TMNT 1987 Must Watch Episode List
If you are looking to watch the 1987 version of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, but aren’t looking to watch ALL 200 episodes, look no further than this list! You may view it either here or on this google doc that I created. It contains all plot or character relevant episodes. Also included is a list of my personal favorite top 10 at the end. Happy viewing!
(and also remember that these are my personal opinions and I am by no means an authority on the subject, just a big fan.)
Key:
Bold - Plot important episodes Italic - Introduces a franchise-significant character (character in parenthesis) Star * - a personal favorite of mine (see “top 10 favorite episodes”)
Number of episodes out of the total: 79 / 200
Season 1 (5)
* All of season 1! If you don’t want to watch anything else, watch this season! It’s only 5 episodes, telling a self-contained story, and it feels like its own thing. If you just want a quick idea for this incarnation and for the franchise as a whole. Watch this season. Out of all the seasons, it’s my personal fave. *
Season 2 (5)
Return of the Shredder Enter: The Fly (Baxter Stockman mutated) Invasion of the Punk Frogs (the Punk Frogs) * Splinter No More * Return of the Technodrome
Season 3 (17)
Turtles on Trial The Maltese Hamster * The Old Switcheroo The Fifth Turtle (Zach) Enter the Rat King (Rat King) * Take Me to Your Leader * Cowabunga Shredhead Casey Jones Outlaw Hero (Casey Jones) Corporate Raiders from Dimension X Pizza by the Shred Beware the Lotus (Lotus - a precursor to Karai) Usagi Yojimbo (Miyamoto Usagi) Usagi Come Home The Gang’s All Here * The Big Rip Off The Big Break In The Big Blow Out
Season 4 (10)
Plan 6 From Outer Space The Dimension X Story Raphael Meets His Match (Mona Lisa) Slash - The Evil Turtle from Dimension X (Slash) Leonardo Lightens Up Back to the Egg * Donatello Makes Time Farewell Lotus Blossom What’s Michelangelo Good For? Splinter Vanishes
Season 5 (9)
My Brother, The Bad Guy Michelangelo Meets Mondo Gecko (Mondo Gecko) * Donatello’s Badd Time Napoleon Bonafrog: Colossus of the Swamps Raphael Versus The Volcano Donatello’s Duplicate Leonardo Cuts Loose Planet of the Turtleoids Part 1 and 2
Season 6 (5)
Rock around the Block Krangestein Lives Adventures in Turtle-Sitting Donatello Trashes Slash Snakes Alive!
Season 7 (7)
Night of the Dark Turtle (Triceratons) * Legend of Koji Night of Rogues Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter * Invasion of the Krangazoids Combat Land Shredder Triumphant
Seasons 8-10 (21)
These are the “Red Sky Seasons” and have a very different style of art and storytelling. A touch darker, and a lot more serial than episodic. These 3 seasons largely tell a complete story and finish up the show. I’d recommend watching all of them EXCEPT for these skippable episodes: S9E6 “Split Second” S10 E6 “Mobster from Dimension X” S10E7 “The Day the Earth Disappeared”
Top 10 Personal Favorite Episodes
#10 The Gang’s All Here - To my knowledge this is the only instance in the entire franchise where one of the turtles turns human. It’s not the best episode, but it deserves a spot on this list just for that. I find this one really interesting because up until this point throughout the series Michelangelo has shown hints of maybe wanting a normal human life, and he finally gets his wish in this one…
#9 Invasion of the Punk Frogs - The Shredder takes four mutant frogs and attempts to train them to combat the turtles. He gives them more traditionally violent weapons and “villainous” names (Attila, Napoleon, Genghis, and Rasputin), and tries to use them for his own evil gain. But their true nature is sweet-hearted goodness and they end up befriending the turtles instead. I enjoy the laid back frogs and their earnest nature, and the origin story of “made for evil, but ends up doing good” is a favorite trope of mine. These guys come back from time to time in the ‘87 series, and I think they make a fun addition to the turtles’ list of allies.
#8 Take Me to Your Leader - Leonardo doubts his abilities as leader, prompting each of the other three turtles to try their hand at leading. An interesting concept, executed quite well. Also refreshingly different from how I think other versions would handle it (for one, Raphael doesn’t want to be leader). It’s a nice look into each of the turtles’ motives, strengths, insecurities, and flaws.
#7 Splinter No More - What if Donnie found a retro mutagen and allowed Splinter to become Hamato Yoshi, once again? That’s what this episode explores. It’s one of the first times that the show really explores Splinter’s take on his own mutation and how the turtles think of themselves and their mutation. I like the focus on the relationship between Splinter and the turtles in this one.
#6 Enter the Rat King - Rat King is my favorite secondary villain in this series, and this is his intro episode. He’s not really in most of it, with the episode favoring a slow and creepy build-up to his appearance. I like the tone shift and slight mystery aspect of this one. It’s also yet another good episode that focuses on the turtles’ and Splinter’s relationship, as it is put to the test when the Rat King’s main ability is to control rats…
#5 Dirk Savage: Mutant Hunter - Someone hires a mercenary to start rounding up all mutants whether or not they are good or bad. Leonardo and Michelangelo get captured and are forced to fight their brothers. This one brings up the prejudice the turtles face as mutants, as well as has the always intense “forced-to-fight-on-the-villain’s-side” trope.
#4 Michelangelo Meets Mondo Gecko - Michelangelo starts having dreams of someone else present at their mutation. That someone else turns out to be a gecko mutant who’s being manipulated by a villain. This one showcases Michelangelo’s pure heart and ability to befriend even those who start out as enemies (and also his ability to have premonition dreams?). Cool origin story for Mondo Gecko and his relationship with the turtles, and an excellent Mikey-focused episode.
#3 The Maltese Hamster - After a couple of seasons of the turtles largely sharing the action, this was one of the first episodes that focused on a single turtle. It involves Donatello somewhat playing the role of a gritty detective, but his play-acting turns a bit too real when some mobsters kidnap his brothers and Splinter and he has to get them back by himself. It leans a bit angstier than most of these early episodes and it spurred me to create my first artwork for the show. Also, April pies a mobster in the face and shows off some sharp-shooting abilities, so that’s pretty rad as well!
#2 Night of the Dark Turtle - This one has a lot of stuff going on. The Triceratons are invading, and meanwhile, a device created by Shredder accidentally messes with Donatello’s personality, turning him to a much darker vigilante bent on revenge. Though a little campy considering Donatello’s new get-up is heavily Batman-inspired, it’s one of the first episodes with a much darker edge to it. The tension is also excellent, with the threat of Shredder, the Triceratons, AND a potentially evil Donatello all causing trouble at the same time.
#1 Back to the Egg - Leonardo and Michelangelo get turned back into 5-year-olds and Raphael and Donatello have to play big brothers to the now rambunctious trouble magnets. This contains some of my favorite character dynamics in the show, and is incredibly adorable. I think it does a better job of the concept than an episode with a similar premise “Adventures in Turtle-Sitting”, simply because I think it uses the plot device better and has more fun interactions between the turtles. This one makes the top spot solely because it has my personal favorite character duos in play, those being Raph-Donnie and Leo-Mikey; I always enjoy their team-ups!
