Turbo Teen

Turbo Teen is about a teenager named Brett Matthews who swerves off a road during a thunderstorm and crashes into a secret government laboratory. There, he and his red sports car are accidentally exposed to a molecular beam, invented by a scientist named Dr. Chase for a government agent named Cauldwell. As a result, Brett and his car become fused together. Brett gains the ability to morph into the car when exposed to extreme heat and revert into his human form when exposed to extreme cold. With this new superhero power, Brett, along with his girlfriend Pattie (a freelance reporter), his best friend Alex (a mechanic who calls Brett "TT"), and his dog Rusty go on crime-fighting adventures together and solve other mysteries.{{cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/shows/turbo-teen/|title=Turbo Teen|last=TV.com|website=TV.com|access-date=4 October 2018}}

A recurring subplot involves Brett, Cauldwell, and Dr. Chase's search for a way to return Brett to normal. Also, a recurring villain is the mysterious, unseen "Dark Rider" who drives a monster truck and seeks to capture Brett in order to find the secret behind his abilities. In addition, Brett and his friends deal with the shenanigans of their classmates Eddie and Flip.

{{Episode table |background=#fa6a63 |overall=6 |title=30 |writer=22 |writerT=Story by |airdate=20 |episodes=

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 1

| Title = Turbo Thieves

| WrittenBy = Mark Jones

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1984|9|8}}

| ShortSummary = Brett is kidnapped by goons who believe Turbo Teen will make them rich.

| LineColor = fa6a63

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 2

| Title = The Dark Rider

| WrittenBy = Michael Maurer

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1984|9|15}}

| ShortSummary = Brett and Turbo Teen are featured in an exhibition while a mysterious man known as Dark Rider pursues him.

| LineColor = fa6a63

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 3

| Title = Mystery of Fantasy Park

| WrittenBy = Matt Uitz

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1984|9|22}}

| ShortSummary = Brett and his friends are asked by Agent Cauldwell to investigate a local amusement park.

| LineColor = fa6a63

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 4

| Title = No Show UFO

| WrittenBy = Evelyn A.R. Gabai

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1984|9|29}}

| ShortSummary = Brett and his friends are tasked, again by Cauldwell, to investigate UFO sightings in the area.

| LineColor = fa6a63

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 5

| Title = Micro-Teen

| WrittenBy = Dennis Marks

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1984|10|6}}

| ShortSummary = Although Dr. Chase's team cannot 'fix' Brett's condition, apparently they have created a ray that shrinks the crew for an infiltration mission into a mansion where something of value is hidden behind various defenses and its owners.

| LineColor = fa6a63

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 6

| Title = The Sinister Souped-Up Seven

| WrittenBy = Matt Uitz

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1984|10|13}}

| ShortSummary = Turbo and his friends evade the Dark Rider in the American southwest. After dropping them off, he crashes into a cave wall, getting amnesia, to be woken up by reservation natives. His friends find them and try to help him regain his memory, while thwarting the plans of villains who want to destroy a mission on the reservation.

| LineColor = fa6a63

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 7

| Title = Video Venger

| WrittenBy = Michael Brown

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1984|10|20}}

| ShortSummary = Various war machines from an arcade game come to life when Brett and his friends discover the game is a training program for a real planned invasion of Washington D.C.

| LineColor = fa6a63

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 8

| Title = Dark Rider and the Wolves of Doom

| WrittenBy = Michael Maurer

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1984|10|27}}

| ShortSummary = Dark Rider captures Monique's father Dr. Fabro and his formula that can cause dogs to regress to their primitive state in his latest plan to capture Brett Matthews.

| LineColor = fa6a63

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 9

| Title = The Curse of the Twisted Claw

| WrittenBy = Matt Uitz,
Michael Maurer

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1984|11|3}}

| ShortSummary = Twin items of rare historical antiquity near Bombay, and it is up to Brett and his friends to recover it before those who may use them unjustly can do the same.

| LineColor = fa6a63

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 10

| Title = Daredevil Run

| WrittenBy = Cliff Ruby,
Elana Lesser

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1984|11|10}}

| ShortSummary = Brett, Alex, and Pattie enter a cross-country race as cover while escorting a girl named Paula to court so that she can testify against a jewel thief called "The Dragon."

| LineColor = fa6a63

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 11

| Title = The Amazon Adventure

| WrittenBy = Ted Pedersen

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1984|11|17}}

| ShortSummary = Brett and friends are visiting Brazil with Brett's father when they become entangled with a local ruffian.

| LineColor = fa6a63

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 12

| Title = Fright Friday

| WrittenBy = Matt Uitz

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1984|11|24}}

| ShortSummary = While camping, a story about a local legend of masked men in the woods comes true and Brett and the others must save their friends.

| LineColor = fa6a63

}}

{{Episode list

| EpisodeNumber = 13

| Title = The Mystery of Dark Rider

| WrittenBy = Michael Maurer

| OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1984|12|1}}

| ShortSummary = After a Turbo Teen clone robs a local bank, Brett must clear his name while working to uncover the identity of Dark Rider once and for all.

| LineColor = fa6a63

}}

}}

• T. K. Carter as Alex
• Pat Fraley as Dr. Chase, Eddie
• Pamela Hayden as Pattie
• Michael Mish as Brett Matthews/Turbo Teen
• Clive Revill as Cardwell
• Frank Welker as Rusty, Dark Rider, Flip

• Nelson Comer
• Alan Dinehart
• Ron Feinberg
• Alejandro Garay
• Linda Gary
• Bob Holt
• William Martin
• Michael Sheehan

• Alan Dinehart – Voice Director
• Howard Morris – Voice Director
• Michael Maurer – Story Editor
• John Kimball – Director
• Jack Kirby – Production Design

The show was produced by Ruby-Spears Productions with animation supplied by Toei Animation and Hanho Heung-Up. It was broadcast during the growing popularity of the Knight Rider television series and mirrors much of it. The car that Brett turns into looks like an amalgam of a Third Generation Chevrolet Camaro and its sister car, the Pontiac Trans Am; the later model Knight Rider's KITT is based on.{{clarify|date=August 2015}} The Trans Am also had limited edition turbocharger packages in the early 1980s, appearing as an official Indy 500 pace car and featuring in the movie Smokey and the Bandit II.{{cite web |last=Gold |first=Aaron |date=Jul 28, 2020 |title=That Time Pontiac Turbocharged the Trans Am |url=https://www.motortrend.com/features/time-pontiac-turbocharged-trans/ |access-date=September 18, 2022 |website=MotorTrend}}

In The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows, David Perlmutter writes "This is perhaps the most absurd concept developed for television animation in the genre's history. Despite a basis in somewhat-plausible science, it was not produced competently enough to make its premise anywhere near believable."{{cite book |last1=Perlmutter |first1=David |title=The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows |date=2018 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1538103739 |pages=664–665}}

• {{IMDb title|id=0211171}}
• [https://archive.today/20130121003452/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Other_Studios/R/Ruby-Spears_Productions/Turbo-Teen/index.html Episode guide] at the Big Cartoon DataBase

{{Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company in the 1980s}}

Category:1980s American animated television series

Category:1980s American children's television series

Category:1984 American animated television series debuts

Category:1985 American television series endings

Category:American children's animated adventure television series

Category:American children's animated science fiction television series

Category:American English-language television shows

Category:American automotive television series

Category:Animated television series about shapeshifting

Category:American teen animated television series

Category:Television series by Ruby-Spears

Category:Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios

Category:American Broadcasting Company animated television series