Trivia / The Pirates of Dark Water

• Acclaimed Flop: The show was quite beloved by fans and critics alike. However, it was unceremoniously canceled due to the high costs.
• Channel Hop: The Five-Episode Pilot was a miniseries that aired on Fox Kids network (called simply Dark Water, with Niddler originally voiced by Roddy McDowall), then that and eight new episodes showed on ABC, then the next (and final) season showed up as part of a syndicated block.
• Follow the Leader:
  • Pirates of Dark Water was the last show done by Hanna-Barbera the took a general adventure-lit inspired premise done up into a whole fantasy world setting. This show specifically starts off with a Treasure Island template. The previous two shows that preceded this one being Wildfire and Galtar and the Golden Lance. All three are shows about displaced royalty on quests in a basic sense, among other similarities. All three main heroes are blonde, Ren, Galtar and Sara. Each team contains at least one displaced royal, Ren, Goleeta and Zorn and Sara. The main villain is responsible for the deaths of parents. Bloth is responsible for Ren's father's death, Tormack killed not only Galtar's parents but Goleeta's too. Diabolyn is responsible for Sara's mother's death. ^note  Take it one step further: Brock Peters (aka Joe Sisko) also voiced Galtar's main antagonist; a couple of years later he would also voice Dark Kat for the studio. Making that series Older Than They Think as well in terms of recycling.
  • This is also HB's second series where the heroes are questing to find 13 of something. It was also the second to not complete it within the series itself.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: A rare meta-example where something most prided as one of its best strengths killed its run. The show's lavish visual style came from Turner giving the creators more money. Unfortunately, the price tag eventually became so hefty that it ended up leading to the series' cancellation.
• The Other Darrin/The Other Marty: In the pilot mini-series, Niddler was voiced by Roddy McDowall and spoke perfectly clear English. When the show switched to syndication, however, Frank Welker took over the part and Niddler started to speak with a squawking voice with bird screech accents. To remain consistent, Niddler's voice in the first five episodes was redubbed with Welker.
• What Could Have Been: Toy licensee Hasbro planned to make more action figures, but they were cancelled along with he show.

---