WF To Pick Best BTAS Episode -- Begins Tomorrow!

[James Harvey]

This is gonna be heckuva hard task, but World's Finest is gonna attempt to do the impossible by picking the best BTAS ever made. How will this be done, you ask? Via weekly polls posted on this board and advertised around the net. Doing this I hope to pull in maximum participation by the various Batfans online. The poll will take, likely, 12 weeks. The poll will also be divided into two rounds:

<li>Round 1 - 11 polls that will feature 10 episodes a peice, and the winning episode will go to round 2. If there is a tie, then a tie-breaker poll will be created.

<li>Round 2 poll - It will feature the winner of all round 1 polls battling it out for title of best episode. If there is a tie, there will be a tie breaker poll.

Once the winner is revealed, I'll get commentary from the crew behind the episode and show to discuss and talk about the episode. That will be apart of the B:TAS 10th Anniversary page I'm putting up for the site.

I also hope to putup smaller polls throughout the year for favorite villian, hero, guest appearance, supporting character, etc...

This is a big endeavor, but if the fan community is into doing this, then it will definatly be worth the time! I'd like to start this within the next two weeks, and maybe have the last poll done to coincide with the April 23rd release of the animated Batman DVDs.

So - comments are very welcome and I'd like to see a lot of feedback on this idea. I think this would cement the idea of WF being the Batman animated site, and this community being the best online.

[Batman 80]

When do we start?

[James Harvey]

I finished a makeshift poll page which should give you an idea of what I hope to accomplish:


http://wf.toonzone.net/btas10.htm

[Failure]

Ooh, it's kind of like March Madness with BTAS. This sounds great, I mean the poll is cool in itself, but also getting commentary from the crew on the ep? That's gonna be sweet.

[Batman 80]

I can't wait to start voting. I already know which ones I'm gonna vote for. This is an excellent idea Jim!

[The Game]

Aw, this is so cool! :)

[Joker85]

Great idea Jim!! Can't wait til it gets into full swing! Thats definitely going to be one of the hardest decisions that I've made in a while. There are so many!! You know, it's really hard to believe that this is the 10th Anniversary of BTAS.

[James Harvey]

This definatly will be a difficult poll to pull off, and there will be some damn hard choices to make as well! I plan to kick the polls off on Febuary 4th, a week from today. Spread the word!

[Blight]

Excellent idea, Jim! There are going to be some really tough choices to make, but it'll be really fun anyways! Can't believe BTAS has been around for ten whole years, but this is the perfect way to celebrate it. BRING ON THE POLLS (and the crew commentary! :D )!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


See ya!
Blight

[Mr. Obsession]

DG, you are an evil, evil man. Why must you make me chose between "It's Never Too Late" and "Heart of Ice"? :(


So were the episodes for each poll chosen at random? And why are the two part episodes split up? I've always considered them one episode myself.

Edit: Never mind. I just noticed that you placed them by production order. :o

[James Harvey]

I'll be adding the episode numbers in a few minutes. I'm still tweaking around with the design and stuff. If you have any ideas on the page, or idea son how to celebrate the 10th anniversary - please lemme know!!

[Mr. Obsession]

How about not making me chose between "It's Never Too Late" and "Heart of Ice"? :D

[James Harvey]

Those two episodes are favorites of mine as well, although "Heart of Ice" is just a bit better than "It's Never Too Late", I find. Man - this is really gonna be an interesting poll, ya gotta admit...

[BeastBoyWonder]

my personal favorite is "perchance to dream". It was the first BTAS episode I saw...

[Batman 80]

To celebrate lets have a huge party!! I'll bring the pizza! :D

[Sugar Daddy]

i really like this idea, and id vote for old wounds, because i remember that most vividly

[mosszonedotcom]

Thanks for the great idea! This is far and away my favorite tv show ever. I think that this is the very best thing that Toonzone.net has ever done.

[Failure]

I'm definitely eager to see how the results turn up. Shoot, and that's not gonna be for another 12 weeks or so! This is gonna be interesting.

[Frosty]

My choices are narrowed down to the following two:

I Am the Night: Batman questions his role in society and whether or not he can live up to an image of a omni-present crime fighter. The episode also questions how far Jim Gordon would go to protect and serve the city he had devoted himself to.
Over the Edge: Dogma was broken in this episode, and uncomfortable questions were raised about how these characters would function if they're worlds came crashing down around them.

It's tpugh but I think i'll go with I Am the Night

[Barb Gordon]

As has already been stated DG, this is a fantastically awesome plan!!! I can't wait! you bet I'll try and help spread the word, I know of friends who would love to participate in this. This idea will be so wonderful for World's Finest and the Batman community. I can't wait to see which episodes will be the most popular among all of us. Already, just thinking over episodes, I can't even choose a favorite,lol. This will definetly take some thought, augh!!

Barb^-^

[catwoman]

Hmmm.. I remember watching "Perchance to a Dream" with my sister when the wb tried airing batman during primetime. It's one of the few pieceful times we've shared together. Guess it has sentimental reasons.

Then again, when Batman grabs the Mad Hatter and asks "why?" it's almost funny. I mean the angst he just went through... the years of pain all brought to the surface, just so that some nut can commit crimes in peace? If I were a sadist I'd think it were funny. :)

[Mr. Unspeakable]

A couple questions/comments:

1. Some of us will need a brief plot synopsis for the episodes, though I suppose the other board members will be kind enough to do that, Won't you?

2. Am I safe in assuming that two-parters will be handled as one?

[Ruffian]

This sounds like a lot of fun, but possibly a lot of headaches too (cool with me :D). I have a feeling I'll be torn between episodes on some of those polls like Mr. O.

I'm wondering, after this poll has ended, will you list the runner ups with the winner, or will this become an annual thing where another episode is honored as a great BTAS episode?

[James Harvey]

Here is an episode guide for all the Batman episodes:

http://www.toonzone.net/worldsfinest/worldsfinestpage/btasguide.htm

And two parters will be handled seperately, although they can be handled as one if that's what y'all want. Some parts in the two parter are better than the other (Feat of Clay Part 2 is so much more better than Feat of Clay Part 1) and if one half is poorer than the other, then it'd be a bit uneven.

This will be a one time event. This year is the 10th anniversary of the show, so what better than to pick the ultimate, best episode? The poll will be for this year only. A once in a lifetime deal (well, until the 25th anniverary, 50th anncvierary...:)).

I'll list the top 5 episodes and see if I can get comment son all of them, although the top episode will have the most comments, and I gigantic page dedicated to it.

That's the plan! *crosses fingers*

[Corran Horn]

Thanks for the link Jim. I wanted to vote, but I didn't want to vote without knowing the names of my fav episodes.

[James Harvey]

Voting begins in 6 Days and I'm hoping for a big turnout. I hope to advertise all around these boards, as I'd like to draw iun as much interest as possible. If ya got any questions about the poll and stuff - feel free to ask. The poll will be just a part of the 10th Anniversary page I'm gonna whip up over 2002.

[Bruce Wayne]

This is gonna be one of the greatest things for Batman history. The fans get a say in this.. then there's the added bonus of the commentaries. Thanks Jim.

[James Harvey]

I really, really hope this turns out great - but it all depend son participaction for the polls. I really can't wait to see all of the different opinions of all the fans. I have a slight idea on who may come out on top, but I'm actually anticipating that we'll get a surprise win in the last moments. I think fans deserve a chance to give their opinion on what they think is the best episode. The fans followed this series through thick and thin and now we get to see the fruits of our devotion!

[DerekPowers]

will this be both btas and tnba or just btas?

this is going to be tough, since theres a few eps i havent seen in a very long time, ones that i know are fan favorites, like "i am the night." i havent seen that in forever.

plus, remembering which eps had top notch animation will be tough as well. but id say "P.O.V." had the best animation.

but, hopefully well get to rewatch alot of them before we finish voting, once cn starts airing them again. great idea! peace.

[James Harvey]

It will be all 109 episodes. If you check out the address http://wf.toonzone.net/btas10.htm you'll see that it includes the "The New Batman Adventures" phase of the series. I'll be adding more to that website soon, like voice cast stuff, awards, etc...just to make a bit more interesting. :)

And hopefully this will work with Cartoon Network rerunning Batman at 2:30am Saturdays and 7:30pm on Sundays. That should help a little bit, I hope. The voting starts in 6 days so it may be time to break out your old VHSs!

I am very interested to see how this turns out...

[Failure]

Originally posted by Jim Harvey
I am very interested to see how this turns out...

It's gonna be like Christmas all over again... Only with Batman.

[James Harvey]

Awesome! I hope the interest can last the three months - which I think it can. I think some fans have been wanting to see a somewhat 'official' best episode. Plus, I'm sure the creators ar einterested to see which episodes the fans like the best.

[DisneyBoy]

I love the anniversary concept, but I worry...

Can the result of the poll really be fair if episodes are grouped like that? I understand that it makes mores sense in that it stretches the whole process out, but if one poll features a whole bunch of awesome episodes and we can only pick one, how can it be considered on par with another episode chosen simply because it wasn't as bad as all the others in it's poll? I realize that B: TAS and TNBA were great, but there were bad episodes, and in one or two polls, the winner may end up being the one that we tolerate more than the rest. Meanwhile, we will have to choose between great episodes like "Catwalk" and "Second Chance" in one poll. Not to badmouth the idea, because I really look forward to the whole thing and greatly admire your initiative, DG, but am I wrong in suggesting that the only way to choose the best out of all the Batman episodes is to put them all up against each other?

Take the Delaney poll for example: Every week we chose a character from the list that we want to see. The only reason a particular character wins is because they were in the poll and were up against certain other characters. You couldn't call Poison Ivy and Spiderman the favorite comic book characters here at Toonzone because they were only the favorite out of the list we had to pick from.

I still think you should do this, DG, but perhaps it may be fairer to the episodes (I know that sounds silly) if a preliminary poll is taken of all the episodes, and then the top ten (of the results of the preliminary poll) are voted on to decide the favorite. Sure, it would only be the favorite up against the nine others, so perhaps just one big vote should be taken.

I'll be the first to admit that it wouldn't be nearly as exciting as the three-month Survivor-esque system that's been worked out, but maybe it would be the better route to determine the real favorite...

[James Harvey]

This is the only way to do it becuase it's the only fair way to give all the episodes their chance. Picking the best episode out of a 'best of' will be unfair, becuase it wil leave alot of episode out. And there may bne the odd fan or two whose favorite episode may actually be something like Moon of the Wolf. Including the episodes is the only sure way of getting all the episodes in there. I see no problem with how the episodes are grouped becuase they are grouped in production order, how they are created.

And the idea of a poll is to pick the best, and yes that does mean putting them against each other. That's what polls are for, that's how best episodes are chosen - by comparing them others. Yes, there are hard chocies to make, but no matter what way I arrange it - there will be hard choices to make regardless.

I may add a third round later on, but for now the format stays as is. That's how every episode gets a chance. It's the fair way for the episode. Having the poll be the 'best' of select group would be unfair.

[Maxie Zeus]

Originally posted by DisneyBoy
I love the anniversary concept, but I worry...

Can the result of the poll really be fair if episodes are grouped like that? I understand that it makes mores sense in that it stretches the whole process out, but if one poll features a whole bunch of awesome episodes and we can only pick one, how can it be considered on par with another episode chosen simply because it wasn't as bad as all the others in it's poll? I realize that B: TAS and TNBA were great, but there were bad episodes, and in one or two polls, the winner may end up being the one that we tolerate more than the rest. Meanwhile, we will have to choose between great episodes like "Catwalk" and "Second Chance" in one poll. Not to badmouth the idea, because I really look forward to the whole thing and greatly admire your initiative, DG, but am I wrong in suggesting that the only way to choose the best out of all the Batman episodes is to put them all up against each other?

If the object were to create a ranked list (like a Top 5 or Top 10), then this would be a worry. But the object is just to get the top one. In that case it doesn't matter if the #2 choice is eliminated earlier or later.

[James Harvey]

Originally posted by Maxie Zeus


If the object were to create a ranked list (like a Top 5 or Top 10), then this would be a worry. But the object is just to get the top one. In that case it doesn't matter if the #2 choice is eliminated earlier or later.

Wow...it took you 3 lines to say what took me 14 lines to say...:)

But yeah - these episodes are going to go head to head one way or another, this is just as faster way to get to the conclusion. I will likely do runner ups, like a top 5 or top 3 (via episodes with best voting percentages), so how this can end is still anybody's guess. But having a 3 month poll will be a trying task. And I really want to try to get the best episode revealed just as the Batman animated DVDs are being released. A great way to coincide each event.

[Maxie Zeus]

Originally posted by Jim Harvey


Wow...it took you 3 lines to say what took me 14 lines to say...:)


Well, I started to write a small dissertation and then said, the heck with it. :p

Basically, just think of it like the NCAA championships. If Duke can beat both Carolina and Michigan, it doesn't matter if Duke beats first one and then the other, or if it beats the winner of a Carolina-Michigan contest.

Signed,
An ex-Dukie who really never gave a flip about basketball, but what the hey! ;)

[James Harvey]

That NCAA analogy is dead on. It explains it perfectly! Also, remember earlier when I said someone's favoerite episode could be something like Moon of the Wolf or Critters? Well, over at Raving Toy Maniac is Moon of the Wolf. No joke!

Voting starts Monday....

[Joker85]

Jim, in honor of your 10th Anniversary poll, I went and found all of my old VHS copies my grandmother recorded for me when it first came on. I have started with On leather Wings, and am watching them all in production order. So far, I've watched the first 5. And all of those are good, so this will definitely be a hard decison!

[James Harvey]

Wow -- thanks! That will hopefully help (maybe :)) you make better decisions on which episode to choose. I've been rewatching old episodes for the past little while. I was inspired to do this poll while I was watching Mad Love actually. I don't know how - but when Harley was explaining the joke to the Joker it just hit me. I really hope this catches on!

[Cassandra]

I'm sure it will, it's a good idea, I just wish it had come at a time when the episodes were airing.I don't have many of them on tape and it's been a while since I watched them on TV.
-I just got to watch "Night of the Ninja" on Cartoon Network and I had completely forgotten about that one scene on the rooftops where Robin does his batman imitation.(thanks for saving my bacon, Robin) That alone made the episode twice as enjoyable as I remembered.

[TmlFroggy]

This is going to be hard but I can't wait until it starts. A mighty fine tribute to The Detective!!!

[Mr. Unspeakable]

Could there be a way to do the polls on a points system? What I mean is for each ten episodes we assign each one a value from 1-10. Then you take the top two or four out and send them to the next round. This should satisfy those who dislike the idea of their two favorites facing off in the first poll.

The biggest drawback to this would be that it would extend the voting out longer then it would be otherwise. I think doing this would make the polls more interesting and on the plus side I feel we're all honest enough here not to participate in strategic voting so no worries there.

I feel that the two-parters should be considered as one because it would be odd for one half to win while the other does not. Also, after this is done might I suggest sub-catagories such as best Joker episode, best Robin episode, etc.?

[James Harvey]

The idea you have is what I may use, but in percentages, not numbers. Aside from the big #1, I'll likely do a page dedicated to the #2 and #3 most popular episodes, and only have a small bit of information and commentary on the episode. But I really do like that idea. If there's a way that can somehow be rigged before Monday, then I would certainly go that way, but I think I'll still be sticking with the voting for favorite episode per group. I know voting against a favorite episode will be tough, but that is the best solution to pull out a winner in the end.

And I think I will be grouping two parters togethor, although I'm still a bit uncertain on that becuase of the drop from one part to the next at times (see FEAT OF CLAY and ROBIN'S RECKONING for examples).

And when this poll is done in April. I'll be doing smaller polls up until late August. I plan to have a BIG poll section in the BTAS 10th Anniversary Page I'm whipping up, but this poll will stand alone until it ends in April. I'll have smalle rpolls like best hero, villian, guest appearance, best writer, etc...

[James Harvey]

Just an update, I attempted to group togethor the two parters, but it didn't seem to work properly. I'm still trying to think of a way to make the 2 part episodes work, but so far it doesn't look good. It looks like I'll still have to count them as seperate episodes. Any suggestyions by Sunday would be seriously considered, but for now it's stick as is...sorry.

[Spider-Man]

I think you idea is fine as is. I can't really think of another way to do it either, unless you can have a bunch of poll options. I already know what I'm voting for - and I can't waint for the commentary. Happy 10, Batman!

[Joker85]

Well, I just finished the first 10 episodes of BTAS, and I gotta say, it would be a hard decision even between those!! There are soooo many good ones that it is going to be hard to decide. It would be easier and quicker, to list the bad epps.

[Caped Crusader]

Awesome idea,D.G.! :D I can't wait for the voting to start-but it's going to be really tough making decisions!!

[Livewire]

Even though I'm more of an S:TAS fan, I think this is a grand idea. B:TAs was a good show. I can't wait to see what eps people will pick. And, Jim, any chance you'll be doing the same thing in 2006 for another certain Timm animated show? ;)

[James Harvey]

How can I not, Livewire? You better believe I will. Same with Batman Beyond, and probably same with Justice League as well! :)

[DerekPowers]

those 2 parters will be tough to handle. but i think treating them as seperate eps would be better, since some 2 parters have a good ep and a bad one, or one of lesser quality (2 face part 1'a animation was great, while part 2 was swarbage).

its too bad though, cause theres some great 2 parters that itd be a shame to seperate (shadow of the bat was one of the best 2 parters imo, very cool and complex story).

the only way i can think of to make everyone happy is maybe do the poll with all episodes seperate, and do a seperate poll for the best 2-parter, then put the best ep (which would have included 2 parters counted as individual eps) against the best 2 parter. or you could just have a best ep(all the eps including the 2 parters as seperate eps) and a best 2 parter (kind of like how in wrestling theres a champion and a tag-team champion). but thats probably too complicated. its all i could come up w/. the only problem w/ counting 2 parters as seperate is it takes a lot away from the overall story of the episodes, so i doubt any half of a two-parter would be voted #1 episode. hmm, this is a pickle, but i think the easiest way is just to count all eps seperately, even the 2 part ones. peace.

[kid_flash]

Originally posted by Jim Harvey
How can I not, Livewire? You better believe I will. Same with Batman Beyond, and probably same with Justice League as well! :)

And by the time we're at JL, we'll have a VR Internet voting booth! ........Right?

[James Harvey]

TOTALLY! LOL! Voting begins tomorrow and I think there may be a big turnout. There have been alot of new signups over the past week, probably around 150, so this very well help in getting great feedback! This will definatly be an interesting venture.