Project: Episode Order for OT
 

*Please Read Guidelines Before Posting in This Thread*

Guidelines:

The goal of this project is to place every single episode in an order that will have as much continuity as possible.

1) I'll keep the list updated at the top of this thread. Each episode will be added to where it appears to make the most sense continuity-wise based on my thoughts and the discussions here.
1A) Don't post your own list; the list will be updated here. Make your relevant comments in the thread and I will update the list here if it makes sense or we come to consensus. Remember, I am open to changing this list even after we have passed the discussion of a particular episode.
1B) Commenting on future episodes is fine as well, I'll try and keep that up to date here as best I can
2) Thoughts about the episode just watched will appear at the end of the thread. Make your comments there as well.
3) The order I am watching from is air-date, even though this places some in obviously incorrect locations. Exception: I am going to separate the Group W episodes from the CBS episodes. So Plan 6, European episodes will come *before* Dimension X Story, etc. in our discussions
4) All comments welcome, including comments disagreeing with the already agreed upon order! We're going to finish this project!
5) If you want to watch the episodes at the same time so you can make comments, I will post the next 3 episodes I am planning to watch.
5A) I'll put a date-stamp on when I plan to post my comments on the next batch. Weekends will generally have no update, but for the most part I'll do 3 episodes per night.
5B) I'm going to try to add extra episodes over the weekend, so on the Monday update you'll see maybe 7 - 10 episodes. I'll make sure to update the "upcoming" list so that you'll know how many episodes to expect on that Monday.

Season 3 done. Sorting through my notes

New expected dates:

X. Season 3 (2/1 Done / Sorting through notes)
X. Season 4 Syndicated (3/18 )
X. European (3/18 )
X. CBS Season 1 (3/28 )
X. CBS Season 2 (3/28 )

Current List:

1. Turtle Tracks
2. Enter the Shredder
3. A Thing About Rats
4. Hot-Rodding Teenagers from Dimension X
5. Shredder & Splintered

1. Return of the Shredder
2. Case of the Killer Pizzas
3. The Incredible Shrinking Turtles
4. It Came from Beneath the Sewers
5. The Mean Machines
6. Curse of the Evil Eye
7. Enter: The Fly
8. New York's Shiniest :-?
9. Splinter No More
10. Invasion of the Punk Frogs
11. Teenagers from Dimension X
12. The Catwoman from Channel Six
13. Return of the Technodrome

1. Beneath These Streets
2. April Fool :sleep:
3. The Old Switcheroo
4. Attack of the 50-Foot Irma
5. Ninja Sword of Nowhere
6. 20,000 Leaks Under the City
7. Sky Turtles
8. Burne's Blues
9. The Maltese Hamster
10. Enter the Rat King
11. Super Bebop & Mighty Rocksteady
12. Attack of Big Macc
13. Camera Bugged
14. Four Musketurtles
15. Turtles on Trial
16. Turtles at the Earth's Core
17. The Fifth Turtle
18. Cowabunga Shredhead
19. Take Me to Your Leader
20. Beware the Lotus
21. Blast from the Past
22. Casey Jones - Outlaw Hero

:sleep: - episode placed today
:| - Expecting more episodes to go before this one
:-? - Plan to rewatch for placement
8) - New placement by consensus
:oops: - episode moved to new spot today

Future List (these will get numbers when they are added to the current list):
(compiled from comments made)

X. April Fool (unexpected lava)
X. Bye Bye Fly (Sewer Tubes invented)
X. Case of the Hot Kimono (Sewer Tubes Used)
X. Pizza by the Shred (Sewer Tubes Used)
X. Once upon a Time Machine (year is mentioned as 1991)
X. Elementary, My Dear Turtle (year is mentioned as 1991)
X. The Dimension X Story (Technodrome gets stuck in lava)
X. The Big Zipp Attack (Zipp eats manhole)
X. Planet of the Turtleoids (Technodrome on Earth)
X. Leonardo Is Missing (Technodrome still in arctic)

Great idea! Thanks for organizing this.

No problem, it has been taken care of.

Thank you Krang.

BTW, to the others that posted information on stuff like The Fifth Turtle, The Big Zipp attack, etc. I have all your messages saved with responses for when I get to those episodes, so don't think I've ignored it!

Now on to the current three episodes:

Curse of the Evil Eye: This seems to be placed in the only place it can, at the end of all the eye episodes. So The Incredible Shrinking Turtles & It Came from Beneath the Sewers both involve the first fragment since Baxter misplaces it; The Mean Machines covers the 2nd, and Curse covers the 3rd. Baxter becomes progressively more agitated by Shredder, which leads me to my first real question of these early episodes ---

Case of the Killer Pizzas -- in this episode, Baxter is still fairly obsequious and I've always wondered if this made more sense *before* the episodes involving the Eye. Krang does help Shredder a little bit in this episode though, so maybe he wasn't willing to do that until Shredder went through the adventures with the Eye. The main thought I had is that Shredder wouldn't be as willing to accept Baxter's help after the whole trying to steal the eye for himself thing. So I'd be interested if anyone else had similar thoughts about this episode or if it's just me.

Enter: the Fly -- the end of Baxter and Bebop & Rocksteady return from Dimension X. This one only has one spot to go in since all the episodes without Baxter have Bebop & Rocksteady on Earth.

Check the top list for my updates.

I always thought that was weird too. But, since no one ever questioned it, I overlooked. Best not to start a revolution unless you're certain the government's corrupt, you know

That's the beauty of this thread; it's time for the revolution! Remember, we are going for as much continuity as possible, so if it makes more sense in that order, we should put it in that way, but also remember, everyone is allowed to make comments on episodes already placed if they don't agree with its position. I want to hear some good arguments from other people rather than just listening to the voices in my head! Meanwhile, I count that as two votes for moving this one so I will.

Now on to the next three episodes:

-Invasion of the Punk Frogs -- Splinter makes an interesting comment in this episode -- that "all indications are that Shredder plans to get the Technodrome back from Dimension X." Yet there hadn't been any indication of this yet. I believe there are some other episodes coming up where Shredder does try to open a portal to Dimension X, so I would think those would go before this episode.

-The Catwoman from Channel Six -- The big bit here is that Irma finally meets the Turtles, so any episodes where she still is wondering about April and the turtles has to go before this episode. It was kind of fun to watch this right after Fly and Frogs -- Shredder tries to train another mutant to go after the turtles in all 3 episodes (Fly, Frogs, Cat)!

-New York's Shiniest -- I noticed in this episode that Irma never does visit the turtles here. This one has a very interesting event -- the Turtles crash the Turtle Van off the bridge -- and then Splinter & April leave the sewers in the Turtle Van! Interestingly in this episode Krang says he's not going to help Shredder any more if he messes this one up. Since he gets a matter transporter from Krang in Catwoman, perhaps this one does go after. Irma doesn't ever show up in the sewers though, although she doesn't make her usual comment here about April always talking about the turtles.

As always, check the top of the thread.

That's a GREAT point about the Shredder/Baxter relationship. You have to think Shredder would have been done with him after the Eye of Sarnath arc. Yet, in Killer Pizzas, he actually gives him a compliment about his good catch saying, "we might make a ninja out of you yet!" I agree, Killer Pizzas probably precedes the Evil Eye. In Japan's TMNT manga adaptations, the Frogs and Killer Pizzas stories happen before the Eye of Sarnath arc. Not that any of that is really relevant to episode order though, especially since the Punk Frog story can't happen till Baxter is gone.

That's an interesting connection between the "Shredder trains mutant" theme. I think this one goes after New York's Shiniest though. I like to think this one immediately precedes Return of the Technodrome because of Krang's ominous boast about raising the Technodrome. But maybe it's a weak argument on my part to build it on that one point. Good point about Irma's reactions, although she seems fairly comfortable with the Turtles' existence before she even meets them in Catwoman, so maybe she's just more flexible than we give her credit for.

Hmm, you might be right that this one comes after Catwoman on account of Krang's threat. Then again, when has he ever made good on his threats against Shredder? :)

And, yeah, LoL about the van. That mistake even made it into the UK comics adaptation and (I think) the manga adaptation.

I have the Current List on my computer.

Turtle Tracks
Enter the Shredder
A Thing About Rats
Hot Rodding Teenagers from Dimension X
Shredder & Splintered
Return of the Shredder
The Incredible Shrinking Turtles (1)
It Came From Beneath The Sewers (2)
The Mean Machines (3)
Curse of The Evil Eye (4)
The Case Of The Killer Pizzas
Enter: The Fly
Invasion of the Punk Frogs
Splinter No More
New York's Shiniest
Teenagers From Dimension X
The Catwoman From Channel Six
Return of the Technodrome
Beneath These Streets
April's Fool
Sky Turtles
Cowabunga Shredhead
Invasion of the Turtle Snatchers
The Old Switcheroo
Turtles on Trial
Attack of the 50 Foot Irma
The Maltese Hamster
The Fifth Turtle
Camera Bugged
The Ninja Sword of Nowhere
Green with Jealousy
Take Me to Your Leader
Enter the Rat King
Turtles At the Earth's Core
Burne's Blues
20,000 Leaks Under the City
Beware the Lotus
Leatherhead: Terror of the Swamp
Super Bebop and Mighty Rocksteady
Blast from the Past
Attack of Big MACC
The Turtle Terminator
The Grybyx
Mutagen Monster
Casey Jones: Outlaw Hero
Michaelangelo's Birthday
Turtles, Turtles Everywhere
Return of the Fly
The Making of Metalhead
Four Musketurtles
Usagi Yojimbo
Shredderville
Corporate Raiders from Dimension X
Usagi Come Home
Leatherhead Meets the Rat King
Case of the Hot Kimono
Pizza By the Shred
Bye, Bye, Fly
The Gang's All Here
The Missing Map
The Great Boldini
Mister Ogg Goes to Town
The Big Rip-Off (1)
The Big Break-In (2)
The Big Blow Out (3)
Plan 6 from Outer Space
Tower of Power
Rust Never Sleeps
A Real Snow Job
Venice on the Half Shell
Artless
The Lost Queen of Atlantis
The Irish Jig is Up
Shredder's New Sword
Ring of Fire
Turtles on the Orient Express
April Gets in Dutch
Northern Lights Out
Elementary, My Dear Turtle
Turtles of the Jungle
Michaelangelo Toys Around
Peking Turtle
Shredder's Mom
Four Turtles and a Baby
Turtlemaniac
Planet of the Turtles
Name That Toon
Menace Maestro, Please
The Turtles and the Hare (1)
Once Upon a Time Machine (2)
Rondo in New York
Superhero for a Day
Back to the Egg
Planet of the Turtleoids (1)
Planet of the Turtleoids (2)
The Dimension X Story
Son of Return of the Fly II
The Big Zipp Attack
Farewell, Lotus Blossom
The Big Cufflink Caper!
Rhino-Man
Were-Rats from Channel 6
Bebop and Rocksteady Conquer the Universe
Slash - The Evil Turtle from Dimension X
Rebel Without a Fin
Poor Little Rich Turtle
The Foot Soldiers are Revolting
The Big Bug Blunder
Donatello's Degree
Raphael Meets His Match
Raphael Knocks 'Em Dead
Donatello Makes Time
Leonardo Lightens Up
Funny, They Shrunk Michaelangelo
Michaelangelo Meets Bugman
Leonardo Versus Tempestra
What's Michaelangelo Good For?
Beyond the Donatello Nebula
Unidentified Flying Leonardo
Raphael Drives 'Em Wild
Splinter Vanishes
Donatello's Badd Time
Donatello's Duplicate
My Brother, the Bad Guy
Enter: Mutagen Man
Napoleon Bonafrog: Colossus of the Swamps
Michaelangelo Meets Mondo Gecko
Michaelangelo Meets Bugman Again
Leonardo Cuts Loose
Muckman Messes Up
The Ice Creature Cometh
Zach and the Alien Invaders
Raphael Versus the Volcano
Raphael, Turtle of a Thousand Faces
Pirate Radio
Landlord of the Flies
Leonardo, The Renaissance Turtle
Welcome Back, Polarisoids
Michaelangelo, the Sacred Turtle
Rock Around the Block
Krangenstein Lives!
Super Irma
Adventures in Turtle-Sitting
Sword of Yurikawa
Return of the Turtleoid
Shreeka's Revenge
Too Hot to Handle
Nightmare in the Lair
Phantom of the Sewers
Donatello Trashes Slash
Sleuth on the Loose
Polly Wanna Pizza
Leonardo is Missing
Mr. Nice Guy
Snakes Alive!
Convicts from Dimension X
The Starchild
The Legend of Koji
Night of the Dark Turtle
White Belt, Black Heart
Attack of the Neutrinos
Escape from the Planet of the Turtleloids
Night of the Rogues
Revenge of the Fly
Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter!
Combat Land
Atlantis Awakes
Invasion of the Krangazoids
Shredder Triumphant!
Get Shredder!
Wrath of the Rat King
Cyber-Turtles
State of Shock
Cry H.A.V.O.C.! (1)
H.A.V.O.C. in the Streets (2)
Enter: Krakus (3)
Turtle Trek
The Unknown Ninja
Dregg of the Earth
The Wrath of Medusa
The New Mutation
The Showdown
Split-Second
Carter, the Enforcer
Doomquest
The Return of Dregg
The Beginning of the End
The Power of Three (1)
A Turtle in Time (2)
Turtles to the Second Power (3)
Mobster from Dimension X
The Day the Earth Disappeared
Divide and Conquer

Thanks for that, but I believe you have missed the whole point of this project. We know the production order already. There's a reason I didn't just post a list with all the episodes on it. We are shooting for continuity here by paying careful attention to the content of each episode. The list for this project is maintained at the top of the thread by me so please contribute to that discussion rather than supplying your own competing list. Also please note as stated from the guidelines I am starting from air-date order in a list that I have myself (based in part on Gobo's LOC research), so please do not suggest a different viewing order. Discuss the episodes at hand (or any previous episodes). Upcoming episodes for discussion are listed at the top of the thread also. Any discussion is welcome, but posting a lot of lists will just fill up this thread, and the idea is to keep one list at the top, which after all is the main purpose of this thread (so I've added guideline 1A).

(You can check the top, but a reminder that tomorrow's episodes are Splinter No More, Teenagers from Dimension X, and Return of the Technodrome)

I think that's how TV Tokyo played the episodes as well. I haven't seen the manga. Interesting!

That's a good point, and one I meant to write down in my notes, where Krang says something along the lines of "wait until I bring the Technodrome" or something similar.

What I'm referring to with Irma is when she specifically questions their existence to April. This wouldn't happen once she's met them.

You have a point on this one, and I just had a though about the Punk Frogs -- Krang doesn't want to help Shredder until he decides using the mutagen is actually a good idea. So maybe that was after he already said he wouldn't help Shredder anymore. Interesting thoughts.

(Sorry about that if this counted as a double-post; these two messages make more sense separately)

That's the best that can be expected. Continuity is based on milestones and character development, even though character development isn't very consistent in this series.
That's what he said... :evilgrin:
One of the many examples of inconsistent character development in this show...

Is the Technodrome located on Earth in Planet of the Turtleoids or in Dimension X?
If it's on Earth then it should be a season 5 episode if it's in Dimension X then it should be a season 4 episode.

The Japanese TV order can be found here:
http://freakfreak.net/information/ca...rrelation.html
And yes, Punk Frogs and Killer Pizzas follow immediately after Return of the Shredder and right before the Eye of Sarnath saga. Still, that probably doesn't have any bearing on continuity. It is interesting as to why they made that decision though.

Oops, I must have forgotten about that.

It's on Earth in Planet of the Turtleoids. It looks like a mountain, but I think it's supposed to be the Arctic. And Krang plans to free the Technodrome using a heat ray, so that seems to go with the whole stuck in ice thing.

Well after watching Return of the Technodrome, it actually has a couple of ties to Catwoman from Channel Six, including Irma and Krang, so those are definitely tied together in continuity.

So on to the episodes:

Splinter No More -- this one has Shredder attempting to open the portal to Dimension X without using Krang's help. I think this comes before Frogs for two reasons -- first, because Splinter talks about "all sings pointing to Shredder having the Technodrome return" in the Frogs episode, and also this episode talks about mutagen like we haven't heard it in awhile, and then we see it in Frogs again.

Teenagers from Dimension X -- this one has Shredder attempting to open the portal yet again. Krang does give Shredder some new technology in this one (the mutant brain drain). I think this one comes after Krang decided Shredder's ideas are OK in Frogs.

Return of the Technodrome -- this one is the finale for the season.

So: New York's Shiniest - Krang "if this doesn't work, you'll be stuck with these two forever" -> Splinter No More - attempt to open the portal without Krang's help/mutagen -> Invasion of the Punk Frogs/more mutagen - Krang "I guess you can have good ideas" -> Teenagers from Dimension X - brain drain / portal -> Catwoman - Irma meeting turtles - Krang saying Technodrome will return -> Return of the Technodrome - Irma wants to do everything with the turtles now / Technodrome Returns

I thought of a new guideline: If you have something about an episode we're not even close to yet, go ahead and say it and I'll add a way to track it at the top. Then we'll revisit those comments when we get there. So previous comments on Zipp Attack, Planet of the Turtleoids, etc. will be reflected at this time. (Guideline 1B added)

(Reminder: Check the top for upcoming episodes as well)

So, check the top list for my updates, and please feel free to make any arguments or comments.

Laster seasons
 

In later seasons, there was not so many ties between the episode.

In the case where episodes don't really have connections, we'll default to the air-date, because my guess is that the air-date is fairly close. Looking at Gobo's list, you can see that later seasons would have two episodes per tape, which would air at the 9:00 and 9:30 timeslots (or whatever it was; two episodes per Saturday though) Since the company put those two episodes together, it makes sense that at least each pair was intended to air that way.

Now, on to today's episodes:

Beneath These Streets - only one spot this one can go, since it's a followup to Return of the Technodrome.

Sky Turtles - things I noticed here are that Bebop & Rocksteady are sent to Earth's surface first with some foot soldiers and they are excited to go. Shredder later follows them. When the module goes back to the Earth's Core, lava erupts and Raph and Mike burn their feet, but they aren't surprised about the lava. There are a couple of episodes that go before this one.

Turtles on Trial -- this one actually has a few things to help place it -- Krang gets moved from his android body to his bubble walker here. Bebop & Rocksteady complain about constantly having to go up and down in the modules, so I'd say this goes after Sky Turtles where they seem quite pumped to get to the surface. Also, April gives the turtles the gift of the People Masks! These show up in quite a few episodes IIRC, so this might be a good divider between the ones where they don't wear masks and the other episodes. Another key -- the Technodrome's refrigeration units aren't working, and Krang makes sure to steal a chemical that helps make it work. Although his rampage through the streets isn't successful, he does take the chemical back. So any episodes where the Technodrome is hot inside would go before this one.

Take note of the upcoming episodes, because I won't be back until Monday. I should have an update of about 9 episodes then.

Check the top for the updated list!

Don't forget that Donatello references "SKY TURTLES" as episode six in another episode (mentioned in your other thread). I'd call that a clue.

Thanks for reminding me. I hadn't put that one up there because I don't remember which episode it was, but I'll add that as "unknown" to the future list and move Sky to Episode #6.

I just figured that was a throw away gag which wasn't really meant to imply intended episode order. Still, it is funny though.;)

Remember, we're going for as much continuity as possible, so including it as #6 makes at least one line of dialogue fit better in to the continuity (even if it is just a joke). But I haven't seen that line of dialogue yet so I'll just keep the "episode #6" reference at the top and change it back to 1-2-3 for now and we'll probably have a clearer picture of these early episodes when I return Monday with my next 9-episode block. I'll search through other clues later to see if there's a good 4-episode block to go between Sky Turtles and Beneath These Streets to fit, but for now I won't let the numbers get ahead of me.

lol. In relation to the bitten manhole cover from the Zipp Attack, numerous episodes in season 4 also refer to that particular scene so we know they all occur after the Zipp one.

I forget if I already mentioned that when I posted earlier. I saw that the Zipp episode was mentioned in the future list. I think you'll see what I mean when you see it. They will sometimes (re)introduce that they are back to the Turtles section of the episode by showing the outside of the sewers from a number of different exits. One of them is with this particular manhole cover. I guess if it's not chewed up, it came before the Zipps. If it is, it came afterward.

Yep, I'll keep an eye-out on that manhole cover!

Now I only managed to get three episodes in this weekend because of Star Trek opening and I had to do a lot of work on Saturday, but I will likely have the next six tomorrow.

So on to the next three:

Attack of the 50-Foot Irma - here's one where April does not seem to know what the module is yet when it shows up, and on the modules when Shredder heads back to the Technodrome, Leonardo tells the turtles to follow it. Lava then erupts and the turtles are all surprised, so this one has to go *before* Sky Turtles. Krang is also in his android body in this episode.

The Maltese Hamster - this one is not easy to place because we don't get any shots of the Technodrome and Krang isn't in the episode. If there is Krang, did I miss it? We mostly follow another gangster that Shredder has hired. However, Shredder's mission is more power for the Technodrome so I will say that goes earlier than Sky Turtles where his mission is destroying the city. Also April sees a module in this episode so likely this one goes after Irma. This one is a little tentative until I see more of the next group though. Will re-watch this one.

Cowabunga Shredhead - This one definitely follows Turtles on Trial because Michaelangelo uses one of the people masks for his disguise. Krang is in this episode and now I can't quite recall if we see him in his bubble walker as well, but he was in his android body for the most part. The module doesn't seem to have much trouble finding the correct location while in the other episodes the module usually ended up in the wrong spot.

OK, so plan six more episodes tomorrow + 1 re-watch, and as always check the top for the current updated list!

Apologies for not having updated the list this week. I had all my deadlines at work sneak up on me this week!

I did watch "The Fifth Turtle" where the Technodrome does a spinning drop through the caves after driving around a bit. I'm going to have to take a closer look at the views of the Technodrome in the previous episodes because so far the only one that seems to be different is the one in "Sky Turtles." Since the Technodrome finally gets some power in this episode, it may follow right after Turtles on Trial where the Technodrome finally receives coolant. The Turtles do use the people masks in this episode.

That's the only episode to add at this point, but I added some more episodes to expect on Monday of next week, so there will be an update of 14 episodes and then we'll be back to 3 per night. There is a little discrepancy between the air-order and rerun-order on my list for some episodes ("Beware the Lotus" and "Blast from the Past"), so I'm going to stick to the publication dates from Gobo's list while keeping the later dates in mind. Since we're re-ordering anyway, I don't think this will be much of a problem.

Check the top for the upcoming episodes!

Maybe he meant Return of the Jedi :P

Just watching 'New York's Shiniest' and when April's apartment is being robbed, she says "Uwwww...! If only the Turtles were here they wouldn't do that to me." and Irma looks to the camera and says "Most people want the boys in blue. April wants the boys in green." Before this, Irma was always curious about the turtles and April would just say she met them a few times or whatever but it seems to me that at this point, Irma is more comfortable with the turtles and less curious and April is less afraid of admitting that she's actually friends with the turtles to Irma.

It's funny I had a similar analysis written in my notes! I'll have to go back to my season 2 notes to figure out why I put that episode earlier.

But now, on to the current set of episodes. I only made it to "Camera Bugged" but part of it was an organizational issue. I read through all my notes up to that point and came up with a few items to watch for and came up with some precedence rules, which took me a good 3 hours to do. The episodes actually link together quite well based on multiple rules.

So I won't bother you with all my notes (they take up about five or six pages), but here's the basics:

1. Modules - based on whether the modules are followed by the turtles or not; whether lava comes up; and the turtles reaction on seeing the module or seeing the lava.
2. Donatello's inventions, based on when he invents it to when he uses it. Here's an interesting one: That grappling hook weapon Michaelangelo starts using later is used by Donatello in some of these episodes!
3. Rats - Enter the Rat King obviously has a lot of rats, but there was another episode with a rat as well. I grouped these close together
4. Weather - several of the episodes have rain and thunder storms. I grouped these close together as well.
5. Disguises - some of the episodes the turtles use their private eye disguises without any masks, and in others they use the people masks. I pushed the people mask episodes later.
6. Hideouts - sometimes Shredder uses a hide-out instead of drilling into a random part of the city. I grouped these close together.
7. Rock Soldiers / Foot Soldiers - some episodes Krang lets Shredder use Foot Soldiers and in others they aren't involved. Also the Rock Soldiers sometimes show up in the Technodrome. The only time they've been used on the surface so far is when Krang takes them. I tried to place these where they made the most sense.
8. Cooling / Power - Some episodes deal with the Technodrome requiring coolant or power. I tried to put these in an order that made the most sense. e.g. Turtles on Trial Krang finally gets coolant. The episode Burne's Blues where Krang is trying to get coolant has to go before that since the problem is solved in "Trial".
9. Burne Thompson - There's a bit of an arc of his character where he is depressed for several episodes that he's not getting any good stories on Channel 6. These episodes were grouped close together.
10. Technodrome location - this one is harder than I thought. There are several different angles the Technodrome is shown at, but I grouped the ones that made the most sense together. Although "The Fifth Turtle" ends up at the end of the list based on this it also ended up there by other rules as well, so I think it makes sense at this point. This could change the list depending on how later episodes play out.

So, take a look at the new order (at the top of the thread) for the first 15 episodes of season 3 (remember some later episodes may still change this order)

I did think that was interesting that Irma just assumes the turtles' existance with a ho-hum-ness, even if she hadn't ever met them. Still, even if Shiniest preceeds Catwoman from Channel Six, Irma seems very comfortable with the turtles without having met them to call them up on April's turtle cam and not freak out. Now meeting Splinter on the other hand...

For a girl who has no inhibitions about dating a 7-foot robot, I think we have to just assume it takes a lot to freak out Irma... outside the prospect of a romantic relationship of course.:P

In Elementary, My Dear Turtle and Once Upon A Time Machine someone says its the year 1991 even though they should be 1990 episodes.

Not to knock you, but this one is silly. They don't have a monsoon season in NYC, rainy days are just random events.

Just a quick question and this seemed like the best thread;

I appreciate that this thread is attempting to create a definitive episode order for the series, but I was just curious about the current orders.

As far as I'm aware there's at least 4 different orders - the official site guide, production order, air date order and DVD release order and all of them are different.

Which is the most accurate (ie has the least chronological errors) to watch the show in? And how many obvious errors (roughly) are in each order?

Thanks :D

I updated the list slightly. I have been thinking about this 1989 season, and since I haven't posted all my detailed notes for it at this point (too long to post), I think what I'll do is pull up my edited notes for the 1989 season once we reach "The Big Blowout" so that we can have an easier time discussing what makes sense and what doesn't. There is bound to be stuff I missed or things I didn't think about. Then I'll re-watch the season in the new order and hopefully we can tweak the order even more. So for now you will see updates to the list and not much from me. (I'm planning to finish this season out by Memorial Day or a little later.)

Don't worry, I didn't put a great deal of emphasis into this one, they were in episodes already grouped together for other reasons. I just used it to move episodes slightly one or two spots. (It was actually so episodes grouped together didn't alternate rain, thunder, rain, thunder - I changed it to rain, rain, thunder, thunder.)

Thanks for that one. I didn't realize any of the episodes had specific dates mentioned in them! That is interesting since one of those is a European episode.

Air-date to me seems closest, but it still has some issues (that's why I started from air-date order). The official site order works fairly well, but there are some hiccups in there (e. g. Dimension X Story is out of place; The 1992 season is quite a bit off with several episodes and Leonardo Is Missing way out of place). Production order will not work for a lot of it. The 1989 season on the official site will be more accurate than production order, but you will run into a few continuity glitches. I am not sure why the differences between the DVD and the ninjaturtles.com orders. I'd probably stick with the site over the DVD, but for the most part air-date over either of them.

Hopefully, we will end up with a good order here!

Thanks for that!

I have the first four seasons (picked them up last time I was in the US), so I have a bit of catching up to do! The rate I'll get to watch them (in the process of moving house) your list will probably remain ahead of me so I'll try and watch them in that order, but I'll dig out an air date list in case I get ahead.

I agree that airdates provide a more reliable order, but be aware that the DVD order was modeled after online resources. LG got no special list passed down from the creators.

Ninja Sword from Nowhere should come after Turtles at the Earths Core.

In "Core" Krang talks about having cable installed in the Technodrome. In "Nowhere" he's watching the John and Marsha soap :lol:

I though John & Marsha was broadcast tv, like every other soap... ^_^

Nice! I like this one.

Well the broadcast signals aren't getting down to the Earth's core! It would have to be on cable! :D

Good point. You win this round, Nines. *shakes fist in the air*

Sorry for being away from the thread so long. No updates right this minute, but I will be back on Monday with at least 8 episodes, and then I should be back on track for 3 per night (just keep checking the top of the thread until we hit The Big Blow Out and then I'll post my condensed version of notes!)

I watched through most of season 4 this past month, and I've noticed that alot of the late episodes seem to take place very early in the season.

I'm guessing you've already noticed that "The Old Switcheroo" seems to be the first time the turtles see the Modules. Donatello calls it "some kind of subterranean transport device" after Mikey asks "what is that thing." It has to be the first time they see the familiar modules.

Also, in "April's Fool" the Turtles seem to have no idea that the modules produce an overflow of lava upon their departure. April sees it first and warns them but not before they burn their feet. I noticed you hadn't placed this episode yet, so are their any other instances that could confirm or contradict the possibility that "April's Fool" is the first time the turtles notice that the modules leave a lava trail?

EDIT: Just noticed Raph and Mikey get their feet burned by module lava in "Sky Turtles" due to standing too close to the module's hole. Not sure if the turtles just keep forgetting from episode to episode or what. :-)

I realize it's still a bit away but in watching the European episodes, it bothers me how they don't seem to fit anywhere really. Well, it seems they should go after 'Plan 6' because of the turtles wanting a Europe vacation but it seems in Dimension X, Shredder and Krang have both evolved a bit further than the earlier episodes of the non-european season 4 have. So maybe they appear later in the season?

It also bothers me how inconsistent 'Tower Of Power' and 'Rust Never Sleeps' are to each other with how everyone is in Paris and then suddenly it's like they're all meeting in Paris again for the first time in the latter.