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I recall being struck by the serial nature of Transformers. It was almost like a soap opera. Things changed from episode to episode and sometimes changed in a very big way. Most cartoons end and the next episode acts like the previous one never happened. You had to watch all the episodes of Transformers to know what was going on. Starscream was an interesting character and his journey through the show was always changing. When he was exiled and then created the WW2 Combaticons who then rebelled against Starscream, that whole thing just blew my mind as a kid. I couldn't believe the writers were working so hard on the storylines. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen in a cartoon. This whole huge story arc-- and Transformers did this all the time.

I got good news, better news and great news for you.

The good news is, if you still like the series, Rhino is selling remaster versions of the G1 TF series in $40 to $50 DVD Boxsets and a remaster version DVD of the TF G1 Movie (which bridges season2 and 3 and it has aged well.

The better news is the Hasbro has released a very good book trilogy base off the original TF cartoon (season 1 and 2)/comic series. The first book is called is Hardwired by Scott Ciecin and book two is Annihilation by David Cian. The third book will be released early next year.

If you like Starscream, your going to love reading these books. In book one Megatron is taken out of action (he, Prime, Jazz and Bluestreak are kidnapped by aliens) and Starscream take ove command of the Decepticons, but the way does it, is he tells them his plan and they go along with it. The plan it itself is revealed fully at the beginning of book two and it is a very solid plan. But the ingredients for the plan may make you question his sanity.

They are:

1. Starscream and the rest of the Decepticons...

2. Go to and take over Las Vagas...

3. And begin in the TV networks for a Reality TV Show.

Also the action scenes and plot of these books are excellent (for book one at least). I have not finished book two yet. Also, Spike plays a major role in these books.

Now the great news is that the guys who made the X-Men movies are working on a live action CGI version movie based on the original G1 TF cartoon/comic series.

Like I said, I had good news for you.

Great news, but unfortunately, that's a bit outweighed by the fact that the recent batch of Transformers tv series have both sucked and blown, from Beast Machines to Robots In Disguise to Armada, and it's likely that this trend will continue into the next series, Energon. It's downright criminal what they've done with the smallscreen version of Transformers, especially after bringing it back with what is undoubtedly one of the best cartoon series ever to air, Beast Wars.

Oh well. I still got my DVD sets to tide me over. I've got all the G1 DVD sets currently out, and the first Beast Wars DVD set. All I need, now, is the last G1 DVD set to come out with the latter half of season 3, and the next Beast Wars DVD set which'll include seasons 2 and 3, and I'll have both series' in their entirety.

As for great cartoons currently on the air, I'd list the following:

Masters of the Universe Vs. The Snakemen - Formerly "He-Man and The Masters of the Universe".
X-Men: Evolution - Though I'm not sure if this series has been picked up for a new season. The fourth season ended spectacularly and heartbreakingly 2 months ago.
Star Wars: Clone Wars - They REALLY should make this into a regular 30-minute series with 13 to 26 episode seasons.
Samurai Jack
Justice League
Teen Titans

Honorable mention also goes to Spongebob Squarepants, Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Laboratory, Duck Dodgers, Big O and Cartoon Networks Adult Swim line-up (Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Sea Lab 20something) which I catch from time to time. As for cartoons which aired in the past which I've seen, I'd list the following:

Transformers - Of course
Beast Wars - Ditto
Robotech - I'm hoping I'll get The Macross Saga and New Generation for Christmas.
G.I. Joe - Cobra attacked the Pentagon long before al-Qaeda ever did. Does anyone really thing they'll ever mention the word 'terrorist' on cartoons, again, or have the bad guys attack the Pentagon as did Cobra?
Exo-Squad - It and Beast Wars are, to me, the Babylon 5 of cartoons. The instant they put this series on DVD, I'm buying it up. To bad it didn't continue, as apparently they were going to combine it with the Robotech universe.
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - The original series.
Superman: The Animated Series - The precursor to Justice League and an excellent show in its own right.
Batman: The Animated Series - Ditto the above.
Looney Tunes - The granddaddy of them all.

And many others which I could name. It's amazing, though, how many of the above series are not only better then most of what you'll find on network tv, but in some cases are also a whole lot funnier than even the highest rated sitcoms (And unlike the sitcoms, they DON'T come with a laughtrack).