This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Morgan Wick: Is the emphasis here supposed to be the large size, the breadth of how much the team covers, or the sense that what we're seeing is only a small part of what's really going on? I'm re-writing the Superfriends entry and I'm trying to figure out if Challenge qualifies, and I've written those in descending order of how likely it is that it does.
Ununnilium: Basically, it's a Story Arc where you introduce Loads And Loads Of Characters. I don't think Challenge does; they started the series with all the good-guy characters they finished it with, right?
Morgan Wick: Erm... first of all, I don't think that's how it's being used around the wiki. Second, the entry says "an arc or season". For example, although JLU transitioned to more Arc-based storytelling after it went Heroes Unlimited, all the actual introduction took place in the space of one episode, which managed to feature nearly every hero that appeared for the rest of the run, and maybe a few that didn't. Some shows may even slip a mention into an episode and work the concept in gradually, not quite being a Story Arc (which may be how KND did it). Then there's Jackie Chan Adventures, which links to it but which I'm now not seeing how it fits at all. (Update 8/16/2006: Andyroid has now changed that example to Gotta Catch Them All.)
By that standard, Challenge could still qualify, although whether it has enough characters is now the problem. But I'm now wondering:
- Can it be inherent in the start of a series, where they explain the concept right from the start? That could affect, e.g., Sapphire And Steel's status.
- Does it need to have a specific demarkation point, where they actually show, or at least explain, the expansion of the cast? JLU's first episode is a Welcome Episode (we see Green Arrow join the League), while Challenge's first episode is fundamentally One We Prepared Earlier. Other shows may not even treat it as you would a Premiere, as in the aforementioned show that introduces the concept slowly but not in a Story Arc. (Challenge would be a good example of how to do a more abrupt shift without treating it as a premiere, were it not for the fact that most of the different Super Friends titles were in many respects separate series, and so warranted some introductory episode.)
- Is it a state or a point, the act of reaching that state? References throughout the wiki to a "Heroes Unlimited series" may have to be changed in that case. Related to the first question. </Morgan Wick>
(Later: Bumped due to lack of response.)
Ununnilium: You're right, and I'm not sure now. Hmmm.
