Blast from the Past #472: July 14, 2005: Re: TMNT2105 Episode 1?

Subj: Re: TMNT2105 Episode 1?
Date: Thursday, July 14, 2005 1:10:58 PM
From: Peter Laird
To:   Lloyd Goldfine


In a message dated 7/13/05 2:37:42 PM, Lloyd writes:

Hey Pete –
 
 Attached is a very rough premise for the first episode.  It needs some adjustment, but I think it’s a good jumping off point for us to get a writer working on a full-up outline.  Give it a look-see, send me your notes, and lets discuss.  I haven’t sent it out to the rest of the distribution list yet - -  I wanted your thoughts first!
 
 As always, thanks mucho!
 
 Lloyd



Lloyd,


Here are my comments on the Episode 1 Premise (and a little bit more).


1.) Re: the state of the lair when they arrive in the future: I think it would be fun to play with some little mystery -- which we may or may not explain in future episodes -- by having things be, in addition to dusty and rotting, slightly altered (i.e. furniture moved around, new machines and gizmos in the lair, etc.) implying that somebody was in the lair AFTER they were. The Turtles can briefly remark on it as they find their way out. One question which just occurred to me: We currently have the Turtles' lair in that old pumping station in Central Park. Is it likely that a century could have gone by without someone discovering it? Might want to think about that a little.


2.) Re: the following:

"Meanwhile, Mikey finds a kind ALIEN who lends him an ENVIROPACK that helps with his breathing the “new air” and dealing with the extra gravity of the new world."

I'm still not one hundred percent crazy about the "new air" thing. Maybe the extra purity of the air doesn't make them choke and gag, but actually acts like alcohol or some other inebriating substance -- they could get a little "drunk" on the air. (Or "silly" or "lightheaded" might be a better way to put it for Saturday morning.) However we play this gag, I think we should quickly lose it (I'm already tired of it) by doing something like having their mutant biology rapidly adapt to it or something.
And by "extra gravity", is the writer referring to the different "gravity zones" we talked about? I don't think it would be a good idea to have Earth's overall gravity be changed.


3.) Re: the following:

"This Kid knows all about them, but isn’t saying anything, just that he’s “there to help.”

I think it would be more fun if the kid THINKS he knows all about them, but it will turn out that his knowledge of the Turtles and their history is incomplete, due to the fact that there was little recorded about them, and most of what he has to go on has been passed down through his family. An initial fun gag might be that he's a little intimidated by them -- "Y-You're bigger than I thought you'd be!"


4.) Re: the following:

"Mikey’s having a ball trying to live out all of his favorite scenes from sci-fi flicks! (Trying to get aliens to heal his cut finger. Making things burst from his chest, etc.) And in doing so, he runs afoul some ALIEN THUGS who don’t get the joke… uh oh…"

"Making things burst from his chest"...? Not sure that one works. Anyway, it seems a little off that Mike would just be playing around in these strange circumstances -- I'd think he would want to find his brothers quickly rather than just goof around


5.) This thought just came to me: Maybe one of the ways --especially in big cities of the future -- that the air is kept pure and clean is that there are hundreds of flying "Scrubbers"... dirigible-sized robot drone ships that endlessly fly at low speeds thought the city airspace, sucking in air and filtering out anything nasty. A couple of possible uses for these in future episodes:


-- the contaminants and poisons that the scrubbers filter out of the air are stored onboard and later emptied into safe holding facilities. This concentrated and dangerous filth might be used for some nefarious purpose by some evildoers.


-- because the Scrubbers suck in all these particulates that are in the air, they also suck in various biological material -- skin flakes, hair, bad breath -- and computers onboard record and file time-coded information on all of these pollutants. If the Turtles needed to try to find someone (one of their friends or one of their enemies), Don could get the brilliant idea to hack into the ScrubNet and try to get a DNA match on some of these particles, leading the Turtles to the general area where the particles were found.


6.) I think we need to be very careful to not make Cody into one of those impossibly smart kids who solves every problem -- in other words (to use a STAR TREK reference) let's not Wesley Crusher-ize him. He should have at least as many flaws and foibles as he has smarts and wealth.


7.) Another thought that just came to me: It might be fun to have holographic computer simulated versions (either insubstantial or solid like STAR TREK holodeck holograms) of the original Casey and April, programmed by them (and their descendants) to be as close to the originals as possible. They could be used by Cody for teaching and reference... and to some extent, companionship. Might make for some fun interactions with the Turtles and Splinter. And maybe one of Don's projects is to use his first-hand knowledge of the original Casey and April to reprogram the holograms so that they are more like the actual people that he knew.


-- Pete