I was a big Turtles fan myself back in the day, but truth be told, after the Fall of '92 they didn't stand a chance. That's when we got a really good X-Men cartoon and a kick-ass Batman one. Then we got Gargoyles and Spider-Man, and goofy pizza chomping turtles didn't seem so special anymore. That all being said, I liked the 2k3 series about as much as Justice League and that ranks as my all-time favorite. The Turtles needed to mature to compete and the 2k3 series did just that.
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Ninja Turtles lasted until 1996??
- Thread starter Nocturnal28
- Start date
I shouldn't have used the word "shows" in the first sentence. Anyway, what I meant was that there was two different versions of the show. The syndicated version and the CBS Saturday morning version. Yes, they are the same SHOW but they are different VERSIONS of that show.
Still, my point stands. People remember the syndicated episodes a lot more than the CBS ones. And the show lasted so long on CBS because it's not like CBS had anything to replace it with. They weren't doing that well at the time. So, they were happy with whatever ratings they got.
Still, my point stands. People remember the syndicated episodes a lot more than the CBS ones. And the show lasted so long on CBS because it's not like CBS had anything to replace it with. They weren't doing that well at the time. So, they were happy with whatever ratings they got.
hamsterfreak
New member
Well it's counted as seasons of the same show and if you want to talk differences between CBS, CBS red-sky and syndicated TMNT you've got to remember that the show was incredibly inconsistant in animation and style. About the only deviding line was when Michelangelo lost use of his nun-chucks (which was always the case in the UK so it's kind of a moot point). Naturally people would be more familer with the syndicated episodes, they were aired more often afterall but to OG TMNT fans it was all the same show though most of those OG TMNT fans may or may not have seen the red-sky episodes because by then CBS had so many pre-emptions it was dang near impossible to catch the episodes as they premiered.
TMNT along with certain other shows of it's time had the benefit of airing on syndication and on a Saturday morning block. As I recall Darkwing Duck had the same for a while when it was on ABC and Disney Afternoon in syndication.
Something I'm not sure was touched on yet... is TMNT may have been able to stick around past 1996 if CBS hadn't decided to dump their regular Saturday morning slate for more education programing. I'm not sure how much longer it would have lasted but I do think it could have stuck around a bit longer as CBS seemed rather content with its success even then or maybe not given the last 3 seasons were just 8 episodes each but hey... that's still 3 seasons (even if it's more like 2 seasons worth of episodes).
The 4th live action movie was likely scrapped due to the steady decline of the live action movies success after the first one. By the third movie it just wasn't good enough for another one.
Also that dirty little secret The Next Mutation did show shortly after the final season of the original cartoon and TMNT were back on toy shelves. I've even heard that didn't do poorly but FOX wanted to put more support in Power Rangers so they dumped Next Mutation after a season. It's just as well... it was a pretty awful show.
Then finally TMNT dissapeared from store shelves after it more or less burnt out with the current generation due largely to the oversaturation of the toys varients and less success in the box office and on television than it had in the early 90s.
It wasn't too long before Mirage began trying to bring TMNT back starting with a CGI pilot which didn't look so great honestly... Then they went to Warner Bros. and the plan for a new 2D TMNT cartoon began. One more akin to the original comics. Eventually that was scrapped but you can see some of the designs on the official TMNT site. Finally in the early 2000's 4kids picked up the license for the brand and began work on the best Ninja Turtles animated series we've ever seen and possibly may ever see.
The original TMNT had a good strong run but eventually if you can't innovate the audience or "upgrade" the franchise the way Pokemon has for years (though not by much, but they're still really fun games) or deliver a consistantly entertaining product the way SpongeBob and The Simpsons have (give or take some critics opinions of either and Family Guy at this point). I think the real reason the original TMNT lasted as long as it did was kids like the toys and when they eventually tired of them the companies involved had to give TMNT a break.
But again, I do think it's possible we could have seen more of the original TMNT if CBS had not changed to educational programing for Saturday mornings but it's just as well that the old show ended. Its an important part of my childhood but it doesn't hold up so well these days... not beyond the 5 episode pilot anyway.
TMNT along with certain other shows of it's time had the benefit of airing on syndication and on a Saturday morning block. As I recall Darkwing Duck had the same for a while when it was on ABC and Disney Afternoon in syndication.
Something I'm not sure was touched on yet... is TMNT may have been able to stick around past 1996 if CBS hadn't decided to dump their regular Saturday morning slate for more education programing. I'm not sure how much longer it would have lasted but I do think it could have stuck around a bit longer as CBS seemed rather content with its success even then or maybe not given the last 3 seasons were just 8 episodes each but hey... that's still 3 seasons (even if it's more like 2 seasons worth of episodes).
The 4th live action movie was likely scrapped due to the steady decline of the live action movies success after the first one. By the third movie it just wasn't good enough for another one.
Also that dirty little secret The Next Mutation did show shortly after the final season of the original cartoon and TMNT were back on toy shelves. I've even heard that didn't do poorly but FOX wanted to put more support in Power Rangers so they dumped Next Mutation after a season. It's just as well... it was a pretty awful show.
Then finally TMNT dissapeared from store shelves after it more or less burnt out with the current generation due largely to the oversaturation of the toys varients and less success in the box office and on television than it had in the early 90s.
It wasn't too long before Mirage began trying to bring TMNT back starting with a CGI pilot which didn't look so great honestly... Then they went to Warner Bros. and the plan for a new 2D TMNT cartoon began. One more akin to the original comics. Eventually that was scrapped but you can see some of the designs on the official TMNT site. Finally in the early 2000's 4kids picked up the license for the brand and began work on the best Ninja Turtles animated series we've ever seen and possibly may ever see.
The original TMNT had a good strong run but eventually if you can't innovate the audience or "upgrade" the franchise the way Pokemon has for years (though not by much, but they're still really fun games) or deliver a consistantly entertaining product the way SpongeBob and The Simpsons have (give or take some critics opinions of either and Family Guy at this point). I think the real reason the original TMNT lasted as long as it did was kids like the toys and when they eventually tired of them the companies involved had to give TMNT a break.
But again, I do think it's possible we could have seen more of the original TMNT if CBS had not changed to educational programing for Saturday mornings but it's just as well that the old show ended. Its an important part of my childhood but it doesn't hold up so well these days... not beyond the 5 episode pilot anyway.
Some great responses. Thankyou all so far!!
Are the red sky episodes based more on the comic book source material? Had there been a passing of time between seasons 5 and 6, do we think the reboot could have come earlier? Were the red sky episodes as sincere in content as the 2003 reboot?
So were they still selling toys into 1996 as well?
I have experienced the return of "DUDE" in an ironic sense since about 2000, when that Aston Kutcher film came out with the TEENAGE DIRTBAG song.
Are the red sky episodes based more on the comic book source material? Had there been a passing of time between seasons 5 and 6, do we think the reboot could have come earlier? Were the red sky episodes as sincere in content as the 2003 reboot?
So were they still selling toys into 1996 as well?
I have experienced the return of "DUDE" in an ironic sense since about 2000, when that Aston Kutcher film came out with the TEENAGE DIRTBAG song.
Punny Gosling
New member
The red sky episodes had nothing more to do with the original comics than the rest of the series did and that is to say... having some common characters but even that's a stretch given how different they acted compared to the comics.
Dunno if the retool would have happened sooner if there was a break in the seasons... That's plausible but I guess we'll never really know.
Dunno if the retool would have happened sooner if there was a break in the seasons... That's plausible but I guess we'll never really know.
.: ZEIDO :.
New member
1997 actually if you count the live series. The series got the red screen background and the intro had scenes from the first movie back in 1994, the last season Shredder was around as the main villain. He did make a cameo in Season 10, and in the live series, was the leader of the Foot until Venus did something to him and the Foot disbanded. He was seen later on as a homeless man.
As do I, but remember how poor they had gotten? They started to dress the Turtles in sporting outfits and other silly gimmicks, it ended up getting really pathetic toward the end. They even started creating characters specifically for the toyline only and these characters ended up being silly and unneeded and just took up shelf space. I remember seeing TMNT toys in certain stores around 1996 but not everywhere, by this time I believe they were slowing down or were already done and just waiting to sell through inventory so stores can use the space for something else.