Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (Ep01) East Meets West Part 1 - Phelous 

fun story: At summer camp to get my campers to clean up the lounge faster at the end of the day I would play this show and tell them it's not getting turned off until the room is clean. It worked greatly.

The real reason the streets are empty, no one wanted to sign on to be an extra for this series.

It turns out “shell” is the literal translation of “smurf”.

Phelous: "You can't just replace every word with shell, Raph." Raphael: "Hold my shell."

That old Chinese dude sounds like Phelous imitating Splinter or something

Even if his friend is blind Spinter is still meeting with him in a public park, people will notice the giant rat.

Jesus, can you imagine being stuck in that suit and having to drive a motorcycle? Major props to the suit actors for actually doing it.

At least Bevanfield Aladdin narrowed down "Somewhere in China" to a more specific "A market place in China".

"Shine my shell, idiot" would have worked better as a retort than "kiss my shell". You can picture the act of Raph's shell being scrubbed off of the sewer's dirt. Plus, it sounds like a close enough equivalent for "shine my shoes"

Every episode, Phelan should have a title at the bottom saying SOMEWHERE IN CANADA. Really adds to the plot.

Seems like Splinter's moved from skipping stones to playing chess.

I haven’t heard this much cartoon sound effects since Looney Tunes, and Ed Edd and Eddy.

Them being specifically in their late teens being important makes sense if you remember the show takes place in Canada. They can drink. This explains everything.

I chuckled at the "he had a stick" line, but why do i feel like that's as funny as the show will get? I like that Michelangelo sounded really worried when he saw something was wrong with splinter, shows that he can be serious in the right situation... not sure if that's going to be consistent or not. What else... postives... positves... eh... the Shredder costume is better then the stage shows? that's a postiive right?

Okay, so Splinter having a Blind friend he plays chess with is a concept that feels right out of the Mirage comics. The comics had stuff like this that was thematically important, like Donatello meeting a bullied kid and teaching him to fight, that shows they WANT to live like normal people, UT understand they can't do that. But like you said Phelous, here it's 'Hurrrrr, Splinter has Blind friend, make funny jokes at his expense!'

I like how they couldn't think of a single female artist to name the girl turtle so they named her after a statue.

I'm betting that just like with Marville Next Mutation starts at the bottom and then finds a way to dig itself even deeper.

Is there a twist at some point where the turtles wearing headbands take them off and there are pentagrams etched in their skulls?

Ah yes. Anything that opens with a tag of 'Somewhere in China' is always a masterpiece.

Something about watching Phelous review and deconstruct TV series just gets me in the mood to posit on better versions of these shows. What hits me in this first episode is how much of a difference it'd make if Splinter would Ninja Vanish and mysteriously appear in those starting scenes instead of showing him awkwardly hobbling to and fro. He tells Andre he has to go, Andre tells him to at least make his move first, then we have a beat of silence as it zooms out to show Splinter's already disappeared. Then Andre sighs and starts packing up the chess pieces, saying that *one* of these days they'll actually finish a game, implying that Splinter does this all the time. It still closes out the scene with a joke, but at least it'd be less forced and fit the tone the series should have.

R.I.P. Shredder throughout the whole series until years later made a proper comeback since The Joker.

You’re reviewing each episode? Oh Phelan you’re spoiling us. Though I guess it makes sense now that the Mortal Kombat ‘Kartoon’ is over and need to fill the void in somehow. XD

Y'know, I like the idea of the blind guy being Splinter's friend - even though blind people seem to be used that way fairly often to get around judging characters for their appearance. Like how The Thing (from the Fantastic Four) has a blind girlfriend, or even in the 2013 Nickelodeon TMNT where they go to that Japanese restaurant after hours and get Pizza gyoza because April knows the owner and he's blind. Could.... could Next Mutation be the first time a TMNT series thought of doing that? An actual good idea? Please tell me there was a blind guy in an earlier series or comic or something... Anyway, looking forward to watching the downhill slide from here! :D

Thank goodness IDW is still helping the Turtles have some dignity to their franchise.

Master Cheung: THE GREATEST MUTANT TITLE CHARACTER. Insert Siro cameo "That's it!". Brilliant!!

3:01 Reminds me of the scene from TMNT (2007) between Leo and Raph in the rain, except for all the flaws that movie has that scene was well done.

Dear God, The Turtles in this show look like their in a constant Pain whenever they move.

I... I have the strange feeling that I'm going to miss concert Shredder after seeing this one, painted eyebrows and everything. Next Mutation is new to me, so I don't even know what fresh kind of hell we are getting into...

ALPHA! DRAGON LORD'S ESCAPED! RECRUIT A TEAM OF TEENAGERS WITH ATTITUDE... AND BUT UGLY MUTATIONS!

Phelous: I hate when the mirror laughs at me. Me: You too, eh?

"Somewhere in China?" Ah, so this series takes place in the same universe as the Double Dragon movie, good to know.

Raph: "Kiss my shell!" Leo: "Kiss my shell? What the shell, Raph!?!"

I can tell the DEEP HURTING has only just begun. XD

So basically this show is the Mortal Kombat Konquest of the TMNT brand? Wow

Has it really been this long since I binged this series? This is funnier than the actual show. A LOT funnier.

Well, the suits look slightly better than the *Coming Out of Our Shells* and *Turtle Christmas* suits, or at least Splinter does. This concludes my list of every positive thing I have to say about *The Next Mutation.*

Alright. I need a full series review because I loved the Mortal Kombat Conquest and Defenders of the Realm reviews.

"NA NA NA NA NINJA , NINJA TURTLES "

‘Somewhere in China’ This series is in the same place as the Double Dragon movie!

This series is Mortal Kombat: Annihilation level of effort and effects.

Well, apparently, they had plans to bring Casey and April into the second season, but it was canceled.

The only thing I remember from the show at all, is the episode where an old guy has a winning lottery ticket, and then a gorilla in a pimp suit wants it, and hi jinks ensue.

With the foot and shredder being abandoned after the second episode i really wonder about having them at all. Having two competing evil factions could be intresting. Plus with the dragons wanting to take over that might lead to an uneasy alliance between the foot and turtles. Which to my knowledge hasn't really been done with shredder involved.

Differences between version is always a funny thing when it comes to media. It makes you ponder which should be the definitive version.

MAHHHH GAWWWWD!!!!! Keep the spirit of Wabuu alive!!!!

To be fair....the production design is there. The lair looks amazing. If they changed the tone we could have had a great show!

And so... the madness has begun. There's no going back...

I still love how there's an idiot for each episode, and arguably it's always a tight race

Man, what a coincidence that Venus has the ™ turtle gear before having met them, lol.

I know why none of the characters are in this, Krang succeeded on making everyone float away on an island and somehow screwed himself over by floating away on that same island

This is making me more grateful that the 2003 series came to the rescue 😂

I binge these whenever there['s a new one. I can't imagine having to sit through this show unriffed.

7:01 The tall building in the middle of the frame is the Harbor Center in Vancouver. If you're going to use a city as a stand in for another city, try not to use such a recognizable landmark.

"Kiss my shell!" Capt. America: Language!

Instead of watching Dream Land through his mirror, Chung I should've been watching Kirby: Right Back At Ya'!

Wait, you're going to spend half a year of your life reviewing every episode of this series for us? You are insane! And I thank you for that, because this is going to be a wild ride.

So it begins and it's all downhill from here by the sound of it...

For the first time since February 16, 2020, I'm about to watch the "East Meets West, Part 1" episode. EDIT- 12:22 P.M.: *finishes episode 18 minutes later* 1 episode down, 25 to go. I can't wait to see how this "arc" goes downhill! 😆

Roaring cars never caught on, I'm surprised :P

Wow, with the rest of the series in mind, it's surreal to see Shredder and the Foot. That's what this series did: it made the main villain incongruous.

This opening story was actually really good. I think that this was the time when this series had at least some hope of doing well and being entertaining. I remember watching the original pilot video and definitely enjoying it. After the pilot story, it quickly fell off the rails for me. It’s amazing to see how many changes were made to the episode in reruns. I definitely think that the first version looks better then the rerun version.

The driving double wearing an open-mouthed turtle mask in the van really does sum up this series

There's a weird glitch at 2:02 that I don't remember from when I first watched this review. It jumps from talking about Venus hiding her identity to the credits making cartoon sound effects in mid-sentence. 🤔 EDIT: And another at 2:34.

These shows really brighten up my day they're awesome and funny

The show is not going to explain how a mutant turtle will travel half way across the globe, is it ?

Unchain my heart. My favorite Toni Braxton song.

"Shredder is our blood enemy." Umm... when exactly did this become a blood feud? You guys aren't even related to each other by blood, Splinter, nor is the Foot Clan to Shredder as far as I know.

Foam Cindrblocks are the future Phelous, I used them for my hou-

The nightmare continues. Buckle up, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

Geez, the dream plain looks like it belongs in Voltron: The Third Dimension. Yes, that’s a thing.

Those bad jokes in the first episode of next mutation remains me of all the bad jokes in turtles in time of teenage mutant ninja turtles 3 movie.

These turtle designs never stop being total nightmare fuel

Happy President Day to the Shredder. (Weird funny music plays as turtles feel nervous and shamed.) Falalalala Lalalala!

"You can't replace every word with shell Raph" Shell shell shell shell shell shell, shell shell, shell shell shell shell.

Phelous, thank you for existing

"Welcome, my friends, to Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation."

I actually like Nickelodian's interpretation of Lord Dregg being alien insectoid

"You are like a daughter to me" Well, that would hurt. I guess the vehicle start-up sequences were supposed to be like the morphing sequences from Power Rangers in that they were filler scenes. You know, they could have gotten some pathos from Andre being friendly towards Splinter and the turtles. Was it only because he was blind or did he know what they really were and didn't care. And Splinter has precog powers now? "But the rat had a stick." "Did the stick make a funny sound?" You win the Internet if you can understand that reference.

11:36-11:52 Who knows, maybe this is what _actually_ happened to the dinosaurs and they just evolved into dragons. Update: I just realized that, for a second, this slightly reminded me of the Super Mario Bros movie but my comment about dragons descending from dinosaurs was a bizarre coincidence.

Pretty sure more people have seen your review rather than the actual show :) cheers

Needs more.....SIRO: THE GREATEST MORTAL KOMBAT KHARACTER EVER.

I too remember liking the idea of a TMNT live action TV show but hating this

rewatching the first episode after watching the rest it's surprising how restrained it, someone held back on the bad stuff. Too bad they got rid of him

This show could have been better, there are elements of something promising hidden beneath alla the garbage. There´s clearly an ambition, and the actors are not bad at all and I thing they capture the feeling and atmosphere of the Turtles well. If they hade brought in better writers, gotten rid of all the stupid sound effects and bad jokes, and perhaps given the costume department at slightly bigger budget, it might have been... good. Not stellar, but a decent show. The bad CGI though is something that you just have to put up with in 90's shows..

Shredder looks like a rejected Power Ranger monster, and I thought Coming out of their Shells Shredder was silly looking.

I think the blind man is same one that appears in some of the tmnt orgin stories. Kind of a nice idea.

Not gonna lie, Dragon Lord's line before burping on Master Chung's face was kind of funny.

Still looks better than the musicals!

So the first thing we see in the story is that it takes place "somewhere in China?" ... *they probably should've thought of an alternative*

With no more Mortal Kombat shows for Phelous to review, he's now moved on to Ninja Turtles! Makes sense.

I feel so bad for the late Kirby Morrow in this as Mikey. It’s not his fault, it’s just how awful the writing is.

More sound effects than Beakman's world, damn. The turtles are just a shell of their former selves (horrible joke, but at least it made SENSE).

it's so painful when in the 90s they made live action crap shows on your favorite franchises. well, this was 1997. we had many comic book disasters on live action. Lol

I'm so glad that you're covering this series. I've been hoping that you'd be able to do that for quite some time. I only vaguely remember The Next Mutation and their crossover with the Power Rangers, but even based on that, I can see why the show is so infamous among TMNT fans. A part of me is almost glad that the Foot isn't involved for most of the series. That Shredder looks like one of the least intimidating ones in the whole franchise.

*sees "Biggest Idiot of the Episode"* Is this gonna be like when SFDebris has a "Most Annoying Character of the Episode" award when he reviews Star Trek Next Generation episodes? Cause I am fully on board with that.

My biggest beef with this show is how few canon characters appear. It leaves me wondering if Saban only bought the rights to use the Turtles, Splinter and Shredder. Then, they created characters who felt like bad replacements for the canon characters they didn't want to pay for. That weird scientest? Baxter Stockman lite. The mafia gorilla? Depending how you want to go with it, the Purple Dragons or a unique take on Slash (Pizza Face if they're REAL desperate). The hunter? Rat King's stunt double! With the exception of the dragons and the vampires, every villain is like this. Also, even when this came out the blind ally concept was being done better by Gargoyles.

Opening: SOMEWHERE in China! Phelan: I live SOMEWHERE in Canada!

Now this video has a weird abrupt cut at 2:02. I wonder if there was something there that caused it to get blocked or demonetised.

11:24 Master Splinter: "Wow, an very stupid warning indeed."

Turtle boobs?! DONE. (No, I'll keep watching because I appreciate the effort you're putting into the project. Perhaps more than the show's producers)