Why did Dragon Knight fail?

PRangerX · 01/21/11, 11:41 PM

When word of Dragon Knight leaked a lot of people had high hopes for it. But Dragon Knight failed to get the toy sales or ratings it needed to be successful. The final two episodes didn't even air on US TV, airing on the internet as well. And no signs of Dragon Knight appear on the air waves or via DVD. Love it or hate it, the show was a flop commercially. Why was this?

I think the fact it was on broadcast tv hurt it. Since being on cable tv is the best place for Kidvid now. We saw how much an afterthought RPM and MMPR remastered we're on ABC Kids. Dragon Knight also didn't have a lot of promotion outside of its block. It wasn't a show that CW Kids tried to build around.

The storyline may have been over the heads of the target audience. Not that I am saying the kids audience is stupid. Just that Dragon Knight seemed more adult then say Power Rangers. But as a saturday morning show it didn't appeal to teens and adults. Particularly for the mainstream who would have thought it was just Power Rangers. The serial nature ( while it was something I really liked) may have hurt the show as well. As it made it less accessible to new viewers as the show went on.

The way the toys we're released too late. Somehow the synergy with that just wasn't there. The toys should have been released before the show even started. Not during the series. I also didn't see any promotion for those as well.

Really the only real promotion the show got was online, before it debuted. Which is nice, but that only lets you reach a small audience.

And of course Kamen Rider hasn't been anywhere near established a franchise in North America as Power Rangers has been.

mbozzo · 01/21/11, 11:54 PM

Dragon Knight was a far better show than Masked Rider. That show only fail because The WC didn't treat Dragon Knight as a gold mine. We would have more Kamen Rider shows if the WC treated Dragon Knight as the gold mine that it could be.

Kamen Rider Decade · 01/22/11, 03:59 AM

Dragon Knight failed because:
The actors sucked.
The basic plot was average at best.
The writing was abysmal.
The toys were god awful, and only showed up in my area late last year at Ollie's.
The characters were bland and some just plain retarded.

The show was made of failure.

PRangerX · 01/22/11, 07:35 PM

I actually really loved the show. I thought it had a very engaging storyline. Especially for its genre. I thought some of the main actors we're at least decent. William O'leary was excellent as Xaviax.

Kamen Rider Decade · 01/23/11, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PRangerX

William O'leary was excellent as Xaviax.

He's the only reason I watched, after I realized what a crappy show it was.

Digifiend · 04/08/11, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbozzo

Dragon Knight was a far better show than Masked Rider. That show only fail because The WC didn't treat Dragon Knight as a gold mine. We would have more Kamen Rider shows if the WC treated Dragon Knight as the gold mine that it could be.

You mean the CW. And it was so bad that the UK broadcasters just weren't interested. Nobody bought the rights. :(

Timefire · 04/09/11, 06:15 PM

I wonder did the show ever air on Europe? In Greece for sure not

TokuNoob · 04/10/11, 03:25 AM

From a personal stand point I would have to say the show just didn't progress fast enough. The weak acting I was ready for, but it got to be pretty repetitive. Plus, I'm pretty sure most people had one glance at it, took it be a Power Rangers knock off and moved on.

Shadow Ranger Blue · 04/16/11, 06:13 PM

I think the show just didn't appeal to the American/none asian audience. It was made too much like the Japanese show, although it tried to be interesting like them, it also had the same problems which most people wouldn't be able to get over. I find most Kamen Riders boring in the first 15 or so episodes just because it takes them ages to set up an awesome story. I also found it hard to just jump into the episodes randomly. In most kids shows you can watch a random episode and know whats going on pretty much. Kamen Rider, most of the time you are lost which wouldn't have helped its cause. I loved Dragon Knight, but it took so long to pick up. If they had done what Saban did with PRS and started it in the middle of the season the show may not have been cancelled.

PRangerX · 04/16/11, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shadow Ranger Blue

I think the show just didn't appeal to the American/none asian audience. It was made too much like the Japanese show, although it tried to be interesting like them, it also had the same problems which most people wouldn't be able to get over. I find most Kamen Riders boring in the first 15 or so episodes just because it takes them ages to set up an awesome story. I also found it hard to just jump into the episodes randomly. In most kids shows you can watch a random episode and know whats going on pretty much. Kamen Rider, most of the time you are lost which wouldn't have helped its cause. I loved Dragon Knight, but it took so long to pick up. If they had done what Saban did with PRS and started it in the middle of the season the show may not have been cancelled.

Actually, I think one of the strengths of the show is that they didn't copy Ryuki and did their own thing.

Good point, about the heavy story arch making it hard for new viewers. Thats a problem that some adult fans have. While I personally like shows like that and loved that aspect of DK, it probably did hurt things. But I don't think they needed to do what Samurai did and not have a real origin episode.

01/21/11, 11:41 PM	#1
PRangerX Administrator Join Date: 12/04/00 Posts: 4,004	Why did Dragon Knight fail? When word of Dragon Knight leaked a lot of people had high hopes for it. But Dragon Knight failed to get the toy sales or ratings it needed to be successful. The final two episodes didn't even air on US TV, airing on the internet as well. And no signs of Dragon Knight appear on the air waves or via DVD. Love it or hate it, the show was a flop commercially. Why was this? I think the fact it was on broadcast tv hurt it. Since being on cable tv is the best place for Kidvid now. We saw how much an afterthought RPM and MMPR remastered we're on ABC Kids. Dragon Knight also didn't have a lot of promotion outside of its block. It wasn't a show that CW Kids tried to build around. The storyline may have been over the heads of the target audience. Not that I am saying the kids audience is stupid. Just that Dragon Knight seemed more adult then say Power Rangers. But as a saturday morning show it didn't appeal to teens and adults. Particularly for the mainstream who would have thought it was just Power Rangers. The serial nature ( while it was something I really liked) may have hurt the show as well. As it made it less accessible to new viewers as the show went on. The way the toys we're released too late. Somehow the synergy with that just wasn't there. The toys should have been released before the show even started. Not during the series. I also didn't see any promotion for those as well. Really the only real promotion the show got was online, before it debuted. Which is nice, but that only lets you reach a small audience. And of course Kamen Rider hasn't been anywhere near established a franchise in North America as Power Rangers has been.

01/21/11, 11:54 PM	#2
mbozzo Power Ranger Join Date: 08/16/09 Posts: 876	Re: Why did Dragon Knight fail? Dragon Knight was a far better show than Masked Rider. That show only fail because The WC didn't treat Dragon Knight as a gold mine. We would have more Kamen Rider shows if the WC treated Dragon Knight as the gold mine that it could be.

01/22/11, 03:59 AM	#3
Kamen Rider Decade Mentor Join Date: 01/14/08 Posts: 1,370	Re: Why did Dragon Knight fail? Dragon Knight failed because: The actors sucked. The basic plot was average at best. The writing was abysmal. The toys were god awful, and only showed up in my area late last year at Ollie's. The characters were bland and some just plain retarded. The show was made of failure.

01/22/11, 07:35 PM	#4
PRangerX Administrator Join Date: 12/04/00 Posts: 4,004	Re: Why did Dragon Knight fail? I actually really loved the show. I thought it had a very engaging storyline. Especially for its genre. I thought some of the main actors we're at least decent. William O'leary was excellent as Xaviax.

04/09/11, 06:15 PM	#7
Timefire Putty Patroller Join Date: 04/09/11 Location: Mykonos,Greece Posts: 28	Re: Why did Dragon Knight fail? I wonder did the show ever air on Europe? In Greece for sure not

04/10/11, 03:25 AM	#8
TokuNoob Power Ranger Join Date: 07/17/09 Posts: 156	Re: Why did Dragon Knight fail? From a personal stand point I would have to say the show just didn't progress fast enough. The weak acting I was ready for, but it got to be pretty repetitive. Plus, I'm pretty sure most people had one glance at it, took it be a Power Rangers knock off and moved on.

04/16/11, 06:13 PM	#9
Shadow Ranger Blue Putty Patroller Join Date: 04/16/11 Posts: 16	Re: Why did Dragon Knight fail? I think the show just didn't appeal to the American/none asian audience. It was made too much like the Japanese show, although it tried to be interesting like them, it also had the same problems which most people wouldn't be able to get over. I find most Kamen Riders boring in the first 15 or so episodes just because it takes them ages to set up an awesome story. I also found it hard to just jump into the episodes randomly. In most kids shows you can watch a random episode and know whats going on pretty much. Kamen Rider, most of the time you are lost which wouldn't have helped its cause. I loved Dragon Knight, but it took so long to pick up. If they had done what Saban did with PRS and started it in the middle of the season the show may not have been cancelled.