Garbageman (episode)

	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Season 1; February 8, 2003 - November 1, 2003; List of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episodes
	Episodes: Things Change; A Better Mousetrap; Attack of the Mousers; Meet Casey Jones; Nano; Darkness on the Edge of Town; The Way of Invisibility; Fallen Angel; Garbageman; The Shredder Strikes, Part 1; The Shredder Strikes, Part 2; The Unconvincing Turtle Titan; Notes from the Underground, Part 1; Notes from the Underground, Part 2; Notes from the Underground, Part 3; The King; The Shredder Strikes Back, Part 1; The Shredder Strikes Back, Part 2; Tales of Leo; The Monster Hunter; Return to New York, Part 1; Return to New York, Part 2; Return to New York, Part 3; Lone Raph and Cub; The Search for Splinter, Part 1; The Search for Splinter, Part 2; Season 1 – Season 2 – Season 3 – Season 4 – Ninja Tribunal – Fast Forward - Back to the Sewer

“Garbageman”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) episode
Season Code:	S01E09
Episode:	9
Original airdate	April 5, 2003
Written by	Michael Ryan
Supervising Producer	Lloyd Goldfine
Producers:	Gary Richardson
	Frederick U. Fierst
	Al Kahn
	Norman Grossfeld
	Thomas Kenney
Supervising Director	Chuck Patton
Story Editor:	Lloyd Goldfine
Episode chronology
"Fallen Angel"	"The Shredder Strikes, Part 1"

"Garbageman" is the ninth episode of the 2003 TV series. It first aired on April 5th, 2003. It had 1.17 million views on the 4kids website as of 2007.

Appearing in Garbageman[]

Major characters[]

Minor Characters[]

Ernie (Frank Frankson) (debut)
Homeless Guy #1 (Michael Sinterniklaas) (debut)
Homeless Guy #2 (Wayne Grayson) (debut)
Phil (Eric Stuart) (debut)

Species[]

Objects and vehicles[]

Locations[]

New York City streets and rooftops
River docks
Sewer tunnels
Shanty Town
Y'Lyntian outpost lair

Episode[]

Voice-over introduction[]

Donatello: "Here's another fine mess we've gotten ourselves into... literally. This has been one strange night, believe me, but no matter how weird it's been up 'til now, we never expected this..."

Plot[]

One night, a couple of homeless guys are going through the garbage looking for bottles to turn in for money as well as other valuables. They didn't realize a garbage truck was following them. The vehicle corners them in a dead-end alley and grabs them with its hydraulic tentacles.

S01E09-Garman-353 — The Garbageman oversees his polluting, energy making operations.

S01E09-Garman-369 — The Professor stands up to the Garbageman.

The next day, the Turtles visited some of the homeless to find items to help in the lair. They gave them some clothes and received a few things the homeless that they found in

S01E09-Garman-374 — Don and Raph get ready to attack the Garbageman

the garbage. When the Turtles mentioned there seemed to be fewer homeless, their friend, The Professor, said that a rumor says a guy called the Garbageman was responsible for taking homeless people during the night. The Turtles aren't convinced, but ask him to pass along anything he hears. However, a little while after the Turtles leave, the Garbageman strikes and kidnaps the Professor, as well as the other homeless people.

The next day, Donatello finds the ruins of the shantytown. He calls the Turtles and they begin their investigation. Wearing trench coats, they hit the streets to question other homeless. They discovered that all the kidnappings happened around the docks. Using Michelangelo as bait, they are able to attract the Garbageman's truck. The Battle Shell fought the garbage truck, but the garbage truck was able to escape. They see it drive off the docks, into the water. Thinking they had won, they are surprised to see the garbage truck driving underwater to a landfill island.

After finding out that the landfill is the "best" in the country, the Turtles swim to the island to save their friends. Once there, they find a bunch of enslaved homeless people sorting through garbage, even some in chains. The Garbageman soon arrives with more slaves and starts to give a speech about how he is recycling the homeless, who do not have any other purpose in society. The Professor stands up to the Garbageman, but is threatened by the guards. The Turtles jump into action and set the slaves free. The prisoners then rebel against the guards and drive them away.

The Turtles turn their attention to the Garbageman, but cannot get a direct hit because of the mechanical arms. But Donatello is able to sabotage the Garbageman's vehicle circuitry. The Garbageman falls into the water. The Turtles jump into the water to rescue him, but are surprised to see an empty wheelchair at the bottom of the river. The Turtles return to the island where the Professor and the fellow homeless have decided to stay on the island because it had food and shelter. Raphael warns him that the Garbageman's evil may come back someday.

Trivia[]

This marks the first appearance of the Garbageman.
Michelangelo says his catchphrase, "Cowabunga!" for the third time.
Michelangelo references Arnold Schwarzenegger, Superman, and Jaws.
The voice of the Garbageman is Mike Pollock, the same voice actor who voices Doctor Eggman in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series.

Errors[]

As the Turtles run across the island, Leonardo's bandana becomes red like Raphael's, and then changes back.

External links[]

"Garbageman" at The Official TMNT web site