Did You Like the Red Sky Era?
 

So I'm assuming that we all know about the "red sky" era of the original cartoon/seasons 8-10 (https://turtlepedia.fandom.com/wiki/Red_Sky_seasons). I know I'm in the minority here, in that I really enjoyed those seasons. But I'm looking to see exactly what the percantage is of members here who enjoyed the seasons, and those that didn't.

It was a definite change. I got used to what little I initially saw of Season 8. I missed the first two years completely due to an affiliate change, so i was surprised and a little annoyed that the Turtles could suddenly change forms, but Dregg was an impressive villain, at least compared to Season 9 where he had to remain hidden to preserve his charade. It wwas good seeing bebop and Rocksteady more competent as well.

I always got the impression from those seasons that all of the character introductions were maybe meant to spin off into another I.P. for a new show. Like "Carter and the Dimensional Warlords" or something like that.

Many of them are.... hard to get through. Which is crazy given that the Turtles were finally using their weapons in sword-to-sword fights and so on in those seasons as a result of the movie.

For the most part I loved the Red Sky era. I was just annoyed they didn't give Mikey his nunchucks back.

In terms of actual quality, it more or less remained the same as the previous seasons. Which means that in any measurable sense, it was bad but not actually worse than it already was. The Fred Wolf show started bad and ended bad, not really a big deal.

That said, I'm not sure how to really feel about the change in direction. Because I don't really like the first seven seasons where the Turtles essentially just spew lame pizza jokes and go through nonsensical stories with little to no consequence, a change in direction where the bad humor and poor storytelling is fixed does seem like the right direction. However, the stories are still largely nonsensical and there still isn't much in terms of consequence, so the attempt is just botched by default. And If the idea was to be more "mature" like the live-action movies (the weird inclusion of clips from those movies in the intro would imply they're trying to emulate in some sense), why not do what the first movie did and be more mature through actual character growth and actual adaptation of the source material? What is the point of creating Dregg when the new villain might as well be Zanramon?

I love season 8, season 9 by contrast was the worst season with Dregg,Carter, and secondary mutations. Season 10 was better in the episodes that included Shredder and Krang and the last couple were good. The Globfather was dumb and prolong Leonardo's secondary mutation cure was boring. So it hinges of inclusion of characters I like and removal or reduced focus on the ones that I don't like. I would have preferred to maintain the Technodrome gang and Channel Six News crew than Dregg and Carter. They can be more developed and be involved in stronger plots.

The United Kingdom didn't repeal those laws until 1999, so it would just cause trouble at the international market. That's why Michelangelo uses tonfas in Next Mutation.

https://whatculture.com/film/6-bizar...-banned?page=6

Did the Red Sky seasons even air in the UK?

As far as 80s cartoons go, I actually enjoy those seasons quite a bit. In my opinion, those seasons and the first two are the best in the show, simply because they take things slightly more seriously and there's an actual plot and continuity, and characters that actually have arcs, with the standout being Lord Dregg. I mean, it's the 80s version of all that, but within the context of it's time I think it's pretty decent. Plus, Tony Jay is always a win.

They were more or less decent seasons, so voted middle of the road. As neatoman said, the quality didn't really change, so looking back it's fine in that it decided to change to become more serious, rather than change to become more cheap. (Like 2003 did.) The literal red sky gets tiring though and I'm kind of "eh" on the villains (edit: and Carter is just okay and his mutation is too weird and random). I don't mind seeing a more serious side of those Turtles.

Just kind of realized that later seasons of it changed to become more like what 2003 would be... and then 2003 later changed to become more like what a lot of cartoons, including Rise, are now.

I haven't watched them in a while, but from what I remember I enjoyed Seasons 8 and 10 the most. I wouldn't mind seeing something similar for a new series. Personally, I really like "Mobster from Dimension X." It's a fun episode. "Turtle Trek" and the "The Day the Earth Disappeared" are also pretty good. The cover of "Transdimensional Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" by Palladium Books looks very similar to what happens in the latter episode.

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/tm...mensional.jpeg

I enjoyed the Red Sky seasons to some extent. Seasons 8 and 10 were good for their time. I don’t care much for 9, as a lot of changes were abruptly introduced into the series and the Dregg turning the city against the Turtles arc got old after a few episodes, though Split-Second was a standout episode. Wrath of the Rat King and The Day the Earth Disappeared are my favourite eps of them all.

Uk
 

Yes. We discussed that here in early May last year.

https://forums.thetechnodrome.com/sh....php?p=1844281

Yeah, I liked it. It could be a bit dull at times, with the more serious tone, but I think those seasons hold up pretty well as far as being an action-only cartoon is concerned. It's more or less on par with the previous seasons in that there are both good & bad new characters, episodes, etc. I liked Dregg plenty, the secondary mutations arc was a favorite of mine, Carter's not half bad (though he should've been Keno!) & we get a fun Cyber Samurai episode + sort of a prototype Battle Nexus. In all honesty, though, I do have a nostalgia bias. I was born in 1990, so while I did grow up with repeats of all previous seasons, this stuff was what I was cognitive enough to see & closely follow in real-time, newly airing, so that was very exciting. Holds a special place in my heart for that reason.

If Season 8 had been a full 22-26 episode season, it could have been the best season of the show.

Amen!

An interesting note though, the Technodrome gang only appeared in 4 episodes and Splinter only appeared in those same ones.

Good point about Splinter!! I guess Season 8 was going to be the end at one point and they wanted to show as little of him as possible. Then after Shredder and Krang were trapped for good, they would no longer need him. Splinter only got in on the action once in each Red Sky season (not counting the flood in The Power Of Three).

It would have seen like Splinter could have played a part in counciling the Turtles when they were split on the emergence of HAVOC. However, I doubt Turtle Trek was meant to be a finale or even the end of Shredder and Krang's run because Splinter even warns that their threat is not over in the closing lines.

Also, it was a missed opportunity to not include Channel Six News crew in Dregg's manipulating the public. Burne would have been the perfect foil and be humbled upon the truth being revealed.

Speaking of The Power of Three arc, I was disappointed that it did not use the previous character design and have the Turtles pulled from Shredder Triumphant instead of Turtle Trek. It is also weird stating a couple of years pass from Turtle Trek to The Unknown Ninja. They are only teenagers for six years so if you want a time gap Shredder Triumphant to Power of Three works best visually and plot-wise as well as time.

I would’ve liked to have seen Colonel Knight from State of Shock work with the Turtles again.

Big Louie could’ve been used, as he was slightly serious compared to the other gangsters that appeared previously in the series.

The Day the Earth Disappeared is probably Splinter's strongest episode ever in the original series.