'The Toys That Made Us' Brian Volk-Weiss Reveals His Recipe for a Good Episode
By now you may have already binge watched the newest season of The Toys That Made Us on Netflix. It's even possible that after rewatching the past seasons multiple times, you might be dreaming up a list of future episodes you'd like to see. There are plenty of toy and movie properties ripe for the picking, but there a few factors in play which help decide if something is worth consideration for the series.
Newsweek spoke with show creator and director, Brian Volk-Weiss to discuss the three qualifiers for a toy line to have its own episode. These rules are by no means bulletproof, but they provide a nice foundation for the creative team to work from.
"I imagine there's a Mount Rushmore of toys," muses Volk-Weiss. "Does a line have a character that could be on it?" This is a question he ponders every time he approaches a new property for review. Volk-Weiss admits his wife has no clue who the Transformers are, for example, but she can still identify Optimus Prime as a character. Icons like He Man or the Ninja Turtles might fit this bill as well.
"A line needs to have at least one character like that, that counts towards a Mount Rushmore of toys," Volk-Weiss says.
"I really want at least two generations to be playing with the toy, as well" says Volk-Weiss. M.A.S.K. is a great example of a line often requested by fans, that doesn't make the cut based on this second cardinal rule. "Nobody who's not between the ages of 38 and 48 knows what the hell M.A.S.K. is," jokes Volk-Weiss.
As these episodes are not cheap to make, Volk-Weis' team needs to be selective. "I can't make an episode for a 10-year gap in human civilization," the director suggests. Barbie and G.I. Joe have been in action for 60 years, and even Hello Kitty has endured for more than 40 years. "I really want at least fathers and sons, daughters and mothers, you know, whatever, to be able to watch it together," claims Volk-Weiss. "I don't just want some mother or father sitting by themselves and being like, 'Oh, I love M.A.S.K.'"
Third, a potential subject "Has to have a good story," enforces Volk-Weiss. Just because a toy line is successful, that doesn't necessarily mean there's a strong narrative to back it up "That's a great thing for the toy company and very boring to make a TV show about," says Volk-Weiss. "So we need a good story too. That's really it."
As of this moment a fourth season of The Toys That Made Us has yet to be announced. Which toy lines would you like to see covered in possible future episodes? Let us know in the comments section below.
