TMNT: Back to the Sewer, commonly shortened to "Back to the Sewer" or "BTTS", is the seventh and final season of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003). It originally aired over The CW4Kids on Saturday mornings between 13 September 2008 and 28 February 2009.
Plot[]
Beginning in 2105, thanks to Cody Jones brilliance along with that of Donatello's, the Turtles have successfully repaired the Time Window, allowing them to head home. However, unknown to them, Viral has reconstructed herself inside Serling and takes control of it to send the Turtles through constant torturous time travels as payback for her and Sh'Okanabo's defeat. However, the Turtles succeed in tricking Viral into opening a portal to the present day (over shot by a year), but Splinter becomes trapped in cyberspace due to Viral using Serling's decompiler in mid-travel. Unfortunately for the futuristic virus, Viral tries hacking into a Foot Clan program and ends up becoming the Cyber Shredder. Using the knowledge of future technology, Donatello constructs a device that allows the Turtles to head into the internet and search for the data bits of Master Splinter in hopes of reuniting with their father. Also, the Foot Clan has returned to full strength under the command of one of the Shredder's most loyal minions, Khan. The Cyber Shredder seeks to enter the real world and continue his Utrom counterpart's plans of world domination. The Turtles learn that during the year that they've missed Casey and April have been taking care of the lair and that they have gotten closer to being married.
Characters[]
Heroes[]
- Donatello
- Leonardo
- Michelangelo/Turtle Titan
- Raphael
- Splinter
- April O'Neil
- Casey Jones
- Leatherhead
- Miyamoto Usagi
- Murakami Gennosuke
- Serling
- Justice Force
- Cody Jones
- Sid Jones
- Mrs. Jones (Casey's mother)
- Utroms
- Fugitoid
- Ancient One
- Dr. Chaplin
- Oroku Karai
- Angel
- Renet
- Professor
- Daimyo
- Ultimate Ninja
- Ninja Tribunal
- Ninja Tribunal Acolytes
Villains[]
- Viral
- Cyber Shredder
- Hun
- Baxter Stockman
- Karai
- Utrom Shredder
- Master Khan
- Tengu Shredder
- Metal Klawz
- Spider Bytez
- Doctor Malignus
- Ultimate Gamer
- Mechazoid
Indeterminate/unaffiliated[]
Development[]
Several pitches were given to Mirage Studios and Playmates Toys before settling on Back to the Sewer. The first pitch, TMNT: Super World, involved a card game of some sort. TMNT: Overload was to have a glitch in the time travel process cause the Turtles to bring their younger selves with them to the present. The third idea, Ultimate TMNT attempted to combine the universe of the movies with the 2003 cartoon as well as introduce characters from the 1987 cartoon and TMNT Adventure comicbook from Archie Comics. Ultimately, they decided to take the start with the more realistic and less humorous aspects of TMNT: Overload and use that as a starting point for Back to the Sewer.
It was decided that a more stylized art style would be used in order to bring down the cost per episode. Also, pupils were added to the Turtles in order to look more similar to the character designs used in TMNT.
Theme song[]
In Spring 2008, 4Kids Entertainment held the "Pick Us a Rockin' Theme Song Before Mikey Gets His Way Challenge". Six theme songs were posted and fans were allowed to vote for their favorite. The winner (#5) was used in the series with some modifications.
Reception[]
Upon release, the seventh season was met with largely negative reviews, with criticism towards the art style changes, lighter tone, and overall weaker storylines when compared to the show's first five seasons. It had the lowest number of views, 0.98 million views and a rank of 68% as of March 2009.