It’s been two months since our last TMNT cartoon review. Two months. In that time, we’ve covered the release of Out of the Shadows, several comic releases, brand new toys, figures, costumes, and many other subjects. We’ve had crossover events and blu-ray announcements. But in all of this Turtle awesomeness it feels like the one thing we haven’t gotten is a new episode of Nick’s TMNT. There’s not even a date for when it returns. The most I’ve seen so far is a post on the show’s official Facebook page from June 8th, showing the cast back in the studio recording. In that post is a reply stating new episodes will air in the fall, with previews to hit this summer.
I don’t want to start off on the wrong foot here (pun intended). I understand that it takes a lot to put together a tv show, especially an animated one. The creators have been really solid each season too, so I want them to take their time and put out the best product they can. This opinion isn’t about wanting new episodes right now, although that would be nice, rather it’s about the lack of communication companies like Nickelodeon have with their fans.
I don’t want to minimize the difficulty of Nickelodeon’s job either. Not everybody watches television the same way anymore. Some people have cable, some people DVR everything, and some people stream. I personally bought the season on Google Play and watch on my Chromecast or PC. It can’t be easy advertising to all of these venues. Even so, Nick’s website doesn’t have any information on when episodes will continue. I seek out information and the best I’ve found is the above mentioned Facebook post and a fan mentioned an Instagram account. The TMNT wiki doesn’t have any information. It feels like the collective internet is void of official information.
That is insanely frustrating. Not just as someone who writes reviews, but as a general fan. Our younger fans might not be familiar with this line, but TV used to follow the statement “same time, same channel.” For my parents, who watched the original Batman show in the 60s, it was “same bat time, same bat channel” and for me growing up with wrestling, it was “same warrior time, same warrior channel.” Shows rely on consistency. If I don’t know when a new episode is coming, what is supposed to keep me interested? The rumor right now is that new episodes will return in September. That will make it five months with no new episodes. They didn’t even take advantage of a new Turtle movie in theaters. What are they thinking?
This isn’t the first time Nick has done this either. They pulled similar shenanigans with The Legend of Korra, with unannounced breaks between episodes, a move from Sunday afternoons to Friday nights, and finally pulling the show from TV altogether and showing it online only.
Nick isn’t the only channel guilty either. Does anyone know when Steven Universe episodes will air? Cartoon Network holds episodes for what feels like a month, only to drop five episodes in five days, and then put it on hiatus again. Adventure Time has moved day and time slots so many times I lost count.
I’m also a big fan of The Flash and Arrow. I know exactly when those shows air. I know exactly when the midseason break is happening, itself a recent invention, and I know exactly when it ends. I’m eagerly looking forward to new episodes of each show, because I know when to expect them. Was “Earth’s Last Stand” a midseason finale? Was it a season finale? Does anyone know? When do I tune in again?
Apparently Nick is going to answer these questions soon. But with a market stacked with Ninja Turtles, and a less than stellar performance for Out of the Shadows at the box office, will anyone still care?
What do you think? Do you share my frustrations with the state of animated shows? Do you enjoy the surprise of new episodes? Or would rather be informed about when your favorite shows will air? Let us know in the comments!
6 comments
I don’t want the lack of advertising to be the show’s downfall
I agree. Nickelodeon should really do something about it.
While as an adult this is frustrating it’s how a lot of kids shows work. This is how the entire series has been all the previous seasons. They stretch their entire season out over an entire year. This way they can advertise new episodes sporadically through out the year. Not only Nick but most kids network do it this way. The first run ratings aren’t as important as the over all brand, rerun and merchandise revenue.
I will say now is one of the biggest gaps that they have had. My guess is that they wanted to give the new movie room to be on it’s own, so that they aren’t overlapping advertising both for merchandise. Also, it makes sense as an over all brand. If you are thinking just as a brand you don’t want to push everything at once. You want to make sure you have constantly have something new coming out. They probably thought the movie was going to have more legs than it did since the last one did much. more at the box office. But they went on a two month hiatus when the last movie came out. My guess is that they will air new episodes in August
From what I have read on Brandon Auman’s Instagram, the show will return at the end of September. But it would be nice to have that information more easily available to fans. I think it would also help the hype to share a little bit of info here and there. Not as much as the TMNT 2 promos please, but somewhere in the middle. They have teased that they will return with City at War, which I’m so excited about. It would be awesome to see a little clip or something! If previous seasons are an indication, Earth’s Last Stand was a mid-season finale. I’m assuming that this season has been finished and the recording pics we’ve seen lately are for the next one.
You’re absolutely right about the same time same channel thing! I grew up watching sonic x and tmnt on 4kids TV and they always said same turtle time same turtle channel. Or same sonic channel and so on. I remember in my old neighborhood all the neighbor kids knew when a special episode or season finale of Danny phantom or avatar was coming out and it was always great because there was always this hype and anticipation among us and when the day came we were all ready and it was always a great experience. This was possible because the network had made clear communication with the fans. And this wasn’t unusual! Everyone knew when to watch and it got everyone excited. And if they had to change the regular timing of a show they made it known by literally advertising it during every commercial break. Communication is key. And it really frustrates me how they have completely messed up the way they did seasons! They used to do a good 10 episodes then an hour long mid season episode, then 10 episodes, then hour long season finale! Now it’s like 14 normal episodes then done. And the info for this season was all over the place! First we hear they’ve cut the episode amount. Then we hear only half the season is about fugitoid and space. Then we hear it’s back to 20 some episodes. Now it’s 14 or so episodes all in space (well except most of the last episode). It’s confusing but keep up the good work keeping us in the know guys.
The new show rocks for adults as well as my 2 and 3 year old. It is nice to have a revamp of a classic that does more than own up to the name
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