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★ 1987 SERIES · S06 · E09 · RED SKY ERA I

NIGHTMARE IN THE LAIR

Episode 135 of 193 in the original Fred Wolf cartoon. First aired October 17, 1992.

Nightmare in the Lair title card
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HOME/ CARTOONS/ 1987 SERIES/ SEASON 6/ NIGHTMARE IN THE LAIR

01PLOT

Down in the sewers, while Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael are watching yet another cheesy sci-fi film, Donatello is busy building his latest invention, the Dream-O-Vision, a device designed to turn someone's imagination into a three-dimensional hologram. Splinter warns them they are relying too much on other people's imagination.

After a couple of test runs it appears to malfunction when a character named Creepy Eddie appears and announces that he is taking control of Raphael's dream. Donatello shuts down the Dream-O-Vision helmet and decides that it is too dangerous and puts it away until he can figure out what is wrong.

Meanwhile, over at Channel 6 News, Milton Frobish the Third, a nerd and son of the owner of Channel 6 News, has been welcomed to the News Team and assigned to work with April. Thus begins a series of misadventures for poor Milton the nebbish, thanks to Vernon's constant "sucking up," which frequently causes Milton severe injuries.

Michelangelo decides not to accompany the other Turtles so he could pursue his personal goal of trying out the Dream-O-Vision against Donatello's orders, He puts on the helmet thinking he could try it without the other Turtles knowing. Everything is fine until he is attacked by the Squid Monster That Ate Hoboken. Following that, Mikey is chased by a tidal wave monster that manifests to Creepy Eddies face. Back at Channel 6, Vernon blames April for Milton falling off a ladder used to get some tapes. Meanwhile in Nightmareland, Michelangelo finally gets to change his dream to playing hockey. Suddenly a hockey goal post tries to eat him and suck him under the ice. Finally, Michelangelo confronts Creepy Eddie in person in a cave that looks like the inside of a mouth. Unable to return to the real world, Creepy Eddie informs Michelangelo that he has been waiting for someone from Michelangelo's universe to pass through. All he needs is one more person to make a two-for-one exchange.

Concerned about Michelangelo's reluctance to join them for pizza, Leonardo returns to the lair, only to be sucked into a tornado and transported into Nightmareland. Moments later, Creepy Eddie arrives in the real world. This event then reveals Michelangelo's true intention for not joining the others.

While Michelangelo and Leonardo do battle with creatures from Mikey's imagination, Donatello, Raphael and Splinter do battle with Creepy Eddie. Creepy Eddie uses his magic to make a brick wall around the dream-o-vision so Donatello can't shut it down.

Meanwhile at Channel 6 another accident sends Milton Frobish down the stairs. Vernon's constant tattle tale and accusations nearly get April in deep trouble with Burne. However, in a twist the misadventures of Milton Frobish results in him deciding he is not being cut out to work for Channel 6 after all, and wishes to be a doctor instead. The Owner wheels in a paralyzed Milton Frobbish but sends April and Irma on a vacation to Hawaii instead of firing them.

April is relieved, but it is only short-lived. She learns of the absence of both Michelangelo and Leonardo, when the latter's Turtlecom goes to voicemail, revealing he is stranded in Nightmareland and may never come home. And worse yet, Creepy Eddy has tied dynamite to blow up the Dream-O-Vision that would keep Michelangelo and Leonardo stuck in Nightmareland forever.

Finally, April saves the day when she arrives at the lair and finding the lights turned off, turns them on—blowing a fuse in the process. This causes the Dream-O-Vision machine to shut itself off, causing Michelangelo and Leonardo to return to reality just as they fall into a bottomless chasm. Creepy Eddie to briefly return to Nightmareland before his own dynamite kills him. After this experience, the Turtles refrain from tasteless horror flicks for a while as Splinter noted at the beginning.

02CAST & APPEARANCES

Renae Jacobs
Barry Gordon
Cam Clarke
Townsend Coleman
Pat Fraley
Rob Paulsen
Peter Renaday
Peter Renaday
ALSO APPEARING
Burne Thompson · Pat FraleyCreepy Eddie · Kevin SchonIrma · Jennifer Darling

03OBJECTS, VEHICLES & PLACES

OBJECTS & VEHICLESDream-O-VisionIce hockey stickKatana
LOCATIONSChannel 6 buildingNightmarelandTurtle LairVinnie's Pizzeria
SPECIESAlienHumanMutant ratMutant turtle

05MEMORABLE QUOTES

(Creepy Eddie appears as a tidal wave) Creepy Eddie: Hello, Michelangelo. Remember Me? (Michelangelo screams) Creepy Eddie: You can run but you can't hide. (Creepy Eddie evilly cackles)

06NOTES & GOOFS

  • Leonardo has no swords with him when he enters Nightmareland, but gains a pair when he and Michelangelo are being chased by the giant spider.
  • Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael were wearing disguises when they left the Turtle Lair to return the VHS movies they rented, but when they were eating pizza at Vinnie’s they weren’t wearing disguises.

07TRIVIA

  • Creepy Eddie is a caricature of Freddy Krueger from the _A Nightmare on Elm Street_ franchise, most notably his jumper, his habit of making wisecracks to morbidly compliment the situation, and his ability to invade people's dreams. Eddie also dies by dynamite, just like Freddy in the movie _Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare_.
  • There are storyboards from this episode that read "Murakami-Wolf-Swenson" and apparently copyrighted 1992, that indicate that this episode was produced sometime in 1992 before the company became Fred Wolf Films https://www.behance.net/gallery/54193787/Teenage-Mutant-Ninja-Turtles-StoryboarderSheet-timer ; the Fred Wolf Films logo is actually shown at the end of this episode.

08FAN REVIEW

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Episode data adapted from Turtlepedia / Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Spot an error? Fix it in the forum.

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