Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Mean Machines
TV Flash files “The Mean Machines” as hour 9 of 191 in the TV Flash guide — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987–1996) on Syndication, season 2, episode 4, aired 1988-10-22, 25 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E04: listed hour 9 of 191 in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles guide, hour 4 of 13 in season 2. It aired 1988-10-22 (25 min). The listed hour before it is “It Came from Beneath the Sewers” (S02E03). Next is “Curse of the Evil Eye” (S02E05).

Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Upon finding the second fragment of the Eye of Sarnoth, Shredder uses it as a power source for a supercomputer named Omnis, in the hopes of opening a portal to Dimension X. Meanwhile, the Turtles must deal with machines that suddenly go haywire all over the city.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Mean Machines sit in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles guide?
S02E04 is listed hour 9 of 191 — hour 4 of 13 in season 2, season 2 episode 4.
When did Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles S02E04 air?
The Mean Machines aired 1988-10-22 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 2 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…