Ninja Turtles: Next Mutation - When the Turtles Met the Power Rangers 

Leonardo: "we good guys gonna stick together" Robin: "I think we should be enemies." Leonardo: "certainly"

To be fair, Phels, mind control is probably fairly easy when there's not much mind TO control. She probably could've dangled a bunch of keys in front of them and it would've done the trick. Which would've been rather on-brand for Next Mutation unfortunately.

Here's a fun bit of trivia: The original Turbo cast allegedly had no idea their characters were being replaced until they saw an ad for PR auditions in the newspaper. While Jason David Frank (Tommy) had hoped to leave the series for some time, the others wanted to stay. I do think they were better at setting up the Rangers' replacements in Mighty Morphin. Kim's arc alone is pretty great.

At long last, the evil has been defeated, and what a ride it was. These reviews were incredibly entertaining, shame the show couldn't match them. Still feels like the accumulation of this shows problems is that the biggest idiot of the series winner and runner up were Leo and Splinter, the two TMNT characters that really shouldn't be portrayed as whiny and incompetent

To give a clearer idea of how much Power Rangers Phelous had to watch: he had to watch the entirety of the “Zordon Era” aka the first 6 seasons. This in total is 293 episodes and a movie just to be as thorough as possible

I seriously wasn't sure if the Rita Repulsa line "So Billy got a B, huh?! THAT GIVES ME AN IDEA!" was the setup of a real episode, or if I was just imagining it. Phelan answered a strangely specific question for me!

Man, the next mutation reviews are over... it was a fun ride and i full enjoyed every episode my guy. Hope to get something like this again soon. It was great. I could easily binge watch your entire next mutation reviews over and over

Finally, another episode of History of Power Rangers!

Definitely the kind of crossover to blow the minds of 90s kids everywhere, on paper at least.

I'm really going to miss these videos, way more entertaining than the actual show was. But now that it's over I guess Phelous is gonna have to find a New Way.

Not sure if you'll see this comment. When you originally released this series back in February 2020 I was ill. Unfortunately things have gotten worse, but this series has been a staple of excellent distracting entertainment from my real world problems. Looking forward to any and all other content. But, I feel the need to say thank you for this supremely researched series. Thank you, Phelan. Keep up the terrific work, good luck, and stay safe.

I don't know why Astronema bothered turning the turtles "evil". Considering these turtles are most likely to help the villains when they're "good", you'd think that this would have the opposite effect.

Man, your recurring insert gags are always great in these series retrospectives but Doofy Mortarboard Michelangelo might have gotten the biggest laugh of them all.

Well this was one wild ride Phelous, can't believe it's been almost 2 years since you started this and honestly this show makes it feel like it's been a shell of a lot longer. It's sad to think this show could have been the last note the TMNT would have gone out on if the 2003 series didn't revive the franchise.

You gotta love how the turtles literally walk onto the open manhole in the Power Rangers episode when they are summoned by the villain.

Yeah, the whole thing with "Passing The Torch" was WEIRD. We know why it was done out of universe but in-universe it's just bizarre and rushed. The old team hasn't has had time to see if these people have what it takes to be rangers and to quote Linkara, they're tossing the keys to the powers over to a bunch of untested noobies. Also alot of problems you have with PR do get addressed but the "Zordon Era" (MMPR-Lost Galaxy) can be a bit cheesy. I'd recommend shows from the later years like Time Force, Dino Thunder, SPD, RPM (this series is what fans hold up as a PR series taken more seriously while still maintaining it's identity).

And with that, the Next Mutation can finally be put to rest. How sad that these Ninja Turtles were portrayed a lot better in a crossover than in their own show. Truly this was the New Way.

Gotta say I totally agree with Phelous about Venus. Personally I think she's just an easy target for people who dislike the concept of her and/or female Ninja Turles in general. Personally as a fan of both series, I can say that the crossover wasn't terrible and when I saw it when I was younger it was awesome to see. Also they at least treated the TMNT with respect which makes sense as its probably not uncommon that fans of power rangers started out as fans of TMNT like myself. Though I don't mind Astronoma's campier early portrayal in Power Rangers in Space (personally she's one of the better Power Rangers antagonists that aren't the iconic Rita and Lord Zedd). I did get a kick out of the face Phelous used for Astronoma in his "This character is Brain Dead" recurring gag cause its just perfect (as her plan was your typical "poorly thought out villain plan where the villain ends up sabotaging themselves").

To be fair power rangers as a series fixed alot of the problems you listed AFTER in space, i think the writers just suffered from having to contuine the series for more then 200+ epiosdes , when they started writing each season as standalone they were given more freedom to expand characters and vilians of the series and up to the more recent series they would try to avoid using stuff from past seasons as much as possible

Despite not watching much Power Rangers at the time, I honestly have clearer memories of this crossover than anything from The Next Mutation. The twists on the Michaelangelo is brain dead gag here were hilarious. I'm surprised that not only was Michaelangleo wasn't the biggest idiot of the series despite that gag, but also that none of the turtles were the biggest idiots in this crossover. Even though Venus doesn't have the best reputation within the fanbase, she still really comes off much better than any of the other turtles and is really the least of the series' problems. This was such a great Super Series. I always hoped that you'd cover the series and I'm so glad that you did. Each episode was always funny and fun to watch. I'm looking forward to any other Super Series that you plan to do in the future, but I'm sure that I'll rewatch your Next Mutation videos often as well.

(Updated because I completely forgot you were covering this episode) NINJA TURTLES THE NEXT MUTATION'S BIGGEST IDIOTS: Episode 1 East Meets West Part 1: Master Chung Episode 2 East Meets West Part 2: Michelangelo Episode 3 East Meets West Part 3: Splinter Episode 4 East Meets West Part 4: DragonLord Episode 5 East Meets West Part 5: Leonardo Episode 6 The Staff of Bu-Ki: DragonLord Episode 7 All in the Family: Bonesteel Episode 8 Silver and Gold: Michelangelo Episode 9 Turtles' Night Out: Michelangelo Episode 10 Meet Dr. Quease: Donatello Episode 11 Windfall: Stupid Old Man Episode 12 Truce or Consequences: Wick Episode 13 Unchain My Heart Part 1: Leonardo Episode 14 Unchain My Heart Part 2: Raphael Episode 15 Unchain My Heart Part 3: BoneSteel Episode 16 Unchain My Heart Part 4: Splinter Episode 17 Mutant Reflections: Dr. Quease Episode 18 King Wick: Leonardo Episode 19 Like Brothers: Leonardo Episode 20 Going Ape: Leonardo Episode 21 The Guest: Dr. Quease Episode 22 Trusting Dr. Quease: Donatello Episode 23 The Good Dragon: Raphael Episode 24 Sewer Crash: Silver Episode 25 Enemy of my Enemy: Splinter Episode 26 Who Needs Her: Splinter Power Rangers in Space Season 6 Episode 4 Shell Shocked: Astronema Leo still reigns idiot supreme while Venus, ironically, manages to get away unscathed in the show. But sure, Peter Laird, let's blacklist the least dumb character in this busfire of a show.

That final swinger gag was the perfect way to cap this off! My hat off to you sir.

Next Mutation Turtles during the events of PR In Space: Venus: The earth is under attack. We have to help. Mikey: I am too busy playing a game. Leo: We'll be exposed. Ralph: Forget humans. They stink. Come on Venus, let us go on a date. Then Zordon's good wave hits the turtles. The turtles become proactive and vow to protect NY city properly.

Rather you love or hate these crossovers, ya gotta admit there the perfect but rare kind of gems to come across.

Michelangelo: You're asking a turtle who lives in a sewer to explain a cosmic event? It's actually funny to hear this version of Mikey actually saying something smart/funny for once.

Fun fact: Saban later reused these ninja turtles suits in a TV movie where the turtles are seen drifting aimlessly outside the Earth's atmosphere. Giving the next mutation turtles the only fate they truly deserve.

I'm genuinely surprised that Leonardo won most brain dead character, but I guess this is the new way

The Next Mutation reviewed by Phelous helped me get through the majority of the pandemic. I am sad to see this go. Thanks, Phelous!

I liked the fact that the actor who played Billy took the time between seasons to learn martial arts to sync up better with the Japanese inserts.

Gotta give this show more credit than Next Mutation. The Turtles try to use their weapons, they have better fight moves, no obnoxious cartoon sounds, Venus was useless so nobody gives a shit, and Michelangelo wasn't brain-dead stupid. He even asks an understandable question to the villain <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1015">16:55</a>. Like, you can tell the writers of Power Rangers had a better understanding of who the TMNT are than the ones on their own show. They even say "Cowabunga" at the end. Something their own show never even tried.

I almost wish the next mutation had more episodes so i could listen to you review them all. This series was absolutely hilarious.

I think this episode is why I didn't think so poorly of the TNM Turtles growing up. I only ever saw a few clips of the proper show because it would air as I got home. But I watched every episode of PR:IS, including this one. And yeah, here they're portrayed as goofier than the Rangers, but not gratingly so. And I think that was how I remembered them for the longest time. Goofy but heroic. Oh, how I wish that were the actual case...

I can’t believe we made it through The Next Mutation alive! We could never have survived without your expert guidance, Phelous. Without you, there would be no way to find any humor in this wretched series. So thank you for getting us through The Next Mutation as painlessly as possible, and double thanks for making the nightmarish journey actually fun. You’ve got such a knack for finding the funny in the least comedic situations; it’s a rare gift that you make the absolute most of, and we as your audience really benefit from your observations of an otherwise-terrible show. Keep up the awesomeness! 🖤

THANK YOU for highlighting/looping Astronema's snarky facial expressions, there was nothing I got a bigger kick out of than her making those faces at the Turtles. As for the rest of it, yeah, as much as I have always stood up for the few genuinely fun bits of Next Mutation, mainly Venus being an interesting character to me, the voices here were assssss. At least the Next Mutation voice actors were talents who have done a lot of great anime and syndicated cartoons, no matter how bad the TMNT were made to look in Next Mutation, but these voices here were all way too samey, super happy to finally see you cover it. Thanks for all the work, Phelan, this was a blast. Now I'm just counting down the days until we get your review of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, there were plenty of moments watching it in the theater where I couldn't help but wonder what your impressions were gonna be.

If you ever feel the urge to dip your toes back into Power Rangers, I recommend series like Time Force, Dino Thunder, SPD, Jungle Fury and RPM. They have a lot of what you thought the earlier seasons lacked since the show switched to a stand alone format with occasional team-ups after this. Dino Thunder would be a good transition point since Tommy Returns as a Ranger in the newer format.

Honestly, as much as I love power rangers, the early zordon era could be a bit much due to the general cheesiness, three seasons of the same suits, and like 136 episodes of mighty morphin. Zeo and turbo were fine, and I’ll give turbo credit that it got better when they brought in the new cast, and it ended with the villain actually beating the rangers.

You know what the sad thing is? That choreography for the Turtles is probably the best they've looked in a straight fight scene since Jim Henson was running the show.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="339">5:39</a> A GOOD moment? It was a fantastic moment, it was the culmination of their growth over the entirety of the Zordon era. From bullies to good natured bumblers to legit trying to save people. If that isn't character growth I don't know what is. Astronema was a fantastic villain. Elgar was not. And sure Astronema did end up resorting to the monster of the day plots but she was still great. In Space also gave us something fans have been wanting for years: Legit evil Power Rangers. <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="463">7:43</a> I mean it's KINDA implied that Divatox is said sister but it's never outright stated as such. <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="985">16:25</a> I understood the first few words.

Having a cross-over with Power Rangers didn't do Masked Rider any favors. It is sad that this cross-over has a peak of what Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation could have been had it been ran by competent people.

With the exception of not explaining that they were hypnotized by Astronema to fight the Power Rangers, this is the best that the Next Mutation Ninja Turtles have ever been. It's almost like they hail from an alternate universe where the show is good, if not at least decent.

The Phelous edition of the Bulk & Skull sound could go with so many things, its like the christmas gift we didn't know we needed.

This would've made for a great Crossover with Linkara. Still, this is a proper send-off for the crazy Next Mutation. And Phelous can regain his brain cells.

A thought just occured to me: when Zordon’s Z-Wave wiped out “all evil threatening the Galaxy” would that have killed the Foot Clan and the Rank? Did Andros killing Zordon save us from Season 2 of the Next Mutation? It’s official Andros is THE greatest Red Ranger who ever lived

It amazes me that they’re slightly more competent here than in their own show🤔

Fun fact at least in Latin America this crossover is often considered one of the best of PR. That's mostly because most of people didn't watch Next Mutation and just assume these turtles are based on the OG cartoon.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="773">12:53</a> it’s probably a coincidence but I’d like to think the Turtles tossing the ball around to deal with the monster of the week is inspired by Goranger’s (aka the REAL OG Rangers from Sentai) finisher which featured them throwing a ball around to finish off the monster.

I FORGOT THERE WAS AN EPISODE LEFT!!! I literally did a little dance to the opening theme. LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME, PHELAN

And then the turtles got oofed by the Z wave at the end of in space.

man, having an actual fight scene feels so weird. Where are the goats screaming? Where are the doorbells?

"We got our own space ship!" "This ship will self destruct in 60 seconds." LOL!! That's like if someone jumped aboard a driverless train heading towards a fallen bridge and says, "I got my own train!" seconds before it plummets into the abyss. Also, why didn't Donatello just push the Cancellation Button??

Flattop would have actually been a better name for the monster than what he actually was called: Electrotramp.

I can imagine the regular writers of Next Mutation watching these two episodes and being flabbergasted. _"Wha-what is this? Where are all the sound effects? Why are the turtles acting like they have a brain? Why aren't they fighting with each other? Who wrote this crap?"_

i think Phelous would like some of the later, post-zordon seasons of power rangers. they did a good job at some of the things he wishes was in more of the early seasons of power rangers leading to in-space. (Time Force and SPD in particular are peak quality for the series in particular, not counting the sentai). the power rangers seasons are alot mroe self contained afterwords as if they were their own standalone series with hte occasional crossover episode

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="645">10:45</a> This is sadly something very common in Power Rangers itself, especially in recent seasons, where people just forgot about a GIANT ALIEN INVASION. Hell, two seasons later in Lightspeed Rescue, someone flat out says "there's no such thing as monsters." Just WOW! And that's a season where the people KNOW the rangers identities.

Damn, what a ride. Even in the crossover.

The comic book line would have made more sense if they were crossing over with Big Bad Beetleborgs.

Glad this series serves as a sort of timeline for the pandemic as it began right before the pandemic was declared and ended as the restrictions start to lax up a bit

Yeah in hindsight the longer Power Rangers went on the more vestigial elements it accrued as it changed seasons, though I believe in the case of Elgar this was (like a lot of things in In Space) a cost saving measure as the Eclipter suit wasn't available to use in the early parts of the show. This kinda thing stopped happening once they got into Lost Galaxy though it still had a bit of this by having Bulk and Professor Phenomenus, but only in like a hadful of episodes. They pretty much just adopted the Super Sentai approach of just having a new cast every season and only brining old Rangers/Villains back for the season requisite crossover.

It's nice to see the end of the series with the Turtles being slightly competent

It feels almost bittersweet, but the "Next Mutation" reviews are now over and I almost feel a little sad that there isn't any more mockery to be done to this stupid show. HOWEVER, no one deserves to put up with this show for any longer than they should, so it's good poor Phelous never has to sit through another brain-melting episode of NM. Thank you for doing this series Phelan; it has been non-stop laughs the whole journey!

"Nothing is accomplished here. Nothing is accomplished here. Waste... of... TIME!" That should've been the theme song to 'TMNT: Next Mutation'.

Venus: "Astonema, the princess of evil, is a SWINGER!"

Preppy Lord Zed and Rita look like they’re gonna become a different type of villain; closing down the teen center to build luxury apartments.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="927">15:27</a> I like that aspect of the show. Dark Spectre is set up as a big threat, serves a lot of narrative purpose, but the heroes never get to fight him, and he's not even the big bad of the show. He's a red herring essentially. There's a difference to a pointless villain, and a villain who had a point, but that point wasn't being the antagonist.

"I hate Zordon" -Andros From the Power Rangers in Space Musical Tour

Who knew the best episode with the turtles wasn't in their own show

Phelous should do a video on tmnt 2003. Honestly, he deserves to watch some good tmnt after sitting through the next mutation...

VERY excited for this! Thank you Phelous, for including these crossover episodes into the Next Mutation reviews! NO one else is going to do these, and that's why Phelous is King of the obscure!

Astronema’s actress looks so cute… even when overacting

To be fair to In Space, Astronema had been draining Dark Spectre's energy via the Psycho Rangers in a ploy to eventually destroy him herself. Darkonda just happened to do it first, and it only cost him his last life to do so.

My love for Power Rangers has been ongoing for 27 years. Possibly my favorite TV franchise. I remember meeting the In Space cast and being held by the actor who played TJ.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="140">2:20</a> Well it helped that Adam was played by Johnny Yong Bosch who went on to voice some of the most memorable anime characters. Namely Lelouche vi Britannia (Code Geass) and Ichigo Kurosaki. (BLEACH)

Imagine if instead Astronema just turned them giant and we had an entire episode of them just getting their asses kicked by the Astro Megazord.

I’m gonna miss these reviews! They were hilarious and informative! I swear I thought Next Mutation was a fever dream! I remember being in my late teens when it came out but forgot about it! Keep up the good work phelous!

Those goat noises accompanying Astronema made me laugh much more than they should have... Also I find it hilarious that In Space was more respectful of the Turtles as characters in their one appearance than the entirety of Next Mutation.

I don't get why Astronema even needed to brainwash the Turtles when they've already said how much they hate humans.

And now the Next Mutation journey is at its end. It was a wild ride. Thank you, Phelous, for enduring it all the way.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="575">9:35</a> she must heard DragonLord talks about wanting to be part of the alliance of evil in the last episode lol

Please keep the biggest idiot award around for future series. It was a great addition.

Is it weird that I find Astronema's snarling lip kind of sexy? Yes. Yes it is.

In Space's behind the scenes is an interesting one. Space was going to be the final season of PR, so they wanted to go all out. Going for darker storytelling (as far as you could with a kids rating, anyway), more internal feuding, and villains giving villains more depth (That of which was fully realized in the next season Lost Galaxy), Returning characters from past seasons, etc. They heard and saw old promos that the sentai footage they were gonna use, Megaranger, was space-themed and implied they were going to space. They found out when they got the footage that the sentai wasn't going to space because Megaranger was more VR/Video Game-themed with the only real space stuff was the zords. The Staff largely went "Screw it, we're doing it live!" and when and made In Space using whatever set, prop, location, or whatever to work around the sentai footage to make a Space Power Ranger show. The first couple of episodes were them largely flying by the seat of their pants with duct tape, pencil and paper in hand until they found their footing and effectively brought Power Rangers back from the brink and started somewhat of a golden age of that Saban era.

I find it amusing that Saban wouldn't bother to bring in the actors when Fox was willing to shell out to get the entire X-Men cast brought down to voice their characters in the Spider-Man series.

So… We’ve reached the end. What a journey we’ve had.

Well, this wasn't quite as embarrassing to watch as the entirety of Next Mutation was. For a moment you had me worried, but I made it through this one without cringing even once, what an accomplishment!

I remember watching the crossover before Next Mutation and this episode gave me high expectations for the series.

It’s a Christmas miracle! I’ve been waiting on this one. Thanks, Phelous…Happy Holidays!

I admire you for watching 6 seasons of a show you're not really into for the sake of researching your main series crossover. Incidently any chance you could do a retrospective on ReBoot? Seeing as how it was Mainframe Entertainment's project prior to Beast Wars (Beasties) and there's a LOT of history both storwise and productionwise I'm sure you'd be able to make an engaging video(s) on it.

Wow! Didn't think we'd get to the Power Rangers in Space crossover episodes so soon! I was for sure that this would be done during January of next year, and you'd focus on some Holiday stuff... But I guess better now than never. And with that... The Super Series of Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation is finally... mercifully... over. Boy, what a journey it's been. Every "brain dead" moment, every stupid sound effect during fight scenes, every missed potential with this show... It was a really fun time I had. This was one of the best Super Series you have done, and I have to give my gratitude for enduring this mess of missed potential. These reviews have made me laugh like never before, and I will cherish these reviews like I will cherish the memories of my life... I don't think these reviews will ever be topped... The wit, the humor, the research, and all the madness... I could binge watch this Super Series in one day and I would enjoy every bit of it! It is that good! Heck, I'd probably have more of a "pretty fun night" than what Spawn Wave called the 2020 Game Awards (seriously screw him) with these reviews. I know it's your opinion, and I should probably watch the things being reviewed for myself and carve my own opinions, but considering how infamous Next Mutation is, I'd just quit within the second episode. What more can I say than... Thank you, Phelous. This Super Series was truly more than FIVE YEARS IN THE MAKING!

Regular Next Mutation was one of the only Michelangelos without a kinda raspy voice

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="946">15:46</a> Admittedly it was a missile said to be able to destroy a planet but yeah the Rangers never fighting Dark Specter is a major flaw, I do wish he'd come back for an anniversary season to fight.

Was good to see no stupid UK edits in this crossover.

I have loved Power Rangers since the very beginning, and I was shocked to find out that the Ninja Turtles were gonna be in a crossover episode. Also, In Space is one of my top 5 favorite Power Rangers seasons, because it was space themed, it had amazing character and story moments, and it introduced the greatest team of evil Rangers of all time, the Psycho Rangers. Also, if you want a better crossover of MMPR & TMNT, check out the 2019/2020 5-issue comic mini-series published by Boom! Studios and IDW Publishing.

The true finale of Next Mutation. At least they'll go out strong?

I love the "Nothing is accomplished here" bit was the best thing I have seen in a long time

I really enjoy these episode-by-episode reviews. Your MKC reviews so brill and funny that I still revisit them, and these TMNT NM reviews are a great follow up to that. I always wondered just how bad this show was, but never could get past the first couple episodes; seeing this is a much more palatable alternative, and shows us exactly why this show was so reviled, and cancelled. Thanks so much, Phelous.

This deep dive you did into the Next Mutation is one of the funniest things I have gotten to experience. Bless you for enduring it and making these videos. I REALLY hope that the reason you watched ALL the Power Rangers episodes up to this one was not solely so that you could review this episode! Maybe you are planning on hitting the Power Rangers next? I am sure there is a lot of material to skewer. I watched the early years, making it up to the first few episodes of Zeo before the villain change to the ultra-lame Machine Empire made me throw in the towel. That was the last straw - I just could not take all the obnoxious changes.

This is the only time you’ve covered something Next Mutation related where I don’t feel like banging my head into a wall. The distinct lack of goat and other brain numbing sound effects probably has a lot to do with that.

I just got off of a 13 hour shift. Phelan, you just made my otherwise miserable day. Thank you. Na-na-na-na-ninja!

The fact that donatello doesn't get upset with venus helping him like he usually does when she does anything in the next mutation as well as the 4 main turtles having slightly better personalities kinda makes me wanna believe that the turtles here are at least different from the idiots we saw in the next mutation.

Kind of feeling sad that this series came to an end, thanks Phelous! I just hope that Venus can get her name clean in the future, even just a bit