Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
A Thing About Rats
TV Flash files “A Thing About Rats” as hour 3 of 191 in the TV Flash guide — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987–1996) on Syndication, season 1, episode 3, aired 1987-12-16, 25 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E03: listed hour 3 of 191 in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles guide, hour 3 of 5 in season 1. It aired 1987-12-16 (25 min). The listed hour before it is “Enter the Shredder” (S01E02). Next is “Hot-Rodding Teenagers from Dimension X” (S01E04).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
A scientist named Baxter Stockman has created a robot meant for hunting rats, called Mouser. Shredder mass produces the robot and programs them to hunt the biggest rat in New York - Splinter. Shredder wants Baxter dead because he knows too much. Michaelangelo finds out about Krang.
Viewer FAQ
Where does A Thing About Rats sit in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles guide?
S01E03 is listed hour 3 of 191 — hour 3 of 5 in season 1, season 1 episode 3.
When did Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles S01E03 air?
A Thing About Rats aired 1987-12-16 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…