The Early Nineties Obsession with Radioactive TV Shows

Photo: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes TV Series (1990)

A click of the remote would tune into mutant turtles riding a pizza shooter while commercials for Nickelodeon Gak and Floam consumed the screen. It was a real zany time to grow up in the early nineties thanks to the creative minds that made television and toys more fun.

A hidden gem that deserved a larger fan base was the B-Movie turned television series, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, based on the 1978 film of the same title. In this show, a city was being overrun by angry tomatoes that would splat themselves against buildings (similar to the way tomatoes were thrown at Shakespearean theaters); a cute little tomato befriended the humans (like Gizmo in Gremlins); and a nineties girl name Tara could transform into a tomato if given a bit of salt. Yes, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes made perfect sense at the time of its release and was a show that would elicit non-stop laughter at the sight gags and plot points.

The following year, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze was released as a sequel that dove deeper into the radioactive sludge that was crucial to the turtles’ origin story.

The question I am posing for early nineties cartoons is: What was the reason behind so many shows based around radioactive neon green waste in glass capsules?

Could it be related to the increased popularity of nuclear reactors built in the 1960s? A deep concern for the Chernobyl disaster in 1986? Pollution and waste management getting out of control in the late eighties?

Sludge sells, ooze sells.

Captain Planet will take care of the rest.


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