Turbo Teen

Last updated
Turbo Teen
Turbo Teen.png
Genre Superhero, adventure
Created by Ruby-Spears Productions
Developed byMichael Maurer
Voices of T. K. Carter
Pat Fraley
Pamela Hayden
Michael Mish
Frank Welker
ComposerUdi Harpaz
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
Executive producersJoe Ruby
Ken Spears
Running time20 mins (excluding commercials)
Production company Ruby-Spears Productions
Original release
Network ABC
ReleaseSeptember 8 (1984-09-08) 
December 1, 1984 (1984-12-01)

Turbo Teen is an American animated television series about a teenager with the ability to transform into a sports car. It aired on Saturday morning on the ABC Network for thirteen episodes in 1984. [1]

Contents

The series was rerun on the USA Network's USA Cartoon Express programming block. [2]

Plot

Turbo Teen is about a teenager named Brett Matthews who swerves off a road during a thunderstorm and crashes into a secret government laboratory. There, he and his red sports car are accidentally exposed to a molecular beam, invented by a scientist named Dr. Chase for a government agent named Cauldwell. As a result, Brett and his car become fused together. Brett gains the ability to morph into the car when exposed to extreme heat and revert into his human form when exposed to extreme cold. With this new superhero power, Brett, along with his girlfriend Pattie (a freelance reporter), his best friend Alex (a mechanic who calls Brett "TT"), and his dog Rusty go on crime-fighting adventures together and solve other mysteries. [3]

A recurring subplot involves Brett, Cauldwell, and Dr. Chase's search for a way to return Brett to normal. Also, a recurring villain is the mysterious, unseen "Dark Rider" who drives a monster truck and seeks to capture Brett in order to find the secret behind his abilities. In addition, Brett and his friends deal with the shenanigans of their classmates Eddie and Flip.

Episodes

No.TitleStory byOriginal air date
1"Turbo Thieves" Mark Jones September 8, 1984 (1984-09-08)
Brett is kidnapped by goons who believe Turbo Teen will make them rich.
2"The Dark Rider"Michael MaurerSeptember 15, 1984 (1984-09-15)
Brett and Turbo Teen are featured in an exhibition while a mysterious man known as Dark Rider pursues him.
3"Mystery of Fantasy Park"Matt UitzSeptember 22, 1984 (1984-09-22)
Brett and his friends are asked by Agent Cauldwell to investigate a local amusement park.
4"No Show UFO"Evelyn A.R. GabaiSeptember 29, 1984 (1984-09-29)
Brett and his friends are tasked, again by Cauldwell, to investigate UFO sightings in the area.
5"Micro-Teen" Dennis Marks October 6, 1984 (1984-10-06)
Although Dr. Chase's team cannot 'fix' Brett's condition, apparently they have created a ray that shrinks the crew for an infiltration mission into a mansion where something of value is hidden behind various defenses and its owners.
6"The Sinister Souped-Up Seven"Matt UitzOctober 13, 1984 (1984-10-13)
Turbo and his friends evade the Dark Rider in the American southwest. After dropping them off, he crashes into a cave wall, getting amnesia, to be woken up by reservation natives. His friends find them and try to help him regain his memory, while thwarting the plans of villains who want to destroy a mission on the reservation.
7"Video Venger"Michael BrownOctober 20, 1984 (1984-10-20)
Various war machines from an arcade game come to life when Brett and his friends discover the game is a training program for a real planned invasion of Washington D.C.
8"Dark Rider and the Wolves of Doom"Michael MaurerOctober 27, 1984 (1984-10-27)
Dark Rider captures Monique's father Dr. Fabro and his formula that can cause dogs to regress to their primitive state in his latest plan to capture Brett Matthews.
9"The Curse of the Twisted Claw"Matt Uitz,
Michael Maurer
November 3, 1984 (1984-11-03)
Twin items of rare historical antiquity near Bombay, and it is up to Brett and his friends to recover it before those who may use them unjustly can do the same.
10"Daredevil Run"Cliff Ruby,
Elana Lesser
November 10, 1984 (1984-11-10)
Brett, Alex, and Pattie enter a cross-country race as cover while escorting a girl named Paula to court so that she can testify against a jewel thief called "The Dragon."
11"The Amazon Adventure"Ted PedersenNovember 17, 1984 (1984-11-17)
Brett and friends are visiting Brazil with Brett's father when they become entangled with a local ruffian.
12"Fright Friday"Matt UitzNovember 24, 1984 (1984-11-24)
While camping, a story about a local legend of masked men in the woods comes true and Brett and the others must save their friends.
13"The Mystery of Dark Rider"Michael MaurerDecember 1, 1984 (1984-12-01)
After a Turbo Teen clone robs a local bank, Brett must clear his name while working to uncover the identity of Dark Rider once and for all.

Cast

Additional voices

Crew

Production

The show was produced by Ruby-Spears Productions with animation supplied by Toei Animation and Hanho Heung-Up. It was broadcast during the growing popularity of the Knight Rider television series and mirrors much of it. The car that Brett turns into looks like an amalgam of a Third Generation Chevrolet Camaro and its sister car, the Pontiac Trans Am; the later model Knight Rider's KITT is based on.[ clarification needed ] The Trans Am also had limited edition turbocharger packages in the early 1980s, appearing as an official Indy 500 pace car and featuring in the movie Smokey and the Bandit II . [4]

Reception

In The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows, David Perlmutter writes, "This is perhaps the most absurd concept developed for television animation in the genre's history. Despite a basis in somewhat-plausible science, it was not produced competently enough to make its premise anywhere near believable." [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Shnookums & Meat Funny Cartoon Show</i> Television series

The Shnookums & Meat Funny Cartoon Show is a half-hour American animated comedy television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and aired in 1995 as a spin-off of the show Marsupilami, a spin-off itself of Raw Toonage. The show represents Disney's attempt to do a more "edgy" cartoon in the vein of Nickelodeon's The Ren & Stimpy Show and Rocko's Modern Life. Unlike other Disney Afternoon cartoons, Shnookums & Meat only aired once a week, usually Mondays. Only thirteen episodes were produced.

I Am the Greatest: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali is an animated series featuring boxer Muhammad Ali, who performed his own voice. The series was broadcast Saturday mornings on NBC and produced by Fred Calvert's independent production company, Farmhouse Films, in the fall of 1977, but was cancelled after 13 episodes due to its low ratings.

<i>Jabberjaw</i> American animated television series (1976)

Jabberjaw is an American animated television series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera which aired 16 original episodes on ABC from September 11 to December 18, 1976. Reruns continued on ABC until September 3, 1978.

<i>Clutch Cargo</i> American animated television series

Clutch Cargo is an American animated television series created by cartoonist Clark Haas and produced by Cambria Productions, syndicated beginning on March 9, 1959. The series was notable for its limited animation yet imaginative stories, as well as for being the first widely-known use of Syncro-Vox technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USA Cartoon Express</span> American television programming block

The USA Cartoon Express was a programming block consisting of animated children's series which aired on the USA Network from September 20, 1982 to September 15, 1996. Cartoon Express was the first structured animation block on cable television, predating Nickelodeon's Nicktoons and Cartoon Network by a decade.

<i>Alvin and the Chipmunks</i> (1983 TV series) American animated television series

Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated television series featuring the Chipmunks, which was produced by Bagdasarian Productions in association with Ruby-Spears Enterprises from 1983 to 1987, Murakami-Wolf-Swenson in 1988 and DIC Enterprises from 1988 to 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Ruegger</span> American animator

Tom Ruegger is an American animator and songwriter. Ruegger is known for his association with Disney Television Animation and Warner Bros. Animation. He also created Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and Histeria!.

<i>Waynehead</i> Canadian-American animated television series

Waynehead is an animated television series created by actor/comedian Damon Wayans and ran from 1996 to 1997 on Kids' WB, and on YTV from 1996 to 1998. It was a co-production of Warner Bros. Television Animation and Nelvana, with overseas animation by Hanho Heung-Up Co., Ltd., and Philippine Animation Studio, Inc., while the opening sequence was animated by TMS-Kyokuchi Corporation.

<i>Ace Ventura: Pet Detective</i> (TV series) Canadian animated series based on the film of the same name

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is an animated television series based on the film of the same name. The series was produced by Morgan Creek Productions, Funbag Animation Studios, Nelvana Limited, for the first two seasons and Odyssey Entertainment for the third and final season. It aired for two seasons from 1995 to 1997 on CBS. A third season and reruns of previous episodes aired on Nickelodeon from 1999 to 2000.

<i>C Bear and Jamal</i> German-American animated television series

C Bear and Jamal is an animated musical comedy children's television series that originally aired on the Fox Kids programming block from 1996 to 1997. It centers on an elementary school-aged boy named Jamal and his companion "C Bear", an orange hip-hop teddy bear who raps. Film Roman co-produced the show.

<i>Q. T. Hush</i> American TV series or program

Q.T. Hush is a 1960–61 American animated cartoon released in syndication, beginning on September 24, 1960. The show's 100 three-and-a-half-minute episodes, all in color, were directed by veteran animator Rudy Cataldi, and produced by Animation Associates. The series was designed to air either as a daily five-minute cliffhanger in a locally-produced children's show, or packaged as a half-hour program. Each story was ten parts; in the daily version, the story would last for two weeks.

Bigfoot and the Muscle Machines is a 1985 American animated TV mini-series that aired on the animated half-hour TV series Super Sunday and Super Saturday containing 9 segments that ran for 6 minutes each weekend, along with Jem, Robotix, and Inhumanoids. The segments were combined and turned into a 53-minute feature-length film. The series was based on SST Muscle Machines toy line by Playskool who in turn was owned by Hasbro.

<i>The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera</i> (ride) Defunct simulator ride

The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera was a simulator ride at Universal Studios Florida and one of the park's original attractions. The story line tells that Dick Dastardly and Muttley have kidnapped Elroy Jetson. Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo give chase and the audience is in for the ride of their lives. The attraction opened on June 7, 1990 and closed on October 20, 2002.

<i>Back at the Barnyard</i> Animated television series

Back at the Barnyard is an American animated television series based on the 2006 film Barnyard serving as a direct sequel to it. The series features the voice of Chris Hardwick as Otis. It was the second Nickelodeon TV series to be based on a film, with the first being The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. It aired from September 29, 2007 to September 18, 2010 on Nickelodeon for two seasons. The show was a co-production between Omation Animation Studio and Nickelodeon Animation Studio. The last five episodes aired from September 12 to November 12, 2011, on Nicktoons.

<i>Dumb and Dumber</i> (TV series) Animated television series

Dumb and Dumber is an animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera and New Line Television for ABC. It is based on the 1994 comedy film of the same name. It premiered in October 1995, making it the last Hanna-Barbera show to air on a television channel other than Cartoon Network.

<i>Dragons Lair</i> (TV series) American TV series or program

Dragon's Lair is a television animated series by Ruby-Spears Productions based on the 1983 video game of the same name. Thirteen half-hour episodes were produced and aired from September 8, 1984, to April 20, 1985, on ABC.

<i>Free for All</i> (TV series) American TV series or program

Free for All is an American animated series and sitcom created by (Randall) Brett Merhar for Showtime. The series, set in Colorado, follows the day-to-day life of Johnny Jenkins, an innocent 19-year-old college student who has to deal with a bitter, cigarette smoking grandmother and a coarse, sometimes-violent, alcoholic father, in a rather dysfunctional family while his friend, Clay, is living large with the settlement money he got from suing a taco restaurant for personal injuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Créativité et Développement</span> French television production company

Créativité et Développement or C&D was a French animation studio founded in 1987 by Jean Chalopin. In April 1996, Chalopin sold the company, including its library to Saban International Paris, the latter being folded in October 2001 into The Walt Disney Company through BVS Entertainment.

References

  1. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 875. ISBN   978-1476665993.
  2. Terrace, Vincent (10 January 2014). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010, 2d ed. McFarland. ISBN   9780786486410 . Retrieved 4 October 2018 via Google Books.
  3. TV.com. "Turbo Teen". TV.com. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  4. Gold, Aaron (Jul 28, 2020). "That Time Pontiac Turbocharged the Trans Am". MotorTrend. Retrieved September 18, 2022.
  5. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 664–665. ISBN   978-1538103739.