Why isn't Kevin as opposed to Fred Wolf characters like Peter is?

[Donnie]

Originally Posted by Hermano Dyvas

Yeah, no disrepect to Laird, but in a way he was holding back his own franchise. Of course it was his property and he had every right to do so if he wanted to. I'm just not too upset about him not making the key decisions anymore (he did a good job on 2K3 though).

I'm a bigger fan of Eastman's style then Laird's although I will say both were at their best when put together.

Not singling you out Hermano, but generally speaking I think to say that Laird holding back his own franchise at all is a misleading and mostly incorrect statement. He did so much for TMNT in the 2000s. Without his tremendous effort in the 2k3 show we may have received a terrible rehash of the OT which may have plunged the Turtles into the silliest time period we've ever seen them manifested in Nick. Laird's darker 2k3 show hopefully stopped that goofy possibility in its tracks, because the 2k3 gave the TMNT fresh breathe to a new audience. I think when the Nick show comes out, we'll see that it took some pointers from the 2k3. Maybe that's just wishful thinking.

On the whole though, I can't see why anybody would dislike Laird's treatment with the TMNT. I can see initial feelings of despair toward him when he sold the rights (I was guilty of that, but got over it) but his mature direction is what kept the Turtles alive, in my opinion. His determination to not include the cheesy characters from the OT in Volume 4 and in the 2k3 was a blessing, at least for me.

Concerning the whole Eastman vs. Laird thing, like you said Hermano they worked best when they were together. Two great minds are always better than one. However, and most here like this about Eastman, in my opinion Eastman can be (not always) way too nonchalant and laid back about his characters. Laird at least had a checks and balances system firmly in place.