New York-based licensing agent Mark Freedman was introduced to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic property in 1986 through a toy industry contact and pitched a toy line based on it to California toy manufacturer Playmates Toys.

Playmates Toys was initially uncertain about the property and required that a television deal be secured first before committing to a toy line; the first action figures were released in summer 1988 after the initial five-episode miniseries debuted.

The show deliberately deviated from the darker-toned original Mirage Studios comics, softening the tone to make the property more suitable for children and families.

The budget for the first five episodes of the series was almost $2 million, and the animation for the first three seasons was produced by Japanese studio Toei Animation, which co-produced those seasons; some episodes were also produced overseas at Murakami-Wolf-Swenson's satellite studio in Dublin, Ireland.

David Wise and Patti Howeth wrote the screenplay for the original five-part miniseries, and Wise went on to write over seventy episodes and served as executive story editor for four later seasons before leaving partway through season nine, when Jeffrey Scott took over as chief writer.

All the main voice cast recorded their lines together in Los Angeles rather than separately, which according to April O'Neil's voice actress Renae Jacobs was great for camaraderie and led to a lot of ad-libbing on set.

Master Splinter names the four turtles Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo after his favorite Italian Renaissance artists.

By 1990 the series was airing daily on more than 125 television stations, and its associated merchandise—including action figures, breakfast cereals, and plush toys—became top sellers worldwide during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

For the 2009 crossover film Turtles Forever, none of the original 1987 voice actors were able to reprise their roles due to financial restrictions, so replacement actors were used instead.

Several 1987-series voice actors, including Cam Clarke, Townsend Coleman, Barry Gordon, and Rob Paulsen, later reprised their original characters' voices for crossover appearances in the 2012 Nickelodeon TMNT series, including the episode 'Wormquake!' and the multi-part special 'Wanted: Bebop and Rocksteady.'

In the 2012 series' crossover special, Kevin Michael Richardson voiced the original 1987 Shredder instead of James Avery, who had originated the role, because Avery had passed away in 2013.