Johnny Bravo - show-runner changes?

[nakak]

"Johnny Bravo" is unusual in that the creative supervisor (show runner, whatever) changed at least three times.

The show creator, Van Partible, was in charge of season 1, but left after that for some reason. Kirk Tingblad stepped in for seasons 2 and 3, redesigning the characters (Suzy in particular) and adding new characters Pops and Carl.

Partible returned for the show's final season, with Hey Arnold! creator Craig Bartlett at his side. The show's format went back to season 1, getting rid of Pops (though Carl stuck around, but with reduced role).

I'm probably in the minority, but I thought the Tingblad run was pretty good. Johnny's interaction with Carl and Pops were ofter humorous and I thought the writing was better.

[R-Taco]

I can't actually say I thought that either was especially good in terms of writing, but I did like the art during Tingblad's run a lot more.

[Silverstar]

I actually preferred the Tingblad Johnny Bravos overall; the stories were more varied and diverse, and Carl and Pops were 2 of my favorite characters on the show, but I think I'm in the minority there.

[chdr]

I can't say I ever really liked Johnny Bravo, if just for the fact that it all seemed so mean-spirited towards poor Johnny. I would like to say however, that the revival season is nowhere near as bad as everyone says it is.

[CartoonDork]

I actually must say I liked seasons 2-3 better, because it had my favorite character, Carl, in them. :D I liked how those seasons extended Johnny's world and introduced Carl and Pops. Great move, in my opinion.

[Dr.Pepper]

I was never much of a fan of the series, but I think that Carl was my favorite character. I guess that means I like Kirk Tingbald episodes the best.

[EJLD4Ever]

On a similar note---Dexter's Lab has seen similar changes. In its initial run (1996-98), Genndy Tartakovsky himself directed most of the episodes (though Rob Renzetti, Rumen Petkov and others had done some), but during the "revival" era (2001-2003), Genndy left (to direct Samurai Jack), and Chris Savino took over directing Dexter.

[PC!]

I never minded the Tingblad seasons either. I'd say each EP had their good and bad points.

PARTIBLE
GOOD: Johnny was the perfect mixture of cool yet stupid.
BAD: Pointless guest characters, the show seemed a lot more silly.

TINGBLAD
GOOD: Stories were funnier, Carl and Pops kept the stories fresh.
BAD: Pointy character redesigns, Johnny went from cool/stupid to just plain stupid.

[Dudley]

I enjoyed Kirk Tingblad the most. I thought the original was good, and he improved it.

I read that Van Partible left because he went on hiatus.

[Deadman]

i liked both, but the tingblad episodes were a bit better in my eyes.

[All Star Blitz]

Hmm. I'd have to see an episode or two from each runner to judge. I honestly never noticed differences from episode to episode, but then again, I honestly don't remember the specifics of ANY cartoon that I ever saw until maybe four or five years ago.

I honestly never noticed a difference from episode to episode (damn you, Asperger's!). Heck, I don't even remember seeing Van Partible's name in the intro, which is strange since I usually recall "created by" tags. I especially tend to remember weird names like, say, Genndy Tartakovsky or *cough*Jhonen Vasquez*cough*.

[Kazuya Prower]

Tingblad's run on Johnny was hilarious. Especially because of the addition of Carl and Pops. Not to mention making Johnny a idiot. When I first saw Pops, I'd always assumed he was Johnny's missing father.

[Mickialla]

I didn't use to watch Johnny Bravo as a kid; my mom thought it was inappropriate. But I've watched enough episodes on CN Video of both Partible and Tingblad to see a wide array of differences. And yet, I can't choose. They're both equally good in my eyes. They both have plenty of good parts, and I can't name any bad parts at all.
In Season 1 and 4 (which, like Cheddar said, wasn't bad at all), Johnny was, like PC! said, a lot cooler but still stupid. Also, Seasons 1 and 4 had a really nice old Hanna-Barbera touch to the art-style that I enjoyed. That's probably because Ed Benedict (character designer for The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, etc) did some work on Johnny Bravo. The show had a very retro 60's feel because of a lot of the obscure guest stars (Farah Fawcett, Donny Osmond, Adam West). The show seemed more wacky, and it also seemed to have an edge to it (Maybe because Seth MacFarlane worked on it), due to Johnny's obvious womanizing attitude.
In Seasons 2 and 3, Tingblad introduced a new flare to Bravo that was also good. The show seemed, how can I put it, "sharper" and more modern. Personally, I like Johnny's design in the Tingblad episodes to be slightly better than Partible's original design (though their isn't much of a difference between the two to begin with, just the hair is slightly different). I will say that I like Mama's design in the Tingblad episodes much better than the Partible episodes, but I like Suzie's design much more in the Partible episodes. Carl and Pops were a great addition to the show; they gave the show a wider cast of characters, which I feel is necessary to make a show good. While the Tingblad episodes were pretty funny in comparison to the Partible episodes, they also lost that retro charm in the character designs. Not that the character designs weren't good, but they were good in a different way. Also, Johnny seemed much stupider and less cool in these episodes. He was pretty much an overgrown mama's boy. Not that this idiotic Johnny annoyed me, I liked him, but I also liked the cool/stupid Johnny too. I feel like Tingblad strayed from the original portrayal of Johnny, though idiotic Johnny did make the show funnier.

Now I'm confused. Both directions of the show were equally good IMO, but in different ways. Sometimes I wonder how Johnny Bravo would've ended up if Partible and Tingblad and their respective teams co-directed a season of Bravo. That would've been the bomb.

[CartoonDork]

Sometimes I wonder how Johnny Bravo would've ended up if Partible and Tingblad and their respective teams co-directed a season of Bravo. That would've been the bomb.

That would've been awesome!
I also like your post, you made some excellent points for both viewpoints.

[AnimatedSnow47]

I love the first season, I recently imported the DVD set from Australia and it continues to be awesome--silly humor with quirky guest stars (Adam West, Donny Osmond) and fun references (like Jungle Boy quoting Star Trek: First Contact). It also contains Seth McFarlane's best work, to me at least, easily beating any and all of Family Guy.

The first season also seemed less mean-spirited and much more creative, IMO. I couldn't really stand Carl as a character and found Pops quite useless. Since a few of the Tingblad-era episodes turned me off, I never saw Season 4 and the return to the original format.

[Mickialla]

That would've been awesome!
I also like your post, you made some excellent points for both viewpoints.

Thanks, I try. ;)