u/Foreign_Courage5613

Hello to those,

I have a question for the fans who may remember this. Did anyone go to a New Edition show on their 2016 Summer Tour 10 years ago. For those who know, while I cannot find a complete show(Just bits and pieces in good quality on YouTube and some setlists), I think the show lasted about a 50-60 minutes, so shorter than most of their tours. I know the tour was called the "This One's For You Tour" which was made to promote their This One's For Me and You song being released. (Another thing I want to add is that the tour started with a snippet of You're Not My Kind of Girl - I think they just sing the first verse and that is it, and ends with of course If It Isn't Love, but no encores of course.)

What I want to know is how come Bobby was not on this tour, and I cannot find an official reason why from the members or other outlets. Was he still feeling unwell after he had to leave the 2014 All Six Tour due to his health conditions, did he not want to do the tour, was it bad press, or was he too busy promoting his autobiography at the time that he could not do both? Is there an official reason as to why, as I do not think he is even on the actual song(Or, is he, as he is not even in the music video either.?). Did he get kicked out during this time again but got let back in around the time of the biopic?

I have a question about the later seasons of Barney. I did not know where else to post this, but here. Most of the Barney subreddits don't get much traction, but as an Autismo, I just need to know.

So, for these seasons, I know they brought on a lot of changes, too many to list, but one that has always questioned me is why they would start having him sing "I Love You" by himself to the audience without the kids or other dinos. Why did they make this change? I have tried doing research, as other changes of this show(Why the show was shortened to 15 minutes overseas in Season 9, and why they added the white void segments in those episodes, why they phased out the kids in Season 10, why they made Season 12 a Let's Go theme, etc.), they have given reasons as to why they did them. But for this one, I do not know the exact reasons. If I search it up, I do not really find much, but AI just regurgitates what I have just said about the show changes around this time. But, I have some reasons/theories for why they made this change, unless some do not know. I also do not know why in some episodes of season 9/10, either he sings it by himself or with the kids, 11 they brought it back to have him sing with the other characters, changed it to being Barney solo in 12, and then the other characters altogether in 13. So, my reasons:

1. This was a way to get Barney antis and Barney bashers to become fans. Now, by the 2000s, when these seasons took place, all the 90s Barney bashing from making websites shitting on Barney's existence to adults going to kids' toy stores to take Barney toys and rip them apart in front of everyone was probably long gone. But, I think kids were still singing on the playground and classroom anti-Barney parody songs(I Love You and Joy to the World changed to be about how Barney sucks and all). I remember kids still doing that even after the show was canceled in 2010, but it was still rerun and known by people(I am revealing my age here). So, I probably think one of the reasons why Barney was so despised was because of how big this song was, and maybe by only having him sing it, they felt that some would like Barney all of a sudden. This is because in some of these episodes, the kids say goodbye to Barney before he starts singing, and maybe it is the show trying to show us that even the kids do not like the song and find it annoying, just like you, the TV viewer at home.

2. This was more of Barney trying to adapt to a 2000s kids' TV format. This one is a long one, but hear me out. Of course, once something becomes popular, shows start to re-enact what makes it popular. So, when Barney was a hit in the 90s, I think kids' shows started to adapt what made it work, such as having stuffed animals come to life or having a mix of costume characters and live-action kids, music-based programming. I think I Love You had a hold on this era of kids TV that other kids shows in the 90s started having Goodbye songs(Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss, Elmo's World, Bear in the Big Blue House, Out of the Box, Book of Pooh, etc.) Again, Barney was not the first; I mean, Mr. Rogers came first(RIP), but with him popularizing the concept, you see where this goes. I think one difference with some of these shows is that it is just the main character singing the song, not with other characters. So, when the show came back in the 2000s and saw what they should do to adapt to the new kids' show climate, they probably saw this as something to change, especially considering how some parents and critics felt that these Barney-inspired shows were better than Barney himself(Maybe the bashing was still there?). 

3. Speaking of Barney trying to adapt to the 2000s kids-show climate, there are 2 other things I feel worth noting that they made that I kind of dislike. The first is what I call music-video formatting. This is because the songs they would sing in the show would start to randomly interleave clips of kids in real life, something that a lot of these Barney-inspired shows did to separate themselves from Barney in the first place. It got repetitive since the show would use the same songs a lot, or use the same clips recorded in 2002 all the way in 2009. No kidding. It was not just from these seasons(7-13), but one episode from 2009 reused footage from an old Barney home movie, or how some episodes from 2008 reused footage from BJ and Baby Bop doing things with real-life kids for songs from 2004/2005. Again, Barney was never like this, and if you guys wanted to make preschool TRL, you should have just done so when MTV was still playing music videos in the 90s when you all first came out. It is the 2000s, and the digital music plant seeds have been planted now. Also, what I am even mad about is that towards the end of the 2000s, most of these shows stopped doing this live-action intersplicing. Hence, it just felt outdated by then, as well as the Barney concept of costumed characters and kids singing and dancing together for 30 minutes about life or what have you.

4. The other change I dislike is the fourth-wall breaking. Now, Barney "kind of" did fourth-wall breaking, I mean, he does wink at the audience at the end of the episode, and the Barney says segment exists. But again, those are at the end of the episode, when all is said and done. The kids, dinos, or other characters do not know they are on TV; they only imagine. Now, I am not referring to the Season 9 white void segments (Although they do not help). Still, episodes in Seasons 10-13 where Barney will randomly make an aside to the audience(You can play with us too), he will ask the audience a rhetorical question(What about you? What (INSERT TOPIC HERE)? - Usually a cue for the next music video in the episode), greet the audience in Season 10(In this season, they literally forget that you have to bring Barney to life when you need help with your imagination; he isn't going to spawn on his own. The theme song says this: maybe in these episodes, he comes to life off-camera, but still. Live shows made you bring him to life with your imagination, so no excuses really.) When he waltzes into the park like he owns the place(Maybe he does, hence why he has it be empty at the end of the episode for him to sing to us), and also one episode where he is playing Hide and Seek with some kids in Season 10, and asks us to help find the kids(Literally pulling a Dora card on us.) Again, maybe this was done because of Dora being popular and making every kid's show break the fourth wall(Do you see the house?). But, it just showcases how Barney is still somewhat the same show from the 90s in its thematic concepts, just with some unnecessarily added bells and whistles to make it like any other generic 2000s kids shows to copy trends instead of setting them as he did for kids TV back in 1992. 

5. I know I have said a lot, but I thought of one more reason just now. I know that the show's budget decreased throughout the mid-to-late 2000s, with the show's touring popularity declining(Going from arenas to theaters to Canada mall parking lots for your 20th anniversary tour), episode cuts, reviews, and such, so maybe the kids and dinos not being able to sing I Love You with Barney was a cause of all this? Again, take a look at the CGI butterfly from Pandora's Box episode, see how many songs and clips are reused in the home movies and episodes from 7-13, or how in seasons 10-13, when they go "somewhere" or tell a story-within-a-story, it is either just the park or a lazy backstage setting(I know, I know, imagination. Please think about what you used to do and then compare it to this. The crappy video game settings from your 4 Seasons Day home video should not be your inspiration, rather Imagination Island in and of itself.)

PS: I also know the Hollywood writers took over the show towards the tail-end, so did they think that the song would sound better solo Barney, or did they want it like that? You know, maybe that is the reason.

Again, back when he did those throwback year-end list videos, he did not have dishonorable mentions on them. Now, I understand why. He famously has said that he would never do another one of these videos, and claimed that they took a lot of work just making the main list itself(So, I see why he would skip this part.) But, let us say that he did a dishonorable mention list for these entries, which songs do you think he would have chosen? Here is what I think:

1976: Junk Food Junkie. I feel like he mentioned this being close to the list in the original video, and this may be a potential OHW based on another video(Do not remember which one). If it were me, this would be on my list.

1987: Shakedown - Bob Seger. He said in the Kid Rock TW he does not like the song. So, maybe he liked this song back in the early 2010s or did not dislike it as much(He mentioned Shakedown in the original 1987 worst list as it being similar to Shake You Down in the name, so there is that.) If it were me, I would have put that and the Club Nouveau Freestyle/New Jack Swing cover of Lean on Me(80s cheese at its worse), in lieu of Head to Toe and Tonight. Tonight is still good, and I think putting Shakedown would have fulfilled the same purpose(A bad song from a classic rocker. Also, Lisa Lisa & the Cult Jam bangs, side from when they do ballads, or any freestyle artist not named Expose). I do not know what Todd thinks about the Lean on Me cover, but perhaps he did not want to have 2 cover songs on the same list, as to me already having one of your entries on a Worst List being a cover, even if it is the worst song/cover of all time, is kind of a cheat code.

1991: I Adore Mi Amor - Color Me Badd and A Place in This World - Michael Smith. If it were me, these 2 songs would replace the Whitney Houston and UB40 picks, respectively(I actually like those 2 songs). Don't know what Todd thinks of these songs, but I know the latter was mentioned during the Bette Midler pick.

2004: OK, there are a lot of choices I think Todd could have picked from, some of my least favorite, like Goodies, Salt Shaker, Gigolo(Nick Cannon had a Pop hit, it was right there Todd. No less with the featured artist), Hey Mama(Maybe this one he likes because he used to like BEP), U Should Have Known Better, Move Ya Body, Redneck Woman(Spoilers for my 2004 worst List, but check it out if you want). I mean 2004 was a good music year, but yeah there has been some bad forgotten stuff. If it were me, I would left out With You, The Reason, and Baby Boy(This one is also cheating as this already made the 2003 year-end), and replaced it with any of those 3. But, knowing Todd, I know he does not like Toby Keith's 2000s stuff, so maybe he would have had American Soldier as a dishonorable mention(Surprised it did not make the list itself, but I think the song is just mediocre).

Did they air the episodes out of order from when they were produced?

I am asking this because there are 4 episodes that take place with no Eric after he is introduced, and 3 of them he is still credited in the intro theme. I found out that one of them, The Legend of the Clock Tower, was episode 9 in production order, but aired as episode 17 in airing order after the Clash for Control/Bodyguard in Blue episodes. He is not credited in that episode, but the trilogy from Lovestruck Rangers-Full Exposure he is not in the episodes. I am confused. I found out that the episodes they adapted from the sentai, his counterpart is not in them. But, if these episodes were intended to take place after Eric's debut, couldn't they have found a way to write him in. For example, Lovestruck Rangers, he is also caught under mind control by the villain and has to deal with the other 3 guy rangers, and more chaos ensues. In The Last Race, maybe he catches Lucas and the rangers speeding in the car? Were these episodes supposed to take place after his debut, and he just could not make it to filming due to other commitments? However, if these episodes were intended to take place before Eric's debut, why did they not air them before his debut episode. I understand that the airing model PR is based on is a different one than what we see today on TV and on streaming, and you can air out-of-place filler episodes every Saturday or weekday and kids will just be happy to see what is going on(The rangers could just stare at the screen for 22 minutes and I think that would work)?

Are there other times when they air episodes without the sixth ranger acting like they do not exist after their debut? I know this has happened other times. In MMPR S1, there is one episode where Tommy is not there even though it takes place after his debut due to Scorpina being there, and he is not even brought up or mentioned. Was JDF(RIP) not available to film that day, was he sick? I know later in the season there is one episode he is written out of and they say it is due to him being at a sports competition. I know later in Super Megaforce, I know, there is an episode that takes place with only the 5 rangers and Orion is not brought up or mentioned after his debut(Love is in the Air). Why did they air it later and not before his debut if it is adapting a Gokeiger episode before the Silver Ranger comes? The ironic thing is that Megaforce adapted an episode before Robo/Gosei Knight debuted after Robo Knight was brought on, and they were able to write him out(The one where he went to the library to learn more about humans and rap music). So, why that time, but not these times? I am sorry, this is all confusing to me. I know in some sitcoms you may credit the entire cast for an episode but one of the actors may not have been featured in that week's episode, so is it like that?

Stop trying to Tom MacDonald us and talk about American channels you Brit.

Bobby Brown (My Prerogative, 1988) vs. BBD (Poison, 1990) NOTE: An alternate one would be either Don't Be Cruel or Every Little Step (1988, 1989) vs. Do Me! (1990)

Ralph Tresvant (Sensitivity) vs. Johnny Gill (Rub You the Right Way. You could do My, My, My instead of this one) (1990)

Livin' La Vida Loca vs. Bailamos (Ricky Martin vs Enrique Iglesias, 1999: I think an alternate one you could with these 2 would be She's All I Ever Had vs. Hero, 1999 vs 2001)

Heart Attack vs. Come & Get It (Demi Lovato vs. Selena Gomez, 2013)

Jealous vs. Cake By the Ocean (Alternatively, Levels vs. Toothbrush) (Nick Jonas, 2014 vs. DNCE, 2015) (Alternatively, 2015, 2016)

Sucker vs. Lose You to Love Me (Jonas Brothers vs. Selena Gomez, 2019)

Closer vs. Happier (Chainsmokers ft. Halsey, 2016 vs. Marshmello ft. Bastille, 2018)

Boys Round Here vs. That's My Kind of Night (Blake Shelton vs. Luke Bryan, 2013) (He has already done cruise, but I think Blake vs. Luke might make a better pairing)

Stay the Same vs. Give It To You (Joey McIntyre vs. Jordan Knight, 1999: Todd has already done a OHW on one of them, said he would not due the OHW on the other, so now he really can give his thoughts on both again)

Watch Me Whip (Nae / Nae) vs. Juju on That Beat (TZ Anthem) (Silento, 2015 vs. Zay Hifligger and Zayion McCall, 2016)

Has anyone heard this song, not to sound shady or anything, as I have not and only did so after thinking about maybe doing an O-Town OHW? But, maybe this may work better, and you will see why.

Long story short, this guy was one of the members of O-Town(I feel like the band would make a good OHW story if one were to exclude Liquid Dreams, or even Trainwreckords even though sophomore slumps are not really counted), and ironically he is the only member no longer in the group due to choosing to keep doing Broadway instead of their reunion. I guess in a way, he is the biggest member due to this song and him being the only one to have success as a solo artist on the charts. Maybe he will re-join O-Town soon, though?

But, back to the song, it looks like he hopped on the guitar-playing teen guy wave of the mid 2000s, and the Max Martin/Dr. Luke(yes, they both worked on this song) pop-rock production sound prevalent with P!nk and Kelly Clarkson around this time. The song peaked at #12, and it looks like it came out on Valentine's Day 20 years ago. Also, this was a #1 TRL hit, if that means anything, so I guess Ashley had a #1 TRL hit both as a solo act and with O-Town. It looks he had another hit off this same album, the title track(Soundtrack To Your Life), that peaked at #58. Plus, as I keep mentioning, this could be an easy format as before the hit would just be O-Town and after the hit is probably his business ventures and Broadway. I feel like this one has been forgotten due to it not making the year-end, and probably one of those songs that charts within the top 20 but spends less than 15 weeks charting in total so it is bound to be forgotten in retrospect(Also, speaking of more 2000s trends this song follows, it looks like Ashley had a reality TV show when releasing this song/album. Seriously, we need to talk about the pre-and-post-Kardashian effect on singers either up-and-coming introducing themselves to the world through cheesy reality TV or singers of the past re-introducing themselves through it. For example, the late 80s seems like a long time away from the mid-2000s, so Being Bobby Brown and Hey Paula say Hi). Anyways, back to topic, do you think Todd would want to do this one? I feel like O-Town themselves could work as they have a good before and after hit story, but are they really one-hit wonders or Trainwreckord candidates? If not, then I guess this is the next best thing.

PS: It is pretty ironic that the early 2000s boy band rivalry came back around in 2006, only this time with the lead soloists of Justin vs. Nick vs. Ashley, and heck throw in the dawn of the Jonas Brothers too while we are at it. Also ironic that Justin came out on top still, and maybe a Nick Lachey OHW too Todd?