The Show With the Female Turtle - The Failure of Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation

[@bootsthecat6718]

As someone who did watch this show when they were a little boy, I can personally say that I had no problem at all with Venus, but I did have a problem with the lame jokes and terrible story lines

[@andrewcarlton6196]

Maybe when you were younger you could not handle to concept that the turtles were hitting on thier sister.

[@texasbeast239]

As an adult when this show dropped, I was mildly irked by the addition of a new Turtle, moderately disappointed by the MMPR- level low production values, and ultimately driven to change the channel by the dismal humor. Somebody gimme the original graphic novel please!

[@websurferblue]

Yup same here

[@Power-9Hunnid]

True. I think the only I liked about it was that Splinter had a blind ally.

[@oneupdawg]

Facts. I can't believe how much i watched it. The Power Rangers crossover was great tho

[@BrodieIsGod]

"Let's add a female character." "Awesome! With 2 female characters, we might be able to grow our girl audience." "2 female? No, that's too many. Get rid of this April character."

[@URFTBOUND4LIFE]

I would have loved to see April and Venus interact with one another. Would have cancelled out some of the stupidity....

[@Cyril29a]

@@URFTBOUND4LIFE en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel_test

[@D4C_Gaming]

She was apparently gonna be in the second season. Too bad the show wasn't good enough to warrant a second season.

[@JediUlysses]

The opposite of ‘Jumping the Shark’ is known as ‘Riker’s Beard’. When an underachieving show starts hitting its stride.

[@Dazreil]

I saw a video on TikTok talking about "Growing a Beard" being the opposite of jumping the shark and wondered what it was reference to, and now I know.

[@AaronLitz]

It's just called "Growing the Beard."

[@PoppaCYS]

Was it really Riker's beard? As I recall, at around the same time, the senior staff stopped wearing the odd body-hugging one piece Starfleet uniforms as well.

[@jjwubs1638]

@@PoppaCYS but is there a trope on no longer wearing skinny uniforms?

[@kyleellis9177]

@@jjwubs1638 Untucking the Wedgie?

[@ComicTropes]

I think the IDW comics have shown us that a female turtle can work. They created Jennika, a Foot Clan member who was a human transformed into a ninja turtle. I think she's pretty interesting.

[@JamesChessman]

Well there’s no way she could be more sexy than Venus de Milo

[@joshhamester]

Oh…they tried this again? Eh.

[@maux7767]

Well the problem was never the female turtle, it was always the terrible writing of the show. IDW has you know, good writers lol, so Jennika is actually done well.

[@jamesoblivion]

Hey, it's Chris! Honestly, Venus was never the real problem with Next Mutation. Pretty much everything else was a much bigger problem on that show. Primarily idiocy. The Turtles were idiots, the villains were idiots, the people making the show were idiots. Just too many idiots.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

@@jamesoblivion I mean literally it's mind numbingly stupid. Describing it as slapstick is an insult to slapstick comedy. They dumbed literally everything way way down. It's very existence is an insult not just to the audience but to the TMNT fandom as a whole.

[@AaronLitz]

I actually love their idea of a 5th Turtle named after a legendary master artist: Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, and _Kirby!_

[@TheACcam]

Hail to the King.

[@josephclegg3562]

I feel like each of the turtles should have a female counterpart. They should bring Venus back and add 3 more female turtles and named them after the planet in the Solar System as the turtles were named after Splinters favorite Renaissance painters. Female Ninja Turtles Venus of course Jupiter Saturn Neptune

[@MADMONEYMAN5000]

@@josephclegg3562 Isn't there one from the original cartoon named Mona Lisa?

[@josephclegg3562]

@@MADMONEYMAN5000 Mona Lisa was a human turned into a Mutant lizard.

[@l0u13__3]

Is it Jack kirby

[@1000huzzahs]

I watched Phelous’s review of this series and the Girl Turtle is honestly the least of its offenses. She’s just kinda there trying to actually fight crime and stuff, while the rest of them dink around with goofy music and sound FX in the background.

[@JamesChessman]

You’re right that she is largely providing the sex appeal so she doesn’t need to joke around

[@jamesoblivion]

@@JamesChessman I'm pretty sure no one considered ANY of those hideous turtle costumes 'sexy.' 😂

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

@@jamesoblivion **Pushes up glasses** well actually....... 🤣

[@BagOfMagicFood]

​@@jamesoblivion But they had such big muscles!

[@bloodeagle6458]

And thats the problem dumb down the OG turtels and give this new creation everthing istead of giving the turtels depth they created a basterd turtel

[@liljenborg2517]

As a person who watched Happy Days back when it was still on the air . . . Yes, Henry Winkler is right, that it kept it's #1 rated sitcom status years after that "hey, Jaws is popular, maybe we can snag a few Neilson points doing that!" moment - but a lot of us recognized what John Hein saw: the show had lost what made it fun to watch. It became "The Fonz Show" much the same way Family Matters would turn into the Urkle Show in the 90s, and though it still had a lot of fans, and a consistent audience, it was a different show. The fact that it went on five or six years after that just showed that the show was so good in its early years, that it took that long for the steam to run out. Even when they had a near total cast revamp in the last year or two, a stubborn audience still tuned in to watch the show in the hope that it would be as good as it used to be.

[@ScooterinAB]

I think the thing that gets muddied up is that "jump the shark" doesn't refer to a show immediately becoming trash. It simply refers to a show peaking. While Happy Days continued to be successful after this point, that episode marks a tonal shift in the show as well as the point in which is "stopped" being good in the sense that it started to declare. That decline took a while before the producers saw the effects, but that peak was still there.

[@liljenborg2517]

@GamerBear Exactly. Some shows are so good, that even when they've lost the creative spark that made the special, they're still better than most of what is out there. There's also the aspect that TV shows become cultural institutions in and of themselves. They become a habit. Lot's of people tune in to Simpsons on Sunday night, because that's just what you do on Sunday nights.

[@ScooterinAB]

@GamerBear Holy shit. You just won the Internet for today. What a great example.

[@kayokango]

About the whole "not brothers" thing. It's blatantly obvious that the writers disagreed on that tidbit. Because after the first few episodes set up Venus as a potential love interest, the rest of the show's run dropped the whole concept and Venus was portrayed as the Turtles' sister. They all start acting like siblings as the show goes on, and Venus is even referred to as part of the family in a few episodes. Venus should've just been considered the long lost sister from the beginning of the show, because the scenes where they were getting flirty with her during those first couple of episodes are cringy and uncomfortable knowing that she in reality came from the same batch that they did, despite what Leo claims in that one scene.

[@animezilla4486]

I agree Venus wasn't the problem it was the rest of the show that was the problem

[@midwestmonster9886]

I welcomed the prospect of Venus de Milo. I thought that going forward she'd always be a part of the team. Then the show aired and it was awful. I can't help but feel like she was made the scapegoat. It was easier to claim that audiences weren't ready for a girl turtle than it was to admit they had a bad show on their hands.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

It's kind of a shame because you can see glimmers of good ideas that were just ruined by horrible writing and various other problems. I'm frankly amazed they got 26 episodes out of the series I would have sworn it lasted a lot shorter time than that. But like you said I do feel like they almost sabotaged Venus as a character. She was the most interesting part of probably the worst incarnation of TMNT of all time.

[@ShadowSumac]

@@JohnDoe-wq5eu I think they've sabotaged the whole show, rather than one character. Venus was sort of a colleterial damage of that....ahem...writing.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

@@ShadowSumac The writing was truly truly horrendous. It's not just dumbed down it's full frontal lobotomy level dumbed down. Logic took one look at this show and walked right out.

[@darkmyro]

Yeah, that's pretty much the issue. Venus wasn't the problem herself, it was terrible writing and major changes to the mythology that really grinded peoples gears. Venus was just the figurehead of everything wrong with the show. It's like the 90s Batman movies they kinda became the figure head of everything wrong with superhero movie genre at the time, but they didnt kill superhero movies and some have even been re-examined or are considered so bad they're good.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

@@darkmyro Yeah I would definitely say this was the Joel schumacher era of TMNT. And not just that but it's the worst of the worst so we're talking like the Batman and Robin of TMNT. The true lowest point the series ever got to.

[@alainchristian]

5:40 - I love how much reverence E & L hold for Jack Kirby. They definitely recognize him as the OG. Huge respect to all the Jack Kirby shoutouts over the years.

[@NosBlueade]

This matter of fact style overview is really hitting different after living alongside Phelous' series retrospective.

[@bootsthecat6718]

"talking turtle people who live in the sewer and eat pizza" Well... When you say it like that

[@Cieje3]

When this show was on the air, I missed most of it due to being with a girlfriend most afternoons. I lamented the fact that I missed it to a friend years later, and he told me I was better off... I didn't believe him mostly because I was a die-hard turtles freak, and partly 'cause the relationship didn't work out... Years later when it showed up on Netflix (Temporarily) I binged it and regretted it. Called my friend to tell him he was right all along.

[@BlackoutCreature]

I was really surprised when you said this wasn't available on streaming anywhere. It had until very recently been available to stream on Netflix, where it had been available for at least a decade. It was actually one of the first things I chose to re-watch when the Covid lockdowns began. As for Venus? Yeah, I'd totally be down for the character to return to the franchise. With a little effort and decent writing she could easily be redeemed.

[@benmalsky9834]

I love it when controversial elements of a popular franchise are brought back years later with (with some reworking if needed) and it’s embraced by people upon that element’s return. It’s a testament to how far things have come and how attitudes and sensibilities have changed.

[@gadpunkzine]

"Jumping the shark" is not about how successful a show is after that moment. It's about the quality of the show or franchise.

[@jamesmitchell5060]

I never remember LOVING it, but The Next Mutation was the first thing I was old enough to consume from TMNT, as a kid you just accept things and so that was my first status quo, Venus included. ...You'll have to excuse me, I hear torches and pitchforks outside.

[@Jumbleman5]

I'm in the same boat. I saw plenty of TMNT reruns as a kid but Next Mutation was the first show that I was old enough to watch as new episodes came out.

[@mitch-TO]

A female turtle has been in the comics for years. Her name is Jennika. And she is a fan favorite.

[@catastropheoverclock]

Note: Venus died on the way back to her home planet

[@darthdadt]

lol. nice reference.

[@zafool4997]

*cackles in in space*

[@luiszuniga2859]

More like a "Poochie the Dog" than a "Jump the Shark"

[@jameskiely2788]

Don't mock Poochie, his people needed him

[@lanceturley7745]

@@jameskiely2788 Too bad he tragically died on the way back to his home planet.

[@rommix0]

You mean "Poochied" That's a missed opportunity right there.

[@colonelb]

Venus needs to make a crossover appearance in the Star Wars Holiday Special, so we can get all of the "we don't talk about that" projects together, lol

[@999haunted]

I don't think it was Venus that ruined this show. It was it's overwhelmingly awful writing that makes every one dumber than rocks and the annoying inappropriate over use of needless cartoon sound effects. When this show first aired on TV I didn't even last half an episode because I felt that it was insulting my intelligence in some way

[@UberNoodle]

@@walklikeyoutalk1624 why are you replying in every comment in all in caps? And it's not really fair to say that Venus is still bad because she's "part of the bad writing". ALL of the characters in the show were part of the bad writing.

[@Atlas_Redux]

Its*

[@bling0holic]

Honestly, I actually liked that they added Venus to TMNT lore. Maybe not as a group member, but something of her own origin like they did in The Next Mutation. As a TMNT fan (starting from and and ending in the movie 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle 2: The Secret of the Ooze' premiering Vanilla Ice's "Go Ninja Go"), it kind of adds more depths into the world of TMNT. I have never read the original comics and mentioned above, only seen the 2nd movie, but TMNT's world is kind of just ends where it begins living in the same context of "Stopping Shred Dude and The Foot!". But alas, there does exist hatred of Venus ruining the TMNT franchise as a whole, but with it what seems to be a decade long run, I say that's pretty good run imo! :D

[@genyakozlov1316]

If you ever feel something is insulting your intelligence, you must be very insecure about it, ergo you likely had problems regarding it or heard insults directed at it causing that insecurity, ergo you either grew up in an abusive environment or your intelligence is actually not very impressive for you to say that. What next, Teletubbies insulted your "intelligence" too? Grow up, a few cartoony soundeffects in a live action show aren't an insult to you or anybody who ever lived or will live. How dare anyone ever make art you don't like, am I right? What an insult! I don't weep for the next generation, I weep for the one I am a part of and those who came before us. At least most kids on Tik Tok won't claim a show could insult their intelligence.

[@Jumbleman5]

I watched it when Fox kids was at its peak. Venus seemed like a fine addition to the team to me. Can't actually remember anything about the overall quality of the show though.

[@foxymetroid]

The closest thing to a "compliment" the show will ever get is that people forgot what the show was like.

[@FreshmanMedia1]

That Sabban jingle brings back a lot of memories... Watching TV

[@theOfficial476]

yep...I think of Digimon... good times

[@MacnivenFantasyArt]

I personally didn't like this iteration of TMNT, but I wasn't the right demographic at that stage either. I do however think that IDW did a better 5th female turtle with Jennika.

[@SuperSmashReviewers]

Jennika is trash too. if she was a different speices or was an enemy, maybe she could be good. But the fact that she is "considered a TMNT is nuts. 4 turtles are perfect and their personalities fit with each other. What does Jennika bring? Nothing.

[@theredguy4043]

IDW isn't really that good personally. They keep pushing their agenda in our faces, which is how they lost the transformers licence

[@StubzTurner]

I'm not going to lie, I loved this show as a kid. As an adult who still loves the TMNT, I can't bring myself to hate this show.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

Nostalgia will do that to you I guess. Me I never liked it. I didn't like it then and I hate it now because it basically ruined the live-action turtles forever. Although to be honest they have buried this show deep. Other than the DVD releases there hasn't really been any mention of it since it's original run all the way back in 97-98.

[@terrylong8894]

I remember seeing bits and pieces of this and it was SOOOOOOOOO unbelievable bad

[@Michael_Muto]

That's awesome you enjoyed it:)

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

@@terrylong8894 It's remarkable how absolutely terrible it is. It's not just dumb it's like full frontal lobotomy dumb.

[@terrylong8894]

@@JohnDoe-wq5eu It’s actually not that surprising when you realize that it’s Saban I can’t remember which one but one of the original Power Rangers said MMPR was so cheaply made that ta burger flipper at McDonalds made more money than they did which is a shame in theory a live action TMNT series should have been a good idea

[@berniedavis6676]

there was a refferance to venus in the 2012 nickeloden TMNT series. when the turtles got there party wagon there was a pinup girl painted on the side w/ green skin, wareing a ninja mask, and had the name "VENUS" next to her. that was a clever refferance.

[@FarelForever]

A female turtle wasn't a bad idea from the get-go, but they did the remarkable thing and had Venus play by both schools of bad female character writing: 1) Old-School: Meant as a love interest, with the male cast members gushing over her, making her addition feel very uninspired 2) Modern: Overpowered and presented as superior in every way to the incompetent male cast (that the audience did come to see in the first place) Quite remarkable to manage to fit both into one show, considering how they seem like opposites, but this was the kind of show to push limits as to how bad you could get!

[@mrlaz9011]

the show was truly revolutionary in being awful.

[@jeraldmcclainofficial6005]

Hey, remember how The Beatles were so popular Paul McCartney was like "Let's add a 'fifth' member?!" Yeah, me neither. As soon as Yoko Ono came in the studio, it was all over. Jennika/Venus might have had a little popularity in the comics, show, etc. But the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (1990) were never the same global phenomenon that it was at the turn of the nineties.

[@Werewolf_Korra]

For a good version of the concept, I suggest Jennika, a character from the IDW run of comics (I don't know if they mention her here yet). A former Foot Clan member who the turtles had to save with a blood transfusion. Her girlfriend is a punk rocker pig lady.

[@zero195]

Kirby looks like Slash and I don't know if that was intentional or just thought no one would notice. Also, I thought there was already a term for this, the Cousin Oliver.

[@ShadowSumac]

Slash was created earlier. At least from what is known. Kirby was created for the potential fourth movie.

[@RyanRead]

It was an interesting thought process with the stories, but replacing the Foot with the Dragon Clan wasn't really that great of a choice. Also half the time, especially during "Don't Stop my Heart" made them all kind of look stupid at times. Didn't know if they were trying to be heroes or arguing over things that would let the bad guys win.

[@ShadowSumac]

The worst aspect that Dragon Clan was not all that different from a Foot Clan.

[@thishere123]

I have to say Dan Larson (no relation to Gary Larson), that I've never binged watch a KZbin channel like I've done this one! Great job at articulating the content as if you're a video Wikipedia! You're right up there with Fatman Beyond (Kevin Smith) ;-)

[@charaznable9209]

I didn't have a problem with a female turtle. I had a problem with them starting every episode by showing her doing something better than the rest of the turtles and depicting the rest of the turtles as room temperature IQ frat boys while Venus is over here with Shakespearean dialogue hacking computers better than Donatello while simultaneously being a pro basketball player.

[@Blakewyattdunfee]

I did had the idea of a fifth turtle joining the team by the name of Washington or Washington for short. The color of his bandana is white and his favorite weapon of choice is a axe. Personality wise he is very quiet. Very socially awkward but is very reliable and when in battle he is calm, focused, collected and will do everything he can to help his brothers defeat shredder, the kraang, and all other threats that the 5 face off against.

[@jamesoblivion]

I dunno about Shakespearean dialogue. It was kind of a running 'joke' of the series that Venus didn't know a lot of simple English words.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

What I don't get is why they felt the need to dumb everything and everyone down to such a degree. Venus seems to be the only halfway intelligent person in the entire series. Even splinter seems incredibly dumber compared to any other incarnation. I don't know what happened but the writing with some of the worst I've ever forced myself to hear. Physically painful just awful stuff. The constant annoying sound effects and various other decisions just completely ruined it.

[@FreakGeSt]

She was ahead for her time looks like

[@mightyfilm]

@@JohnDoe-wq5eu The problem is that it was clear the writers only saw Secret of the Ooze as reference for the characters. You know, the kiddified, dumb joke filled parental group friendly disappointing follow up to the first one? They just filled it with WORSE jokes, cartoonier battles, terrible OC's, and various other stupid things that made the 80's cartoon look like the darkest original Mirage comic by comparison. Venus was the best Turtle on the show, and she was basically Balki from Perfect Strangers or Omi from Xiaolin Showdown.

[@georginabensley9453]

As a girl who was a huge turtles fan as a kid, I was just old enough at the time to think The Next Mutation looked horribly cheesy (I didn't like Power Rangers either) and skip it, so I never watched a single episode. I always wanted the franchise to do more with Lotus Blossom and Mona Lisa from the old cartoon. (Well, elements of Lotus Blossom got carried into Karai, I guess, and she's managed to become an established series character.)

[@Dex99SS]

Gotta love the places where two pieces of wood connected by chain or rope are illegal... But wood with 8 inches of razer sharp dagger blade at the end is A-Okay!!!

[@zafool4997]

Nagita, or something like that.

[@seancolleran5843]

Funny thing is now in the comics there is a fifth turtle and she’s named Jennika. Also Venus has made a comeback in the comics with a much different origin.

[@DennyLewis]

That Venus De Milo analogy at the end is mind-blowing

[@Markimark151]

The Next Mutation is the black sheep of the Ninja Turtles franchise. I don’t really hate it, since it’s not even canon, I love how Fox Kids was able to make a live action TMNT series tolerable. Kevin Eastman actually likes the show because he had fun creating Venus de Milo. And we got a crossover with the freakin’ Power Rangers!

[@daviddamasceno6063]

I never really watched an entire episode of the show, but I remember loving the idea of a new turtle, and even more because it was a girl. What I did hate though was the redesigned masks, the new weapons and just how silly the stories and dialog were. I just couldn't stand it for more than a few minutes. That killed the show for me.

[@maxordman4100]

I still consider Next Mutation to be a very important chapter in Turtles history. There were some cool elements in this show. The episode writing wasn’t always the best but it had a few cool characters and events. Bone Steel was one of my favorite villains. I also will always love the PRIS crossover! It’s still a special classic childhood event. I actually like Venus too. She doesn’t deserve the hate her character often gets. Thank you for doing a video on this series!

[@baddabaddabaddaswing]

15:32 Another thing to keep in mind is that Peter sold all of TMNT to Viacom, so if NECA wants to make a toy of Venus, Peter has no say whether they can or not.

[@jamesoblivion]

The day NECA releases Next Mutation figures is the day their TMNT line jumps the shark.

[@RetroGamingCorp]

@@jamesoblivion and Playmates is doing better. Hell they are reusing those damn Classic Collection molds like 9 times.

[@ShadowSumac]

Viacom might not have rights for the Next Mutation.

[@baddabaddabaddaswing]

@@ShadowSumac True, depends on what the contracts between Saban and Mirage were at the time, and if they lapsed to Mirage or stayed with Saban. If they did lapse to Mirage, then Viacom would own it. If not... no idea. Not that anyone is likely trying to dig around contracts to bring Venus back.

[@ShadowSumac]

@@baddabaddabaddaswing I think the main problem is relation between TNM and Power Rangers as their rights somehow linked to each other. But maybe I am mistaking.

[@TerryTurner]

There's another female TMNT called Jennika from the IDW comics who was mutated via a blood transfusion.

[@emerje0]

And Lita, a little girl that got caught up in the mutagen bombing.

[@Rojixus]

I used to...watch this show, probably only because I think it came on before Power Rangers in Space. Now that was a show that I *actually* wanted to watch.

[@melvinshine9841]

I thought Astronoma, I think that's her name, was hot. It always bugged me that the Silver Ranger wasn't in that many episodes.

[@wiseguy3675]

I had heard rumors of a fifth, female turtle long after I lost interest in the property. But I had heard her name was Shelby and had a yellow mask.

[@wstine79]

I remember watching few episodes of this show back in the day. Mt favorite character was Bonesteel. I enjoy it more now thanks to the Phelous reviews

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

It's definitely a show to laugh at not laugh with. It has a lot of good ideas they're just done in a really terrible way with writing that seems like somebody hit themselves repeatedly in the head with a hammer before writing literally every single script.

[@Chadius]

As soon as Shredder was replaced with... Shredder but a dragon, I tapped out. The Dragon clan is almost exactly the Foot clan, too. It just felt like "why bother?"

[@TonyorIzzyCommenting]

I was 13, 14 when this show came out. I had been a ninja turtle fan prior, but was really only watching it because 1) It came on after Power Rangers in Space And 2) The idea of a female turtle, while silly in hindsight, intrigued me. She wasn't a terrible character. But I remember coming to the conclusion the show was boring in general

[@rjspires]

As a kid, I loved. Loved the addition of Venus. As an adult, it’s a cheesy pizza. Still great memories of the show.

[@profjeff9]

For those of you who don't know, "Kirby" is a reference to Jack Kirby, the staggeringly creative comic book artist and also the man behind Stan "The Man" Lee, depending on who you ask.

[@Mekasoundwave]

and absolutely deserving of having his name in the same group as the Renaissance artist the 4 turtles are named for, man was a genius and a once in a century artist. GOAT.

[@Piledriver2006]

Awww. I thought it was the pink marshmallow vaccum

[@Dynaman21]

@@Piledriver2006 No, the pink puffball is named for John Kirby, the attorney who successfully defended Nintendo against a lawsuit claiming Donkey Kong was ripping off King Kong.

[@Crazyredemu]

I think Venus would have been accepted if she was a mutant of any other animal, the problem is they made her a turtle, felt so much more forced that way.

[@UberNoodle]

Absolutely nobody was upset about "forced" diversity at that time. That's a new invention by angry people who in the past would have just accepted that things were different.

[@lutherheggs451]

@@UberNoodle Kinda like the imbeciles that cry about Rey being a mary sue while conveniently ignoring that Luke and Anakin were also Mary Sues....When they aren't crying "forced diversity" whenever anything involves a female character.

[@Crazyredemu]

@@UberNoodle Having a "forced" character has been around since at least Scrappy Doo, the Simpsons spoofed it with Poochie.

[@rorymcclernon4674]

This show was a sad end to my turtle loving days.

[@Kinnakeeter]

It hurts so much cause I love the Ninja Turtles. But I have to say that Next Mutation frigging sucks!!!

[@patoren3gou653]

TMNT fans: how dare Next Mutation say the turtles aren't brothers ROTTMNT: *exists*

[@A-Muse-U]

I would like Venus to come back. A great man once said “there are no bad characters, just bad writers” so I’d love her to have a better chance at least before being buried,

[@supakitkat]

when I was young I liked pretty much everything. I was born in 93. I can honestly say from the 90s till the early 200s, T.V was at its peak. Almost every channel had something worth watching.

[@godpigeon]

Well for jumping the shark don't forget "The McGinley Factor"...

[@masonr1666]

Venus could have been an interesting character if April O'Neal was mutated into a turtle. Imagine the character growth that could happen between Hamato Yoshi & April. I thought with the title of "the next mutation" this was the path they were going to go down. April would learn the ways of the ninja (This was explored in the CGI series.) But, you could have incredible emotional development with April coming to grips with the loss of her humanity & loss of her traditional life. Having her rebuild it. (A theme that has been touched on in almost of the series.) The series we got was a mess. I only watched one episode back in the day...I was to busy going to high school & working a job to care at this point. Like I said having April become the fifth turtle through mutation later in life would make an interesting story, if done right.

[@MiXVoy]

Still waiting for Phelous' review of the finale

[@jordandupuis1249]

We all are

[@snukastyle]

I need at least one more dose of Splinter Hate.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

Oh and it's going to be a clip show too, everybody's favorite. Probably the best way to end a series like this. Nothing more appropriate for a series this cheap and this dumb.

[@jdnaz1288]

He just put it up on Patreon yesterday...so, it'll be up on KZbin soon.

[@AnotherRigmarole]

Venus is making a return in the IDW comics but she’s a FrankenTurtle it seems.

[@melvinshine9841]

I love the Turtles, but I thought the Next Mutation was terrible, even as a kid. Venus didn't really bother me, it was the redesigns of everybody else that truly pissed me off. Leo, especially, because Leo's been my boy since I was 5. I probably had a dozen or more different Leonardo toys at one point, but I *never* wanted a Next Mutation one. A female Turtle can absolutely work, but nothing in The Next Mutation was done well.

[@josephclegg3562]

I feel each of the turtles should have had a female counterpart of themselves.

[@LungsOutJem]

I really appreciate you pointing out the details of the "jump the shark" phrase. I didn't actually know that Happy Days was still popular for so long afterward.

[@jacobwilliams1223]

Honestly the problem with the show isn't Venus. Her first episode introduction of soloing a villain does her no favors, but after that she isn't some super turtle who could do things nobody can do. Really the issue is they made the other four turtles utter morons. Like to the point where Venus does something normal it comes off as amazing just cause the other turtles act like they can barley avoid tripping over themselves half the time. The show would be legit actually unwatchable if she wasn't in it. It's similar to say Justin from Power Rangers Turbo where he isn't so much a gary stu but the only one written half competently.

[@jkhachad]

I want to say that this show wasn't that bad...but it totally was. That said, I liked the addition of Venus, and she's actually going to be back in the TMNT comic books in a few weeks.

[@yogibear8683]

Venus truly deserves better and some love to go around.

[@FrumbleFoot7029]

Nah... she sucks

[@bigboi5545]

@@FrumbleFoot7029 Venus is at least more tolerable than that Jennika trash running rampant in the IDW comics

[@COMPUTRX]

I had the Don from this line. It was my favorite toy as a kid. I love all the live action turtles. Lol nostalgia!

[@TheACcam]

I grew up with the first cartoon. I never really watched this show because after a few minutes it was obvious that it was meant for a younger target audience than what my generation had become. Sometimes brands need to grow up just a tad in order to retain their fans. I think the first movie is a good example of this. Of course, I don't get the whole "A cartoon should only last three years" way of thinking either, so what do I know?

[@UltimateGamerCC]

yeah that sounds sus to me, i never grew out of a cartoon or anime that i liked, if that's how kids are these days, then i weep for this generation even more.

[@mrlaz9011]

nah, next mutation was just really godawful. There are many kid shows out there with way better quality than this.

[@CartoonistWill]

Well, IDW has recently brought back Venus de Milo 😂 Unfortunately she's like a Frankenstein monster turtle and isn't entirely pretty. She has like frog limbs sown on and a weird turtle shell with a hollow swirly containment area, I dunno. Maybe it's magic liquid, maybe it's science, I dunno. She's pictured with a ghost fire magic yin yang in her hand, and in a separate art piece she's pictured torn apart by doc ock machine hands. I haven't read the comic, but ... Well, normally I'd love Venus' return - and I vaguely remember and think that this is actually the third female turtle of the IDW comic - but the concept is pretty weird right now. I guess I'd have to read it to figure out what I really thought about it. After Laird sold the rights to Nickelodeon, it was Eastman that IDW brought in and, as far as I know, not Laird, in order to help them with their IDW run. Maybe accounting for Venus' return. Anyway, Venus' return is all really recent stuff. Anyway, as long as we have the yellow masked Janika or whatever her name is, we might as well slowly bring in other female turtles...?

[@geardog24]

Years later and we still have problems making a female Ninja Turtle.

[@emerje0]

Not a problem for IDW, they've introduced two in their ongoing comics. Jennika who's a semi-regular member of the team and Lita a little albino girl in training. Both were former humans.

[@ShinSeikiEvan]

We already had April as the female member of the team. Everybody liked her already, but Saban thought he knew better,

[@walklikeyoutalk1624]

WHY SHOULD THEY BE A FEMALE NINJA TURTLE? AND JUST CHANGE THEIR PRONOUNS IN YOUR HEAD ANYWAY.

[@UberNoodle]

@@ShinSeikiEvan yeah. There was already one girl in the show! Why do we need two? Come on girls. Beggars can't be choosers!

[@megagrey]

Even at 14yo when I saw this on TV, I was thinking, "Damn they're really reaching." And I was never the cynical type.

[@bootsthecat6718]

As a kid I remember wanting to like this show but deep down knowing it was not very good

[@Aramakie98]

It was one of the first adoptions that I was like "... I don't think this is for me" and just walked away.

[@bootsthecat6718]

@@Aramakie98 I'll watch your crossover episode with power rangers but that's about it

[@Jazzman4824]

I grew up with all the turtles movies and this series came out when i was 8. I was just excited coming off of the mmpr stuff to see venus de milo. Ive wished that they would being her into the fold fully with each revamp/reboot. Theres opportunity to make her canonized much like many of the comic characters have appeared a few times throughout the franchise

[@XYGamingRemedyG]

I liked this of only because it was more "real life turtles" to consume lol. Venus is fine. Didn't hate her or anything, but probably doesn't help that I was just a dumb kid. But still. It's just a show.

[@what3801]

I was a huge TMNT fan growing up. I remember checking this show out when it first aired. I tried getting into it, but couldn't. Maybe because I was 12, almost 13 when it aired.

[@pucknorris3473]

This show is my favorite thing on the internet.

[@drjohnsmith5282]

That first season of the original was just amazing. Darker, more brooding. In general, the first six/seven seasons (up to the European Vacation) I thought were great. This ‘new mutation’ was let down by production values (even accounting for the time it was made). Great video, man. Subbed

[@_GeneralMechanics_]

Do we even need to address the anime where the Turtles become "Super Turtles" and a Voltron inspired Super Duper Turtle where each one controls the individual limbs?

[@ShadowSumac]

AFAIK, there were only two episodes of it and the whole thing intentionally parodies anime tropes. Its not to say it is especially good, but at least its a bit more coherent than TNM. And animation is nice.

[@jbearclowater]

I watched this as a kid, and... didn't hate it? It was fine. But thank yuo for posting this video, and proving to my co-worker this series wasn't just some weird fever dream I had when I was 9.

[@deonjohnson2302]

I miss the 90s Saban had alot of Japanese shows 😥

[@Deadponygaming]

Star Log: Day THE FUTURE Venus has returned in the comics in mid 2022.

[@DandA604]

Buddy of mine worked on this show. Helped the actors etc into the suits. Said every actor on set was super nice. 👍🏼

[@nellyp2622]

The Next Mutation did stream on Netflix here in Canada a couple years ago but has since left Netflix. A couple years ago there was also a rerelease that collected all episodes in one collection and I picked it up then.

[@DoomedPaladin]

Venus' specialization in 'magic' was the best part of her character, but just as underused as the normal turtles' "ninja skills." She's not a terrible character in concept and I'd welcome her return in some form.

[@ShadowSumac]

I'd like to see her being redeemed, as I strongly believe that there are no inherently "bad characters", just bad writing, but, alas, since she most likely doesn't belong to Viacom, at least for now, she might not be usable outside of fanfics.

[@UltimateGamerCC]

i think she'd be better off not playing into the "Magic" idea, instead she can be an expert with Kung Fu type weaponry, as well as Turtle style Kung Fu. it would allow her to be unique and still be as skilled as the other turtles without jumping the shark.

[@rna151]

I kind of wondered if maybe the "magic" thing wasn't at least partly an justification for not having given her a weapon.

[@ShadowSumac]

@@rna151 Perhaps. I find it strange, because, they didn't have qualms about changing Mikeys' nunchakus to tonfa. So nothing stopped them from giving new ninja turtle her own signature weapons, instead of...magic balls. Or is that the usual "girls are more spiritual" thing? Probably we'll never know...

[@grant9214]

Jump the shark always meant that the writers had run out of ideas. Like it's just a sign that the writers no longer care. You can jump the shark and never end, it's just the moment that reveals that. It could also mean, that there are too many episodes in a season. So they stretch it out by making characters be dumb.

[@Dynaman21]

Somebody get Phelous! I think Toy Galaxy’s focus on the nitty gritty of reception and merch revenue should compliment his breakdown of how godawful each episode is.

[@bootsthecat6718]

I hate splinter 🎵

[@CartoonTriper]

@@bootsthecat6718 Mike have Brain Damage [silly music]

[@SmrtPhonRtistCF]

I love those reviews.

[@wantedminion5966]

We’re not brothers

[@lanceturley7745]

Is a Phelous/Toy Galaxy crossover *The New Way?*

[@ChaosMaster345]

Just adding a note here, Venus is making a come back in IDW's Ninja Turtles comics but looks like she'll have a new backstory.

[@ExLizard]

It's time this video got an update.

[@soulknife20]

This guy invented an entire show to talk about it. What an imagination

[@kevin10001]

The main point nowadays of toy galaxy is talking about franchises with toy tie ins no matter how obscure the franchise is these days so it would be the place to discuss the next mutation

[@soulknife20]

@@kevin10001 Next mutation doesn't exist. I have no idea what you are talking about.

[@sabrinatimine]

When I was a kid, and we were at blockbusters, Nobody believed me that i saw a cover with a 5th turtle. I'm sharing this vid as proof that i was not crazy. Thank you for making a this video.

[@dyingbreath7]

I doubt Venus will show up again outside of a rare cameo in the new future. The idea lived though and we have Jennika now in the IDW series. I like her more than Venus, but that could be she has more than triple the content in a faction of the time.

[@ShadowSumac]

She might not show, because, she probably belongs to either Saban or Disney (or whoever the heck owns rights to the TNM), not Viacom.

[@KingGarlock]

Surprised he never made mention of IDW's Jennika, was waiting for it while watching since he was referencing the various buying and selling the the Turtles licence. I think the reason the show was bad was just the fact it was more slapstick which is par the course for a lot of Fox Kids related stuff in the latter 90s. They had to deal with some stingy censorship when it came to some shows.

[@dyingbreath7]

@@ShadowSumac I'm not sure ether who owns her. It could be a similar situation as Ninjara and Alopex. Also it doesn't help Laird spent over a decade hating her.

[@dyingbreath7]

@@KingGarlock I'm shocked as well. Jennika made a big splash post mutation. The shows slapstick hurt it, but honestly for me even as a kid it was the costumes. I got my spouse to watch the 1990 film and after words they wanted to see more. Netflix had next mutation and in less than five minutes they were laughing at how bad it looked.

[@DanielSolis]

Wow, looking at this as an adult, my stepdad was a saint for watching this campy stuff with me and not riffing on it the entire time. :D

[@calvinallen3424]

I really don't get the hate for Venus. I loved her. And that show was not the worst for the franchise

[@markmichel3855]

Born in 91, became a turtles fan in 95 or 96 so I was late to the franchise. I got next mutations toys for Christmas in 97 and was thrilled

[@The_King_Enigma]

Kinda surprised there was no mention of the now cannon (in comics at least) female turtle Jennika

[@marcbaker3947]

Yeah, I wonder how the original creators feel about her. I have a few Jennika comics. I grew up reading turtles comics and watching the cartoon in the late 80s. I think she’s pretty cool.

[@The_King_Enigma]

@@marcbaker3947 As someone who also grew up with the comics, I agree. I also really like how she became mutated, it's a better origin than Venus' imo. It felt like Venus just kinda appeared, although I do still like her character

[@marcbaker3947]

@@The_King_Enigma yeah, I think the problem with venus’ origin is that if there’s just another mutant ninja turtle out in the world, it diminishes the uniqueness of the original four. Jennika’s origin lets us have it both ways- she’s one of them, but also apart from them as a person who’s turned into a turtle. Her story would make for a really good movie...

[@The_King_Enigma]

@@marcbaker3947 Hell yes, I would be so down for a Jennika movie or even a cartoon featuring her

[@letsjam86]

Damn, that whole “broken, replaced renamed” line hits so much harder knowing the Venus DeMilo origin in the IDW comic 😮

[@ChaosAngelZero]

So I guess you could say that the franchise got Poochie'd, then? And how weird would it be if Venus was turned into a full-on _kunoichi,_ a "proper" female ninja (like Mai Shiranui from Fatal Fury)? 🤔

[@theredguy4043]

I don't think the world is ready for saggy tits turtles

[@tommyanomaly6193]

I think the Ninja Turtles were simply past their prime. The Power Rangers had already captured every child's imagination by that point.

[@Dreadjaws]

This is the sort of show I absolutely define as "offensive". And by that I don't mean I think it's sexist or racist or anything like that. It's the fact that the creators could ever think the atrociousness of its writing, characterization and stupidity could genuinely pass off as entertainment, because that shows the low opinion they have on the audience. The fact that they're constantly shoving cartoon sound effects in random places might be the most insulting part. It's like they think the audience is comprised of drooling babies. The only entertainment value this show generates is by being roasted by reviewers like Phelous, because on its own it's not even unintentionally fun. However, despite all this, I believe Peter Laird's disdain for Venus is misplaced. She's not the reason why this series failed, she's not even in the top 10 reasons.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

Yeah she pretty much got thrown under the bus. Which is a damn shame considering she was not the problem and unlike now where things are forced in for the wrong reasons I really feel like they had a good idea that was completely ruined by bad writing and bad everything else. Maybe when they inevitably reboot it for the 10th time or whatever it is at this point they can maybe try adding her character back in at some point.

[@ShadowSumac]

I think he has a very strict idea of what Turtles are supposed to be and Venus doesn't fit. Since he is a creator of the franchise, I respect his vision.

[@Dreadjaws]

@@ShadowSumac That's fine and all but, again, this show is filled with stuff that's considerably much worse in the way it destroy this franchise, yet you never see him complain about all that. Either he actually hasn't watched this series or he's taking it out on Venus for the wrong reasons.

[@ShadowSumac]

@@Dreadjaws Some people might find some things more offensive than the other. Me thinks PL didn't really thought much about TNM bad humor and stupidity since he already went through this with Fred Wolf series. TNM just upped the ante and added even more needless elements, of which Venus was the most prominent and most "offensive" to the original dynamic. Not that it stayed the same in case of garbage like TNM, thanks to its writing, but point still stands: Venus was the biggest new element in the show and arguably most "disruptive".

[@Dreadjaws]

@@ShadowSumac I cannot agree. Her presence in the show was very uneventful. She was relegated to a background character for most of the time, she changed nothing in the team dynamic, the other characters didn't take her seriously and considering characters like April and Casey were entirely absent she basically filled their void, disrupting nothing. If anything, the new villains were far more disruptive.

[@xmarksthespot1372]

If anything I think Silverback could have came back as a villain in newer tmnt shows but having nothing to do with the "next mutation" Idk maybe he could have been a mob boss/ Henchmen who ended up in Shedders Pockets due to money Dept or being incompetent.

[@zeroshinkai957]

Damn I liked this idea better than the actual show...

[@ryantwombly720]

Venus de Milo wasn’t the greatest, but she was basically armless.

[@TheACcam]

🙄🤣

[@lynngreen7978]

Good luck with this review. Phelous (Phelan Porteous) has been reviewing the series. The video for episode 25 was struck 4 times.

[@JoeNayDoh]

Although I was pretty much over the Turtles at this point (and was on my way out with Power Rangers too) the live action brought me back in and seeing them cross over with the Power Rangers kept me watching both. Had no issues with Venus, tbh if there is anything that I didn’t enjoy was the new villians. Pretty sure Shredder and the Foot Clan were in the first 2 episodes and never seen again or maybe I just stopped watching at that point.

[@tidepoolclipper8657]

Shredder does actually show up for one more episode. He is a shadow of his former self, until the end of the episode where its foreshadowed he will return as a big bad villain...which never came to fruition due to the failure of that show.

[@algoenespanol]

Were there any gummy ninja turtles the next mutation? Then we’d have a gummy Venus de milo.