CBS Saturday Morning Run

[mikey0]

How do you refer to the CBS Saturday morning episodes of TMNT? Most people just say that those were still the 80s TMNT, but the CBS episodes aired in the 90s. I call that series ‘The Second Generation TMNT’ because some core Millennials tuned into the CBS episodes, whereas Early Millennials tend to be more fond of the mini-series and the actual episodes from the late 80s. You could call the 1990 to 1996 episodes ‘CBS SatAM episodes’. Do you group the syndicated Fred Wolf mini-series and seasons with the CBS Saturday episodes or do you separate the two? As we all know, the Red Sky episodes are in class of their own, but you do you call the 1990 to 1993 episodes?

[IndigoErth]

It's all the '87 TMNT to me because that's when it started. Just like other series are labeled as their own start years.

[garsh]

Yeah the various distinct portions you mentioned, like the "red sky", and the "mini-series", as well as the "European vacation", all fall under the umbrella of the same unified series. I definitely see how the CBS SatAM era is distinct enough to give it its own label, but I've personally never felt a need to.

[CyberCubed]

Many shows have seasons that overlap two decades, but people usually remember a show in the year/decade it started. Kind of ironic since more than half of the original cartoons run is in the early 90's.

[Roseangelo]

It's all the same series. The CBS episodes went down a more cohesive path, but it's all the same show. Even the Red Sky episodes are still the same series.

"2nd generation" isn't a thing with TMNT like it is with Transformers or MLP.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by IndigoErth

It's all the '87 TMNT to me because that's when it started. Just like other series are labeled as their own start years.

The CBS Saturday morning run started in 1990. There are different eras to the Fred Wolf Turtles:

‘87 - Miniseries
‘88-‘90 - Syndicated Seasons
‘90-‘93 - CBS Blue Sky episodes
‘94-‘96 - CBS Red Sky episodes

The Red Sky episodes do fall under CBS SATAM like the Blue Sky ones, but the theme song and animation changed. Technically, it’s all CBS SATAM nonetheless.

[IndigoErth]

Yes, and it's all part of the same series. I don't split it up like that.

That's just gets unnecessarily convoluted and a waste of breath, er, text having to specify it like that.

[CyberCubed]

Like any show that goes on multiple seasons has changes in it and the way it's written/animated or aired. How is this different than any other show?

[sdp]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Many shows have seasons that overlap two decades, but people usually remember a show in the year/decade it started. Kind of ironic since more than half of the original cartoons run is in the early 90's.

The turtles were for many kids in the 80s what Pokemon was to 90s kids. It came out in the end of the decade so kids from that decade enjoyed it but a whole other generation grew up with it as well and more than the previous. 80s kids feel its theirs but really the turtle's are more of a 90s property.

Some 80s kids even try to grasp at Power Rangers being part of their childhood, that would be the equivalent of 90s kids saying Avatar The Last Airbender was also a part of their generation.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by IndigoErth

Yes, and it's all part of the same series. I don't split it up like that.

That's just gets unnecessarily convoluted and a waste of breath, er, text having to specify it like that.

It is, but it isn’t. The CBS episodes did not air in syndication with the episodes from the late 80s and very early 90s. USA Cartoon Express had the syndicated episodes mixed in with the CBS episodes, but back in 1990, if you wanted to watch new TMNT episodes on Saturday, you had to turn to CBS. Big difference from how things were last in early 1990.

Originally Posted by sdp

The turtles were for many kids in the 80s what Pokemon was to 90s kids. It came out in the end of the decade so kids from that decade enjoyed it but a whole other generation grew up with it as well and more than the previous. 80s kids feel its theirs but really the turtle's are more of a 90s property.

Some 80s kids even try to grasp at Power Rangers being part of their childhood, that would be the equivalent of 90s kids saying Avatar The Last Airbender was also a part of their generation.

80s kids had the best episodes of the syndicated series, whereas 90s kids had the CBS Saturday morning episodes. I think 80s kids were watching 90s shows like the CBS SatAM TMNT and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, but those shows will be remembered as programs enjoyed by 90s kids. 80s kids might have introduced their younger siblings to those shows, but 90s kids had their parents go out and purchase 90s TMNT items and MMPR merchandise. CBS SatAM, MMPR, and early Pokèmon are all 90s kids shows.

[IMJ]

It's all Fred Wolf TMNT. And back before I knew it was Fred Wolf it was just TMNT season whatever it was. The Simpsons have been on T.V. across 4 decades and 31 years now. It's still the original Simpsons show.

Originally Posted by mikey0

The CBS Saturday morning run started in 1990. There are different eras to the Fred Wolf Turtles:

‘87 - Miniseries
‘88-‘90 - Syndicated Seasons
‘90-‘93 - CBS Blue Sky episodes
‘94-‘96 - CBS Red Sky episodes

The Red Sky episodes do fall under CBS SATAM like the Blue Sky ones, but the theme song and animation changed. Technically, it’s all CBS SATAM nonetheless.

And this is all fine and true. But you still refer to the series at "Fred Wolf TMNT" or "the first Ninja Turtles Cartoon" or "The original show".

[cammy85]

I've always categorized the series as syndicated and Saturday. The episodes in the first CBS season were sillier for the most part similar to what happened with the Real Ghostbusters. Unlike the latter, things improved over time with CBS, even the Dregg seasons.

[IndigoErth]

Originally Posted by mikey0

It is, but it isn’t. The CBS episodes did not air in syndication with the episodes from the late 80s and very early 90s. USA Cartoon Express had the syndicated episodes mixed in with the CBS episodes, but back in 1990, if you wanted to watch new TMNT episodes on Saturday, you had to turn to CBS. Big difference from how things were last in early 1990.

And decades later it's airing schedule and channels no longer matter to me nor do I remember it. Hell, they didn't matter to me back then either so long as it was on. (Honesty, my biggest memory is watching it after school.)

So, okay, well, when I refer to '87/FW just know I mean the whole series unless I'm specifying a certain episode or that red sky season that made a clear change.

[sdp]

It's all the same show and the only one that is separated are the "Red Sky" seasons for the fact alone that the tone totally changed, it had a new intro everything else is the same despite being syndicated or not, it's basically the same show. Many fans like to separate the mini series but let's be honest it's the same thing despite having continuity.

Originally Posted by mikey0

80s kids had the best episodes of the syndicated series, whereas 90s kids had the CBS Saturday morning episodes. I think 80s kids were watching 90s shows like the CBS SatAM TMNT and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, but those shows will be remembered as programs enjoyed by 90s kids. 80s kids might have introduced their younger siblings to those shows, but 90s kids had their parents go out and purchase 90s TMNT items and MMPR merchandise. CBS SatAM, MMPR, and early Pokèmon are all 90s kids shows.

Power Rangers came out in late1993 so that's nearly 4 years in the early90s that TMNT had by itself , Turtle mania was more on the 90s side than the 80s than the 80s where it pretty much started airing in 88.
It's definitely a transitional show between both decades but any 80s kids that had the turtles are usually on the older side of things and didn't really experience most of the TMNT ride as "kids".

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by sdp

Power Rangers came out in late1993 so that's nearly 4 years in the early90s that TMNT had by itself , Turtle mania was more on the 90s side than the 80s than the 80s where it pretty much started airing in 88.
It's definitely a transitional show between both decades but any 80s kids that had the turtles are usually on the older side of things and didn't really experience most of the TMNT ride as "kids".

Rangermania was in 1994 and Turtlemania erupted immediately after TMNT The Movie came to theaters in 1990. The syndicated series was popular in 1989, but TMNT was thought of as a fad since the toyline was only at number 3 on the best selling toys of the 1989 holiday season. 1990 was the year of the turtles. I was there. The toys were sold out for weeks after the first live action movie came out. Parents would call TRU to make reservations for basic assortment TMNT figures like Donatello, Shredder, April, and Raphael and wait in long lines for them. I think children of the 90s were too young to experience the TMNT craze of 1990. 80s kids were picking up the figures they missed in the very late 80s during 1990. I do remember my cousin’s younger friends having the Coming Out of Their Shells tape from Pizza Hut, a couple of the Sewer Sports All Stars, a 1990 copyrighted mirror with Michelangelo on it, and the Secret of the Ooze TOPPs cards. So, TMNT was on its way out when 90s kids discovered it.

[sdp]

Well 90s kids were born in the mid late 80s for the most part so yeah they were a bit young to experience turtlemania in full in a way. But I still remember turtle stuff being everywhere very much so despite being very young, when Pokemon mania happened in 1999 I was still a kid but fully aware of the huge fad that it was. I see your point. So the pique of turtlemania was 1990 but 91-93 had plenty of turtle stuff out there, it wasn't until Power Rangers took over that TMNT started slowing down year to year. I'd still argue TMNT is more for 90s kids than not or whatever I was arguing, I don't really remember but it's a hill I'm willing to die for in this forum thread where only 7 people are interested in.

[mikey0]

Turtlemania was more of a mid 80s borns phenomenon, but late 80s borns tagged along.

[MrPliggins]

90s kids still had the early seasons until 1993, as the first 3 seasons continued to air weekdays in syndication while the new Saturday episodes were airing. At that point, both sets of reruns moved to USA until 1996 when the show stopped airing forever.

[CyberCubed]

Always found it odd the original show was never rerun anywhere after it ended. Like it never aired on CN/Boomerang or some other cable channel. I guess they didn't want to pay for it.

[ABrown]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Always found it odd the original show was never rerun anywhere after it ended. Like it never aired on CN/Boomerang or some other cable channel. I guess they didn't want to pay for it.

Why doesn't reruns of the original cartoon show up anywhere? I've seen He-Man, G.I. Joe, Transformers, Thundercats. Why no TMNT?