The Shows and the Story

Here's the story of four baby turtles who were in the sewer at a very young age and encountered some radioactive goo that changed their lives forever, because on that day they became mutant turtles.  After they met Splinter, a mutant rat, they began ninja training.  As for the teenage part of the name, well, that came only with age.

But who came up with this concept?  The creators were Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.  After hours of watching bad television, the two were feeling silly, and Kevin, in an attempt to amuse Peter, drew a "ninja turtle," a turtle with a bandana and nunchucks strapped to its arms.  Peter drew another.  They eventually created four, each with a different weapon and name.  Since they were both interested in art, they named the turtles after the four great artists from the Renaissance.  Originally, all the turtles had the color red to represent them, but that got changed.

The first episode of the TV show, entitled "Turtle Tracks," aired on December 10, 1987.

The second, "Enter the Shredder," showed December 12 of that year.

The Turtles and Splinter live in a sewer chamber underneath lower Manhattan.

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