From the folks that brought you Reboot, comes Beast Wars
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In November, 1995, Alliance Communication announced Beast Wars. It is showing in Canada on the YTV network (under the name "Beasties"). In the United States, it was syndicated through Claster TV. Most of the 100 independent TV stations that showed the first season will also be showing the second season.

See also www.beastwars.com and the list of fan sites for Beast Wars.

Episodes

    Season I

  1. Beast Wars Pilot, part 1
  2. Beast Wars Pilot, part 2
  3. The Web
  4. Equal Measures
  5. Chain of Command
  6. Power Surge
  7. Fallen Comrades
  8. Double Jeopardy
  9. A Better Mousetrap
  10. Gorilla Warfare
  11. The Probe
  12. Victory
  13. Dark Designs
  14. Double Dinobot
  15. The Spark
  16. The Trigger Effect, part 1
  17. The Trigger Effect, part 2
  18. Spider's Game
  19. Call of the Wild
  20. Dark Voyage
  21. Possession
  22. The Low Road
  23. Law of the Jungle
  24. Before the Storm
  25. Other Voices, part 1
  26. Other Voices, part 2

    Season II

  27. (1) Aftermath
  28. (2) Coming of the Fuzors, part 1
  29. (3) Coming of the Fuzors, part 2
  30. (4) Tangled Webs
  31. (5) Maximal, No More
  32. (6) Other Visits, part 1
  33. (7) Other Visits, part 2
  34. (8) Bad Spark
  35. (9) Code of Hero
  36. (10) Transmutate
  37. (11) The Agenda, part 1
  38. (12) The Agenda, part 2
  39. (13) The Agenda, part 3

    Season III

  40. (1) Optimal Situation (The Agenda - Part 4)
  41. (2) Deep Metal
  42. (3) Changing Of The Guard
  43. (4) Cutting Edge
  44. (5) Feral Scream - Part 1
  45. (6) Feral Scream - Part 2
  46. (7) Proving Grounds
  47. (8) Go With The Flow
  48. (9) Crossing the Rubicon
  49. (10) Master Blaster
  50. (11) Other Victories
  51. (12) Nemesis - Part 1
  52. (13) Nemesis - Part 2

April 1997: TV Guide

On page 44 of the "April 26-May 2" issue of TV Guide, David Hiltbrand had this to say about Beast Wars:
Dinosaur and Gorilla

Savage Beasts

Maybe I should put in for hazard pay. Sometimes the things I have to watch for this column really scare me. Case in point: Beast Wars. This syndicated cartoon (check TV Guide listings) employs spooky 3-D animation. When the main villain, an awesome T. rex named Megatron, snarls and snaps in close-up, you get the dizzying feeling that you're about to fall right into his choppers. It's like vertigo with bristling fangs. Megatron's primary opponent, a gorilla named Optimus who looks like Mighty Joe Young on anabolic steroids, has a terifying set of incisors himself. I don't thing it's an accident that about three times every episodes, one of the show's creatures comes at you with jaws agape. If in the annals of medicine there's a phobia aobut being swallowed up whole, then Beast Wars could cause an epidemic.

Beast Wars is the lead-off hitter for a nitro-driven syndicated package called the "Power Block". It's followed by VOR-Tech, a cyberhorror cartoon; ReBoot, another 3-D offering that originally aired on ABC; and finally, a warrior who needs no introduction: GI Joe Extreme. Hoo-wee!
Forget the after-school cookies and milk, Mom; just leave out a bottle of tequila. The Power Block is like heavy-metal music for the skateboard set.

The premise of Beast Wars is a little hazy, partially because of the show's impenetrable argot: "Rhinox, intensify perimeter scan and see if you can get through to Dinobot. I want the Predacons spotted."

As best I can figure out, the cartoon tells the story of two antagonistic bands of space adventurers who have crash-landed on the same primitive planet. It's a rugged, butted terrain that looks like remotest Utah. There are the Predacons, led by the toothy Megatron. He rules over a pterodactyl and an outsize tarantula, wasp, and scorpion. You can tell they're the bad guys because they all have voices as abrasive as sandpaper. Megatron's crown weighs uneasy, however, because all his henchmen are constantly circling hem, looking for a sign of weakness so they can stomp him and assume dominance. What can I say? It's a real Tron-eat-Tron world.

The good guys are the Maximals, a corps lead by the gorilla Optimus and composed of a cheetah, a rhinoceros, a white tiger, a falcon, and, last and least, a rat. Old Rat Trap is an unlikely hero -- with a Bronx accent and a less-than-valiant attitude. Sounding just like George Costanza as a rodent, he provides the Maximals' comic relief.

With a simple command both the Predacons and Maximals can instantly adapt into heavily armored and heavily armed robots. Then, at least for a few minutes, they stop trying to tear each other limb from limb and instead take up a far more civilized pursuit: blasting each other to smithereens.

The constant battles on this eerie, arresting, but ultimately empty show often result in strange, squeamish confrontations. Have you ever seen a giant rat in a pitched battle with a mumongus spider? Believe you me, it's not a pretty sight.


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