@@usualblokeluke A-thank you, kind sir. I grew up with the HiT era and recently went through some of the era's highlights (Mighty Mac, The Magic Lamp, Hector the Horrid, Heave Ho Thomas, etc) to see if they held up (they did for the most part). Come to think of it, my opinions on each era of Thomas have changed quite a bit over the last few years, but there are a few constants. Seasons 1 and 2: The closest to Awdry's vision (despite some odd omissions) Seasons 3 and 4: the best of the classic era; only hampered by some strange choices caused by S1 and S2's omissions and "Rusty to the Rescue" donking up Sodor something fierce Season 5: adventurous grab bag that bit off more than it could chew at times Magic Railroad: great when it's about Thomas and friends; not so much when it's about the human actors; fantastic model work, voice acting and soundtrack Seasons 6 and 7: big letdown after S3-5 that planted the seeds for the show's downfall, but not horrible. Season 8: A perfectly adequate back to basics season that launched a new era Seasons 9-10: home to some of the HiT era's best, but out of character moments are piling up fast and the three strikes formula is getting grating Season 11: Peak mid-tier HiT era Season 12: OH NO THE CGI HAS AGED HORRIBLY Miller Era (Seasons 13-16): The worst of the worst; nothing redeemable in it save for Hiro, Victor, Kevin and Paxton Season 17: like Season 8 in that it started a new era, but better than adequate Season 18: Brenner's picking up the pace Seasons 19-20: Best of the Brenner Era Season 21: Bouncing and "A Shed for Edward" aside, a decent sendoff to CGI Thomas's good chunk Season 22: Well, this hurts coming off Seasons 17 through 21 Season 23: Michael White tried; this is still BWBA level terrible, though Season 24: The least terrible BWBA season, but still a sorry sendoff to Thomas as a whole
@@usualblokeluke I think bringing up the absence of crews might need to be brought up here and S9 because ignoring them is a big part of why the Hit era dropping established classic series points really hurts them. Especially during the engine fight, does no one's crew not say anything?
@@TheSoapontheWii360 Same here when I first heard it, growing up with the Nitrogen and Brenner Eras (which made for a great circumstance, since I was hooked on the show for longer because of a change in era, the exact opposite of Luke's experience), but I have been listening to the Headmaster Hastings version of the song with that line since 8th grade (by that, I mean only since last year, yes, I'm that young), so I've gotten used to both lines.
Despite my inner childhood liking Series 8, I can't help but agree with most of your points here. It dropped the ball completely on many things. Your review on it actually makes me tempted to edit a 4:30 minute cut of some episodes again, like I did earlier with Fish...let's see where it goes!
Jesus Christ, just do it, even unlucky tug liked it, his standards are way too high, i think you should edit do the magic lamp to a 4:30 runtime since it's my favourite thomas episode ever made
@@Thomasmemoryscentral yea, speaking of copyright claims, what happened to my season 6 color corrected episodes ? What happened to thomasmediafan2002 ?
What could've made this series better if I was in charge... - Read the Railway Series 1. Study the characters 2. Learn their arcs 3. Understand what you're workin with. - Watch the Classic Series 1. See what was done before 2. Learn what's been established so far 3. Do what's never been done before.
I mean, good luck with the execs and the studio mandates. Also, remember that T & F was moved to a different channel at this time. So, kudos for effort, but zero shot you'd be happy doing it.
You could appreciate them releasing Wilberts books into one volume Jonathan and good merchandise in the 2000's but the show had almost no good qualities at this point.
In other words, have HiT actually treat the series with some level of respect. I mean, if they could do that with Bob the Builder of all things (pre-reboot), they can do the same with Thomas, instead of letting the sleaze and short-sighted-ness get the best of them.
The thing I find with season 8 is that a lot of things have to align for the stories to happen, like forgetting to attach trucks, a side character overreacting or the main character having another goal out of nowhere. The stories don’t really feel natural anymore since they would simply not exist if one of these things don’t happen
Can you add in the lack of crew screentime an issue too? In the past they'd have tried to solve the problems too. In fact, Percy's New Whistle is probably the only time one of them did anything that weren't just stating the obvious
If they wanted to do a story where Emily’s motherly side could’ve been a flaw is to do this: Story title: “Helicopter Engine.” “While waiting for the fire lighters to warm them up, the engines ( Thomas, Percy, Edward, Gordon, Henry, Toby and Emily) start talking about who had the most accidents to pass the time. Soon, Percy’s rather accident filled record comes up and Percy gets teased by Gordon and James for it. While Edward and Thomas calmly bring up Gordon and James’ own accidents, Emily starts to worry about Percy and decides to help him on his jobs throughout the day. All throughout the day, Emily is basically a helicopter parent and babies Percy to a degree with his jobs, and she even tries to go with him to pull his mail train. At long last, Percy’s patience finally runs out and he blows up at Emily and tells her to leave him alone. Shocked and hurt, Emily puffs sadly away until she reaches Edward’s station where Edward and Toby are resting after shutting cars in the yard. Toby and Edward, after hearing from Emily and what was Percy’s reaction, tell Emily that it’s not a crime for her to care for others but she needs have to have confidence in their abilities. ( In the meantime, we can have a scene where Percy feels bad for yelling at Emily and promising to apologize to her the next time he sees her). Now filled with that advice, Emily puffs back to Knapford station where Percy is about to leave with his mail train. Both engines apologize to each other and Emily promises to rely on Percy’s abilities. With their bond fixed, Emily watches on proudly as Percy confidently puffs into the night.
This looks like a really good story to be adapted into an episode of Thomas and Friends. And it’s a good story for Emily to be a lead in. I like this ideas. :)
This story reminds me a bit of the Chuggington episode "Outward Bound Olwin" where Olwin babies the trainees when they do their Outward Bound course, Olwin's personality in that episode is what I imagine A flaw for Emily's character would be like
Considering how messed up numerous characters were in seasons 8-16 (besides a few examples like Gordon and James) it makes me glad characters like Duck, Oliver, Donald, Douglas, and Duke had little to no appearances. Especially Duke considering the characters most screwed over were the older/mentor characters (Edward, Toby, and especially Skarloey and Rheneas)
A double edged sword. Only a few railway series characters returned for later seasons and we had to deal with the ones that stayed in the show more get downgraded
Duck just vanished completely after S7 and wasn't seen again until S12. Then gone again until S17. I remember the whole "Emily replaced Duck" fiasco vividly...
@@Thomasmemoryscentralyeah, it helps they were trying to make it more educational as it aired in the UK on the preschool channel Nick Jr. and in the us on the educational channel PBS Kids.
With all due respect, the show’s struggle with Duck became much more noticeable in Series 7 than in Series 6. In Series 6, Duck was still a prominent character. He still made another round of speaking roles like in Series 5, with his last spotlight episode being in Scaredy Engines, the last Duck and Percy dynamic episode. But after Series 6, Duck started to become hard to use as a speaking role or as main character for a spotlight episode. And he was instead used as background appearances or cameos with no lines of dialogue. So, Series 6 would be the last time they used Duck as a prominent character. Until Series 12, Duck appeared again as a supporting character. And in Series 17 during the cgi series, he became a prominent character again.
Out of this whole review, you sure as hell me knocked me back to the past at 47:16. This episode was one of my first (if i remember correctly), along with 'Halloween', and others from this era. And of course, the classics. I always remember this episode very fondly for some odd reason. Hearing this chase theme randomly gave me a sense of joy and excitement I had way back then. I may have grew up with the HIT era but, a lot of them aged poorly and it makes a bit sad lol.
13:11 - 14:49 this was the funniest part of the video because of how accurate it was. Also I hated the new soundtrack they introduced for this series, all the brass instruments drove me nuts with how overused they were
Poor Thomas. He tends to be on the receiving end of Emily’s bitchy mood. Calling him stupid for believing in a pirate story (Didn’t even bother to say sorry to Thomas after he found a pirate treasure) and making him ruin his milk delivery by challenging him into a race.
Yeah, season 8 is where I started dying inside as far as Thomas was concerned. I left the show behind only occassionally watching it when there was nothing else on, and during that time I got more into science, dreaming up inventions, daydreaming, and reading Goosebumps books for the first time. High school is when I came back to Thomas by watching redubs, and also seeing the darker take on Thomas with Sodor: The Dark Times. Seeing others make their own videos/stories/takes on Thomas inspired me to come back to it.
While there are gems in this season, (Edward the Great & Gordon takes Charge), this is unfortunately where the stigma of "ThOmAs Is A bAbY sHoW" started and it continued even through the renaissance of the early season 20s. Here's a fun fact about me: when they first came out I thought Seasons 7 and 8 were one season because of how the US released and dubbed them.
What about diminishing the crews on screen? They started getting less screentime starting in Season 8 and that is a charm of Mitton I'm annoyed Hit did
Your comeback to review the Thomas the Tank Engine series was definitely worth the spring wait, Luke, because I've been watching the entire reuploading of the Shining Time Station series as a time passer!
It's truly unfortunate that the "Thomas Saves the Day" instrumental was copyright blocked and hasn't been reuploaded yet, because that runaway theme really is an absolute banger
I understand your point about Squeak, Rattle n Roll but still reckon it's a great episode for these reasons 1) Even though Gordon's brothers were not mentioned in Season 3, I understand why he feels anxiety. 2) It was a great arc to where even though he starts to squeak, he pushes on cause he doesn't want to let to the kids down Also sidenote, but I LOVE how Gordon gives Edward some encouragement in Edward the Great. After seeing how rude he was to Edward in Season 1 and 6, seeing him cheer him on was kinda heartwarming
What annoys the heck out of me is "confusion and delay" is used way too many times now, its almost like a TTTE bingo guarantee, that, the 2 mistakes and the final gettign things right, and the "just in time" as well. I grew up with season 1 and 2 of Thomas, with Ringo Starr narrating and I think confusion and delay was used very few times, I know at least once, but now its like every other episode.
Or how about "Then there was trouble" before almost every accident? As much as parts of the Hit era recently have gotten a bit more appreciation due to the existence of BWBA and AEG, clunky dialogue and tired overusage of those phrases cannot be salvaged
Hit era Thomas bingo: 1. It was a such and such day on the island of Sodor 2. Then there was trouble before an accident happens 3. Topham chewing out his engine for doing the job poorly 4. Confusion and delay being caused despite most accidents no warranting them. Does lateness ever get considered possibility as an answer for say As Good As Gordon 5. One day Sir Topham comes to location, usually the sheds 6. Character is described smily or called really useful
Season 8 is an underrated gem in my opinion. Yes, it's the beginning of a lot of problems for the show, but one can't deny some of the sets look absolutely gorgeous and there are plenty of stories that still have that Classic feel. The music was also pretty good especially Thomas' theme. Even though the flanderization of characters begun here, I'd say it's still a really good season.
Imo the sets were very bland because of the grayness in them. The music was an actual slap though lol. The writing had downgraded massively from s7 but was it terrible? Absolutely not there are tons of bangers here. Thomas To The Rescue, James Gets A New Coat, Thomas Saves The Day, Percy’s Big Mistake, Emily’s New Route, Thomas & The Firework Display, I could go on…. 2/3 of the episodes are actually good! Season 8 gets a B+ for me!
The soundtrack tho, it has lot's of Horns, i mean lot's of Horns, it competes with Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire in terms of amount of Horns and it was before Pokemon Ruby existed and i love it
whilst I understand why people don't like the HiT Entertainment era,I am very nostalgic for it (along with the classic series).I have lots of fun memories watching some Series 8 and 9 episodes on dvd,along with Cars.While I do admit that some of the episodes in this era range from being mediocre to down right terrible and the classic and Brenner era are better in every way,it did introduce me to Thomas & Friends and I respect for that alone.Also,14:58,You've got yourself a deal!.
the hit era crashes can be summed up like this: Insert character was impatient as usual and pushes/pulls then the truck they were pulling shot forward/insert character shot forward and crashed into (insert object) then the truck somehow exploded! Luckily no one was hurt!
Halloween was probably my favorite season 8 episode as a kid I really loved the chase scene between Emily Thomas arry and Bert it's just so action packed and terrifying
I'm really nostalgic for season 8. I Remember watching this season when i was 5 or 6 and loving It. Even tough i'm almost 16 now and my opinions on some episodes of this season changed, i still really like It. I consider this season the most underrated of the show.
This sesaon is childhood for me . I was 4 when this came out . Now looking back on it it’s kinda childish but it still has a special place in my heart great video as always
22:03 EY THERE"S ME IN A THOMAS ANALYSIS REVIEW! While the HiT era has a lot of setbacks, but not as bad as the Nitrogen and BWBA eras have become and Season 8 is one of my favorites from that era, and I had a lot of nostalgia memories of that season, although there are some bizarre moments that have caused the downfall (and from the recent 2003 bible that was released online, when looking at it, it would explain the characters and the show's downfall). For Duck not being on the HiT era (apart from a S10 MV), I'm fine with him not being in that era and Nitrogen because he represents 'true' quality, so I think having Emily in his place in the Steam Team really saved him, even though she couldn't save herself. One fun fact about S8 is that it was originally going to be produced by Gullane Entertainment as far back as 2001 making up a total of 3 seasons and 78 episodes so far in total, but only 52 episodes were made when HiT purchased Gullane the following year. In terms of favorite episodes, I really love Halloween, Edward the Great, the Gordon episodes, Thomas to the Rescue, Emily's New Route, James Goes Too Far and Firework Display. As for least favorite, it's Emily's Adventure as like many other people I cannot stand Emily's behavior, along with Wishing Tree, Snowplough, You Can Do It Toby, etc. Obviously, I feel that Daisy should've been the main lead in any of Emily's bad episodes since she's the better candidate. For As Good as Gordon, I think they should've made Emily worrying about her capability when pulling the express, especially since the real Stirling Singles were prone to wheelslip due to their large driving wheels.
I watched the HIT era episodes as a kid, and they honestly weren't that bad. Granted they could be better, but the crew still tried to pull off some decent scenery
Season 8 wasn't the start of the "three strikes formula" (aka engine is given a job with a special instruction, doesn't follow it three times, after his last mistake he saves the day) It was actually done since the Books. Sad Story of Henry: 1. Pull Henry Out 2. Push Henry Out 3. Push Henry Out with a locomotive (this fails and henry is bricked up in the tunnel) Henry saves the day in the next episode. But it was done in a way that TASTEFULLY progressed the story.
Huh never thought of it that way although honestly, I consider Thomas And The Conductor the original "Thomas learns his lesson from rushing his job and messing up from it" and the short runtime helps it
I laughed so hard at this amazing video especially the Chickens to School rant (ironically I remember liking that episode as a kid) and the recreation of the average formulaic episode with your glorious narrator impression. It surprises and disappoints me how stupid my childhood show was during the era I started watching it in. Can't wait for the Season 9 review when you get round to it. Also thanks for not insulting the Cars films during the introduction, and for not saying "the sequel is trash and it got me out of the franchise" like everyone else would. I'm glad some people can talk about Cars without hating it. I tend to not watch people who do.
Luke, your reviews really just put my mind at ease and give me a new perspective to look at the show, thanks for making this one. And thank you so much for not holding back on the disaster known as Hit era Emily. I'm grateful they changed Duck from the main cast with Emily, but the more I think about it as I type this, the episodes where Emily is impatient and bossy really would fit Duck well... just toned a slight tad. Still wonderful review and i can't wait for whatcha do next. also congrats on 2k! here's to 3K!
I always found Percy's Big Mistake to be an interesting episode because of how it taps into how trigging the word "scrap" is to an engine when they are under stress. The convenient timing of the dockyard manager saying that he'll have to speak to The Fat Controller, and then The Fat Controller talking to his driver about the scrapyard is what sets Percy off. The only things that would have made it better is if Percy didn't speak to anyone after hearing The Fat Controller, and the scene with the pipes was removed. It would have given children a proper idea of what stress can do to the mind when they don't take care of themselves mentally and assess a situation.
@@UkFinest2995 Fine enough Reece. Funnily enough, this isnt the first time stuff like that is used the series. There is a labeless can posing as a tower in Season 2 in the scene where Bill stops but Ben puffs put of the shed towards Boco
I just wanted to say thanks for the music links in the description. I've gone on internet treks longer than the one undergone in order to find Duke, looking for music I liked from videos in the past. Makes things a lot easier!
It's a relief whenever someone features the music links isn't it. You could be watching a video thinking "Damn this music is pretty catchy I wonder what it's from" only to go on a scavenger hunt as you said lol
45:35 I want to take a somewhat realistic approach to this, and say that it was probably Thomas's speed and the shuttering of the coaches that made him derail. Kind of similar (but the other way around) to a diesel engine in real life, the EMD SDP40F, and how it would shake around to the point of derailing its coaches, or itself.
Showing off the fish in open trucks for the kindergartners is actually what that catastrophic setup is, Hit marketed the show well but they really didnt handled the show itself well outside the products
Ah Series 8, the season that retconed Emily's persona. From the kind, helpful and motherly persona from Series 7 and Series 19/21 in my opinion😍 to a rebellious, bossy and jerky persona that's supposed to be a good role model for girls!?😐
In a lot of ways, I don’t mind that personality for her. I mean, in season seven she was just getting established, and sometimes, when people become more comfortable, they branch out in terms of their personalities. I really think they took it too far with her though. it would’ve been better if they went for a more balanced approach to both of these.
These are my four biggest problems with the pre-Brenner HIT era. Firstly, plot. Nearly every single episode was so in-your-face educational and it felt like everything was pushing a message rather than trying to be fun; in contrast, the Classic Series was educational but in a subtle way. And to add insult to injury... these lessons the characters learned were often things they knew already. And that leads nicely onto my second point: characterisation. The characters were not only often insufferable but they never felt like their old selves and their personalities kept fluctuating, meaning that the show was robbed of a vital sense of consistency. In fact, their personalities were just neutral and interchangeable, so they felt less like characters and more like props. Thirdly, the longer run-times didn't work as there just wasn't enough going on in most of these episodes to justify that. The earlier, shorter episodes packed a lot into 5 minutes and I think most of these HIT eps could've done so too, given that their stories were fairly simple. And finally, the music. Bland, just bland. I'll take O'Donnell and Campbell any day.
One thing you kinda missed, not only were some Series 7 eps sliced in with some Series 8 eps when the series was being broadcasted but also some series 6 eps were spliced in as well, that Angelis and Brandon did redubs of
Heck Angelis or Brandon say that there wouldnt be any fresh bread that day right before Topham gets uptight over missing his crumpets and toast. You have the narrator stating about the missed baked goods from the late delivery and then here is Fat Hatt whining about his missed first meal. Weird transitioning much?
Dude, this review was great all around, but your 'episode template' and rants on The Fat Controller are freaking brilliant. While I grew up with pretty much all of 'classic' Thomas to an extent, the HIT era episodes are the ones I remember watching on TV and DVD most often (alongside Magic Railroad 😏), and looking back that repetitive story format is so blatantly obvious...
there one thing in the episodes you've missed "insert character here did not do the instructions given 3 times and realizes they screwed up the job after the 3rd screw up."
the scene of the Camera lens From Gordon Take Charge: 31:42 This is must be steam where used Fog machine to blow some steam coming out of the cool cloth, Gordon was slowly leaving the station this looks really f(bleep)king incredible.
This may sound mid, but Henry and the Wishing Tree feels like an odd sequel to Henry’s Forest Actually here’s how I would’ve written Henry and the Wishing Tree. Henry would be taking school children to the forest and mention to them how special the forest is and he tells them about the time it was ruined in the storm. Henry then tells them his favourite tree in the forest, which he calls; the “Wishing Tree”. But then, it starts to get windy, and the trees start swaying in the wind and the “Wishing Tree” starts to sway and looks like it is about to break from the ground. Henry tells the kids to get back into the coaches so they don’t get hurt but he doesn’t want to leave the “Wishing Tree” behind but he knows he has to. Later, Henry goes back to the forest and the “Wishing Tree” has fallen down and Henry os so upset. The school children figure out how they can make Henry happy again. As a callback to Henry’s Forest, they speak to Trevor and Terence about Henry’s favourite tree. Terence and Trevor feel bad and get Toby and Thomas together to replant the “Wishing Tree”. The next day, Henry arrives back at the forest surprised to see the “Wishing Tree” back. The school children are there and how they understood how much the “Wishing Tree” meant to Henry. Henry is very grateful and thanks everyone.
Thank you so much. The part of the, “Did someone say magic?” “You have had your chance/time in the spotlight. Sud off.” With the gun Is very funny and very cool. It can inspire me to love acting with guns. And I love the chase music from Thomas Saves The Day And Halloween
34:24 I would be very happy and find it very cool if you let the Thomas And The Magic Railroad on Venom Spider-Man's face, who said excitedly, "Did someone say magic?" which to me is very funny and inspires me to love acting, in and keep him in to keep him happy because it's one of my favorite Thomas movies
0:34 - Polish version of Engine Roll Call: Przyjaciół przedstawiamy wam! Wciąż coś wożą tu i tam! Czerwień, błękit, zieleń, brąz. Oto ich kolory są! Poprzez pola, miasta, wsie, gdzieś każdy z wagonami mknie! Kto przyjaciół takich zna? Tomek takich ma! Tomek - Bardzo śmiały jest! Kuba - Lubi bawić się! Piotruś - Z pocztą gna przez świat! Gabryś - Szybki jest jak wiatr! Emilka - Dobrze zna swój fach! Henio - Sapie: OCH i ACH! Edek - Wszystkim pomóc chce! Tobik - Z nim wynudzisz się! Przyjaciół przedstawiamy wam! Wciąż coś wożą tu i tam! Czerwień, błękit, zieleń, brąz. Oto ich kolory są! Poprzez pola, miasta, wsie, gdzieś każdy z wagonami mknie! Kto przyjaciół takich zna? Tomek takich ma! *Kto przyjaciół takich zna? Tomek takich ma!*
50:19 Yk, this kind of sounds like an engine being cut up, screaming in unbearable, agonized pain as parts are being cut off of it, and they're just standing there, unable to do anything to save themselves.
Actually, Gullane brought back Fireman Sam first before HiT bought Gullane. It had Series 5 of the show, and it was the last series to have stop-motion animation. And it was damn good. And then once Fireman Sam is bought by HiT, it started to use CGI by Series 6. Which is bad
@@usualblokeluke But when Fireman Sam started with Season 6 by HiT entertainment. The show transitioned from stop motion to CGI. And it was bad. Yes, I consider Season 5 to be somewhat of a reboot because it was different to the first four seasons of Fireman Sam. But they used stop motion before HiT switched it over with CGI. Although it was confusing to tell which is the reboot, but I’d say both Season 5 and Season 6 were. One was just the different theme song, different character designs, different music and lip syncing of the stop motion figures. And the other was a full-on switch to CGI by HiT Entertainment. But Gullane did Fireman Sam better than HiT.
To be fair season 5 of fireman Sam was more of a revival then a reboot as it continues on from the first four seasons whilst also expanding on many concepts from the original such as the introduction of new characters and upgrading/modernisinghe designs of the fire engines jupiter and venus. The cgi series on the other hand is definitely a reboot as they reestablished what had been a lot of what what we had seen and we're use to when the show was stop motion(namely pontypandy being relocated to being a town on the coast and by the seas instead of being in the mountains and valleys of south wales) and we all know how things were never the same again for the series and only more and more worse with time from that point onwards (looking at you mr norman price and and you abysmal pointless new characters introduced)
@@LewisWall-gz6tx Yeah, I meant to say season 5 was a revival whilst seasons 6 and onwards was a reboot. :P Sorry, just a little typo for saying they rebooted it. And don’t get me started on Norman in the cgi series. Ugh! I hate how he’s portrayed in there currently.
@@thecaledoniansleeper2648 no worries it happens. I grow up with season 5 when it was airing on cbeebies along with the occasion reruns of the early bumper films seasons. I backed away from the show when the cgi series came about in 2008 and yes Norman was on of the main reasons I stopped watching new episodes at that point in time. Honestly the only show hit entertainment accuired that they did justice to was pingu (seasons 5 and 6 are on the same levels with the pygos group era of the show it also helped with how good an animations studio hot animation was in it's day having done both bob the builder and rubberdubbers).
8:40 im sorry, but i dont think thats what it is. the way i see it, the tuba player was left behind, yes, BUT instead of just sitting there doing nothing, im sure he thought, "well, i'll just get there myself! i dont mind." to me, it seems less like he was being impatient, and more like he was taking it upon himself to get there on his own
@@usualblokeluke fair point. but maybe he DID hear thomas, and he knew he couldnt get up there in time. after all, thomas was going pretty fast, and the hill looks a bit deep to climb on your own...
I tried to research why a fisheye lens was used for Season 8 but I did find out about Seasons 8-12 using Digital Betamax SP cameras instead of 35mm cameras maybe the former was bundled with a fisheye lens and the crew wanted to try it out? I wonder if someone one day would see the fisheye lens as useful for T&F fan series. But I agree with you, we see the potential, it can reach the potential but the copy and paste writing, rushed and sleazy production, and finally HiT not knowing/forgetting what made Thomas and Friends so beloved in the first place let everyone down!
As a kid, I used to think Michael Brandon said in the scene of sleepy Spencer being overtaken by Edward, "Spencer was dreaming of Victor." Like I misheard him saying "victory" for "Victor" the Steamworks engine and wondered if I missed an episode where Victor was in the model series.
I always had a head canon that the reason the engines all became childish in the Hit and Nitrogen era is because they all became insecure about their old ages but I now realise that that head canon doesn’t really work
The retool for Season 8 of Thomas was a result of executive meddling. HiT wanted Thomas to be a big success in the US like he was in the past, and in doing so, they wanted to bring Thomas' show back to PBS, as Thomas had previously been successful on that network as part of the Shining Time Station spin-off that ran from 1989 to 1996. However, PBS would not pick up the show unless it was retooled to have more educational content. This is why the episodes became more anvilicious and formulaic, and interactive activities were added in between episodes not only to add more educational content but to extend the show's runtime from five minutes to thirty, the way Shining Time Station did back in 1989. Because PBS lacks commercial breaks, their shows are often padded with extra segments that can otherwise easily be cut for commercial airtime, should they happen to air on commercial networks. Examples include the "And Now a Word From Us Kids" segments from Arthur, the Speckle Stories from Clifford the Big Red Dog (2000), and the "Producer Says" segments from The Magic School Bus. While it did mean having to comply with PBS' standards and practices, Thomas was once again a long-running staple of PBS, as his show ran on that network from Fall 2004 to the end of 2017.
Can I just say your impression of Michael Angelis doing the voice of the Fat Controller is spot on! :D As well as the season 8 narration as a whole. That part of the review made me laugh!
@@jeremythomaswebb1485 heck, Luke hamming up the "engine messed up with Topham chewing out the engine followed by character sad monent" sounds like the Thonas version of Family Guy's dramatic zoom in for sad moments post revival. They both get old fast
When I say this, I am not tyring to discredit your experiences with the Engine roll call song, but from my personal experiences (which is definitely influenced by nostalgia as series 8 is the one I remember the most as a kid), I love that song, yes I don't like the fact it replaced the iconic original, but even if I hear it now, I can't help but hum along to it. I personally love it
It Looks Like I Found Your Channel Again In Time, I Remember Your S6 And 7 Reviews (Mostly From The "Be Postman Pat" Joke From S6! XD) Loved Watching This, Might Enter The Episode Thing Too! XD
The HiT series was made so well, if HiT was more concerned about the stories than just plainly to sell toys, then I think Thomas and friends could have had a massive glow up
Starting with the eighth series of Thomas and Friends and until the twentieth series, all the vans would be left faceless and open wagons would be made into all the troublesome trucks with troublesome vans and troublesome tankers ceasing to exist until the twentieth series episode, “Bradford the Brake Van” and Journey Beyond Sodor in the CGI era where vans would be shown with faces for the first time in forever and troublesome vans and troublesome tankers would make their returns.
54:48-56:18, well Luke would you rather listen to the Engine Roll Call or listen to the closing theme of the Original Elmo's World Series, where it's basically the topic word getting repeated over and over again with the tune of Jingle Bells?
@@usualblokeluke Yeah Me neither Luke, however I do say I am nostalgic for the Engine Roll Call but I can understand why people like you really don't like that song and much prefer the Original Theme song (in which I don't blame them right there as it is so much better) but with the Closing Theme in the Original Elmo's World, while I am nostalgic for that show like I do with the Hit Era of Thomas, I really cannot deny that the closing theme for the Elmo's World is very annoying now that I'm older. Plus since you haven't seen Elmo's World or Sesame Street let me explain. Due to the Original Elmo's World trying to get the same younger audience like HIT Era Thomas and just like HIT era Thomas the Original Elmo's World was LITERALLY structured to be repetitive, don't believe take a look at the format for that show. 1. Guess what Elmo's Thinking about today? 2. Dorothy's Question 3. The Noodle Family 4. Kids and a Baby 5. Elmo's Question 6. Quiz 7. Video Email 8. Film Insert 9. TV Cartoon 10. Expert Interview 11. Tickle me Land 12. Home Video (Seasons 1 & 2) 13. Closing Song. and EVERY SINGLE EPISODE of the Original Elmo's World follows the same format every time HECK due it to be being formulaic even the Sesame Street show parodied that show a few times the first time with a sketch in a wrap party for Season 30 and the second time with Season 37 where they made an ACTUAL episode parodying Elmo's World with Cookie Monster in the role appropriately called Cookie World. So yeah IDK which one is worse so I digress.
I haven't really watched much of the Brenner Era yet, but wasn't there an episode there that poked fun at all of the weird jobs the engines did during the HiT Era?
27:56 If i had a nickel for every time farmer mccolls barn roof was destroyed in a storm, i would have two nickles, which isnt alot but it's weird that it happened twice
Thank you so much for calling out the GoPro shots with that weird camera! It bothered me so much to have those shots that looked like it was smeared with vaseline and tinted blue. Now I know why. Good luck with Calling All Engines and Series 9 up ahead! CAE is...oh boy. You may not like certain segments of it. I'm not sure. Series 9 has the worst songs in the entire series and I'm not changing my opinion on that a bit. One in particular I think is a mortal sin.
(Looks at Luke and Unluky Tug) If I had a nickel for every time a die-hard thomas fan vigorously collected the Cars figures, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice, right?
I did that too. I loved Cars and Cars 2 as a kid (and still do now) so naturally I collected as many toys as possible. I still have them in storage to this day.
After giving it a think about, i'm glad so many Characters disappeared it saved them from Hit's horrible writing. When I look back on it Season 8 was when I lost interest in T&F, but I did re-watch S1-7 multiple times.
Firstly, hats off for actually delving into the HiT era in a detailed analytical way; given the relative dearth of commentary on this period of the show (probably due to the tedium of actually watching it in bulk; I'm unsure how many fans have even watched it in its entirety), it's great to see a breakdown of the period's noticeable...downgrades from its predecessors. ANYWAYS!... While somewhat of a grey area conceptually, I tend to view "Thomas & Friends" as less a single 24-season monolith and more three different shows sandwiched together: seasons 1-7 obviously comprise the "classic" series, seasons 8-16 are "HiT Thomas" (or, as I prefer to call it, "Zombmas") and the Brenner and BWBA/Bwuhba eras are "New Thomas". While you could contest that elements of the HiT model seasons are foreshadowed somewhat in season 7 (such as the softer-sounding narration from Angelis or the increased emphasis on engines "pleasing the children" as a narrative impetus, something that comes to virulently infest the HiT era almost immediately), the direction, music and presence of legitimate tone and more distinct character chemistry more directly pinpoint season 7 as a continuation of the 1984 Thomas attempting to weather a cultural and media landscape markedly different from the one that spawned it two decades earlier. Season 8, by comparison, fundamentally feels like a different show altogether: the mouthy banter between the engines (a staple of the earlier seasons) has vanished almost entirely in favour of a far more didactic and exposition-based mode of dialogue, reducing the show's characterization to a far more banal and simplistic form (hence the almost-complete disappearance of the "engine receives comeuppance for their arrogance in a creative or goofy way" that formed a major part of the Awdry books), the direction is now more utilitarian, aggressively restricting itself to the same two or three angles (typically shot from a three-quarters ground-level perspective) on homogenous, overlit sets while forsaking the more cinematic landscape shots and environments of S1-7 and the music is reduced to tedious horn fanfares that doesn't so much preclude atmosphere as intently stomp it flat (because kids famously dislike and are traumatized by action sequences and narrative gravitas) when a given scene threatens to generate it. Your point on the plotting of "Chickens to School", however, basically hits on the most fundamental point of difference - whereas the plotting of "classic" Thomas was wound around the specifics of its characters and world, the HiT and Nitrogen eras effectively run on a far more abstract style of storytelling in which characters are typically flat vessels existing to pull apart and subsequently reassemble simplistic analogies. Thomas delivering chickens to school (which are subsequently unloaded nonchalantly and set loose in a goddamn classroom by alleged humans), for example, is not essentially framed by the episode as a sentient industrial vehicle delivering an erroneous load to a clade of public servants with autonomous psychologies, for example, but as a mismatched simple analogy akin to a pre-K learning segment: Thomas thinks that red (the chickens) and blue (the school) make orange (the designated "correct" answer) but NO, they make PURPLE, GO BACK AND TRY AGAIN. This is basically why I refer to S8-16 as "Zombmas": the series is almost completely dead inside, devoid of tone, character and texture beyond sporadic occasions and so abstract that the series' formerly rich worldbuilding is now almost completely off the cards.
Yeah I agree to an extent. The HIT era felt flat when it came to producing Thomas. I feel the people working there had little to almost no knowledge of how the classic seasons handled the show. Overall, I just feel a bit weird looking at the HIT episodes because there's something about them that doesn't feel as charming as say, season 3. The stories are somewhat predictable and tasteless, the sets are kind of generic with hardly any variety, and the settings become more kiddy-centric. If Thomas was given more better care and better writing, perhaps things be different
I very much knew how unlivable and idiotic the Fat Controller is in Emily's New Route. Mainly because I thought he wasn't in the mood to understand the troublesome trucks being the cause of Emily's delay. But I have to agree, he's quite a baby throwing a tantrum.
One could argue the sheds exploding in Rusty And The Boulder could be a result of unnamed dynamite stored in the sheds but no one can really defend the random exploding flour trucks
HiT Era Thomas is like a box of five month old chocolate. You never know if you’ll be pleasantly surprised, disgusted or apathetic towards it.
This is legitimately one of the best metaphors I've ever heard used to describe this era. A plus mate, A plus.
@@usualblokeluke A-thank you, kind sir. I grew up with the HiT era and recently went through some of the era's highlights (Mighty Mac, The Magic Lamp, Hector the Horrid, Heave Ho Thomas, etc) to see if they held up (they did for the most part).
Come to think of it, my opinions on each era of Thomas have changed quite a bit over the last few years, but there are a few constants.
Seasons 1 and 2: The closest to Awdry's vision (despite some odd omissions)
Seasons 3 and 4: the best of the classic era; only hampered by some strange choices caused by S1 and S2's omissions and "Rusty to the Rescue" donking up Sodor something fierce
Season 5: adventurous grab bag that bit off more than it could chew at times
Magic Railroad: great when it's about Thomas and friends; not so much when it's about the human actors; fantastic model work, voice acting and soundtrack
Seasons 6 and 7: big letdown after S3-5 that planted the seeds for the show's downfall, but not horrible.
Season 8: A perfectly adequate back to basics season that launched a new era
Seasons 9-10: home to some of the HiT era's best, but out of character moments are piling up fast and the three strikes formula is getting grating
Season 11: Peak mid-tier HiT era
Season 12: OH NO THE CGI HAS AGED HORRIBLY
Miller Era (Seasons 13-16): The worst of the worst; nothing redeemable in it save for Hiro, Victor, Kevin and Paxton
Season 17: like Season 8 in that it started a new era, but better than adequate
Season 18: Brenner's picking up the pace
Seasons 19-20: Best of the Brenner Era
Season 21: Bouncing and "A Shed for Edward" aside, a decent sendoff to CGI Thomas's good chunk
Season 22: Well, this hurts coming off Seasons 17 through 21
Season 23: Michael White tried; this is still BWBA level terrible, though
Season 24: The least terrible BWBA season, but still a sorry sendoff to Thomas as a whole
@@usualblokeluke Based on the near ending mention of Calling All Engines, that is getting a solo video before Season 9 becomes covered next?
@@Thomasmemoryscentral yup, though it shouldn't be as long as when I looked at The Magic Railroad I reckon
@@usualblokeluke I think bringing up the absence of crews might need to be brought up here and S9 because ignoring them is a big part of why the Hit era dropping established classic series points really hurts them.
Especially during the engine fight, does no one's crew not say anything?
"All the engines were looking busy for the camera, but only a few of them were even pulling trains."
“Toby he is wise and square”
One of the best lines in music history
Isn't the line "Toby well let's say he's square"
@@TheSoapontheWii360 Yes. But "he is wise and square" fits a lot better.
@@PsychoticWonders0725 it just sounds wrong for my hit era brain
@@TheSoapontheWii360 Same here when I first heard it, growing up with the Nitrogen and Brenner Eras (which made for a great circumstance, since I was hooked on the show for longer because of a change in era, the exact opposite of Luke's experience), but I have been listening to the Headmaster Hastings version of the song with that line since 8th grade (by that, I mean only since last year, yes, I'm that young), so I've gotten used to both lines.
Despite my inner childhood liking Series 8, I can't help but agree with most of your points here. It dropped the ball completely on many things. Your review on it actually makes me tempted to edit a 4:30 minute cut of some episodes again, like I did earlier with Fish...let's see where it goes!
Jesus Christ, just do it, even unlucky tug liked it, his standards are way too high, i think you should edit do the magic lamp to a 4:30 runtime since it's my favourite thomas episode ever made
Did copyright claims take them down? I knew there existed a fan edit of that episode but it’s gone now
@@Thomasmemoryscentral yea, speaking of copyright claims, what happened to my season 6 color corrected episodes ? What happened to thomasmediafan2002 ?
What could've made this series better if I was in charge...
- Read the Railway Series
1. Study the characters
2. Learn their arcs
3. Understand what you're workin with.
- Watch the Classic Series
1. See what was done before
2. Learn what's been established so far
3. Do what's never been done before.
I mean, good luck with the execs and the studio mandates. Also, remember that T & F was moved to a different channel at this time.
So, kudos for effort, but zero shot you'd be happy doing it.
You could appreciate them releasing Wilberts books into one volume Jonathan and good merchandise in the 2000's but the show had almost no good qualities at this point.
In other words, have HiT actually treat the series with some level of respect.
I mean, if they could do that with Bob the Builder of all things (pre-reboot), they can do the same with Thomas, instead of letting the sleaze and short-sighted-ness get the best of them.
0:34 2:08
The thing I find with season 8 is that a lot of things have to align for the stories to happen, like forgetting to attach trucks, a side character overreacting or the main character having another goal out of nowhere. The stories don’t really feel natural anymore since they would simply not exist if one of these things don’t happen
Can you add in the lack of crew screentime an issue too? In the past they'd have tried to solve the problems too. In fact, Percy's New Whistle is probably the only time one of them did anything that weren't just stating the obvious
If they wanted to do a story where Emily’s motherly side could’ve been a flaw is to do this:
Story title: “Helicopter Engine.”
“While waiting for the fire lighters to warm them up, the engines ( Thomas, Percy, Edward, Gordon, Henry, Toby and Emily) start talking about who had the most accidents to pass the time.
Soon, Percy’s rather accident filled record comes up and Percy gets teased by Gordon and James for it.
While Edward and Thomas calmly bring up Gordon and James’ own accidents, Emily starts to worry about Percy and decides to help him on his jobs throughout the day.
All throughout the day, Emily is basically a helicopter parent and babies Percy to a degree with his jobs, and she even tries to go with him to pull his mail train.
At long last, Percy’s patience finally runs out and he blows up at Emily and tells her to leave him alone.
Shocked and hurt, Emily puffs sadly away until she reaches Edward’s station where Edward and Toby are resting after shutting cars in the yard.
Toby and Edward, after hearing from Emily and what was Percy’s reaction, tell Emily that it’s not a crime for her to care for others but she needs have to have confidence in their abilities.
( In the meantime, we can have a scene where Percy feels bad for yelling at Emily and promising to apologize to her the next time he sees her).
Now filled with that advice, Emily puffs back to Knapford station where Percy is about to leave with his mail train.
Both engines apologize to each other and Emily promises to rely on Percy’s abilities.
With their bond fixed, Emily watches on proudly as Percy confidently puffs into the night.
This looks like a really good story to be adapted into an episode of Thomas and Friends. And it’s a good story for Emily to be a lead in. I like this ideas. :)
I love the premise of your story. Would make a nice fanfiction. 👍😎
What's a helicopter parent
This story reminds me a bit of the Chuggington episode "Outward Bound Olwin" where Olwin babies the trainees when they do their Outward Bound course, Olwin's personality in that episode is what I imagine A flaw for Emily's character would be like
Helicopter engine. That sounds like a title from All engines Go. But the story is you made is nice
34:21
"DID SOMEONE SAY MAGIC!?" bit gets me everytime!
😂
🤣
you pick the wrong house fool
34:25
I FOUND IT!
Considering how messed up numerous characters were in seasons 8-16 (besides a few examples like Gordon and James) it makes me glad characters like Duck, Oliver, Donald, Douglas, and Duke had little to no appearances. Especially Duke considering the characters most screwed over were the older/mentor characters (Edward, Toby, and especially Skarloey and Rheneas)
A double edged sword. Only a few railway series characters returned for later seasons and we had to deal with the ones that stayed in the show more get downgraded
Duck just vanished completely after S7 and wasn't seen again until S12. Then gone again until S17.
I remember the whole "Emily replaced Duck" fiasco vividly...
@@Thomasmemoryscentralyeah, it helps they were trying to make it more educational as it aired in the UK on the preschool channel Nick Jr. and in the us on the educational channel PBS Kids.
They didn't dodge a bullet, they dodged an entire amerory
@@fanofeverything30465 It was Hit Entertainment’s decisions to make all these changes
With all due respect, the show’s struggle with Duck became much more noticeable in Series 7 than in Series 6. In Series 6, Duck was still a prominent character. He still made another round of speaking roles like in Series 5, with his last spotlight episode being in Scaredy Engines, the last Duck and Percy dynamic episode. But after Series 6, Duck started to become hard to use as a speaking role or as main character for a spotlight episode. And he was instead used as background appearances or cameos with no lines of dialogue.
So, Series 6 would be the last time they used Duck as a prominent character. Until Series 12, Duck appeared again as a supporting character. And in Series 17 during the cgi series, he became a prominent character again.
"Alicia Botti's Secret" and the entire "Chickens to School" rant had me in stitches.
For real though, reading the script for this was the most fun I've had in a video on my channel
@@usualblokeluke I never noticed how flawed these episodes were. A lot of them just happen because of plot.
"Did someone say Magic?" "You have had your time in the spotlight. Sod off." XD! Best lines in this video hands down.
you pick the wrong house fool
Out of this whole review, you sure as hell me knocked me back to the past at 47:16. This episode was one of my first (if i remember correctly), along with 'Halloween', and others from this era. And of course, the classics.
I always remember this episode very fondly for some odd reason. Hearing this chase theme randomly gave me a sense of joy and excitement I had way back then.
I may have grew up with the HIT era but, a lot of them aged poorly and it makes a bit sad lol.
13:11 - 14:49 this was the funniest part of the video because of how accurate it was. Also I hated the new soundtrack they introduced for this series, all the brass instruments drove me nuts with how overused they were
Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire Soundtrack: i'm 4 parrallel universes ahead of you
29:40 nah this is funnier
Despite being the beginning of a new era, it’s one of the best seasons from the HIT Era
Definetely I bet that’s what Luke’s gonna say
Considering this is just the start, Hit Entertainment needed to start off easy before ego got the best of them
@@Thomasmemoryscentral Season 8 is the best of them though...
@@dannythehipster5644 S-S11?!
@@chad9181 sorry, no.
Poor Thomas. He tends to be on the receiving end of Emily’s bitchy mood. Calling him stupid for believing in a pirate story (Didn’t even bother to say sorry to Thomas after he found a pirate treasure) and making him ruin his milk delivery by challenging him into a race.
Ik
And refusing to tell him what the Christmas Tree is
Yeah, season 8 is where I started dying inside as far as Thomas was concerned. I left the show behind only occassionally watching it when there was nothing else on, and during that time I got more into science, dreaming up inventions, daydreaming, and reading Goosebumps books for the first time. High school is when I came back to Thomas by watching redubs, and also seeing the darker take on Thomas with Sodor: The Dark Times. Seeing others make their own videos/stories/takes on Thomas inspired me to come back to it.
Robert Hartshorne's brass music is cinematic when there's a runaway.
Reminds me of Pokemon Ruby's route 4 theme
Only two minutes in, and that engine roll call cover has given me a wave of nostalgia. Looking forward to this video!
While there are gems in this season, (Edward the Great & Gordon takes Charge), this is unfortunately where the stigma of "ThOmAs Is A bAbY sHoW" started and it continued even through the renaissance of the early season 20s.
Here's a fun fact about me: when they first came out I thought Seasons 7 and 8 were one season because of how the US released and dubbed them.
What about diminishing the crews on screen? They started getting less screentime starting in Season 8 and that is a charm of Mitton I'm annoyed Hit did
Your comeback to review the Thomas the Tank Engine series was definitely worth the spring wait, Luke, because I've been watching the entire reuploading of the Shining Time Station series as a time passer!
It's truly unfortunate that the "Thomas Saves the Day" instrumental was copyright blocked and hasn't been reuploaded yet, because that runaway theme really is an absolute banger
I understand your point about Squeak, Rattle n Roll but still reckon it's a great episode for these reasons
1) Even though Gordon's brothers were not mentioned in Season 3, I understand why he feels anxiety.
2) It was a great arc to where even though he starts to squeak, he pushes on cause he doesn't want to let to the kids down
Also sidenote, but I LOVE how Gordon gives Edward some encouragement in Edward the Great. After seeing how rude he was to Edward in Season 1 and 6, seeing him cheer him on was kinda heartwarming
What annoys the heck out of me is "confusion and delay" is used way too many times now, its almost like a TTTE bingo guarantee, that, the 2 mistakes and the final gettign things right, and the "just in time" as well.
I grew up with season 1 and 2 of Thomas, with Ringo Starr narrating and I think confusion and delay was used very few times, I know at least once, but now its like every other episode.
Or how about "Then there was trouble" before almost every accident? As much as parts of the Hit era recently have gotten a bit more appreciation due to the existence of BWBA and AEG, clunky dialogue and tired overusage of those phrases cannot be salvaged
Hit era Thomas bingo:
1. It was a such and such day on the island of Sodor
2. Then there was trouble before an accident happens
3. Topham chewing out his engine for doing the job poorly
4. Confusion and delay being caused despite most accidents no warranting them. Does lateness ever get considered possibility as an answer for say As Good As Gordon
5. One day Sir Topham comes to location, usually the sheds
6. Character is described smily or called really useful
Season 8 is an underrated gem in my opinion. Yes, it's the beginning of a lot of problems for the show, but one can't deny some of the sets look absolutely gorgeous and there are plenty of stories that still have that Classic feel. The music was also pretty good especially Thomas' theme. Even though the flanderization of characters begun here, I'd say it's still a really good season.
Imo the sets were very bland because of the grayness in them. The music was an actual slap though lol. The writing had downgraded massively from s7 but was it terrible? Absolutely not there are tons of bangers here.
Thomas To The Rescue, James Gets A New Coat, Thomas Saves The Day, Percy’s Big Mistake, Emily’s New Route, Thomas & The Firework Display, I could go on….
2/3 of the episodes are actually good!
Season 8 gets a B+ for me!
@@chad9181 exactly my thoughts
I actually think season 8 is alright
The soundtrack tho, it has lot's of Horns, i mean lot's of Horns, it competes with Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire in terms of amount of Horns and it was before Pokemon Ruby existed and i love it
Season 8 is the best season of the HiT era in my opinion. It isn't good, but it is decent
Can’t wait to see this video. I liked the HiT era as a kid but looking back as an adult my feelings towards it are very mixed.
whilst I understand why people don't like the HiT Entertainment era,I am very nostalgic for it (along with the classic series).I have lots of fun memories watching some Series 8 and 9 episodes on dvd,along with Cars.While I do admit that some of the episodes in this era range from being mediocre to down right terrible and the classic and Brenner era are better in every way,it did introduce me to Thomas & Friends and I respect for that alone.Also,14:58,You've got yourself a deal!.
the hit era crashes can be summed up like this: Insert character was impatient as usual and pushes/pulls then the truck they were pulling shot forward/insert character shot forward and crashed into (insert object) then the truck somehow exploded! Luckily no one was hurt!
Halloween was probably my favorite season 8 episode as a kid I really loved the chase scene between Emily Thomas arry and Bert it's just so action packed and terrifying
Having the songs sung by adult singers who can actually carry a tune was one of the US dub's better choices.
agreed!
I'm really nostalgic for season 8. I Remember watching this season when i was 5 or 6 and loving It. Even tough i'm almost 16 now and my opinions on some episodes of this season changed, i still really like It. I consider this season the most underrated of the show.
season 8 is like the most laid back season of the show.
@@traciestreet4019 For the Hit model run seasons that is?
@@Thomasmemoryscentral No Just in general.
Me too
I think season 1 is the most underrated
This sesaon is childhood for me . I was 4 when this came out . Now looking back on it it’s kinda childish but it still has a special place in my heart great video as always
22:03 EY THERE"S ME IN A THOMAS ANALYSIS REVIEW!
While the HiT era has a lot of setbacks, but not as bad as the Nitrogen and BWBA eras have become and Season 8 is one of my favorites from that era, and I had a lot of nostalgia memories of that season, although there are some bizarre moments that have caused the downfall (and from the recent 2003 bible that was released online, when looking at it, it would explain the characters and the show's downfall).
For Duck not being on the HiT era (apart from a S10 MV), I'm fine with him not being in that era and Nitrogen because he represents 'true' quality, so I think having Emily in his place in the Steam Team really saved him, even though she couldn't save herself.
One fun fact about S8 is that it was originally going to be produced by Gullane Entertainment as far back as 2001 making up a total of 3 seasons and 78 episodes so far in total, but only 52 episodes were made when HiT purchased Gullane the following year.
In terms of favorite episodes, I really love Halloween, Edward the Great, the Gordon episodes, Thomas to the Rescue, Emily's New Route, James Goes Too Far and Firework Display. As for least favorite, it's Emily's Adventure as like many other people I cannot stand Emily's behavior, along with Wishing Tree, Snowplough, You Can Do It Toby, etc. Obviously, I feel that Daisy should've been the main lead in any of Emily's bad episodes since she's the better candidate. For As Good as Gordon, I think they should've made Emily worrying about her capability when pulling the express, especially since the real Stirling Singles were prone to wheelslip due to their large driving wheels.
I watched the HIT era episodes as a kid, and they honestly weren't that bad. Granted they could be better, but the crew still tried to pull off some decent scenery
Season 8 wasn't the start of the "three strikes formula" (aka engine is given a job with a special instruction, doesn't follow it three times, after his last mistake he saves the day)
It was actually done since the Books. Sad Story of Henry:
1. Pull Henry Out
2. Push Henry Out
3. Push Henry Out with a locomotive (this fails and henry is bricked up in the tunnel)
Henry saves the day in the next episode.
But it was done in a way that TASTEFULLY progressed the story.
Huh never thought of it that way although honestly, I consider Thomas And The Conductor the original "Thomas learns his lesson from rushing his job and messing up from it" and the short runtime helps it
I laughed so hard at this amazing video especially the Chickens to School rant (ironically I remember liking that episode as a kid) and the recreation of the average formulaic episode with your glorious narrator impression. It surprises and disappoints me how stupid my childhood show was during the era I started watching it in.
Can't wait for the Season 9 review when you get round to it.
Also thanks for not insulting the Cars films during the introduction, and for not saying "the sequel is trash and it got me out of the franchise" like everyone else would. I'm glad some people can talk about Cars without hating it. I tend to not watch people who do.
I mean, I didn't mind Cars 2. In fact, I actually enjoyed it for some reason
Luke, your reviews really just put my mind at ease and give me a new perspective to look at the show, thanks for making this one. And thank you so much for not holding back on the disaster known as Hit era Emily. I'm grateful they changed Duck from the main cast with Emily, but the more I think about it as I type this, the episodes where Emily is impatient and bossy really would fit Duck well... just toned a slight tad. Still wonderful review and i can't wait for whatcha do next. also congrats on 2k! here's to 3K!
Your formulaic episode plot reconstruction was beautiful! Well done, sir 👏
That is just so accurate to a lot of the HIT era episodes
Okay, Headmaster Hastings can do no wrong. That cover was fire.
I always found Percy's Big Mistake to be an interesting episode because of how it taps into how trigging the word "scrap" is to an engine when they are under stress. The convenient timing of the dockyard manager saying that he'll have to speak to The Fat Controller, and then The Fat Controller talking to his driver about the scrapyard is what sets Percy off. The only things that would have made it better is if Percy didn't speak to anyone after hearing The Fat Controller, and the scene with the pipes was removed. It would have given children a proper idea of what stress can do to the mind when they don't take care of themselves mentally and assess a situation.
Fun fact: the broken water tower in ‘Emily’s New Route’ is actually the lid of a spray paint can
Do you mean "Emily's Adventure"? Or are you actually referring to Emily's New Route?
@@UkFinest2995 Emily's Adventure.
@@Thomasmemoryscentral Okay then. I only pointed it out because on the Thomas Wiki, that fact was on the page for Emily's Adventure.
@@UkFinest2995 Fine enough Reece. Funnily enough, this isnt the first time stuff like that is used the series.
There is a labeless can posing as a tower in Season 2 in the scene where Bill stops but Ben puffs put of the shed towards Boco
Alright.
I just wanted to say thanks for the music links in the description. I've gone on internet treks longer than the one undergone in order to find Duke, looking for music I liked from videos in the past. Makes things a lot easier!
It's a relief whenever someone features the music links isn't it. You could be watching a video thinking "Damn this music is pretty catchy I wonder what it's from" only to go on a scavenger hunt as you said lol
45:35
I want to take a somewhat realistic approach to this, and say that it was probably Thomas's speed and the shuttering of the coaches that made him derail. Kind of similar (but the other way around) to a diesel engine in real life, the EMD SDP40F, and how it would shake around to the point of derailing its coaches, or itself.
13:11 onwards is brilliant.
Totally off topic, but the T&F instrumental at 50:06-50:23 and onward till the end is really giving off Crisis City vibes.
Yeah I get what you mean. Has similar sounding instruments and melodies
@@usualblokeluke (just listened to both back to back) Oh man, now I NEED to hear a mashup of these two. Eh, Dreamers gonna dream.
@@haveacalmheart3010 It belongs in a horror film
Looking back it’s weird that they did remember to carry eggs by VAN but they carry fish by TRUCKS? Where’s the logic gone
Showing off the fish in open trucks for the kindergartners is actually what that catastrophic setup is, Hit marketed the show well but they really didnt handled the show itself well outside the products
Ah Series 8, the season that retconed Emily's persona. From the kind, helpful and motherly persona from Series 7 and Series 19/21 in my opinion😍 to a rebellious, bossy and jerky persona that's supposed to be a good role model for girls!?😐
Heck, I'm confused to why she got Henry's whistle all of a sudden
Well at least she’s better than Peppa Pig
In a lot of ways, I don’t mind that personality for her. I mean, in season seven she was just getting established, and sometimes, when people become more comfortable, they branch out in terms of their personalities. I really think they took it too far with her though. it would’ve been better if they went for a more balanced approach to both of these.
@@selinapersaud7629i thought she become nice on season 13
These are my four biggest problems with the pre-Brenner HIT era. Firstly, plot. Nearly every single episode was so in-your-face educational and it felt like everything was pushing a message rather than trying to be fun; in contrast, the Classic Series was educational but in a subtle way. And to add insult to injury... these lessons the characters learned were often things they knew already.
And that leads nicely onto my second point: characterisation. The characters were not only often insufferable but they never felt like their old selves and their personalities kept fluctuating, meaning that the show was robbed of a vital sense of consistency. In fact, their personalities were just neutral and interchangeable, so they felt less like characters and more like props.
Thirdly, the longer run-times didn't work as there just wasn't enough going on in most of these episodes to justify that. The earlier, shorter episodes packed a lot into 5 minutes and I think most of these HIT eps could've done so too, given that their stories were fairly simple.
And finally, the music. Bland, just bland. I'll take O'Donnell and Campbell any day.
One thing you kinda missed, not only were some Series 7 eps sliced in with some Series 8 eps when the series was being broadcasted but also some series 6 eps were spliced in as well, that Angelis and Brandon did redubs of
17:01 The rant you went on about Hit Era Fat Controller here made me laugh quite a bit.
Heck Angelis or Brandon say that there wouldnt be any fresh bread that day right before Topham gets uptight over missing his crumpets and toast.
You have the narrator stating about the missed baked goods from the late delivery and then here is Fat Hatt whining about his missed first meal. Weird transitioning much?
Dude, this review was great all around, but your 'episode template' and rants on The Fat Controller are freaking brilliant.
While I grew up with pretty much all of 'classic' Thomas to an extent, the HIT era episodes are the ones I remember watching on TV and DVD most often (alongside Magic Railroad 😏), and looking back that repetitive story format is so blatantly obvious...
45:22 TBH I always assumed the bend was too sharp and the engines have to go slow to not derail
there one thing in the episodes you've missed "insert character here did not do the instructions given 3 times and realizes they screwed up the job after the 3rd screw up."
38:41 what’s is that that sounds more like a reward then a punishment.
unless the fat controller knew emily was scared of it.
42:51 The Gordon shot is 'realistic???' depending on the angle but it might not be as good as the Henry clip from 'Season 4's FISH'
the scene of the Camera lens From Gordon Take Charge: 31:42 This is must be steam where used Fog machine to blow some steam coming out of the cool cloth, Gordon was slowly leaving the station this looks really f(bleep)king incredible.
51:42 this one might’ve been an error in the script considering it’s mentioned in the US and UK dub.
Love this! Can't wait for Season 9 review!
13:53 CORRECTION: They made three mistakes, the third of which led to such and such job being ruined.
This may sound mid, but Henry and the Wishing Tree feels like an odd sequel to Henry’s Forest
Actually here’s how I would’ve written Henry and the Wishing Tree.
Henry would be taking school children to the forest and mention to them how special the forest is and he tells them about the time it was ruined in the storm. Henry then tells them his favourite tree in the forest, which he calls; the “Wishing Tree”. But then, it starts to get windy, and the trees start swaying in the wind and the “Wishing Tree” starts to sway and looks like it is about to break from the ground. Henry tells the kids to get back into the coaches so they don’t get hurt but he doesn’t want to leave the “Wishing Tree” behind but he knows he has to. Later, Henry goes back to the forest and the “Wishing Tree” has fallen down and Henry os so upset. The school children figure out how they can make Henry happy again. As a callback to Henry’s Forest, they speak to Trevor and Terence about Henry’s favourite tree. Terence and Trevor feel bad and get Toby and Thomas together to replant the “Wishing Tree”. The next day, Henry arrives back at the forest surprised to see the “Wishing Tree” back. The school children are there and how they understood how much the “Wishing Tree” meant to Henry. Henry is very grateful and thanks everyone.
Lol, I died at the "Brainless, Fat, Cretin" part. Like seriously, idk how many times i kept replaying it while cracking up! 💀😂
8:20 - 9:35 the link to that music is not available anymore, can someone tell me what that music is from?
It's the bonus screen theme from Super Mario World
@@usualblokeluke Thanks
I think it's save to say Gordon and James were the best part of this era.
You cant really mess up Gordon's pompous attitude or James's smug vanity that much unless you try really hard
Don’t forget Duncan and Peter Sam- kinda hard to screw up those two
@@EternityKingdomsHeadHoncho True.
@@giulianodervelociraptorder734 Funny how these 3 smug characters and the 1 eager to work one can be fine out of the big cast
@@EternityKingdomsHeadHoncho And Sir Handel
Thank you so much. The part of the, “Did someone say magic?” “You have had your chance/time in the spotlight. Sud off.” With the gun Is very funny and very cool. It can inspire me to love acting with guns. And I love the chase music from Thomas Saves The Day And Halloween
34:24 I would be very happy and find it very cool if you let the Thomas And The Magic Railroad on Venom Spider-Man's face, who said excitedly, "Did someone say magic?" which to me is very funny and inspires me to love acting, in and keep him in to keep him happy because it's one of my favorite Thomas movies
0:34 - Polish version of Engine Roll Call:
Przyjaciół przedstawiamy wam! Wciąż coś wożą tu i tam! Czerwień, błękit, zieleń, brąz. Oto ich kolory są! Poprzez pola, miasta, wsie, gdzieś każdy z wagonami mknie! Kto przyjaciół takich zna? Tomek takich ma!
Tomek - Bardzo śmiały jest!
Kuba - Lubi bawić się!
Piotruś - Z pocztą gna przez świat!
Gabryś - Szybki jest jak wiatr!
Emilka - Dobrze zna swój fach!
Henio - Sapie: OCH i ACH!
Edek - Wszystkim pomóc chce!
Tobik - Z nim wynudzisz się!
Przyjaciół przedstawiamy wam! Wciąż coś wożą tu i tam! Czerwień, błękit, zieleń, brąz. Oto ich kolory są! Poprzez pola, miasta, wsie, gdzieś każdy z wagonami mknie! Kto przyjaciół takich zna? Tomek takich ma! *Kto przyjaciół takich zna? Tomek takich ma!*
50:19 Yk, this kind of sounds like an engine being cut up, screaming in unbearable, agonized pain as parts are being cut off of it, and they're just standing there, unable to do anything to save themselves.
That's very messed up
I love it 😂
just popped into my head cause that episode DID take place at the scrapyard, and... well, you get the jist of what i mean.
12:38
It's called the Mozambique Special or 'Feed the World' by the way
Can’t wait Luke I have so many memories of episodes from this season on the best of Thomas 65 years DVD
Actually, Gullane brought back Fireman Sam first before HiT bought Gullane. It had Series 5 of the show, and it was the last series to have stop-motion animation. And it was damn good. And then once Fireman Sam is bought by HiT, it started to use CGI by Series 6. Which is bad
That was Gullane who did the reboot? Damn my researching skills fail me yet again 😂
@@usualblokeluke But when Fireman Sam started with Season 6 by HiT entertainment. The show transitioned from stop motion to CGI. And it was bad. Yes, I consider Season 5 to be somewhat of a reboot because it was different to the first four seasons of Fireman Sam. But they used stop motion before HiT switched it over with CGI.
Although it was confusing to tell which is the reboot, but I’d say both Season 5 and Season 6 were. One was just the different theme song, different character designs, different music and lip syncing of the stop motion figures. And the other was a full-on switch to CGI by HiT Entertainment. But Gullane did Fireman Sam better than HiT.
To be fair season 5 of fireman Sam was more of a revival then a reboot as it continues on from the first four seasons whilst also expanding on many concepts from the original such as the introduction of new characters and upgrading/modernisinghe designs of the fire engines jupiter and venus. The cgi series on the other hand is definitely a reboot as they reestablished what had been a lot of what what we had seen and we're use to when the show was stop motion(namely pontypandy being relocated to being a town on the coast and by the seas instead of being in the mountains and valleys of south wales) and we all know how things were never the same again for the series and only more and more worse with time from that point onwards (looking at you mr norman price and and you abysmal pointless new characters introduced)
@@LewisWall-gz6tx Yeah, I meant to say season 5 was a revival whilst seasons 6 and onwards was a reboot. :P Sorry, just a little typo for saying they rebooted it.
And don’t get me started on Norman in the cgi series. Ugh! I hate how he’s portrayed in there currently.
@@thecaledoniansleeper2648 no worries it happens. I grow up with season 5 when it was airing on cbeebies along with the occasion reruns of the early bumper films seasons. I backed away from the show when the cgi series came about in 2008 and yes Norman was on of the main reasons I stopped watching new episodes at that point in time. Honestly the only show hit entertainment accuired that they did justice to was pingu (seasons 5 and 6 are on the same levels with the pygos group era of the show it also helped with how good an animations studio hot animation was in it's day having done both bob the builder and rubberdubbers).
8:40 im sorry, but i dont think thats what it is.
the way i see it, the tuba player was left behind, yes, BUT instead of just sitting there doing nothing, im sure he thought, "well, i'll just get there myself! i dont mind." to me, it seems less like he was being impatient, and more like he was taking it upon himself to get there on his own
Yeah fair enough, that I can understand
What I don't get is how he didn't notice Thomas going back to get him on the bridge lol
@@usualblokeluke fair point.
but maybe he DID hear thomas, and he knew he couldnt get up there in time. after all, thomas was going pretty fast, and the hill looks a bit deep to climb on your own...
I tried to research why a fisheye lens was used for Season 8 but I did find out about Seasons 8-12 using Digital Betamax SP cameras instead of 35mm cameras maybe the former was bundled with a fisheye lens and the crew wanted to try it out? I wonder if someone one day would see the fisheye lens as useful for T&F fan series.
But I agree with you, we see the potential, it can reach the potential but the copy and paste writing, rushed and sleazy production, and finally HiT not knowing/forgetting what made Thomas and Friends so beloved in the first place let everyone down!
Season 8 was the last to have Thomas voiced by Keiko Toda in Japan.
Let me guess: she took one look at the Season 9 scripts and left
@@fanofeverything30465Yep!
I feel bad for you when you get to season 13-16 but great review!
As a kid, I used to think Michael Brandon said in the scene of sleepy Spencer being overtaken by Edward, "Spencer was dreaming of Victor." Like I misheard him saying "victory" for "Victor" the Steamworks engine and wondered if I missed an episode where Victor was in the model series.
I always had a head canon that the reason the engines all became childish in the Hit and Nitrogen era is because they all became insecure about their old ages but I now realise that that head canon doesn’t really work
honestly that’s a cool head canon!
@@chilledoutnate you really think so?
@@Ryder-a-Blaze yeah it’s kinda neat.
@@chilledoutnate would my head canon apply to characters like Skarloey and Rheneas though?
@@Ryder-a-Blaze not really to the older characters but the younger characters could work.
I’m going to make “Bill, and the Pistachio ice cream: Rocky road addition.” And no one will stop me-
Thomas and Friends episodes in the Hit or Miller eras be like: "Godred and the Cherry Cheesecake"
The retool for Season 8 of Thomas was a result of executive meddling. HiT wanted Thomas to be a big success in the US like he was in the past, and in doing so, they wanted to bring Thomas' show back to PBS, as Thomas had previously been successful on that network as part of the Shining Time Station spin-off that ran from 1989 to 1996. However, PBS would not pick up the show unless it was retooled to have more educational content. This is why the episodes became more anvilicious and formulaic, and interactive activities were added in between episodes not only to add more educational content but to extend the show's runtime from five minutes to thirty, the way Shining Time Station did back in 1989. Because PBS lacks commercial breaks, their shows are often padded with extra segments that can otherwise easily be cut for commercial airtime, should they happen to air on commercial networks. Examples include the "And Now a Word From Us Kids" segments from Arthur, the Speckle Stories from Clifford the Big Red Dog (2000), and the "Producer Says" segments from The Magic School Bus. While it did mean having to comply with PBS' standards and practices, Thomas was once again a long-running staple of PBS, as his show ran on that network from Fall 2004 to the end of 2017.
16:19 to 18:04. Usual Bloke Luke goes crazy.
Yeah this was the most fun I've ever had whilst recording a script lol
Can I just say your impression of Michael Angelis doing the voice of the Fat Controller is spot on! :D As well as the season 8 narration as a whole. That part of the review made me laugh!
You mean Luke doing the mad libs style recreation step by step guide of Hit model series writing? Definitely hilarious!
@@Thomasmemoryscentral That's the one!! :D
@@jeremythomaswebb1485 heck, Luke hamming up the "engine messed up with Topham chewing out the engine followed by character sad monent" sounds like the Thonas version of Family Guy's dramatic zoom in for sad moments post revival. They both get old fast
When I say this, I am not tyring to discredit your experiences with the Engine roll call song, but from my personal experiences (which is definitely influenced by nostalgia as series 8 is the one I remember the most as a kid), I love that song, yes I don't like the fact it replaced the iconic original, but even if I hear it now, I can't help but hum along to it. I personally love it
It Looks Like I Found Your Channel Again In Time, I Remember Your S6 And 7 Reviews (Mostly From The "Be Postman Pat" Joke From S6! XD) Loved Watching This, Might Enter The Episode Thing Too! XD
It's Pretty Clear Why Gordon And James Stayed The Same...You Can't Change Them
The HiT series was made so well, if HiT was more concerned about the stories than just plainly to sell toys, then I think Thomas and friends could have had a massive glow up
And also had better writing too
Starting with the eighth series of Thomas and Friends and until the twentieth series, all the vans would be left faceless and open wagons would be made into all the troublesome trucks with troublesome vans and troublesome tankers ceasing to exist until the twentieth series episode, “Bradford the Brake Van” and Journey Beyond Sodor in the CGI era where vans would be shown with faces for the first time in forever and troublesome vans and troublesome tankers would make their returns.
54:48-56:18, well Luke would you rather listen to the Engine Roll Call or listen to the closing theme of the Original Elmo's World Series, where it's basically the topic word getting repeated over and over again with the tune of Jingle Bells?
I honestly don't know which hell sounds worse 😂
@@usualblokeluke Yeah Me neither Luke, however I do say I am nostalgic for the Engine Roll Call but I can understand why people like you really don't like that song and much prefer the Original Theme song (in which I don't blame them right there as it is so much better) but with the Closing Theme in the Original Elmo's World, while I am nostalgic for that show like I do with the Hit Era of Thomas, I really cannot deny that the closing theme for the Elmo's World is very annoying now that I'm older. Plus since you haven't seen Elmo's World or Sesame Street let me explain. Due to the Original Elmo's World trying to get the same younger audience like HIT Era Thomas and just like HIT era Thomas the Original Elmo's World was LITERALLY structured to be repetitive, don't believe take a look at the format for that show.
1. Guess what Elmo's Thinking about today?
2. Dorothy's Question
3. The Noodle Family
4. Kids and a Baby
5. Elmo's Question
6. Quiz
7. Video Email
8. Film Insert
9. TV Cartoon
10. Expert Interview
11. Tickle me Land
12. Home Video (Seasons 1 & 2)
13. Closing Song.
and EVERY SINGLE EPISODE of the Original Elmo's World follows the same format every time HECK due it to be being formulaic even the Sesame Street show parodied that show a few times the first time with a sketch in a wrap party for Season 30 and the second time with Season 37 where they made an ACTUAL episode parodying Elmo's World with Cookie Monster in the role appropriately called Cookie World.
So yeah IDK which one is worse so I digress.
The only thing that hasn't change in the model series throughout it is the pretty good smoke effects
34:25-34:48 This was worth a watch for this joke alone.
That really got a chuckle out of me!
I haven't really watched much of the Brenner Era yet, but wasn't there an episode there that poked fun at all of the weird jobs the engines did during the HiT Era?
Dowager Hatts Busy Day is probably the episode you're thinking of.
Nice job man can't wait for the next part also I think James in this season very consistent in the model era. 😌☕
I’m hyped and ready for the season 9 review
The one problem I had with the hit era music was it's over use of horns. It sounded so grating on my ears.
27:56 If i had a nickel for every time farmer mccolls barn roof was destroyed in a storm, i would have two nickles, which isnt alot but it's weird that it happened twice
Damn that Template of (Insert Character Name Here) sent me 🤣 How did I not notice this
Thank you so much for calling out the GoPro shots with that weird camera! It bothered me so much to have those shots that looked like it was smeared with vaseline and tinted blue. Now I know why.
Good luck with Calling All Engines and Series 9 up ahead! CAE is...oh boy. You may not like certain segments of it. I'm not sure.
Series 9 has the worst songs in the entire series and I'm not changing my opinion on that a bit. One in particular I think is a mortal sin.
Did gopro cameras of the mid 2000s have that good quality?
What is it
(Looks at Luke and Unluky Tug)
If I had a nickel for every time a die-hard thomas fan vigorously collected the Cars figures, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice, right?
I did that too. I loved Cars and Cars 2 as a kid (and still do now) so naturally I collected as many toys as possible. I still have them in storage to this day.
i personally like the go-pro fish eye lens thing, makes it feel like a documentary or something
as someone who mostly grew up with the hit era, this’ll definitely be interesting to watch.
After giving it a think about, i'm glad so many Characters disappeared it saved them from Hit's horrible writing. When I look back on it Season 8 was when I lost interest in T&F, but I did re-watch S1-7 multiple times.
Percy's big mistake is a bad for his character, but later seasons have him devolve into just taking the mailtrain.
Firstly, hats off for actually delving into the HiT era in a detailed analytical way; given the relative dearth of commentary on this period of the show (probably due to the tedium of actually watching it in bulk; I'm unsure how many fans have even watched it in its entirety), it's great to see a breakdown of the period's noticeable...downgrades from its predecessors.
ANYWAYS!...
While somewhat of a grey area conceptually, I tend to view "Thomas & Friends" as less a single 24-season monolith and more three different shows sandwiched together: seasons 1-7 obviously comprise the "classic" series, seasons 8-16 are "HiT Thomas" (or, as I prefer to call it, "Zombmas") and the Brenner and BWBA/Bwuhba eras are "New Thomas". While you could contest that elements of the HiT model seasons are foreshadowed somewhat in season 7 (such as the softer-sounding narration from Angelis or the increased emphasis on engines "pleasing the children" as a narrative impetus, something that comes to virulently infest the HiT era almost immediately), the direction, music and presence of legitimate tone and more distinct character chemistry more directly pinpoint season 7 as a continuation of the 1984 Thomas attempting to weather a cultural and media landscape markedly different from the one that spawned it two decades earlier. Season 8, by comparison, fundamentally feels like a different show altogether: the mouthy banter between the engines (a staple of the earlier seasons) has vanished almost entirely in favour of a far more didactic and exposition-based mode of dialogue, reducing the show's characterization to a far more banal and simplistic form (hence the almost-complete disappearance of the "engine receives comeuppance for their arrogance in a creative or goofy way" that formed a major part of the Awdry books), the direction is now more utilitarian, aggressively restricting itself to the same two or three angles (typically shot from a three-quarters ground-level perspective) on homogenous, overlit sets while forsaking the more cinematic landscape shots and environments of S1-7 and the music is reduced to tedious horn fanfares that doesn't so much preclude atmosphere as intently stomp it flat (because kids famously dislike and are traumatized by action sequences and narrative gravitas) when a given scene threatens to generate it. Your point on the plotting of "Chickens to School", however, basically hits on the most fundamental point of difference - whereas the plotting of "classic" Thomas was wound around the specifics of its characters and world, the HiT and Nitrogen eras effectively run on a far more abstract style of storytelling in which characters are typically flat vessels existing to pull apart and subsequently reassemble simplistic analogies. Thomas delivering chickens to school (which are subsequently unloaded nonchalantly and set loose in a goddamn classroom by alleged humans), for example, is not essentially framed by the episode as a sentient industrial vehicle delivering an erroneous load to a clade of public servants with autonomous psychologies, for example, but as a mismatched simple analogy akin to a pre-K learning segment: Thomas thinks that red (the chickens) and blue (the school) make orange (the designated "correct" answer) but NO, they make PURPLE, GO BACK AND TRY AGAIN. This is basically why I refer to S8-16 as "Zombmas": the series is almost completely dead inside, devoid of tone, character and texture beyond sporadic occasions and so abstract that the series' formerly rich worldbuilding is now almost completely off the cards.
Yeah I agree to an extent. The HIT era felt flat when it came to producing Thomas. I feel the people working there had little to almost no knowledge of how the classic seasons handled the show. Overall, I just feel a bit weird looking at the HIT episodes because there's something about them that doesn't feel as charming as say, season 3.
The stories are somewhat predictable and tasteless, the sets are kind of generic with hardly any variety, and the settings become more kiddy-centric. If Thomas was given more better care and better writing, perhaps things be different
I very much knew how unlivable and idiotic the Fat Controller is in Emily's New Route. Mainly because I thought he wasn't in the mood to understand the troublesome trucks being the cause of Emily's delay. But I have to agree, he's quite a baby throwing a tantrum.
One could argue the sheds exploding in Rusty And The Boulder could be a result of unnamed dynamite stored in the sheds but no one can really defend the random exploding flour trucks
@@Thomasmemoryscentral It shouldn't even be possible
*Unlikeable