Was the Writing Ever Good to Begin With?

*Bauer536* · 04-25-2016, 01:47 PM

This has been boggling my mind for awhile. Sometimes, we tend to complain that this season's writing hasn't been the best. But was it even well-written in the first place?

Here's what's driving me nuts:

You have some great concepts that actually translate well into an enjoyable episode. For others, that does not seem to be the case. Episodes like "Vision Quest" and "Trans-dimensional Turtles" were good for what they were, but imagine if they were both an hour long. That would leave us with room for better character development, more emotional scenes, and probably, some deep messages to learn from. Everything is starting to jump around, and it is getting irritating. Also, if it is hard to write a 22 page script, shouldn't there be a different who can do it, or (and I blame this on the standards) should page length not always matter when writing a story? I've practiced with scriptwriting software, and sometimes I time how long a scene would be on screen. If it's one page, it's supposed to be a minute, but I've noticed it isn't always like that. If it's full of action, and it takes 3 pages to write it, can it still be filmed in a minute? I think Nickelodeon is taking this way too seriously. They should time themselves when they read their scripts to test out how long it really is, as if they were live on the air. I think their scripts are way too short, and I'm not sure it's helping anymore.

Also, these few things from the show feel unrealistic or all over the place.

Why would the turtles not know what pizza is if they've grown up together watching TV? There were no commercials for pizza when Space Heroes was on? How could the shellraiser drive on two lanes, when there could be people driving? Why does April have to be either a plot device or deus ex machina when things go wrong? I mean, she's got all these powers and is able to defeat anyone with them. What's the point of having the turtles if she's so good? A little "MaRey Sue," if you ask me. Why do the night sequences
always have a full moon?

Why, after all of the times this has happened to them, do the turtles fight head on at giant creatures like the Triceratons, Rocksteady, and Armmagon? Even a katana or sai can't break them. Are these turtles even good ninjas, or fighters, or leaders? Have any of the characters learned from their mistakes? Besides being evil, how much depth does Shredder have?

I never thought the show was terrible, but I'm starting to think that this is not a great source for good writing. Also, I think it's gotten worse this season.

04-25-2016, 01:47 PM	#1
Bauer536 Mad Scientist Join Date: May 2011 Location: United States Posts: 1,550	Was the Writing Ever Good to Begin With? This has been boggling my mind for awhile. Sometimes, we tend to complain that this season's writing hasn't been the best. But was it even well-written in the first place? Here's what's driving me nuts: You have some great concepts that actually translate well into an enjoyable episode. For others, that does not seem to be the case. Episodes like "Vision Quest" and "Trans-dimensional Turtles" were good for what they were, but imagine if they were both an hour long. That would leave us with room for better character development, more emotional scenes, and probably, some deep messages to learn from. Everything is starting to jump around, and it is getting irritating. Also, if it is hard to write a 22 page script, shouldn't there be a different who can do it, or (and I blame this on the standards) should page length not always matter when writing a story? I've practiced with scriptwriting software, and sometimes I time how long a scene would be on screen. If it's one page, it's supposed to be a minute, but I've noticed it isn't always like that. If it's full of action, and it takes 3 pages to write it, can it still be filmed in a minute? I think Nickelodeon is taking this way too seriously. They should time themselves when they read their scripts to test out how long it really is, as if they were live on the air. I think their scripts are way too short, and I'm not sure it's helping anymore. Also, these few things from the show feel unrealistic or all over the place. Why would the turtles not know what pizza is if they've grown up together watching TV? There were no commercials for pizza when Space Heroes was on? How could the shellraiser drive on two lanes, when there could be people driving? Why does April have to be either a plot device or deus ex machina when things go wrong? I mean, she's got all these powers and is able to defeat anyone with them. What's the point of having the turtles if she's so good? A little "MaRey Sue," if you ask me. Why do the night sequences always have a full moon? Why, after all of the times this has happened to them, do the turtles fight head on at giant creatures like the Triceratons, Rocksteady, and Armmagon? Even a katana or sai can't break them. Are these turtles even good ninjas, or fighters, or leaders? Have any of the characters learned from their mistakes? Besides being evil, how much depth does Shredder have? I never thought the show was terrible, but I'm starting to think that this is not a great source for good writing. Also, I think it's gotten worse this season.