TMNT (1987 cartoon) Talkback Thread Collection

[ZariusTwo]

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

Don’t both of the Paris episodes act like they’re just getting to Europe? I don’t remember

Hmm..gonna have to watch "Rust" then to be sure. If I decide to extend the project to include more episodes, I'll add it.

Do you have a preferred viewing order for the European Vacation?

[ToTheNines]

Originally Posted by ZariusTwo

Hmm..gonna have to watch "Rust" then to be sure. If I decide to extend the project to include more episodes, I'll add it.

Per my memory, they’re not compatible. So your list would be better off picking one or the other.

Now that I’m really thinking about it, I think “Tower” is the better episode and does tie more directly into “Plan 6”, even if it also contradicts it with a reworked scene of them reading the letter from Greasy Eddie’s Pizza.

Outside of nostalgia on my part, “Rust” also gets points for having Avery voice Shredder. Not that Cummings was bad, but he’s still an alternate.

Do you have a preferred viewing order for the European Vacation?

Dr.Spengler’s list on TMNTEntity. https://tmntentity.blogspot.com/2025...order.html?m=1

He basically orders them in a way that makes geographical sense for them to start in France and end up back there in “Orient Express”.

[CyberCubed]

If I were to whittle down the show you could remove most of the mad scientist eps aside from a few of the better ones, and some of the weaker Shredder/Krang scheme eps. But even then I think my version of the show would still have over 100-130 episodes in it (out of 193), there's still too many eps I enjoy too much to be cut.

[sdp]

If we apply the anime fan definition that anything that doesn't further the plot or introduce something/one that is used later in plot driven episodes is filler then we could probably cut it down to a 45 episode series, on average each season only has around 5 episodes relevant to the plot.

[CyberCubed]

I mean, Season 1 is still basically the entire show.

You realize every season after the first is just essentially a re-tread of the same Technodrome plot and Shredder/Krang trying to do the same exact thing they were doing in Season 1. The first 5 episodes basically reflect the plot of the whole series. Only thing you'd lose is the recurring villains like Baxter as a fly, Leatherhead, Rat King, etc.

I realized a long time ago Season 1 basically is the plot of all 10 seasons in just 5 episodes.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I mean, Season 1 is still basically the entire show.

You realize every season after the first is just essentially a re-tread of the same Technodrome plot and Shredder/Krang trying to do the same exact thing they were doing in Season 1. The first 5 episodes basically reflect the plot of the whole series. Only thing you'd lose is the recurring villains like Baxter as a fly, Leatherhead, Rat King, etc.

I realized a long time ago Season 1 basically is the plot of all 10 seasons in just 5 episodes.

As sad as that is, yes it is more or less true. When the biggest changes to the status quo are where the stupid Technodrome gets stranded, it really doesn't matter much which episodes you watch and in what order. If you replaced the exterior shot of the Technodrome being anywhere but Dimension X with one showing Dimension X, then you could probably skip most episodes about it being relocated or where it's current position is plot relevant and your biggest question would probably be why Shredder keeps using a burrowing vehicle to get around.

[ZariusTwo]

"Big Blow Out" was to the Technodrome what the arc that led to "Return to New York" was to the Shredder in Mirage and 4KIds, arguably the stories that highlighted them both at their best and featured their most cataclysmic defeats, and that really is when both should have been both written off.

[ToTheNines]

Originally Posted by ZariusTwo

"Big Blow Out" was to the Technodrome what the arc that led to "Return to New York" was to the Shredder in Mirage and 4KIds, arguably the stories that highlighted them both at their best and featured their most cataclysmic defeats, and that really is when both should have been both written off.

Yeah “The Big Blowout” rules. I do wish the two episodes leading up to it were a little better.

I’ll disagree about 4kids RTNY. It’s a major letdown in comparison to Mirage, plus Exodus was pretty badass.

[cammy85]

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

Yeah “The Big Blowout” rules. I do wish the two episodes leading up to it were a little better.

I vaguely remembered The Big Break-in as a kid other than Krang fighting Donatello and Michelangelo with spiked bolos; mainly since he never fought them directly in his body that often. But I actually love that one and Blowout due to the danger of the Technodrome moving and finally being on the surface.

[sdp]

I didn't really grow up witht he 1987 cartoon as a kid, I only got to see a few episodes, not too many, but I did rewatch my 2 burger king vhs tapes all the time. So I really think I "saw" the OT for the first time when it stated to SLOWLY release DVDs in the mid 00s (remember it was like 10 episodes per year!).
I was surprised by how fun season 1 was, take into account I was a teenager so I wouldn't have praised just any slop. When Season 2 came out I was also surprised by how much continuity it had, one of my first posts in this forum was asking if season 3 was similar to which they replied "no" . So yeah I was bummed watching S3 and having to wait basically a year for another batch of season 3 episodes, I mean I found each volume had memorable episodes but i did miss the continuity from the first two seasons. And them boom, the Big trilogy finale, I was so excited to see something with stakes actually happening.

Then season4 happens, it's just as long as Season 3 but with 0 pay off, it makes that season feel worse because there's no opener or ender. I think S5 & 6 also don't have any finales but at least since they're smaller seasons it's not as annoying.

[ToTheNines]

Lmao, love the avatar!

Originally Posted by cammy85

I vaguely remembered The Big Break-in as a kid other than Krang fighting Donatello and Michelangelo with spiked bolos; mainly since he never fought them directly in his body that often. But I actually love that one and Blowout due to the danger of the Technodrome moving and finally being on the surface.

Oh that was break-in? I thought that was Blowout, but I think you’re right. In that case, I guess I just consider part 1 to be the weak link.

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I mean, Season 1 is still basically the entire show.

You realize every season after the first is just essentially a re-tread of the same Technodrome plot and Shredder/Krang trying to do the same exact thing they were doing in Season 1. The first 5 episodes basically reflect the plot of the whole series. Only thing you'd lose is the recurring villains like Baxter as a fly, Leatherhead, Rat King, etc.

I realized a long time ago Season 1 basically is the plot of all 10 seasons in just 5 episodes.

This goes hand in hand with why I feel like you could curate a NECA collection that basically represents the show well enough if all you bought were the figures that came from the season 1 mini-series.

But just the character diversity and army building alone from season 1 is a large collection.

The six main "good guys" +1 for Hamato variant of Splinter
The four main "bad guys" +1 for Krang's Android Body
Army builder Foot Soldiers & Roadkill Rodney's
Army builder Rock Soldiers
Traag and Granitor
The Neutrinos.
Any standard human (including B&R's gang figures).
Channel 6 Crew
The Van
The City Scene
The Neutrinos Car (if NECA makes it)

But the definitive collection would be maybe 40 to 50 figures just representing that S1 mini and that's it depending on the size of the "army builders" you'd have. Sure, maybe a Casey Jones, Zach or Rat King if you must have him, but basically most other characters after that S1 mini are generally "mutant of the week".

[ZariusTwo]

I did some checking and the third season episode "The Gang's All Here" is only seven episodes removed from "The Big Blow Out", which was the last episode of the OT to air on BBC ONE, we never got the remaining seasons on free-to-air linear TV, so it's little wonder I came away from "Gang" thinking Mikey had gotten a relationship upgrade at the end as a kid (and wondering how Kala would have felt)

[ToTheNines]

Zarius, you should make a 13 episode “season” out of Rise.

That might be kinda tough, I seem to remember a lot of filler episodes ending with some important development with the Dark Armor.

[ZariusTwo]

Originally Posted by ToTheNines

Zarius, you should make a 13 episode “season” out of Rise.

That might be kinda tough, I seem to remember a lot of filler episodes ending with some important development with the Dark Armor.

A 'supercut' of all the moments referring to the armour build up might suffice, tagged into anything where it's more the focus as 'flashbacks', A.I voicing could help with summarising things.

[ZariusTwo]

Creating that shortened fourth season left me itching to do more, so I'm announcing a new fan-edit that will serve as the sequel to "The Epic Begins"

I present "The Epic Continues", which will amalgamate four episodes of season two into a feature length film, those episodes are

1. Return of the Shredder
2. Enter: The Fly
3. Teenagers From Dimension X
4. Return of the Technodrome.

[ZariusTwo]

While working on "The Epic Continues" I took to re-editing a few individual episodes of the old show as well, yesterday I did "Return of the Technodrome", which basically contains all the ideas I'm using for "The Epic Continues", and today I've been working on a cut of "My Brother, The Bad Guy" that removes the Kojima Brothers B-plot and reworks the episode as a season finale rather than a season premiere, using footage from "Shredder Triumphant".

[ZariusTwo]

I also took Season Five's "My Brother, The Bad Guy" and turned it into a season finale, I ditched the Kojima Brothers Hologram b-plot, allowing me to pad everything else out with footage from season seven's "Shredder Triumphant", but to keep it to the standard TV length I removed all of the Turtles struggles in Dimension X and had them AWOL for the second half of the episode, allowing the focus to be on Channel 6, the villains, and Splinter. The Turtles still show up at the end and trick Shredder into returning them to Earth, and you don't feel like you're missing anything because the Turtles explain what they got up to when last we see them in the episode.

[ZariusTwo]