I first started writing as a teenager, when I attended the Clarion Science Fiction Writers workshop. The teachers there were some of the greatest SF writers of all time -- Ursula K. LeGuin, Frank Herbert, Harlan Ellison and Theodore Sturgeon. This led directly to my first television assignment, 'Star Trek - The Animated Series, Vol. 11: How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth/ The Counter-Clock Incident' written in collaboration with Russell L. Bates. Our episode, "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth," was subsequently nominated for several awards, and won the Emmy award as Best Children's Series. Rumor has it that the series is finally going to be released on DVD from Columbia House.

ST: TAS was co-produced by Filmation Studios. For the next few years they kept offering me work, and I kept taking it. Fortunately, none of it is available on video. This includes episodes of "The Secrets of Isis," "Tarzan" and "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe." Nothing I'm terribly proud of, but god knows there are a surprising number of Isis and He-Man fans out there. (No, really, there are.)

Having worked on "Isis," it was a logical step to write for "Wonder Woman." I wrote two scripts for the third season, but only one was produced, "Time Bomb," which guest-starred Ted Shackelford and Joan Van Ark several years before they starred together on "Falcon Crest." You can find it on DVD in 'Wonder Woman - The Complete Third Season'.

Most of the people on the "Wonder Woman" production crew went on to do 'Buck Rogers in the 25th Century - The Complete Series'. I scripted one episode, "Space Vampire," written with my then-wife Kathleen Barnes. A decent enough episode, and the only one to really feature the talents of Erin Gray.

In 1983 I wrote a bunch of episodes of 'He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - Season One, Volume 1 (Collector's Edition)'. 'Nuff said.

In 1984 I wrote a couple of episodes of "Mighty Orbots," which is rightly considered the first anime-style series done for U.S. television. The animation was incredible, but the series concept (by no less than Fred Silverman) was terrible. It's not on video as of this writing.

That same year I started writing for another robot series called "Transformers." By the time the dust settled I had written 15 episodes, including the entire last season, more than any other writer. The Transformers seem to be as popular as ever these days, and you can find my episodes on 'Transformers Season Two Boxed Set, Part 1', 'Transformers Season Two Boxed Set, Part 2', and 'Transformers Season 3 Part 2/Season 4 Boxed Set' -- that last one contains a lengthy interview with me, by the way. (In horrific close-ups.)

"Transformers" was just one of three toy-based series I wrote Sunbow/Marvel Productions. I did several episodes of 'My Little Pony - The Complete First Season' (hey, don't laugh -- they weren't that bad!) and I did two episodes of "Jem." One's on 'Jem - The Complete 1st & 2nd Seasons' and the other will be in inevitable Season Three Part Two set. (And again, I have to shell out 35 bucks to get my one stupid episode!)

Then one day I received a call from a producer at Fred Wolf Films, who in a somewhat embarrassed voice asked if I'd be interested in working on a show about "teenagers and mutants and ninja--" "You mean Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?" I said. "I've got all four issues of the comic." The guy just about feel backwards out of his chair. And that, my friends, is how I came to develop TMNT for television. Of course, the original comic didn't have "Cowabunga, dude" or the pizza obsession or any of the Turtles' individual characterization -- all that came from me. I went on to write and/or story edit almost 100 episodes of the series. But the best of the best is still the five-part pilot miniseries, which is available is 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Original Series (Volume 1)'. No doubt the other nine-jillion episodes will be released on DVD in the future.

During the eight years I worked on TMNT, I did several other shows as well. I did a several episodes of Disney's "Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers" (yep, that IS the official title); the first few are available on 'Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers - Volume One Collection'; the rest will be in the next box set. While continuing to write TMNT, I also wrote two and a half episodes of "Batman: The Animated Series." The first is "The Clock King", which is on 'Batman - The Animated Series, Volume One (DC Comics Classic Collection)', Every other writer gets the Joker or Penguin or Two-Face and who do I get?? The freakin' CLOCK KING! Oh, well, it's actually a pretty good ep. I guess to make up for it, for my second episode they gave me the origin story of the hardest Batman villain to write -- the Riddler. It's called "If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?" and it's available on 'Batman - The Animated Series, Volume Two (DC Comics Classic Collection)'.

Around this time I also did the weirdest and most obscure show of my career, a direct-to-video one-shot called 'Battletoads'. Based on the videogame, it was basically a TMNT rip-off, which I perversely set in Oxnard, CA. It features an alien princess stranded on earth and who must support herself by working at a doughnut shop in Oxnard, California; she says things like: "Forgive me, kind sir, but I am a stranger in your world and know little of the 'jelly doughnuts' of which you speak."

In 1993 I did the final five episodes of a series called "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs." Though virtually unseen (especially on the West Coast), I think it's some of the best work I've ever done. I hope one day they'll release it on DVD, because it was a terrific series that deserves a wider audience. In the meantime, one of my episodes ("Survival") is available used on VHS: 'Mind Over Matter/Survival/Sieg'.

The following year I developed "Jim Lee's WildC.A.T.S," as well as writing the pilot and writing/story editing the first five episodes. I really enjoyed working directly with Jim Lee, who's one of the nicest guys in the world, but after 5 eps the show was taken out of my hands by psychotic CBS execs. It looks like this one is about to come out on DVD: 'Wild Cats - The Complete Series (Collector's Edition)'.

I then somehow found myself writing and producing a live action feature for Universal, 'Beastmaster 3 / Movie'. It's mostly awful (although I really like Patrick Kilpatrick's performance), and the script is okay, considering they gave me ELEVEN DAYS to write it! I was producer in name only -- otherwise I would never have allowed Casper Van Dien to appear in such a femmy blonde wig!

My next project was Disney's "Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series." (As opposed to "Mighty Ducks: the Series of Increasingly Goofy Hockey Movies.") In spite of being a rush-job, and in spite of the wacky voice casting of people like Dennis Franz ("Let's get Dennis Franz! The kids *love* 'NYPD Blue!'), there are some good episodes. (It's probably the only kid's show ever to do a parody of "Pulp Fiction.") Three of the better eps are collected on VHS as 'Mighty Ducks: Movie / Animated'

Another TV series I was involved with was the little-seen "Zorro." I wrote the first two episodes and story edited a few more. The animation was dreadful, but many reviewers, including TV Guide, praised the quality of the writing. Some of my episodes are available on DVD: 'Zorro - The First Encounter/Beastly Battles/High Seas Hero (Animated)'

And what have I been doing since then?, I hear the three of you who've made it this far ask. I'm shuttling to Japan a lot, creating manga and anime for both the Japanese and American market, happily preparing to warp the minds of another generation of kids!