Wednesday, May 25, 2022
  • Login

No products in the cart.

Culture Junkies
  • Movies
  • Games
  • TV
  • Comics
  • Anime
  • Collectibles
  • Original Content
    • Culture Junkies Live
  • MERCH!
No Result
View All Result
Culture Junkies
  • Movies
  • Games
  • TV
  • Comics
  • Anime
  • Collectibles
  • Original Content
    • Culture Junkies Live
  • MERCH!
No Result
View All Result
Culture Junkies
No Result
View All Result

How High Did They Have to Be To Think Up Turbo Teen?

Like seriously...what mad acid trip brought this on?

Kenshiro by Kenshiro
2 years ago
in For The Culture, TV
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
How High Did They Have to Be To Think Up Turbo Teen?

As a kid, there was a particular Saturday morning ritual that is lost on today’s children. There was no sleeping in on Saturday. You woke up bright and early at 7:30 or as close to 8 as possible. At 8am, that’s when the Saturday Morning Cartoon Block started. 4 different blocks, for different networks (this was pre-cable days remember?) For many reasons, this was super important to kids, because this was the largest chunk of animation centered programming we had. Some shows were awesome. Others you wonder how in hell ever aired. That’s where Turbo Teen comes in.

A PRODUCT OF ITS ERA

Its 1984 and America was in the midst of the biggest pop-culture explosion ever seen. The year of Michael Jackson’s Thriller album, the Ghostbusters became the biggest box-office hit and there was neon infused imagery everywhere. One of the biggest shows on TV was Knight Rider, a crime fighting man and his talking black Trans-Am. To cash in on the success of that show they decided to create a cartoon about a talking car…but it was wackily executed. The intro video explains the show very succinctly.

Whoever greenlit this, HAD to be high. Concepts are always wacky. Some concepts have little chance of getting made. Somehow, Turbo Teen made the cut. I can’t imagine how this happened. I can only speculate that Ruby-Spears probably wanted to make an actual Knight Rider cartoon, and the licensing negotiations weren’t successful. A Knight Rider cartoon could’ve been much more successful than this was.

13 episodes of Brett, Alex (his black best friend and mechanic) and his girlfriend Pattie solve crimes with his dog, Rusty in tow. Much of the episodes feature incredibly zany reasons for Brett to transform. None more infamous than taking Brett to a hair salon, sticking his head under a hair dryer to induce his transformation.

Kids are easily entertained, and I was no exception. My adult brain cannot fathom how I happened to enjoy this show as much as I did back then. The plot revolved around solving mysteries and staying one step ahead of Dark Rider. Voiced by the legendary Frank Welker, Rider shared the same voice styling as Dr. Claw (Inspector Gadget) and Megatron (Transformers). Ironically, Turbo Teen was also touched by comic book royalty. Jack “The King” Kirby was the lead production/character designer of the show.

ABSURD CULTURAL ICON OF THE 80s

Despite the absurd nature of the show, and it lasting only one season, it has been seared in the brains of 80s kids. Robot Chicken infamously did a skit on Turbo Teen, Seth Green being one of the more famous 80s kids around. Other animators who grew up in the 80s have put it in their shows as well. Rick & Morty and Teen Titans GO! both had homages to Turbo Teen.

If you have any desire to see it for yourself, you will have little luck. Many of the copies of Turbo Teen have been lost to time and not preserved. You can find some pretty low-quality VHS transfers on YouTube still, but not all episodes can be found in English. Whether you fondly remember the show, or are too young to remember it, Turbo Teen lives on in infamy as one of “most absurd concept developed for television animation in the genre’s history” according to The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows.

Tags: 80'scartoons
Share20Tweet13ShareSend

Don't miss out! Subscribe to Culture Junkies for FREE below!

Unsubscribe

Related Posts

Transformers: The Movie Blu-ray Review
Movies

Transformers: The Movie Blu-ray Review

by G.Q.
2 years ago

This movie hit like a solid gut-punch during your childhood, share your memories of Transformers: The Movie right here!!

Read more
Episode 224 – Wacky 80s Cartoons We Loved | Culture Junkies LIVE
Culture Junkies Live

Episode 224 – Wacky 80s Cartoons We Loved | Culture Junkies LIVE

by Kenshiro
2 years ago

Even though it was the height of modern pop culture, the 80s was full of REALLY weird cartoons!

Read more
Awesome Steelheart render makes us long for Silverhawks remake!
For The Culture

Awesome Steelheart render makes us long for Silverhawks remake!

by Kenshiro
2 years ago

This artists rendering of this 80s cult classic cartoon must be seen to be believed! Check out the full gallery!

Read more
Load More

Our Social Media

  • 1.2k Followers

OUR NEWEST SHIRTS

  • Junkie Desu $20.00
  • Pizza Papa's Pizza Balls $20.00
  • ¡Sábor De Mándalor! $19.99
Culture Junkies

© 2021 Culture Junkies

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

Follow Us On Social

No Result
View All Result
  • Movies
  • TV
  • Games
  • Comics
  • Anime
  • Collectibles
  • For The Culture
  • Original Content

© 2021 Culture Junkies

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In