Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Once Upon a Time Machine (2)
TV Flash files “Once Upon a Time Machine (2)” as hour 106 of 191 in the TV Flash guide — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987–1996) on Syndication, season 5, episode 2, aired 1991-03-29, 25 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E02: listed hour 106 of 191 in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles guide, hour 2 of 20 in season 5. It aired 1991-03-29 (25 min). The listed hour before it is “The Turtles and the Hare (1)” (S05E01). Next is “My Brother, the Bad Guy” (S05E03).

Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Set up as a follow-up episode, Hokum Hare and the Turtles hitch a ride on a time-traveling train to 2036, where they discover that Shredder has plans for the future New York City. Ultimately, the Turtles of both the past and the future must team up to thwart Shredder before his actions cause all of time to be destroyed.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Once Upon a Time Machine (2) sit in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles guide?
S05E02 is listed hour 106 of 191 — hour 2 of 20 in season 5, season 5 episode 2.
When did Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles S05E02 air?
Once Upon a Time Machine (2) aired 1991-03-29 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 5 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…