Cool News
Saban Takes Back POWER RANGERS!! Rebirth Ahoy!?
Merrick here...
This is the kind of story that's not liekly to play terribly well to most readers. But, based on past experience, I'm certain at least some of you will care about the following...
Most of us know what POWER RANGERS are/were. But if you haven't been following the shows regularly, or if you don't have kids who follow the shows, you may not know that Disney assimilated POWER RANGERS a few years back. After years of being fueled by a certain "vibe", the resulting series were texturally softened, even more encheapend than than they already were, etc. The Mouse-era shows looked wrong, felt wrong, and had little or none of the energy which characterized earlier iterations of PR. Complicating matters, seems the "violence" (people fights, giant robot fights, monster fights, etc.) characterizing the show didn't sit partuclarly well with Disney - but what did they think they were getting, exactly?
Haim Saban - instrumental in globalizing POWER RANGERS (which originated in Japan) and turning it into a merchandising phenomenon (Wiki says Forbes once listed Saban as the 102nd richest person in America) is evidently retaking the franchise from Disney, effectivel almost immediately.
Library episodes of the show will start airing on Nicktoons later this year, with 20 new episodes set for Nickelodeon and Nicktoons in 2011 under the direction of original executive producer Jonathan Tzachor.
[EDIT]
Saban is betting that the broader exposure on Nick will boost ratings for the show and once again make it a key part of youth culture in the U.S. The current pre-production process for the show's 18th season involves the search for a new cast and a new theme. Saban is also eyeing Power Rangers film projects, live tours and theme park attractions.
...says The Hollywood Reporter HERE.
Always loved how each season or two of this series essentially deployed the same basic concept across a new cast, setting, and theme. An interesting conceit - I'm surprised hasn't been adopted by other shows.
--- Follow Merrick on Twitter! ---
[EDIT]
Saban is betting that the broader exposure on Nick will boost ratings for the show and once again make it a key part of youth culture in the U.S. The current pre-production process for the show's 18th season involves the search for a new cast and a new theme. Saban is also eyeing Power Rangers film projects, live tours and theme park attractions.
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I remember loving the original when I was just a little guy. But they ran this thing into the ground HARD.
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You're that excited for Power Rangers?
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...in which a group of soldiers was wearing the exactly same armour from Starship Troopers! Talk about recycling.
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...as a half jap i always loved sentai shows and grew up wit PR... the 1st movie is a guilty pleasure also "im a frog"... but in japan the shows were better cuz them mofos bled... best season was wit the ninjas
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I remember all the rip-offs (Masked Rider, Superhuman Samuray Syber [sic] Squad...) plus the discussions and PSA's about the danger of imitating the fights from the show.
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...after hittin 18 i notified the direction of action scenes got good too (even the american filmed scenes)
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May 13, 2010 11:31:42 AM CDT
Isn't one of the original cast an Ultimate Fighter now?
by redegiraahgnal
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...lost galaxy i think
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nice waste of bandwidth.
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and i always wondered what happened between them. the first movie had decent effects, much better looking costumes that werent cheap body hugging spandex and actually looked like a movie. then the 2nd one literally looked like the tv show brough to a big screen. down to the cheap ass toy effects and spandex suits. what the hell happened there?
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...Power Rangers even sucks with the huge chunk of nostalgia, that usually makes every shitty show from our childhood look good. Amy Jo Johnson was hot, though. What is she doing today? Must check imdb.
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I thought it was a parody of Sentai shows? Which then became a parody of itself?
Bring back Monkey! I say. -
Amy Jo Johnson is pushing 40?
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yes, Jason David Frank, who played Tommy in the first five seasons, is now an MMA fighter, and a apparently a pretty good one since he made a list of the top ten up and coming MMA fighters a year a two ago.
i used to follow the show up until Power Rangers Turbo, when i outgrew it. i had a lot of the old PR toys, which i sadly lost since they'd probably for a mint on eBay today. but i've found myself taking an interest in the brand recently for the nostalgia factor. -
...have any of you noticed how many kinds of smokin' hot the girl is at the end of that video??!! I say make an r-rated power rangers comprised of all girls, and after a hard days work kickin rubber monster-ass, they had back to the communal showers in their frat house.... :-D
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It's the season finale tonight and the ultimate resolution of a five year story arc that's been planned and written ten times better than Lost's hodge podge of mediocrity. How about a freaking talkback for it?
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I hated this show as a kid, then only saw commercials I couldn't flip off fast enough to avoid. I remember thinking it would be like Transformers or something, and it kinda was but sucky. I'd thought it died, didn't actually care enough to hope for that though so long as I didn't have to see it.So, yeah. Go Saban, I guess. I really could not care any less, and would only care more if I were forced to watch it. I have a daughter, so that's not real likely to happen.-Cheers
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...i claimed that tb of a terrible episode in nane of the greatness that is SN
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Is the only person who should make a film. C'mon look at the original show, then think of michael bay.
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...man, i feel like the TF losers who got mad over a fiery paint job
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showing the green ranger saga. bringing back childhood memories.
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that said "am i the only one that likes this news"
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If you hate it so much why take all the time read/write about something you could care less about.
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seriously my brother was into them as a kid and i called him a fag all the time!
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All else is bunk. But i gotta say that I enjoyed the original stuff when I was in jr. high.Green Ranger is the best!
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You guys that were kids when this show came on couldn't tell it was shit back then?
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May 13, 2010 12:17:39 PM CDT
The Power Rangers turned up In DOCTOR WHO a few weeks ago
by isleptwithkathybatesandallthatigotwasthi
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this is bad news, because saban is going to make even more millions to spread his insane ideas of globalism and xionism upon the world. damn this sucks.
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You know you want it!
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But we cannot deny that every incarnation of th PRs has been stupid. It's stupid, stupid shit - enjoyable if you're 5 years old - but nothing to enjoy if you're older AT ALL.
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I outgrew the show after a year or two, but I always wondered what the fuck Zordon was, how he ended up as a head in a tube, and why he had a loyal robot friend.
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start from the beginning.
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THREE GO, V-I-R-T-U-A-L R-E-A-L-I-T-Y
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...in the 2nd or 3rd series in Japan in the 70s... still waitin on my turn
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Two reasons. First, shock that it was even still around. Second, concern that this will spark a bunch of other stuff I don't like. I suppose third would be boredom. Mainly just surprise it was still around and such a hit. Kind of like Dancing With The Stars; I thought that would flop and it's become a huge hit. It just surprises and tangentially interests me when something I think is not very good finds a (sometimes rather large) audience. So the show doesn't interest me, the phenomenon actually kind of does (MMPR got kind of big back in the day).-Cheers
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May 13, 2010 1:10:38 PM CDT
There is a show that changes cast and crew every few years...
by chrispc24
It's called Doctor Who!
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a friend and trusted adviser warmed me to avoid Mifty Morphin' Power Rangers at all costs because it was the worst thing on television ever and an Americanized affront to the Japanese program it was recycled from.
With a glowing review like that, I had to check it out, and I loved it.
There were five of them and the black kid was the b;ack ranger and the Asian girl was the yellow ranger and the sexy girl was the Pink Ranger - how many different kinds of un=PC offensiveness are that? And there were these two comedy relief bullies who got some stupid slapstick comeuppance every episode. And fought giant man in rubber suit demon monsters every episode. It was awful, insane, camp, nonsensical, corny, ludicrous and all kinds of bad - how my friend could possibly not love it, I'll never understand.
Heck, my 70 something year old Dad and I used to watch it in the middle of the afternoon while plaything Scrabble. And some days when I was busy I'd catch him watching it by himself.
The supermarket I went to even had these cheap knock-off cloth doll Powerful Mighty Fighters and shit on the toy shelf next to the Fake Barbees. For a while MMPRanger were nearly as big as TMNTurtles.
And, yeah, Amy Jo Johnson's lips = mid-day erotic fantasia.
And... Trish Thuy Trang, RIP. Yellow forever!, y'all. -
I was in high school when it came out, but everyone I knew watched it for the sheer cheese of it, and the fact that we were all going "Seriously, why don't they just bring back Voltron?" And yeah, not a surprise or anything on this site, but Power Rangers trumps even an honorable mention for tonight's Supernatural finale?
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Cyber Squad!
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the yellow PR was in Crow City of Angels... that was weird...
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to see who the White Ranger was. I was convinced it was Bulk or Skull. I hated it when they entered a scene and that zonky doop de doop music used to play. Also, there is no way this show could possibly be worse in any way now. I caught a minute of the original on Saturday morning a couple weekends ago (still playing for some reason), and my god it was awful. I can't believe my parents used to let me watch it. Black and Gold megazord was still one of the best Christmas gifts ever.
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hands down.
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Dude, if she was the second pink ranger I may have experienced my first erection thanks to her, was she Heart Queen from JAKQ?
Did she play Karen Mizuki? Was she half caucasian??? -
dont they own miramax which makes violent films from people like quetin tarantino and yet they feel the need to downplay violence on a
cartoon show? WTF?? -
Dragonzord!
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the SHAME!!!!!
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"Always loved how each season or two of this series essentially deployed the same basic concept across a new cast, setting, and theme."
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But I guess alot of 20 somethings didn't understand the appeal of Super Mario Bros. and The Legend Of Zelda in the 80's.
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thats why its appealing. quality is shit clearly but kids dont care, especially international kids.
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May 13, 2010 2:40:09 PM CDT
Power Rangers was a step below even the worst 80s crap
by darth_inedible
The only thing worse than garbage is recycled garbage. I remember watching it for the first time in '93 and dreading how popular it was going to become and what it was going to to do children's TV.
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please do - I am waiting you bent over
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May 13, 2010 2:42:41 PM CDT
As a joke, I got a Power Rangers blanket when at college...
by royston lodge
...surprisingly, it turned out to be a chick magnet.
I didn't understand it, but I didn't argue. -
omg if i were a chick i would get completely turned off seeing that!
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He was hot!
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I agree. Power Rangers has MAN IN SUIT! action. How can anybody not love that? I've been a fan since the first season.
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...GG, I have no idea what youre talkin about... I was sayin the original yellow ranger was in Crow COA as a bad guy...
...to the haters, I think the reason for your hating is ebcause you were clearly a late teen/young adult watching it...me, i was in the 2nd fuckin grade when it came out and I loved it (and some of the later incarnations)... -
What, 3 or 4 maybe? Kind of liked the future PR angle, the Dog-man boss, Cat-woman Scientists, etc. I also liked some of the crossover ones like the EP with various Rangers from over the years. Yeah, the "monsters" were dopey, the villains, too. But c'mon, it's for kids ages maybe 3 to 9, got it? Also back in the original '90s though the pink ranger was way cute and she turned up one day in building where I worked. Very cute.
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....I think it was called Iron Man 2.
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I always loved this show...the first and second seasons were right in my wheelhouse when I was like seven or eight....it sucked after that (in retrospect, the seasons I loved probably sucked too) but nothing, to me, was cooler than the evil Green Ranger.
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That was the first episode i had seen in YEARS since I'd outgrown PR. In that same episode they killed every villain that had EVER been on the show up to that point. That was depressing.
I could care less about Power Rangers now though. I mean there are some shows from my childhood that I can watch proudly, without cringing. I'm sorry to say PR is not one of those shows. Good job taking it back from Disney though. Seriously. -
Anybody remember "Dynaman" from USA's Up All Night era?
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...was neato!
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...but i remember a show about super powered alien teens with tattoos or somethin... worst use of zodiac in fiction ever...
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cuz my mum was one of those 'violence is bad' mums, yet let me watch the Burton Batman. Never understood that, but it probably explains my mild fascination with it nowadays. The forever red episode is pretty cool, and I would probably go see a serious big screen reboot. Check out some of the fan trailers on youtube, I'd watch that.
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alpha 5 hit that too.
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Place your bets fuckers. I'm thinking Sam some how fucks up pulling the devil into hell and gets stuck.Of course he'll get snatched out like Dean but I'm thinking both Winchester boys will have visited hell at one point. If not maybe Cas will have to make the big leap to save the day,maybe even Bobby. It's amazing to me how the writers have created and respected this entire mythology, it's a fucking awesome show. Better than Lost. The writers need to bring some horror guys in for guest shots like Bruce Campbell,Reggie Bannister,Jon Saxon,Robert Englund, the list goes on. Any of those guys would make kick ass hunters or even bad guys.
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Surely they could do this? Launch a movie franchise a little like Starship Troopers only Power Rangers.
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I have a feeling tonights episode is going to be sooooo good!! Bobby is going to die...maybe!
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And by good, I mean better-than-current-Smallville-good, which isn't saying much, but "Power Rangers RPM" was pretty good for Power Rangers. Basically Disney had given up on the franchise at that point and threw it into the lap of an Executive Producer who'd never handled Power Rangers before just to finish things up. He proceeded to turn it into a decent sci-fi pastiche with loads of references to Aliens, The Matrix, Terminator, Star Wars, and so on--this despite the fact that the Japanese series it was being based on was a particularly silly outing for Sentai. It definitely closed out the franchise on a high note after years of mediocrity.
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Yep, and it's the best show ever :oD
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chi76M4UsOU
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and let the sparks and full-body gesticulations fly!
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Spectreman, Ultraman, and The Space Giants. Almost identical! The creators laughed their way to the bank using 20 year old special effects!
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I completely forgot the season finale for Supernatural was on tonight! We just watched last week's ep on Tuesday... too busy catching my husband up on Doctor Who so he can frickin' understand the jokes in series 5. Wow, Thursday kind of snuck up on me.
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I gave kids LOADS of shit for liking it back in the day. Practical man-in-suit, miniatures, and pyrotechnics FTMFW!
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I agree, I'm looking forward to next season be straight up stand alone horror stories. As awesome as the main story arc is, it'll be great to wrap up the show the way they started it, with two brothers driving around killing evil shit.
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Yes, I saw a few different versions at a friends house. How weird is it for an adult to go visit a buddy and he has the Disney channel and is watching Power Rangers and telling you all this stuff about which series is good and which one sucks?
No, I wasn't a kid when the Morphiners were on, I was The Comic Book Guy over at The Book Stop. Yes, I liked in on a camp "so awful it's hilarious" basis. Just the original show and mainly just the original cast - Amy Jo, Thuy, etc.
Sorry, but if you ain't Mighty and you ain't Morphin', you ain't shee-it. -
...its funny, when i was in college, i was up waking and baking to PR (which ever incarnation)... the action REALLY got good (to the point i was jealous of younger viewers, why couldnt i have it like that then)... but good franchise... better than SW and Trek to me lol
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First, I hope this whole post was just a ruse to attract and subsequently ban any posters who professed to enjoying Power Rangers. But I don't think it is.
Second, don't bring us Power Rangers stories.
Third: "Always loved how each season or two of this series...". You *loved* anything an awful children's series did? You've got, like, a 15-year-old, right? By my reckoning, you were way too fucking old to "love" anything this show ever did when it was on TV, let alone be aware of what it was doing.
I want you to leave the site forever, but it's just too goddamn funny having you around. I particularly like when you post in coaxial, because it's either 1) stepping on Herc's beat, posting about something he's going to get around to anyway or 2) some bizarre pet interest of yours that nobody gives a shit about. Like Power Rangers. -
Yes. In that if I failed, Holland would be flooded.
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I went to high school with Jason Narvy, who played Skull, one of the two high school bullies on the show. I bump into him about every five hears. He just earned his PhD and is an amazingly fun guy to hang out with. He was the king of my high school drama department and has always been a fantastic actor.
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I want the old show back.
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May 13, 2010 5:55:30 PM CDT
Love Power Rangers and lived the first 2 seasons!
by hollywoodhellraiser
Stop watching after the original Red, Black, and Yellow left the series!But if Saban can make a reunion special than I'm all for it!
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it's even got the inherent racism & sexism built in the color system. maybe he'll do a Transformers crossover, that's the closest to Voltron we'll ever see
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..in a fight, In a fight!
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The reason the first movie had good effects is because it is the only time Power Rangers was completely American made. All of the TV shows use fight scenes from Japanese TV shows and intersperse them with footage of American actors outside of the suits. The second Power Rangers movie used this same process, but for some reason they actually put some effort into the first movie and made it all original.
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... Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't producing PR episodes just involve inserting new footage into a pre-existing show? You go with the theme of the Japanese version. They're doing mythical creatures now, right? A mermaid robot, a unicorn robot, and so on.
By the way, what always pissed me off about the show, was that the five individual robots never did anything on their own. They just form the big guy. What's the point of building robots with cool animal shapes if they never do any fighting IN THEIR ANIMAL SHAPES? Any member of Voltron Force will tell you that forming the big guy is supposed to be a last resort!
Get off my lawn! -
The 2nd incarnation of Big Bad Beetleborgs, "Beetleborgs Mettalix" was far superior than the Power Rangers. The continuity between the episodes, the goofiness of Flabber and the Monsters, and the heroes actually had character archs (sp). I got hooked on it taping it everyday for my then 3 year old (now 15 yr old) while he was in child care, and really got into it. There was even an episode where they lost to the bad guys and had to come to grips with it, and make a comeback in the next episode. it was the first time i ever saw anything beyond the normal sentai shows with totally invincible characters. I wish it was on DVD with all it's goofiness intact.
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Dude's a dick. I ran into him at a bar one night in Birmingham Al, after a sidewalk film festival. I guess he expected everyone to bow down to how great he was or something, anyways he got mad at some guy in our group for telling girls that he was Eddie from the tv show Family Matters. Stupid story but it was funny as shit at the time. It was only funny because it really bugged the guy. " I wasn't on fucking Urkel", he must have said that like ten times.
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And all of the rangers from the original series to the new were class acts!The Black Ranger and some of the newer incarnations of PRs were wonderful! All very funny and it was great to hear them share their stories!The room was pack with young and old fans, all different shapes and color! Man, it was a blast!However one former PR who is a conceited bitch and I can't fanthom why, is Amy Jo Johnson!That bitch disses PRs as if she was never part of the show history!Can't stand her ugly, no talent ass!
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I want to write for it, direct it edit it, or Whatever! I just want to be involved and make it as great as it made me feel when i was a kid.
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a serious actress last time i checked..
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he said to give us a Supernatural talkback for the finale
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...a lot of the time it really wasn't. The thing I remember from way back in the beginning is that it didn't feel like it was being made for the really little kids. Would be interesting if they took it back that far.
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May 13, 2010 8:30:22 PM CDT
Becoming a "serious" actor has nothing to do about dissing your
by hollywoodhellraiser
Plenty of legitimate child stars has grown up and took their previous work in stride because you have to start somewhere.Amy Jo Johnson was pluck from obscurity and should be thanking PR for giving her a chance to seek a career!
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...but no to Big Bad Beetleborgs...
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anyone?
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and of course the Black Ranger was a brotha. WTF! are the rangers the rainbow coalition of sentaiesque series?BTW Saban shows suck with the semi noted exception of the X-Men
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Alpha 5. He was annoying, even as an 8 year old, I knew he was annoying.
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in the original Japanese, so it was a dude in the stock footage they used in the US version.
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..I would be just as pissed off too.Urkel?!?them's fighting words.
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May 14, 2010 10:12:19 AM CDT
as a kid, i found it strange how the colors matched the race
by dioxholsterreturns
asian = yellow, black = african. what the fuck was that about?
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IT'S TIME TO CONQUER... EARTH!
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Because it took away time from normal cartoons... and some saturday mornings they would do a fucking MARATHON of Power Rangers episodes on Fox, instead of showing their normal stuff like The Tick, Spider Man, X-Men, etc.
A few years ago while flipping past Disney, I discovered Power Rangers SPD... THAT SHIT IS FUCKING HILARIOUSAWESOME. Their commander is a big blue dog-man who's name is DOGGY KRUGER. fuck! Don't get me started on the hilarious zord fights... motherfucker was doing shoot-dodges and shit like out of a John Woo movie! It's great! -
There's no way Disney could have made it any worse. I don't get the nostalgia I'm seeing lately for this show. It made absolutely no sense. Big Bad Beetleborgs was even worse.
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