Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24882645-20140731134328

Something has been on my mind now ever since the end of season four. After reading several reviews and comments on deviantart, youtube, and even the wiki itself, it seems as though a lot of people think RS is turning into a soap opera. While I can agree with everybody to a point, I highly disagree with the notion that Regular Show is a cartoon version of a soap opera. I have various reasons to support my claims, and here they are. WARNING: Rant ahead! If you find anything I say offensive or ludicrous, please comment below or click away from this discussion. My intentions aren't to offend anybody or cause problems for anyone on the wiki. I've just wanted to state my opinion on this for a very long time.

Reason #1: I understand that there was a fair amount of romance episodes between Mordecai and Margaret in season four. But even so, is that really an excuse to compare Regular Show to a soap opera? Soap operas consist of nothing more than cliche plots and pointless drama that practically anybody can see coming. At least in RS, most of the romantic elements take an interesting turn, or something occurs that most of us probably don't see coming. For example, in the episode Steak Me Amadeus, I certainly didn't expect the Capicola Gang to return, and I was honestly shocked when Margaret decided that her dream school was more important than her relationship with Mordecai. I'm not saying that what she did was selfish, but I couldn't have predicted an outcome like that even if I tried. The thing about Regular Show is that even when a drama bomb explodes, we often can't predict who/what lit the fuse. If RS was anything like a soap opera, most of us probably wouldn't even watch it anymore because it would be nothing more than recycled material. If Regular Show is as soap-operaey as people say, why would they continue to watch it? Something else I noticed is that despite there being a decent amount of Mord/Marg episodes in the fourth season, there wasn't that many. I have done a fair amount of research up until this point, and there really was only six episodes that focused on Mordecai and Margaret's relationship out of thirty seven. Here they are in production order:

T.G.I. Tuesday

Do or Diaper

Picking Up Margaret

Meteor Moves

Family BBQ

Steak Me Amadeus

If Regular Show was anything like a soap opera, there would probably be way more romance-based episodes than this. Sure, there have been some Muscle Man/Starla episodes, too, but I don't really see how those can be considered as 'romantic.' If anything, most MM/Starla episodes just show how much the two care about each other, not how much they want to be together. They've already been boyfriend and girlfriend for a while, now, and it doesn't seem as if Muscle Man is going to be popping the question anytime soon. (Although he could probably propose with an onion ring at this point XD)

Reason #2: The subject of romance was hardly touched on until later in season five. After the season's debut episode, Laundry Woes, there were twelve episodes before Mordecai's love life was approached again. Even after another romantic arc was formed, (See New Year's Kiss)  there haven't been many Mordecai/CJ based episodes. In fact, they had to become just friends before anything romantic could occur, and this happened over the span of three or four episodes.Their relationship has actually blossomed pretty quickly, and it seems as though that was the creators' intentions. Since the two have grown so close already, there probably won't be many more amorous interactions until next season. Now that I think about it, that was most likely the storyboarders' goal all along. Due to the complaints of the fans, they likely used CJ as an attempt to fix what was never broken. What I mean is that CJ is basically the female version of Mordecai, and it (presumably) makes fans happier than what they were when Margaret was around. According to most fans, if Margaret wouldn't have made so many appearances in season four, CJ would have never needed to come into play. Again, I don't see how this has anything to do with the concept of a ''soap opera. ''If anything, I think the creators are just trying to patch up the "mistakes" they made along the way. (And I don't even think they've made any mistakes at all at this point)

Reason #3: The character development/interaction has drastically improved. I've come to realize that Mordecai is a very well-rounded character by now, and he really seems to be appreciative of the people around him. At the beginning of the series, all Mordecai wanted to do was slack off with Rigby. (Although he still seemed a lot more level-headed than his best friend at the time) As the show progressed, however, and Margaret made more debuts, her character appeared to give Mordecai the motivation to mature and become a caring, young man. He was constantly doing things for her and helping her in any way that he could, which seemed to rub off on not just his "secret" crush, but his friends as well. Along the way, he began helping out Muscle Man a lot more, (Remember how much he hated Muscle Man at the start of the series?) and he even got Benson to admit how much he loved not just him, but Rigby as well. Though anybody could argue that Mordecai became more responsible on his own, it still seems very plausible that Margaret gave him more determination/will than he ever had. While some people might not like this aspect, (They might prefer the older episodes, which were much more simplistic) I find it interesting to see a slacker morph into a man with a promising future. I'm probably looking too much into this, but ever since season three, Mordecai deems to be "a man with a plan", if you will.

Reason #4: Just because the main characters have love interests doesn't make RS a soap opera. I think the creators had every right to give the main protagonists love interests, seeing as most cartoon characters don't remain single throughout their television debuts. Actually, I believe RS would have gotten boring if Mordecai and Rigby never matured, or at least never broke away from their typical routine. If it would have been five seasons of Mordecai and Rigby doing nothing but slacking off, it probably would have become distasteful and tedious pretty fast. With love interests, I actually think the show's plots/situations have become more captivating and realistic. It's cool when I can compare the real world to a cartoon show. Most cartoons don't have that kind of quality anymore.

Okay, I think that's enough ranting for one morning. XD I apologize if I offended anyone, and I give you kudos if you managed to read through this whole thing. I'd actually like to know what you all think of the romance in the show. Do you guys think RS is like a soap opera? Feel free to post your opinions below. 