TURBO TEEN

 

TURBO TEEN
(ABC, September 8-December 1, 1984)
 
Ruby-Spears Productions

 

 

MAIN CAST:
T.K. Carter – Alex
Pat Fraley – Dr. Chase, Eddie
Pamela Hayden – Pattie
Michael Mish – Brett Matthews/Turbo Teen
Clive Revill – Agent Caldwell
Frank Welker – Rusty, Dark Rider, Flip, various

 

 

  Knight Rider burst onto the scene in 1982. The series was about a lone man, Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff), travelling around and doing good wherever he wound up. His partner in these endeavors was a technologically advanced Pontiac Trans Am, the Knight Industries Two Thousand—or K.I.T.T. K.I.T.T. was nearly indestructible, could perform amazing feats at the push of a button, and was in possession of an advanced artificial intelligence (voiced by William Daniels) that could allow it to operate autonomously when needed. Critics found the concept unbearably silly, but audiences showed up and allowed it to run for four seasons. In the wake of its success, an imitator was inevitable.

Promotional artwork of Brett changing into his car form.

            That came in the form of Ruby-Spears Productions’ Turbo Teen. However, rather than give a character an intelligent super car, they decided to make the character the intelligent super car. The series centered on teenager Brett Matthews (Michael Mish) who was out joyriding when a lightning strike sent him barreling into a scientific experiment. Exposed to a molecular beam invented by Dr. Chase (Pat Fraley) for a government agent named Caldwell (Clive Revill), Brett became fused with his car and was able to transform into it when exposed to heat. He not only retained his full faculties as the car, but could move at will and perform an almost limitless number of stunts far beyond the realm of physics. He could only transform back to human form after being exposed to the cold. As this change was involuntary, it often happened at inopportune times.

Brett micro-sized with Alex, Rusty and Pattie.

            While Chase and Caldwell worked to find a permanent cure, they decided to put his new abilities to use and sent him to investigate local mysteries or put a stop to criminal activity around the world under the codename Turbo Teen. Joining him on his adventures was his girlfriend, freelance reporter Pattie (Pamela Hayden), his best friend, mechanic Alex (T.K. Carter), and his dog, Rusty (Frank Welker). A recurring villain was the unseen Dark Rider (Welker); a master of disguise that plagued the Turbo Team in an advanced monster truck of his own design. The Dark Rider had apparently designed a supercar that resembled Brett’s and sought revenge for what he believed was his stolen design. Additionally, their classmates from Hillmount High, Eddie (Fraley) and Flip (Welker), would cause the Turbo Team some trouble by being typical dim-witted bullies constantly looking to show up Brett and his car.

Just a car enjoying some arcade games.

            The Knight Rider inspiration was very evident. Aside from being self-driving, Brett’s car and his car form was very much modeled after a 1984 Trans Am; however colored red instead of black. To avoid a lawsuit from General Motors or paying them a licensing fee, the car did have some differences: the tail lights were reminiscent of the third generation Chevrolet Camaro, the pop-up headlights were removed with the turn signals serving as the headlights, and the center roof bar that would make it a T-top was removed (however, the official press photo was not shy about showing a very clearly black Trans Am). As with K.I.T.T., a voice modulator was present on the dashboard that reacted to whenever Brett spoke in car form; however, it was located in the lower center rather than over the wheel and was represented by a horizontal line and waves instead of vertical lines (or a flashing box, in Knight Rider’s earlier episodes). The Dark Rider having a connection to Brett’s vehicle form and driving his own much larger super vehicle was similar to the character of Garthe Knight (Hasselhoff), the evil son of K.I.T.T.’s creator who drove a souped-up semi-truck named Goliath. Not to mention that Brett just happened to be driving the exact make and model of a super car that was already in development (before meeting K.I.T.T., Michael Knight drove a regular black Trans Am in the series pilot). Then there was the fact that in car form, Brett could pull of impossible stunts (more so than even Knight Rider, since they didn’t have to worry about the expense of replacing actual cars) and was seemingly indestructible.

The original concepts for Cary Becomes a Car by Jack Kirby.

            The concept for the series started out a bit differently. Originally pitched as Cary Becomes a Car, the legendary Jack Kirby whipped up several concept sketches. Under Kirby, the series had a decidedly more action flare. Cary was still a teenager, but his transformation appeared to be more deliberate. Although it was written that Cary transformed into a Camaro, the car he drew more closely resembled a Ford Mustang. This sketch was featured in the biographical graphic novel Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics by Tom Scioli during the section on Kirby’s Ruby-Spears tenure. There were also concepts for several villains—many with car-themed names: Mogal, the Magi-Mechanic was a sorcerer that carried around a magic tool box; Super Sonica was a super-speed witch; Hot Rodney Rumpkin was an overweight race car driver always in the company of his butler, Dingy Doolittle; and Barney Brannigan, a leprechaun-esque figure that conjured up crazy obstacles for drivers. Most notable was Speed Demon, described as a “sinister driver of unknown origin shadows hero”. He seemed to be the prototype for what would become The Dark Rider—albeit minus being an actual demon. Additional Kirby sketches have surfaced showing the slow evolution from Cary Becomes a Car into Turbo Teen, including depictions of Brett as a hatchback encountering more science-fiction fare; Brett as a sportier-looking car surrounded by a legion of human characters and early versions of Pattie and Rusty; and Pattie and Alex riding in Brett’s final form while evading some unusual-looking enemies (under the name Turbo-Teens). Along with Kirby, characters were designed by Duncan Marjoribanks, Doug Wildey and Thom Enriquez.

Brett transforming.

            Turbo Teen debuted on ABC on September 8, 1984. It and the network’s other new offerings were promoted the night before in the Saturday morning preview special The ABC Saturday Morning Preview Park hosted by “Weird Al” Yankovic. The series was developed and story edited by Michael Maurer, who also wrote a couple episodes alongside Mark Jones, Matt Uitz, Evelyn A.R. Gabai, Dennis Marks, Michael Ray Brown, Cliff Ruby, Elana Lesser and Ted Pedersen. Animation duties were handled by Hanho Heung-Up Company and Toei Animation, with XAM! Productions working on layouts. Bill Perez designed the opening titles that laid out the entire origin story, with John Kimball animating its transformation scene. Udi Harpaz composed and conducted the music under the supervision of Paul DeKorte.

Glow time means 3D time!

            ABC had originally planned to have certain shows within its 1984 line-up—Turbo Teen being one, The Mighty Orbots another—include a faux 3D effect. This was accomplished by producing those programs with a higher percentage of moving overlays and underlays panning at different speeds, coupled with a pair of 3D glasses that had one polarized lens and one blank lens to give the illusion of depth. Turbo Teen’s 3D sequences were signaled by flashes within the show to indicate when to put on and take off the glasses. However, story director Tom Minton stated that ABC was told by their legal department at the last minute that they couldn’t promise every viewer that experience or supply enough free glasses to viewers. As a result, all advertising about the gimmick had to be dropped and those became very expensive and pointlessly elaborate sequences.

The Dark Rider's monster truck.

           The novel notion of a kid turning into a car was ultimately failed by its execution. Retrospectives about Turbo Teen would sum up its problems as having poor scripts, even worse animation, and a nightmare-inducing transformation sequence whenever Brett changed. Storyboard supervisor James Woodring would go on to lambast the series as “one of the masterpieces of s--t” in various interviews; a sentiment he claimed was shared by others in Ruby-Spears’ employ at the time. Viewers and the network seemed to back up his estimation as Turbo Teen was cancelled by the end of its sole season.

Rolling down the roller coaster tracks.

            Not much was released in terms of merchandise for the show. There was a coloring book published by Golden, and a transforming model kit by Monogram that was originally made for the product-exclusive GoBots character Trans Am. The model was a stock Trans Am complete with a decal of the trademark Screaming Chicken graphic for the hood. However, it could be changed into a humanoid body. The Turbo Teen version got a new head sculpt representing Brett. None of the episodes have been released to home media legally in North America, although some can be found on video hosting sites like YouTube. Internationally, at least 6 episodes have been released on VHS.

Cold soda about to change Turbo Teen back into Brett.

            Turbo Teen hasn’t been completely forgotten and has been referenced in other projects. In the 2000 Futurama episode “The Honking”, robot Bender (John DiMaggio) was run over by a non-hovering car that turned him into a werecar—the robotic version of a werewolf. His transformation sequence was similar to Turbo Teen’s. Robot Chicken directly spoofed Turbo Teen in the 2007 episode “Rabbits on a Roller Coaster”. The Rotten Tomatoes Show also spoofed Turbo Teen in a commercial featuring a live-action version of Brett (Brett Erlich) encountering a Decepticon from Transformers in 2009. The Rick and Morty 2015 episode “The Ricks Must Be Crazy” featured Morty (Justin Roiland) being secretly given the ability to turn into a car by Rick (also Roiland), and, while quick, the transformation was similar to Turbo Teen (right down to Morty’s car form being red). Teen Titans Go! featured the most overt reference of all in the 2019 episode “Teen Titans Vroom!” as the titular team was sent careening by a lightning strike into a top-secret government science experiment that gave them all the ability to turn into cars.

  

EPISODE GUIDE:
“Turbo Thieves” (9/8/84) – A pair of thieves learn of Turbo Teen’s existence and plot to kidnap him to make themselves rich.
 
“The Dark Rider” (9/15/84) – The Dark Rider pursues Turbo Teen while he participates in an exhibition.
 
“Mystery of Fantasy Park” (9/22/84) – Turbo Teen and his friends investigate strange goings on at a local amusement park.
 
“No Show UFO” (9/29/84) – Agent Cauldwell tasks the Turbo Team with investigating UFO sightings.
 
“Micro-Teen” (10/6/84) – Dr. Chase’s team creates a shrink ray that will allow the Turbo Team to go on an infiltration mission.
 
“The Sinister Souped-Up Seven” (10/13/84) – His friends must help Brett get over his amnesia while preventing the destruction of a mission on a reservation.
 
“Video Venger” (10/20/84) – The Turbo Team discover an arcade game is a training program for an invasion on Washington, D.C. when the war machines inside it come to life.
 
“Dark Rider and the Wolves of Doom” (10/27/84) – Dark Rider kidnaps a scientist whose formula can regress dogs to their primitive state.
 
“The Curse of the Twisted Claw” (11/3/84) – The Turbo Team heads to India to stop an archaeological discovery from unlocking a weapon of great destruction.
 
“Daredevil Run” (11/10/84) – The Turbo Team enter a cross-country race as a cover to get a witness to court to testify against a jewel thief.
 
“The Amazon Adventure” (11/17/84) – A trip to the Amazon sees the Turbo Team and Brett’s father embroiled in a conflict with a local thug.
 
“Fright Friday” (11/24/84) – A campfire story about a local legend comes true and endangers the Turbo Team’s friends.
 
“The Mystery of the Dark Rider” (12/1/84) – Turbo Teen must clear his name after a clone robs a bank while also uncovering the identity of the Dark Rider once and for all.