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]

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]

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. :lol:

[mikey0]

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.

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. :lol:

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.

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]

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.



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]

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]

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?

[CyberCubed]

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

TMNT (at least prior to the Nick buyout) wasn't owned by any of those companies like Time Warner, Hasbro, or Disney, so they probably didn't want to pay the licensing fee.

Even to this day Nick technically doesn't own the original cartoon, they're still owned by Fred Wolf.

[cammy85]

They used to be on Teletoon Retro in Canada before it was rebranded to Cartoon Network Canada. But only the first 26 episodes, so it cuts out RIGHT before Enter The Rat King. So annoying!! Same with Real Ghostbusters.

[mikey0]

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.

In the early to mid 90s, 80s kids were into the TMNT movies, while 90s kids were late to the party. 90s kids caught the early syndicated episodes after 80s kids had seen most of them. 80s kids made the syndicated series popular enough for there to be a Saturday morning Fred Wolf series in the 90s. As far as I’m concerned, 80s kids really experienced Turtlemania in 1990 as 90s kids had a part in it, but they missed the boat (when TMNT was a fad in ‘89). 90s kids might have seen the 1990 movie, but they were too young to understand the impact it had on children of the 80s. Basically, 90s kids watched everything TMNT on TV, but they did not know why it was a Saturday morning TV show in the fall of 1990.

[sdp]

TMNT is 80s kids Pokemon for the 90s. We got to enjoy full Pokemania in the 90s (https://miscrave.com/articles/pokemania/) but we were the older kids who were about to become teenagers.
I still stand that TMNT is more of a 90s kids thing even if it means that Pokemon is more of a 2000's kids thing.

[CyberCubed]

I don't see what's so hard to see an overlap. Kids became teenagers but a lot were still into the franchise. Not to mention some who get into a franchise "late" and wasn't around at the start.

[mikey0]

TMNT is 80s kids Pokemon for the 90s. We got to enjoy full Pokemania in the 90s (https://miscrave.com/articles/pokemania/) but we were the older kids who were about to become teenagers.
I still stand that TMNT is more of a 90s kids thing even if it means that Pokemon is more of a 2000's kids thing.

TMNT is definitely a Xennial and Millennial phenomenon in the same way that Pokémon was for Millennials and Generation Z. Both TMNT and Pokémon are noted as pop culture for Millennials. TMNT was a bigger deal in the very early 90s than it was in the 80s. For that reason alone, TMNT stuff is not usually included in books on the 1980s like Masters of the Universe or Transformers. Baby Boomers remember TMNT as a 90s craze because the toys were always sold out in 1990. Some 80s kids refer to TMNT as an 80s thing because they remember when the syndicated TV show was very popular. 90s kids liked the CBS episodes, whereas 80s kids say the network change is when TMNT jumped the shark (the grappling hook instead of nunchucks). 90s kids knew the franchise when everything was toned down (CBS series, Coming Out of Their Shells, and sequels). Overall, TMNT was a cusp thing. TMNT was a fad in ‘89 and a craze in ‘90.

I don't see what's so hard to see an overlap. Kids became teenagers but a lot were still into the franchise. Not to mention some who get into a franchise "late" and wasn't around at the start.

Both Xennials and Millennials discovered the franchise late, but some Xennials knew of TMNT before Core Millennials (90s kids). To most Xennials, TMNT is 80s. To Core Millennials, TMNT is 90s.

[sdp]

I don't see what's so hard to see an overlap. Kids became teenagers but a lot were still into the franchise. Not to mention some who get into a franchise "late" and wasn't around at the start.

I just don't like to be grouped with 80s kids, i will do all the mental gymnastics to separate myself from that group.

I shiver to think people picture me like this
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/D3l5iZAXauQsjEHgh0YGPOG5O1n-ZLpoh9Uu9pZgzvExrjT5OvDDnrEbA7qZRs-lZ6TV_6oaXv-Wg1KMGDk9tdq7iCpZXM-GBtUniwFJp2vhPLo2BCxVTcS7Tg

[CyberCubed]

Yeah despite being born in the 80's I was an infant so I really consider myself more of a 90's kid. TMNT is really the only franchise from the 80's I like, besides the debut of the NES/Mario in 1985.

[mikey0]

TMNT was the only game in town in the very early 90s. As time went on, 90s kids moved on to X-Men the Animated Series and Batman the Animated Series (shows that we all know 90s kids love). I think 90s kids stuck with TMNT longer in the 90s than 80s kids (excluding Shellheads), but 80s kids claim it as theirs. Like you said CyberCubed, 80s kids were growing up in the 90s and watching The Simpsons and Beverly Hills 90210. Still, 80s kids were watching [what is now] the classic episodes of TMNT all throughout the early 90s. 80s kids were introduced to TMNT through the mini-series and syndicated seasons, while 90s kids found out about TMNT through the craze.

Yeah despite being born in the 80's I was an infant so I really consider myself more of a 90's kid. TMNT is really the only franchise from the 80's I like, besides the debut of the NES/Mario in 1985.

People born in the early to mid 80s are 80s kids since they saw some part of the 1980s. Late 80s borns are 90s kids. Late 80s borns were too young in the 1980s to absorb the pop culture of the time.

[Leo656]

I just don't like to be grouped with 80s kids, i will do all the mental gymnastics to separate myself from that group.

I shiver to think people picture me like this
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/D3l5iZAXauQsjEHgh0YGPOG5O1n-ZLpoh9Uu9pZgzvExrjT5OvDDnrEbA7qZRs-lZ6TV_6oaXv-Wg1KMGDk9tdq7iCpZXM-GBtUniwFJp2vhPLo2BCxVTcS7Tg

Don't worry. None of us would ever wanna claim you, either. So it's win/win.

[ssjup81]

I consider myself an 80s kid. The majority of my childhood was in the 80s. Early 90s I would've been going into that adolescent stage. Anyway, I associate the Fred Wolf Series with being the 80s series because it started in the 80s and that's when I first started watching it (pre-CBS). If I were going to categorize it, though, I'd probably just refer to it as Pre-CBS, CBS, and Red Sky.

[mikey0]

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.

90s kids missed that whole late 1987 to early 1990 era of the Fred Wolf cartoon. First, the miniseries aired in December of 1987. Then, the first season was shown in September of 1988. Lastly, the arcade game, trading cards, VHS tapes, and TMNT action figures with the pop-up mutant displays were around.

When the CBS SatAM cartoon aired, we were in a new era. The Millennial era of TMNT.

[CyberCubed]

Kids can watch reruns. The toys/show were still on shelves well into the mid 90's. I know because I was there.

[sdp]

Yeah, TMNT rode all the toy trends in the 90s to remain relevant on the shelves, even if not the toy seller it used to be, there was enough demand for playmates to keep pushing out stuff for most of the 90s until like 98.

[CyberCubed]

Definitely, they even re-released a whole bunch of classic figures after Next Mutation ended and that's when I picked most of them up as I was 12-13 at the time and old enough to want to replace my old broken figures from when I was a kid.

[sdp]

Definitely, they even re-released a whole bunch of classic figures after Next Mutation ended and that's when I picked most of them up as I was 12-13 at the time and old enough to want to replace my old broken figures from when I was a kid.

Man at that time I had moved on completely to video games as a kid but I wish I had picked more of those TNM and rereleases at that time.

[CyberCubed]

It's kind of ironic to think TMNT ended like 1 year before the Pokemon craze hit the west in 1998. Had TMNT continued it would have been wiped out completely by then anyway.

As a kid it felt an eternity apart, but it's so weird to think Next Mutation ended literally the same year Pokemon came out here. The passage of time as a kid felt so slow but if this happened now it'd feel like immediately after.

[sdp]

It's kind of ironic to think TMNT ended like 1 year before the Pokemon craze hit the west in 1998. Had TMNT continued it would have been wiped out completely by then anyway.

As a kid it felt an eternity apart, but it's so weird to think Next Mutation ended literally the same year Pokemon came out here. The passage of time as a kid felt so slow but if this happened now it'd feel like immediately after.

Those are exactly my thoughts, something that lasted 4 years felt like forever, now if a show gets 4 years it's almost as it came and went. Same with consoles, movies etc, everything just feels more magnified as a kid.

[mikey0]

It's kind of ironic to think TMNT ended like 1 year before the Pokemon craze hit the west in 1998. Had TMNT continued it would have been wiped out completely by then anyway.

As a kid it felt an eternity apart, but it's so weird to think Next Mutation ended literally the same year Pokemon came out here. The passage of time as a kid felt so slow but if this happened now it'd feel like immediately after.

TMNT was 80s and 90s, while Pokémon was 90s and 2000s. I was getting a little nostalgic for the end of the 80s and start of the 90s when I saw the re-releases at KB Toys and Big Lots in the early 2000s.

[CyberCubed]

Pokemon came out in the west in 1998, it was literally only around for the tail-end of the 90's in its last 2 years.

[mikey0]

Pokemon came out in the west in 1998, it was literally only around for the tail-end of the 90's in its last 2 years.

You can almost say the same thing about TMNT in the 80s. Pokémon still counts as a 90s property, despite it coming out so late in the 1990s.