The Top 100 Animated Series: 75-51 | Part 3 – The 15th Anniversary Countdown
Transcript
The climb continues! In this next installment of The GeekCast Radio Network’s Top 100 Animated Series 15th Anniversary Edition, host Steve Megatron is joined by TFG1Mike, OptimusSolo, and DJ Valentine to reveal numbers 75 through 51. After a premiere filled with shocking upsets and nostalgic heavy-hitters, the tension is rising as even our hosts don’t know who made the cut—except for the man with the master list, OptimusSolo.
We break down the data from the first quarter of the countdown, noting a strong early lead for Sci-Fi/Fantasy and Superheroes, while checking the scoreboard for production giants like Marvel, Hanna-Barbera, and Disney. Will the 1990s finally start to dominate, or will the “Pre-1980s” classics hold their ground? Plus, DJ Valentine gives his unfiltered reactions to the rankings so far. From franchise mainstays like Star Wars and Transformers to the shows that were “one and done,” we are diving deep into the heart of animation history.
What you’ll get out of this episode:
- The reveal of shows 75-51 and how they compare to the original 2011 rankings.
- A statistical breakdown of which networks and production companies are currently winning the list.
- Critical discussion on why certain reboots and spin-offs are outperforming their predecessors.
- The first look at the “Ties” and “Total Upsets” that are shaking up the 2026 leaderboard.
Keywords (Comma Separated)
GCRN, Top 100 Animated Series, Animation, Cartoons, TFG1Mike, Steve Megatron, OptimusSolo, DJ Valentine, ToonCast, 15th Anniversary, Transformers, X-Men, Batman, Spider-Man, Star Wars, Hanna-Barbera, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Disney, Superhero Cartoons.
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I wrote about “Pokemon” not too long ago on my blog, after I decided to revisit it, ’cause I had a very viscerally negative reaction to it when it first originally aired, and was baffled that people didn’t find the show as offensively brain-rottingly awful as I did. (And yes you can find it streaming btw, you have to look a little, but you can find it. I know Hoopla has a lot of seasons for instance, plus there’s several anime sites that have it.) I even asked people who liked the series for specific episodes to watch and whatnot, to get sense of what’s great about it. I even finally looked through the early video games. It was very eye-opening.
It was still the absolute worst thing I had ever seen, like I still feel my brain cells popping when I try to watch the early episodes-, I’m not being facetious with that description, it physically hurts my head to watch it. I don’t get how people don’t feel pain when actually watching it; it is that bad to me.Obviously, I didn’t vote for it; I think a giant negative influence to the culture-at-large is not worth honoring no matter how big it is; I will say that, later seasons aren’t the worst thing ever. Some of them I can understand why somebody might like them, if you hadn’t seen where it began. I won’t say it’s ever gets to good, but there is clearly times where it was actually trying to be good and not just try to sell you stuff. If you’re interested at all, I would say maybe seek out those later series/seasons.
Anyway, I used to think I maybe overhated it because it first went on the air when “Looney Tunes” stopped airing on regular network TV and that trade off felt so offensive to me, but actually giving it a fair shot and seeing it with fresh eyes, and really analyzing why I find it so rancid and see why it turned out like it did and really look at why I could never get along with it, it was actually a good journey to go on.
It’s definitely not a show for me as well. I have never understood the appeal of Pokemon or Power Rangers. More power to those that love either of them but I don’t think they are things I will ever come around to personally. Thanks for the comment David!
Hmm, “Power Rangers”, really? I ended up watching it ’cause of peer pressure from bullies, which is literally the only time I ever gave into peer pressure. I didn’t have cable at the time and with limited options on weekday afternoons, I said that I watched “Barney & Friends” instead, and apparently that was the worst single thing I could’ve ever admitted to in class. I mean, I didn’t like it either but it was educational at least, I figured.
(Shrugs)
So, eventually I watched “Power Rangers” and I don’t hate it, honestly. I don’t love it, but it didn’t actively hurt me, like watching “Pokemon” did. I didn’t watch it every day, but it had moments, and I could see the appeal and I think certain seasons are actually really good. It was never my favorite, hell, it wasn’t even my favorite martial arts kids show, I was a “WMAC Masters” guy, but-eh, I can respect and appreciate “Power Rangers”.
I enjoyed Power Rangers here and there. Was it great writing? No, but it was entertaining and had some great cast for the Rangers. I watched through MMPR Seasons 1-3 and then Zeo and dropped off. Since, I’ve gone back and rewatched a lot of it and most of my likes are episodes or series where the MMPR/Zeo cast shows up. Beyond that, I have zero interest in the new characters and it got progressively worse as time went on other than the Once and Always film. I can see the dislike.
As for Pokémon, I never got into the show or comics. I was more into the game itself in the 90s. My kids enjoyed the original Pokémon more than the new stuff is mostly what I was getting at. I never fully watched it or got into the cartoon and would agree, I’d much rather watch any older animated cartoon from the 40s thru 2000s than that show. But it is an icon and deserved to be on the list for it’s longevity and for it’s standing in animation. Are all of these good shows? Debatable and opinions based on the pool of submissions. But I can see the point here.
I tried the game as well, when I did my blog. I didn’t know the game came first; I didn’t have a Gameboy, I also just didn’t play a lot of video games at that point anyway, and if I did, it was usually a sports game or a puzzle game. so I was completely in-the-dark on “Pokemon” as a franchise, before it started causing injury to my brain cells. But, I found an emulator and looked up the original game, and played a little bit of it, enough to realize that, at least the first season was following the game, which-, I still have to watch some of the new series like “Fallout” and whatnot, but I just don’t like anything, movies or TV that have a structure of a video game plot. Not just video game adaptations but I don’t like “The Raid” movies, they bore me, I don’t like “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World”, ’cause like, once you know there’s seven exes to beat, it’s like, “So, I don’t have to watch the next hour or so of this, ’cause the third ex isn’t gonna kill him?” I’m hoping once I get to newer video game adaptations that I have heard good things about that maybe my opinion will be tweaked on that, but….
Anyway, where the game really lost me,- I forget where it is in the beginning of it, I think it’s “Pokemon Red” or something, it’s indicated contradictorally that, “You don’t have to have your Pokemon fight, but in order to go and progress in the game, they have to fight”, and-eh, that,- like I mean, I’ve heard fans tell me that it isn’t, owning little animals slave and sending them off to fight before and try to defend how un-Michael Vick-like the franchise really is…- after playing that, those arguments just rang too hollow for me to really consider seriously. I know it’s not the intent, but it’s still written into the lore, y’know, and-, I mean, couldn’t I just raise a Pokemon like it’s a Tamagachi? I mean, I didn’t care for them either as a kid, but y’know, keeping, raising, caring for a little animal, that’s a good thing to teach a kid. I mean, once upon a time they sold Pet Rocks on that idea, so…. I’m sure there’s some forms of Pokemon where you can do that now instead but, that clearly wasn’t an inherent option at the time. I’m not inherently against a fighting game; I played a bunch of “Street Fighter” at the arcade too, but it’s one of those, “How it’s about it as oppose to what’s it about,” things for me, and even taking away all the blatant capitalism about it, and even disregarding my own pain after watching the show, I think even as a kid, at that time, had I seen the game I would’ve been completely tuned out on it for that reason. I would’ve been like, “I’m not collecting animal fighters for my own amusement!” The way it goes about it, at least in it’s original form, it’s always felt wrong to me.
I caught Pokemon here and there, but never kept up with it.
Power Rangers though was another thing.
Check out From The Command Center Here at The GCRN for all the Power Rangers stuff we have done.
I’ve seen almost ever PR season up to Samurai. after that I dropped off.
AFTER MMPR as my fave when I was a teenager….
My Top 4 Series are:
#1 BEST: Dino Thunder!
#2 Time Force!
#3 SPD!
#4 Lost Galaxy!
Thanks for listening and commenting!