Power Rangers In Space Season Review

Power Rangers in Space (1998) was the 4th installment of Power Rangers and the 6th overall. PRIS used footage from Megaranger. This season was the first to deviate from its Sentai's theme, mostly by accident. When the producers first saw the mecha footage from Megaranger, they thought Megaranger was a space themed Sentai. In reality, Megaranger was a video game themed Sentai. However, because they were already in pre-production, writer Judd Lynn decided to go with the space motif. After the failures of Power Rangers Turbo, it was thought that PRIS would be Power Rangers' last season. As a result, the writers went all-out, with one of the most ambitious seasons ever. The result was a semi-dark season that would tie six seasons worth of story lines into one whole season, in a race against time to find Zordon before the evil forces take over the entire universe. This season had a recurring story line, with continuity from one episode to the next. Much of the campiness that was visible during the first five seasons was toned down significantly during this season. Andros was and still is one of the deepest, most well developed characters ever, and the main villains, Astronema and Ecliptor, even received a high level of development compared to most villains. Later on, it was revealed that Astronema was Andros' long lost sister, Karone. This season is one of the most popular seasons ever, and the two part finale, Countdown to Destruction, is considered by most to be the best season finale to date as well as one of the most popular episodes ever. This season is widely viewed as the season that saved Power Rangers from cancellation.

The Good

The character development and the story writing imo are among the best ever during a PR season. The cast, for me, is the second best behind MMPR S1, and has both my favorite pink and blue rangers. This season had some very intense drama with many cliffhanger moments. The production job, considering the low budget and the misunderstanding regarding the Sentai footage, is among the best ever done. This was also one of the first seasons that actually had descent American-ranger fight scenes, where as the American footage in previous years was for the most part awful. Also, a big bonus was that Ron Wasserman returned to sing the opening theme song, which is one of my all-time favorites for PR openings.

The Bad

The only bad thing about this series is that it was the first to feature a battlizer, this weapon would get out of hand imo in the seasons to come.

The Ugly

There's nothing ugly about this season, it's one of the best seasons ever.

My Rating

9.5/10 (Grade A)- In Space has the best story of any Power Rangers season.

My Favorite Episodes

Episode 4 (Shell Shocked)- While many people berate this episode I actually liked the fact that the Power Rangers teamed up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, especially since I'm a fan of both shows.

Episode 5 (Never Stop Searching)- Reveals that Andros has a missing sister, and develops his bonding with his new team, especially Carlos.

Episode 10 (A Wasp with a Heart)- Technically filler, but I would argue this episode gave Cassie some good character development. It also showed that not all monsters are one dimensional.

Episode 14-17- This arc involves the first appearance of Darkonda and eventually leads to the Mega Voyager.

Episode 19-20- The first appearance of Zhane, the Silver Ranger.

Episode 23 (A Date with Dangerr)- Zhane dates the main villain, Astronema.

Episode 25 (Always a Chance)- Adam returns to help Carlos regain his confidence.

Episodes 26-30- This arc involves the reveal that Astronema is Andros's long lost sister, and has many good emotional moments.

Episodes 31-36- This is the Psycho Rangers arc, and the Psycho Rangers are badass.

Episodes 42-43 (Countdown to Destruction)- Simply, the best season finale ever in Power Rangers.

Power Rangers ratings Wild Force-MMPRv2

Fantasy Leader the other day asked for a list on viewer-ship ratings for Power Rangers. I was able to find numbers on everything from Wild Force to MMPRv2, however, I have yet to find anything from MMPR S1-Time Force. Also to note, the American ratings system is much different from the Japanese system, so it's difficult to compare. For example, the highest rated tv shows in the United States have ratings around 6.2, while in Japan ratings can be much higher, into the 50's and 60's I believe. Also, these ratings are somewhat skewed because it shows viewer-ship for ages 6-11, and doesn't take into account older fans. Needless to say, Power Rangers has a large older fanbase. Also, these ratings are done on a week by week basis.

Power Rangers Ratings (on ABC kids)

(PRWF average: 1.38 rating / 6.46 share)
(PRNS average: 1.42 / 6.86)
(PRDT average: 0.93 / 4.78)
(PRSPD average: 0.99 / 4.89)
(PRMF average: 0.96 / 4.64)
(PROO average: 0.70 / 3.55)
(PRJF average: 0.60 / 3.07)
(PRRPM average: 0.53 / 2.82)
(MMPRv2 average: 0.47 / 2.28)

TOON DISNEY

(Saturday mornings)

(PRMF average: 0.45 / 1.81)

(PROO average: 0.54 / 2.42)

(PRJF average: 0.56 / 2.97)

ABC FAMILY
(Saturday mornings)
(PRWF average: 0.95 rating / 4.67 share)
(PRNS average: 1.17 rating / 5.86 share)
(PRDT average: 1.05 of 11 reported)
(PRSPD average: 0.71 rating / 3.33 share)
(SPD new eps only: 0.75 / 3.50)

For me some of these ratings come as a bit of a surprise. I would have expected Dino Thunder to be much higher than SPD and Mystic Force due to its popularity. Then again, ratings aren't exactly a good measure for popularity. RPM, for example, had bad ratings because of terrible time slots. As we know, even though the ratings for Wild Force are relatively high, it is one of the most unpopular seasons among Power Ranger fans. Likewise, while RPM's ratings are low, it is one of the most popular Power Ranger seasons. Here's a few graphs that show some of the recent PR ratings episode by episode.

When looking at these ratings, Operation Overdrive's ratings took a free fall from the first week. It's common for shows to have a big drop off from the first week, but a total free fall. While Jungle Fury's ratings were low, they went up after the beginning of the season. Also, as I stated above, it is somewhat unfair to compare these ratings to what they could have been because of time slots and the fact that older kids/adults aren't included. BTW, Fantasy Leader can you provide some ratings stats for Super Sentai as well?

Kotoha and Mako Pairing?

With all the fan-made pairings in various Sentai shows, especially Dekaranger and Shinkenger, I think a girl with girl pairing, with Mako and Kotoha comes the closest to being "hinted upon," at least in Kotoha's mind. At least it is somewhat hinted in the recent Shinkenger V-cinema movie that Kotoha might have a bit of a crush on Mako.

For those who haven't seen the V-Cinema movie (Shinkenger Returns), the Shinkengers are trapped in a dream state in which they go from one illusion to the next. These "illusions" are based somewhat off of tv dramas and movies. In Kotoha's illusion, she disguises herself as a boy in order to attend an all boys school. The reason why is because she was in love with Shiraishi-kun (a.k.a. Mako, it's her surname). Mako in this scene is a boy, and Kotoha is about to "confess" her love for Mako, when Genta, Chiaki, Ryuunosuke, and Takeru reveal that they're also girls disguised as boys. If you haven't seen this scene and a little confused, in this scene everybody's gender is switched except for Kotoha's. Later on towards the end of this movie, it is somewhat hinted that these illusions may have been their "deepest desire." Especially when Ryuunosuke is questioned about his illusion. So that made me think, does Kotoha really have a crush on Mako and is afraid to admitt it? Maybe she feels guilty about having a crush on another girl, which may be why Mako is a boy in this scene. Kotoha has been known to have one-sided crushes before, particularly on Takeru and Chiaki.

The 5 Times Power Rangers Survived Cancellation

The longevity of Power Rangers, now heading for its 18th season, is quite remarkable. Especially considering the show had been cancelled or nearly cancelled five times. Most shows don't survive cancellation even once, making it even more extraordinary. Here's a break down on the five times Power Rangers avoided cancellation.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Season 1.

Originally, MMPR was expected to be sort of a "one hit wonder." Saban had for years been trying to bring Sentai into America one way or another. His first attempt was a Bioman dubbed pilot that aired in 1986 but went nowhere. After that, he had tried pitching his idea for Power Rangers using the footage of first, Turboranger and later Jetman to American TV networks but he couldn't sell his idea. Then, Fox Network, which was new at the time, decided to give MMPR a shot. Saban used the Zyuranger footage instead of Turboranger and Jetman. At the time, Fox was anxious to try anything, but both Fox and Saban thought MMPR would be able to only last a year at best. The original ending of the series was suppose to be the two part episode, Doomsday. However, MMPR had quickly became the biggest kids show on television, which forced Saban to alter his plans for ending Power Rangers after one year, and extend MMPR S1 by about 15 episodes. To do this, he borrowed money from Fox and used it to ask TOEI to produce more Zyuranger footage that would be used only for Power Rangers. This footage is now famously called Zyu2.

Power Rangers in Space

The second time Power Rangers avoided cancellation was Power Rangers in Space/Turbo. Every since MMPR S3, the ratings had seen a gradual decline, although they were still serviceable. But in Turbo, the ratings took a free-fall, particularly the first half of the season. The second half of the season the ratings gradually went up, but the ratings were still dismal and below that of Zeo's. At the time, both Fox Kids and Saban were losing money from the show's presence, so Fox told Saban to make Power Rangers in Space to be the last season of Power Rangers. This is why the Zordon Era ended and why we had the finale "Countdown to Destruction." It was thought that PRIS would be PR's last season. However, PRIS like MMPR, was a big hit and its ratings were in fact, on par with MMPR. Because of the success of PRIS, Fox decided to let Saban continue with Power Rangers, and thus, Saban cancelled the second season of The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog to focus its entire budget on PRLG.

Power Rangers Wild Force

After Wild Force, Power Rangers again was suppose to be cancelled due to the Disney buyout. However, former PR producers and writers Doug Sloan, Ann Austen, and Jackie Marchand were all working for Disney at this time. They successfully convinced Disney to keep the show running, and as a result, Sloan, Austen, and Marchand were the main producers of Ninja Storm and Dino Thunder.

Power Rangers Jungle Fury

After Bruce Kalish left and abysmal ratings, Jungle Fury was intended to be PR's last season. Disney didn't want to deal with finding a new producer for Power Rangers, and there were heavy talks about Disney switching to an animated series that would be based off of MMPR. However, TOEI disapproved of the animated series because it meant that they wouldn't make money off of the Sentai footage used to produce Power Rangers. Bandai also disapproved. However, due to outside forces (mainly because PR was still very popular in Germany), Bandai and Jetix Europe gave Disney enough money to produce one final season, which would be RPM.

Power Rangers RPM

This time, after Power Rangers RPM ended, the series was cancelled. Disney was tired of splitting the money with Bandai and TOEI, so they decided to re-edit MMPR instead, which was among the worst of Disney's PR projects. RPM had the worst ratings ever for a Power Rangers series, however this was more due to being screwed by the network than lack of popularity. RPM was moved away from cable tv onto ABC, and was placed in the worst time slot imaginable. In some parts of the country, RPM aired at 5am in the morning, and entire episodes were not seen due to being subject to ABC's sports coverage. However, as we know now, Saban bought back Power Rangers from Disney, and immediately decided to produce another season.

What I Would Like to See in Next Year's Power Rangers

I know what I have above is a Shinkenger photo, but I don't have anything better for a 2011 Power Rangers photo yet. I'm glad that Shinkenger is being adapted for the next season because I don't like to "skip" a season and I also want to see what a Samurai themed Power Rangers would look like. However, what I don't want is a plot and numerous episodes that are a carbon copy of Shinkenger. I love Shinkenger, but as both a Power Rangers and Sentai fan, seeing the same story twice and lacking originality is boring. I'd also like to see a season with a more mature, darker storyline like we had with In Space and RPM. It seems so far that the Princess Megan character is going to be a mentor to the Power Rangers, and then become the Red Ranger towards the end of the season, which will differentiate some from Kaoru. I've been thinking, one way she could become the Red Ranger is if the character Reese dies (yes, a ranger death on Power Rangers) near the end and she uses his powers. That would show both originality and maturity in the plot. I'd also like to see more humor used between the rangers. This is usually very well executed in Sentai and was well executed in RPM as well. I would also like to see the opening song, and an entire soundtrack made by Ron Wasserman, but unfortunately that's not likely to happen. :(

Power Rangers RPM and Go-Onger Comparison

Despite sharing some of the same footage and RPM supposedly being an "adaptation" of Go-Onger, they're both radically different shows. For one, RPM is set in a post-apocalyptic nuked-earth setting, while Go-Onger is campy and kid-friendly. To me they're both good, even though they're different interpretations of the series. For me, it's kinda like The Three Little Pigs and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, different versions of the same story that are both quite good. I'll compare both seasons by elements such as cast and plot.

The Cast

Scott vs Sousuke

To me Scott was an ok character. He was head strong, sometimes reckless, and often conflicted with his dad. He was often underappreciated by his dad, but proved to be quite a valiant leader. Fortunately, RPM is a season that doesn't have "too much red ranger focus" like Mystic Force does. Sousuke was kinda like Scott in that he was rather reckless, but also dramatically different. Sousuke was rather "simple minded" who's greatest strength was dashing forward. I also think Sousuke was quite funny and had a grove about him that Scott didn't have. So in the end, I like Sousuke better than Scott.

Flynn vs Renn

Flynn I think was a really cool character. I guess because of his Scottish accent, which I think was done quite well by Ari Boyland. Flynn was rather laid back and was another character in RPM that was initially underappreciated by his father. Among the regular five, he was somewhat the brains of the group in terms of being a mechanic and being capable of building zords and other devices, kinda like his Go-Onger counterpart, but Flynn was more serious. Renn, like Flynn, was the "brains of the group." Renn also was a descent cook. although the only thing the Go-Ongers could afford was eggs, so his cooking was limited to making mostly omelets. I think Renn had a kind, gentle heart. Renn to me is ok, but I like Flynn better.

Summer vs Saki

I like both Summer and Saki. Some PR fans like to compare the two as being "the same" but I think they're quite different. Aside from both of them being really nice, I think Summer is much different from Saki. Summer comes from a rich family, and her background story is more similar to Ran's of Gekiranger. She was also a practicing martial artist prior to joining the Power Rangers, where as Saki was working a 9 to 5 job at a race track and had no experience in martial arts. Summer is also a much more serious character than Saki, yet she's compassionate. As far as Saki goes, I think she was rather cute with a very charming and cheerful personality. Her character kinda reminds me of Kyoko Fukada's characters on the jdrama's Friends and Strawberry on the Shortcake. I really like both characters so for me, it's hard to pick one above the other.

Dillon vs Gunpei

Dillon is one of the most badass rangers we've had in a long time on Power Rangers. Aside from Tommy's return in Dino Thunder, I would say that Dillon is the most badass power ranger since Jen from Time Force. RPM is one of the few seasons where one of the other rangers got more focus than the Red Ranger. MMPR S2 would probably be the only other where Tommy got more focus than either Jason or Rocky. Here, Dillon gets more focus than Scott, which was a good change-up for me. Dillon is introduced as a bit of a stereotypical bad boy. He had Venjix hardware implanted in him when he was captured. He also had an intriguing story in which one of the lead villains, Tenaya, was his sister. Among the original five Go-Ongers, Gunpei is the serious one. He sees himself as the "professional" much like Hoji from Dekaranger, although Gunpei can be quite an idiot at times. He reminds me a lot of Ryuunosuke from Shinkenger. To me Gunpei is ok but Dillon's too much of a badass, so I like Dillon better.

Ziggy vs Hanto

Both Ziggy and Hanto are more or less, the comedic characters of the group. Though they have different personalities. Ziggy is a funny smartass who originally looked like he was good for nothing, but later became quite a skilled ranger and progressed quite a bit during the season. Hanto on the other hand was the playboy of the group, and often tried to get part-time jobs either to help the Go-Ongers make ends meet or just to try to pick up some girls. Hanto's cool, but Ziggy is flat out hilarious. To me, Ziggy's the funniest ranger ever in Power Rangers.

Gem and Gemma vs Hiroto and Miu

Both brother-sister combos are radically different from the rest of their teams. While both of them are among the "brains of the group" on their respective teams, they have radically different personalities. Gem and Gemma differ from their otherwise more serious team in that they're both silly, wierd scientists. They're the comedic duo of their team while the rest of the team (save for Ziggy), are much more serious oriented. Meanwhile, Hiroto and Miu are the more serious oriented characters on Go-Onger in sharp contrast to the other five Go-Ongers, with the exception of Gunpei. Actually, at the beginning Miu and Hiroto are so serious and "professional" they're like jerks (especially Hiroto) to the point of not acknowledging the other five Go-Ongers, much like Hoji and Tetsu from Dekaranger. Eventually, they do grow out of their attitudes and not only acknowledge the Go-Ongers, but become good friends with them as well. I really liked episode 41 where Hiroto found a baby monster and became like a father to it. To me it showed a soft, gentle side to his character. Gem and Gemma are ok, but I like Hiroto and Miu better, especially the character development episodes that they were given.

The Plot

Overall, I think RPM has a better plot, especially the setting in a "nuked earth." I think even though Dillon and Tenaya's story was a bit of a recycled version of Andros and Karone, I think it was well executed, and RPM during the first half of the season did a lot to develop its characters. Its character development episodes were among some of the best ever in PR's history. That said, I think Go-Onger also had its share of good story writing as well. Go-Onger had plenty of good, heartwarming moments as mentioned above with Hiroto with Saki and Hanto also had their share of heartwarming moments. I also like the Go-Onger finale better than the RPM finale.

The Mecha

In Go-Onger, a lot of people didn't like the talking mechas and the various cartoon strips present in the show. Criticism varied from being a rip-off on the movie Cars to being downright childish. The talking mecha's and cartoon strips were omitted from RPM to give the show a more serious feel. I have to admit at first I didn't think I was going to like this element in Go-Onger, in fact I didn't like talking mechas that were "gods" in Zyuranger. But after watching the show, I warmed up to these talking mechas rather quickly. They all had they're own personalities and all of them had descent character development for being side characters. Though, admittedly, Go-Onger, like Boukenger and Shinkenger, suffer from mecha overload with the ridiculous 12 pack combination, which Power Rangers RPM did inherit this as well. However, I don't think the mecha overload takes away too much from any of these shows. For me, it's just a minor annoyance.

Overall, I like both shows. For me, Go-onger was a nice, fun change-up to some of the more serious Sentais. Meanwhile, coming off a dork age, a dark, plot heavy series like Power Rangers RPM was needed after several consecutive bad seasons. RPM was a way for Power Rangers to "go out with a bang," even though now we know that RPM won't be the last Power Rangers season.

My Thoughts on the 2011 Power Rangers Cast

As some of you may have read on the Power Chamber blog or on rangerboard, yesterday Saban confirmed the cast for the upcoming 2011 Power Rangers adaptation for Shinkenger. From looking at the cast pictures and reading about the cast, it will be another ethnically diverse cast. Also, from looking at photos the two female rangers are among the hottest since Maya in Lost Galaxy, and as a duo, since Cassie & Ashley from In Space. There's some concern on rangerboard about the lack of experience that half of these actors/actresses have, but to me it's not much different from previous power rangers series. Almost every power ranger actor or actress hired by either Saban or Disney has had little to no experience acting wise, so it's not much different that we've seen before. The Power Rangers franchise has never been known for great acting either. Only time will tell how well they do.