Just about everything I watched that was 80s/late 80's run off trying to getting in on the 'We can sell to kids directly through tv shows' rush of cartoons of the time (gijoe, transformers, pound puppies, popples, and so on). I didn't realize it's what they were at the time, but it's much easier looking back. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles falls somewhere in between being half hour toy commercials and not bad children's programming (especially when paired with Adam West's Batman back to back on WGN Erie).
Of course, I also watched The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show every weekend as a child and there are quite a few of the 'Steven Spielberg Presents:' Warner cartoons that still hold up as well, so it's hit and miss. It's like for a brief period in the early 90's, cartoons tipped back in favour of entertaining instead of selling cereal and merchandise to the extreme degree they had before.
