The Original 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Is Officially On Pluto TV's Totally Turtles Channel
The Original 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Is Officially On Pluto TV's Totally Turtles Channel
It was the least clear arrival, but it happened!
Okay, you know the deal by now: At the Mutant Mayhem San Diego Comic-Con panel two weekends ago, the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series which originally aired 193 episodes from 1987-1996 on CBS was announced to have finally been acquired by Paramount, having owned the rest of the franchise since 2009. It would air on YouTube, Pluto TV, and digital linear channels, made clearest to be Nicktoons later in July, as press reports would reveal, as opposed to "next year" as was stated. Maybe that's the international rollout? The discrepancy hasn't been cleared. The Nicktoons airings were discovered first, followed by YouTube's uploads, and finally, just in time to not be last to arrive, the series was discovered on Pluto on Monday morning, July 31.
Of course, the channel is Totally Turtles. Where else would it be but the channel already dedicated to the three subsequent animated series of the franchise? All throughout Monday on loop, the first seven episodes, running through the initial five episode miniseries that makes up the first season, plus the first two episodes of season 2, "Return of the Shredder" and "The Incredible Shrinking Turtles". This is further than either other landing spot (at least through Thursday), but on Tuesday, at least by 1:30 PM Eastern, they will have added the next six episodes, as "Invasion of the Punk Frogs", the second season's eighth episode and thirteenth overall is the latest episode on the schedule. The only interruptions are "Breaking Ooze: An Inside Look at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem" paired with an episode of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and reairings of the first episode "Turtle Tracks", even into Tuesday night. Pluto grids don't stretch as far as linear TV channel guides that websites for them are able to grab.
When the season 1 compilation was uploaded to YouTube. there were concerning discoveries over scene and line removals, for example the pan over the city that opens the first episode was cut right to the carjacking by the eventual Bebop and Rocksteady with other criminal cohorts. Even the theme song was replaced by a cover. However, the latter may very well be a case of YouTube Copyright ID avoidance. None of the edits or changes exist on what was present on Pluto or Nicktoons, the latter because it's the show's more natural linear television habitat where all the contracted permissions still apply. The Nicktoons and Pluto versions also seem of higher quality than YouTube.
It is unknown what Totally Turtles's regular schedule will look like with the original series integrated into it. According to Flixed, the original series will head deep into season three, a 47-episode season, as far as next Tuesday, as apparently their guides span a week from browse date, but it’s probably subject to some change.
Source: Flixed