Watching through the OT completely for the first time
 

I condensed all my posts in this thread so it's easier to read here, it's like a long review of each season.



I made a similar thread last year for the 2k3 show. Now I've already watched all of the OT up to S4, after that, i've watched almost nothing, just a few episodes here and there. As a kid I definitely remember watching the TMNT but not that much or as much as other cartoons, I'm guessing they aired at times I wasn't able to watch or maybe I was just too young to remember plots because I have next to no recollection of watching the show as a kid besides the two VHS tapes I had of them. Obviously I watched them enough times since all the voices and songs are instantly recognizable but yeah, it wasn't until the DVDs started coming out that I really got to watch the OT, but I ended up having other expenses and Lionsgate BS release schedule got me to stop buying the dvds after a while, but now I'm going to make a full run of the show. Since it's not clear when Turtles Forever takes place in the OT I'll just watch it towards the end.

Basically in this thread I will post general comments on seasons/episodes, and continuity. I'll be trying to watch about 5 episodes per day but we'll see how that goes. I watched Season 1 again today, there is stuff I've mentioned before like what happened to the other mutant gang members but I also wonder how exactly Shredder met Krang what happened to the foot clan and why did he decide to follow Hamato to NY, heck Splinter makes a reference that he thought Shredder wasn't alive anymore, maybe there was some type of battle between Shredder and Hamato before he went to NY, Shredder appeared to die so Hamato was still shunned by the foot clan, therefore Shredder has no foot soldiers in the OT since they're all in Japan thinking Hamato killed Oroku Saki, just a weird theory I came up to today.. The humor is so abstract, I love it, too bad later seasons don't carry the same humor. I also feel bad for Baxter Stockman, why was he sent to jail, he wasn't really a bad guy at all here just threatened by the Shredder to do his evil stuff, heck he wasn't even aware of everything he was doing he even comments that Shredder must really hate rats. I also really liked how much they fight foot soldiers, they never really use them after this season.

Edit: I'll also try to be watching the episodes in the best order, I'll be using this thread for placement for the first seasons and will be adding to it.

Aside from the Euro vacation eps, most of the later seasons have some really good eps. I think the weaker eps of Seasons 4 and 5 were my least favorite, but at the same time the good eps of Seasons 4 and 5 are really good.

Also I was considering doing this but would rather wait for the Season 10 DVD which will likely come out next year right before the Nick show starts.

Finished Season 2, overall this season is pretty strong, the short amount of episodes probably has to do with it. The only episode that feels "filler" is NY's Shiniest, and even then that episode isn't bad. It starts pretty good with the return of the Shredder, and the eye of Sarnath saga gives us some nice continuity and Splinter gets as much closure as he will in the series with Splinter no more, it's kind of weak but it is re-stated in the finale when Splinter mentions "Yoshi is no more, only Splinter" or something along those lines. I never liked the Neutrinos but I do like the romance between Kila and Mikey for some reason. I loved Baxter as a human and as a fly, man you feel so bad for him, in this show he has it just as bad as 2k3 Baxter. The anti-turtle squad from the punk frogs episodes is kind of weird, they are actually fairly well trained, it would have been neat to see them again later on but they disappear after this, the Punk frogs could have been a bigger threat but I guess not much was done with them as enemies. The season finale is great with the Technodrome falling into the lava, it would have worked as a series finale as well if you think about it. I like that so far in the series Shredder isn't that incompetent sure he's run from the turtles and they've made him trip or thrown pizza at him but they haven't been able to defeat him in combat, he actually beats them pretty badly in the eye of sarnath saga and it's Splinter both in S1 and S2 that confronts Shredder and is able to defeat him in the finales. Sadly some of the more abstract humor from S1, now unto S3, this may take a while.

I did this last summer. I found that Season 1 makes a good feature movie if it wasn't a TV series; just a great introduction to the TMNT on the screen! I've always owned the first two episodes on the tape. Plus, you can definitely watch it straight through without a break.

Season 2 was similar to what Cybercubed described, but I just have a fondness for the Case of the Killer Pizzas since it was the first ever VHS I had as a kid so it's a personal jewel to me. I actually thought the first Punk Frogs episode was weak. It's doable in a single day if it's a day off.

Season 3 definitely takes time and patience to get through, taking at least a week without too much strain. But even with the poorer episodes ("The Gang's All Here", "Mr. Ogg"), but it's still worth it, with so many new recurring characters introduced, foot soldiers still a fairly frequent enemy, plus it has the best mix of background music IMO with some newer cues, but still most of the Season 1 and 2 cues used throughout. You have the first Rat King, Casey Jones, Leatherhead, Lotus Blossom, and Usagi Yojimbo episodes that are hallmarks of the franchise that are essential to watch. 4 of those 5 (along with Metalhead in its own episode) have a figure released from Playmates 1989 line. You also have 2 Baxter episodes and many memorable "VHS episodes", such as The Old Switcheroo, Cowabunga Shredhead, Super Rocksteady & Mighty Bebop, Pizza by the Shred, Attack of the Big Macc, The 4 Burger King episodes, and even some more. In addition to the first episode and the last three, that's half the season's episodes that are quite memorable in some way. These were the same set of episodes I kept watching over and over again after school for a few years. If you don't feel like watching through the whole series though, this still makes a good stopping point, given what lies beyond is generally watered down in tone from the first 3 Seasons (let's not talk about Red Sky yet).

Season 4 is where things start to go downhill from how I watched it completely You have of course fewer Shredder episodes, episodes without Master Splinter, an increase in occurances of April getting captured, and less violent fighting, among other cliches for the Saturday Morning CBS market at the time. But there are still some fresh moments that season, from some new music cues, the first Slash, Mona Lisa, and Mondo Gecko episodes that had figures released, plus the memorable episodes from the Sewer Heroes VHS series.

Generally, I'd pace yourself to do a runthrough of 4-6 weeks, or roughly about 4 episodes of weekdays and 10 episodes on weekends. To keep yourself from getting too bored, look at some of the episode discussions on this forum, various pop cultural references, and jokes to relate. It's OK to skip episodes when you're familiar with any series, but no fanhood would be complete without doing a runthrough at least once, especially considering the upcoming Nick toon is coming out, in order for some logical comparisons to be made.

I find myself not really being able to get past season 4. I'm pretty much only nostalgic for the seasons I actually watched as a kid. After season 4, I started reading TMNT Adventures and that became my TMNT fix until I lost interest.

Considering the show picks up after Season 4, I don't know how you made it through those Season 4 mad scientist episodes and won't sit through the better ones.

I even feel like the humor got better.

In Sweden they released season 1 as a feature movie on VHS/DVD, but now that I think of it I think they skipped episode 3. Well, major parts of it anyway. Baxter isn't in the "movie" at all for example.

I too am only "nostalgic" for seasons 1-4. It was right around the beginning of season five that I too stopped watching the show. But I also agree that there are many very good episodes past season four.

Yup, it's called "The Epic Begins": http://www.amazon.com/Teenage-Mutant...5534453&sr=8-1. It was available in the U.S. as well.

Need any heavy-duty pain-killers yet?

Fo' Real.

I can't imagine how people do complete series marathons in less than a month. I LOVE the show but... geez, the mind can only take so much.

I usually rewatch the series about once a year. But I don't do all the eps in 1 month, I watch it over the course of 2-3 months.

well i'm not watching it all in one day, I'm watching about 2-5 episodes per day or so whatever I have time. Each dvd of Season 3 has strong episodes which makes it very tolearable for every few stinkers you get a few great episodes in each dvd. Also it is true that many krang/shredder eps are "vhs" classics. S3 overall has lots of villains introduced and other recurring characters which makes those episodes more memorable. Usagi was made into such a badass in his appearances and it screams spin-off, odd that none ever came out of it outside the space usagi pilot. April is actually called a red head, the neat thing about OT April is I can totally see her as a red head or brunette or even didrty blonde, since the coloring was so inconsistent. While Shredder was shown as a threat in the previous two seasons it's in this one where he seems more of a goofy villain, he still doesn't get defeated by the turtles in a fiar fight but he is now defeated by being thrown trash/paint/pizza/etc which really cheapens him.. I wonder if the episodes with the turtles winter outfits take place at the same time. The clip show episode shows how different the first season really is from what the show became in S3, S2 was more of a transitional season but S3 is definitely what I and people think about when they think of the OT. So rocksoldiers are mutated rocks? That's not how mutagen works but I guess it's meant to be something else? Krangs android body moves without him a few times, kinda odd. Which reminds me of why did they have to electrocute to get him to work in S1

One question I have is how does Shredder not know where the turtles lair is, they've found it more than a few times whether by Mousers/Lotus or other of Shredders plans and yet he still can't find it? it's not very logical. There are also so many alien species introduced so far. Maybe a bit too many SHredder Krang episodes but overall S3 is pretty fun, and has a great ending, I was intimidated by the number of episodes the season had but they are all fairly enjoyable.

Now unto S4, where some of the worst episodes apparently come from but I remember liking it for the most part when I watched it. we'll see. I'll also be seeing the European episodes when they're supposed to take place and I'll comment on those first.

Season 4 is a mix of really great episodes and "throwaway" episodes, but even then they're not god awful.

I also recommend watching the European Vacation episodes where they fit in, so skip ahead to the Season 7 discs if you have them.

Yeah, the European episodes also all have the original opening sequence, so they fit perfectly with season four, which was, I think, the last season to use them

Yep. That was the opening sequence for the syndicated/non-CBS eps. So, unless you consider the Hokum Hare eps Season 5 (I don't), then you're completely right.

I just started watching the show again as well. My first time in two or three years. It'll also be my first time watching it in full since season 9 came out. I'm hoping by the time I get there, Season 10 will be out.

I'm nearly done season 2 and it's been about a month and a half. I only watch it when I'm exercising on my new elliptical machine, lol, so that's about two episodes a day, or most days when I'm on except I caught a bug over new years which took over a week off, plus my time away visiting for the holidays hence why it has taken me over a month to get through just 16 episodes or so.

I'd put my thoughts on the show as I watch it here but then I wouldn't have anything to say anywhere else and/or will be repeating myself from what I have already said. There are a lot of episodes in season 3 I'm looking forward to though!

I hope Season 10 comes out in August, right before the Nick show starts in September. Lionsgate seems to release the DVDs around the time the next big TMNT thing happens.

Remember Season 9 came out almost exactly when the IDW TMNT comics started in 2011. Before that, we had to wait nearly 2 years from Season 8's release in 2009.

I guess that means, "I'd put my thoughts on the show as I watch it here but [I'm too lazy]". :P People repeat themselves frequently around here. It's not a problem unless you start multiple threads on the exact same thing; not even a different aspect of the topic. So, find yourself a new excuse, eh?

Video Sweden
 

"A Thing about Rats" is aviable on video even in Sweden, as "Cowabunga!". The VHS is with "Vänner från Dimension X" ("Teenagers from Dimension X"). The DVD is on the "Fyra Muske-Turtles" ("Four Musketurtles"), even packed with another episode, "Råttornas konung" ("Enter the Rat King"). But the dub is not the same.

Believe you me. It's not due to me being lazy. I'd love to ramble on and on about my thoughts on the turtles...! And on and on. Shall I accept the challenge?

I'd like to hear! :D

Ok, hmmmm, well, most of my thoughts tend to be random and often based on my original thoughts when the show aired back in the 80s/90s.

I just watched the Nutrienos episode from Season 2 which almost plays out like a season 3 episode because of how silly it seems to be with Shredder whining and such. One of the big flaws from this one I noticed was when Kala asked April "who are you?" She's not THAT memorable, Kala, you met her last season!
Also, I've been noticing more this time around that Donatello's wristband seems to be missing more consistently throughout much of the episodes of season 2. I used to only notice it in Return of the Technodrome but now I've seen it in a few other episodes. And it's only him.

I've also come to realization that I'm not as fond of Season 2 as I used to be. I think it might be because I've seen it so many times that the stories kind of run thin. I can't really pick out my favourite episode from the season other than Return of the Technodrome but I was always fond of the final episode in the Eye of Zarnoth arc. I never cared much for Case of the Killer Pizzas and even though it's one of the few episodes where April is wearing something different, and we see her and Irma socializing like regular women, New York's Shiniest is another one I never cared for.
As I said before, I'm looking forward to getting to season 3 beyond the first episode (Beneath These Streets I always found ran a bit slow) mostly due to nostalgia although a lot of what I call the ASN episodes I don't care for anymore.


Before I end this post, I'll explain my ASN episodes even though I have likely mentioned it before. :P
When I was younger, I was able to catch the turtles on 3 different stations. ASN (from the east coast of Canada), YTV (also canadian) and CBS. The episodes I saw ranged greatly between the three stations.

ASN aired the turtles every weekday. They aired all of season 1, most of season 2 (with the exception of Return of the Shredder and the Zarnoth episodes), a portion of season 3 (everything up to Attack of the Big MACC except Turtles at the Earth's Core and April's Fool and then the Big Break In and The Big Blow Out) and all of the season 4 CBS episodes.
In the last year, they added on all of season 5 minus the Hokum Hare episodes.
So those were the episodes I saw the most and they ran a full cycle about every 3 months as they only had about 50 or so episodes in total (until they added season 5). Being a dedicated turtle fan, I still watched them daily. :P

YTV aired all of seasons 1-4. YTV was my only source for most of season 3, the first 13 episodes from season 4 and the first 5 episodes from season 2. When I first started watching the turtles, YTV aired them daily but eventually dropped down to Saturday and Sunday and finally just Saturday. So seeing those rarely seen episodes for me was a treat.

CBS always aired the later episodes for me. I think it took me a while to even notice that CBS aired the Turtles on Saturday morning but I remember them being very different. Darker in tone compared to the other episodes. They aired all of seasons 6 and 7 (at this time the final 3 seasons weren't out yet) as well as a select few episodes from seasons 4 and 5 such as Son of Return of the Fly II, The Big Cufflink Caper, Slash, and Donatello's Duplicate, among a few others but there were some that I never saw them air. It's also odd that most of season 5 I only ever saw on ASN and not CBS.

It occurs to me that it's incredibly odd why ASN only had the episodes they had and why CBS avoided the season 4 episodes that they did. But either way, I do still associate most of the episodes with the network that I saw them on and thus the frequency with which I saw them. Therefore, I do tend to favour the middle portion of season 3, for example, over the first dozen or so episodes from it.


I think I gradually stopped watching in 1994 so during season 8. I didn't see most of seasons 9 or any of 10 until I downloaded all of the episodes in university during my first year ten years ago. Things were getting a bit too strange for me by that point. Too many changes plus I just simply grew out of them. All in all, I think my fandom as a child only ranged from maybe 1991 until early 1994. It's weird because it really does feel a lot longer.

Anyway... I apologize for rambling if you're even still reading. And if so, thanks. These are just some of the thoughts I have while watching them. I'm also kind of glad now as I rewatch them that this time I'm watching them by myself. Some of the things in the show, one-liners and such, are incredibly cheesy that I don't think a lot of people I know can appreciate them the way I can. :P

Absolutely, that was a true highlight of the series. I think I even rented the Incredible Shrinking Turtles VHS it from the library as a kid. I used to watch it with my turtle com toy I got from Burger King and pretend the turtles were watching with me, lol.

Finished with the European vacation episodes and apparently the worst the series has to offer, but I really don't think it's that bad. Sure a lot of episodes are lackluster but the whole fact that they weren't in NY made the episodes much more special. Continuity is a bit weird, the first episode starts by re-telling the events from the previous episode but with some retcons like the prize including 5 tickets instead of 4, some other continuity problems are Shredder isn't shocked to see the turtles in the first episode in France but is in the second. I guess the episodes could've happened concurrently? And maybe they realized they had one more ticket a few seconds later?

I wish they had put more effort in explaining why Shredder/Krang/April kept being at the same place as the turtles, instead of explaining every episode as pure coincidence something much simpler could've been mentioned in the beginning like April is going on tour and the turtles want to follow her or she's part of the tour or something, and have Shredder/Krang want something the turtles have or some reason to have them follow them. Some sort of story arc could've easily been sneaked into the episodes to make them flow better, especially since this was a "sideseason" why couldn't they add some continuity...A finale for the season would've also been greatly appreciated.

I'm really curious as to why this sideseason was made, it seems pretty clear there was some sort of reason. It almost borderlines as Edutainment, trying to teach you about European culture, though not really enough for me to think it's the reason they made it. It just seems random, not to mention it would also explain why Shredder/Krang were in so many of them, the ones who wanted this season to be produced wanted the main villains in most episodes. Odd in the age of the internet we don't really know why this was made. I actually really enjoyed some episodes quite a bit, I loved the whole fact that this was in Europe and made this feel more epic than it should be. I really enjoyed artless, the atlantis episode, the thor episode and the first two Paris episodes.

Now onto Season 4, which apparently also has some of the worst the series has to offer, I've seen it and I remember liking it for the most part, can't wait to get to the later seasons though. I know the red sky seasons are liked for the most part and 7 is one of the most liked as well and apparently 5/6 aren't bad either.

U know whats sad My favorite game is based off this part of the series

TMNT 3 Manhatten project baby

Shredder
 

Shredder was such a popular bad guy that they wanted to keep him in most episodes. I agree they should more face other bad guys in Europe. And they should show more of Germany and Eastern Europe. Set in the early 1990's, visiting such places would be living history. Berlin is maybe the town that symbolizes 20th century history more than any other.

Where do you get this idea from? In "plan six from outer space" Mike reads his winning letter out loud saying something like "you've won a trip for you and 4 amigo's...". 4 + himself = 5.

Yeah, true. I guess it could be explained by them visiting Paris twice and some others take place between these 2.

I always put all the episodes in which Vernon appears first having the Atlantis one as the last. Then Vernon dissapears because April is back in New york too in that second Paris episode. She returns to Europe alone for a while, then after that there's the episode in Venice where April's still alone in France and Burne sends Irma over who sticks around with April for a few episodes again. After all these episodes are done there's only one left which is the one in Norway, so I tend to stick that last.

Yeah I put way too much thought in these episodes.

Direction
 

Check out this:

*Tower of Power = France (west)
*Rust Never Sleeps = France (west)
*A Real Snow Job = Austria (central)
*Venice on the Half-Shell = Italy (south)
*Artless = Italy (south)
*Ring of Fire = Portugal (south)
*The Irish Jig is Up = Republic of Ireland (west)
*Shredder's New Sword = UK (west)
*The Lost Queen of Atlantis = Greece (south)
*Turtles on the Orient Express = France, ending up in Turkey (west-east)
*April Gets in Dutch = Netherlands (west)
*Northern Lights Out = Norway (north)
*Elementary, My Dear Turtle = UK (west)

Instead of travel Europe from west to east. I would see them arriving to the UK, then some train could take April, Irma and Vernon across Continental Europe in a West-East direction. while the TMNT and Splinter sneak on the train to the goods wagon. Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady would follow them.

As a kid I made up some own TMT stories like these, which took them across the Earth. They travelled by boat, train and aeroplane, as April, Irma and Vernon were travelling as April took a job as Channel 6 foreign correspondent, and April and Vernon assisted her. This is how I recall:

*North America-Europe-Africa-Asia-Oceania-South America-North America.

Not all countries were visited, of course (but I liked geography as a kid). Of course, Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady were following them.

Tower of Power was first and immediately after Plan Six. That much is undeniable.

Tower of Power
 

Tower of Power is first, but you can date the European episodes anywhere between "Plan 6 from Outer Space" and "My Brother, the Bad Guy".

This thread would definitely apply to me, as I've just acquired Seasons 1-2 and 7-8 on DVD. While I still had access to Seasons 1-2, via FHE's videotapes, the DVDs are the first time I've seen Seasons 7-8 in their entirety. I already saw Season 1 on YouTube, recently, which inspired me to purchase the DVDs. Certainly the best way to start, as the original mini-series would be my favorite part of the whole series, for obvious reasons.

Season 2 particularly impressed me with its treatment of Shredder. As I had said in the Shredder thread, Season 2 forced him to fend for himself and be creative or less intellectually lazy with his villainy. Unlike future seasons, where he'd have to share the spotlight with Krang, Season 2 was his show, so to speak.

I was also impressed with the building-up of Irma throughout the season, sometimes a minor cameo ("Enter: The Fly") to a semi-major role ("Case of The Killer Pizzas") and never wearing out her welcome too much. Which lead to "Catwoman from Channel Six," where she would soon be promoted to protagonist. Technically, the Turtles probably would have figured out April's problem without Irma, yet her transforming in front of Irma lead to Irma interacting with the Turtles and gave a personal urgency in "April's world." And maybe foreshadowing her future badass ness, as she handled the April transformation better than most might have. When I was younger, I didn't think much of Irma. Seeing Season 2 as an adult, I definitely can't see the series without her.

Also, I was surprised with the robbery fight scene in "Mean Machines," as per actual guns and bullets. I know the toning down of the violence was already underway, yet not completely. Try to imagine a gun battle in Season 3 or anything like that in the CBS seasons, so. Same with the occult aspects in "Splinter No More" with an actual pentagram. (After viewing 4Kids' removal of such in the past decade with their Yu-Gi-Oh programs, I was actually surprised to see one. Heh.)

My only real complaint, beyond the occasional bad episode ("Teenagers from Dimension X") or weird scenes (Krang out of the shower, anyone?) would be the lower-budget animation, except that's a given and the entire season was all done with only one animation team. Fortunately, they didn't cheap it out with "Fly," being a major status quo changing episode (and the only time early in the series that it became actually serious) tends to do that. I eventually accepted the cheap or off-model animation, except "Return of the Technodrome." The season finale, and an epic one at that, should have better animation, quite frankly.

I'm picking Season 2, because I never realized how much it would influence the franchise (Baxter's characterization and mutation, Cat! April, Irma's gradual role, The Eye of Sarnath/Zarnov being expanded in TMNT Adventures, Splinter accepting his new life and other side issues). There are more Season 2 observations, but I wanted to start it off in a summation way.

I'll discuss Season 7 in my next post, as that would be my second favorite. (In case anyone wonders, Season 2 would be third for me). Either way, it's quite the eye-opener. I'm glad I waited, as to put the show and its often non-serious ness in a proper perspective. Compared to current times, I actually like or don't mind whimsy far more than I originally thought. (Or my standards are getting lower and lower -- there's always that possibility, as well. Heh.)

Yeah, Season 2 was pretty special for expanding the Turtle-verse, even if the animation wasn't always especially crisp or the character models/backgrounds consistent.

Indeed. The only times it bothered me involved Splinter No More and Return of the Technodrome. I think after watching anime for a while, I've become too used to lower-budget animation. Which is why I liked Mean Machines and Fly's animation more than I should, being more detailed and expressive.

And there are also certain episodes where I am mixed, like Case of the Killer Pizzas. It hasn't aged as well as I thought or it's too lighthearted for me, yet it is quite useful as a breather episode. Being between the action-heavy Curse of the Evil Eye and the hyper-serious (and depressing) Fly certainly helps. Three back-to-back intense episodes would have been too much, or anything right before the death-themed Fly episode had to be light in some way.

On the other hand, other episodes have aged much better to me, like A Thing About Rats, which was the breather in Season 1. It was a good showcase for Shredder, the subtlety of Krang secretly foiling Shredder's plan for his own reasons and the short-and-sweet Mike/Shredder showdown.

It has one of my favorite exchanges in the series:

Shredder (shooting up the place after Mike tricked him in destroying the Mouser control): Oh, no! You'll pay for that!

Mike: Will you take an I.O.U.?

So awesome.

Definitely pick up Season 3. Its split across about 4 volumes though.

Season 6 is a really fun season. Its not as good as Season 7 but there's a lot of fun and enjoyable episodes in it. Seasons 8-10 are also fairly good and when the show tries to go darker.

Likewise Season 4 and 5 have some really great episodes but there's also a lot of filler there. Both are worth picking up simply because of the better episodes.

Season 2 Rocks
 

I just want to say, Season 2 rocks! I have always loved it, and the "Eye of Sarnath" (except for the silly "Curse of the Evil Eye"). I especially love "It Came from Beneath the Sewers" because the dark sewer dwelling, and how the story is built up (TMNT at tivoli, alien giant plant in the swers, April and Irma socializing, Shredder kidnapping April, giant plant on the street and finally Splinter's knowledge of the sewers. The entire undertone feels Mirage dark).

I wished Lions Gates did what they did with Season 7 -- eventually get a big collected set and correct their past mistake. Why didn't they with Season 3, who knows?

Yes about Season 7, as if it wasn't for the original mini-series and its sheer badass ness, Season 7 would be my favorite. I wish Avery had stayed to close out his role, however, he did voice in "Legend of Koji." "Koji" was an excellent Shredder-specific episode, and a good way to end his stint on a high note. (I know he did a few more, yet "Koji" served as a good finale for Avery, since he couldn't do 'Shredder Triumphant,' sadly.)

I'll say about Season 8 for another post, as it was quite the eye-opener for me.

Another facet I noticed with the syndicated season finales, they had a more series finale flow to them. In that, the Technodrome ended being potentially destroyed, be it dunked in the Earth's core or blasted in Dimension X. Then with Plan 6, the latter got retconned, which makes sense if you saw "Big Blow Out" as a series finale. Either way, evil got punished, or more than the CBS season finales until Season 7.

Duly noted about the rest. Thanks.

In regards to "It Came from Beneath the Sewers," as Swedenfan mentioned, I actually didn't like it as much as I did when younger. I think it was more the carvinal scene, the bratty kids and Mike's weird crossdressing that bugged me, here and there. Yet, I can't ignore the "firsts," like the first official April kidnapping plot, etc. Ironically, I now love "Curse of the Evil Eye," I liked Blodgett, I really liked his cat -- why can't my cats act like Mortimer -- and it proved that Human! Baxter can be an actual badass.

And then, there is "'Enter: The Fly," which was able to be serious without sacificing the series' emerging quirks. And then, I'm immediately depressed about Baxter and all the implications, yet that's a rant for another time.

Turtle Tracks
 

April is kidnapped already in "Turtle Tracks". And "Shredder Triumphant" rocks, because of the bad-ass Irma.

Oh, snap, you're right. Although, does it totally count if he didn't personally do the kidnapping? (After all, the Foot Soldiers did the work in Tracks.) Just wondering about the semantics.

I do agree about Irma's role in Shredder Triumphant. I wasn't crazy about the Rambo impression when I was younger, yet I find it charming as an adult. It proved to be a good swansong for the character, especially as she all but disappeared soon after. (Two lines in State of Shock and the occasional cameo, and that's it.) It's a shame, but, hey, at least, I have the fun visual of her shooting Krang in the back.

Channel 6
 

Channel 6 was phased out from season 8. Shredder blowing up the building rocks. I wish Irma was fired too for hanging out with the TMNT, so she could be some camera assistant for April when April was a freelance reporter during later seasons.

Indeed, as she should have been around in some form. Burne and Vernon, at least, had the H.A.V.O.C. arc to maintain relevance.

I guess this is a good time to wax some initial thoughts about Season 8, as until the DVD, I only saw "Get Shredder!" when I was younger. An 8 episode season is both good and bad, in that you don't have time to waste, so you have to step up on the writing. However, it also means you don't have time to explore the impacts of a new format or characterization.

What was most surprising to me, besides the serial storytelling, was how obsessed the Turtles were becoming with catching Shredder (no more "eh, maybe next time.") Vicky Hall in the excellent TMNT Dissected website would refer to this as "The Game," wherein both the Turtles and the Foot villains had an unspoken agreement not to trump the other. I'll address that in another post, but Season 8 was a welcome change of pace in that respect. (The Turtles themselves addressed the concept quite well during their first chat in the Lair in "Turtle Trek.")

And I am gradually liking the H.A.V.O.C. arc, as it tried to be a decent transition from the series' prior template to the new one. Weren't for the shorter episode order and sucking up time/oxygen that can be used for Shredder, I think it could have been more well-received. Moreover, H.A.V.O.C. probably would have been more appreciated if we had prior characters in the mutant henchman roles rather than new ones. (Although, I did like Seizure and Hi-Beam's designs.)

Anyway, I'll save the rest for the Best of Season 8 thread, which I'll post on, next.