The Fatal Flaw of Hailey's On It (and Why It's Okay to Not Be "Story Driven") 

I was just kinda turned off by the fact that the plot is “you have to kiss your friend or else the world will end.”

Someone in the studio decided to take telling a chronically anxious person “it’s not the end of the world!” as a suggestion for a plot. Just.. a girl with anxiety is being pushed to do things she wants to do but is scared to try- which would be fine if it wasn’t UNDER THREAT OF GLOBAL ANNIHILATION. Who thought this was a good idea??? It has such an unhealthy subconscious message to just pressure anxious people into doing things

Honestly they should’ve kept the whole “fate of the world” stake as a mid-season or season 1 finale reveal. Let things play out more episodically so Haliey has a reason why she would avoid items like that as she would just think it’s for fun

Last I remember reading, Beta was originally a more minor character but the crew loved how Gary Anthony Williams portrayed him so much that they upgraded Beta to main character status.

I had my doubts when "will they/Won't they" was woven into the key premise. I may wait in line at a Disney park, but I HATE WAITING WHEN THEY TELEGRAPH THE ENDGAME COUPLE!! I think Lumity getting together in the middle of s2 made it difficult for me to tolerate WT/WT anymore, because it was fun seeing them as a cute couple. I honestly would have liked it if S1 had ended with them actually kissing/finishing the whole list, and then wondering "now what?" because the rest of Hailey's steps to success weren't written down.

The fact that I’ve heard and seen clips of this show and never knew it had a time travel plot says it all honestly

It’s not a story driven cartoon, it’s an episodic cartoon cosplaying as one.

Hailey Wasn't On It for you

What bugs me about the whole "Hailey having to kiss Scott" thing is that if it's dragged out to long no one will care when it happens. Plus Hailey getting all hung up on her romantic feelings for Scott is so unnecessary cause as we've seen several times in the show a work around/technicality helps check of items. All she had to do is give Scott a friendly peck on the cheek and it's done.

This has a very a PBS looking art style

Pros - I like Hailey's character design. It's kinda a breath of fresh air from the circly face designs in modern cartoons. Cons - Why does nearly everyone else's character design look kitsch or corny. I haven't pinpointed that exact word I wanna express. - Style and substance feels anemic even if it were live-action. - The silliest way to use the "save the world" plot device

As someone who is a huge fan of Disney show like Amphibia and Gravity Falls, I got say say “Hailey’s on it” is probably one of the most mediocre story driven show Disney has ever come up with It felt like I was watching one of those godawful Disney Channel sitcoms if they were animated

This show might have worked if they went the 'Doug' Route of being a grounded show about a girl trying to overcome her indecisiveness via imagination herself in alternate fictional scenarios but overthinks her problems as a simple solution that requires stepping out of her comfort zone at her pace would be the answer.

Yeah, I kinda enjoyed what I've seen so far of Hailey's On It, some likable characters (Hailey, Scott, Beta, Kristine and Becker are my faves), a handful of funny moments, but yeah, it ain't a masterpiece by ANY means. As fun as the story can be in places, some of the plot elements like the tasks in Hailey's journal can feel pretty flimsy. It doesn't have the clever formula-driven humour of Phineas & Ferb, the story-tightness and effective stakes of Gravity Falls, Amphibia and Owl House, the sense of energetic slice-of-life fun of Big City Greens or the sensitivity and nuance of topics that The Ghost & Molly McGee surprised us with despite being a mostly episodic and bouncy fun supernatural musical comedy. (And don't even get me started on the modern Marvel masterpiece that is Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. Anyone who hasn't watched that yet is missing out BIG TIME!) Overall, for me, an okay show, just not one that will be talked about a lot down the line like its contemporaries still are after their endings.

OH MY GOD I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO THOUGHT THE FUTURE LADY IS HAILEY.. I literally have never watched a single episode but solely from the ads I knew.. I just had a feeling! I’m so glad I’m not the only one lol

I was turned off from watching the show was the fact the plot was about fulfilling a future. I believe your future is what you make of it. But this entire series is about fulfilling it.

Chances are, the sitcom thing was probably put in to satisfy Disney's wants.

I find myself kind of a fan of the series, aaaaand I agree with pretty much everything you said about it’s odd tone and implementation of certain elements. The fantastical time travel stuff feels like a convoluted excuse to jumpstart Hailey’s adventure. Besides Beta, who isn’t that integral, the sci fi stuff just kinda disappears for most of the show, coming back at random, out of place times. The whole series works for me when it leans into being a grounded sitcom. I found the characters fairly relatable to people I know, the stories were fun, the humor surprisingly was to my personal taste, etc. I just wish it wasn’t being intruded on by this looming “end of the world” conflict, bringing in stakes that don’t belong in a show with this vibe and tone. Wouldn’t it have been more fitting if Haily was doing her list items out of mundane reasons? Like … … I don’t know, her family was moving in a year, so she wanted to complete as much as she could in her home with her friends before she had to go? Maybe Haily had a particularly bad experience with anxiety (panic attack?), resulting in her desperately doing all her list items to brute force herself into a more confident, stronger person. Maybe you could make a point about how mental health takes time, with her list being a coping mechanism as much as a challenge. The end of the series would be her accepting professional help, of something. Heck, Haily doing the list could just be motivated by the idea she’s somehow destined for greatness. Future her would be a figment of her wild imagination, who she wants to make proud. I mean, haven’t we all thought about how our future selves would be grateful for the choices we made now? The whole idea of Haily saving the world is just something caused by the same anxiety young people feel. Ya know, about how it’s up to them and only them to prevent a climate change based global disaster (I like the idea of this version making the point that one person alone isn’t going to fix climate change. The fact that this serious issue is completely solved in the official version of the series is kinda gross). I just like the idea of Haily doing the list items out of her own character defining choices, and perhaps, even flawed thinking. What do you think?

I remember watching Wish amd thinking, "I think Walt Disney Animation's revival era formula has finally turned against them", and that was coming from a guy who loved their films from 2009-2016 (and Encanto). And I then thought "at least their TV Animation division is going stong". This show makes me question that. What this show doesn't seem to realize is that Phineas and Ferb, Gravity Falls, Wander Over Yonder, Star VS The Forces of Evil (the good parts at least), Milo Murphy's Law, DuckTales 2017, Amphibia, Big City Greens, The Owl House, The Ghost and Molly McGee, and Moongirl and Devil Dinosaur aren't just driven by their stories, their continuity, their fantastical imagination, or their humor. Those are part of it, but, IMO, they would be nothing without their characters. All of the former stuff just helps develop them. And you can't have a character driven show that's also reliant on a big story and world if the main character isn't motivated by something personal. that's why I and so many others had the same headcanon as you. Like Eda said, "if we all waited around for a prophecy to make us special, we'd die waiting. And that's why you need to choose yourself." Choose yourself. Those two words are the main reason why these crazy adventures don't clash with these fun comedies. The main characters CHOOSE to go one them. Luz CHOSE to stay in the Demon Realm and become a witch, Dipper CHOSE to figure out the mysteries of Gravity Falls, Marcy CHOSE to get herself and her friends stuck in Amphibia, Molly CHOSE to befriend a ghost, Wander CHOOSES to help people and try to befriend and diagnose villains, Phineas and Ferb CHOOSE to crazy projects, Cricket CHOOSES to act out, etc. All the crazy events in these show happen because the protagonists CHOOSE to do something. And the adventures their choices result in help them grow and develop as a result. The same thing goes for the romance. Luz and Amity chose to get together. Isabella chose to have a crush on Phineas. Candace chose to crush on Jeremy. Molly and Ollie chose to get together. And the reasoning behind all of it gave them great chemistry. One of the big reasons Starco was eventually hated was becauee it was literally forced onto Star and Marco. The only reason why Hailey wants to finish this childhood bucket list, is because some random lady from the future told her if she didn't fulfill it, the world will end. For all we know, she forgot about that checklist along time ago and got over her crush on Scott! So, yeah, the only way this could have worked for me is if the lady WAS a future version of Hailey, and this whole thing was a ruze for her to have actual goals in her life, because she becomes an unmotivated loser who grew apart from her best friend because she never got ober or told him how she felt about him. I'd go so far as to say a line like "I only told you the world will end because I knew you wouldn't be motivated otherwise, okay?!" might actually cut deep for a lot of people. Otherwise, what's this supposed to teach kids? Have goals, or the world would end? No! Have goals, or you're life will be meaningless! You can have a comedy with continuity or an ongoing story or continuity. You can have a comedy with fantastical elements. But what's the point when it doesn't fit your characters or themes?

My theory for this show is the CHAOS in Chaos-bots actually stands for something like: Central High Authority Of Space-time (basically a variant of the TVA). What if the professor is actually from a different future where Hailey didn't complete her list? This way the bots wouldn't be trying to stop Hailey to destroy the future, but restore it to whatever apocalyptic way it was supposed to play out. Would adding a multiverse element to the already ambiguous time travel premise make up for the show's weak elements?

God, imagine if the series was just allowed to be itself, and the premise was: “Haley got out of the hospital after a long illness, and now that her life is coming back to normal and readjusting to school life and friend life, she finally has the opportunity to complete her bucket list that she made during her hospital admission. You have the potential for emotional topics about illness and anxiety and regret and loss (or fear of it). While also having a premise that’s not trying to be too big. It would also allow for all those “Haley’s a social disaster” stories this series was obsessed with because ‘no duh, she spent the better part of X time in a hospital, no wonder she can’t socialise to save her life’.

I really think the show had potential but there are big issues. 1. It has a really unappealing art style 2. It should have been a little more episodic 3. Why is there shipping stuff?

I don’t understand why people find the show to look ugly, it not as bad as other shows like pickle and peanut, or Pen zero( which I grew to liking it). I’m glad it isn’t a story driven show because my mind kind of goes nuts for story driven shows, and I can’t tolerate the wait for the next episode. Plus not everything needs to be plot driven. Sometimes it better to have a collection of stories with a good continuity than to have an over arcing story that dictate to end the show because there no way to continue a show once the arc is done because the show can’t go beyond the arc or it would be a spin off.

The show should have taken notes from Phineas and Ferb. Let the charming mascot have the world saving adventure that only occasionally intersects with the protagonist narrative. Maybe if Hailey were largely sheltered from the serious consequences, (she IS just a child) the overall narrative tension would feel more genuine? Make her think she has a sort of future robot fairy godfather, only for her to find out that, no, the apocalypse is coming and she NEEDS to get her shit together. This structure would make it much more closely reflect, say, The Owl House or Amphibia, but without sacrificing too much of the core of the show. Or maybe not. I kinda like the idea of Beta going off and fighting chaos bots on his own as a lil, hyper-competent guy while the kids act like silly kids. The show isn't bad at all, just soooo all over the place and would need some fundamental restructure to be a Truly Great show. (And not really my thing, but I can't hold that against it)

I think an even bigger problem with this show was how it desperately tried to imitate the humor from Phineas and Ferb, but it just ultimately came off as a somewhat successor to Ben 10 2017. Remember how that show shoehorned Vilgax in the season 1 finale as some big serious threat despite the entire show just being about Ben and family going on wacky expeditions doing obnoxious monster faces? It's kinda like that with this show.

Finding out it has a high stakes serious on going doomsday plot made go from curious about checking it out to kinda not wanting to anymore. I wish it was just a goofy but grounded episodic animated sitcom about a nervous girl fulfilling a bucket list lol.

I don't wanna be a hater but... I also found the art style kinda ugly 😬 Just another reason why I never clicked with the show. Moon Girl, Molly McGee, and Kiff I found far more enjoyable.

It is literally Phineas and Ferb alpha 2. Hailey is the to do list of the day show but instead of Phineas and Isabella it’s her best friend almost like a brother, one is get it over with and one is comedic wait till the ending. Just wait till Disney tries to make a movie or special when Hailey haves to complete the list before time runs out and it becomes a summer belongs to you but with how fast they can finish completing her list. (Also waiting for oh no they destroyed the book and the only thing left on that list I truly wanted to complete was to kiss/go out with Scott.)

Hailey's On It was just bad, for me. I hadn't fully watched the episodes, but I had this itch that occured every time I saw this "Future Lady". The source that I'm basing it comes from Ben 10 Omniverse, of all places. In one episode, it reveals a mysterious boy from the future, played by the same person as Robin from Teen Titans, claims he is the son of Ben and the girl that liked Blitzwolfer, a werewolf looking alien that Ben could turn into since the first Ben 10 show. I keep seeing this "Future Lady" as the daughter of both Hailey and that crush of hers. The problem I have is the writers forces two characters, whom are minors, to "just kiss already", by using a future relative as a mouth piece. Not only that, but also have galaxy ending consequences because "Butterfly Effect" being the only explanation given.

I hate hate HATE will they won’t they plots. It’s just a matter of time until they finally become a couple, but that time waiting is so frequently a waste. What should be happening is the characters relationship progresses to different stages over time, we get to see them grow closer, being out there best in each other, etc., but will they won’t they depends on a lack of progression and sometimes just rocketing people back to the start. It’s not a slow burn if someone keeps blowing the freaking candle out every time you try to light it. Worst of all, sometimes an alternate couple they throw in to push the two apart is actually much more interesting and cuter than the one the show is pushing, but they can’t be a couple because the writer has obviously already picked their endgame. Just let them be a couple, and if they drift apart make it happen for actual character arc reasons, and don’t feel obligated to just make them the endgame pairing because it’s what’s easiest. Especially because most people don’t have a long-term committed relationship for their first couple, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with showing two people trying to date then realizing they are better as friends. Hailey’s checklist doesn’t even require her to date Scott! They just have to kiss once! One time! I know it’s embarrassing and she’s filled with anxiety about it, but girl the world is gonna end just tell him that’s the case and get it out of the way. When the entire fate of world hangs on one awkward moment, I think you can sacrifice that. The sci-fi plot adds too many stakes to this one relationship to the point where what should be a very personal emotional journey is just part of a checklist.

Great video! Thank you

I skipped this show because 1. it is ugly 2. the shipping of the two leads. I already had a bad enough experience with starco shippers, lumity shippers, and steven universe fans ( just in general for that last one )

This show reminds me a lot of a pilot episode I saw on some streaming network for free. I can’t remember the name, but the premise was that this scientist from the future sent his robot (and himself or maybe a hologram) back to his past to teach his younger self to be a kinder person who can do all of the things his future self couldn’t, like forming a healthy relationship with his sister. Does anyone know the name of the show I’m talking about?

that was the vibe I got from the trailers when it came out. it just felt like two incompatible puzzle pieces

I always had a theory that the future professor was evil. Just thought it would be a nice twist.

Recently, i've been iffy about shows that have this basic premise whose purpose is to glue in the audience and hope that they get invested enough to when the show inevitably gets canceled, they're will be enough outrage to pressure the studio to make a renewal/continuation. This is especially egregious with shows with "hidden lore" that feels like a cheap tactic to get the lore nerds invested in piecing together a backstory that's generally irrelevant to the whole plot.

Commenting for the algorithm! This video is extremely well-done. I watched the pilot when it aired on Disney Channel and found it… obnoxious. I thought the style was cute enough but the aesthetic just does nothing for me. It feels bland.

This is so funny to me, because I legit caught an episode of this show randomly on TV last year, I think it was an episode that featured a fashion show(?), I legit had no idea there were Scifi elements until watching this video...

I just gotta say that within the first 40 seconds you sold me on a show whose concept as described in ads were a complete turn off. Idk whether or not the stuff mentioned in those ads are actually in the show and why you didn’t end up liking it (I’ll have to finish the show to find out), but you’re totally right in that it sounds like a great premise. I guess I’ll reply to this comment once I see what the issues were and if those issues were the same reasons I didn’t watch it.

i still hope we get a season 2

your channel seems cool, Imma sub

I can’t believe I’m saying this but this is probably one of these types shows where I probably wouldn’t mind it not being story driven and taking the episodic route I think a premise like this can create all sorts of interesting, fun and creative tasks that she can do. Enough where this series would last around over 100 episodes or so. Though if we were to take a story driven route, here’s some problems I have. They set up a plot point what could’ve been a really interested and sometimes even useful concept only for it to be dropped for the sake of a cheap gag. If you have a fan, follow the plan and stick to the plan and go all in at 100 percent.

I think of Scott as Dwight schrute

The bitmoji show.

The letters on the thumbnail are hard to see. Can you try a different color?

I've never watched this show even once, i only saw like a compilation of random clips from it. And I already could tell by the dialogue and animation that it was lame. But i had no idea there was time travel involved lol

And the winner of going from best to worst (best means bob's burgers and worst means some other animated series on netflix) is fox's the critic

How did Patricia reacted when Hailey was with Sanjay

my mom and i started watching it together and we both actually enjoy it but its one of those shows to us thats almost like miraculous. it aint actually good but it has its moments

I don't see how this show has viewer, no offense to the creators, but I found this show to be really boring, the shows just repeat the same 1 or 2 jokes every episode, and the plot just goes nowhere

Um... isnt there already a show like that? Its a kid that runs into his future self. His future self is a scientist/time traveler and the end of the world is a real thing?? Edit: The show is called "Saving Me". I forgot the name my bad. But yeah. His future self and him got into hi-jinks Second edit: lol. Isnt this just a copy of it of that but with girls instead of boys?

That's tphe reveal that killed the show? I've known that since the sand castle episode. (What really killed the show was not being an instant hit after one episode.)

They might make season 2 after Moana 2

When I saw the show (I haven’t watched more than 2 minutes of an episode), I actually searched up what the show was about and then when I saw these people need to kiss or everything is gonna die I did not watch any longer

I was in the hospital a few months ago and judging from The two episodes that I watched of Hayleys on it, it was mediocre at best. I preferred watching hamster and gretel

I've only seen a few episodes, and it just left me with a "meh". The whole future depends on the list thing was pulled right out of the gate and I honestly forgot it was a plotline. They should have pulled it out at the last second to raise the stakes a bit, and have Hailey willing to complete the list because she wanted to. The whole kiss your best friend thing felt unnecessarly outdated and forced. I'm actually cool with Hailey and Scott's platonic friendship dynamic. Remember how Svtfoe went? First it was about fighting monsters, then a past queen shunned and hated for falling in love with a guy no one approved and wanting equality, then the show became about abolishing racism. Yet they keep dragging out this will they or won't thing, similar to another awful show about shipping. (Mlb)

I dont even interested in the show and found out your channel... so... great video

I enjoy the show. I don't _love_ the show, but I enjoy it. I don't disagree with anything you said, though. The "future is in danger" plot _does_ feel tacked on, and I often tend to forget that's a thing. As for the high points, Becker. Becker is always a high point when she appears. 😊

It has flaws, okay. But it’s not career ending

Despite the show’s lighthearted tone, I actually saw almost every episode as a high stakes situation. I feel that the insane concept of “do this thing or world on fire” works for me as I’m always wanting to know how Hailey completes a list item. And the whole kissing Scott plot line didn’t really bother me as I feel that the ways they were delayed felt realistic to Hailey’s character, such as when she threw Scott’s phone on the ground to be crushed by the crop machine just so he wouldn’t hear her confession that she recorded when she thought she would die. Although I was pretty upset with what happened on the season finale 😕

this show deserves a distractingly mediocre out of 10

At firts glace i woun't thought this show was story driven, it seems somethig more simple

Well the show got made and that is something you can say.

Yeah... even as someone who enjoys this show, I agree that the time travel plot is completely unnecessary. This show basically has the same problem as _The Mitchells vs. the Machines,_ where it combines a simple slice-of-life plot with a larger sci-fi plot, both of which would be fine on their own, but don't exactly gel that well. But even _The Mitchells_ did it better, though that could be because it's a movie, and has the advantage of being able to wrap things up in an hour and a half.

>Tfw Saving Me has a better written plot about time travel than Hailey's on it I kid, I haven't seen the show, just clips, but the clips show the past affecting the future, they change perspectives of the present and future from time to time If you haven't heard of Saving Me, I get it. I only heard about it from RU-vid ads and it's kinda a Christian cartoon since it was on a Christian streaming service, but shit, maybe it's Hailey's on it done right, and I think that's funny.

Agreed.

Unrelated but I miss sitcoms and nowadays I see cartoons more than sitcoms which is weird tho

It had potential 😭

Bargain bin saving me

I've always seen "story driven" narratives, as stuff happening in more than one episode, the worldbuilding is incidental. I think Hailey blew its load too early, and "story driven" shows don't have to be this friggin' complex to understand and get down. Even Avatar was episodic with hints of progression. No really, every episode had a "PREVIOUSLY ON AVATAR" so you won't feel lost watching the episode that came on that day, so in my eyes, that's episodic

i notice the show is reaallyyyy good at not letting the romance get in the way of the plot. as in there is NO romance. the conflict of her having to kiss scott feels pointless because it doesn’t feel like she likes him at all in the first place 😭

I personally didn’t really care for the show aside from a few enjoyable elements here and there. The finale frustrated me more than anything (not a big fan of will they/wont they romances in media)

This why like watching anime shonen jump series that is how way long season

I wasn’t into this show when the first trailer dropped as it was trying way too hard to be “cool” and “extreme”. The humor wasn’t funny or thought provoking. The characters are all hackneyed and forgettable. And the story is just lame and forgettable. It’s trying to be a Disney version of Rick and Morty with the whole time traveling, science techno babble and meta humor.

Bailey's on ir is a good cartoon, done right

(Aftermath) (Knocking on ac door ac opens it and it was Scott) Ac-oh denoga what a surprise wasn’t expecting you to drop by (Scott shows ac beta) Ac-what a cute little bear plush doll what you came over to my house just to show me what you have ever since Hailey banks friend zoned you Beta-I’m not a plush doll you well proper buffoon Ac-what the beans it’s alive and it talk Beta-I do more than just talk I’m from the future Ac-what is this some sort of joke Scott-you tell us chaos bot creator (Presses beta chest but it was the I wuv you button) Scott-oops wrong button sorry beta (Presses the left side of his chest shows a projections of ac creating the chaos bots in the future) Scott-well look at that looks like you’ve been doing some hard work since your hands are dirty Ac-oh this I was uh uh uh fixing my bike yeah yeah the chain popped off so I thought I can put it back instead of going to a bike store to get it fix Scott-what’s that (Scott looks at the table sees a robot and it appears to be Sanjay who was a robot the whole time but in pieces) Scott-oh my gosh ac killed Sanjay that means I have a chance with Hailey Beta-no you buffoon he built this and I think I know why you built a robot human just so Hailey could fall in love with instead of her actually true love so the world would come to an end not if we have a say in this (Ac glares dastardly) Ac-come on Scott we gotta tell Hailey what’s going on (Ac pulls out his taser a threatens to zap beta and Scott) Ac-not so fast you meddlers drop the robot head (Scott drops the Sanjay head) Ac-hands up both of you (Both have their hands up) Ac-not kick the head over to me (Scott kicks the head over to ac)

This show should've just gone went the full Komi san route

You have the right to your own opinion about this show don't let the people in the comments put you down if you like this show that's completely ok it's a harmless simple show for me so i see no problem with it i dunno why everyone is so pissed about it

This show has fans?

Maye it was supposed to be a slice of life show, but Disney mandates epic shit

I initially wanted to watch this show just to relax and have a nice experience watching a slice of life Disney show, I never imagined time travel was remotely related to the show's plot at all. (Same with Scott, I thought he was Hailey's brother at first, but he's actually her love interest? Yeah... I haven't seen the show and it's already lost me)

Heres a dumb idea. Why not just make her future fake??? Like an imaginary friend. Make her future self a figment of her imagination. Hailey is an awkward kid so why not make her "future self" a more idealized version of herself. Or at least what she considers her "best self". By making her future self function more like an imaginary friend that Haileys mind came up with, HAILEY can be explored as a character. What does she like about herself? What doesnt she like about her self? What does she have to change about herself? Does she even need changing? Is this good for her? Or is this unhealthy? Her "future self" could be used to explore her own ideas about herself, how she sees herself an about how others see her and blah blah blah. It wouldnt be so much a devil or angel on her shoulder. Its just a kid trying to figure out who she wants to be and trying to figure herself out. If it were done well it could really open her up and confront certain insecurities she has about herself and other such problems. Anyway thats just my two cents. Take the time travel out of it and make it about a young kid trying to figure things out through her "imaginary friend" that is made up of her own self image, desires and insecurities.

Why tf do you sound like saberspark lol

The kiss the best friend thing would have been tolerable if the point was she does it in episode 1 just to get it over with and either he is now conflicted when she isn’t about it cause he has a girlfriend or they are clearly best friends with no romantic interest in one another trying to make it work. Instead it’s this dumb carrot that is seemingly more and more the entire actual thing she needs to do making the villain lamer whoever they end up being

It’s bad wen chikn nugget the indie cartoon that consist of SHORTS THAT USUALLY DOESN’T LAST’s HALF AN MINUTE does an more solid job of doing an story driven show than this one

Damn… I always just avoided this show bc I thought it looked ugly. Looks like I didn’t miss out on much haha

M

10:32 It seems like it's the same problem with helluva boss/hazbin hotel too...

Can you try enunciating a little more? I'm struggling to follow what you're saying at points. (It took me a minute to realize "noce-ing" was "noticing.") You have good insight, so it's a shame I'm struggling so much to experience it.

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I was tentatively with you until the Owl House and Amphibia points about them being stories suited to “going darker” in their second and third seasons. Mostly because they didn’t. Yes it was signposted and set up that they would, and no it doesn’t break your suspension of disbelief, but they *are* actively made worse by it. And it’s because they all do the same crap that Steven Universe, Star Vs, and even Haley’s On It! Do: *they refuse to tell their fucking stories, and when they do get to tell them they fuck up the themes*. Steve universe kept switching back to pointless beach city plots, and when they have to make a conclusion to their thesis they fumble hard. Star Vs kept pushing back their conclusion (and starco) and then forced a fantasy racism storyline… when if they wanted to depict racism you already had a Hispanic family in the US. (Side note, the Diaz’ depiction is kinda racist… passively but still). Amphibia kept hinting at potentially interesting shit in the last minute of most episodes, but then refused to do anything with it until they all collapsed in a single episode, it’s why the 1 hour special kinda sucked balls. And The Owl House basically regressed all of Luz’s character for the sake of drama and prolonging everything in terms of a resolution. (Seriously, Luz was a terrible girlfriend for most of seasons 2B and 3). And Haley’s On It! Is no different. It’s the same crap that arises when a show that’s made for or starts as an episodic story moves to be serialised: - They Hyperfocus on teases and ‘keep watching and maybe you’ll find out’s (Haley and Scott’s kiss eg, which I called from episode 1 was gonna take forever to resolve and be a drag) - They neglect the first and second acts entirely (think Owl House’s Hollow Mind, or For the Future. Nothing significant happens beyond teasing or angsting until we get to the third act and have to rush through character revelations and conclusions). And they all suck. It’s why they’re all actively made worse by their serialised stories. (Same with Tangled the series… fucking christ). The reason Haley’s On It! Feels different is because they haven’t committed to it. It’s not a matter that it’s made actively worse by it, but that it’s still uncertain wether or not it wants to plunge into the shit pile, so the back and forth tonal shifts are felt more. TOH, Star Vs, SU, Amphibia, they all picked an arbitrary episode in their series to start degrading half the stuff that made them interesting for the sake of Serialised drama, so it all felt like a steady pulling of a bandaid. Haley’s On It! Keeps fighting with itself about whether or not it peels the bandaid off, so you get to feel every hair pulled. For a different metaphor, a frog slowly boiled to death might not feel it, but if you light it on fire, then put it out and then light it on fire again, it’s sure as shit feeling it. The underlying damage still has similar mechanisms, it’s just that you’re not committing to it so we all have to experience the shifts and changes again and again. You’re watching a series go bad 20 different times instead of a single time.

i watched like 2 episodes and its pretty meh show :/

It's fine to not be story driven, but I WILL skip you if you aren't lol 💀

I'm gonna say something you all MAY NOT agree with and at the end of the day, I DON'T CARE... You can all blame Alex Hirsch for all these crappy story-driven cartoons. I mean, is it ANY COINCIDENCE that all Disney Cartoons tried to be like "Gravity Falls" after it aired? Shows prior like "Kick Buttowski" didn't follow the whole "watch the next episode to progress the story" bullshit, and it didn't need to. HOWEVER, immediately afterwards, even shows like "Wander over Yonder" and "The Ghost and Molly McGee", whose show's first season DIDN'T follow the story-driven process, tried to make a story-driven arc (in the form of Lord Dominator and The Chens, respectively...). Look, I'm not saying Gravity Falls is a bad show. FAR FROM IT. I'm just saying that you either make a story-driven cartoon or you don't. PLAIN AND SIMPLE. And if you don't, whatever you do, don't try to be like the cool kids and suddenly make a story arc out of it, as it just turns off your loyal viewers... PS: I didn't bother with this show because I too busy watching "The Ghost and Molly McGee", and I ESPECIALLY didn't bother watching this video because I have better things to do in 15 minutes of my life than watch some nimrod whine about a cartoon...