In retrospect, was the 4kids TMNT series a success?

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Kunmui

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Since there's strong indications that the show is finally coming to a close this season, as well as one DTV coming out in June, how do you think this show is going to be remembered?

Obviously it failed to repeat the same levels of tremendous success as the original 80's TMNT cartoon. Not only was that show a phenomenon, but it lasted 10 seasons and made 193 total episodes, which is completely unheard of for most cartoon shows. It really did have an amazing run from 1987 to 1996.

Now we have the TMNT 2k3 series. It started in 2003 and its looking like it'll end in 2009. It only lasted 7 seasons. It will have 155 total episodes plus one DTV if it concludes this year. In terms of episodes, it failed to reach the episode count of the original.

For all intents and purposes the show was always in the shadow of the original series, even though fan reaction toward it was overwhelmingly positive. My question is, what is TMNT 2k3's legacy?

The 80's toon is still remembered fondly over a decade since it ended, but the 2k3 series doesn't have the kids to remember it as much. It almost feels as if the entire show is going to be forgotten once it ends, most likely cause it aired on 4kidsTV, and nobody watched that. I honestly don't know if the show can be considered a success or not. Most people didn't know about it, it aired on an obscure Saturday morning block, and it will wind up forgotten about outside of the hardcore TMNT fanbase.

So, what is TMNT 2k3's legacy?
 
Well a 155 episodes is un heard of for an American cartoon too. It's quite amazing quite the achievement. Yes it did not reach or top the old series in episodes but it's own episode count is still quite the achievement. Did it fail because it did not beat the old show's episode count? No. How many Saturday Morning cartoons actually got to celabate having a 100th episode? Not a lot.

Sadly this show will be forgotten but it was a success, it pleased the fans and it lasted a long time. It did better then most other revivals regardless of their quality.

So yes it was a success in a sense but sadly it will be forgotten and will always be hidden behind the shadow of the old show.
 
I think only Scooby Doo, Smurfs, The Real Ghostbusters and the 80's TMNT show can claim that title, although I think Alvin & The Chipmunks came pretty close. Most Saturday morning cartoons barely lasted past two seasons.

But I think the main reason the current TMNT toon will be forgotten once it ends is because unless Disney XD aquires the airing rights, no other channel will have it. It failed to gain an audience on CN, and Boomerang would just shove it into a late night slot and only run the first season's episodes.

Basically, XD is TMNT's only hope of staying on the air and in kid's minds after the 09 season.
 
I'm really confused about why this show didn't catch on like the other great comic book cartoons. The animation, writing, and all that other good stuff was a lot better than most cartoons of its time yet it didn't develop a large following. Even when it aired on a better channel (CN) it didn't seem like it gained any popularity.

Its really upsetting most people don't know how great of a cartoon this show really is. It will go down as one of the most underrated cartoons ever. I feel the same way about The Batman. Forever living in the shadow of its predecessor to the general public.
 
They don't.

Just because Disney XD saved The Spectacular Spider-Man doesn't mean they'll save every other Saturday Morning show out there.
 
Personally I think it's up to debate on whether CN handled the show well when they aired it. I mean a cartoon doesn't make it up to 100 episodes unless it did something right (especially in a decade where the majority of cartoons die at 39-52).
 
They don't, but it seems like something they'd aquire given the chance considering all the other boy-centric shows they've got (Spider-Man; Superman/Batman; Power Rangers; Aaron Stone; etc). It just seems like a natural fit for the channel to pick the show up.
 
1. Nostlagia for the 80s show turned older people away.
2. Airing on a network no one watches. No matter how good a show is, if no one knows about it/can watch it then it's doomed.
3. Was probably too creative for most viewers to comprehend (each episode flowing into the next with not much downtime, and so forth). Would explain why they tried to dumb it down in the later seasons and make it more episodic to maybe attract a new audience.
 
Speaking as a person who grew up on the original and has siblings who are children of this era I have this to say:

When the new series premiered in 2003 I was excited. I watched it and loved it. Then, they did Fast Forward and I lost interest. And many others will say the same thing.

The show had 155 episodes, which is impressive, but that's only cause it aired on a block that had nothing better to air. Had it aired on Kids WB or CN it wouldn't have made it past Fast Foward. And, kids today don't really care about the show. It aired on 4Kids which is one of least popular blocks. I think kids will remember the show the same way we remember the CBS episodes of the original. Yes, we're aware of its existance but it's the syndication episodes we actually care about.
 
Fast Forward wasn't a bad concept, it was just a step-down from the previous 5 seasons. I recently rewatched all 26 episodes of FF and realized I did enjoy most of the episodes. Its a fairly fun arc with a new rogues gallery, and it does have a season long story with a conclusion. I never had any problems with it much.
 
The idea of time traveling Turtles reminded people too much of TMNT III. It was a turn-off. And speaking of movies...I think the 2007 CGI movie will probably be more remembered than the series. Why? Cause it was a legit hit! It opened at #1 (to the shock of everyone) and ended up grossing $95 million worldwide. While the series was only successful in 4Kids standards.
 
Much of the original backlash for it was because 4kids skipped over Season 5 and aired FF out of order like idiots.

I bet had Season 5 aired first in its proper place, FF wouldn't have gotten that initial backlash. We were all hyped at the time to see this "Demon Shredder" and then all of a sudden we see the Turtles in the future. I blame 4kids for not airing the seasons in the proper order. Of course now it doesn't matter anymore, as we have the DVDs and we watch it in the correct order.

Sure, the animation was cheaper and we had to stomach "It's Ninja Time!" in every damn episode, but other than that it was fairly decent. All I can say is thank goodness BTTS got rid of "It's Ninja Time!" that was truly one of the only major things of FF that bugged me.
 
while we can blame 4kids for airing the later seasons out of order (God the airing of season four pissed me off) at the same time he have to thank them for allowing season five to be released at all. They did not have to allow the crew to make the lost season at all. So thanks for allowing those twelve episodes to be completed 4kids but damn you for almost shelving the Demon Shedder season all together.
 
As far as I'm concerned, the 2003 TMNT cartoon was a huge success. The DCAU Superman cartoon only had what? 50 some episodes? The 2002 MYP He-Man had only 39 episodes. I would've been more than satisfied if the Fast Forward and Back To The Sewer episodes were never made. I just look at those as bonus episodes.
 
In terms of episode count I agree that its great we got so many episodes, but what I mean by success is...did anyone know and/or care about it outside of hardcore TMNT fans?

It honestly feels as if the only people who tuned into this show were fans of the old 80's Turtles who grew up and wanted to see a new incarnation.

Did this show attract anyone NEW to the TMNT franchise?
 
I don't believe so, and I do agree with everything you just said.

This show was successful for what it was, but it was never a mega-hit. Doubtful it will go down in history as anything special.
 
Well, it has aired for a couple of years now so it must've been successful in the eyes of 4Kids. Was it successful in my eyes? I would say yes because of its duration and the amount of money it made over the years. Did it make a lot of money? I don't know but it seemed to make enough to continue airing.

To be honest, I've never heard of TMNT until its 4Kids days.
 
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