Many Western cartoon series have had original runs lasting 65 episodes, because 65 episodes equals 13 weeks (or three months) of material to syndicate at one episode per weekday. This is because of an FCC rule that requires syndicated shows to run for at least 13 weeks, but also because these cartoon series are often not renewed for a second season. (Those which are renewed may have 65 additional episodes, or fewer if they are mixed in with repeats from earlier seasons.)
This was typical with cartoons produced for first-run
syndication, and adopted as policy by the
Disney Channel (which has a similar 65-episode cutoff for its live-action
Kid Coms) and
Kids' WB!, although some syndicated shows did air weekly originally. It is now increasingly difficult for shows to achieve this goal, since most have gone with a smaller episode number due to the economy.
It should also be noted that this trope really only applies to cartoons aimed towards children, rather than Adult cartoons.
See also
12-Episode Anime and
British Brevity, both of which should remind fans of any of the shows listed here of how lucky actually they are. For some shows that went well past 65, see
Milestone Celebration.
Retired at 65:
Renewed after the original 65 episodes:
- The first 65 episodes of Animaniacs ran on Fox Kids, as did four more episodes cobbled together out of unused segments. Then came the Channel Hop.
- The Babar cartoon is counted as being Un-Cancelled despite the sixth season being produced nine years after the fifth season brought it to 65 episodes.
- The original Batman: The Animated Series season was 65 episodes long. It was continued by 20 episode second season (under the title The Adventures of Batman & Robin) and two seasons of The New Batman Adventures.
- Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
- Dennis The Menace (US)
- DuckTales
- Darkwing Duck and Aladdin both had episodes that ran independent of their The Disney Afternoon syndication.
- The first two seasons of Gargoyles had 65 episodes in all. The third season, retitled Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles, suffered from Seasonal Rot and wound up in Canon Discontinuity.
- G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
- Goof Troop
- Heathcliff And The Catillac Cats did 65 episodes in its first season and 21 in its second.
- He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe originally had 65 episodes, but was successful enough to merit another 65 for a total of 130.
- Inspector Gadget
- Kim Possible, though it had to be Un-Canceled to get a fourth season after reaching 65 episodes.
- M.A.S.K. had 65 episodes in its first series, which was followed by the short and very different racing series.
- Pinky And The Brain had 65 episodes, not counting a few compilations of their Animaniacs segments. However, it was continued as Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain, though many fans would like to forget that.
- Recess was a subversion. The series ended with 65 episodes (due to Disney's rule), but had four unaired episodes. They were released to DVD two years after the show ended.
- The original 1991-93 run of Rugrats lasted 65 episodes. It was Un-Canceled and resumed in 1996.
- Sabrina: The Animated Series lasted one season of 65 episodes from 1999 to 2000 (like a number of Saturday morning cartoons as well), but got a spin-off, Sabrina's Secret Life in 2003, with twenty-something episodes. Fans... like to forget that series, though.
- The original North American dub of Sailor Moon stalled for two years in the middle of Sailor Moon R, after 65 episodes had been dubbed by DIC Entertainment.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (original) Channel Hopped to CBS after producing 65 episodes for syndication.
- The Tenchi franchise:
- Tenchi Muyo Ryo-Ohki! (first two OVA series) - 13 episodes *
not counting the Mihoshi special
- Tenchi Muyo (Tenchi Universe) - 26 episodes
- Shin Tenchi Muyo (Tenchi in Tokyo) - 26 episodes
- Total: 65 episodes; then came Tenchi Muyo GXP, followed by the (long awaited) 3rd OVA series.
- ThunderCats
- Tiny Toon Adventures followed its first syndicated season of 65 episodes with 13 more episodes in syndication and 20 episodes on Fox Kids.
- The Transformers (original)
