05-19-2020, 05:26 PM | #1 |
Stone Warrior
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Is the TMNT 87 Pilot (Season 1) the Best Season?
It's common knowledge that the 87 Turtle toon was created to sell toys. There seems to be fan conjecture that the 5 part miniseries that became Season 1 is the best the show has to offer and that it got noticeably more juvenile, lighthearted, and comedic as the series wore on. Now, is this really the best season of the show and does the tonal shift happen immediately with the beginning of season 2 or is it further down the line? Several older TMNT fans I have talked to on other forums have claimed that they can't even watch the show past the 1st season. Others have said they like Red Sky (8-10) the best and can't be bothered with seasons 1-7. All seem to agree however that the miniseries has a kind of "heart" and charm that the other seasons lack. I think even Eastman and Laird have claimed a time or 2 that this was their favorite season (correct me if I'm wrong).
What, if anything, is it that sets season 1 apart from the rest of the show? Better story? Less juvenile? (With discussion and disection, maybe this can become a Pilot Season Appreciation Thread?) |
05-19-2020, 05:44 PM | #2 |
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I do think that the five part mini series was the best story the show had to offer. I think season two was a very enjoyable season, but not as good as the first season. Seasons three and four both had some very good episodes. However, there was as a lot of stinkers with episodes featuring far lower quality production. This was a result of the creators trying to put out as many episodes as they possibly could. I found seasons 5-7 to be consistently good. Then came the "Red Sky" seasons, 8-10. No longer a child, and now a teenager, those seasons were exactly what I was looking for in an action cartoon. The original five part mini-series was the closest to the red sky seasons, in that it took the show more seriously than seasons 2-7.
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05-19-2020, 06:48 PM | #3 |
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While the first season is better than most of the subsequent episodes, I am not willing to call it "good" on closer inspection. All it really has that the other seasons don't are better fight scenes, less reliance on humor and some higher level of continuity. Arguably pacing too.
I can just go over some weirdness in terms of the writing. Not necessarily plotholes but certainly some strange parts that should have been handled better:
So the writing (and the show overall) was always bad. But it was more ambitious, so it at least gets props for trying a bit more early on.
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Hahahaha! Last edited by neatoman; 05-20-2020 at 08:55 PM. Reason: Some typos were fixed, made a few things clearer and added a point. |
05-19-2020, 07:16 PM | #4 |
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The mini was the best they did. It was the best of the entire run.
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05-19-2020, 10:32 PM | #5 |
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While season 1 is indeed a great season to start off the show, I would heavily disagree that its the best season that the show has to offer (that honour would go to season 3, followed by season 7 imo).
In terms of animation, it is definetly got the highest budget, which makes sense considering that it was burdened with the duty of kicking off the 87 series in popularity, but I would argue that the humour, characterisations and world-building are done better in later seasons, especially seasons 2 and 3. Even the later seasons have plenty of action in many episodes, so I'm not among those people who would say that season 1 is exclusive in having action. The villains, Burne and Vernon are either less comedic or not comedic at all in this season, that's the only difference when it comes to characterisations. I would be interesting in seeing the source where its stated that this was the favourite season of both Kevin and Peter. I know I've read somehere that Peter Laird stopped watching the show after season 3, but nothing about what parts he liked. Last edited by FredWolfLeonardo; 05-19-2020 at 10:44 PM. |
05-20-2020, 03:03 AM | #6 |
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05-20-2020, 06:53 AM | #7 |
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05-20-2020, 08:10 AM | #8 |
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My order is something like this:
Season 1 > Season 7 > Season 3 > Season 2 > Season 6 > Season 8 > Season 5 > Season 4 > Season 10 > Season 9 >>>> Euro Vacation season But that being said I like episodes in every season, so. |
05-20-2020, 08:55 AM | #9 |
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Why do you rank season 3 so high?
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05-20-2020, 09:25 AM | #10 |
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I gotta say, neatoman, while you're a much harsher critic than me, that list is pretty bulletproof. Nice job.
Like I don't even hate the show, and I always hold the first "season" as among the best of the series. But those are some pretty glaring flaws that can really only be excused or ignored by shrugging and saying, "Well, it's a kids' show," which is more of an admission than anything. So... Yeah. These things don't bother me as deeply but you obviously put a lot of thought into it, and it's pretty tough to refute those points. Kudos. Except I always for some reason assumed that Yoshi came to America by boat, but then I haven't paid it much mind in forever. Definitely would have been cheaper than flying, though.
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05-20-2020, 10:18 AM | #11 |
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I have actually edited the 5 parts into a 1 hr 46 min. .mp4 file. The sources are not the best quality but it's serviceable for anyone who wants to see the miniseries as one single movie. I like it but the really glaring parts are where the turtles voices don't match the characters. There's a part where April tries to leave the sewer and Donnie flips and lands in front of her with his bo drawn. Then Raph's voice threatens something like "you're not going anywhere" while Donnie is speaking to her. There are other mismatched dialog-to-character moments and those are the worst parts of the miniseries to me.
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05-20-2020, 10:26 AM | #12 | |
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@neatoman - The points that you make, while all valid, make me think of the "How Seriously Should the 1987 Cartoon be Taken" thread (http://forums.thetechnodrome.com/showthread.php?t=62289). The show is far more enjoyable if you don't think that much about stuff like that. Just enjoy it for what it is.
Quote:
Or you could watch "The Epic Begins" |
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05-20-2020, 11:17 AM | #13 |
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Pretty sure with no other explanation "snuck aboard a boat" was my headcanon, too.
Without getting too deeply into the "How seriously..." debate, I am not sure some people comprehend what it's like for a person who has an actively analytical mind if they, themselves, don't have one. Or even if you're just someone who writes, or even took classes on writing, etc. Your brain asks questions. You notice things without trying to. The "just shut your brain off" thing simply does not work for a lot of people. And it doesn't make them "joyless" or "bitter" or any of a hundred other adjectives that are sometimes lobbed about. If a person is wired to see ALL of what something is - The Good, Bad, and Ugly of it all - then it's not something you can turn off, and having people who are wired differently always tell you that this is something you should do, is frustrating. At times, incredibly so. It comes dangerously close to being told, "Why do you even bother to think? It ruins other people's fun". I know nobody is ever trying to send that message deliberately, but it sometimes feels like that. Not saying that in this case, just in general.
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05-20-2020, 12:28 PM | #14 | |
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05-20-2020, 12:43 PM | #15 |
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Not exactly.
I still watch and enjoy all that stuff from time to time, I just don't have the capacity to ignore or hand-wave things. It doesn't entirely lessen my enjoyment of them but it makes me recognize where there's obvious room for improvement. 8-year old me would have argued to the death that any of those things were flawless. 38-year old me isn't inclined or obligated to do that. "Super Mario Bros. Super Show" is also objectively flat-out awful, though. I mean I will always, always love it "for what it is" and never apologize, but... geez, man, that show was pretty well known to be crap even back then. You best believe I bought the original DVD collector's box sets the day they came out, though. But man, that show's just plain lousy on any unbiased level. You lumped that in with good shows! I recently watched a video from Sega Lord X where he summed up my feelings pretty well. I think he was talking about the Sega Saturn, but it's a pretty sound philosophy all-around. I'm paraphrasing, but it mostly went to the effect of, "Loving something doesn't mean you pretend that it's flawless, or even that you ignore those flaws. It means recognizing those things are real and choosing to love something for what it is, anyway, flaws and all." That's what I do. Some people simply act like even recognizing those flaws or pointing them out is an act of betrayal, when in truth that's generally not the intention. And further, some people literally can't help but notice those things, anyway. But it doesn't make them haters, either.
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05-20-2020, 01:03 PM | #16 | |
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05-20-2020, 01:15 PM | #17 |
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That show is how the Mario characters sound in my head, forever. Otherwise... eh, it's very, very, very cheap and slapdash. I think even Captain Lou said they basically made it for like, no money at all and were mostly just winging it. He obviously did what he could with it, though, performing with much enthusiasm as per Lou's usual. "Lousual"?
I would never say it has no value whatsoever but it's not objectively well-made, either. But obviously there's fun to be had with it, sure. Some of the charm is lost in the cartoon segments since the original TV episodes used licensed music, and the DVDs use that Jimmy Hart rip-off of "Beat It" in just about every episode. That, more than anything, got old very fast!
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05-20-2020, 01:59 PM | #18 |
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I think it's the best. Cohesive story. Great animation and some of the best art direction of the entire series.
When I think of the run I always think of the great scene of Mike on the rooftop twirling his chucks in the air after leaping towards to foot soldiers. Or the cool moment where Don whacks Krang's android body with his staff as it "clunks" or the flying car chase - all of which were animated with character and beauty. It's unrivaled across the rest of the seasons. |
05-20-2020, 02:07 PM | #19 |
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05-20-2020, 07:28 PM | #20 |
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I was just kidding. No one in their right mind should be trying to get a hold of that ridiculous edit of the five part mini series. If I remember correctly, it doesn't even feature the Baxter Stockman episode.
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