Probably because the show wasn't originally planned to go beyond 65 episodes. Massive popularity has a tendency to change plans.

I blame Littlest Pet Shop, and animator exhaustion.

@Lurker: Huh, didn't know that... though in retrospect it makes the news at the end of this season make more sense.

Hm... shows being forced to extend is rarely good for the quality. I mean, I'm totally all 'I believe in M. A. Larson' and all, but even so.

Still, season 4! 26 more episodes! Worth getting excited about.

That's pretty much what I heard as well, yeah.

edited 5th Feb '13 1:34:13 PM by kegisak

Yeah, I've heard plenty of theories that sound plausible, just nothing actually official.

It's probably because of the whole Syndication thing.

Oh my. 26 episodes next season? This calls for something, but I'm not sure what. Pinkie, what do you think?

@Blissey: Awesome, I loved his Oregon Trail thing. Wonder if we'll be seeing the ponies he lost last time show up as zombies.

Well, there's nothing saying for sure that it was meant to end at 65, but that's just the standard cartoon lifecycle.

Thre was an official memo to shareholders, saying that Hasbro had determined that once they had reached a certain amount of episodes total, they could get away with making fewer new episodes, without losing to much of the target demographic. Since there would be a big enough supply of reruns to keep from getting to repetitive.

Odds are it wasn't one specific thing, but a combination of saving money, writer/artist burnout, and wanting to get LPS off he ground, and more.

DISNEY, cartoon lifecycle. It's only Disney that had the hard and fast "though shalt not make a 66th episdoe.

edited 5th Feb '13 1:41:49 PM by Seraphem

They've decided to simplify the writing process for the 4th season and just mine fanfics for stories.

Yeah, I'd say it was so everypony working on that thing could have a life. 63 episodes in two and a half years especially of such quality is no small feat. honestly, methinks the episodes would start to suffer if they had to write 26 episodes this season.

edited 5th Feb '13 1:46:53 PM by darkabomination

What's he basing the Oregon Trail sequel-thingy off of? Oregon Trail doesn't have zombies.

Looks like a mod of some sort. At least I think so, I never heard of an official zombie sequel.

Yeah, I'm guessing it was a combination of factors that resulted in them deciding to cut it a bit short.

Also, regarding comparative quality, I remember seeing a comic somewhere that broke down the most common tendencies in shows with multiple seasons. If memory serves, it went something like:

1. Decent; writers are still getting a grasp on the material.

2-4. Typically the strongest seasons; the writers are familiar with the characters, and the material is still fresh enough that they have consistent quality.

5-6. Quality begins to decline; writers get fatigued/leave/start running out of ideas. Still not bad; there are still good episodes in there, but the overall quality declines.

7-whatever: Franchise zombie stage.

Obviously not every show follows that, but the general trend is there.

edited 5th Feb '13 1:48:56 PM by JapaneseTeeth

In season 7, we'll finally get to see zombie ponies? Can't wait!

edited 5th Feb '13 1:51:03 PM by IrishZombie

Pretty much what happened to Star Trek

1-2 Crap, some good moments, but hampered by Gene's inability to tell a good story. And damn impossible restrictions

3-6 Amazing, the best perios in Star Trek history pretty much.

7 Started to slip, had some real WTF episodes as they ran out of ideas. Though still plenty of good. And ended it in one HELL of a Grand Finale.

So hoping Pony is pretty much the same. Keep going till hey reach a season where they can tell they are running out of steam. Then end it with something HUGE.

@JT: Yeah, that's a good generalization, though the middle items can be stretched or shortened. And sometimes the only good season is the first one. I'm trying to think of what cartoons had the longest duration of quality seasons. Simpsons was good up until what, the eighth or ninth? Are there any shows that have been good for longer?

Organ trail is a fan made stand alone parody of Oregon Trail. It's quite fun. ^_^

Hell, Teen Titans just got better and better each season, 5 haters be damned. Makes me sad they're not doing a continuation for 6, but I'm happy there's new material to begin with. Speaking of which, that and LPS were probable factors at least for the VA's having to cut it short.

By the end of season 4, there would be 91 episodes. I wonder if this season will be the last one. If it is, I demand the Grand Finale in form of a movie.

Ya know, John de Lancie did compare Lauren Faust to Gene Roddenberry, if that means anything.

@JT

Here you go.◊

And yeah, I would much, much rather that the show end on a high note than it going the way of SpongeBob SquarePants... *shudders*

edited 5th Feb '13 1:59:09 PM by SantosLHalper

A party!

Sponge bob is basically an example that was never canceled in the first place. Season 1 was good and introduced the characters and established a formula, 2 was more experimental and so was a bit uneven but probably produced the very best episodes in the series, season 3 dialed back on the experimentation but incorporated the best elements to more formulaic episodes which produced a steady string of good if not amazing episodes. And then it got capped off by a very good movie finale. And the rest is sadly, history.

Oh there you are, Pinkie. I was wondering what was taking you.

edited 5th Feb '13 2:03:49 PM by Crowfall

But yay, 26 episodes! Fire the party canons, because it's about to get 20% cooler in 10 seconds flat. The fandom's got to celebrate.

A little late but YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEA- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!- !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 26 NEW EPISODES.