No More Morphin Time? Part One

Call me crazy, but a show that was a major part of my childhood, and that I still have a soft spot for, is in serious danger of cancellation. If you haven't already figured it out from the post title, that show is...drumroll please...Power Rangers.

I grew up watching Power Rangers. I remember thinking it was the coolest thing ever...and I remember when everyone, not just preschool boys, thought it was the coolest thing ever. Now, however, when I tell anyone that Power Rangers is in serious danger of cancellation after seventeen seasons, they say "I thought Power Rangers was canceled years ago."

Nope. Now produced by Disney, season seventeen, Power Rangers RPM, runs on ABC on Saturday mornings. We've been getting conflicting reports on whether the show will continue, and I just had to know how it ended, so I've been watching.

Power Rangers RPM is hugely entertaining, but presents its own set of problems. It's set in a post-apocalyptic city dome, after a sentient computer virus called Venjix destroyed most of the planet. Unless this is the future, I seriously doubt it's the same world as seasons one - Jungle Fury. There are references to Venjix first being unleashed three years ago. Correct me I'm wrong, but I don't think there was anything about that in Mystic Force.

Nonetheless, a new team of Rangers has been formed to fight Venjix, and although the setting has changed, the Ranger team dynamic really hasn't changed at all. We have the fearless leader (Scott\Red Ranger). We have the girl (Summer\Yellow Ranger). We have the bad boy (Dillon\Black Ranger). We have the comic relief (Ziggy\Green Ranger.) We have the one with no personality whatsoever (Flynn\Blue Ranger.) We have the mysterious pair of Rangers added later (Gem\Gold Ranger and Gemma\Silver Ranger...no, really!) To tell you the truth, their boss, Dr. K, is a more interesting character than all of them.

We're eighteen episodes into a season of thirty-two, and rumors for next year range from an animated series (which I actually think could be really cool if done right) to season one episodes being passed off as new (which would just be wrong on so many levels.) I'm simply not capable of making a prediction about the future of Power Rangers, but I will say this: even if the show does leave television after RPM, its legacy may very well live on in the form of...

Aaron