Noticing a formulaic pattern in the OT which is quite annoying

[Bo Staff.]

Am I the only one who has noticed that the OT went overkill with mischievous aliens from Dimension X wreaking havoc in/destroying/eating New York City? The Grybyx, Mr. Ogg Goes to Town, The Big Zipp Attack, these are just three I have noticed. They seem to be rehashes of the same annoying plot. I love the OT, but these are by far some of my least favorite episodes.

[ssjup81]

The Ogg ep was really annoying. Now the Grybx and the Zipp I confuse. I forgot which one was the one where the alien ate metal.

[Discogod]

Everybody who ever watch the OT noticed this. It's one of the many reasons why, after the first season, it's nigh-unwatchable (at least in my opinion...).

[neatoman]

The entire series is formulaic. Most episodes follow the same basic plot:
Shredder/Krang find a way to repair the Technodrome/defeat the turtles.
The turtles figure this out.
April get's in trouble.
The turtles beat the villains and celebrate with pizza.

About the only thing that changes is what the thing the villains want to use is and it's usually something like shrinking ray or a weather machine which are rather cliché concepts themselves...

Another thing worth noting is that many episodes are copies of of episodes of other cartoons, in fact, The Big Zipp Attack is almost identical to a Transformers episode called Kremzeek. And Mighty Ducks would feature this plot yet again...

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by Discogod

Everybody who ever watch the OT noticed this. It's one of the many reasons why, after the first season, it's nigh-unwatchable (at least in my opinion...).

And that's completely wrong. The majority of the show is quite watchable and often great.

[Autbot_Benz]

I find the Puns breaking the 4th wall jokes another reason that show becomes unwatchable at times.

[MikeandRaph87]

Its because its not the type of humor you like and that is cool, Autobot.

It is easy to mix them up and I am not a fan of Mr. Ogg's episode but the other two were okay especially the Neutrino guest spot in The Grybyx especially if you are a fan of Gremlins.

While on the subject of reoccurring plots, one in which the villain uses heat to threaten the planet with global warming one way or another. Shredder/Krang, Dregg, and Professor Sofo all tried it.

[Discogod]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

And that's completely wrong. The majority of the show is quite watchable and often great.

Which is why I clearly stated "in my opinion".

I don't care how many of you consider it the definitive TMNT, it's just not my cup of tea.

[snake]

Originally Posted by Discogod

Everybody who ever watch the OT noticed this. It's one of the many reasons why, after the first season, it's nigh-unwatchable (at least in my opinion...).

Same here, I love the first season and a few select episodes, but most of it is pretty bad.

[mikey22]

"NO DUH. They're after power for the Technodrome in every episode" i believe mike says that in one of the later season 3 eps

THey just rushed these episodes because kids wanted them. Times are different. POwer rangers also has a lot of shows Batman the animated series.. its different now w/a new show only once a week compared to every day

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by Discogod

Which is why I clearly stated "in my opinion".

I don't care how many of you consider it the definitive TMNT, it's just not my cup of tea.

When did I say it was my definitive version? I like almost every series and comic series equally. I'm just wondering why you think a show that had tons of great episodes is bad.

[Jester]

Welcome to 80's and early 90's animated series....

[Whatswiththeheadbands?]

Originally Posted by Discogod

Everybody who ever watch the OT noticed this. It's one of the many reasons why, after the first season, it's nigh-unwatchable (at least in my opinion...).

Originally Posted by Discogod

Which is why I clearly stated "in my opinion".

I don't care how many of you consider it the definitive TMNT, it's just not my cup of tea.

Originally Posted by snake

Same here, I love the first season and a few select episodes, but most of it is pretty bad.

I agree with all of these points.

[Discogod]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

When did I say it was my definitive version? I like almost every series and comic series equally. I'm just wondering why you think a show that had tons of great episodes is bad.

You didn't say it was, but that seems to be the general consensus on this forum - which is perfectly understandable, as it's the most popular incarnation so far and seems to be the version that has "stuck" in the general consciousness.

As for why I don't like the show? Well, I discovered the Mirage comics first, followed by the Archie run, not to mention the toys. By the time the cartoon made it over here I'd built up certain expectations of what the show would be like, and it sadly didn't meet them. It didn't help matters that the version we got was butchered to the point where many episodes were totally nonsensical (I mean, more than normal). Just a very disappointing show for me, overall.

I will admit that when I saw the original, unedited episodes they made a little more sense, and I did enjoy much of the first miniseason. But once the show started getting even goofier in season 2 and beyond I just lost interest, which was compounded by the lackluster animation and samey plots. I like a lot of the elements and characters that originated in the show, and I'm happy that it was so popular and brought so much awareness to the TMNT, but the show itself just wasn't what I wanted from the Turtles (I had to wait for the 2K3 series for that).

That do ya, 'Cubed?

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by mikey22

"NO DUH. They're after power for the Technodrome in every episode" i believe mike says that in one of the later season 3 eps

THey just rushed these episodes because kids wanted them. Times are different. POwer rangers also has a lot of shows Batman the animated series.. its different now w/a new show only once a week compared to every day

Well it was more about reaching syndication standards quickly and making sure the kids would be aware characters that were getting new toys. This is why season 3 and 4 have such absurdly high episode counts. (Although technically season 4 might be 2 season squeezed together for some reason).

But yeah, even when the syndication standards were met, it still seems a bit rushed...

[Lou 500]

Originally Posted by Whatswiththeheadbands?

I agree with all of these points.

Same here. Once the nostalgia wore off I grew bored of it quite quickly.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

When did I say it was my definitive version? I like almost every series and comic series equally. I'm just wondering why you think a show that had tons of great episodes is bad.

As for me, well when you're a kid you tend to not really see most of the flaws in a show, kids have a bit of a lower standard as such. I know this myself by going back and watching the 90's Spider-Man cartoon, Pokémon and other old cartoons from my childhood. Some nice surprises are in there such as Superman TAS but most of it is really flawed or at worst awful, I can still enjoy them from a nostalgic point of view but I know that if I didn't have nostalgic feelings over it then I would probably dislike it.

However, the Fred Wolf TMNT is not a cartoon I watched as a kid and as such I don't really have a nostalgia factor so the crappy writing and awful animation is all too clear to me.

[Lou 500]

Originally Posted by Autbot_Benz

I find the Puns breaking the 4th wall jokes another reason that show becomes unwatchable at times.

I want to see a parody of OT Raph being wheeled into a psychiatric unit after his brothers an Splinter grow increasingly concerned about his moments where he talks to the "imaginary" audience. The irony would be that their universe is so silly that no one would bat an eye to a green turtle guy occupying a padded room but the notion that he's seeing things is what's abnormal.

[Kingoji]

Originally Posted by neatoman

Another thing worth noting is that many episodes are copies of of episodes of other cartoons, in fact, The Big Zipp Attack is almost identical to a Transformers episode called Kremzeek. And Mighty Ducks would feature this plot yet again...

Ah, David Wise. He's gone on public record that he was writing for so many series at one point that he knowingly used the same plots and just swapped out the characters. He didn't think kids would either notice or care.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Kingoji

Ah, David Wise. He's gone on public record that he was writing for so many series at one point that he knowingly used the same plots and just swapped out the characters. He didn't think kids would either notice or care.

I don't like David Wise. He seems to be a total hack who also takes more credit than he deserves. He claimed to have created Krang without inspiration from the Utroms until the robot body, no really, he said that he came up with the concept of an alien brain creature who desired a body and then it was just the robot body that was inspired by the Utroms... He has also made simillar claims on Bebop, Rocksteady and the Technodrome even though it's well known that Bebop and Rocksteady were created for the toyline first.

Spoiler:

Here's what I believe, I believe that in reality Playmates/Mirage came up with Krang and the Technodrome, David Wise was just hired to connect the pieces.