes 5 days a week, the original DuckTales among them.
Yeah, I recall that, too. If that's how the new show started, I wouldn't have batted an eye. It's what feels like a sudden change in scheduling that seems off. I'm sure it's not a big deal (and I certainly hope it isn't), but the change is jarring.
Cable kids' channels' scheduling of new episodes has been bizarre and erratic for a long time now. There was a time when you were lucky if the listed schedule for Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network on a given day matched what they actually aired.
True, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating. Annnnyyywayyyss...I just watched the new episode and it was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed how it subverted expectations from Treasure of the Lost Lamp, complete with the mirroring of the final moment of the original show's title sequence. I especially liked D'jinn's story about his family history with the lamp at the end. This is probably a coincidence, but I loved the casting of Omid Abtahi as Djinn because he plays the lover of a djinn on American Gods.
You are way overthinking this. The show will last 4 seasons or 65 episodes, whatever happens first, and that's how it goes at Disney. I have the Gravity Falls DVD. First episode aired June 15, 2012. The second episode aired two weeks later June 29th, the third episode the 30th, then the fourth a week later. The last four episodes of the 20 episode season were aired, one in April, June, July, August of 2013. Took 14 months to air 20 episodes.
By the end of the first week of the marathon, I thought the reason why we were getting two weeks of episodes is for the purpose of rolling into an extended arc of Della's return and the impending Moonlanders' invasion (more on that a minute). Instead, we only got the first part and a slew of returning characters, including Goldie, Lena (hooray!!), Gizmoduck, and Darkwing Duck, to go along with Della adjusting being back on Earth and with her family again. I'm really glad the show didn't wait to long for Della to finally depart from the Moon and I particularly appreciate how her preparations for her return took an entire an episode, thus allowing a whole new episode for her reunion and another for her accumulation, instead of trying to squeeze all three parts into one episode. However, I was disappointed by Lunaris' sudden reveal that he was biding his time to steal Della's rocket schematics and turn his fellow Moonlanders against Della as reason to invade Earth, all due to a growing grudge that he inherited from his father. I understood Penumbra's reasons for suspicions, even if it was taken beyond believability in "The Golden Spear!" despite Della resolving the moon mite dilemma in "Whatever Happened to Della Duck?" I wouldn't even have a problem with a conflict between the Moon and Earth as lead by Penumbra simply not accepting trust and openness despite her experiences with Della. But to have Lunaris to show a completely different side of his nature without as so much as hint of disdain doesn't work for me. I know that they've set up the situation for Penumbra to become the hero and finally learn that trust and openness (with an assist from Donald) but I just wish it hadn't taken this route. I do appreciate that the show didn't rush into the Moonlader invasion right away and will instead take its time to play out that storyline. Question is how long will they wait? Eventually, our gang will realize that Donald isn't on holiday as they all thought and Della will realize her rocket is missing. Hopefully the show doesn't delay all the way until the end of the season (if the same number of episodes as last season, we have another seven to go). Coming back to Della, I love that she doesn't immediately accumulate with Earth and her family and the show took its time developing her readjusting and connecting with her sons, creating believable friction despite their desire for her return. As much as I enjoyed "Raiders of the Doomsday Vault!" and how the adventure was utilized further connection between Della and Dewey, I did find it weird that Louie and Huey weren't also there, especially when the subsequent episodes didn't focus on Della reconnecting with them, too. Until "The Duck Knight Returns!", I was convinced each of the following episodes were happening simultaneously, hence the split stories, but then it was Dewey again with Launchpad (plus Scrooge at the studio instead of the arctic), leaving Louie completely out in the cold. Of all of the non-Della episodes, "Friendship Hates Magic!" was my favorite by far and not just because Lena has finally returned! I had hoped we hadn't seen the last of her when she was banished the to the Shadow Realm and I got my wish. I like the episode's sharp focus on Webby's determination to bring back Lena as well as her attempts to building a new friendship with Violet. I'm grateful that Violet turned out to be an ordinary girl who just happened to find the broken amulet after the Shadow War ended, and not someone with nefarious motives connected with Magica. I love that Lena watched over Webby since the War, which makes me wonder about all of the snarky comments she made in the adventures since that episode. I was worried that Lena would continue to be trapped in the Shadow Realm after Webby and Violet's brief visit, so I was greatly relieved when the friendship bracelet played another vital role and allowed Lena to return properly. I imagine I would've enjoyed "The Duck Knight Returns!" considerably more if I had been a fan of Darkwing Duck (I never got into it as a kid) but I appreciated the themes the episode presented and recognized most of the references to the series (although I had to look up Drake Mallard and Negaduck to fully appreciate the ending). As a huge fan of Christopher Nolan, I got a great kick out of the obvious mockery with Alistair Boorswan (complete with scarf!), and the other jokes about Zack Snyder, Joel Schumacher, and Adam West were also fun. Now Darkwing Duck exists as a real figure and potential hero, complete with Launchpad as his sidekick and the Darkwing Duck actor turning into a villain as Negaduck (which reminds me of Clayface in Batman:The Animated Series, although that connection might be unintentional). I sure hope we don't have to wait another two, three months for more episodes because I want more now!
You must be seeing the episodes before I am, since as far as I know, the Darkwing episode is still a bit over an hour from now.
Yeah, I saw it on the website. I forgot that it doesn't air until later in the day. I hope I didn't accidentally spoil the episode for you.
It was really surprising the turn it took. Jim Starling, the actor who played the fictional Darkwing, was named after and voiced by Jim Cummings, who played the original Darkwing. So it was surprising to see him turned into a villain, and to have a character voiced by a different actor (I don't know who, but he does a pretty good Darkwing impression) turn out to be the "real" Darkwing in the end. But it was really deft how they started with the established, revisionist premise of Darkwing Duck being just a TV show that Launchpad was a fan of, yet ended with a situation where Darkwing/Drake Mallard was a real superhero and Launchpad was his sidekick. That's really unexpected. They even established Drake's freakish resiliency to be true to the original show's more Chuck Jones/Tex Avery-style propensity for slapstick violence, relative to the original DuckTales's more subdued, Disney-esque physical comedy. (My standard example is that if Scrooge McDuck fell out of an airplane without a parachute, you'd expect him to be in real trouble if he wasn't rescued before he hit the ground, but if Darkwing did it, he'd hit the ground, get accordioned, slink offscreen, and be fine in the next scene.)
A lot of Disney adventure characters will be appearing soon! https://mobile.twitter.com/DisneyMoviesNew/status/1152302777290448896 DuckTales surprises Comic-Con with Rescue Rangers, Daisy Duck, and Lin-Manuel Miranda Missing bonkers and gummi bears though
Holy crap! Interesting that the designs for Monty, Zip, and Gadget are so close to the originals when most of Ducktales designs are a bit more stylized and simplified.
Sweet! It'll be good to see the Rescue Rangers again! Now, give us an idea when we get more episodes already!
Supposedly new episodes will air in September. Too bad we don't have Bonkers and "The Mighty Ducks" and Gummi Bears"