Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles received widespread acclaim and was commercially successful throughout its first five seasons, receiving wide critical praise for the faithfulness to the source material, the storytelling, character development, action, darker tone, humor, the theme song, background music, voice acting, animation and appeal to all ages. It also garnered high ratings for a 4Kids Saturday morning cartoon and shortly after the premiere became the highest-rated and most popular children's television show in the US. Fans have praised the series as being the best adaptation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to date. Unleash the Fanboy praised the series for its connection to the comic books in story and tone, and it helps that co-creator Peter Laird was closely involved with the series, making sure things stayed on the right path.