10 Best 80s Episodes
 

With the anniversary of the Fred Wolf series this year I wondered what everyone considers the ten best episodes the show did.

Here's my list in no order:

1) Planet of the Turtleoids

2) Splinter Vanishes

3) Invasion of the Punk Frogs

4) Turtle Tracks

5) The Big Blow Out

6) The Old Switcheroo

7) Enter: The Fly

8) Once Upon a Time Machine

9) The Legend of Koji

10) Turtles on Trial

My personal top 10 are (in no order):

1. Shredder Triumphant
2. Take me to your Leader
3. Michealangalos Birthday
4. Cowabunga Shredhead
5. Enter the Fly
6. The Big Rip Off
7. The Big Break In
8. The Big BlowOut
9. Enter the Rat King
10. Divide and Conquer

This was quite a hard list for me to make, since I enjoy all of the old cartoon and have lots of favourites. In the end, I didn't rank them by which episode is best compared to others, but which episodes I tend to revisit the most.

Splinter Vanishes
 

Splinter Vanishes rocks!

Dunno about "best" in terms of quality but I'll try to list my ten favorites at least (in no particular order, barring the first)..

The Big Cufflink Caper
Leatherhead Meets The Rat King
Planet Of The Turtleoids
Once Upon A Time Machine
White Belt, Black Heart
The Legend Of Koji
Revenge Of The Fly
Night Of The Rogues
Napoleon Bonafrog: Colossus of the Swamps
Sky Turtles

The first season stands alone, honorable mention.

So many liked Planet of the Turtleoids?

For me it's...
1. Night of The Rogues
2. Get Shredder!
Leatherhead: Terror of The Swamp
The Big Cufflink Caper
Planet of The Turtloids
Wrath of The Rat King
Shredder Is Splintered
Return of The Fly
Turtles on Trial
Casey Jones: Outlaw Hero

As a kid I liked the concept of Michelangelo forced into being the mature one as the underworld gathered so I give it honorable mention to Adventures In Turtle-sitting.

I have a definitive #1 and #2 favorite episodes while the others are in no particular order.

Season 1
Return of the Shredder
Return of the Technodrome
Big trilogy

They're all classic, but it isn't easy to choose.

These are in no particular order:

Cowabunga Shredhead
Napoleon Bonafrog: Colossus of the Swamps
Splinter Vanishes
The Incredible Shrinking Turtles
Snakes Alive!
Son of Return of the Fly II
Landlord of the Flies
Night of the Dark Turtle
Leonardo Cuts Loose
New York's Shinest

Season 1 as a whole
Case of the Killer Pizzas
The Old Switcheroo
Bye Bye Fly
The Big Blow Out
Shredderville
The Legend of Koji
Green With Jealousy
Turtles on Trial
Cowabunga Shredhead

Ooh tough call! Here are mine (in descending order.)

1: Splinter No More
2: Turtle Tracks
3: Turtles On Trial
4: What's Michelangelo Good For?
5: The Old Switcheroo
6: Night of the Dark Turtle
7: Green With Jealousy
8: The Gang's All Here
9: Raphael Meets His Match
10: The Legend of Koji

I always exempt the Pilot season from the discussion, since each of those episodes would make the list.

Here's the list of episodes that I think I could best argue as objectively "good," and as representations of the series formula at its best.

Enter the Fly
Turtles on Trial
Casey Jones, Outlaw Hero
Burne's Blues
The Big Cufflink Caper
Planet of the Turtleoids
White Belt, Black Heart
Legend of Koji
Revenge of the Fly
Get Shredder

Honorable Mention: The Incredible Shrinking Turtles, The Curse of the Evil Eye, The Ninja Sword of Nowhere, The Making of Metalhead, Usagi Yojimbo, The Big Rip Off, My Brother the Bad Guy, Shredder Triumphant

I never considered the individual turtle "spotlight" episodes to be among the best of the series, simply because they focus on a single character sometimes to the detriment of the rest of the cast. But they serve their purpose by giving characters some depth and chances to show off their special skills. So here's my list of best spotlight episodes for each of the main characters:

Leo: Leonardo vs. Tempestra
Michelangelo: Michelangelo Meets Bugman
Raphael: Raphael Meets His Match
Donatello: Donatello's Degree
Splinter: Splinter No More
April: Leonardo, Renaissance Turtle
Irma: Donatello's Degree
Shredder: Shredder's Mom
Krang: A Thing about Rats (sad we didn't get more Krang-focused stories)
Rocksteady and Bebop: Rocksteady and Bebop Conquer the Universe

Hard pick here because I liked a lot of episodes, and the lists everyone made so far looks good and I agree with.

For me, Season 1 was great, so excluding Season 1 eps:

- Legend of Koji (literally my favorite episode)
- White Belt, Black Heart
- Night of the Rogues
- Son of Return of the Fly
- Leatherhead meets The Rat King
- Splinter No More
- Splinter Vanishes
- Get Shredder
- Shreeka's Revenge

Honorable mentions:

- Season 3 three part finale
- Invasion of the Krangezoids
- Atlantis Awakes
- Casey Jones: Outlaw Hero
- Usagi Yojimbo
- Snakes Alive
- The Big Cuffling Caper
- Were Rats from Channel 6
- Making of Metalhead
- Camera Bugged


Damn, so many episodes I can list.

I made a thread about this a while ago and got some good responses, check it out.

Five years ago...

This is actually pretty hard because I'm a fan of most of these episodes. I'm not counting Season 1, because as most have said, it would take up four episodes in and of itself. So, let's see:

1) What's Michelangelo Good For?--As a Michelangelo fan, this is one of my favorites. I was quite fond of Dr Goodfellow and her interactions with Michelangelo were fun to witness. Likewise, I always like when Mike's affinity for animals or children is brought up.

2) Eye of Sarnoth Saga--Okay, so maybe this is cheating but I have to count these episodes together because I really love the overarching theme they created here. Each one of these episodes I can enjoy on its own but they work even better together. The last one is especially satisfying for me.

3) Michelangelo's Birthday--Well, it's Michelangelo focused and I do love the interactions between the other turtles and Shredder during this episode. Aside from the odd ending, I really like how this one played out.

4) The Big Trilogy--I think everything that can be said about this episode has been said. It really was an exciting finale and some of the best action with the Technodrome. Much like Eye of Sarnoth, I can enjoy these together or separately

5) Enter: The Fly--I loved the conflict in this one. It gave some weight to what the turtles were doing. In the later episodes, it became more comical so I enjoy when the episodes actually have some lethal consequences at stake, in this case, April's life.

6) Shredderville--Always been a fan of the 'it's a wonderful life' scenario in shows and this one is no exception. Seeing a Shredder wanting to NOT be in charge at the end was also classic.

7) Donatello's Duplicate-- Donatello's vanity has always been a great trait in the 87 series and this episode really played with it. Seeing a duplicate without Donatello's morals is awesome.

8) The Legend of Koji-- Well, what can I say? If this was used as a base for TMNT III, it would have probably worked a little better. Seeing time travel used well, seeing the turtles interacting with the creator of their clan, Koji's characterization...

9) My Brother the Bad Guy--I love the contrast between Shredder and his brother. It leads to some great emotional humor near the end and the way he learns to interact with the turtles is also a lot of fun to watch. The turtles' reaction to his heritage is still one of my favorite moments in the series.

10) Splinter No More--They finally address the 'we'll make our master human' plot detail. I like how Splinter finds that he no longer really fits in with society and Shredder's device to turn the turtles against one another led to some really great interactions.

Honorable Mentions to Rebel without a Fin, Adventures in Turtle Sitting, Bye Bye Fly, Mutagen Monster, Name that Toon, Bebop and Rocksteady Conquer the Universe, Son of Return of the Fly II, Get Shredder and Artless. I love each of these for different reasons but mainly for individual character moments. I have a thing for small, seemingly insignificant moments and these all had some great ones

My 10 are in chronological order (I just can't rank them). Multiple Episode stories I count as one big story arc:

1) Season 1 arc
2) The Eye of Sarnoth arc
3) Splinter No More
4) The Big Trilogy
5) Raphael Meets His Match
6) Night of the Rogues
7) Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter
8) Get Shredder
9) The Power of Three/ A Turtle in Time/ Turtles to the Second Power
10) Divide and Conqueror

I don't see that so much as a Krang-focused episode, more just the start of the rivalry between Krang and Shredder.

1 - Season 1 The first 5 episodes of 1987. It works as one episode for me.
2 - Turtles on Trial
3 - Enter The Fly
4 - Invasion of the Punk Frogs
5 - Cowabunga Shredhead
6 - Casey Jones: Outlaw Hero
7 - Corporate Raiders from Dimension X
8 - Pizza by the Shred
9 - The Big Rip-off / Break-in / Blow-out . It also works as one episode.
10 - Return of the Shredder

Best writers - Michael Reaves, David Wise

Best Seasons - 1 - 3

Since some multiple episodes are considered one, maybe it should be changed to "10 best storyarcs"?

Oh you. :lol: But great choices.

Rocks so much I bought a copy of the script off the writer! ;)

I knew someone would have made a similar thread. Thanks though. :)

I get what you mean. There are some I enjoy. Ensemble ones I always enjoyed more but individual stories for the Turtles provided some nice character development. There was some good writing in there.

Bye Bye Fly is one I do enjoy quite a bit. Episodes like Take Me To Your Leader was TMNT with it's best humour, The Gang's All Here and The Foot Soldiers Are Revolting remind me why I love the show.

In no order:

The Maltease Hamster
Splinter No More
Night of the Dark Turtle
Enter: The Fly
Corporate Raiders From Dimension X
Turtles At The Earth's Core
Curse of the Evil Eye
Return of the Technodrome
Shredded and Splintered
The Big Blow-Out

Turtle Tracks
Enter The Shredder
Return of the Technodrome
Cowabunga Shredhead
The Big Blow Out
Planet of the Turtleoids
Shredder Triumphant
Get Shredder
Turtle Trek
Divide and Conquer

I guess.

My top 10, also in no order and also cheating by not counting season 1.


1. Usagi Yojimbo
2. Take me to your leader
3. Big Blowout
4. The Grybyx
5. Legend of Koji
6. Maltese Hampster
7. Beware the Lotus Blossom
8. Enter Rat King
9. The Old Switcheroo

And just to have a hipster contrarian pick? Name That Toon!

That one gets such a bad rap! Howie is supposed to be annoying and all the characters hate him lol. Plus the action is great and I like the songs haha.



Nostalgic special mentions:
Real Snow Job/Venice on the half shell (my mom recorded these when they aired. Still have the tape)
Cowabunga Shredhead/NY Shiniest (cousin had this VHS release. We absolutely wore it out)
Making of Metalhead (my son loves this one because they adapted it into a children’s book with Funko turtles)

1. The Episode where it is revealed that the guy who turned into a fly is an impostor and the real Baxter Stockman is very much a successful engineer.
   
2. The episode where Karai shows up and reveals the human Foot Clan are doing quite well without Shredder and his robotic pretenders.
   
3. The episode where Leatherhead becomes smart and an ally.
   
4. The episode where Bebop and Rocksteady fall into a vat of acid and die in the worst way imaginable.
   
5. The episode where Krang is turned into calamari and is eaten.
   
6. The episode where April quits her job as a reporter and pursues her real passion of software engineering.
   
7. The episode where it is revealed the Channel 6 crew were the result of a crappy TV writer's typewriter getting a magic crystal stuck in it and they disappear when he removes it.
   
8. The episode where Renet shows up and reveals most of the series are alternate timelines, meaning most of what we saw didn't really happen.
   
9. The episode where the Fugitoid shows up and we get a proper adventure with the Triceratons.
   
10. The episode where the Turtles finally realise "X and Y pizza" is not a funny joke.

Oh wait, those aren't actual episodes, just episodes the show should have had... My mistake.

Hmm, I have a few nitpicks that would help FW feel less out of place in the larger TMNT canon, without going against the spirit of the show.

- Michelangelo should have had a pet cat.
- Casey should have been a more frequent character and had a friendship with Raph. Pat Fraley did his voice, so he was already there.
- Have the turtles take some kind of L and have to retreat to The farmhouse, even for just an episode. Even if just to promote the Farmer Mike toy lol, but you gotta have Northampton!
- Keep Tang Shen in the origin. Don’t even have to kill her off. Would have been an extra layer of tragedy for Splinter having his main bitch leave him after he got mutated.
- A god damn Christmas episode! Mirage did a ton of great Christmas stories over the years and you’re telling me this shameless, depraved toy commerical didn’t think to market a Holiday Special VHS tape until 1994 with that B-movie ass sing along?

1) Cyber Turtles
2) Get Shredder!
3) Wrath of the Rat King
4) State of Shock
5) Cowabunga Shredhead
6) Turtle Trek
7) Divide and Conquer
8 ) Enter Krakus
9) Adventures in Turtle-Sitting
10) Elementary, My Dear Turtle

When I made this post I wasn’t really feeling Saturday Morning Adventures yet. Now that I’m into it, I realized they’ve made a lot of these things happen.

I’m hoping they go to Northampton after this big Pantheon arc. And it’s still not too late to reframe the whole origin story and include Tang Shen.

Holy cow! Do I have a cartoon for you to check out, dude!

:lol: seriously.

I haven’t shared this in a while, seems appropriate:

https://i.imgur.com/w3b7Zhx.jpeg

First time I see this hahah

Hah! And just like that in the blink of an eye, mothers all across America dropped dead of heart attacks in the mid 90’s!

It’s a commission Powder did for me, I love it.

Powder hasn't dropped by in a while has he? Or maybe I'm not visiting the same sections he is...

Powder hasn't been around in awhile.

I’ve talked to him a little this year and he’s still active on Instagram always doing new art. But yeah he hasn’t been here in like a year.

The incredible shrinking turtles was also always a favour of mine. I love that when I was a kid and I still do.

Solid list. Night of the dark turtle is so good

If we're getting back on topic, "Rock around the Block" is a great episode I don't see brought up too much.

Season 4 also had a lot of hidden gems, "The big bug blunder," which I believe is the one Shredder/Krang made 4 super-sized bug mutants terorrizing the city? That was a fun one. I believe Michael Reaves wrote that episode.

There was a DVD released that supposedly has 10 episodes that I thought I remember being voted on a web site or something. I might be misremembering the episodes being voted on though. There's actually eleven episodes total: the two part Planet of the Turtleoids, Night of the Rogues, Cowabunga Shredhead, Superhero for a Day, Turtles at the Earth's Core, Curse of the Evil Eye, The Turtles and the Hare, The Big Blow Out, My Brother the Bad Guy, Shredder & Splintered.

https://turtlepedia.fandom.com/wiki/Cowabunga_Classics

The Season 1 arc is definitely #1 for me! Then after that it’s the Eye of Sarnath arc, Cowabunga Shredhead, Splinter No More, Enter the Fly, Turtles on Trial, Night of the Rogues, Revenge of the Fly, Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter, and Get Shredder.

Honorable mentions go to Raphael Meets His Match, Rock Around the Block, Krangenstein Lives, Return of the Shredder, and Pizza by the Shred for the sheer comedy of it.

I will always love the early episodes the most because that’s where Michelangelo still has his nunchucks.