{"id":1857822,"date":"2026-03-31T17:15:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T14:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1857822"},"modified":"2026-03-31T17:15:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T14:15:39","slug":"the-super-mario-bros-cartoon-is-back-but-looks-really-weird-and-ai-might-be-to-blame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1857822","title":{"rendered":"The Super Mario Bros. cartoon is back, but looks really weird and AI might be to blame"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/CWfHuT0XbOAWQcO03umaEA&#8211;\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD04Nzk-\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2026-03\/ab5a0450-2d21-11f1-befe-f351504218e0&#8243;]<\/p>\n<article id=\"article-bcc818fb-f684-4c9b-af42-4aaa9fa7ff01\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"mx-auto flex flex-row justify-between md:px-10 md:max-w-[1220px]\">\n<div class=\"min-w-0 flex-1 self-start\" data-i13n-boundary=\"true\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<nav class=\"relative mx-4 mb-4 border-b pb-4 md:mx-0 md:mb-6 md:max-w-[750px] md:pb-6\" aria-label=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<ol class=\"no-scrollbar overflow-scroll whitespace-nowrap text-battleship\">\n<li class=\"inline\">\n<li class=\"inline-block cursor-default last:pr-10 md:last:pr-20 font-bold\">Entertainment<\/li>\n<li class=\"inline-block cursor-default last:pr-10 md:last:pr-20 ml-2 before:mb-0.5 before:mr-3 before:inline-block before:size-2 before:rotate-45 before:border-r-2 before:border-t-2 before:border-battleship\">TV &amp; movies<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/nav>\n<header class=\"mb-4 px-4 md:mb-6 md:max-w-[750px] md:px-0\">\n<h1 class=\"layout-h1 my-2 font-bold leading-tight\">The Super Mario Bros. cartoon is back, but looks really weird and AI might be to blame<\/h1>\n<h2 class=\"rightrail-h2-subheadline my-2 text-[18px] font-light leading-5 md:text-[20px]\/[28px]\">The broadcast channel MeTV has begun airing old episodes.<\/h2>\n<div class=\"flex-col items-start lg:flex lg:flex-row lg:items-center lg:justify-between mt-6\">\n<div class=\"relative md:mr-[10px]\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n<div class=\"flex mr-2\">\n<div class=\"shrink-0 cursor-pointer inline-block size-[42px]\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt role=\"img\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full rounded-full object-cover object-center shadow-[0_0_0_2px_#ffffff]\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/TcQCYKuJU_9Vi2dogRUGcg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTgwO2g9ODA-\/https:\/\/o.aolcdn.com\/images\/dims?image_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fs.yimg.com%2Fos%2Fcreatr-uploaded-images%2F2023-04%2Fbe2dabc0-dee3-11ed-af74-cc21123945d3&amp;compress=1&amp;progressive=1&amp;quality=75&amp;client=hawkeye&amp;signature=b1b4a88b5678acf357d4ca80e15ee9cff64e9455\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-block\">\n<div class=\"w-max text-[0.875rem]\/[1.25rem] font-semibold flex items-center\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col\">\n<div class=\"flex w-max items-center\">Lawrence Bonk<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"font-normal sm:before:inline-block\">Contributing Reporter<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-[0.75rem] text-dolphin dark:text-shark md:text-[0.875rem]\/[1.25rem] lg:pt-[5px]\">\n<div class=\"inline-block\"><span class=\"mr-1 hidden lg:inline\">Updated<\/span><time datetime=\"2026-03-31T17:15:39.000Z\">Tue, March 31, 2026 at 5:15 PM UTC<\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ml-0 mt-4 flex items-center lg:ml-3 lg:mt-0\">\n<div class=\"ml-0 mr-2\">\n<div class=\"relative flex\">Add Engadget on Google<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"mx-4 md:mx-0\">\n<div class=\"grid grid-cols-[[fullbleed-start_body-start]_minmax(auto,750px)_[body-end_fullbleed-end]]\">\n<figure class=\"relative col-body mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative overflow-hidden fig-image-round \"><img decoding=\"async\" alt class=\"object-cover object-center\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/8t9yg4Z5Ay6UugvTCHONXw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD05MTA-\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2026-03\/ab5a0450-2d21-11f1-befe-f351504218e0\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-[0.875rem]\/[1.25rem] figure-caption mt-1 line-clamp-2 mt-2.5 md:mt-2 pr-2.5\">\n<div><span>Nintendo\/Reddit\/Engadget\/MeTV<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"grid grid-cols-article-mobile md:max-w-[750px] md:grid-cols-article\" data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Adults of a certain age will no doubt remember <em>The Super Mario Bros. Super Show<\/em>, a cartoon from 1989 that starred our favorite sibling plumbers decades before they would take over multiplexes with an animated film franchise. The broadcast channel MeTV Toons has begun airing old episodes of the show, likely to trade on the buzz emanating from the pending theatrical release of <em>The Super Mario Galaxy Movie<\/em>. There&#8217;s just one problem. The episodes seem to have been sloppified by an AI upscaling algorithm, according to a report by <em>Kotaku<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">The original series wasn&#8217;t exactly a visual delight. It was a cash grab cartoon from the 1980s. However, it looks even worse now. MeTV seems to have run the footage through a bargain bin AI upscaler and the results are, in a word, weird.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Everything looks smoothed over in an off-putting way, with some characters looking markedly different from the original footage. Many of the episodes are available on YouTube, so it&#8217;s easy to do your own comparisons.<\/p>\n<div class=\"col-fullbleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_mgb7b4ilfaiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">The upscaler also seems to have changed the title card to &#8220;The Suele Mario Bros. Super Show.&#8221; These AI tools have never been great with visual representations of written text, but you&#8217;d think someone at the station would have given things a look over. Engadget has reached out to MeTV to ask what happened and we&#8217;ll update this post when we find out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">For the uninitiated, <em>The Super Mario Bros. Super Show<\/em> ran for just a single season. But this was 1989, so a full 65 episodes aired throughout the year. Seasons didn&#8217;t mess around back then. It was famous for its live-action segments that starred professional wrestler &#8220;Captain&#8221; Lou Albano as Mario. It also turned into a Legend of Zelda cartoon every Friday. There&#8217;s where the famous &#8220;well, excuse me princess&#8221; meme comes from.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"grid grid-cols-article-mobile md:max-w-[750px] md:grid-cols-article\">\n<div class=\"commerce col-body\" data-pw=\"disclosure\">\n<div class=\"mb-7 flex items-center rounded-lg p-3 p-5 w-fit flex-col md:flex-row\">\n<p class=\"text-[12px] text-battleship dark:text-gandalf md:text-[13px]\">If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"hidden flex-none md:block ml-8\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full flex-col flex-nowrap\">\n<div class=\"flex-auto\">\n<div class=\"sticky flex flex-none\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_sj7b4ilfaiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mx-auto md:px-10 md:max-w-[1220px]\">\n<div class=\"grid grid-cols-article-mobile md:max-w-[750px] md:grid-cols-article\">\n<div class=\"no-scrollbar col-body mx-4 mb-8 mt-2.5 overflow-x-scroll whitespace-nowrap md:mx-0 md:max-w-[750px] md:overflow-x-visible\">\n<div class=\"mx-auto max-w-screen-sm\">\n<ul class=\"inline-flex text-xs md:text-sm\">\n<li class=\"mr-6\">About our ads<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"grid grid-cols-article-mobile md:max-w-[750px] md:grid-cols-article\" data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Adults of a certain age will no doubt remember <em>The Super Mario Bros. Super Show<\/em>, a cartoon from 1989 that starred our favorite sibling plumbers decades before they would take over multiplexes with an animated film franchise. The broadcast channel MeTV Toons has begun airing old episodes of the show, likely to trade on the buzz emanating from the pending theatrical release of <em>The Super Mario Galaxy Movie<\/em>. There&#8217;s just one problem. The episodes seem to have been sloppified by an AI upscaling algorithm, according to a report by <em>Kotaku<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">The original series wasn&#8217;t exactly a visual delight. It was a cash grab cartoon from the 1980s. However, it looks even worse now. MeTV seems to have run the footage through a bargain bin AI upscaler and the results are, in a word, weird.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Everything looks smoothed over in an off-putting way, with some characters looking markedly different from the original footage. Many of the episodes are available on YouTube, so it&#8217;s easy to do your own comparisons.<\/p>\n<div class=\"col-fullbleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_mgb7b4ilfaiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">The upscaler also seems to have changed the title card to &#8220;The Suele Mario Bros. Super Show.&#8221; These AI tools have never been great with visual representations of written text, but you&#8217;d think someone at the station would have given things a look over. Engadget has reached out to MeTV to ask what happened and we&#8217;ll update this post when we find out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">For the uninitiated, <em>The Super Mario Bros. Super Show<\/em> ran for just a single season. But this was 1989, so a full 65 episodes aired throughout the year. Seasons didn&#8217;t mess around back then. It was famous for its live-action segments that starred professional wrestler &#8220;Captain&#8221; Lou Albano as Mario. It also turned into a Legend of Zelda cartoon every Friday. There&#8217;s where the famous &#8220;well, excuse me princess&#8221; meme comes from.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/entertainment\/tv-movies\/the-super-mario-bros-cartoon-is-back-but-looks-really-weird-thanks-to-ai-171536332.html&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/CWfHuT0XbOAWQcO03umaEA&#8211;\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD04Nzk-\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2026-03\/ab5a0450-2d21-11f1-befe-f351504218e0&#8243;] Entertainment TV &amp; movies The Super Mario Bros. cartoon is back, but looks really weird and AI might be to blame The broadcast channel MeTV has begun airing old episodes. Lawrence Bonk Contributing Reporter UpdatedTue, March 31, 2026 at 5:15 PM UTC Add Engadget on Google Nintendo\/Reddit\/Engadget\/MeTV Adults of a certain age [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,63],"class_list":["post-1857822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-engadget-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1857822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1857822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1857822\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1857822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1857822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1857822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}