So here we go
First season :
Many look at this first season or season one as an introductory season. Because throughout this season, we were pretty much given an idea of who these characters were a.k.a. the Freedom Fighters and what their missions were all about.
The episode that starts us off is called "Super Sonic". Now this of course is not the pilot episode. Instead this episode establishes who the main characters are and basically what their character design looks like. Here we are introduced to three new characters unless of course you read the comics before hand. Those characters of course are, Princess Sally, Bunnie Rabbot, and Rotor. As we start this first episode of the series, we see them working on a little project, this project of course is to try to provide light to the meeting area in their home/hideout known as Knothole Village. This village is actually hidden deep within a forest known as The Great Forest. We are also introduced to a I guess you could say a minor character for the first season, and that is Sally's handheld computer known as Nicole, who later on in the comics years later we get a true humanoid/Mobian Lynx form. Of course we see Sonic here as well, and we find out that the Freedom Fighters more specifically Sally and Sonic have to go to a rundown city known as Robotropils to find some spare parts to fix the malfunctioning circuits in Nicole.
Now during this episode and throughout the first season, in fact throughout most of the series, we see that Robotnik's main goal is to not only capture Sally and Sonic and thus turn them into robots, but also to find the location of their village, for it is the last piece in the puzzle for him to conquer and rule the planet.
Now I give the writers credit for this first episode in the series, not to give much away for those that may have not seen it, but the way this first episode was wrote/written it almost makes you believe that Sally and Bunnie are going to end up/remain mind controlled slaves of Robotnik for the rest of the season. But thankfully that did not happen and at the same time we see exactly what Sonic, Sally, and Bunnie can contribute to their team.
Now for the rest of the season, and I know I'm saying "now" a lot, so I apologize. But basically for the rest of the season, the episode's unlike the next season are non-continuity, and other words each one of them is a good episode, but they don't connect, there are although some episodes from the first season that have a connection to episodes in the second season. One episode in particular is "Ultra Sonic" . For its connection lies within the fact, that not only do we see the Freedom Fighters looking for spare robotizer parts, but by using a power ring, they are at least for this episode temporarily able to free Sonic's Uncle Chuck. Now how does this connect to the second season, we'll talk about that when we get to the second season.
As far as the rest of the first season goes, it definitely established that this show was not only filled with action/adventure, but at times it could be dark, dramatic, and of course humorous.
However, the one difference that you had among some other Saturday morning cartoons was the fact, that it was one of the rare Saturday morning cartoons that had its pilot episode aired last instead of first. The pilot episode entitled "Heads or Tails" showcased the characters as they were originally first seen in the comic books by many fans and gave us an idea of what the original concept look like. And of course recently the original intro was uploaded onto YouTube, and again gave us the idea of what the original concept and design of the characters was going to be. So for many of us, seeing the pilot episode last was like watching the earlier issues of the comic book come to life.
Second season :
Now this season definitely had more continuity to it then the first season. Right off the bat in the first episode entitled "Game Guy" , we find out that there are other Freedom Fighter groups besides the main Freedom Fighter group, and that the only way they can be found is by following a list that contains each and every one of them, basically what the group name is and where their location is. Now this of course doesn't get used until the second half of the second season. Now remember when I said that some episodes in the first season had a connection and continuation in the second season, well in the episode "Sonic Conversion" we see just that, we see a continuation not just from the first episode of season two, but from the "Ultra Sonic" episode of season one. For it is here, that we see the reasoning of the Freedom Fighters looking for spare parts, the reasoning being is so they can build a machine that reverses the robotic affect of the I guess you can call it the robotic making machine. Of course Bunnie is the first one it's tried out on, and that proves to be a success, however Sally wants to wait at least 24 hours to see whether or not the effects are temporary or permanent. But of course Sonic doesn't want to wait, so basically by repeating the same formula they did in the first season and acknowledging said episode of the first season, frees his Uncle temporarily to try and reverse the robotic affects placed on him years ago. Unfortunately the first try is unsuccessful, but after getting a part that they need, the second try is a success. Unfortunately as Sally feared, the effects on both Bunnie and Chuck are only temporary. The only bright spot is towards the end of the episode when Uncle Chuck regains his free will full-time and acts as a spy for them as well at at the same time getting the spare parts they need for their reverse robotic making machine.
Now one of the highlights of the first half of season two, was the two-part miniseries "Blast to the Past". The premise of this as crazy as it sounds, is due to the fact that the Freedom Fighters lost two of their own to robotics, even though these two succeeded in accomplishing a goal they had during this mission. Now it's thanks to the newest Freedom Fighter who we get introduced to in the first episode of season two, her name is Dulcy, and she's a Dragon, but it was her that suggested to Sonic and Sally to go to a floating island and use some magical emblems to go back in time and prevent their enemy from taking over. Now they do succeed in going back in time, unfortunately they arrive on the day of the takeover, no thanks to Sonic messing up his end of the spell that sent them back in time to the year 3224. Now the positives for them, are 1, Sally gets to see her father, 2, they get the original plans for the robotic making machine, 3, and Sally I guess saves the only close thing to family for her in their nanny Rosie, by having her promise not to leave Knothole Village.
Not after this episode, they had what many consider an unnecessary 2 11 min. cartoons filler episode. Which of course would be the first of two. And as some have said, you could take this one and the one that comes later out of the rotation and nothing would be affected.
Following this filler episode, we get an episode focused on our newest character Dulcy, and then after that we get an episode, which is kind of like a prelude to the final four episodes/arc of this series, called "The Void". And it's in this episode, that we get introduced to a new villain character who hates our main villain character as much if not more so than the Freedom Fighters, for you see our main villain betrayed this villain during the takeover back in the year 3224. It's also in this episode that Sally finally finds out where her father has been for the past 15 to 16 years. Unfortunately he and this wizard villain cannot leave the void or else they will die. And it is here that Sally finally obtains the Freedom Fighter list that was mentioned in the first episode of this second season, which of course will be further used in the upcoming saga/arc.
Now just like after the two-part miniseries, we get another 2 11 min. cartoons filler episode. For those wondering why there were two episodes like this, was because they wanted to lighten up the second season from the first season, due to some rumored complaints. That was the reason for these two filler episodes with the 11 min. shorts in them.
However after that second filler episode, we finally get to what I consider the main event of the series and the second season. It's something that myself and many fans like to call "The Doomsday Project Saga" or if you piece them together with only The Doomsday Project title card at the beginning after the intro, it's more like "The Doomsday Project Movie". The reason I say that, is because every episode flows right into the next one almost effortlessly. I mean every episode in this arc is good. Basically here's the premise, Robotnik's built this massive global changing machine so he could finish what he started before Sonic and his friends came along. Because this final saga/arc is so big, it requires our heroes to get help from the other Freedom Fighter groups that were on the list that Sally's father gave her. In fact a lot of things finally occur and happen within these final four episodes. 1, Tails becomes an official Freedom Fighter, 2. Antoine finally gets a kiss from Sally for being heroic, 3. We are introduced to a new character who's gain a huge fan base following, her name being Lupe, and 4. Robotnik finally finds out that he's being spied on by Uncle Chuck. And so much more.
Of course this ends with Sonic and Sally using the power stones which were introduced in the second episode of the saga to destroy the Doomsday machine. The power stones of course allowed Sally to know what it feels like to use a power ring by the power of Sonic's speed being transferred into her along with a bit of his personality, as seen towards the end when she wants to see what a kiss can do, after seeing the effects of a high-five.
Now despite having a good ending/finale, the one thing that bothered fans for many years was the fact that show ended on a cliffhanger. The cliffhanger was one of speculation for many years to come. For no one knew who those red eyes belong to at the end. For years, fans speculated 2 theories. One of course because of the timeframe and release of the Sonic CD game, many speculated that it could be Metal Sonic. Which when you look at the timeframe of when this episode/cliffhanger was released, to many fans it would have made a lot of sense that it would be Metal Sonic. However for a second speculation, also because of the timeframe of release for its game, which was entitled Sonic 3, and introduced us to the character of Knuckles The Echidna. Again just like the first speculation, because of the timeframe of the game's release in which Knuckles was introduced, in many fans eyes it would've made sense.
But surprisingly, years later, Ben Hurst, who was the head/lead story writer for the second season and did some episodes for the first season, in a chat that he had online with fans back in the early 2000's, he finally revealed that the eyes belonged to the wizard villain seen in "The Void" episode, and told us or at least told those fans, that he would have been the new villain for the upcoming season.
Speaking of which. By now everyone knows that a third season was indeed planned for the show. Unfortunately due to the fact that the ABC children's broadcasting program/network was being cleaned out if you will and those that ran the children's programming when Sonic was on were being let go/laid off. And the new people that came on board, decided they were not interested in Sonic as well as some of the other shows and decided to cancel it. This of course was at a time when certain situations required that even Saturday morning cartoon blocks have some educational value to them, and I guess Sonic along with some of the other shows didn't have that educational value. Even though one show that debuted at the same time as Sonic, this show course being called "Reboot", lasted a few more years on ABC before it was moved to syndication and then Cartoon Network.
Now with the cancellation of Sonic, a lot of the ideas that Ben Hurst had for the third season had to be shelved indefinitely or around the mid-90s for the time being. His initial plans as he told us before and in the 2007 interview that he did for the official series DVD box set, he had a few things in mind. 1. He was going to have Sally romanced by someone other then Sonic. 2. Tails was going to discover some new power he had within and use it to save the Freedom Fighters from a great disaster. 3. He also had plans for Snively to ascend to the position that Robotnik once had. Basically he came out and said, that it would be a whole new ballgame for the characters.
And even though it is hard to believe, Ben Hurst according to some sources, not only had the third season planned out, but also had a fourth and possibly fifth season planned out as well or at least planning out in his mind what he wanted to. One of those plans according to several sources, was at the end of the third season and going into the possible fourth season, he was going to introduce Knuckles for the first time in animated form. That was one of his plans according to the source or sources. I believe that there was also plans to bring in Metal Sonic in one of those "would have been" seasons. And I think the last I heard from these sources was he was even planning to bring in Amy Rose in one of those "would have been" seasons. But again thanks to the new brass at ABC children's programming at the time, along with the third season, these other possible seasons never came to be and just like with the third seasons ideas had to be shelved indefinitely/permanently.
Ben Hurst however never gave up for while, he even from what I understand tried to team up with the head writer of the Sonic comic book by Archie comics, this being of course Ken Penders, and along with him try to get a possible movie adaptation off the ground. However and unfortunately due to personal differences and circumstances, this movie never came to be. Because Ben wanted to do one thing and Ken wanted to do another. And according to sources Ken Penders informed Sega of Ben Hurst's movie idea, and from what I understand this was one of the major reasons a movie based on the Saturday morning cartoon was dropped.
Overall though, with the exception of its cancellation, the Sonic Saturday morning cartoon which ran from 1993 to 1995. did and still retains a huge fan base to this very day. One which I am very proud to say I'm a part of. And it was because of this fan base that Brian Ward at Shout Factory decided to finally release a complete series DVD set as I mentioned above which contains said interview with Ben Hurst, as well as an interview with Jaleel White. This DVD set also contains all the episodes as they first originally aired uncut. And this is also one of the rare times that the fan base was allowed to create cover/disc art for the set. It's also the first time that a fan base website known as Fans United For SatAM was acknowledged for its contribution and it's never say die support for the series.
So even though the series is not seen on TV state wise anymore, it can still be seen on TV courtesy of the DVD set, individual DVD releases which contain various episodes, places like on YouTube and as of February 29, 2012, on Netflix streaming, oh and before I forget at a Sega store/land in Las Vegas, Nevada, from what one fan's picture has shown us.
Overall no matter where you go, no matter what you do, one way or another SatAM is being seen by someone somewhere and thus the legacy and fan base lives on.
And that my friends from my perspective is the History of SatAM.
Thank you all for reading. God bless
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