History WesternAnimation / TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987

* FetishFuel: Partially zipped yellow coverall + possibly the [[MostCommonSuperpower biggest rack]] on kids' TV at the time = fond memories.

** Don't forget when Irma became a giantess or when April became a catgirl.

* GirlOfTheWeek: Mona Lisa-it seemed that she was being set up as Raphael's {{Love Interest|s}}, but she only appeared once.

The first animated series starring the TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles, and the one responsible for the worldwide turtles phenomenon. [[LongRunner It lasted from 1987 to 1996]].

* [[{{Ptitle8y1hxwcb}} Wait, What? Whoa.]]: In "Burne's Blues", Burne and Vernon spend the entire episode unsuccessfully looking for a news story about the Turtles. Just as soon as the reporters find the Turtles frozen on a factory loading dock, the two get randomly abducted by aliens that look like Elvis.

** Lampshaded in ''[[{{Crossover}} Turtles Forever]]''.
---> '''2003 Raphael''': Was that a mutant... banana?!
---> '''2003 Michelangelo''': This dimension is seriously messed up.

* PragmaticAdaptation: Admittedly, it's the most loose of all the Turtles adaptations, but, it does a pretty good job of telling a completely different story.

* InvoluntaryShapeshifting: The turtles in the last two seasons; turtle ally Carter.

* ArtEvolution: For the "Red Sky" seasons.
** The first season had a much more anime-inspired visual style (particularly with the human character designs) than the seasons which followed. Depending on your preferences, the subsequent seasons could arguably be considered a case of art ''de''volution.

* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: "Attack of the 50-Foot Irma".
** Also, Krang's robotic body was able to grow into this until the Ninja Turtles broke the microchip that enabled it to.

->''[[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] -- an idea so stupid, it has to be good.''
-->'''''TheNostalgiaCritic'''''

-->'''TheNostalgiaCritic:''' I don't know who came up with this idea or how... oh, okay, maybe I do know ''how''...

* {{Bishonen}}: Would you believe the Shredder? Without his mask, he's rather feminem.

* AsYouKnow: Spoofed in the episode "Super Rocksteady and Mighty Bebop".

* AdaptationDisplacement: This is the version most people remember when they think about the Turtles.
** Probably not as much anymore, alas(?), since at least the concept of the narrow-eyed, less pizza-obsessed version of the Turtles have been popularized in the last 10 years.

** Or Irma's semi-{{Stripperiffic}} metal superhero costume in "Super Irma".

** The first season had a much more anime-inspired visual style (particularly with the human character designs) than the seasons which followed. Depending on your preferences, this could arguably be considered a case of art ''de''volution.

-->'''NostalgiaCritic:''' I don't know who came up with this idea or how... oh, okay, maybe I do know ''how''...

-->'''''[[ThatGuyWithTheGlasses The Nostalgia Critic]]'''''

**Maybe they realized that the characters having blades actually [[InverseLawOfSharpnessAndAccuracy reduced the amount of violence they could do.]]
** Actually, it was because in England, the TMNT episodes had to be heavily edited to fall in line with broadcast laws, which said that TV shows couldn't have you "showing" kids how to use nunchucks. Nothing about knives or swords or staffs, just nunchucks. OrSoIHeard. So the producers just gave Mikey a new weapon to avoid having to edit the episodes later.