History AudienceAlienatingEra / WesternAnimation

** What about the WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner cartoons of that time? Rudy Larriva, who had animated for Creator/WarnerBros in the 1940s (but hadn't worked on anything ''Looney Tunes''-related for about 15 years), took over the series from Chuck Jones. Larriva's character designs were very OffModel, the loss of Maurice Noble robbed the desert landscapes of all their scale and range, and the less said of William Lava's music, the better. The more complex schemes were replaced with sluggishly-paced crude gaggery, and to accommodate them the Roadrunner was completely derailed into actively fighting back against the Coyote, firing cannons at him and so forth. Watch "The Solid Tin Coyote" for a good look at how far off-base the series got. Better yet, don't (and just so that you know what we're dealing with here, keep in mind that "The Solid Tin Coyote" is pretty much universally regarded as the ''best'' of Larriva's efforts in this series).

** How about the fact that in ''Beast Machines'' the robots transform by magic. I'm frankly surprised that not only did this particular issue not cause a cacophony of fan outrage, but seems to go mostly unnoticed by the fandom.
*** ''Beast Wars''? ''Generation 2''? None of them can hold a candle to the monstrosity that is ''[[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Kiss_Players_(franchise) Kiss Players.]]''
*** Let's just say this; ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars saved'' the franchise from dying out, in the west, and renewed interest in "organic" Transformers after the Pretenders of G1 fell flat; by contrast, not only did ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'' completely kill off the concept of "organic" Transformers, but it ''also ensured that the West never made another Transformers series for almost a decade''. When the only thing that kept the series from being a FranchiseKiller was ''Japan'', you ''know'' it rightfully deserves a spot as a Dork Age.

* While each new incarnation of the ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' franchise brings its haters, the ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' sequel ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'' is almost universally loathed by the fandom. For one, the writers were told to [[ExecutiveMeddling not actually continue any story threads]] from ''Beast Wars'' because they wanted there to be its own story. They also brought in the idea of Cybertron as an originally organic planet, a state that the Maximals were fighting to return it to (never mind that the dominant race of Cybertron has been robotic for millions of years), and a number of spiritual aspects that were never present in any of the previous series. This was compounded by the fact that ''Beast Machines'' supposedly exists in the same continuity as Generation 1.

** Oddly enough, Scrappy's creator, Mark Evanier, wrote a [[http://www.povonline.com/scrappydays/scrappy01.htm]] explaining, among other things, how Scrappy actually saved the show. So, yes, Scrappy [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap rescued his Uncle Scooby from the Scrappy heap]].

**** To be fair to Kiss Players, it's Japan. Trying to make sense of their fetishes is like trying to be Cthulhu's psychologist.

** A New York Times article in 2000 described how boring Mickey was. Disney's [[TheEveryman overly restrictive guidelines]] prevent writers from doing much with him. Disney tried to inject some creative juices by having Mickey redrawn by various artists (big fan of Mickey with "M-shield" a la ComicBook/CaptainAmerica) but they haven't moved ahead until recently, with Warren Spector's ''VideoGame/EpicMickey'' video game. Said game takes advantage of {{Video Game Caring| Potential}} '''and''' [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential Cruelty Potential]], where you could either let Mickey remain an everyman, or go back to his original personality of a mischievous and reckless troublemaker. And a little bit of NightmareFuel. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwl3JYszocs Observe.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'' is already starting to be considered this to the ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' franchise on the animated plan: this series bears no similarities with the comic of the same name, or, for the matter, with any incarnation of the character. The tone is DenserAndWackier with a lot of comedy slapstick while all drama and dark aspect is removed, Spider-Man is a SHIELD agent learning how to be a superhero with NickFury as TheMentor, he is part of a team of annoying sidekick superheroes, and most villains from Spidey's actual RoguesGallery are dropped in favor of other comic villains. Not at all helped by the fact it replaced TheSpectacularSpiderMan which was largely considered to be epic, and despite the fact Ultimate had no control over Spectacular's [[CutShort fate]], people are [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks pretty]] [[ReplacementScrappy upset]].

* ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'' is already starting to be considered this to the ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' franchise on the animated plan: this series bears no similarities with the comic of the same name, or, for the matter, with any incarnation of the character. The tone is DenserAndWackier with a lot of comedy slapstick while all drama and dark aspect is removed, Spider-Man is a SHIELD agent learning how to be a superhero with NickFury as TheMentor, he is part of a team of annoying sidekick superheroes, and most villains from Spidey's actual RoguesGallery are dropped in favor of other comic villains. Not at all helped by the fact it replaced TheSpectacularSpiderMan which was largely considered to epic, and despite the fact Ultimate had no control over Spectacular's [[CutShort fate]], people are [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks pretty]] [[ReplacementScrappy upset]].

* ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'' is already starting to be considered this to the ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' franchise on the animated plan: this series bears no similarities with the comic of the same name, or, for the matter, with any incarnation of the character. The tone is DenserAndWackier with a lot of comedy slapstick while all drama and dark aspect is removed, Spider-Man is a SHIELD agent learning how to be a superhero with NickFury as TheMentor, he is part of a team of annoying sidekick superheroes, and most villains from Spidey's actual RoguesGallery are dropped in favor of other comic villains. Not at all helped by the fact the show it [[Series:TheSpectacularSpiderMan replaced]] was largely considered to epic, and despite the fact Ultimate had no control over Spectacular's [[CutShort fate]], people are [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks pretty]] [[ReplacementScrappy upset]].

* ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'' is already starting to be considered this to the ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' franchise on the animated plan: this series bears no similarities with the comic of the same name, or, for the matter, with any incarnation of the character. The tone is DenserAndWackier with a lot of comedy slapstick while all drama and dark aspect is removed, Spider-Man is a SHIELD agent learning how to be a superhero with NickFury as TheMentor, he is part of a team of annoying sidekick superheroes, and most villains from Spidey's actual RoguesGallery are dropped in favor of other comic villains. Not at all helped by the fact the show it {{Series:TheSpectacularSpiderMan replaced}} was largely considered to epic, and despite the fact Ultimate had no control over Spectacular's {{CutShort fate}}, people are {{TheyChangedItNowItSucks pretty}} {{ReplacementScrappy upset}}.

* ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'' is already starting to be considered this to the ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' franchise on the animated plan: this series bears no similarities with the comic of the same name, or, for the matter, with any incarnation of the character. The tone is DenserAndWackier with a lot of comedy slapstick while all drama and dark aspect is removed, Spider-Man is a SHIELD agent learning how to be a superhero with NickFury as TheMentor, he is part of a team of annoying sidekick superheroes, and most villains from Spidey's actual RoguesGallery are dropped in favor of other comic villains.

** What about the WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndRoadRunner cartoons of that time? Rudy Larriva, who had animated for Creator/WarnerBros in the 1940s (but hadn't worked on anything ''Looney Tunes''-related for about 15 years), took over the series from Chuck Jones. Larriva's character designs were very OffModel, the loss of Maurice Noble robbed the desert landscapes of all their scale and range, and the less said of William Lava's music, the better. The more complex schemes were replaced with sluggishly-paced crude gaggery, and to accommodate them the Roadrunner was completely derailed into actively fighting back against the Coyote, firing cannons at him and so forth. Watch "The Solid Tin Coyote" for a good look at how far off-base the series got. Better yet, don't (and just so that you know what we're dealing with here, keep in mind that "The Solid Tin Coyote" is pretty much universally regarded as the ''best'' of Larriva's efforts in this series).

** Oddly enough, Scrappy's creator, Mark Evanier, wrote a [[http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_02_14.html#012936 series of blogs]] explaining, among other things, how Scrappy actually saved the show. So, yes, Scrappy [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap rescued his Uncle Scooby from the Scrappy heap]].

** And then ItGotWorse. If you ever see a cartoon with the opening described above, except with a company credit that reads "Warner Bros.-Seven Arts" instead of just "Warner Bros." then you should run for the hills. Because there is absolutely nothing good that will result from the cartoon that you are about to watch.

* The ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' cartoons had a Dork Age that lasted for nearly two decades. It started with the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'' series, the LighterAndSofter Generation 3, or the SpinoffBabies Generation 3.5. ''Tales'' was a short lived SliceOfLife series which threw the rest of the continuity out the window and was set in a world where the ponies were essentially humans in horse bodies. Generation 3 lacked essentially everything the original series had (action, villains, a plot, etc) in exchange for a somewhat SliceOfLife version of the series that TastesLikeDiabetes. Generation 3.5 was essentially deformed "chibi" versions of the Generation 3 cast as babies, though it didn't even try to make sense in the series continuity. Eventually the series got out of this Dork Age when ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' came along and restarted the franchise, being more like the original show.

** When you see Mickey [[FullyDressedCartoonAnimal fully dressed with a hat and long pants]], you know he's not going to be any more interesting than your neighbor. Disney historians fully admit the increased emphasis on DonaldDuck and {{Goofy}} was partly caused by Mickey's iconic fame making him slightly inflexible and too 'sweet' to put funny cartoons or as anyone's foil. Earlier -- and thankfully, more recently -- he was a mischievous adventurer (''KingdomHearts'', [[OlderThanTheyThink ironically]], is fairly close to this depiction). DorkAge Mickey sits at home and gives Pluto orders like a bossy, boring parent.

** A New York Times article in 2000 described how boring Mickey was. Disney's [[TheEveryman overly restrictive guidelines]] prevent writers from doing much with him. Disney tried to inject some creative juices by having Mickey redrawn by various artists (big fan of Mickey with "M-shield" a la CaptainAmerica) but they haven't moved ahead until recently, with Warren Spector's ''EpicMickey'' video game. Said game takes advantage of {{Video Game Caring| Potential}} '''and''' [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential Cruelty Potential]], where you could either let Mickey remain an everyman, or go back to his original personality of a mischievous and reckless troublemaker. And a little bit of NightmareFuel. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwl3JYszocs&feature=related Observe.]]
*** Lampshaded in the Disney Vault ''[[Series/SaturdayNightLive TV Funhouse]]'' sketch ("You're supposed to be ''funny''?"). That line came about from Robert Smigel's puzzlement of Mickey Mouse being such an iconic kids character when most kids can't actually name a defining trait or characteristic for him.

** {{Popeye}} had this happen as well, after the shorts became headed by Famous Studios. Granted, it didn't get too bad until 1950 or so, when SeasonalRot set in and the writers just didn't know what else to do with Popeye, ending up resorting to RecycledINSPACE plots.
* WoodyWoodpecker fell into this during the 1950s--apparently, WalterLantz wanted Woody to appeal more to kids, so he slimmed down Woody's design into a pinty, stiff looking "cute" design. On top of that, Woody was completely derailed as a character - whereas earlier he was a selfish heckler who only stood for himself, this Woody was watered down into a bland hero-type character. On top of that, from the mid-1950s onward, Paul J. Smith took the directorial reins and brought the series down even further with sloppy animation, not to mention lousy jokes and timing (surprising, considering his earlier efforts such as "Hot Noon" were among Lantz's best cartoons). It's a wonder the series was able to last through 1972 in theaters.
* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' suffered in [[LooneyTunesInTheSixties the Sixties]] as well (you know something has gone terribly wrong when they have DaffyDuck chasing SpeedyGonzales around for some reason) after the original animation unit was shuttered and work was turned over to Creator/DePatieFrelengEnterprises. Fortunately, this Dork Age comes with fair warning: if you catch a cartoon that opens with a weird version of their theme song set to trippy graphics spinning around, and the cartoon is not ChuckJones' ''Now Hear This'' (or maybe ''Norman Normal''), you're going to get to see their Dork Age.
** What about the WileECoyoteAndRoadRunner cartoons of that time? Rudy Larriva, who had animated for WarnerBros in the 1940s (but hadn't worked on anything ''Looney Tunes''-related for about 15 years), took over the series from Chuck Jones. Larriva's character designs were very OffModel, the loss of Maurice Noble robbed the desert landscapes of all their scale and range, and the less said of William Lava's music, the better. The more complex schemes were replaced with sluggishly-paced crude gaggery, and to accommodate them the Roadrunner was completely derailed into actively fighting back against the Coyote, firing cannons at him and so forth. Watch "The Solid Tin Coyote" for a good look at how far off-base the series got. Better yet, don't (and just so that you know what we're dealing with here, keep in mind that "The Solid Tin Coyote" is pretty much universally regarded as the ''best'' of Larriva's efforts in this series).

* ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' [[WesternAnimation/TheTomAndJerryShow à la]] HannaBarbera's [[WesternAnimation/TheTomAndJerryShow television studio in]] TheSeventies. AKA, whenever Hanna and Barbera didn't directly make them.
** Put it this way: maybe you've seen reruns of the Gene Deitch shorts, the ChuckJones shorts, [[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie the 1992 movie]], ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryKids'', and the occasional short from {{Filmation}}'s ''The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show'' on Creator/CartoonNetwork or Boomerang? How often (if at all) do you recall the television shorts from the 1970s?

** Interestingly, CN Asia now airs the 1970s TV shorts every now and then... as well as the 1980 Filmation era shorts (though they no longer run Deitch's shorts). Now ''that'' is a DorkAge.

* Someone at Turner Broadcasting must really dislike the 1980s episodes of ''TheJetsons'' and ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'', because Boomerang's rerun rotation of the shows go up to the last episodes of their first seasons, but then goes back to the beginning like nothing happened afterwards. Yet they still show the Jetsons' ChristmasEpisode every December. Thankfully, though, this contempt for the later years of ''TheJetsons'' and ''JonnyQuest'' isn't shared by the rest of Time-Warner, because the episodes are being made available in every other place where one can watch the show.
* While each new incarnation of the ''{{Transformers}}'' franchise brings its haters, the ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' sequel ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'' is almost universally loathed by the fandom. For one, the writers were told to [[ExecutiveMeddling not actually continue any story threads]] from ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' because they wanted there to be its own story. They also brought in the idea of Cybertron as an originally organic planet, a state that the Maximals were fighting to return it to (never mind that the dominant race of Cybertron has been robotic for millions of years), and a number of spiritual aspects that were never present in any of the previous series. This was compounded by the fact that ''Beast Machines'' supposedly exists in the same continuity as Generation 1.
** ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'' has gained ground with many fans in recent years. Compared to the dodgy storylines and iffy animation quality of ''Armada'', ''Energon'' and ''Cybertron'', the writing and certainly the CGI animation of Beast Machines looks pretty good in comparison.

*** ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars''? ''Generation 2''? None of them can hold a candle to the monstrosity that is ''[[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Kiss_Players_(franchise) Kiss Players.]]''

*** Let's just say this; ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars saved'' the franchise from dying out, in the west, and renewed interest in "organic" Transformers after the Pretenders of G1 fell flat; by contrast, not only did ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'' completely kill off the concept of "organic" Transformers, but it ''also ensured that the West never made another Transformers series for almost a decade''. When the only thing that kept the series from being a FranchiseKiller was ''Japan'', you ''know'' it rightfully deserves a spot as a DorkAge.

* ''TheFlintstones'' has that show where they get new neighbors--the Frankenstones, who were basically a prehistoric version of ''Series/TheAddamsFamily'' or ''Series/TheMunsters''--only with an unsympathetic FrankensteinsMonster as a head. Most of the episodes were about Fred having a fight with Mr. Frankenstone. Yes, in the original cartoon some monstrous neighbors were mentioned, but only episodically and never as major characters. It didn't help that the show also featured shorts that were ripping off other shows, so we could watch Captain Caveman imitating {{Superman}} (he was even ClarkKenting) with Betty and Wilma as two Lois Lanes, teenage Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm solving {{Scooby Doo Hoax}}es with Dino, as well as Fred and Barney in a BuddyCopShow, patrolling the streets with a goddamn ''Shmoo'', which was constantly molesting Fred.
* The ''MyLittlePony'' cartoons had a dark age that lasted for nearly two decades. It started with the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'' series, the LighterAndSofter Generation 3, or the SpinoffBabies Generation 3.5. ''Tales'' was a short lived SliceOfLife series which threw the rest of the continuity out the window and was set in a world where the Ponies were essentially humans in Horse bodies. Generation 3 lacked essentially everything the original series had (action, villains, a plot, etc) in exchange for a somewhat SliceOfLife version of the series that TastesLikeDiabetes. Generation 3.5 was essentially deformed "chibi" versions of the Generation 3 cast as Babies, though it didn't even try to make sense in the series continuity. Eventually the series got out of this dark age when ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' came along and restarted the franchise, being more like the original show.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', as mentioned above, plunged into one during Season 1 and its movie (and took the ''StarWars'' franchise in general with it). However, it had a good last impression with the introduction of [[EnsembleDarkhorse Cad Bane]] in the season finale, which gave the show [[GrowingTheBeard a boost in quality that it's generally managed to keep]].
* WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan is already starting to be considered this to the SpiderMan franchise on the animated plan: this series bears no similarities with the comic of the same name, or, for the matter, with any incarnation of the character. The tone is DenserAndWackier with a lot of comedy slapstick while all drama and dark aspect is removed, Spider-Man is a SHIELD agent learning how to be a superhero with NickFury as TheMentor, he is part of a team of annoying sidekick superheroes, and most villains from Spidey's actual RoguesGallery are dropped in favor of other comic villains.

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' suffered in [[LooneyTunesInTheSixties the Sixties]] as well (you know something has gone terribly wrong when they have DaffyDuck chasing SpeedyGonzales around for some reason) after the original animation unit was shuttered and work was turned over to DePatieFrelengEnterprises. Fortunately, this Dork Age comes with fair warning: if you catch a cartoon that opens with a weird version of their theme song set to trippy graphics spinning around, and the cartoon is not ChuckJones' ''Now Hear This'' (or maybe ''Norman Normal''), you're going to get to see their Dork Age.

* WestenAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan is already starting to be considered this to the SpiderMan franchise on the animated plan: this series bears no similarities with the comic of the same name, or, for the matter, with any incarnation of the character. The tone is DenserAndWackier with a lot of comedy slapstick while all drama and dark aspect is removed, Spider-Man is a SHIELD agent learning how to be a superhero with NickFury as TheMentor, he is part of a team of annoying sidekick superheroes, and most villains from Spidey's actual RoguesGallery are dropped in favor of other comic villains.

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' suffered in [[LooneyTunesInTheSixties the Sixties]] as well (you know something has gone terribly wrong when they have DaffyDuck chasing SpeedyGonzales around for some reason) after the original animation unit was shuttered and work was turned over to DePatieFrelengEnterprises. Fortunately, this Dork Age comes with fair warning: if you catch a cartoon that opens with a weird version of their theme song set to trippy graphics spinning around, and the cartoon is not ChuckJones' ''Now Hear This'' (or maybe]] ''Norman Normal''), you're going to get to see their Dork Age.

** And then, there was ''LoonaticsUnleashed''...

** Put it this way: maybe you've seen reruns of the Gene Deitch shorts, the ChuckJones shorts, [[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie the 1992 movie]], ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryKids'', and the occasional short from {{Filmation}}'s ''The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show'' on CartoonNetwork or Boomerang? How often (if at all) do you recall the television shorts from the 1970s?

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', as mentioned above, plunged into one during Season 1 and its movie (and took the ''StarWars'' franchise in general with it). However, it had a good last impression with the introduction of [[EnsembleDarkhorse Cad Bane]] in the season finale, which gave the show [[GrowingTheBeard a boost in quality that it's generally managed to keep]].

* Season 7 of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', at least according to Wiki/TVTropes. Luckily every season afterwards was able to step away from (and even poke fun at) the nadir of quality that was "[[AuthorFilibuster Not All Dogs Go To Heaven]]".

** In 1995, they released a new Mickey theatrical cartoon, ''RunawayBrain'', where Mickey was seen for the first time in years as a flawed (lazy, forgetful, [[CaptainCrash running head first into things]]), but kickass hero. The [[DarkerAndEdgier dark themes]] of the cartoon [[NightmareFuel horrified parents]] and MoralGuardians though, particularly a [[GrandTheftMe monstrous Mickey Mouse]], and [[CanonDiscontinuity Disney's been trying to bury it ever since]]. Some of the qualities of this Mickey stuck around for ''HouseOfMouse'', but generally all that's taken a step back to make way for... ''Mickey Mouse Clubhouse''.
** Disney has ''never'' tried to deny Runaway Brain's existence. The short got nominated for an Academy Award, and was even proudly included on ''Mickey Mouse in Living Color Vol. 2''.

* Season 7 of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', at least according to Wiki/TVTropes. Luckily every season afterwards was able to step away from (and even poke fun at) the nadir of quality that was "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven".

** Put it this way: maybe you've seen reruns of the Gene Deitch shorts, the ChuckJones shorts, [[TomAndJerryTheMovie the 1992 movie]], ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryKids'', and the occasional short from {{Filmation}}'s ''The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show'' on CartoonNetwork or Boomerang? How often (if at all) do you recall the television shorts from the 1970s?

* WoodyWoodpecker fell into this during the 50's--apparently, WalterLantz wanted Woody to appeal more to kids, so he slimmed down his design into a pinty, stiff looking "cute" design. On top of that, Woody was completely derailed as a character - whereas earlier he was a selfish heckler who only stood for himself, this Woody was watered down into a bland hero type character. On top of that, from the mid 50's and onward, Paul J. Smith took the directorial reigns and brought the series down even further with sloppy animation, and not to mention lousy jokes and timing (surprising, considering his earlier efforts such as "Hot Noon" were among Lantz's best cartoons). It's a wonder the series was able to last all the way up to 1972 in theaters.

** And then, there was LoonaticsUnleashed...
* ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' [[WesternAnimation/TheTomAndJerryShow a la]] HannaBarbera's [[WesternAnimation/TheTomAndJerryShow television studio in]] TheSeventies. AKA, whenever Hanna and Barbera didn't directly make them.
** Put it this way: maybe you've seen reruns of the Gene Deitch shorts, the ChuckJones shorts, [[TomAndJerryTheMovie the 1992 movie]], ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryKids'', and the occasional short from {{Filmation}}'s ''The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show'' on CartoonNetwork or Boomerang? How often (if at all) do you recall the television shorts from the 70s?
** To someone who never saw the seventies shorts (which, yes, does say a lot in and of itself), the Gene Deitch shorts are the Dork Age.

** Interestingly, CN Asia now airs the 70s TV shorts every now and then... as well as the 1980 Filmation era shorts (though they no longer run Deitch's shorts). Now ''that'' is a DorkAge.
* The 1996 ''WesternAnimation/FlashGordon1996'' animated series, in which Ming was ''green'' and Flash and Dale rode ''hoverboards''.

* During the late [[TheSeventies 70s]] and early [[TheEighties 80s]] ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo'' went through one. The addition of [[TheScrappy Scrappy]], the removal of the entire gang except for Shaggy (himself no longer a hippie) and with every episode featuring "[[TangledFamilyTree cousin so and so"]], well, there's a reason that the original 60s version is the most well known.
** Oddly enough, creator of Scrappy Mark Evanier wrote a [[http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_02_14.html#012936 series of blogs]] explaining, among other things, how Scrappy actually saved the show. So, yes, Scrappy [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap rescued Scooby-Doo from the Scrappy heap]].
* ''TheFlintstones'' has that show where they get new neighbors - the Frankenstones, who were basically a prehistoric version of ''Series/TheAddamsFamily'' or ''Series/TheMunsters'' -- only with an unsympathetic FrankensteinsMonster as a head. Most of the episodes were about Fred having a fight with Mr. Frankenstone. Yes, in the original cartoon some monstrous neighbors were mentioned, but only episodically and never as major characters. It didn't help that the show also featured shorts that were ripping off other shows, so we could watch Captain Caveman imitating {{Superman}} (he was even ClarkKenting) with Betty and Wilma as two Lois Lanes, teenage Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm solving {{Scooby Doo Hoax}}es with Dino, as well as Fred and Barney in a BuddyCopShow, patrolling the streets with a goddamn ''Shmoo'', which was constantly molesting Fred.