Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Turtle Tracks
TV Flash files “Turtle Tracks” as a desk essential hour — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987–1996) on Syndication, season 1, episode 1, aired 1987-12-14, 25 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E01: listed hour 1 of 191 in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles guide, first listed hour of season 1. It aired 1987-12-14 (25 min). No earlier hour is listed in this guide. Next is “Enter the Shredder” (S01E02).
Essential hour: “Turtle Tracks”. Turtle Tracks is four pizza-eating mutants and a rat sensei: the 1987 voice, the theme, merchandising as plot, Eastman/Laird sanded into slapstick.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
The Turtles meet April O'Neil for the first time. Splinter explains the origins of himself and the Turtles.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Turtle Tracks sit in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles guide?
S01E01 is listed hour 1 of 191 — first listed hour of season 1, season 1 episode 1.
When did Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles S01E01 air?
Turtle Tracks aired 1987-12-14 and is listed at 25 minutes.
Comics first or the 1987 cartoon?
The cartoon sanded Eastman/Laird into kid-friendly slapstick and became the voice most later versions copy. 1987 is the theme, the pizza, and merchandising as plot — franchise religion, not the grim comic.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Cowabunga as a business plan: four pizza-eating sewer mutants, a rat sensei, and a toy glut that owned late-decade Christmas lists. The cartoon sanded the Eastman/Laird comics into kid-friendly martial-arts slapstick and accidentally minted a franchise religion. The 1987 series is the voice, the theme, and merchandising as plot.
Cowabunga used to be a business plan, not a meme kit. Syndication, 1987 through 1996: four mutant turtles trained by Splinter battle Shredder and the Foot Clan — pizza, a rat sensei, and a toy glut that owned late-decade Christmas lists. The 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, from David Wise and Fred Wolf, sanded Eastman/Laird comics into kid-friendly martial-arts slapstick: Cam Clarke's Leonardo, Townsend Coleman's Michelangelo, Barry Gordon's Donatello, Rob Paulsen's Raphael. One hundred ninety-three…
Open the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles package · Season 1 hub
Filed against
- Cam Clarke as Leonardo
Cam Clarke voiced Leonardo on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — cowabunga as a business plan, four pizza-eating sewer mutants, a rat sensei, a toy glut that owned late-decade Christmas lists. The cartoon sanded Eastman/Laird comics into…
- Townsend Coleman as Michelangelo
Townsend Coleman voiced Michelangelo on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — cowabunga as a business plan, pizza in the sewers, a 1987 cartoon that sanded Eastman/Laird comics into kid-friendly martial-arts slapstick and accidentally minted a…
- Barry Gordon as Donatello
Barry Gordon voiced Donatello on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — cowabunga as a business plan, pizza-eating sewer mutants, a rat sensei, a toy glut that owned late-decade Christmas lists. The 1987 cartoon sanded Eastman/Laird comics into…
- Rob Paulsen as Raphael
Rob Paulsen’s Raphael made cowabunga a business plan on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — pizza, a rat sensei, toy-glut Christmas lists — then ran amok as Yakko-era velocity on Animaniacs. 1987 sewer martial-arts slapstick; variety-cartoon…