Talkback: Laird's 2k3 development notes!

[Redeemer]

Wow that Garbage man episode sounds pretty gruesome, would have love to see it, but I think it would have gotten shelved like insane to the membrane

[Jester]

Laird on the Fast Forward Bible
I really like that logo. Better than the one we got.

[CyberCubed]

So far nothing from the Fast Forward stuff seems wacky...I still want to know why the hell Triple Threat and Mike becoming obsessed with videogames was approved of...

[oldmanwinters]

Future Shellshock notes, complete with early Cody Jones concept art.
http://peterlairdstmntblog.blogspot....4-2005-re.html

Love that Tron-approved jumpsuit!

Also, this was a cool recommendation by Peter Laird:

7.) Another thought that just came to me: It might be fun to have holographic computer simulated versions (either insubstantial or solid like STAR TREK holodeck holograms) of the original Casey and April, programmed by them (and their descendants) to be as close to the originals as possible. They could be used by Cody for teaching and reference... and to some extent, companionship. Might make for some fun interactions with the Turtles and Splinter. And maybe one of Don's projects is to use his first-hand knowledge of the original Casey and April to reprogram the holograms so that they are more like the actual people that he knew.

That might have been cool. I'm not sure how much mileage they could have gotten out of it though. I can't help but think it would end up like a Tim Taylor talks to Wilson moment (Home Improvement) at the end of every episode.

[Jester]

I dunna, one of the things I missed the most was April and Casey in >>. This idea could have worked. Heck, I think it would have been if the wrist gauntlets projected April/Casey alla R2D2.

I do like how they had regional environment with their own atmosphere, helped get away from the whole "the air is TOO clean" stuff.

[oldmanwinters]

The origins of Sh’okaNabo and the FF redesigned turtles!

Sho'ky:
http://peterlairdstmntblog.blogspot....8-2005-re.html

Peter Laird draws his own take on how the enviropacks should look:
http://peterlairdstmntblog.blogspot....05-re-new.html

[Jester]

I kinda wish I could see the original >> Turtles, with their "goofy black Ace bandages."

[oldmanwinters]

Glad to see Laird shot down the notion of Splinter having trouble telling the turtles apart without their bandanas:

3.) Re: the following:

"(NOTE: If there's room, I'd like to get a running gag out of Splinter not being able to tell the Turtles apart without their masks.)"

To my mind, this is a REALLY dumb, lazy gag -- after raising them for fifteen-plus years, Splinter SURELY knows how to tell one Turtle from another. He could tell them apart with his eyes closed! Now CODY -- that's another story. It might be funny when he meets them for the first time, he mixes up their names.

http://peterlairdstmntblog.blogspot....005-re-fw.html

That joke was done fairly well (in my opinion) by Brian Thomas and Steve Sullivan in TMNT Adventures #58, since the turtles were still so young. But it wouldn't be believable once the turtles were teenagers... who also happened to have distinctive voices and skin tones.

[Jester]

...and in >>, body types.

[CyberCubed]

Interesting that PL wanted Cody to have an Utrom friend, particularly Glurin from Volume 4. It might have been interesting to see an Utrom living with Cody and Serling.

Makes me wonder why the writers didn't use this suggestion from Peter.

[Jester]

I really wish we had gotten the "Holo-Shredder" episode. Yeah, Viral used the holo-trainer for nefarious purposes, but could you imagine a holographic Shredder who either thinks he's real, or actually knows he's a hologram and tries to use the holo-program to conquer the world!!!

[Jester]

Oh my gosh, Peter intentionally created a key plot point for a major blockbuster.

Originally Posted by Peter Laird

"Cash"? We're a hundred years in the future and they're still using cash? Maybe that's possible -- albeit unlikely -- but perhaps there is something more valuable AND unique to this particular venue that she is stealing. How about the Pan-Galactic Wrestling Federation Ultra-Mega-Heavyweight belt made of jewel-encrusted Unobtanium?

Wait....false alarm...

[CyberCubed]

Man the Triple Threat episodes of FF were my least favorite. I think that character is what gave the series a bad name, particularly that he appears as early as the 4th episode.

Its sad really, FF actually had some really good episodes but its the weaker ones that everyone remembers for some reason.

[Jester]

Headlock Prime is mentioned in the latest blog, but the story changed very VERY drastically. Triple Threat was originally a woman....a very fat woman named, are you sitting down, THE FAT WOMAN. Subtle.

Also Viral and Sh’okanabo get a gender swap.

[CyberCubed]

Wow, so Triple Threat was going to be even worse? The more you know.

[oldmanwinters]

Lots of concept art for the Fast Forward Season:
http://peterlairdstmntblog.blogspot....-past-478.html

Also, Laird revealed that he's found lots of email exchanges with Lloyd on the 1st season! He'll post them eventually!
http://peterlairdstmntblog.blogspot....l#comment-form

[CoolWhip]

Awesome stuff.

[Raven]

After seeming some of these notes, I don't know if I would like to be in some of these writers shoes. Laird kind of belittles a lot of what they do, I know hes trying to get better stuff out of them but insulting the person behind it seems like hes over stepping a boundary.

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by Raven

After seeming some of these notes, I don't know if I would like to be in some of these writers shoes. Laird kind of belittles a lot of what they do, I know hes trying to get better stuff out of them but insulting the person behind it seems like hes over stepping a boundary.

Laird's critical tone has been a source of debate amongst the fandom, but I've come to the conclusion that most of the writers who did the actual scripts for the 4Kids show did some really terrible work, despite their best efforts. They failed at grammar, logic, and characterization. Laird and Lloyd Goldfine really salvaged the show and turned it into a pretty respectable action cartoon. Without them, the show could have been abyssal.

Even the commonly disliked Fast Forward and Back to the Sewer seasons that we ultimately got were substantially better than what we could have seen on TV.

[Xav]

Originally Posted by Raven

After seeming some of these notes, I don't know if I would like to be in some of these writers shoes. Laird kind of belittles a lot of what they do, I know hes trying to get better stuff out of them but insulting the person behind it seems like hes over stepping a boundary.

Though I don't think the writers saw what Laird said. He was talking to Lloyd Goldfine, who probably just told the writers what Laird wanted.