The TV IV:IVy Awards/2006/Best Animated Series

Candidates to be considered the Best Animated Series which first aired one or more episodes in the United States between June 1, 2005 and May 31, 2006. Please read carefully the Definitions and Guidelines before putting a candidate up for nomination.

Definitions

animated series

Any series which fits the definition of animated show as it is defined in the TV IV Glossary.

Guidelines

Please feel free to propose as many or as few candidates as you like in each category. If you change your mind or wish to retract a candidate, don't worry about editing the page, as it could cause some confusion down the road. (If you propose one unworthy enough, it will most likely not make it past the nominating process, anyway.) Feel free to discuss yours or others' proposals as much or as little as you choose. Tell us why you feel a candidate should be considered, or why someone else's candidate is a horrible choice and should not be considered. (Just remember to follow standard TV IV discussion rules regarding civility.)

Please mark all proposed candidates in bold, and link the show titles, even if the linked articles are empty or stubs. Try to avoid using bold elsewhere in the discussion. (To mark a candidate in bold, surround the name with two sets of three apostrophes, and use double brackets for linking, '''[[like this]]'''.)

Candidates Discussion

• Justice League Unlimited - Treated poorly by its network, but hands-down one of the best super-hero series ever. --Davidscarter 20:20, 2 June 2006 (EDT)

Excellent in its briefness. Too bad Cartoon Network doesn't seem to want older viewers. IT had an excellent finale that only made we want more. --Ryvius 02:46, 4 June 2006 (EDT)

I second this nomination. It's a good solid animated action show, the likes of which don't get made anymore outside Japan. -- Lampbane 17:21, 5 June 2006 (EDT)

• The Boondocks: Aaron McGruder brings his comic strip to television, and while it took a few episodes to hit its stride, it eventually became one of the sharpest, wittiest satires to air in years. By the time of 1x09 - Return of the King, it had the ability to be both razor-sharp in its commentary and hilarious in its absurdism.

I disagree. Boondocks seems content in making the most obvious jokes about black and white people, only occasionly having flashes of brilliance. Good, but no where near the best. --Ryvius 02:46, 4 June 2006 (EDT)

• Robot Chicken: Far and away the most consistently side-splitting sketch comedy on the air right now, and the most consistently side-splitting cartoon on Adult Swim, Robot Chicken is one of those shows you have to TiVo so you can pause it and not miss any jokes while you finish laughing at the last one.

JCaesar 07:34, 3 June 2006 (EDT)

• South Park: Even after 10 years Trey and Matt continue to show why they are some of the best satirists around. They use their four potty-mouthed fourth graders to poke-fun at and comment on some of the most controversial subjects. Their produciton method allows them to turn out a new show in less than a week's time allowing for incredibly timely commentary on current events. Including a biting look at the aftermath of Huricane Katrina (9x08 - Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow) and The reaction to the Muslim cartoon riots (10x03&10x04 Cartoon Wars Parts 1 & 2). This year also saw the show win a Peabody Award for it's satire and be engulfed by controversy after their airing of an episode making fun of Scientology (9x12 Trapped in the Closet) caused longtime contributor Issac Hayes to quit the show. Trey and Matt struck back a week later with another thinly veiled jab at Scientology and it's brainwashing of their friend in one of their highest rated shows in years (10x01 The Return of Chef!).The-jam 15:56, 3 June 2006 (EDT)

Which season is eligible? Season Nine or Season Ten or both? Because only half of each season ran during the specified time period. --Ryvius 02:46, 4 June 2006 (EDT)

Those episodes of Season Nine and those episodes of Season Ten which aired during the eligibility period are all eligible. Those episodes which did not are not. (There's a similar situation with Penn & Teller: Bullshit! over at Best Competition or Non-News Documentary Series.) JCaesar 02:52, 4 June 2006 (EDT)

• Stroker and Hoop: Despite being cancelled after only one season Stroker and Hoop was one of Adult Swim's better offerings. After a rough start it really got into a good groove of crazy situations and surreal happenings. From the Vermont Teddy Bear zombies to Hoop being trained as a ninja to kill his girlfriend's ex-boyfriends, Stroker and Hoop never went the obvious way with anything. My favorite being the Five Diamonds, a boy-band super ground containing Dustin Daimond, Lou Diamond-Phillips, Mike D(iamond) from the Beastie Boys, Niel Diamond and a anthropomorphic talking diamond. Hilarous!--Ryvius 02:46, 4 June 2006 (EDT)

• American Dad - The network's eagerness to relaunch Family Guy (once they realised how much money it was making) was matched only by the show's readiness to keep retreading the same ground until it became as formulaic as House. Not so American Dad, which seems to have taken up the mantle of irreverent and often borderline offensive comedy that Seth McFarlane's previous show used to handle so well.

--Swander 05:33, 5 June 2006 (EDT)

Due to its ineligibility for this year's awards, the nomination for The Venture Brothers has been moved to this page's discussion page. JCaesar 17:29, 5 June 2006 (EDT)

• Fullmetal Alchemist - The show debuted on Adult Swim way back in 2004, but during the 2005-2006 season they aired the final batch of episodes, and boy were they a doozy. The show outpaced the manga it was based on, forcing the production staff to create their storyline and they did a fine job, tying up all the loose ends and giving the characters just the right amount of closure. I admit there was a point where the series started to seem just a little too much, but those last two episodes simply blew my mind.

• Samurai Champloo - From the creators of Cowboy Bebop, they certainly had quite a lot of expectations riding on this one. And they certainly succeeded, making a show that's funny, and sad, and just plain crazy at times. The point is debatable, but I think this show was better than Cowboy Bebop.

I noticed the list was missing some anime, so I feel these are the best choices to throw into the ring. --Lampbane 23:29, 9 June 2006 (EDT)

• Moral Orel - What are children learning about faith, morality and adulthood today? Eleven-year-old Orel is learning every possible wrong lesson from all the authority figures in his life. This hilarious biting satire is definitely not for people squeamish about the topic of religion. -- RobTheBold 18:04, 14 June 2006 (CDT)

• Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law - I don't think many people watch it, but it's a great, great show. Like a regular cartoon, but on speed, trying to cram 30 minutes worth of jokes into 12 minutes. A decent number of gags fly right by unnoticed, so the show only gets better with multiple viewings. Season Three included the introduction of Birdgirl (wonderfully voiced by Paget Brewster), the Deadly Duplicator (Lewis Black), and a couple of especially crazy episodes (the Sebben and Sebben orientation video, and Turner Classic Birdman). --Gma 22:31, 15 June 2006 (EDT)

• Avatar: The Last Airbender - Beautiful animation with wonderful martial arts, a rich and fleshed-out world, a compelling storyline, and great characters make this, in my opinion, one of the best animated series in recent years. --Ixnay 01:00, 25 June 2006 (EDT)