What if Kevin and Peter wrote episode 6-193?
 

What do you think the show would had been like if the creators had control over the entire 1987 series? Did they plan for Shredder to have japanese-american ninjas under his employ around the city? Remember the human ninjas in the pizza parlor back in the miniseries?

Do you think Kevin and Peter would have enjoyed the red sky seasons since it was more serious?

They didn't write the first season, which you seem to imply. They had very little to do with it beyond having the ability to say "no" to certain things, but not all, obviously.

From what I understand, they did make a lot of vetos to season one. The one Peter Laird likes to bring up is that they said no to the original ending, in which the Turtles hijack the Technodrome and it then replaces the sewers as their home. So assuming Fred Wolf didn't shut them out of the process and they were allowed to continue making changes, I'd imagine the show wouldn't turn into a comedy by season three, the tone of season one would probably have continued. Then again, they seemed to be ignored a lot even in season one, if they had their way then Krang would have looked like this:



If they were part of the actual creative process instead of just being allowed to say no on whatever they didn't like, I guess there wouldn't have been as many needless changes. It's all speculation but here are a few things that might have been different, including what might have been if they were more involved even in season one:

• April would probably not have been a newsreporter.
• The Triceraton might have appeared a lot more than the Rock Soldiers
• Shredder would probably not have been as goofy.
• Bebop and Rocksteady might eventualy have been replaced.
• Like with Shredder, Krang might have been a more serious villain.
• Casey might have had a larger role to play.
• Some stories from the comics might have been used.
• Splinter might not have been Hamato Yoshi.
• Probably less comedy in general.
• Baxter might have remained a black guy.

I am all for '87 Shredder being more bad@ss. Baxter was signed off on having a Doc Brown type appearance because of fad and sensitivity both at the time. The rest I can take or leave. I do admit Casey is best used as a reoccuring ally not a regular feature. He is more effectivevthat way IMHO.

This is not how cartoons work. No writer writers every single episode of a show.

If the creators had control over the entire 1987 series, we would pretty much be watching the 2003 series in 1988, and I doubt the series would last 10 seasons. Turtlemania might not even take off :tanime:

Personally I'm glad we got what we got :tgrin:

OT is perfect the way it is. Well Season 1 is near perfect imo, I don't really watch other seasons due to the awful animation quality.

If the creators had control of the 1987 series, it probably would have been more like the 2003 cartoon. I don't know if Eastman and Laird would have enjoyed the Red Sky seasons, but I'd say they might have liked season 8, as it struck the right balance between being light-hearted and serious.

The thing about this is that both Peter and Kevin aren't scriptwriters. The work that they contributed throughout the series was working with Playmates to come up with characters for the show. In a sense they worked on the show throughout all ten seasons. According to David Wise the stuff they did come up with in later seasons was too crazy for a kids cartoon so probably best they didn't write for it.

Eastman doesn't seem very picky. He was even excited for The Next Mutation. So I doubt he has anything against most Turtle things.

Now, Peter would obviously have done things differently.

Well it's certainly more enjoyable than the other seasons but "near perfect" seems way too generous.

as much as i really wanted the 1987 series to be more like the Mirage comics, i can appreciate most aspects of the TMNT Multiverse.
the show did enrich the franchise!

i know it'll never happen, but i'd love to see a directly adapted cartoon from the Eastman/Laird stories of Mirage Vol.1.

i appreciate what they tried with the 2003 series, but it not even the same species as reading the actual comics to me.

Many of us long for that. If DC & Marvel (right? or is it only DC?) can put out direct to DVD adaptions for their young adult audience, there's no reason Viacom shouldn't/can't.

very true!
Batman under the Red Hood showed Joker beating Jason Todd to death with a crowbar before blowing him up, so i don't see why not animate some Mirage Ninja Turtles slicing and dicing and knocking a few Foot soldiers off of rooftops? :)

If it were truly matching panels, the final fight with Shredder would be pretty damn gruesome. :trazz:

The problem is issue #1 would be like 15 minutes long in animation. It can probably only last 22 minutes if they extend it with "filler scenes" or whatever.

People tend to forget comics go by very fast when they're in animation. A 40 page comic goes by in 15 minutes in animation. Hence why anime adds filler.

oh yeah! i for one say bring on the gore and brutality!!! :D
but if they did add filler, i'd really like to see them add in extra action.
do this Samurai Champloo style with the action.
sure they can add some banter back and forth between the brothers, but there's always room for more ninja fighting! :)

If just Pete wrote it, there'd be a new episode every 8-12 months and all these years later we'd STILL be waiting for something worth caring about to finally happen. :trazz:

8-12 months unless it took a 3 year (or indefinite) hiatus.

i seriously think all the tie-ins of 'Tales of..' Vol.2 though cool as they were just convoluted and hindered further progress of TMNT vol. 4. :ohwell:

Even as a kid, I wished the show would take itself more seriously and dare to be awesome with more cool monster fights and the villains using their abilities to pose a threat.

The cartoon did introduce to us many elements that were awfully underused, such as the Mousers, the Roadkill Rodneys, the Technodrome, Mona Lisa, Mutagen Man, Metal Head...

Looking at the cartoon and then at the video games/toys/merchandise, it is always an amusing contrast, where some of those awesome elements are more used. (Bebop and Rocksteady actually being bada**, for instance).

Mousers originated in Mirage's 2nd issue.

Ah yeah, you're right!

Although, what I also meant to say is, the Mousers were considered cool enough to be a recurring enemy in the video games, (I find them cute - see my avatar!) and yet they only had one episode in the OT. :(

yeah, you kinda threw me with that Mouser statement. :)

I think I would credit some of that to the toyline rather than the cartoon but whatever...