What even is the status quo of this show?

[neatoman]

So we're ten episodes in (technically 5,5 but who really counts it like that) and I'm still not sure what the world of the show is like or it's character relations are. Like, it still drops ideas on us with little to no introduction and the "everyone already knows about TMNT" excuse really doesn't apply here. I'm not going to dwell on the fact that countless mutants popped up right after the mosquito outbreak and have varying levels of interaction with soceity, because that's pretty much the most obvious factor. Instead, let's think about everything else.

I will be pointing to events from previous versions, just to make it clear why the familiartiy excuse doesn't work.

First off, how and when did the Turtles meet April, and how old is she? We don't see April meet the Turtles, the only thing we know is that they "known each other for years". Since human girls and mutant turtles don't tend to hang out very often, it seems like it might be a good idea to establish how they met. So based on previous versions, what could it be? Did Shredder send out henchmen to silence her? No, because nobody knew about the Foot Clan and she's obviously not a journalist. Did Utroms try to kidnap her? No, because they might not even be a factor here given what we know about the mutagen. Did Baxter Stockman try to kill her? Maybe but I don't think April has a coding degree here.
That last one brings up something else, how old is she? She looks like she's 13 but seemingly lives alone and has been around the turtles for "years". Seems like something that needs to be a little more clear.

Then we have Splinter. Appearently, he started out as a human. The only reason I know that is because it's in his bio, the show itself has offered zero evidence to that. Hell, even the bio strangely enough leaves out the name Hamato Yoshi, so we don't even know his real name for sure. I would not be shocked if we got an episode where a bad guy needs Hamato Yoshi for whatever reason, kidnaps Splinter who is then revealed to just be Yoshi's pet rat and therefore useless. Really seems like the kind of thing this show would do to be honest. As for what we do know, there's very little. All we know is that he's lazy, needs to be kept in check by his sons and can't even remember their names. That last one brings up another reason we can't rely on familiarity with the brand, who named the turtles? If Splinter did, why does he keep forgetting? They might be going with the lab animal origin, in which April named them, but I doubt they're doing that.

The origin is another thing you'd think they would have established clearly by now but just isn't. When the Turtles run into the Foot Clan, they have no idea who they are, which makes me question if there even is a connection between them. The mutation of the Turtles is also left up in the air. It's vaguely impled that Baron Draxum created them, but they don't know who he is, nor do they recognise the hidden city. Then there's the elephant in the room about us only having seen humans mutate so far, which could lead a newcomer to assume the Turtles started out as humans. And why would that be incorrect? Very little has conformed to previous versions, for all we know that could be the case.

I don't, by any means, expect this show to have much of a story or fleshed out characters. It clearly isn't aiming for sophistication or drama. But there are still certain things that need to be established, even in a show like this. Sure the show still has 93 episodes left (if not more) to clarify what's going on, but the ideal point to establish the status quo is already past. To me, you really should establish how a rat came to adopt and train mutant turtles, before you have him run around with wacky randomness flu.

[Leo656]

You're not 5. You're not supposed to even be watching this show, let alone asking questions about it.

Every question anyone has about the show can and has been answered already, numerous times: "You're not supposed to care, old person of questionable maturity. It's not for you, it's for people too young to know better. Learn to love it or go take a leap."

It is what it is. I had questions, too... but the first episode really told me all I'd ever need to know.

[IndigoErth]

And seems like the next three we're getting are still just random stuff.

Mystic whatevermcfritters my butt. Maybe that and the whole Draxum thing and his possibly having created them will matter sometime.... next spring?

[Candy Kappa]

Just watch the episodes, it's not hard to piece "status quo" together. sheesh dude.

[Dejablue]

While I don't like Rise very much, I can't fully agree with this post.

Nothing is inherently wrong with starting a show with a relationship (in this case April's friendship with the turtles) in medias res. In fact in some cases it's a cool thing to do and get to the point of showing off the dynamics of the relationship. The show has only just started. And since it was written for, like, 8 year olds, theres no real reason to establish how they met yet. They have all the time in the world to do that. April isn't really an important character from what we have seen so how they met doesn't even matter. Just anticipate the eventual "flashback to how we met episode."

I do partially agree with Neato's complaints about Splinter tho. Is his behavior at all warranted or does he act like a stupid crazy old man for dah lulz. I actually never saw any info that stated Splinter was human first in this incarnation, which could be a very important clue as to why he acts the way he does. If he used to be human, then really Rise Splinter is the most realistic portrayal of a what would happen if a human got turned into a rat possibly against his will. Splinter might not give a crap because his life was literally flushed down the toilet. But this is just me making of theories. And an inconsistent theory at that, since all of the other human turned mutants are just scooting along as if nothing happened.

If April is old enough to live alone its hard to tell from her design. She does look just as young as 2012 April if not younger.
I would argue it isn't fair to waste people's time if April is an important character, and I'd like it if we got into more of the whole mystic weapons thing. I'm just saying, if people bitched about Steven Bombs then Rise dragging it's narrative feet should also not be tolerated.

[miru]

Basically:

https://youtu.be/Go5wle3_G5k

There’s a plot of them trying to learn weapons they stole from the mysterious Baron Draxum, who wants to capture them with the aid of his hired hands, but they have a tendency to ignore hat and go on unrelated adventures and ordeals alike.

[neatoman]

I just feel like there are some things that warrant explaination after 10 episodes, it just seems odd to me that they're content with random episode plots so quickly. I know this isn't the kind of show that wants to focus on it's plot, that it really just wants to do whatever. And that's more or less fine, lot's of children's entertainment is like that.

The heart of my criticism is just that might seem confusing, especially to newcomers, the people you try to appeal to with a reboot. TMNT isn't exactly a straightforward concept, it needs proper introduction.

[Andrew NDB]

You're not 5. You're not supposed to even be watching this show, let alone asking questions about

The prize. You have won it, sir.

[Coola Yagami]

The turtles are good guys, they fight bad guys. April is their friend, Splinter is old and lazy. There, status quo.

Any other questions and you're too old for this show. Move along.

[IndigoErth]

it just seems odd to me that they're content with random episode plots so quickly
Yeah, I mean if they wanted to just do random nonsense, then for better or worse just sell it as random nonsense... not as some supposedly big, flashy "new and never been done!"™ idea about all this mystic whatever and then turn around and go, "Naw, you now what. I think we'll just write an adventure about them hunting for the tv remote!"

[miru]

Yeah, I mean if they wanted to just do random nonsense, then for better or worse just sell it as random nonsense... not as some supposedly big, flashy "new and never been done!"™ idea about all this mystic whatever and then turn around and go, "Naw, you now what. I think we'll just write an adventure about them hunting for the tv remote!"

I imagine the next show will be just that... flat-out random nonsense, ala the McWeeny comics.

[Leo656]

The prize. You have won it, sir.

Awesome. I hope it comes with cake.

[IndigoErth]

I imagine the next show will be just that... flat-out random nonsense, ala the McWeeny comics.
And beyond that... A hybrid of Mikey and the Hypnotoad. :tlol:

[Autbot_Benz]

Like I have said before many times this show was created for the children of this generation the ones who have the attention span of fleas and can only pay attention to 11 minutes of programming before they lose interest.

[miru]

And beyond that... A hybrid of Mikey and the Hypnotoad. :tlol:

Yeah, like Pumpkins in Pants from Arthur.

Let’s see how long that lasts...

[Andrew NDB]

Like I have said before many times this show was created for the children of this generation the ones who have the attention span of fleas and can only pay attention to 11 minutes of programming before they lose interest.

The adults trying to make this show about them are going to perpetually be very, very sad pandas.

[Autbot_Benz]

The adults trying to make this show about them are going to perpetually be very, very sad pandas.

true they can go cry on their tumblr accounts for all I care

[CyberCubed]

Twitter and tumblr is where a lot of the older fandom is, they love the 2012 cartoon of course, but opinion on Rise is very mixed there. Even on the official TMNT Nick twitter, people respond to most pics/gifs of Rise with mixed opinions, saying how they want the 2012 cartoon back, or the 2k3 series released on new DVD boxsets, etc.

[sdp]

You know they're old fans when they're asking for something to be put on DVD, why not ask VHS at that point?

[ABrown]

I can't figure out what the shell is going on in this series. From what I've seen, I'm staring to feel like the 2012 series is the masterpiece that tekering thinks it is. Actually, in all seriousness, last year at this time was the Savanti Romero/Dracula/Frankenstein episodes. This show is actually making me long for those days.

[miru]

The adults trying to make this show about them are going to perpetually be very, very sad pandas.

I've gone from a sad panda to a dead panda already. Apathetic beyond making some filler-related jokes.

[Mewzard]

Like I have said before many times this show was created for the children of this generation the ones who have the attention span of fleas and can only pay attention to 11 minutes of programming before they lose interest.

11 minute episodes are not a new concept.

Look at Ed, Edd n Eddy, it started in 1999 and had 11 minute episodes paired up in one 30 minute block. Hell, Dexter's Lab back in 1996 was often three 8 minute episodes put together in a 30 minute block.

So yeah, saying it's just this generation for 2018 cartoon watches given we've had stuff like this 20 years ago is a bit off.

[victory_angel]

I'm not particularly a fan of this series myself. But I do watch it to see where its planning on going. The show is trying to do a lot of one-off adventures to establish villains like "The Foot" "Draxum" and "Meatsweats", MS is the only villain who has had two appearances thus far and is the most formidable since he can absorb the power and ability of any mutant.

So far we haven't seen a mutant being completely drained since that Silverfish mutant scampers away when Meatsweats is distracted by the Turtles. And the cobra mutant he was draining is tossed aside when he forces the turtles to stop chasing him when he releases also those mutant animals he has in his truck.

It is implied that his absorbing of mutants can be lethal but we have never seen it get to that point. I can imagine a mutant that has been completely drained of their mutant energy being like that old man that was drained by Cell on Dragon Ball Z.

And it's unclear if the power he absorbs from the creature is permanent or temporary. For example in his bio says that when he turns into Mini-meats when he's hit, but we have only seen that happen once. So if that's a permanent power gained by the Silverfish, wouldn't the spitting acid also be a permanent power.

We are also seeing some slice of life episodes where the Turtles which develops the relationships between them though it doesn't really develop them as characters entirely. We do see some character development occasionally such as Donnie wanting to improve his brother's behavior in battle. And the other turtles complaining about the gifts he created for them but yet still commenting they don't know how to approach him about that because he is a soft shell, not because he's literally a soft-shelled turtle. But rather because they knew him well enough to know how sensitive he could be.
Then at the end, Donnie admits he was wrong for trying to improve them and they forgive him for it.


or Splinter being afraid of Donnie, because when Donnie is mad at him he forces Splinter to watch educational channels on TV.

Splinter seems to really like that one actor from those Lou-Jitsu shows. I have seen theories that Splinter could be that actor, which would be part of the obsession with that character because he is remembering life the way it had once been. Such as how in the 2k12 show, we know Bradford before he became a mutant had once been a TV actor and then one ep where Razar is marathoning his old show and says "I remember when we filmed this."

I don't mind that we haven't heard an origin to how the Turtle's met April. That is bound to be explained when the show is ready. All we know for sure is that it's implied Draxum had mutated the Turtles. I don't have the source, but I heard that Draxum is associated with the Foot Clan. So far aside from the Foot Lieutenant and the Foot Brute, we haven't seen anything associated with the Foot in general, so Draxum may still be a separate villain. Shredder is also going to be introduced somewhere down the line. So this series still has its problems, but it's trying to take TMNT in a direction it hasn't really gone before. There are bound to have some issues with the presentation.

[Ninjinister]

In the words of Neil Patrick Harris: "The status is not quo."

[CyberCubed]

Having caught up on all the eps so far, the Turtles are just basically having fun adventures where they bump into other mutants. The mutants do live in the underground city and in some areas seperated by portals that only mutants can visit.

The Foot have only been in one ep so far, so we don't know about anything about them and Splinter's connection yet, and if Splinter is faking the whole "deadbeat dad" thing. I do think they'll give us a flashback to how the Turtles/April met eventually.

[Garfield]

11 minute episodes are not a new concept.

Look at Ed, Edd n Eddy, it started in 1999 and had 11 minute episodes paired up in one 30 minute block. Hell, Dexter's Lab back in 1996 was often three 8 minute episodes put together in a 30 minute block.

So yeah, saying it's just this generation for 2018 cartoon watches given we've had stuff like this 20 years ago is a bit off.

Thank You!

It's like people forget freaking Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry and all the other eight to ten minute cartoon shorts that have been that way for decades and decades. Type "Steamboat Willy" into the search engine on youtube, that's like the first...or one of the first Mickey Mouse cartoons and its only seven minutes long, and it was made in like 1928. But hey...we gotta put on our old man socks and rag on little kids and their attention spans... I mean, it's not like they're still developing mentally or anything like that :roll:. And all the while its the (some) fans in the 30's and up bitching and moaning about how their cartoon turtles aren't "adult" enough.

[Leo656]

This show is just like the Bay movies, where "If you hate it, you're an old grouch."

Y'know, in spite of all the REASONS people give for why they don't like it, or why they'd prefer something else. Nah, it's not about taste and standards. "You're just old."

Y'know what's old? That f*cking defense.

If "It's for kids, so shut up and go away if you don't like it" is a thing we're going with, then... technically, if you're older than 10 and you like it... YOU'RE too old to matter, too, so why should YOUR opinion mean anything, either? On one side, it's "old people yelling at clouds", and on the other, "manchildren defending something that's not even theirs to defend."

I've been pretty quiet about it because I absolutely, definitely, 100% see nothing in this show, I won't be watching it, and that's that. I gave my honest opinion, was told to go away, and y'know, it's really not worth my time to argue about, so fine, I said what I think and it doesn't need to be said a million times. But I get pretty annoyed when I see people insulting anyone who has a negative opinion of it, so every now and then I feel compelled to say something. Everyone is allowed to have a voice; if you don't like what they say, don't listen. The amount of childishness I've seen surrounding this show isn't as bad as the Bay films yet, but I can see it heading there.

Some people don't like it. They're going to explain why, repeatedly, in detail. That's their right. Forums don't exist under "Like Everything Or Shut Up" rules. The "old people yelling at clouds" stuff needs to stop.

[Dejablue]

Thank You!

It's like people forget freaking Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry and all the other eight to ten minute cartoon shorts that have been that way for decades and decades. Type "Steamboat Willy" into the search engine on youtube, that's like the first...or one of the first Mickey Mouse cartoons and its only seven minutes long, and it was made in like 1928. But hey...we gotta put on our old man socks and rag on little kids and their attention spans... I mean, it's not like they're still developing mentally or anything like that :roll:. And all the while its the (some) fans in the 30's and up bitching and moaning about how their cartoon turtles aren't "adult" enough.


Literally none of those examples are trying to tell a complex story. They are slice of life comedies. Also note none of them are action shows. I'm simply saying 11 minutes is a poor format for action. If My Little Pony can do 22 minutes then why can't TMNT? In the grand scheme of things girls cartoons are literally the worst, nobody cares about them and boys cartoons are typically taken more seriously. The only reason Rise is 11 minutes is for 1 of 2 reasons. It's either cheaper, or children are too ADHD to watch a 22 minute long cartoon.(It's probably both but mostly the first one) 11 minutes is fine if the show is an accommodating genre. An action show, I'd argue, is not. Especially when the action has to share those precious seconds with hit or miss jokes. Nothing has time to set up, no anticipation, no real pay off. It's like if Bugs Bunny and Sonic the Hedgehog had a baby. That's this show.

I'd rather just have 11 minutes of well animated action. Rise has shown me that it can look pretty darn good when it wants to be but so far that's been pretty rare. We probably won't even see Baron Cena again until the finale of the season, because the network couldn't afford to keep Cena for more than just a couple of episodes, so his character won't be recurring often, sooo the story suffers for it. I really don't get why celebrity voice actors are a hot commodity, what child watching this show would even care?

[Garfield]

Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Mickey Mouse, and Rise of the TMNT are goof ball comedies.

They are not trying to be a story heavy kind of thing. I think people are misunderstanding. I'm not trying to convince anyone that Rise of TMNT is a good show. DON'T like it if it isn't your thing, it doesn't matter to me. My response was to the poster talking about cartoons being shorter because kids have short attention these days and I pointed out that there are cartoons from the 1920's that are even shorter and kids have small attention spans because they are still developing mentally. And its a little ironic to me that people rag on kids and their attention spans then suddenly being miffed about silly acting ninja turtles. I can't put it anymore literal than this.

[Dejablue]

On a slightly off note...how dare you compare Ed, Edd, n Eddy to Rise.

How dare you.

How could you? :(

[Andrew NDB]

This might be a way for Nick to cleanse the palate and lower the bar a bit (and expectations) before they attempt a somewhat more serious take in animated form. Jumping straight from 2012 to such a thing might have been counter intuitive.

<-- me being slightly optimistic, but ultimately apathetical.

[Leo656]

Short-segment cartoons are not a new thing, no.

I've been giving it some thought, and I think I can kind of sum up the frustration that I, and perhaps a few others, are feeling at the current state of the TMNT franchise.

- I feel like, even after all this time, the Very Best TMNT Stories still haven't been told.

- The potential the franchise holds to tell those stories will absolutely not be realized within the constraints of a sketch comedy aimed at young children.

- Most of all, it's becoming more and more crystal clear with each passing year that so long as Nick holds the rights, we're all going to be getting a lot more stuff like "Rise", and further and further away from the franchise's still-untapped potential.

A little bit of stuff "for tha kidz" is fine, but that's all we're ever going to get, forever, and that's not even what the brand was created to be, let alone where its best stories are. Is this what we're collectively willing to settle for? "It's not for me so whatever, at least they're making more toys?" That's an admission of defeat.

I hate kids and I don't buy a lot of toys anymore, and yet, it would be nice to keep liking TMNT. I've liked it for a very long time, but only the parts that appealed to me; at present, there are none. Will there ever be again? Highly doubtful. It's upsetting. I'm essentially being told by the license-holders to f*ck off because I'm physically incapable of wiring my brain to match the patterns of a 5 year old. For wanting someone to raise the bar, rather than keep lowering it.

Some of us have just been waiting a long time, hoping for something that we now realize isn't ever going to happen. With a side dish of, "Ha-ha, you actually ever saw this franchise as anything but a joke. Nitwit."

Sucks. Not a good feeling. I for one wouldn't mind this show existing if there was ANY sign at all that Nick would ever deign to present us with something in the vein of the first film, at the absolute least. But they're not, ever, and it's incredibly frustrating.

Ah well.

[Andrew NDB]

I feel you entirely. And while what you want and what I want to see might be somewhat differently, I think the hope either of us may have had died in 2009.

I'm happy to see Nick prove me wrong. It just hasn't happened yet and all signs point to more of the same. I wasn't holding out hope before and I'm not holding out any hope now.

Look forward to 10 new origins of Bebop and Rocksteady and stuff over the next 20 years. With variations of Krang and Technodrome and wacky mutations and recycled Fred Wolf stuff over and over, like the dog eating and pooing out its own poo. Pretty much. Blegh.

[newfan]

Also agreed on the point of there not being something else too, catering for a wider age group (besides the comics I mean) we see this elsewhere in things like DC and Marvel.
Course with TMNT so many do want different things, I don't think they will win in that respect but at least can please a good handful of fans?

So far as this show though, they said what it was going to be from the start and while I get people don't like that we have this, so far as judging the show itself goes, I would judge it among other toons of it's type as that is what it's meant to be, if that makes any sense.

[miru]

Short-segment cartoons are not a new thing, no.

I've been giving it some thought, and I think I can kind of sum up the frustration that I, and perhaps a few others, are feeling at the current state of the TMNT franchise.

- I feel like, even after all this time, the Very Best TMNT Stories still haven't been told.

- The potential the franchise holds to tell those stories will absolutely not be realized within the constraints of a sketch comedy aimed at young children.

- Most of all, it's becoming more and more crystal clear with each passing year that so long as Nick holds the rights, we're all going to be getting a lot more stuff like "Rise", and further and further away from the franchise's still-untapped potential.

A little bit of stuff "for tha kidz" is fine, but that's all we're ever going to get, forever, and that's not even what the brand was created to be, let alone where its best stories are. Is this what we're collectively willing to settle for? "It's not for me so whatever, at least they're making more toys?" That's an admission of defeat.

I hate kids and I don't buy a lot of toys anymore, and yet, it would be nice to keep liking TMNT. I've liked it for a very long time, but only the parts that appealed to me; at present, there are none. Will there ever be again? Highly doubtful. It's upsetting. I'm essentially being told by the license-holders to f*ck off because I'm physically incapable of wiring my brain to match the patterns of a 5 year old. For wanting someone to raise the bar, rather than keep lowering it.

Some of us have just been waiting a long time, hoping for something that we now realize isn't ever going to happen. With a side dish of, "Ha-ha, you actually ever saw this franchise as anything but a joke. Nitwit."

Sucks. Not a good feeling. I for one wouldn't mind this show existing if there was ANY sign at all that Nick would ever deign to present us with something in the vein of the first film, at the absolute least. But they're not, ever, and it's incredibly frustrating.

Ah well.

Hey, about IDW, I think you might be able to get used trades for cheaper.

[IndigoErth]

Yeah, I'm not sure I'd consider Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, etc to be suitable comparisons. They may be good examples of mindless cartoon comedy shorts and the long history in animation it has, but did they actually start out as a property with a much more serious edge? Eh, no. They've always been what they were intended, but TMNT isn't them.

This might be a way for Nick to cleanse the palate and lower the bar a bit (and expectations) before they attempt a somewhat more serious take in animated form. Jumping straight from 2012 to such a thing might have been counter intuitive.

<-- me being slightly optimistic, but ultimately apathetical.
Kinda been my hope too that it will turn out that way. That this will end up working out as just a break and getting bad ideas out of the way now that we can skip doing again down the road.

I suppose if I had a choice if some of these stupid decisions were done in a stupid show or a smart, well written one... well, I guess I would prefer it happen here, albeit still distasteful and disappointing.

Though like some things in the the Bay films it carries with it a fear that Nick will decide it likes things this way and might stick to what it's doing in future incarnations. And it's gonna be a while to find out. :ohwell: (Though a next film that's actually good and not like this series would help.)

I've been giving it some thought...
And much of that too.

I just haven't given up hope like you guys have. Kind of kills me a little to feel like I'm losing trust in Nickelodeon though. Nick is only 3 weeks older than I am (sans its short earlier start as Pinwheel), it's an old friend in a way and I don't think first generation "Nick kids" ever really quite stop being Nick kids. :twink:

Kids content is fine, but I despise the determination to trap them in being "just a kid's thing," and worse when fans disappointingly even support that notion and tell others to shut it. It can always be a part of who they are, that is fine and totally welcome and is a big part of how they got to where they are of course, but it isn't ALL that they are. I love the fun stuff too. But dumbing them down for 5-year-olds and insisting that is what TMNT should be... come on. And while new generations are very welcome to JOIN the rest of us, this older set that had them first isn't going to be entirely passing that torch until we're all old and dead, sorry.

If the Turtles have to be drastically altered just to appeal to the kiddies now for some reason, then bring the creativity back and give them some all new heroes of their very own they can look up to. Characters awesome enough that they would one day defend them too and be equally attached to them.

It all makes this all the more absurd though: "Nickelodeon targets ‘a broader demographic than we ever have before’" (https://www.adweek.com/tv-video/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-relaunches-with-wwe-j-crew-and-amazon-ahead-of-new-series/), or so they say in light of this relaunch of the property. NOW they're interested? Despite supposedly trying to go younger with this one. I'm so confused...

Side note, I'm still disappointed that they dropped the ball on Half Shell Heroes. Would have been such a great example on trying to separately aim at two demographics at once.

[Leo656]

Hey, about IDW, I think you might be able to get used trades for cheaper.

I have a chunk of the first year or two. It's fine, but I didn't love it like everyone tells me I should.

Indigo: Hah, I remember "Pinwheel", albeit very vaguely. Like you, I grew up on Nick, and have a lot of fond memories, but that was a long time ago. When they purchased TMNT, I openly said that I expected only the worst, specifically because a company whose only reason to exist is to sell toys to little kids is NOT the best company to handle TMNT, which CAN be so much more than a toy commercial.

Or could have been, at any rate.

It is what it is.

[Vegeta]

I'm not really into mcu movies and disney star wars as their soulless corporate cookie cutter retreads but disney doing a TMNT Cartoon or film would be a miracle compared to the trash we're getting now. Honestly those bay movies and this rise cartoon are a series low point and this is a franchise with the out of our shells tour and next mutation in it's history.

I feel bad for the folks who don't even like the IDW series, like whats left for you of this franchise?

[Mewzard]

Literally none of those examples are trying to tell a complex story. They are slice of life comedies. Also note none of them are action shows. I'm simply saying 11 minutes is a poor format for action.

Well, Steven Universe is an action show with some comedy bits that has had some major story focus at several periods (especially the most recent season), and it works well for the most part (could argue a bit too much slice of life/"filler" stuff between the story, but that's subjective).

I honestly don't think the show would be all that different with 22 minute episodes vs what it is now. It might have more breathing room, but if they want a longer episode for some major story stuff, they can just do a two parter back to back.