Do you think the rating affected the show at all?
 

I'm assuming the way that TMNT got it's TV-Y7-FV rating is because it was required to have that rating to air on FoxBox/KidsWB/CW4Kids on Saturday mornings. But if 4Kids had allowed it to get a higher rating, do you think this would have affected the show's general tone? Maybe a bit of cursing here and there. I for one would have replaced "shell" with "hell" in "Everything's going to shell!" sometimes. Maybe an overall darker tone of the show would have been used.

So, the question is: do you think if the show had been giver a higher rating (TV-PG, maybe) it would have been affected much in terms of tone and dialogue? And would you find the show as enjoyable if it took advantage of a higher rating by adding more violence or language?

The FCC don't allow Saturday morning cartoons to have a rating higher than Y7.

I figured it worked something like that. But just pretend the FCC could have let it slide for TMNT.

I was kinda shocked in one episode. I want to say that it might've been "Tales Of Leo." I think Mikey threw out a "It sucks being cold blooded."

I think the 2003 TMNT cartoon was easily good enough that it could've gotten prime time exposure. I remember Cartoon Network had it for a while. I could've seen it airing Saturday nights with the 2002 He-Man and Justice League/Justice League Unlimited.

What's the big deal with that line?

"Sucks" is kinda crass. You don't hear it on Jimmy Neutron.

I agree about the "shell" lines. I get it, theyre turtles. that doesnt mean i wanna hear it every other episode. I dont mind it ever now and then, but i swear it got to a point where it really felt forced.

I would have loved to see a more mature version, but compared to what i remember aired along with it( various sonic incarnations and ultimate muscle) it was way above average.

Meh, in today's world "sucks" is so tame. Its definitely not associated with what it once was decades ago.

Personally, I was ok with it. But I could see some parents being upset hearing it on a Saturday morning cartoon.

Hun's occasional "Ah, crud." seemed forced in some cases too. Like when in SaiNW when he and Stockman were stepped on, and in Season 5 when the Tengu Shredder picked him up.

I always liked the "ah, crud" line. It felt more like legitimate comic relief than a way to express profane emotion to me.

Most people have become desensitized when it comes to the word, but it still comes from "sucks dick".

Even when I was a kid everyone meant sucks as "you're bad at something."

Well yeah, but saying "Lebron James sucks" is the same as saying "Lebron James sucks dick". So "sucks" is an abbreviation.

Hard to say. The few TV-PG-rated American cartoons that have been produced in the last year or two don't really seem go beyond what was shown in Seasons 3 to 5 of TMNT, and the various things which I think should have been changed, if possible--first and foremost the various restrictions around the words "death", "kill", and their variants--really had more to do with what 4Kids would allow than with the rating. In any case, any changes would have probably been very minor.

So how is Cartoon Network able to air Generator Rex, Sym-Bionic Titan, and the Clone Wars on saturday morning? All those shows have a TVPG rating.

Well, it's a cable network.

I'm pretty sure that cable has different rules than the ABC, NBC, CBS's, etc.