Finished Season One. Herd Happily is super cute, and the song was pretty good.
For the record, I think maybe five episodes from Season One of FiM fall into the category of “excellent”, between story, themes and characterization. And that’s about how I set the bar: I find the show charming in general, with plenty of little things to appreciate, but I only expect maybe a handful of episodes to legitimately “wow” me.
Pony Life isn’t as good as FiM, and it never really “wowed” me. But I still found it charming in general, and I liked it more than I was expecting to.
A couple of points:
References
Shows are allowed to make references. In fact, cartoons have been making references kids wouldn’t be expected to get for as long as I can remember. In the late 90s, Titanic references were everywhere. Fairly Oddparents referenced The Matrix, and the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles referenced the swarm of Smiths fight from The Matrix Reloaded. I’ll remind you that that’s an R-rated movie with a sex scene. Just as a side note, everyone in my 6th grade class had seen The Matrix Trilogy.
Let’s be clear, if Game of Thrones was being released in the 2000s, shows like Fairly Oddparents and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius would have absolutely referenced it. Could it be that people throw in references not to try and be “hip”, but because it amuses them?
Technology
Like pop culture, people tend to complain about references to technology. These people probably spend too much time on Reddit and/or 4chan. Referencing smartphones and tablets is not “trying to be hip with the kids”. The original iPhone was released in 2007, and smartphones have been a staple of modern life since before the target audience of Pony Life was born. You’re getting old.
I think if the fandom is allowed to make a crossover between My Little Pony and Fallout, then Hasbro is allowed to incorporate modern technology into a show featuring these characters. Which brings me to my next point.
Characterization
I quite like direction they went with The Mane Six’s characterization. Given the opportunity, you should absolutely tweak the characters. Coding and technology are excellent fits for Twilight. You’re never going to recapture the initial impact of Dragonshy, so I like that Fluttershy’s dark side is established from the get-go.
Overall, the worst I can say is that some of the episodes were dumb and/or boring, and thaat I wish certain episodes were longer. But nothing about Pony Life offended me.