Burne Thompson as a boss

[Icebot]

I was wondering what everyone thinks of April's channel 6 boss Burne Thompson. Do you think he was a nice boss throughout the series? Would you want him to be your boss?

[Jephael]

Nice boss? The dude was a jerk! I wouldn't work for him even if I was promised a date with Carmen Electra!

[MikeandRaph87]

He is a jerk with a heart who is obessed with ratings and thinks that exposing what he precieves as a threat and high ratings by getting footage of the TMNT.He was a newhound in his youth and worked his way up to the head of the station.Think JJ Jameson lite. It seems he may have been able to buy the station he worked in all his life from the unseen station owner by the Get Shredder! episode. It is never clear but suggested by his dialogue. I think it was a mistake to write out Channel Six when Dregg came in because Burne would have been the perfect person to broadcast Dregg's lies and the fallout from the turth could have made for great characterization.I hoped by now in Mirage or IDW or something a station manager named Burne Thompson would have shown up just for a storyline trying to expose the turtles.

[CyberCubed]

I liked Burne. Especially when he tried to be the old newshound reporter again like when he and Vernon were doing detective work and then got abducted by those Elvis aliens.

[Cowabunga Carl]

I enjoy the character. He is a lot of fun, not a great boss but I've had worse. He is just doing what he thinks is right. After all he has a news station to run and ratings are important. If I had en employ like April, I'd be stressed out too.

I mean lets look at it this way he is paying her money to do her job, and she keeps running off with the Turtles. That would make me pissed off too.

[General Tragg]

He can be ruthless, not caring whose toes he treads on, so long as he can get the story he wants and gets the highest ratings. Wonder if Channel 6 is owned by News Corporation?

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by Jephael

Nice boss? The dude was a jerk! I wouldn't work for him even if I was promised a date with Carmen Electra!

He's probably just a parody of bosses in popular culture at all.

[Impervium Gem]

Oh dear, working for Burne Thompson must be a rough experience. He yells too much to be a pleasant fellow.

He had some funny moments in the show though that still make him an enjoyable character. It was hilarious how he was talking to that Tiffany girl on the phone, telling her he was around 35, but all of a sudden Vernon appeared, calling "Happy 50th birthday!"

Yet, as every other character, Burne lives his life and acts the way he has grown used to it and running a television business is certainly tough, always have to be one step ahead of the competitors, get the biggest scoop before anyone else does. Some jobs are difficult to combine with kindness anyway. However, losing one news van after another is definitely not a nice situation either.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by Impervium Gem

Oh dear, working for Burne Thompson must be a rough experience. He yells too much to be a pleasant fellow.

He had some funny moments in the show though that still make him an enjoyable character. It was hilarious how he was talking to that Tiffany girl on the phone, telling her he was around 35, but all of a sudden Vernon appeared, calling "Happy 50th birthday!"

Yet, as every other character, Burne lives his life and acts the way he has grown used to it and running a television business is certainly tough, always have to be one step ahead of the competitors, get the biggest scoop before anyone else does. Some jobs are difficult to combine with kindness anyway. However, losing one news van after another is definitely not a nice situation either.

I also like Tiffany's appearance in "Return of the Shredder", screaming when the TMNT arrive.

[Cipher]

He violates several basic tenets of journalism every episode he's in.

So, no.

[Icebot]

At times, it seems he doesn't have any common sense, he doesn't care about anyone else's common sense either. When Rocksteady and Bebop pretended to be janitors, Burne thought it was possible to do the 6 o clock news at noon and promoted them. He also had April cover a story about a flower and Vernon do one about an erupting volcano. They both wanted the other story and I thought it made perfect sense but no, Burne said, I'm not paying you to be happy, I'm paying you to do work. And in Burne's Blues, he wanted April to broadcast some secrets the turtles didn't want to give away.

When Vernon told him he gets seasick, he just didn't care. He would still fire him if he didn't cover the story on the big navy ship. This is one of the most selfish things I've ever seen anyone do. I get seasick too so I know what it's like. I would not trust Burne to be my boss.

[pannoni1]

Mr. Thompson's character did go through some changes as the series progressed and showed quite a bit of variety. Seasons 1 and 2 show him very tough, and when the subject of Turtles is brought up, it forces him to go haywire over how good he is, even forcing April to lie about the Turtlecom. But the episode "Burne's Blues" was a turning point, as thanks to the Turtles, they freed him and Vernon from the UFO. While he was still fairly tough the rest of that Season, he only seemed mildly disinterested in the Turtles at that point, and only blamed the Turtles when he wasn't a witness in the action. He got along with Vernon the best in the early seasons.

But by Season 4, Burne had seemed to become more normal, with his "go-go-go-go-go" attitude and simply telling April where to get the next story. This continued through Season 7, and I wouldn't mind having Burne as my boss if he acted that way.

But then comes Red Sky, and as soon as the Channel 6 building crumbles, Burne suddenly betrays the Turtles more than at any point, so much that it presumably led April to becoming a freelancer. It worked to the Turtles' disadvantage in some of those episodes and really forced them to act like adults rather than teenagers for the first time.

Overall, Mr. Thompson shows how tough certain executives are in today's world that sends a message to you to try your best and never give up.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by pannoni1

Mr. Thompson's character did go through some changes as the series progressed and showed quite a bit of variety. Seasons 1 and 2 show him very tough, and when the subject of Turtles is brought up, it forces him to go haywire over how good he is, even forcing April to lie about the Turtlecom. But the episode "Burne's Blues" was a turning point, as thanks to the Turtles, they freed him and Vernon from the UFO. While he was still fairly tough the rest of that Season, he only seemed mildly disinterested in the Turtles at that point, and only blamed the Turtles when he wasn't a witness in the action. He got along with Vernon the best in the early seasons.

But by Season 4, Burne had seemed to become more normal, with his "go-go-go-go-go" attitude and simply telling April where to get the next story. This continued through Season 7, and I wouldn't mind having Burne as my boss if he acted that way.

But then comes Red Sky, and as soon as the Channel 6 building crumbles, Burne suddenly betrays the Turtles more than at any point, so much that it presumably led April to becoming a freelancer. It worked to the Turtles' disadvantage in some of those episodes and really forced them to act like adults rather than teenagers for the first time.

Overall, Mr. Thompson shows how tough certain executives are in today's world that sends a message to you to try your best and never give up.

I love when he throws arrows at a turtle picture in "Super Hero for a Day".

[FoxZerro]

I never really understood why Burne is so hard on April. I mean she consistently is bringing in good stories because of her "inside sources." Plus think of all the publicity it brings to Channel 6 when you have a reporter who a major Terrorist is constantly trying to abduct. Why would you not consider it an asset that the news is being brought right to your doorstep instead of having to go out and find it.

I mean perhaps its because he thinks that April will start to take advantage of him if he ever gives her any slack, but still its a pretty hostile work environment when you are consistently bringing in News Stories about Hijacked parties, sunken condos, and major terrorist attacks and are treated like you are the weakest link in company chain.

On April smartest thing she ever did was hang out with the Turtles, so much crazy crap happens to them by accident that it would be a newsgirls dream

[TMNT_Guy]

The guy believes the Turtles are a menace, but when confronted with the truth he excepts it.

The guy lost a hot girl because he chose the truth. How could you not find that commendable?

[Mona_Lisa]

I really liked Burne's character and would like to see it return....but I wouldn't really want him as a boss.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by FoxZerro

I never really understood why Burne is so hard on April.

Just to create a tension, of course.

[FoxZerro]

Originally Posted by Swedenfan 1982

Just to create a tension, of course.

The poor girl is regulary captured and threatened with Death... That's not enough tension, we also have to show her try and please an unappreciative boss.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by FoxZerro

The poor girl is regulary captured and threatened with Death... That's not enough tension, we also have to show her try and please an unappreciative boss.

No, I mean the tension Burne & Vernon against April and Irma.

[Killer Moth]

Originally Posted by FoxZerro

The poor girl is regulary captured and threatened with Death... That's not enough tension, we also have to show her try and please an unappreciative boss.

True enough. April having a normal work-life with stable, happy people would be seem "boring" on Saturday morning television, so got to spice it up. And he had his moments, the best one in dialogue would be the European vacation's second episode, as he said to April as she was begging to go to Paris in regards to the various power outrages (or the by-product of whatever Shredder was doing), "would you really care about this if it was happening in Cleveland?"

Win.

Cipher's point about Burne being a walking violation of journalism tenets is valid, as he started as a caricture, be it of J. Jonah Jameson or whomever. Except, in recent years, the caricture is becoming almost prophetic, as the real-life mainstream media has been breaking down to not quite to Burne's level, but getting ever so close with each passing day.

(For those wanting an actual example, one did materialize with NBC and GM trucks in '93. You can read a rundown in the link below.)

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,305709,00.html

The question is whether Burne was meant to be an intentional jab on mainstream journalism, whilst still being an abrasive-yet-likeable character. Regardless, the constant misfortune that happened to Channel Six -- especially in Red Sky -- didn't help matters. Such misforture was beyond his control, and it was bound to take its toll on the man.

I don't know if I would work for the man, but considering April (until Red Sky, and even then, she stuck it out for a while) Irma and Vernon stayed by him for the most part -- where many in the real world would not -- he might have been doing something right. Or, everyone working for him really needed their jobs, so whichever.