History AudienceAlienatingPremise / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/SheZow'' is an Australian/Canadian cartoon about a twelve-year-old WholesomeCrossdresser superhero. While the series became a minor CultClassic, this {{trope}} is believed to be the reason it never got a second season and faded into semi-obscurity after a very short run.

* Speaking of Spike TV, their quadrilateral of awkward adult animated sitcoms is topped off with “This Just In”.

* ''WesternAnimation/GaryTheRat'', in spite of the otherwise talented and successful Creator/KelseyGrammer voicing the title character, still suffered from this. Due to being an AmoralAttorney, [[KarmicTransformation karma transforms the man into his true nature...]] [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane for whatever reason.]] In addition to living in a CrapsackWorld where there is no one to root for (except for his elderly and sickly mother, who he hates for unclear reasons), Gary ''remains'' a self-centered asshole for the most part. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And whenever we're treated to a flashback with human Gary, his face is always conveniently obscured.]] The failure of this cartoon, along with that of ''WesternAnimation/{{Stripperella}}'' and '''especially''' ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpyAdultPartyCartoon'' (see both below) caused whatever animation block Spike TV was hoping for to be dead in the water.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': The episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E2ThePrincipalAndThePauper The Principal and the Pauper]]" revealed that Principal Skinner's {{backstory}} was actually a lie. According to this episode, Skinner was actually Armin Tamzarian, who assumed the identity of his superior officer, Sgt. Seymour Skinner, after he was seemingly killed in action in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. Fans reacted negatively, finding this totally out of place in the series, especially one [[NegativeContinuity that never particularly cared about continuity]]. Simpsons creator Creator/MattGroening and Skinner's voice actor Creator/HarryShearer have been ''very'' vocal about their disdain for the episode, with Shearer saying [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-TS-92KVDA "It's like punishing the audience for paying attention."]] It is since regarded as one of the worst episodes, if not ''the'' worst, is the series, [[CanonDiscontinuity and the writers largely pretend that this episode never happened]], with a latter one even having a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene showing a kid Skinner alongside Agnes (which retcons this whole mess out of existence... [[YoYoPlotPoint probably]]). The later episode "Behind the Laughter" dismissed the events of the episode as "gimmicky" and the plot as "nonsensical".
* The ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "[[Recap/SouthParkS4E14Pip Pip]]" was a parodic WholePlotReference to ''Literature/GreatExpectations'' [[ADayInTheLimelight that starred Pip]], an ancillary British {{stereotype}} ButtMonkey, with no other ''South Park'' characters making an appearance. Fans of the show weren't likely to be interested in the book, and even if they were, they wouldn't be excited for an episode that focuses exclusively on one of the less memorable characters. Fans of the book probably wouldn't think highly of a cartoon famous for its raunchiness doing its take on it (Although the episode does stick faithfully to the book... [[OffTheRails at least until the third act]]).

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** The episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E2ThePrincipalAndThePauper The Principal and the Pauper]]" revealed that Principal Skinner's {{backstory}} was actually a lie. According to this episode, Skinner was actually Armin Tamzarian, who assumed the identity of his superior officer, Sgt. Seymour Skinner, after he was seemingly killed in action in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. Fans reacted negatively, finding this totally out of place in the series, especially one [[NegativeContinuity that never particularly cared about continuity]]. Simpsons creator Creator/MattGroening and Skinner's voice actor Creator/HarryShearer have been ''very'' vocal about their disdain for the episode, with Shearer saying [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-TS-92KVDA "It's like punishing the audience for paying attention."]] It is since regarded as one of the worst episodes, if not ''the'' worst, is the series, [[CanonDiscontinuity and the writers largely pretend that this episode never happened]], with a latter one even having a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene showing a kid Skinner alongside Agnes (which retcons this whole mess out of existence... [[YoYoPlotPoint probably]]). The later episode "Behind the Laughter" dismissed the events of the episode as "gimmicky" and the plot as "nonsensical".

** The page image is an in-universe example: a film [[OurProductSucks literally titled]] ''Horrible Premise'' being shown at the Springfield Mall. It is apparently about an UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball player wearing nothing but a helmet and a diaper.

* It isn't hard to see the cartoon series based on ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' as having one of these. Besides being based on something [[ContinuityLockout with sprawling pre-existing mythology]] [[note]] For instance, from watching the show you'd learn a guy named Kerensky was a really important figure in their history, but not really ''why''. Besides not just knowing whose name is constantly being invoked by the characters, his legacy is tied heavily into the show's villains' backstory, weakening the narrative even further. [[/note]], it was set during the very beginning of the Clan Invasion. Meaning a setting a new viewer had no chance to learn anything about was being invaded, by an enemy even people in the show had never seen before, upsetting a status quo new viewers would know absolutely nothing about. There was also the somewhat conflicting ideas of how it tried to stay true to the source by showing that [[WarIsHell war involves horrific destruction]] and also being kind of futile, while at the same time promoting itself by [[WarIsGlorious making war look awesome]] with having the soldiers piloting [[HumongousMecha gigantic deathbots]] (there was even an action figure line), something the younger viewers probably had trouble reconciling. Despite ending on a cliffhanger the closest it's come to being followed up was [[CanonForeigner having some of the characters later appear in series novels]].

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[[quoteright:174:[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/horrible_premise_3.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:174:[[RebusBubble This]] {{trope}} + AtLeastIAdmitIt = BileFascination?]]

[[AudienceAlienatingPremise Audience-Alienating Premises]] in WesternAnimation.
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%%* Additionally, the other two animated shows in Creator/SpikeTV's The Strip lineup, ''WesternAnimation/GaryTheRat'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Stripperella}}'', also suffered from this tripe because of their respective subject matter.

* ''WesternAnimation/PinkyElmyraAndTheBrain'' was an [[ExecutiveMeddling unneeded]] {{retool}}ing of the already-popular series, ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'', where the duo are forced to live with [[TheScrappy the least popular character]] from ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures''. Two episodes from ''Pinky and the Brain'' were made to show that changing the show was a bad move, but the higher-ups didn't get the memo. It was clear that the staff hated working on the show as they put "It's what the network wants, why bother to complain? The Earth remains their goal, some things they can't control." in the show's lyrics. The show only lasted 13 episodes.

* Upon its premiere in Fall 2002, the MTV cartoon ''WesternAnimation/CloneHigh'' met its ([[ShortRunners pretty quick]]) demise because of this. Among other things, the fact that a member of the UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist cast is a clone of UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi that is a {{Jerkass}} party animal [[https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/jan/31/pressandpublishing.india actually led to protests outside of the Indian offices of MTV]] because Gandhi is [[SacredCow a very revered person over there]] [[UnacceptableTargets and people felt insulted as a result.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'' is a show about characters going through puberty, not being the least coy about exploring sexuality and its development. The concept alone has made it severely polarizing, [[PaedoHunt several people accusing it of being child pornography]]. Likewise, its art-style has been deemed visually unappealing (presumably done on purpose to avoid arousing ephebophiles), which didn't help smooth things over. Post-release it has found some favorable reviews, but even then the show remains very contentious and even those who like it admit the former problems are still prevalent, then very {{Anvilicious}} nature of the sow doesn't help either.

* ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'' is a show about characters going through puberty, not being the least coy about exploring sexuality and its development. The concept alone has made it severely polarizing, [[PaedoHunt several people accusing it of being child pornography]]. Likewise, its art-style has been deemed visually unappealing (presumably done on purpose to avoid arousing ephebophiles), which didn't help smooth things over. Post-release it has found some favorable reviews, but even then the show remains very contentious and even those who like it admit the former problems are still prevalent.

* Creator/DisneyChannel's ''WesternAnimation/TheBuzzOnMaggie'', while generally liked by most of the people that watched it (a select few of which consider it a legit Main/CultClassic while most of the others merely consider it Main/SoOkayItsAverage), is an extremely (in fact, probably parodically) stereotypical Main/SliceOfLife tween sitcom aimed at little girls ([[MisaimedMarketing naturally a crowd known for being rather squeamish to put it]] ''[[UpToEleven lightly]]'') that [[GrossOutShow takes place in an overflowing garbage dump infested with sentient anthropomorphic flies and various other types of insects who may or may not have gained their anthropomorphism from prolonged radioactive fluid/gas exposure]]. You can probably already guess why it [[ScrewedByTheNetwork only lasted one season]].

* ''WesternAnimation/MrPickles'' is about {{Satan}} taking in the form of a dog and living with a family modeled after the "ideal families from TheFifties" and going around brutally killing people and having sex with various animals. And it's a [[BlackComedy COMEDY]]!

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'' never really did well in Australia. Most kids weren't allowed to watch it because of its adult jokes and late-night airings, and adults were turned away by the FunnyAnimal cast.

* ''WesternAnimation/AllenGregory''. The show is about a {{homeschooled|Kids}} 7-year-old played by Creator/JonahHill, who is forced to attend elementary school when his gay parents hit hard times, and thus has little idea on how to act like a kid. That could have worked very well... if not for the fact that both the title character and his father were unrepentant {{Jerkass}}es, especially to the daughter character (who was an unfunny and rather [[{{Deconstruction}} darkly]] [[AbusiveParents played]] [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Meg Griffin]] ripoff). Not helping matters was the fact that one of the parents wasn't actually gay but rather gave in to a gay relationship because the other wouldn't leave him alone despite several restraining orders -- this aspect already angered quite a few people in the gay community thanks to the UnfortunateImplications raised. It also contained a recurring subplot about Gregory attempting to date his principal, who is in her 70s, and his infatuation was portrayed far too sexually to be considered a PrecociousCrush. The show reeked of DarknessInducedAudienceApathy, was met with poor reviews, and canceled after just 7 episodes due to poor ratings.

* ''WesternAnimation/AllenGregory''. The show is about a {{homeschooled|Kids}} 7-year-old played by Creator/JonahHill, who is forced to attend elementary school when his gay parents hit hard times, and thus has little idea on how to act like a kid. That could have worked very well... if not for the fact that both the title character and his father were unrepentant {{Jerkass}}es, especially to the daughter character (who was an unfunny and rather [[{{Deconstruction}} darkly]] [[AbusiveParents played]] [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Meg]] ripoff). Not helping matters was the fact that one of the parents wasn't actually gay but rather gave in to a gay relationship because the other wouldn't leave him alone despite several restraining orders -- this aspect already angered quite a few people in the gay community thanks to the UnfortunateImplications raised. It also contained a recurring subplot about Gregory attempting to date his principal, who is in her 70s, and his infatuation was portrayed far too sexually to be considered a PrecociousCrush. The show reeked of DarknessInducedAudienceApathy, was met with poor reviews, and canceled after just 7 episodes due to poor ratings.

* Speaking of, when ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' was first launched it was accused of this by a number of scathing articles rife with [[DanBrowned hilariously bad and inaccurate information]]. This garnered a lot of attention on [[Website/FourChan 4Chan's /co]] board, who went in [[BileFascination expecting a ride]] and instead found [[SubvertedTrope a surprisingly solid family show that appealed to a very diverse audience]]. This was a key factor in kick-starting the show's massive PeripheryDemographic.

* ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons'' has six teenagers who go on an amusement park ride only to be transported into a world of perpetual war, forced to become mystical warriors in order to fight an evil mage trying to overtake said world as well as defend themselves and their TeamPet, whose cuteness masks [[TheMillstone its true nature and whose presence repeatedly impedes the sextet from completing their mission or ever getting home.]] Plus, it was more violent and expensive to produce than your average SaturdayMorningCartoon. All these factors eventually turned fans off and the series was canceled [[CutShort before any real resolution occurred.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheDreamstone'' tries to play two contradicting genres to their extreme, the heroes' side is an earnest and [[TastesLikeDiabetes incredibly idealistic and cutesy]] BlackAndWhiteMorality action adventure, the villain's side is a KafkaKomedy fuelled MookHorrorShow. The two elements [[IndecisiveDeconstruction never quite mesh]], resulting in what can be best described as a DesignatedHero vs DesignatedVillain [[AntiClimax faux action]] series. The later episodes at least compromise the two a bit more cleanly into a [[PunchClockHero Punch]] [[PunchClockVillain Clock]] fantasy comedy, erasing some of the DarknessInducedAudienceApathy.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E2ThePrincipalAndThePauper The Principal and the Pauper]]" revealed that Principal Skinner's {{backstory}} was actually a lie. According to this episode, Skinner was actually Armin Tamzarian, who assumed the identity of his superior officer, Sgt. Seymour Skinner, after he was seemingly killed in action in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. Fans reacted negatively, finding this totally out of place in the series, especially one [[NegativeContinuity that never particularly cared about continuity]]. Simpsons creator Creator/MattGroening and Skinner's voice actor Creator/HarryShearer have been ''very'' vocal about their disdain for the episode, with Shearer saying [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-TS-92KVDA "It's like punishing the audience for paying attention."]] It is since regarded as one of the worst episodes, if not ''the'' worst, is the series, [[CanonDiscontinuity and the writers largely pretend that this episode never happened]], with a latter one even having a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene showing a kid Skinner alongside Agnes (which retcons this whole mess out of existence... [[YoYoPlotPoint probably]]). The later episode "Behind the Laughter" dismissed the events of the episode as "gimmicky" and the plot as "nonsensical".

[[AudienceAlienatingPremise Audience-Alienating Premises]] in western animation.

%%* Additionally, the other two animated shows in Spike TV's The Strip lineup, ''WesternAnimation/GaryTheRat'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Stripperella}}'', also suffered from this tripe because of their respective subject matter.

* ''WesternAnimation/AllenGregory''. The show is about a homeschooled 7-year-old played by Creator/JonahHill, who is forced to attend elementary school when his gay parents hit hard times, and thus has little idea on how to act like a kid. That could have worked very well... if not for the fact that both the title character and his father were unrepentant {{Jerkass}}es, especially to the daughter character (who was an unfunny and rather [[{{Deconstruction}} darkly]] [[AbusiveParents played]] [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Meg]] ripoff). Not helping matters was the fact that one of the parents wasn't actually gay but rather gave in to a gay relationship because the other wouldn't leave him alone despite several restraining orders -- this aspect already angered quite a few people in the gay community thanks to the UnfortunateImplications raised. It also contained a recurring subplot about Gregory attempting to date his principal, who is in her 70s, and his infatuation was portrayed far too sexual to be considered a PrecociousCrush. The show reeked of DarknessInducedAudienceApathy, was met with poor reviews, and canceled after just 7 episodes due to poor ratings.

* ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'' is a show about characters going through puberty, not being the least coy about exploring sexuality and its development. The concept alone has made it severely polarizing, [[PaedoHunt several people accusing it of being child pornography]]. Likewise, its artstyle has been deemed visually unappealing (presumably done on purpose to avoid arousing ephebophiles), which didn't help smooth things over. Post-release it has found some favorable reviews, but even then the show remains very contentious and even those who like it admit the former problems are still prevalent.

* This is ''the'' reason ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'' flopped. Fans of the usually fantasy-themed Franchise/MyLittlePony franchise found the slice-of-life elements dull and cliché while most SliceOfLife fans couldn't get beyond the fact that the cast is all brightly-colored talking ponies. It's still a controversial topic in the MLP fandom decades later. As for the franchise in general, the central premise of brightly colored magical talking ponies is a significant barrier to mainstream acceptance.

* Fox's ''WesternAnimation/PeterPanAndThePirates'' was a cartoon with some great writing and storytelling, that was surprisingly gothic and occasionally scary at times. Why didn't it do well? Well, it's about Peter Pan, and yet it takes itself deadly serious and has more mature storytelling than you'd expect given the source material. Hence, little kids who might be drawn in by Peter Pan got scared away, and older kids who'd enjoy the story took one look at who it's about and [[AnimationAgeGhetto decided it was kiddy]]. Note that the original novel was very dark in its way, as well (at the end, Tinkerbell is dead, and Peter is too childlike to remember, or care, who she was, for example). But, thanks to {{Disneyfication}}, anything that returns to the spirit of the original alienates ''everyone''.

* ''WesternAnimation/SheZow'' is an Australian/Canadian cartoon about a twelve-year-old WholesomeCrossdresser superhero. While the series became a minor CultClassic, this trope is believed to be the reason it never got a second season and faded into semi-obscurity after a very short run.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E2ThePrincipalAndThePauper The Principal and the Pauper]]" revealed that Principal Skinner's backstory was actually a lie. According to this episode, Skinner was actually Armin Tamzarian, who assumed the identity of his superior officer, Sgt. Seymour Skinner, after he was seemingly killed in action in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. Fans reacted negatively, finding this totally out of place in the series, especially one [[NegativeContinuity that never particularly cared about continuity]]. Simpsons creator Creator/MattGroening and Skinner's voice actor Creator/HarryShearer have been ''very'' vocal about their disdain for the episode, with Shearer saying [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-TS-92KVDA "It's like punishing the audience for paying attention."]] It is since regarded as one of the worst episodes, if not ''the'' worst, is the series, [[CanonDiscontinuity and the writers largely pretend that this episode never happened]], with a latter one even having a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene showing a kid Skinner alongside Agnes (which retcons this whole mess out of existence... [[YoYoPlotPoint probably]]). The later episode "Behind the Laughter" dismissed the events of the episode as "gimmicky" and the plot as "nonsensical".

* ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan''. Take Franchise/SpiderMan, a character popular for being the first teenage superhero to learn how to be a hero of his own, without any mentor ([[MentorOccupationalHazard well, not alive anyway]]) with his own unique RoguesGallery... and have him be part of a team of teenage heroes and working for SHIELD with ComicBook/NickFury as TheMentor, while making him fight mostly completely different villains than those he usually faces. On top of that, the show is very much DenserAndWackier, featured a heavy emphasis on {{cutaway gag}}s, making it something of a kid-friendly version of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', already a show heavily criticized for the same. The show still managed to get success, but it also developed many detractors, and even after it improved over the course of three seasons, many fans still refused to give it a chance just because of the premise. Also, fans who were hoping to see an adaptation of the Ultimate Spider-Man ''comic books'' were disappointed to find that this was an InNameOnly adaptation.

* ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan''. Take Franchise/SpiderMan, a character popular for being the first teenage superhero to learn how to be a hero of his own, without any mentor ([[MentorOccupationalHazard well, not alive anyway]]) with his own unique RoguesGallery... and have him be part of a team of teenage heroes and working for SHIELD with ComicBook/NickFury as TheMentor, while making him fight mostly completely different villains than those he usually faces. On top of that, the show is very much DenserAndWackier, featured a heavy emphasis on {{cutaway gag}}s, making it something of a kid-friendly version of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', already a show heavily criticized for the same. The show still managed to get success, but it also developed a major {{Hatedom}}, and even after it improved over the course of three seasons, many fans still refused to give it a chance just because of the premise. Also, fans who were hoping to see an adaptation of the Ultimate Spider-Man ''comic books'' were disappointed to find that this was an InNameOnly adaptation.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' is this to many fans of the [[ComicBook/TeenTitans comic]], the previous [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans animated series]], and those of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice''. It's a DenserAndWackier comedy, has an unappealing SuperDeformed art-style, and is helmed by two ''WesternAnimation/{{Mad}}'' alumni who nonchalantly admitted that they never even saw the original show. Early reviews had a consensus of "Not the best, but enjoyable if taken as its own thing", but since then, it's gotten flak for taking beloved teenage heroes with fleshed-out personalities and turning them into {{Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist}}s, at best, and downright sociopathic {{villain|protagonist}}s, at worst, making the "take it as its own thing" mentality harder to maintain for most. The show's frequent use of TakeThatCritics also turns a lot of people off, who think it comes off as the creators being overly defensive at times.
* ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'', ran right into this trope. An OddballInTheSeries, it tried to replace the timeless "warring robots that turn into vehicles/animals" premise with "[[GreenAesop technorganic beings against robots in a nature vs. technology battle]]". It also had a notably dark and serious tone despite being [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids aimed at children]] and the heavily serialized nature of the plot led to a lot of ContinuityLockOut. It’s been VindicatedByHistory (somewhat; there are fans that still consider it [[FanonDiscontinuity non-canon]]), but it wasn’t successful at the time and the planned sequel, ''ComicBook/TransformersTransTech'', was cancelled in favor of [[Anime/UnicronTrilogy a total reboot]].

* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'':
** ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' rather famously subverted this trope. Despite having an odd premise that had a lot of potential to [[JumpingTheShark go wrong]] (the Autobots and Decepticons are gone and their descendants are fighting in animal forms on prehistoric Earth), it managed to beat the stigma and is generally regarded as one of the best periods in the franchise’s history, in part ''[[TropesAreTools because]]'' it was willing to kick trends and do its own thing. On the other hand...
** ...Its follow-up, ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'', ran right into this trope. An OddballInTheSeries, it tried to replace the timeless “warring robots that turn into vehicles/animals” premise with “[[GreenAesop technorganic beings against robots in a nature vs. technology battle]]”. It also had a notably dark and serious tone despite being [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids aimed at children]] and the heavily serialized nature of the plot led to a lot of ContinuityLockOut. It’s been VindicatedByHistory (somewhat; there are fans that still consider it [[FanonDiscontinuity non-canon]]), but it wasn’t successful at the time and the planned sequel, ''ComicBook/TransformersTransTech'', was cancelled in favor of [[Anime/UnicronTrilogy a total reboot]].