The criticims of the OT you often hear

[CyberCubed]

I also hate how people claim it had a "mutant of the week" formula when the show introduced new mutants like once in a while.

I hate how people say Donatello wasn't the star since he save the day in almost every ep.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I also hate how people claim it had a "mutant of the week" formula when the show introduced new mutants like once in a while.

I hate how people say Donatello wasn't the star since he save the day in almost every ep.

The 2012 show seems to have a mutant of the week formula, if it continues this way. But that's another story.

And new mutants isn't the most common plot in the 1987. Power station break ins, required for Technodrome fuel, is the most common during the "core seasons" (3-7).

[Myths]

I think possibly the biggest complaints I heard came from Peter Laird himself concerning the OT:

“…had I (again, speaking solely for myself and not for Kevin) been making the key creative decisions for that first animated series, it would have been VERY different. Among other things, there would likely have been no moronic henchmen like Bebop and Rocksteady. The Shredder would have been seriously malevolent. April would not have been a reporter and constantly need to be rescued by the Turtles. The Turtles would not have been so ridiculously obsessed with pizza, and the Shredder would not have had as one of his businesses a restaurant called ‘Ninja Pizza’…And the show would not have had a joke or gag every five seconds.”

[ZariusTwo]

I think Pete and Kev's vision could have still worked in the 80s/90s, but a lot of the more "darker and edgier" cartoons of that type (like Sprial Zone, Exo Squad, Sonic SATAM, Bucky O'Hare, and Inhumanoids) were admitedly pretty niche back then, despite their cult followings now.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by Myths

I think possibly the biggest complaints I heard came from Peter Laird himself concerning the OT:

“…had I (again, speaking solely for myself and not for Kevin) been making the key creative decisions for that first animated series, it would have been VERY different. Among other things, there would likely have been no moronic henchmen like Bebop and Rocksteady. The Shredder would have been seriously malevolent. April would not have been a reporter and constantly need to be rescued by the Turtles. The Turtles would not have been so ridiculously obsessed with pizza, and the Shredder would not have had as one of his businesses a restaurant called ‘Ninja Pizza’…And the show would not have had a joke or gag every five seconds.”

A lot of this is just petty though.

Strange how he let the 4kids writers make so many changes to the Mirage storylines and add in so many new characters, yet when the OT did it he didn't mind.

[Jephael]

Oh I'm sure he minded, but it was making them a butt-load of money, so he didn't complain!

[Venom]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

A lot of this is just petty though.

Strange how he let the 4kids writers make so many changes to the Mirage storylines and add in so many new characters, yet when the OT did it he didn't mind.

Well, you have to remember that while Pete and Kevin did pore over scripts in the first few seasons, after a while they pretty much gave up because changes were being made on Fred Wolf's end irregardless of their decisions.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by Venom

Well, you have to remember that while Pete and Kevin did pore over scripts in the first few seasons, after a while they pretty much gave up because changes were being made on Fred Wolf's end irregardless of their decisions.

But remember when the OT was airing, the Mirage universe was in its infancy.

What did they have at the time? Maybe 10 Mirage Issues and the barely starting Tales of the TMNT?

People tend to forget when the OT was being made the Mirage comics had only a handful of issues.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

But remember when the OT was airing, the Mirage universe was in its infancy.

What did they have at the time? Maybe 10 Mirage Issues and the barely starting Tales of the TMNT?

People tend to forget when the OT was being made the Mirage comics had only a handful of issues.

Volume 1 was under publication back then.

[CyberCubed]

I think the OT also deserves credit for making Baxter Stockman into a major character.

In Mirage he was literally treated as a one-shot character because he didn't return from issue #2 all the way until Volume 2 which was nearly a decade later.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I think the OT also deserves credit for making Baxter Stockman into a major character.

In Mirage he was literally treated as a one-shot character because he didn't return from issue #2 all the way until Volume 2 which was nearly a decade later.

1992 saw his second appearance, and his first one since 1985, I've heard.

[Refractive Reflections]

It's interesting SO many put in the lack of continuity as a significant problem in the OT, but it did have subtle continuity such as with the location of the Technodrome, or explaining why the Technodrome was wherever, and the characters breaking the fourth wall and referring to a previous episode as the previous posts have all mentioned earlier.

I think what A LOT of hypercritical viewers of the OT forget is that this was designed for a audience of children and you have to remember it was the late 80s/early 90s. So you don't have the internet to watch previous episodes and remember your dealing with the attention span of 6-12 year olds to follow continuing story plots. ALSO remember that kids don't have the option of going home or watching TV whenever they want to such as we do as adults. They are susceptible to whatever their parents' schedules/discipline/mood are for the day and could not easily watch the cartoon daily for 5-6 days/week.

Imagine how frustrating it would be as a kid, if you watched the cartoon in 1989 on a Monday but your parents had to drag you to groceries on Tuesday, then you had sports practice on Wednesday, were able to watch on Thursday, but then you had to go to a friend's house on Friday (who wanted to watch/play something else than TMNT) and then be able to wake up early on Saturday. You would be missing 3 days worth of plots and you would be frustrated wondering," How did they get there? But I thought this happened? But why? UGH!" And remember there was NO internet back then to watch previous episodes, and you would have to go through the trouble of setting up your VCR to automatically record it (IF YOUR VCR had that capability) or spend more of your parents money to buy/rent a video cassette of it. Yeah right, which kid has the patience for that??? And how many parents would tolerate their kid to "waste" their money on following a cartoon plot? And to top it all off, there were disorganized repeated airings of the show. Therefore, it makes sense for the cartoon to have self-contained plots in one episode, but at least each passing season demonstrated some continuity. It was good balance of progressing the cartoon, but not making it so complex that it frustrated the viewer if they couldn't catch a few episodes because of "life" occurring.

As for the repetitive nature of the show of the good guys winning...since when did any heroic adventure show NOT have the good guys win at the end of the show/story-arc? Batman, Superman, G.I. Joe, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, X-Men, Transformers, blah blah blah.

With my expectations and it seems with some others, when it comes to children's cartoons...its low because its for kids, but surprisingly OT TMNT had exceed that significantly as others have posted as to why (as with other cartoons, for me personally, such as Tiny Toons, Garfield & Friends, and Animaniacs). These cartoons I cherish because they were clever and witty and the writers/staff actually put SOME effort into it unlike others where they were SOLELY focused on the merchandising. If the OT was as pathetic as some cynics have stated, they still have to deal with the UNDERLYING and UNDENIABLE fact that it made TMNT into a mainstream phenomena with merchandising that even captivated ADULTS. How many children's cartoons have done that? You have to give the OT credit for that though, minimally...

For others, it seems like their expectations/comparisons are from the OT vs. the comics...which is unfair. Yes, in comparison to the gritty/dark Mirage comics the OT is trivial and silly, but comparing the OT with other children's cartoons...its a legend.

...If you're expecting a dramatic, angst-filled, gory battle rampant in a kid's cartoon...bigger question is, why are you expecting all of that in it then??? It's a kid's cartoon people...

[D-Nizzy]

2k3 did a great job. And the new Nick series is striking an interesting balance between silly and gritty.

I love the original series for what it is, and it probably took an evolution in children's programming in order for shows like 2k3 to get produced, but the OT does have some groan-worthy flaws.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

The 1987 TMNT show was mostly aimed to be kids and family-friendly.

The 2003 and 2012 shows are for kids too, but I doubt they would be created at all if the 1987 show didn't create the strong fan-base it had, and most of them were no longer kids in 2003.

[Panda_Kahn_fan]

I agree with the critics, the OT is silly and painful to watch at times.

HOWEVER, I feel the characters it created/ developed are more interesting than a lot of the 'darker, grittier' characters from mirage. I also feel that they are just as important- if not more so- than many of the ones mirage had. And there are value in those characters beyond. "Duhhh, nostalgia", and they can- and should- return!

Yes, mirage came first, but the idea that it is the definitve turtles- and any concept not orignally from there is worthless- is a fallacy. The sourse material is not the only place concepts that exist across versions can originate. Krytonite, The Daily planet, Jimmy olsen as Jimmy olsen, and Perry white all first appeared in the Superman Radio Show, and bled back into the comic.