Could the original Power Rangers show be remade and succeed?

[VinnieSunshine]

I read about the 20th anniversary of the Power Rangers happening next month at San Diego Comic Con and thought about this.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/21/comic-con-celebrate-20-years-of-power-rangers

COULD THE ORIGINAL SERIES BE RE-MADE AND WORK IN TODAY'S KID FRIENDLY VIEWERSHIP?

Now, when I say re-made, I don't mean rehashing or re-telling the stories or plots. Im talking about having Zordon and Alpha recruit a NEW team, with newer zords, and having the show be in cannon with the events of the original.

Back when I grew up with it, Power Rangers weren't as goofy and kid centric as it is now. Sure, looking back on it as an adult it seems goofy now. It also has become very gimmicky: Space, ninjas, samurais, dinosaurs, etc.

1) Would you like to see an original show come back?

2) How you you like to see it done?

 

[Lee]

The original had Space (That's where Billy ended up).
The original had Ninjas (Have you seen the movie).
The original had Dinosaurs (What else are the zords?).
The original was very goofy (can you remember some of the monsters?).
The original was kid centric (can you remember Bulk and Skull?).

Canon wise Zordon is dead and Alpha 5 is long gone.

Take that away and I don't get why you want a 20 year old kid show brought back.

 

[VinnieSunshine]

The original had Space (That's where Billy ended up).
The original had Ninjas (Have you seen the movie).
The original had Dinosaurs (What else are the zords?).
The original was very goofy (can you remember some of the monsters?).
The original was kid centric (can you remember Bulk and Skull?).

Canon wise Zordon is dead and Alpha 5 is long gone.

Take that away and I don't get why you want a 20 year old kid show brought back.

To be completely honest, I lost touch with it after the movie. The movie ruined it all for me.

But as far as the ORIGINAL...it was more grounded. The zords were based off dinosaur designs, the movie doesn't count for anything at all. The movie destroyed the show. The show continued from where the movie left off. As far as space, yeah Billy went to space, but space wasn't a main focus of the original show. Power Rangers as a show movie into space, with a whole team and concept being based IN SPACE.

I was moreso referring to the later shows that spawned from it...Dino Thunder, Wild Force, Jungle Fury, Ninja Storm, etc. It got WAY to gimmicky. Hell Dino Thunder was based around dinosaurs more than the original was. At least with the originals the zords were old relics brought back from an older team.

Yes SOME of the monsters were goofy, but theme wise the show was kind of dark. As far as Bulk and Skull...comic relief. Every show had it, and almost every show still does. They (well moreso Bulk) has remained a staple of the show.

The original got a TON of bad press because kids were repeating everything they saw. Same with wrestling at the time.

I never said I wanted it to come back. I was just asking if a rehash could survive today. I personally would love to see the original make a comeback in some shape or form. It was/is part of pop culture history. It was one of the most popular things back when I was a kid.

With cartoons being re done and re-told for a new generation lately (G.I. Joe, Transformers, Spider-Man), Would Power Rangers succeed if they rebooted the series. The WHOLE 20 years of it. Just quit where they were at and restarted all over again? New team, new zords, back on earth in a more realistic setting (not a group of kids training to be samurais). Yes there are "monsters" why else would we need a team of defenders. I mean, superheroes are based on earth fighting aliens and threats about taking over earth, why not a Power Rangers show?

It could be a new team of superheroes.

 

[Larry]

I think with an update of sorts Power Rangers could succeed again. A winning recipe is always a winning recipe plain and simple. It's when you divert away from what made you successful or basically become a parody of what made you successful in an attempt to recapture the magic again after you've went astray from your roots that you fail. TV history shows that hero groups fighting evil sells, especially in a sci-fi type setting like Power Rangers going all the way back to the original Star Trek, Lost in Space, Transformers, etc.... You can even look to stuff like Thundercats, G.I. Joe's, Ninja Turtles, Toxic Avengers, Captain Planet and the Planeteer's, Battletoads, and the list goes on. Even the Power Rangers shows that have continued are good examples. While we may have grown out of them there is a whole generation who has watched these other Power Rangers continuations and they've continued to sell. So, without a doubt I think that, yes, the original story with Zordon, Rita, the original Rangers, etc... could be successful again.

 

[Trill Co$by]

Once again, the PR fan of WZ shows his head to aid the problems at hand.

The 20th season of Power Rangers, confirmed by Saban, is already set to have Pirates as the theme, adapting from Sentai Series Gokaiger. Basically, these rangers will have their own basic powers, but will also be able to transform into past ranger teams. It's quite an interesting idea.

The problem is that there's no way they can make it as interesting with Zordon, Alpha, or anything like that. I mean, I suppose they could go Dino-Thunder and bring in an old ranger as the mentor. But Tommy fucking over ran that season like he did MMPR thru early Turbo (almost killing the franchise).

Power Rangers is still very entertaining. RPM, Mystic Force, and SPD (Disney made versions) are very well thought out and put great emphasis on dark stories. RPM's set in a post apocalyptic world, SPD is set in the future, and Mystic Force is literally about dark magic but still damn great.

I would say that being 20 and still loving power rangers isn't a bad thing at all. We have people well into their 50s who still collect Super-Man, Batman, Spider-Man, and even Dardevil comics. Power Rangers has just become one of those big time draws in the super hero realm to be a great addition. It was to the early 90s what DBZ was to the late 90s.

Also, with Nickelodeon putting in a lot of money for the next few seasons, I think Saban has the ability to pull out some amazing stuff that can make it a family friendly show.

----

To be completely honest, I lost touch with it after the movie. The movie ruined it all for me.

Don't worry, a lot of people feel the same... but it should be noted that the Movie is in no way canon to the actual series. In the movie, the rangers get their powers from Daulcia after going to another world. But in the actual series, a ninja gave them their ninja powers. Power Rangers is a great series when you watch it all the way through. In Space is highly rated as the best season of them all, as it's the last one that features Zordon.

There are countless of great PR seasons that make you wonder why they put it out for kids, and they really do a great job of being entertaining. Safe to say, Power Rangers will be around for a very long time.

 

[Alastor]

The first Power Rangers series was just as goofy if not even goofier than any of the newer series. The newer series might seem more awkward because they try to add something to appeal to the older kids while also trying to remain a kids show, similar to WWE. Both are basically kids shows that appeal to kids with giant robots (giant wrestlers) telling kids to bash/destroy/kill the bad guys while trying to teach some moral lessons of good always triumphs over evil.

I find it funny the show is about ordinary teenagers with a destiny to save the universe or something only that the squad members can be rotated in and out so nobody is really that special and the numbers required can be changed whenever they want to.

 

[Starcaller_Nasath]

When I was laid off from my job last summer I watched Power Rangers every day on Netflix. It brought back some great memories. It wasn't a bad show if you watched it straight through. I watched from the beginning to half-way through In Space (including the Alien Rangers episodes).

I stopped watching it as a kid during In Space, also. I think the series went downhill midway through Turbo when Tommy left, plus I hated the kid (Justin?). I didn't like ZEO as a kid, but as an adult, I thought it was actually pretty good.

My favorite of course will always be the original MMPR pre-ZEO.

Would it work now? It depends. If it had been canceled after In Space when Zordon died and they made a remake instead of continuing the story, I think it might have worked a few years later, of course.

I don't think it would work as a remake or continuation now because the media has become over-saturated with Power Rangers. They have a new series every year. 20 years of Power Rangers is a bit much.

I enjoyed that Tommy came back in 2003 (Dino-Thunder?).

Damn, now I'm in the mood to watch it again.

 

[Infinity]

Power Rangers has never stopped having some sort show on air. Even Tommy cam back in Power Rangers Dino Thunder as the Rangers' college professor turned Ranger as well. Nobody cared, and younger kids had no idea who he was anyways. You're asking people our age (I'm 24 goin' on 25) to actually invest in a show that would still be geared towards children on a Saturday morning? No thanks, I'm good.

Besides, go back and watch Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. You might be entertained in a nostalgic sort of way, but if you actually think it's good television in any way then I'd believe you're some kind of delusional.

On a side note: After 9/11, I looked at those Megazord fights completely different. They'd kill a monster that would simply wanna hypnotize Angel Grove or something by fighting IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY, knocking down buildings left and right. 3 buildings came down 1 day 11 years ago and we're still a little nuts. Could you imagine if once a week a monster and our supposed heroes took out a couple of buildings in the middle of a fight?

 

[Starcaller_Nasath]

Power Rangers has never stopped having some sort show on air. Even Tommy cam back in Power Rangers Dino Thunder as the Rangers' college professor turned Ranger as well. Nobody cared, and younger kids had no idea who he was anyways. You're asking people our age (I'm 24 goin' on 25) to actually invest in a show that would still be geared towards children on a Saturday morning? No thanks, I'm good.

Besides, go back and watch Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. You might be entertained in a nostalgic sort of way, but if you actually think it's good television in any way then I'd believe you're some kind of delusional.

On a side note: After 9/11, I looked at those Megazord fights completely different. They'd kill a monster that would simply wanna hypnotize Angel Grove or something by fighting IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY, knocking down buildings left and right. 3 buildings came down 1 day 11 years ago and we're still a little nuts. Could you imagine if once a week a monster and our supposed heroes took out a couple of buildings in the middle of a fight?

That's sort of Japanese pop culture though, you know? The show used stock footage from a Japanese show with basically the same plot. Japan is home to the monster movies where the monsters attack the city. Godzilla, Mothra, etc.

 

[ABMorales787]

The initial 3 seasons? Yeah. The plot would have to be modified to get rid of all the massively GLARING plotholes, but yeah. It's easily remake-able. You have plot elements that were forced due to production that can be re-written and look better (Jason, Zack and Trini leaving and Rock, Adam and Aisha appearing, Serpentera, etc.)

Lots of stuff that seemed out of place were just waved off as "magic" and stuff. But to be totally honest, I don't really see the point. The show is still going strong after 20 years. Seeing the ol' Evil Green Ranger with a 21st Century twist would be nice, but the show doesn't really need it. And the last time they did a re-anything, they tried botched it big time.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

The movie destroyed the show.

You shut your filthy ****e mouth. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers was one of the greatest things to happen to the 90's, and it took the show in a new direction; it didn't destroy anything. Plus, it was the first thing in American Power Rangers to not feature Japanese action scenes dubbed into the series. It ushered in their new powers, the new Zords and a new era for the Rangers. Plus... fuck you. It was awesome. It was terrible...but it was awesome.

I was moreso referring to the later shows that spawned from it...Dino Thunder, Wild Force, Jungle Fury, Ninja Storm, etc. It got WAY to gimmicky. Hell Dino Thunder was based around dinosaurs more than the original was.

Nope. The original show was created in Japan for the single purpose of making crazy toys and millions of dollars, just like everything else that comes out of that country. When it came to America it broke records for the amount of merch it pushed. The original show was completely a gimmick, which is WHY the changed outfits, weapons, Zords and powers after the movie; to make more $$$.

I'm not saying the new series didn't change up an already existing GIMMICK, but the show definitely never became MORE gimmicky.

Also, to the point at hand, to my knowledge you can't really reboot a series that's still going on. I think they tried to redo the original series with new dumbs and stupid animations for Saturday morning cartoons...didn't catch on. They're not going to "reboot" it, simply because to this day they STILL use the Japanese action scenes, pasted into the American show to save money.

EDIT: The 20th Anniversary season starting in 2013 looks a lot like a nostalgia show, and will apparently be taking rangers and footage from many of the past moments. You should also know that I only watched the show up until Lost Galaxy. After thinking about it a bit more, I also think Turbo was the epitome of the Power Rangers marketing scheming. It doesn't get much more gimmicky than turning your product into cars and trucks. Except, you know...maybe dragons and dinosaurs.

 

[Starcaller_Nasath]

You shut your filthy ****e mouth. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers was one of the greatest things to happen to the 90's, and it took the show in a new direction; it didn't destroy anything. Plus, it was the first thing in American Power Rangers to not feature Japanese action scenes dubbed into the series. It ushered in their new powers, the new Zords and a new era for the Rangers. Plus... fuck you. It was awesome. It was terrible...but it was awesome.

Nope. The original show was created in Japan for the single purpose of making crazy toys and millions of dollars, just like everything else that comes out of that country. When it came to America it broke records for the amount of merch it pushed. The original show was completely a gimmick, which is WHY the changed outfits, weapons, Zords and powers after the movie; to make more $$$.

I'm not saying the new series didn't change up an already existing GIMMICK, but the show definitely never became MORE gimmicky.

Also, to the point at hand, to my knowledge you can't really reboot a series that's still going on. I think they tried to redo the original series with new dumbs and stupid animations for Saturday morning cartoons...didn't catch on. They're not going to "reboot" it, simply because to this day they STILL use the Japanese action scenes, pasted into the American show to save money.

EDIT: The 20th Anniversary season starting in 2013 looks a lot like a nostalgia show, and will apparently be taking rangers and footage from many of the past moments. You should also know that I only watched the show up until Lost Galaxy. After thinking about it a bit more, I also think Turbo was the epitome of the Power Rangers marketing scheming. It doesn't get much more gimmicky than turning your product into cars and trucks. Except, you know...maybe dragons and dinosaurs.

Nah, kids outgrow dinosaurs before they outgrow cars.