No, this is not a joke. While many fans thought that we’d never see it on television again, it turns out that Nickelodeon hasn’t forgotten the 2003 series after all. In a recent press release, the network confirmed something that a lot of turtle fans have been waiting for years to hear:
“Nicktoons is stuffing viewers’ stockings this holiday season with the first two seasons of the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series from Dec. 22 – 28, at 8:00 p.m. (ET).”
When Nickelodeon purchased the rights to the Ninja Turtles a few years ago, fans were hopeful that they would start airing the 4Kids Entertainment animated show, but Nick instead went on to create their own version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Of course, Nick’s TMNT has proven to be quite good and fans have really enjoyed it, but there are still a lot of Shellheads out there who have been wondering what happened to the oft forgotten series that preceded the current iteration of the turtles.
For those of us who have fond memories of the 2003 series, this is definitely good news, because this is the first time in four years that Nickelodeon has done something with the show. Being that it was never fully released on DVD or any other home media format, a lot of fans have been clamoring for Nick to do something with the series instead of just letting it fade away into obscurity. Whether or not this special event is a sign of things to come remains to be seen, but it’s definitely a much better sign than anything else we’ve seen in the past four years.
One thing is for sure: If you want Nickelodeon to come even close to considering a release of this series (on DVD or digitally), it would be wise to support this special event and tune in as much as possible over the holiday season. After all, if they get a lot of people watching the first two seasons during this time period, it might just entice them to finally provide some more options for fans to watch their favorite show. There’s no guarantee that tuning in to Nicktoons will convince them to make such a move, but it won’t hurt to let Nick know that there are still a lot of fans out there who want to watch the 2003 TMNT series.
Sadly, this won’t be airing on their main network channel and you will need to have access to their Nicktoons channel in order to watch the show. Most cable providers offer this channel in various packages, so if you want to make sure that you can watch this special holiday event, you might want to call your local cable provider and ask them if they have the Nicktoons network.
So what do all of you shellheads think? Is this the best Christmas present you’ll get this year? Are you hopeful for a DVD or digital release of the 4Kids Entertainment series at some point in the future? No matter what your thoughts may be, let us know in the comments below or feel free to sound off in our forums!
15 comments
I’m so happy about this. I’ve been complaining for years that Nickelodeon “refused to acknowledge my childhood” and maybe this means a DVD release could come soon. I hope so.
I am quite excited to see them air it on TV, and I would love to see it release as DVD box set…I grew up with the cheesy 80’s Ninja Turtles cartoon, but I recently discovered this one on YouTube and I love it. It is the closest thing to the comics that has been done, and I think they did a fantastic job of it. In fact, mmy son and I named our cat after Michaelangelo’s cat, Klunk!
It’s so cool how you’re passing down your ninja turtles fan hood 🙂
Indeed! I love the fact that my son is obsessed with them. He asks me to read him Ninja Turtle kids books for bed time every night, plays with my old toys when hr visits my parents house, knows all the turtles by heart and knows way more about the current cartoon than I care to lol
This is pretty cool guys, the sharing of your fan hood is delightful. 😉
All the episodes are on DVD releases in Australia!
I like this series, but I could do with the whole “Shredder is an Utrom” thing. Other than that it is great.
I wish they’d take some time off with the cheesy SpongeBob for awhile and have a Ninja Turtles marathon that way! I have all the shows on DVD, and still watch them on Youtube. I don’t want to watch the discs too much or it can ruin them. And I even bought the final season from Australia!
Is it out in the UK though?????
I cant wait Until December 22,I already watched the whole series on youtube I thought they would never show it on the air. And since there wont be a new episode for the New version of Tmnt I have nothing to miss it for!!!!!!!!!!!! Cant wait!!!
#Cowabunga
Going back through time
Oh man, I’ve missed this series so much 😀 I really hope that I can get that channel, and I really hope this does mean that they will be properly releasing this amazing series on dvd, including the last season, Back to the Sewers, that was never released. Oh happy days are coming and dreams are coming true 😀
It’s about time that 2003 guys get some more love! Can’t wait for this! Cowabunga!!
The only problemo for me is that I don’t have Nicktoons, which is a bit of a big issue… And I mean I don’t think my parents would be willing to buy that package thing for the TV, for a few days (I’m 14)
What about the 1987 series?
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