Never Went Back....

You know, I don't know if I've ever said this before, but I'll say it here.

I never went back to the 1987 animated series since they last aired episodes in the early-90s.

The other day, I went by the HMV store and they had all the TMNT seasons for about ten bucks a season. Compared to how much they used to cost, I thought that was a hell of a deal. And I figured that for about a hundred bucks plus tax, I could own the entire series and revisit some childhood memories. This was the thing that made me a Turtles fan for a time. This was my introduction to that whole franchise and laid the groundwork for my faltering fanhood. It started with this and I had the opportunity to see this show for the first time in years.

And so, I didn't buy any of the seasons. Not one.

Here's the thing... whenever I go back to an older show that I used to enjoy, I watch it for the first time in years and it ended up being a lot worse than I remember it being. Nostalgia can color your perception of something and when it came to watching older stuff and realizing how poorly some (or all) of it has aged, it left me a bit shakened.

80s Turtles was goofy, without question. And while I remember enjoying the show to the bitter end, there's always the possibility that the whole thing is colored and I might not enjoy the show today. Maybe I held off buying the seasons to hold on to those cherished memories... or something to that extent.

It's not all bad, though. I own the original trilogy of TMNT films on DVD and they still hold up relatively well (well, the first two, at least). The video games are still fun to play. And reading through some of the old TMNT Adventures issues from Archie Comics, those things are still compelling stories told within the framework of the goofier incarnation of turtles.

Maybe some day, I'll go back to that old series and see if it holds up.

But not today.