Television series
BraveStarr
A space western from 1987 where a Native American marshal with animal-based superpowers protects a frontier planet from an outlaw gang and a demonic entity. It's earnest Saturday morning action: colourful, quick-moving, genuinely inventive about its premise, and unafraid to let its hero be thoughtful alongside being tough. For anyone who loved the adventure cartoons of the 80s, or wants to see what the genre looked like before everything got dark.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you love 1980s toy-line cartoons that mix frontier showdowns with mystical animal powers and don't mind a cheerfully earnest moral core.
Skip it if you find the earnest speechifying and simple good-versus-evil plotting of 1980s toy-tie-in cartoons hard to sit through, since its sixty-five episodes lean hard on that formula.
What it asks of you: A long run of short, self-contained half-hour episodes, brisk in its action beats and rarely dwelling on dark material, with familiar conflicts returning from one episode to the next.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe1983
Same era, same syndicated energy, same commitment to making fantastic visuals and genuine peril coexist with bright colours and clear morality. The voice work is superb and the show respects its audience's intelligence about fantasy logic.
But Twenty-plus minute episodes can feel long now. Some battles follow the same structure, and rewatches reveal how tight the animation budget was.
Transformers1984
Another syndicated action cartoon obsessed with world-building, faction dynamics, and making its heroes' code of honour matter. The Autobot-Decepticon conflict has real stakes and genuine character arcs buried in the adventure.
But The animation is even more limited than BraveStarr, and the pacing assumes you have Saturday morning patience. Some episodes are genuinely confusing about what just happened.
ThunderCats1985
A group of alien heroes defending a new planet against overwhelming odds. Panthro and Lion-O's dynamic is wonderful, the mythology builds across seasons, and it's visually more ambitious than most 80s cartoons.
But The early seasons lean hard on filler, and some character voices are almost impossible to parse. The show sometimes repeats beats until you're begging for novelty.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from BraveStarr
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Magnificent Seven1960
Both tell the story of a lone or small-group lawman defending a frontier settlement against overwhelming odds while honouring a personal code. The structure, the character types, and the moral clarity are direct cousins.
A small group of skilled, principled fighters protecting a frontier community from a powerful, ruthless threat. It's the template BraveStarr remixes—the same moral architecture, the same respect for each character's code, the same belief that bravery matters.
But A Western from 1960, so the pacing is deliberate and some cultural assumptions feel dated. It's not a fast-action cartoon—it's a thoughtful film where long scenes of tension matter more than movement.
More like this (8)
Swamp Thing1990
Same earnestness about a hero defending a frontier against supernatural threat and industrial greed. It's live-action creature-feature television done with surprising care and genuine horror atmosphere.
But The budget shows constantly, and practical effects from 1990 don't hold up the way BraveStarr's animation does. It's slower and more melancholic than you might expect.
The Twilight Zone1959
Shares BraveStarr's interest in outsider justice and moral clarity in strange worlds. Each episode is a complete story, perfectly crafted, and the writing is sharp enough to surprise you decades later.
But Black and white, studio-bound, deliberately paced. It's not fast-moving adventure—it's the opposite. Some plots feel dated in their assumptions about gender and society.
Space: Above and Beyond1995
A military sci-fi show about soldiers far from home, fighting an alien threat on a distant frontier. It takes its characters and their code seriously while delivering genuine action and real losses.
But Cancelled after two seasons, so the story doesn't conclude. The tone is much darker and grittier than BraveStarr, which might feel like whiplash.
Captain Planet and the Planeteers1990
Another syndicated action cartoon with genuine stakes hidden under bright colours. A team of young heroes with distinct powers and a clear moral code facing environmental villains. The voice acting is top-tier.
But Environmentalist messaging can feel heavy-handed by today's standards. The Planeteers themselves are less interesting than their captain, so some episodes drag when he's absent.
Exosquad1993
Underrated military sci-fi cartoon about resistance fighters liberating an occupied Earth. It has serialized storytelling, character development across seasons, and takes its war seriously without losing colour and energy.
But Animation is inconsistent even by 90s standards. Some plot threads get dropped, and the final season feels rushed because the show was cancelled abruptly.
SilverHawks1986
Similar syndicated action cartoon DNA, with a team of cyborg heroes patrolling a sci-fi city. The design is gorgeous and weird, and episodes commit fully to their stranger ideas.
But Even more animation corners were cut than usual. The plots are often thin, and some gimmicks repeat to exhaustion across the series.
Kung Fu: The Legend Continues1993
Both are structured around a hero whose power comes from spiritual connection—to animal totems in BraveStarr's case, to Eastern philosophy in Kung Fu. Both treat that spiritual foundation as the heart of the character, not window dressing.
A half-hour syndicated action show about a martial artist using spiritual discipline and animal-inspired fighting techniques to pursue justice. It blends action, philosophy, and genuine emotion in ways that feel weightless until a scene hits you.
But Synergy with the movies it's chasing means some episodes are uneven. The show sometimes prioritizes philosophy over plot, which can feel slow if you want pure action.
Storm Hawks2007
Both use colour, invention, and ensemble dynamics to tell adventure stories where heroes' personal codes and relationships matter as much as action. Both respect their protagonists' capacity for growth and reflection.
A CGI cartoon about a team of sky-pirates defending their world against totalitarianism. It's vibrant, funny, fast-paced, and genuinely inventive about what you can do with animation. Character arcs actually matter and the show earns its emotional moments.
But Later seasons lose focus as network politics shift the show's direction. CGI animation ages differently than traditional animation—some of it looks dated now in ways that don't quite work.
People
Cast
Recommended by
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, InHumanoids, Spiral Zone