Foreword:
The 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, the one produced by Fred Wolf, had a strange broadcast history. Some of it aired on CBS Saturday mornings. Some of it aired in syndication on weekday afternoons. Some of it aired on the USA Network on weekday mornings. And some of it even got the Prime Time Special treatment.
As a result, the episodes were badly, badlyjumbled up from what their narrative chronology should have been. Not that there WAS much narrative chronology for most of the show’s run. While the bookending seasons did have legitimate serialized story arcs, the majority of the episodes from seasons 3 through 7 were episodic with only the occasional multi-parter and season finale to define the order of events.
That said, what little continuity there WAS in those seasons was ravaged, particularly during season 4, and viewing the show in either the broadcast or catalog orders will leave you confounded. So, having watched through the whole series and reviewed every last episode, I figured I’d try to assemble a workable viewing order along the way.
Keep in mind that TMNT had what can only be charitably described as “lax” story editing. There are a lot of irreconcilable continuity errors and contradictions which no amount of creative reordering can repair. My goal was to restore what felt like the “intended” sequence of episodes with maybe a little bit of liberal dot-connecting and imaginative bridging on my part.
Rather than break the episodes up by season, I decided to organize them by the location of the Technodrome or the standing of the main villains. See the Notes section at the end of the article for explanations about the order or various anomalies.
The Epic Begins
- Turtle Tracks
- Enter the Shredder
- A Thing About Rats
- Hot Rodding Teenagers from Dimension X
- Shredder & Splintered
The Technodrome in Dimension X
- Return of the Shredder
- The Incredible Shrinking Turtles
- It Came from Beneath the Sewers
- The Mean Machines
- Curse of the Evil Eye
- The Case of the Killer Pizzas
- Enter: The Fly
- Invasion of the Punk Frogs
- Splinter No More
- New York's Shiniest
- Teenagers from Dimension X
- The Catwoman from Channel 6
- Return of the Technodrome
The Technodrome at the Earth's Core
- Beneath These Streets
- The Old Switcheroo
- Burne's Blues
- Turtles on Trial
- April Fool
- Sky Turtles
- Attack of the 50-Foot Irma
- The Maltese Hamster
- The Fifth Turtle
- Enter the Rat King
- Turtles at the Earth's Core
- Attack of the Big MACC
- The Ninja Sword of Nowhere
- 20,000 Leaks Under the City
- Take me to Your Leader
- Four Musketurtles
- Turtles, Turtles, Everywhere
- Cowabunga Shredhead
- Invasion of the Turtle Snatchers
- Camera Bugged
- Green with Jealousy
- Return of the Fly
- Casey Jones - Outlaw Hero
- Mutagen Monster
- Corporate Raiders from Dimension X
- Pizza by the Shred
- Super Bebop and Mighty Rocksteady
- Beware the Lotus
- Blast from the Past
- Leatherhead, Terror of the Swamp
- Michelangelo's Birthday
- Usagi Yojimbo
- Case of the Hot Kimono
- Usagi Come Home
- The Making of Metalhead
- Leatherhead Meets the Rat King
- The Turtle Terminator
- The Great Boldini
- The Missing Map
- The Gang's All Here
- The Grybyx
- Mister Ogg Goes to Town
- Shredderville
- Bye, Bye, Fly
- The Big Rip Off
- The Big Break In
- The Big Blow Out
The Technodrome on the Dimension X Planetoid (European Vacation)
- Plan 6 from Outer Space
- Tower of Power
- Rust Never Sleeps
- Venice on the Halfshell
- Ring of Fire
- Shredder's New Sword
- The Irish Jig is Up
- Elementary, my Dear Turtle
- April Gets in Dutch
- Northern Lights out
- Turtles on the Orient Express
- The Lost Queen of Atlantis
- Artless
- A Real Snow Job
The Technodrome on the Dimension X Planetoid (Trapped in Lava)
- The Dimension X Story
- Son of Return of the Fly II
- Turtles of the Jungle
- Michelangelo Toys Around
- Peking Turtle
- Shredder's Mom
- Four Turtles and a Baby
- Turtlemaniac
- Rondo in New York
- Beyond the Donatello Nebula
- Planet of the Turtles
- Name that Toon
- Menace Maestro, Please
- Super Hero for a Day
- Back to the Egg
- The Turtles and The Hare
- Once Upon a Time Machine
- Raphael Knocks 'Em Dead!
- Bebop and Rocksteady Conquer the Universe
- Raphael Meets his Match
- Leonardo Lightens Up
- Were-Rats from Channel 6
- Funny, They Shrunk Michelangelo
- The Big Zipp Attack
- Donatello Makes Time
- Farewell, Lotus Blossom!
- Rebel Without a Fin
- Rhino-Man
- Michelangelo Meets Bugman
- Slash – The Evil Turtle from Dimension X
- Poor Little Rich Turtle
- What's Michelangelo Good For?
- Donatello's Degree
- The Big Cufflink Caper!
- Leonardo Versus Tempestra
- Splinter Vanishes
- Raphael Drives 'em Wild
- Big Bug Blunder
- The Foot Soldiers Are Revolting
- Unidentified Flying Leonardo
- My Brother the Bad Guy
The Technodrome Frozen in the Arctic Chasm
- Enter: Mutagen Man
- Michelangelo Meets Mondo Gecko
- Donatello's Badd Time
- Michelangelo Meets Bugman Again
- Muckman Messes Up
- Napoleon Bonafrog: Colossus of the Swamps
- Raphael Versus The Volcano
- Landlord of the Flies
- Donatello's Duplicate
- Leonardo Cuts Loose
- Pirate Radio
- Raphael, Turtle of a Thousand Faces
- Leonardo, the Renaissance Turtle
- Zach and the Alien Invaders
- Welcome Back, Polarisoids
- Michalangelo, the Sacred Turtle
- The Ice Creature Cometh
- Leonardo is Missing
- Planet of the Turtleoids: Part 1
- Planet of the Turtleoids: Part 2
- Rock Around the Block
The Technodrome on the Ocean Floor
- Krangenstein Lives!
- Super Irma
- Adventures in Turtle-Sitting
- Sword of Yurikawa
- Return of the Turtleoid
- Shreeka's Revenge
- Too Hot to Handle
- Nightmare in the Lair
- Phantom of the Sewers
- Donatello Trashes Slash
- Snakes Alive!
- Polly Wanna Pizza?
- Mr. Nice Guy
- Sleuth on the Loose
- Night of the Dark Turtle
- The Starchild
- The Legend of Koji
- Convicts from Dimension X
- White Belt, Black Heart
- Night of the Rogues
- Attack of the Neutrinos
- Revenge of the Fly
- Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter
- Invasion of the Krangazoids
- Combat Land
- Escape from the Planet of the Turtleoids
- Atlantis Awakes
- Shredder Triumphant
The Technodrome in the Dimension X Black Hole
- Get Shredder
- Wrath of the Rat King
- State of Shock
- Cry H.A.V.O.C.!
- H.A.V.O.C. in the Streets
- Enter: Krakus
- Cyber-Turtles
- Turtle Trek
Lord Dregg: Friend of Humanity
- The Unknown Ninja
- Dregg of the Earth
- The Wrath of Medusa
- The New Mutation
- The Showdown
- Split-Second
- Carter, the Enforcer
- Doomquest
Lord Dregg: Foe of Humanity
- The Return of Dregg
- The Beginning of the End
- The Power of Three
- A Turtle in Time
- Turtles to the Second Power
- Mobster from Dimension X
- The Day the Earth Disappeared
- Divide and Conquer
NOTES:
The Epic Begins
*There’s nothing to note about the continuity of season 1. It aired as a five-part miniseries, so the chronology is intuitive. Since the Technodrome wasn’t “stuck” anywhere this season, I took this segment’s title from the VHS tape that (crudely) compiled the first season into a “movie”.
The Technodrome in Dimension X
*Likewise, there isn’t anything to note about season 2. There’s a serialized continuity between “The Incredible Shrinking Turtles” and “Curse of the Evil Eye”, and Baxter Stockman hangs in there as Shredder’s lackey until “Enter: The Fly”, but after that it turns into strictly episodic adventures. This will be the default format for most of the show until the “red sky” era begins in season 8.
The Technodrome at the Earth’s Core
*There is very little episode-to-episode continuity in season 3, so it required only minor rearranging. That said, there were a few bits of discontinuity to fix-up.
*In “The Old Switcheroo”, Donatello doesn’t recognize the Driller Module and Splinter remarks that the location of the Technodrome is a mystery, so I felt it ought to occur near the very beginning of the season.
*In “Burne’s Blues”, Shredder and Krang begin a brief arc where they need to fix the Technodrome’s air conditioner. In “Turtles on Trial”, they steal the part needed to fix it. And in “April Fool”, the episode opens with Shredder mentioning that even though the AC is fixed, it’s still damn hot in the Technodrome. So these episodes have to happen in succession.
*I placed “Sky Turtles” in the sixth spot of the season because of an off-hand joke from “Enter the Rat King” where Donatello references the events of “Sky Turtles” as episode 6. Obviously it could not be the sixth episode of the series, but shuffling it to the sixth for the season didn’t hurt. They’d try this same gag later with “Slash – The Evil Turtle from Dimension X”, but in that case the numbers will be so far off that you can’t accommodate the joke. This is me stupidly trying too hard.
*“Green with Jealousy” ends with the Technodrome stealing a tiny bit of energy. “Return of the Fly” opens with the Technodrome using its last bit of energy it has to reposition itself. The episodes were already ordered in succession, so I didn’t have to rearrange anything. I just thought I’d point that out.
*“The Big Rip Off”, “The Big Break In” and “The Big Blow Out” are a three-parter.
The Technodrome on the Dimension X Planetoid (European Vacation)
*These episodes aired in Japan and parts of Europe alongside the season 4 episodes, where they chronologically take place, but were not broadcast in the United States until season 7 (where they aired on the USA Network). The 13 European Vacation episodes take place after “Plan 6 from Outer Space” (the first episode of season 4), which ends with the Turtles winning the trip to Europe.
*There is no logic to their trek across Europe whatsoever; they backtrack frequently and the dates provided in certain episodes would have them bouncing between seasons like crazy. I chose to go with the order created by Danish TMNT fan “Danetello”, who organized a more reasonable mapping of their progress across Europe (accounting for seasons and dates).
*That said, even his order had a continuity error in it, as April leaves Paris in “Venice on the Half Shell” which forces it to take place near the start of the European Vacation cycle. As a result, my order has the Turtles going from Paris, to Italy, to Portugal, which is pretty counter-intuitive if you look at a map. But jeez, there’s really no way to rectify much of this season (for example: the first two episodes, “Tower of Power” and “Rust Never Sleeps”, are completely incompatible with each other as they tell alternate versions of the Turtles arriving in Paris and the Shredder finding out that they’re there).
The Technodrome on the Dimension X Planetoid (Trapped in Lava)
*The first 13 episodes of season 4 aired in syndication while the rest of the episodes aired on CBS Saturday mornings. The syndicated episodes were the last to use the original title sequence and episode title cards. So, unfortunately, shuffling the syndicated and Saturday morning season 4 episodes around will result in jumbled title sequences.
*Okay, so about the Technodrome and the volcano. The Technodrome gets trapped in solidified lava in “The Dimension X Story”, an episode that for whatever reason is cataloged near the end of season 4. I went through every episode of this season and looked at all the establishing shots of the Technodrome, trying to determine which episodes took place before the volcanic eruption and which episodes took place afterward. I took screenshots, listened to dialogue for the word “lava”, compiled lists, revised them, and what was my conclusion?
*There is no way to tell. Establishing shots from “Plan 6 from Outer Space”, an episode that occurs before the volcano erupts, are reused in episodes that take place after the Technodrome has been buried in lava (the characters even mention the lava problem in the dialogue). Some episodes will use establishing shots where the Technodrome is buried in lava, then later use establishing shots where it isn’t.
*So I just gave up. And even then, some of those establishing shots where the Technodrome is “free” aren’t even that clear, as half the time the background painter still rendered the Technodrome as buried or wedged into the mountainside. So you can’t particularly tell one way or the other. I just moved “The Dimension X Story” to the start of the post-European Vacation episodes and was done with it.
*That said, “Son of Return of the Fly II” has to take place immediately after “The Dimension X Story” because the episode opens with Shredder and Krang reeling from the eruption and trying to get a status report on the Technodrome.
*I shuffled “Beyond the Donatello Nebula” toward the start of the season because it features a subplot where Donatello is searching for alien turtle life. “Planet of the Turtles” opens with him having found it, so the two episodes go together pretty well.
*“Name That Toon” and “Menace Maestro, Please” are a two-parter and have to go together.
*“The Turtles and the Hare” and “Once Upon a Time Machine” are also a two-parter. Combined, they formed the “Awesome Easter”, as it was called on VHS. These episodes aired between seasons 4 and 5 (but are cataloged as season 5). However, they have the original title sequence and title cards which were discontinued after the syndicated episodes of season 4, which is why I put them near the start of the season.
*A recurring character named Morgan J. Lofty appears in 3 episodes this season, but the order of his appearances was screwed up. His first appearance should be in “The Big Zipp Attack” (where the Turtles save him and his skyscraper). His next appearance is either “Rebel Without a Fin” (where he tells the Turtles, “You’ve done it again”) or “Slash – The Evil Turtle from Dimension X” (where he tells the Turtles, “This isn’t the first time you’ve helped me”). “Slash – The Evil Turtle from Dimension X” aired before the other two, hence why I had to rearrange them.
*Incidentally, in the season 6 episode, “Donatello Trashes Slash”, Michelangelo jokingly mentions that they first met Slash in episode 74. Unfortunately, there’s no manner of shuffling that can force “Slash – The Evil Turtle from Dimension X” into the #74 spot; not without messing up existing continuity. So I couldn’t pull a “Sky Turtles” with this one.
*“My Brother the Bad Guy” is a season 5 episode. Normally, the seasons would end with the Technodrome getting displaced, but season 4 ended on a non-finale for some reason and the Technodrome got waylaid in the season 5 opener.
The Technodrome Frozen in the Arctic Chasm
*Most of these episodes are from season 5 and yes, I shuffled “Enter: Mutagen Man” ahead of “Michelangelo Meets Mondo Gecko”. I just felt that this segment of my list should open with a Shredder/Krang story. I indulged myself. Forgive me.
*“Landlord of the Flies” is one of those episodes with irreconcilable continuity that I was talking about. It takes place after “Son of Return of the Fly II” but will be ignored completely by the season 7 episode “Revenge of the Fly” (which will also pick up where “Son of Return of the Fly II” left off). This is what I have to work with here, people.
*For most of season 5, the Technodrome is lodged in the bottom of a dark, icy chasm. In “The Ice Creature Cometh”, it briefly escapes from the chasm and into the light of day, only to be frozen in place by a melting ice monster. Any episode with an establishing shot that showed the Technodrome not in that chasm, but in the light of day, I shuffled to the end of the season.
*“Leonardo is Missing” is a season 6 episode, but it features the Technodrome in the arctic, so it takes place during season 5.
*I had a little trouble with “Planet of the Turtleoids”. It was a prime time special that aired at the start of season 5, then was broken into two-parts and rebroadcast on Saturday mornings in the middle of the season. Even more confusing, it is officially cataloged as being the finale of season 5. The establishing shot sees the Technodrome lodged in rocks, rather than ice, though the villains still use Driller Modules to get around, so they aren’t in Dimension X or anything. It’s a weird anomaly, but since the Technodrome is in the light of day and not at the bottom of a chasm, I guess it goes at the end of the season (as it is cataloged).
*Like season 4, season 5 didn’t have a real finale (since “Planet of the Turtleoids” never actually aired as a finale). So “Rock Around the Block”, the season 6 opener, is the one that waylays the Technodrome for the next stretch of episodes.
The Technodrome on the Ocean Floor
*The Technodrome remained on the ocean floor for seasons 6 and 7. I already mentioned that the European Vacation episodes aired during season 7 in the US and are officially cataloged as season 7 episodes, but they aren’t part of the “real” season 7. “Night of the Dark Turtle” is the first episode of season 7, at least as it was broadcast on CBS.
*Incidentally, as another bit of irreconcilable continuity, the European Vacation episode “The Lost Queen of Atlantis” and the season 7 episode “Atlantis Awakes” feature two completely different depictions of Atlantis. And neither episode is aware of the other.
*There aren’t any multi-parters or necessary continuity to this season. However, “Escape from the Planet of the Turtleoids” ends with the Technodrome stealing a little bit of power. “Atlantis Awakes” sees the Technodrome using its last bit of power to attack Atlantis. I figured much like “Green with Jealousy” and “Return of the Fly”, they’d go together fairly well so I shuffled them that way. I moved “Atlantis Awakes” down to just before “Shredder Triumpant” because the active Technodrome seemed like a good primer for the season finale.
The Technodrome in the Dimension X Black Hole
*Season 8 is the beginning of the “red sky” era where the series got a redesign and a more “serious” edge. This season, and all that follow, have a strict episode-to-episode continuity so there’ll be no more reorganizing from the cataloged order.
Lord Dregg: Friend of Humanity
*Season 9 is the first of the seasons to see Lord Dregg as the primary antagonist. In this season, he pretends to be a friendly alien out to help the Earth. Of course, he just wants to take it over. April exposes him in the finale.
Lord Dregg: Foe of Humanity
*Season 10, the final season, features Dregg forgoing any pretenses of deception and trying to take the Earth by force. The Turtles succeed in defeating him and the series ends.
Other Stuff
*There have been appearances from the 1987 Turtles outside of the TMNT series proper. I didn’t include these appearances because most of them are a bit too, uh, “meta”. Yes, even by this show’s standards.
*For example, “Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue” features Michelangelo, yeah, but in the “real world” where he teams up with Alvin and the Chipmunks, Garfield, Slimer and Alf to convince a teenager that marijuana will destroy him and his entire family. Just… no.
*The “Turtle Tips” PSAs aired during season 4 as a bridge between episodes (TMNT was broadcast in a one-hour block during that season). I mean… I GUESS those PSAs could take place during the show, but they feature the characters talking directly to the audience. I mean, more so than usual.
*The “Mutant Turtles: Superman Legend” anime OVAs, a two-episode series, feature some incompatible continuity… even between their two episodes. The first episode features the Technodrome underground, the second episode has it in Dimension X. The OVAs were released after Japan stopped dubbing the American cartoon, so I view them as a splinter timeline branching off from “Donatello’s Badd Time” (the last episode dubbed in Japanese).
*All that being said, I would definitely say the 4Kids-produced “Turtles Forever” film and the various cameos/crossovers with the Nickelodeon TMNT cartoon are “canon”. I have absolutely no idea where you’d stick “Turtles Forever”, considering what happens to the Technodrome in that story, but you probably weren’t supposed to think that hard about it. The cameo in “Wormquake!” could really take place anywhere between season 3 (because Casey Jones appears) and season 7 (because the Turtles are drawn in their pre-“red sky” designs). There’s going to be another, more substantial crossover in season 4 of the Nick show, but it hasn’t been broadcast yet.