Merrill Barr
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'The Legend of Korra' is Proof Good Television Can Survive Anything
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After
a yearlong game of tug of war over the airing schedule and delivery
system, today marks the series finale premiere of Nickelodeon’s The Legend of Korra on Nick.com. Unfortunately, what started as a simple sequel series to the beloved Avatar: The Last Airbender
became something much more important. It became a sign of the state of
television and how reactionary networks can be in the face of adversity –
the adversity in this case being – most likely but not officially –
leaked episodes that ruined premiere plans for the third season, thus
causing a rapid summer release in response with zero marketing, followed
by a rushed move up of the final season to the original third season
slot, but only online. However, there’s something else The Legend of Korra will go down for, something that’s perhaps much more important, and that’s the enduring power of audience loyalty.
There are very few shows that boast as vocal a fan base as The Legend of Korra. Game of Thrones, Orphan Black, Arrow, Hannibal, none of them can compete with the level of fandom that comes with Niceklodeon’s half-hour, animated drama. From debates over its merits among the likes of Japanese anime, to the business nature of Nickelodeon’s ultimate choice to place the show online due to a mixture of ratings and content, one constant has remained: the viewers.
From Reddit to Tumblr to Twitter TWTR +0.95% and everywhere in between, what never changed for Korra was its highly excitable fan base. Why? Because of its well constructed and non-simplified character work. As usual, what this comes back to is the running theme of these posts: audiences will show up for anything but only stay for character, and Nick’s animated sequel has some of the best in the business. Whether playing with the ideals of changing the gender of the main character or expanding the series from a single-focused mini-event to an expanded ensemble, The Legend of Korra was never content with simply painting by the numbers – even if they were numbers originally painted by its predecessor, and it was rewarded for that.
In the original series, we saw an adventure play out through the eyes of children, in Korra, we got to see what happened after that adventure ended and those children grew up. At no point did creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko sugar coat the reality of their word: Aang and his friends were often splitting their time between being civil uniters and being parents, which left a residual feeling of fracturedness among their descendants, and we got to explore those themes through a new set of characters, many of whom came from torn families of an untraditional sense – no one was divorced, but everyone was really busy. Korra remained compelling by keepings it characters ever evolving, and by doing so, it didn’t matter when or where it aired as long as it aired – and this is where the rubber meets the road.
Most shows in Korra’s situation would have been outright dumped by their network and forced to remain in the dark until an eventual DVD release or streaming deal was made. However, Nickelodeon realized very quickly that would never fly with a fan base that just wanted to see an end to the story its invested two years of its life into. So, instead, the network chose to follow an untraditional release method in order to have its cake and eat it too. Fans got what they wanted – an opportunity to see the final episodes – while Nickelodeon got what it wanted – the series off the mothership network, and its slot re-opened to a show that might do better business with a specific set of advertisers.
Will there ever be another situation like The Legend of Korra’s? Perhaps. Perhaps not. It really doesn’t matter because what this comes back to is a television theme that will never cease. In order to be successful, in order maintain longevity, series – animated and live action alike – need to be focused on creating characters, not premises and words, that will compel viewers to come back week after week. Do that, and a fan base will stay until the bitter end no matter what hurtles are thrown at them.
There are very few shows that boast as vocal a fan base as The Legend of Korra. Game of Thrones, Orphan Black, Arrow, Hannibal, none of them can compete with the level of fandom that comes with Niceklodeon’s half-hour, animated drama. From debates over its merits among the likes of Japanese anime, to the business nature of Nickelodeon’s ultimate choice to place the show online due to a mixture of ratings and content, one constant has remained: the viewers.
From Reddit to Tumblr to Twitter TWTR +0.95% and everywhere in between, what never changed for Korra was its highly excitable fan base. Why? Because of its well constructed and non-simplified character work. As usual, what this comes back to is the running theme of these posts: audiences will show up for anything but only stay for character, and Nick’s animated sequel has some of the best in the business. Whether playing with the ideals of changing the gender of the main character or expanding the series from a single-focused mini-event to an expanded ensemble, The Legend of Korra was never content with simply painting by the numbers – even if they were numbers originally painted by its predecessor, and it was rewarded for that.
In the original series, we saw an adventure play out through the eyes of children, in Korra, we got to see what happened after that adventure ended and those children grew up. At no point did creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko sugar coat the reality of their word: Aang and his friends were often splitting their time between being civil uniters and being parents, which left a residual feeling of fracturedness among their descendants, and we got to explore those themes through a new set of characters, many of whom came from torn families of an untraditional sense – no one was divorced, but everyone was really busy. Korra remained compelling by keepings it characters ever evolving, and by doing so, it didn’t matter when or where it aired as long as it aired – and this is where the rubber meets the road.
Most shows in Korra’s situation would have been outright dumped by their network and forced to remain in the dark until an eventual DVD release or streaming deal was made. However, Nickelodeon realized very quickly that would never fly with a fan base that just wanted to see an end to the story its invested two years of its life into. So, instead, the network chose to follow an untraditional release method in order to have its cake and eat it too. Fans got what they wanted – an opportunity to see the final episodes – while Nickelodeon got what it wanted – the series off the mothership network, and its slot re-opened to a show that might do better business with a specific set of advertisers.
Will there ever be another situation like The Legend of Korra’s? Perhaps. Perhaps not. It really doesn’t matter because what this comes back to is a television theme that will never cease. In order to be successful, in order maintain longevity, series – animated and live action alike – need to be focused on creating characters, not premises and words, that will compel viewers to come back week after week. Do that, and a fan base will stay until the bitter end no matter what hurtles are thrown at them.
