Watching the OG Fred Wolf Series

[MrAustin]

Hi Everyone! Hope you?re all doing as well as can be.

In a totally un-unique story, I loved TMNT as a kid (I grew up with the 4Kids show) but somewhere around 2011 I lost interest. Flash forward to February of this year and I stumbled upon the IDW comic and my interest in the franchise significantly bloomed; I became pretty obsessed with the idea of reading as many of the comics and watching as many of the shows/movies/ConcertAbominations as possible and to that end, I've accomplished quite a bit.

The other day I finished my marathon of the Fred Wolf cartoon and it was such a rollercoaster. By the end of it, my brain was leaking and my soul felt weak, but I did it! It's interesting, despite the often shameless plot repetition episode-to-episode, despite the lack of narrative momentum or consistency in animation, as a whole, the show just glows.

Of course, it's maybe a double edged sword in how it exploded the franchise's popularity while also keeping its ability to evolve in a bit of limbo, but there's something magnetic about the show, almost in spite of itself?

Well, now on to The Next Mutation and finishing up the Archie comic run.

What do you guys think about the OG show? Especially those who didn't necessarily grow up with it.

[CyberCubed]

The original TMNT cartoon was basically The Simpsons, Pokemon, or Spongebob of its day where it could have theoretically run forever on the same basic plots like those shows do.

It's the longest lasting cartoon of it's time with 194 episodes and 10 seasons, and still to this day one of the longest lasting non-adult comedy cartoons of all time.

[Leo656]

I can't come up with too much to say that I haven't already said a million times.

Loved it as a kid, liked the movie better. Liked the Archie comics mostly-better. Kinda lost a little patience for the cartoon around '93 due to how stagnant it was, while the movie and Archie comics seemed to have actual stakes and personal growth for the characters. Kept up with it off-and-on until it was cancelled. Liked Red Sky more than most people do, simply because it at least tried to evolve and was more fitting with what "action" cartoons were doing in that time period, while the previous seasons were all still squarely locked into what was standard for 1989. A change was welcome and long overdue, although Red Sky had its own share of problems which kept me from really embracing it, but I admired the attempt at evolution. Better to aim high and fall short than just keep spinning your wheels forever.

It's all over the place. Some episodes I think hold up very well, and there's a lot where I have to wonder how dumb they thought we were to put up with it. I've seen the entire series more than once but I can't marathon it. So far I just can't push through; after a while, the bad stuff gets SO bad, with a lot of really crappy episodes packed very close together for a significant stretch, that it hits a point where I don't even care that it's not always gonna be that bad, I just can't keep watching it and have to do something else for a long, long time. It's not ALL that bad, not even close, but when this show was bad it was VERY bad. And while the Good Ones are more Good than the Bad Ones are Bad, there are so many Bad-To-Mediocre ones that it drags the entire show's "batting average" down substantially. I wish they'd had about a third as many total episodes and just had them all be as relatively consistent as the first two seasons were; that'd be preferable to almost 200 episodes of "Some Gems, Some Meh, and a Lotta Junk Taking Up Space".

I'm very critical of it, but I don't hate it. There's definitely a lot of episodes I could watch anytime and they'd be entertaining. They're just vastly outnumbered by ones I have to be in the mood for, and ones I need to be drunk for.

[sdp]

I posted all my thoughts on the whole series season by season of the Fred wolf tmnt show here

Good show , also didn't really watch it as a kid much so not a lot of bias

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by sdp

I posted all my thoughts on the whole series season by season of the Fred wolf tmnt show here https://miscrave.com/articles/tmnt-1987/

I always thought Baxter Stockman was arrested for causing destruction of property. His mousers destroyed entire buildings, and leftover pieces from the the mousers were probably found.

[mikey0]

Raphael is the character to watch for in the original series. Also, Shredder and Krang are very similar to Felix and Oscar from The Odd Couple. It?s hard to forget the over the top episodes (Donatello?s Degree).

I wish there were a series for the original Playmates toyline. Double strapped belts on Donatello and Leonardo, shirtless Shredder, April with a handgun, and Krang with his brain-drain gun. I wouldn?t miss an episode of that.

[MrAustin]

Originally Posted by sdp

I posted all my thoughts on the whole series season by season of the Fred wolf tmnt show here

Good show , also didn't really watch it as a kid much so not a lot of bias

Looking forward to reading through that! Thank you for sharing

[ABrown]

I grew up with the series. When the first episode aired, I was six years old. When the final episode aired, I was 15 years old. I didn't initially get into the series when it became popular. It wasn't until after the movie came out in 1990 that I started to really enjoy the cartoon. Even as a child though, I wanted the cartoon to be more like the "red sky" era. Unfortunately, that didn't end up coming to be until I was a teenager. I do feel that the original cartoon can be a very entertaining show. Just don't take it too seriously, and enjoy it for what it is.

[Whatswiththeheadbands?]

Season one was good. It had a beginning, middle and a kinda satisfying end.

Season two wasn't as good, but still had a beginning, middle and an end, although nowhere near as satisfying or focus

Season 3 completely lost me about 5 episodes in. Haven't seen anything more than that, and I don't plan on ever watching more. The Show just isn't my thing

[PizzaPower1985]

Originally Posted by MrAustin

Hi Everyone! Hope you?re all doing as well as can be.

In a totally un-unique story, I loved TMNT as a kid (I grew up with the 4Kids show) but somewhere around 2011 I lost interest. Flash forward to February of this year and I stumbled upon the IDW comic and my interest in the franchise significantly bloomed; I became pretty obsessed with the idea of reading as many of the comics and watching as many of the shows/movies/ConcertAbominations as possible and to that end, I?ve accomplished quite a bit.

The other day I finished my marathon of the Fred Wolf cartoon and it was such a rollercoaster. By the end of it, my brain was leaking and my soul felt weak, but I did it! It?s interesting, despite the often shameless plot repetition episode-to-episode, despite the lack of narrative momentum or consistency in animation, as a whole, the show just glows.

Of course, it?s maybe a double edged sword in how it exploded the franchise?s popularity while also keeping its ability to evolve in a bit of limbo, but there?s something magnetic about the show, almost in spite of itself?

Well, now on to The Next Mutation and finishing up the Archie comic run.

What do you guys think about the OG show? Especially those who didn?t necessarily grow up with it.

Welcome to the forums, friend. Greetings! IDW got me BACK into the TMNT
as well, after a long absence. If you don't mind me asking, what's your age range? Younger audiences seem to be able to handle the FW toon far better than young adults or old near middle aged fogies like myself.

Your path is very similar to mine as after I read IDW I too went on a TMNT binge and watched, read and consumed EVERYTHING.

[Wesley]

I grew up loving the show and still kinda like it as an adult, but it?s a guilty pleasure with ups and downs. Haven?t watched most of the episodes in years and wouldn?t consider it to be a ?good? series, but I?ve enjoyed most eps I?ve seen recently (primarily from seasons 1, 2 and 7).

It?s one of the shows I have to be in the mood for watching it, though, as the pizza jokes and catchphrases can become tiresome after a while. Best watched in small doses. Could never do a marathon of the entire series.

[TigerClaw]

I loved the series, It was the gold standard at the time and i think still is. Many of the current iterations borrowed from it. The characters who were originally from the series appeared in other comics and other media and became canon to the mythology.

[mikey0]

The Fred Wolf cartoon is the Batman ‘66 to the TMNT universe. It’s the most iconic children’s TV show of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

[PizzaPower1985]

Originally Posted by mikey0

The Fred Wolf cartoon is the Batman ?66 to the TMNT universe. It?s the most iconic children?s TV show of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

That's a good analogy.
Never thought of it in those terms.

[MrAustin]

Originally Posted by PizzaPower1985

Welcome to the forums, friend. Greetings! IDW got me BACK into the TMNT
as well, after a long absence. If you don't mind me asking, what's your age range? Younger audiences seem to be able to handle the FW toon far better than young adults or old near middle aged fogies like myself.

Your path is very similar to mine as after I read IDW I too went on a TMNT binge and watched, read and consumed EVERYTHING.

Thank you so much for the warm welcome! I'm 26 and it's been about 12-13 years or so since I was *really* into TMNT. It's kind of cool to binge 'everything' isn't it?

What would you say the highlights and lowlights were for you?

So far, the IDW comics are my absolute favorite version of the mythos and characters with the 4kids show not too far behind. I'm super excited to watch the 2012 Nick show though and to finish up the Archie comics!

[PizzaPower1985]

Originally Posted by MrAustin

Thank you so much for the warm welcome! I'm 26 and it's been about 12-13 years or so since I was *really* into TMNT. It's kind of cool to binge 'everything' isn't it?

What would you say the highlights and lowlights were for you?

So far, the IDW comics are my absolute favorite version of the mythos and characters with the 4kids show not too far behind. I'm super excited to watch the 2012 Nick show though and to finish up the Archie comics!

For me, the absolute pinnacle of TMNT is the 1990 movie. I'm in my 30s and grew up on it. Love that so much. But my preferred media is comics so I love the IDW books as a close second to the 1st movie. After that I love the 4Kids show and Mirage comic books about equally as well. Great stuff. Also a big fan of the pilot season (Season 1) of the 87 cartoon, mainly for nostalgia. I'm simply too old for the 2012 show. I like the Archie books a lot, but it's not a favorite. I really enjoy playing the old arcade games tho. And there's a lot of TMNT paintings and artwork that captures my imagination also.

[mikey0]

Originally Posted by PizzaPower1985

For me, the absolute pinnacle of TMNT is the 1990 movie. I'm in my 30s and grew up on it. Love that so much. But my preferred media is comics so I love the IDW books as a close second to the 1st movie. After that I love the 4Kids show and Mirage comic books about equally as well. Great stuff. Also a big fan of the pilot season (Season 1) of the 87 cartoon, mainly for nostalgia. I'm simply too old for the 2012 show. I like the Archie books a lot, but it's not a favorite. I really enjoy playing the old arcade games tho. And there's a lot of TMNT paintings and artwork that captures my imagination also.

The 1988 episodes were the pilot season. The 1987 miniseries was made to advertise the first basic assortment figures to the original Playmates toyline. In the pilot season, we are introduced to the Punk Frogs and Baxter the fly. Both of which turned up in the second basic wave. The 2nd and 3rd (CBS SATAM toons) seasons was the best out of them all because they were on when the new action figures (Casey Jones, Rat King, and Slash) were in stores. The seasons that came after the 3rd season (with the exception of Red Sky) were never as memorable as the 2nd season and 3rd season (to some extent).

[MrAustin]

Originally Posted by PizzaPower1985

For me, the absolute pinnacle of TMNT is the 1990 movie. I'm in my 30s and grew up on it. Love that so much. But my preferred media is comics so I love the IDW books as a close second to the 1st movie. After that I love the 4Kids show and Mirage comic books about equally as well. Great stuff. Also a big fan of the pilot season (Season 1) of the 87 cartoon, mainly for nostalgia. I'm simply too old for the 2012 show. I like the Archie books a lot, but it's not a favorite. I really enjoy playing the old arcade games tho. And there's a lot of TMNT paintings and artwork that captures my imagination also.

It sounds like we love very similar parts of this franchise, although, I started the 2012 show the other day and so far, I'm loving it. It's so cute.

[ssjup81]

I liked the show as a kid. It introduced me to the franchise and made me a fan of Rob Paulsen. The only gripe I had with the show, back then, was that Mikey couldn't use his nunchucks after a while without knowing why until years later. Thank you Europe! >< lol

Anyway, as of now...there are still some eps I find enjoyable, despite the cheesiness...like that ep where Donatello was shocked and thought he was like Batman and wanted to literally kill Shredder. I liked that episode so much. Mr. Nice Guy was another favorite of mine from back then that I still like now. Raphael Meets His Match is another since I really liked Mona Lisa and thought it was sad that she didn't come back. Her character was a wise ass like Raph, which was what I liked about his character. I was always drawn to wise-alleck characters. There are some others, but those stand out for me. I also seemed to like the self-referential humor and 4th wall breaking. Two jokes that have always remained with me were the ones in reference to Japanese language. One had them going through dimensions and the characters were speaking English (think it was the Usagi Yojimbo ep) and Raph was like, "An ancient Japanese dimension...of course they speak English." lol The other one was when some creature or spirit or whatever was turning NYC into ancient Japan and Donatello was wondering why the ancient released demon or whatever was speaking English. Raph said, without missing a beat, "This show can't afford subtitles." I love that type of humor and those lines are still funny to me now because it reminds me of how I felt when seeing the third movie. I hated hearing all of that English and wanted Japanese. lol

I think the show can be enjoyable if you view it as a product of its time and not really try comparing it to more modern expectations and standards. It was a kid's show that had to be mild because it was aimed at a younger audience and felt the show was a bit better when it was still syndicated and before it was put on CBS Saturday mornings, which had to tone things down even more.

[Wesley]

Originally Posted by ssjup81

I think the show can be enjoyable if you view it as a product of its time and not really try comparing it to more modern expectations and standards. It was a kid's show that had to be mild because it was aimed at a younger audience and felt the show was a bit better when it was still syndicated and before it was put on CBS Saturday mornings, which had to tone things down even more.

Agreed. Also, a lot of the humor such as Raph?s sarcastic remarks and the banter between Shredder and Krang went over my head as a kid, so parts of the show are actually more enjoyable to me as an adult, weirdly enough. I get the self-aware and 4th wall jokes now. And my current signature is taken from one of the best dialogue in the series imo.