Let’s Talk About Season 1 of ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’

Posted 7 years ago by Television

TMNT

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost a year since Nickelodeon’s TMNT show debuted. As of a few days ago, the first season is over with a finale that included Roseanne as Kraang Prime and a pretty awesome Technodrome.

I’ve been loving the show, the new toys, the new merchandise, and pretty much everything in between. But I want to know what you all thought of the first season on the new show. We’re going to be recording a podcast about this very topic and I thought it would be cool to incorporate your opinions into the discussion.

Personally, I love what they’ve done with the new Turtles, and I’m really looking forward to more seasons. Season 2 sounds pretty exciting, with Casey Jones and Slash joining as recurring characters. I’m sure Nickelodeon has plenty more up their sleeves too.

So, let’s get a discussion going. What’d you like/dislike about this season?

  • I think the shorter list would be what I didn’t like, and I can’t even think of anything.

    The whole Nick relaunch has been a complete success to me. The cartoon is certainly the driving force for everything and it has been done SO well. It pleases old fans with some subtle nods to vintage stuff and brings a whole new level of fun at the same time which I appreciate. The voice acting is top notch and the animation is very cool.

    What is best is the driving story line. A lot of animated shows tend to be one-off episodes or tiny little mini stories but the new TMNT has a true progression with character development and a focus on good story telling. You can feel how much the creators and everyone working on the show really love the TMNT universe and are doing their best to make ALL fans happy.

    Overall I completely dig the new series!

    • I agree! I love that they took their time setting everything up, and didn’t jump headfirst into everything right off the bat. I also love Splinter and Shredder’s characters, especially in the finale. I can’t wait to see them butt heads again in the next season.

  • I really loved the whole series. I was worried when those first test animations came out years ago, but the writing and animation is so solid that I look forward to it whenever it’s on. It’s rare that I find a show written for kids, but still entertains me as an adult, and not in a double entendre/hidden adult jokes kind of way. It’s just really entertaining. This series is also the first time (outside of the Mirage comics) that I’ve really enjoyed Mikey as his own character, and more than that, I really love his scenes and his personality. Every turtle really shines and even though they’re different in a lot of ways from previous versions they really play up the things that make them who they have always been. There is a lot of depth to the characters and relationships.

    The only things I really had a problem with (and these are minor problems) is I think Jaime mentioned once about how the city seems really sparse and kind of plain. Their lair and some of the battle locations are really detailed and great, but a lot of times when they’re patrolling NYC they never see another person which is weird. The other thing that bugs me is the highly inconsistent release schedule. If they’ve been able to generate so much buzz with a schedule that I have a hard time figuring out with the power of the internet I would love to see what they could accomplish with a schedule people could count on.

    Really though, I cannot wait for season 2.

    • Yeah I think I heard that they stretched the first season out so there wouldn’t be a long break in between seasons (Season 2 starts next month!) but yeah the constant dry spells were a major bummer.

      And it did seem like NYC was more populated during the final 2 episodes. Maybe they’ll have a bigger budget for the other seasons and can put in more background characters.

      • I noticed more background characters as the show went on. I also wondered about time/budget constraints.

        I didn’t realize season 2 starts in a month! That is super exciting!

  • The Sewer Den

    Everyone is spot on here. What I really appreciated was the pacing of the season as a whole. Although there was a lot of solid action in each episode, big things were never revealed too quick. I mean, it took 26 episodes to see Splinter and Shredder duke it out. Talk about anticipation! Same can be said about the reveal of the Technodrome, Kraang Prime, and process of Fishface and Dogpound becoming mutants. Good things take time.

    Also, 26 episodes without Casey Jones? THAT’S a super slow boil.

    • It’s all about the lead up!

  • the surfing pizza

    I love the show also. What’s missing is Bebop and Rocksteady. The show has given a nod to every other minor obscure character from the original series, but not them. Are they really that weird and unfathomable to modern children? Why are they so outcasted and left out from this nostalgia reunion? It’s Tokka and Razaar all over again with Dogpound and Fishface, and I’m left to pretend that they are the spirit inhabitants of Bebop and Rocksteady.

  • I’ve really dug the new series and 90% of the characters especially April, the Turtles and Master Splinter. The showdown between Splinter and Shredder in the finale was also pretty bad-ass.

    The 10% that’s disappointed me a bit are the mutants, they just seem less creative somehow. Fishface and Dogpound are definitely no replacement for Bebop and Rocksteady either. Don’t get me wrong, I think that the new mutants each have good qualities… they just seem a tad bit more average than in the OG series.

    Otherwise it’s hands-down one of the best reboots I seen!

    • Agree with the mutants part. They seem to just be third-tier characters in the overall scheme of things.