How much filler do you think should be in each season?

[Papenbrook]

I think the show should have 1-2 episodes of filler in each season.

Discuss below.

[neatoman]

If a show has an ongoing story then ideally there should be no filler at all.

[TurtleTitan97]

Originally Posted by neatoman

If a show has an ongoing story then ideally there should be no filler at all.

^ This is pretty much the best answer.

[yellowmario27]

I think in a season of 26 we can afford to have 4-5 filler episodes. It's a good balance. I personally like the filler episodes because they're fun and we can see the turtles do in their free time, like LARPing or meeting new friends (Meet mondo Gecko) etc..

[Powder]

"A large amount of filler. 7-10 episodes" got my vote. Though in a 26 episode season I don't consider that to be a large amount, it's less than half.

For me, as much as I like serialized material, "filler" is what makes a show more accessible & gives it a stronger re-watch value. & it allows for the introduction of one-off characters & adaptions.

[JTH]

Originally Posted by neatoman

If a show has an ongoing story then ideally there should be no filler at all.

That's also a great way to never gain new fans...

Fillers are needed to introduce causal fans to a show without dropping an anvil of continuity on them. If a causal stumbles upon a massive arc that they haven't been following or know anything about, they'll confused as hell and never watch again. There are people on here right now that miss two-three episodes at a time, come back and don't know what's going on, and we're regulars. Imagine what that would be to a person trying to get their feet wet?

[CyberCubed]

Its hard to say also what counts as a filler, because if a recurring mutant comes back in a later episode then it wasn't a filler, because it was the debut of a character.

[JTH]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Its hard to say also what counts as a filler, because if a recurring mutant comes back in a later episode then it wasn't a filler, because it was the debut of a character.

Exactly, people said 2 years ago that "Monkey Brains" was a filler episode.

Well how "filler" does it look now?

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by JTH

Exactly, people said 2 years ago that "Monkey Brains" was a filler episode.

Well how "filler" does it look now?

Rockwell still doesn't seem that important to me.

[JTH]

Originally Posted by neatoman

Rockwell still doesn't seem that important to me.

You would also have had no Rat King character, or follow up to Rat King.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by JTH

You would also have had no Rat King character, or follow up to Rat King.

But the Rat King episodes were also filler. There were only two of them, they never connected to anything else in the series and the Rat King may have died in the second one.

[miru]

I'd go with moderate filler. With this level of filler, we could have

* Fun "monster of the week" plots to introduce viewers to the show
* Little breathers to pass the time
* Introducing potentially interesting characters
* Answering fan concerns (wild mutants, Irma, etc.)
* Seeing additional points of view
* Occasional fully-comedic episodes

Without breaking the main plots.

[JTH]

Originally Posted by neatoman

But the Rat King episodes were also filler. There were only two of them, they never connected to anything else in the series and the Rat King may have died in the second one.

All those episodes have continuity to each other, they may not be part of the main story arc, but they're part of their own story arc.

Filler episodes do not affect other episodes. Cockroach Terminator is a filler.

Those episodes are not fillers.

[ssjup81]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Its hard to say also what counts as a filler, because if a recurring mutant comes back in a later episode then it wasn't a filler, because it was the debut of a character.

Yup, which is why I learned never to pass off anything as filler for this series, unless it literally isn't referenced or brought up again...like Cockroach Terminator, but it may show up again...hopefully.

[Luckyday]

To me fillers are stand alones episodes are often center around a concept that holds enough interest for one episode. Also when a story arc ends, it's nice to have a break on something light or just different in general.

A good example of this is time traveling Renet episode or a rat king episode.

A bad bad example is when you have seven of them, in a row, and diverging from a unfinish story arc!

I'm sorry but I don't care how well written those fillers may be, it can focus on my favorite character and the only thing on my mind is "Why the flying **** is character A not concern with epic **** B?!"