Well the US has a silly belief that children's shows must be childish, and that children cannot comprehend any semblance of plot.
This, combined with the fact that cartoons these days in the US are aimed almost exclusively at children, leads to a lack of plot.
Then of course you must add in the influence of how the Blockbuster films have been soundly beaten by Romantic Comedies when it comes to churning out regular profitable works. As such, those US cartoons made these days that aren't exclusively for children still go for the comedic element, as that's what stays popular; more people like jokes than plots, so the bottom line dictates that plot is secondary to comedy.
Of course, you can find Japanese equivalents if you look hard enough, but I doubt that anyone would fansub them, and liscencing is pretty much out of the question as those companies have bigger fish to fry.
27-Oct-2011 18:30:27