It's been proven many times over that if a Saturday morning cartoon doesn't start the season on time, for whatever reason, it's doomed to fail.
Such was the case with the Olsen twins, Mary-Kate & Ashley (ex-Full House), who had made an earlier sitcom comeback (Two of a Kind), only to see that fall flat after 1 season. The same held true for their final ABC series, Mary-Kate & Ashley In Action, which lasted 1 season as well (2001-2).
The series was delayed by more than a month while ABC was trying to wrap up another DIC entry, Sabrina: The Animated Series, and, rather than have the two shows airing side-by-side for an hour's worth of "girl power" cartoons, ABC chose to cancel the animated Sabrina, a prequel to the live-action series, but ended up bidding the Olsens farewell 8 months later. Earlier, the Family Channel (now ABC Family) had picked up broadcast rights for the sisters' video series, The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley, but that didn't last long, either.
On In Action, the twins are secret agents Misty (Mary-Kate) & Amber (Ashley), who travel the globe to catch the bad guys. The live-action preamble, with the girls at a Hollywood premiere for the show, was likely so that viewers knew they were voicing their animated alter-egos.
After In Action, the twins tried one last series, So Little Time, for ABC Family, but, that too was short-lived. We'll be looking at that another time. Right now, here's the open:
Rating: B.
4 comments:
Only saw one ep out of curiosity - luckily most kids weren't tuning in. This was a last minute cash in on the twins' fame, as their welcome was quickly wearing out.
At least they (or their handlers) were smart enough to save their earnings and have a well heeled life long after their time in the spotlight.
The twins' parents set up a trust fund, which obviously has come in mighty handy. Too bad they couldn't get a better animation house for this show.....
I think it's related to the twins' affiliation with ABC. They were still contracted with them so the network got to choose the studio.
Since it was all about the quick buck, and not the long run, I'm not surprised better quality animation was used here.
As noted, this was their last series for ABC itself. DIC had done better stuff (Inspector Gadget, Real Ghostbusters, Littles), but the quality of the artwork had gone south.
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