Watching through the OT completely for the first time

[sdp]

I condensed all my posts in this thread so it's easier to read here, it's like a long review of each season.



I made a similar thread last year for the 2k3 show. Now I've already watched all of the OT up to S4, after that, i've watched almost nothing, just a few episodes here and there. As a kid I definitely remember watching the TMNT but not that much or as much as other cartoons, I'm guessing they aired at times I wasn't able to watch or maybe I was just too young to remember plots because I have next to no recollection of watching the show as a kid besides the two VHS tapes I had of them. Obviously I watched them enough times since all the voices and songs are instantly recognizable but yeah, it wasn't until the DVDs started coming out that I really got to watch the OT, but I ended up having other expenses and Lionsgate BS release schedule got me to stop buying the dvds after a while, but now I'm going to make a full run of the show. Since it's not clear when Turtles Forever takes place in the OT I'll just watch it towards the end.

Basically in this thread I will post general comments on seasons/episodes, and continuity. I'll be trying to watch about 5 episodes per day but we'll see how that goes. I watched Season 1 again today, there is stuff I've mentioned before like what happened to the other mutant gang members but I also wonder how exactly Shredder met Krang what happened to the foot clan and why did he decide to follow Hamato to NY, heck Splinter makes a reference that he thought Shredder wasn't alive anymore, maybe there was some type of battle between Shredder and Hamato before he went to NY, Shredder appeared to die so Hamato was still shunned by the foot clan, therefore Shredder has no foot soldiers in the OT since they're all in Japan thinking Hamato killed Oroku Saki, just a weird theory I came up to today.. The humor is so abstract, I love it, too bad later seasons don't carry the same humor. I also feel bad for Baxter Stockman, why was he sent to jail, he wasn't really a bad guy at all here just threatened by the Shredder to do his evil stuff, heck he wasn't even aware of everything he was doing he even comments that Shredder must really hate rats. I also really liked how much they fight foot soldiers, they never really use them after this season.

Edit: I'll also try to be watching the episodes in the best order, I'll be using this thread for placement for the first seasons and will be adding to it.

[CyberCubed]

Aside from the Euro vacation eps, most of the later seasons have some really good eps. I think the weaker eps of Seasons 4 and 5 were my least favorite, but at the same time the good eps of Seasons 4 and 5 are really good.

Also I was considering doing this but would rather wait for the Season 10 DVD which will likely come out next year right before the Nick show starts.

[sdp]

Finished Season 2, overall this season is pretty strong, the short amount of episodes probably has to do with it. The only episode that feels "filler" is NY's Shiniest, and even then that episode isn't bad. It starts pretty good with the return of the Shredder, and the eye of Sarnath saga gives us some nice continuity and Splinter gets as much closure as he will in the series with Splinter no more, it's kind of weak but it is re-stated in the finale when Splinter mentions "Yoshi is no more, only Splinter" or something along those lines. I never liked the Neutrinos but I do like the romance between Kila and Mikey for some reason. I loved Baxter as a human and as a fly, man you feel so bad for him, in this show he has it just as bad as 2k3 Baxter. The anti-turtle squad from the punk frogs episodes is kind of weird, they are actually fairly well trained, it would have been neat to see them again later on but they disappear after this, the Punk frogs could have been a bigger threat but I guess not much was done with them as enemies. The season finale is great with the Technodrome falling into the lava, it would have worked as a series finale as well if you think about it. I like that so far in the series Shredder isn't that incompetent sure he's run from the turtles and they've made him trip or thrown pizza at him but they haven't been able to defeat him in combat, he actually beats them pretty badly in the eye of sarnath saga and it's Splinter both in S1 and S2 that confronts Shredder and is able to defeat him in the finales. Sadly some of the more abstract humor from S1, now unto S3, this may take a while.

[pannoni1]

I did this last summer. I found that Season 1 makes a good feature movie if it wasn't a TV series; just a great introduction to the TMNT on the screen! I've always owned the first two episodes on the tape. Plus, you can definitely watch it straight through without a break.

Season 2 was similar to what Cybercubed described, but I just have a fondness for the Case of the Killer Pizzas since it was the first ever VHS I had as a kid so it's a personal jewel to me. I actually thought the first Punk Frogs episode was weak. It's doable in a single day if it's a day off.

Season 3 definitely takes time and patience to get through, taking at least a week without too much strain. But even with the poorer episodes ("The Gang's All Here", "Mr. Ogg"), but it's still worth it, with so many new recurring characters introduced, foot soldiers still a fairly frequent enemy, plus it has the best mix of background music IMO with some newer cues, but still most of the Season 1 and 2 cues used throughout. You have the first Rat King, Casey Jones, Leatherhead, Lotus Blossom, and Usagi Yojimbo episodes that are hallmarks of the franchise that are essential to watch. 4 of those 5 (along with Metalhead in its own episode) have a figure released from Playmates 1989 line. You also have 2 Baxter episodes and many memorable "VHS episodes", such as The Old Switcheroo, Cowabunga Shredhead, Super Rocksteady & Mighty Bebop, Pizza by the Shred, Attack of the Big Macc, The 4 Burger King episodes, and even some more. In addition to the first episode and the last three, that's half the season's episodes that are quite memorable in some way. These were the same set of episodes I kept watching over and over again after school for a few years. If you don't feel like watching through the whole series though, this still makes a good stopping point, given what lies beyond is generally watered down in tone from the first 3 Seasons (let's not talk about Red Sky yet).

Season 4 is where things start to go downhill from how I watched it completely You have of course fewer Shredder episodes, episodes without Master Splinter, an increase in occurances of April getting captured, and less violent fighting, among other cliches for the Saturday Morning CBS market at the time. But there are still some fresh moments that season, from some new music cues, the first Slash, Mona Lisa, and Mondo Gecko episodes that had figures released, plus the memorable episodes from the Sewer Heroes VHS series.

Generally, I'd pace yourself to do a runthrough of 4-6 weeks, or roughly about 4 episodes of weekdays and 10 episodes on weekends. To keep yourself from getting too bored, look at some of the episode discussions on this forum, various pop cultural references, and jokes to relate. It's OK to skip episodes when you're familiar with any series, but no fanhood would be complete without doing a runthrough at least once, especially considering the upcoming Nick toon is coming out, in order for some logical comparisons to be made.

[Mr._Mutant_Man]

I find myself not really being able to get past season 4. I'm pretty much only nostalgic for the seasons I actually watched as a kid. After season 4, I started reading TMNT Adventures and that became my TMNT fix until I lost interest.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by Mr._Mutant_Man

I find myself not really being able to get past season 4. I'm pretty much only nostalgic for the seasons I actually watched as a kid. After season 4, I started reading TMNT Adventures and that became my TMNT fix until I lost interest.

Considering the show picks up after Season 4, I don't know how you made it through those Season 4 mad scientist episodes and won't sit through the better ones.

I even feel like the humor got better.

[Filespit]

Originally Posted by pannoni1

I did this last summer. I found that Season 1 makes a good feature movie if it wasn't a TV series; just a great introduction to the TMNT on the screen! I've always owned the first two episodes on the tape. Plus, you can definitely watch it straight through without a break.

In Sweden they released season 1 as a feature movie on VHS/DVD, but now that I think of it I think they skipped episode 3. Well, major parts of it anyway. Baxter isn't in the "movie" at all for example.

[ABrown]

Originally Posted by Mr._Mutant_Man

I find myself not really being able to get past season 4. I'm pretty much only nostalgic for the seasons I actually watched as a kid. After season 4, I started reading TMNT Adventures and that became my TMNT fix until I lost interest.

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Considering the show picks up after Season 4, I don't know how you made it through those Season 4 mad scientist episodes and won't sit through the better ones.

I too am only "nostalgic" for seasons 1-4. It was right around the beginning of season five that I too stopped watching the show. But I also agree that there are many very good episodes past season four.

Originally Posted by Filespit

In Sweden they released season 1 as a feature movie on VHS/DVD, but now that I think of it I think they skipped episode 3. Well, major parts of it anyway. Baxter isn't in the "movie" at all for example.

Yup, it's called "The Epic Begins": http://www.amazon.com/Teenage-Mutant...5534453&sr=8-1. It was available in the U.S. as well.

[gobo]

Originally Posted by sdp

Watching through the OT completely for the first time

Need any heavy-duty pain-killers yet?

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by gobo

Need any heavy-duty pain-killers yet?

Fo' Real.

I can't imagine how people do complete series marathons in less than a month. I LOVE the show but... geez, the mind can only take so much.

[CyberCubed]

I usually rewatch the series about once a year. But I don't do all the eps in 1 month, I watch it over the course of 2-3 months.

[sdp]

well i'm not watching it all in one day, I'm watching about 2-5 episodes per day or so whatever I have time. Each dvd of Season 3 has strong episodes which makes it very tolearable for every few stinkers you get a few great episodes in each dvd. Also it is true that many krang/shredder eps are "vhs" classics. S3 overall has lots of villains introduced and other recurring characters which makes those episodes more memorable. Usagi was made into such a badass in his appearances and it screams spin-off, odd that none ever came out of it outside the space usagi pilot. April is actually called a red head, the neat thing about OT April is I can totally see her as a red head or brunette or even didrty blonde, since the coloring was so inconsistent. While Shredder was shown as a threat in the previous two seasons it's in this one where he seems more of a goofy villain, he still doesn't get defeated by the turtles in a fiar fight but he is now defeated by being thrown trash/paint/pizza/etc which really cheapens him.. I wonder if the episodes with the turtles winter outfits take place at the same time. The clip show episode shows how different the first season really is from what the show became in S3, S2 was more of a transitional season but S3 is definitely what I and people think about when they think of the OT. So rocksoldiers are mutated rocks? That's not how mutagen works but I guess it's meant to be something else? Krangs android body moves without him a few times, kinda odd. Which reminds me of why did they have to electrocute to get him to work in S1

One question I have is how does Shredder not know where the turtles lair is, they've found it more than a few times whether by Mousers/Lotus or other of Shredders plans and yet he still can't find it? it's not very logical. There are also so many alien species introduced so far. Maybe a bit too many SHredder Krang episodes but overall S3 is pretty fun, and has a great ending, I was intimidated by the number of episodes the season had but they are all fairly enjoyable.

Now unto S4, where some of the worst episodes apparently come from but I remember liking it for the most part when I watched it. we'll see. I'll also be seeing the European episodes when they're supposed to take place and I'll comment on those first.

[CyberCubed]

Season 4 is a mix of really great episodes and "throwaway" episodes, but even then they're not god awful.

I also recommend watching the European Vacation episodes where they fit in, so skip ahead to the Season 7 discs if you have them.

[ZariusTwo]

Yeah, the European episodes also all have the original opening sequence, so they fit perfectly with season four, which was, I think, the last season to use them

[gobo]

Originally Posted by ZariusTwo

Yeah, the European episodes also all have the original opening sequence, so they fit perfectly with season four, which was, I think, the last season to use them

Yep. That was the opening sequence for the syndicated/non-CBS eps. So, unless you consider the Hokum Hare eps Season 5 (I don't), then you're completely right.

[themaxonline]

I just started watching the show again as well. My first time in two or three years. It'll also be my first time watching it in full since season 9 came out. I'm hoping by the time I get there, Season 10 will be out.

I'm nearly done season 2 and it's been about a month and a half. I only watch it when I'm exercising on my new elliptical machine, lol, so that's about two episodes a day, or most days when I'm on except I caught a bug over new years which took over a week off, plus my time away visiting for the holidays hence why it has taken me over a month to get through just 16 episodes or so.

I'd put my thoughts on the show as I watch it here but then I wouldn't have anything to say anywhere else and/or will be repeating myself from what I have already said. There are a lot of episodes in season 3 I'm looking forward to though!

[CyberCubed]

I hope Season 10 comes out in August, right before the Nick show starts in September. Lionsgate seems to release the DVDs around the time the next big TMNT thing happens.

Remember Season 9 came out almost exactly when the IDW TMNT comics started in 2011. Before that, we had to wait nearly 2 years from Season 8's release in 2009.

[gobo]

Originally Posted by themaxonline

I'd put my thoughts on the show as I watch it here but then I wouldn't have anything to say anywhere else and/or will be repeating myself from what I have already said.

I guess that means, "I'd put my thoughts on the show as I watch it here but [I'm too lazy]". People repeat themselves frequently around here. It's not a problem unless you start multiple threads on the exact same thing; not even a different aspect of the topic. So, find yourself a new excuse, eh?

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by Filespit

In Sweden they released season 1 as a feature movie on VHS/DVD, but now that I think of it I think they skipped episode 3. Well, major parts of it anyway. Baxter isn't in the "movie" at all for example.

"A Thing about Rats" is aviable on video even in Sweden, as "Cowabunga!". The VHS is with "Vänner från Dimension X" ("Teenagers from Dimension X"). The DVD is on the "Fyra Muske-Turtles" ("Four Musketurtles"), even packed with another episode, "Råttornas konung" ("Enter the Rat King"). But the dub is not the same.

[themaxonline]

Originally Posted by gobo

I guess that means, "I'd put my thoughts on the show as I watch it here but [I'm too lazy]". People repeat themselves frequently around here. It's not a problem unless you start multiple threads on the exact same thing; not even a different aspect of the topic. So, find yourself a new excuse, eh?

Believe you me. It's not due to me being lazy. I'd love to ramble on and on about my thoughts on the turtles...! And on and on. Shall I accept the challenge?