Someone redesigned all the characters for a weird "updated" look: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/12/29/jem-fashion/

It still looks hyper-retro, and I'm not a fan of the "partially-shaved-head" look, but it's some pretty neat stuff. Rio looks like a member of Duran Duran. The Pizzazz design is AWESOME, and Raya & Aja look the best out of the Holograms. Even Shana is an improvement- her '80s design was the worst of the show. Actually, the entire "Misfits" set is completely phenomenal.

And also mentions the ten CRAZIEST episodes of the entire series: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/01/31/best-jem-episodes/

Man, this show was weird. That big Full Series DVD set I got is fantastic. The Time Travel one probably WAS the nuttiest one ever- I mean, who invents a TIME MACHINE, and then uses it to harass a rival band?

I didn't really watch the series much when it originally aired, but I always liked Stormer.

I can't believe that the redesigns have even BIGGER hair than the originals 

I'm surprised that the redesigns don't suck, like they usually do with these kinds of blog posts.  They actually have a pretty cool underground 80's comic book look, which jives well with the fact Jem is from the 80's.  Still, I'm kind of nervous about someone else doing a new version of this show that messes it up.

Yeah, it'd be weird to see a re-do of "Jem". I mean, Transformers & G.I. Joe weren't wrapped up in their decade- "Jem" IS the Eighties. The whole decade is personified in that show. It's just so dated, but in an awesome way.

I'd still like to see it, just to get the name out there. And after all the bad Transformers & G.I. Joe updates I've seen (though "Beast Wars" was AAAAWWWWWESOMMMME), I don't think I could be so disappointed again, even it if was AWFUL.

But hey, maybe a new version could have an actual REASON for why Jerrica needs a secret identity .

If Jem was remade in the same fashion as the Thundercats have been, I think that would be a hit.  Think "Hannah Montanna," but more character driven and less obnoxious.  And definitely don't remake the Holograms as a teen band in high school.  (No doubt this warning comes too late.  Some producer is probably already out there is selling his teen Jem treatment to Disney.)

In Transformers defense, the third season was actually pretty good because of the focus on a select core of characters, Rodimus was way more interesting as the autobots' leader (you know it's true, Prime fans!), and the animation really improved compared to the other seasons.

Just watched the Dweller in the Depths last night. That animation was amazing.

The concepts behind Transformers and some of the characters are cool, but a lot of the execution is terrible.  I think the only really coherent Season 1 and 2 episodes are probably the pilot, where they were kind of forced not to make it crap.  In fact, I can't even remember Prime and Megatron duking it out other than in the pilot and the movie.

The rest of the episodes, you might get some cool moments with Starscream or Soundwave, but you'd also have to contend with *insert one of the rotating cast of 36 different Autobots* stealing all the airtime.  I mean, yes, lets give Smokescreen, Powerglide, etc. entire episodes, and then never give them a speaking role again.  Great way to make a quality serial right there.

The plots in general were just over all horrendous.  G1 fans pretty much have selective memory I think and just focus on the good things that weren't actually done all that well in the first place.  It's almost like they praise it on the potential it could have been great.  Like I said, they didn't even try that hard until the film.  The only good thing about Season 1 and 2 that approached anything like "story telling" was Starscream's storyline, which concluded in the film, but that's such a small part of what the show was.

I also think Optimus Prime is a bore.  Rodimus is slightly more real.  But Optimus Prime has the over the top manly hero voice acting and Superman type branding, so he's the default whether you like it or not.  The best thing Prime did was die.  No joke.  Once that happened, it was like a breath of fresh air into the narrative.  lol

If you want to go by actual quality, I don't think Transformers is in like the top ten 80's TV cartoons.  Even stuff like the Ghost Busters cartoon was a lot better I think.

All three shows are pretty fun to laugh at, though. There is some WEIRD stuff coming out of the '80s. Though I am with Ghidra 100% on how cartoons today seem to all be written by the same "genre savvy" band of kids who watched all the old cartoons and now snidely make fun of them or just rip stuff off (calling it "homages"). There's hardly a cartoon on today that isn't some kind of parody version of something else, trying to do *wink wink* references for the adult audience as well.

Yeah, it's all very asinine.  It's almost like cartoons that take their selves seriously don't exist anymore.  It's gotten to the point where the "action cartoon" has gone the way of the dinsaur.  We only get like quasi-action shows where there's no actual danger facing the heroes, because in the end, it's all supposed to be tongue in cheek anyways.  That was kind of interesting when it was new like when the Powerpuff Girls did similar junk.  However, now every cartoon out is like that, and it sucks.

Hm, speaking of good current-day cartoons that AREN'T just tongue-in-cheek, "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" is pretty good. It's not up to "Justice League" standards yet, but it's a good old-fashioned comic book-style TV show.