Did JL or JLU have the better format?

[Daikun]

Justice League had the unique idea of every episode of the series being a 2-part episode (and the occasional 3-parter for special episodes). Its successor, Justice League Unlimited, abandoned that format in favor of every episode fitting within a half-hour time frame.

Do you have a preferred format between the two?

 

[Pooky]

Unfashionable opinion perhaps, but I generally prefer my TV shows to be at least semi-episodic, so I'll go with JLU.

 

[Yojimbo]

To me JLU had the better format because it was rooted in a rotating cast of super heroes amid the core founders of the League and that really opened the show further into a who's who of the DC Universe both well known, known, and huh-who's-that? each week. A close second would be Justice League season 2 because I believe the crew really cracked the structure and pacing for the multi-parters and made it solid watch through. Season 1 on the other hand was a little clunky because they were still figuring it out and got it by end-season.

 

[Otaku-sempai]

Justice League's format was pretty unique, but I do prefer JLU out of the two. And it did manage to squeeze in the occasional multi-parter (or am I misremembering?).

 

[RoyalRubble]

I enjoy both but Unlimited would be my pick, as well. Half-hour episodes but it had a more serialized approach especially during the Cadmus arc. Plus it featured a bunch of new characters and while some were usually only minor players in the grand scheme of things, several others were put in the spotlight alongside the founding members of the League. Overall the show probably had a better balance which granted was also built on a few stories from the initial two seasons of Justice League.

Don't have a lot to comment on Justice League at the moment but I always thought it was cool how it basically had mostly hour long episodes. And there are not that many cartoons I can think of that have used that format, even less at the time the show was produced. Might try a topic about cartoons with similar formats on another board sometime soon, since it could get a bit off-topic.

In a way they mirrored the original Super Friends which also started with hour long episodes, then reduced to half hour stories (and it's a different continuity but you could count Justice League Action which reduced things even more, with 11 minutes long episodes).

 

[ABrown]

First let me say this. Both formats were the correct ones for their casts. Having 2-3 episode "mini-movies" was the right format for the original seven. And having stand alone episodes that were part of a larger overall plot was the correct format for the expanded roster.

That being said. I do really really love the individual episodes with a larger ongoing plot. Some of my other all time favorite action cartoons used that format: Beast Wars/Machines and the 4Kids Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. So I'll give a slight edge to that one.

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

I agree with Yojimbo that because of the Team's inexperience with doing larger teams and sort of more epic level stories the first season of Justice League was really dry and drawn out. Like there are moments but you can really tell there are either a lot of bits that feel like filler or don't have that wow impact factor we'd get in the second season. I would argue JLU also took a few episodes to really find it's groove but if JL needed till like "The Savage Time" aka the season one finale to click, JLU only needed "The Greatest Story Never Told" aka halfway through season one and even then I feel that first half clicked more then JL's first half.

Not to mention JLU due to having more characters to rotate led to things always feeling fresher each week then like sometimes being stuck on a two parter where maybe you weren't feeling even the first part was working. It is a very rare format JL tried and I do appreciate how unique it is but honestly I feel like Invincible is the first series that really nailed hour long super hero cartoons because it was allowed to take more from it's source material and not have to cater to kids thus could pace itself better like a proper hour long series. Something JLU didn't have to worry about so yeah that gets more the edge in terms of what worked more.