THE LIST: NINJA-TEEN SUPERHERO SHOW ORIGINS

Explosions, Robots & Karate make for enjoyable pre-adolescent television.

Yes, we’re 80s babies.. but we’re also 90s kids. We were too young for the Thundercats and He-Man but just about the right age for most, if not all, early 90s Metal Hero genre TV shows produced by Saban, best known for various toku adapts. It’s genius if you really think about it: take popular TV shows not seen in America, put together a “new” production with English-speaking actors spliced in with the original Japanese footage dubbed American dialog, create a successful toy line and watch the money pour in.

A recurring theme is set for all of these television shows. Bad TV & Teenage kids getting super powers and saving the world in 30 minutes…. (side note: all these shows took place in fictional areas of California)

Power Rangers: based on Super Sentai Series. Five teenagers receive special super powers from Zordon to combat Rita Repulsa and later Lord Zed AND their endless array of monsters. The Power Rangers is by far the most popular of all toku adapts.

Click for video… (Embedding disabled by request; asshole youtubers)

Big Bad Beetleborgs based on Juukou B-Fighter. Three kids enter a haunted Mansion, the kids accidentally bump a pipe organ releasing a phantasm named Flabber (side note dude looks like Jay Leno ). He proves to be friendly, and in turn for releasing him, offers to grant them one wish. They wish to become their comic book heroes, the Big Bad Beetleborgs. However, this also brings the Beetleborgs’ sworn enemies to life.

VR Troopers based on Uchuu Keiji Shaider, Jikuu Senshi Spielban and Choujinki Metalder Three friends find a strange laboratory. Inside, a digitized head of Professor Horatio Hart, a friend of Ryan’s (one of the lead characters) father, explained the truth about his life’s work of having developed extremely advanced virtual reality technology in secret. “VR” is a dimension existing alongside our own; within it lies mutants and monsters bent on conquering both worlds. The main ruler of these is a creature known as Grimlord, who, unbeknown to anyone on Earth, has a human identity as billionaire industrialist Karl Ziktor.

Masked Rider based on Kamen Rider BLACK RX. Escaping to earth with his evil uncle Count Dregon on his tail, Prince Dex crash lands in California and is adopted by a family. Dex tells how his grandfather King Lexian gave Dex the Masked Rider powers. Dex defends his new family and the town as Masked Rider from Count Dregon and his vicious Insectovores. (side note Verne Troyer (Austin Powers’ Mini-me) played the character of Ferbus in the series )

Super Human Samurai Cyber Squad based on Denkou Choujin Gridman. High school student Sam Collins (played by Matthew Lawrence) is the head of a band (Team Samurai). During a recording session, Sam is zapped by a power surge into his computer only to reappear seconds later with a strange device attached to his wrist. A second power surge pulls him into the digital world and turns him into a super hero named Servo. As Servo, he roams the digital world and fights Monster “Megaviruses”. This program was not produced by Saban but by DIC Entertainment. The series was originally going to be named PowerBoy but was renamed Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad to avoid confusion with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters From Beverly Hills. This was based on NOTHING !!!! (I just threw this one in for shits and giggles) Produced by DIC Entertainment. A low budget attempt to emulate the success of The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The show was set in Beverly Hills, California. The four central characters of the show were teens selected by a blob-like brain alien named Nimbar to fight off the monsters sent by evil Emperor Gorganus. Gorganus is intent on conquering Earth because it is the focal point for a network of “Power Portals” that would facilitate conquest of the galaxy. In the first episode Nimbar recruits the four high school students and with a touch by his “finger” gives them each a tattoo, based on a constellation in the celestial sphere. When their tattoos flash, this means Nimbar needs them. (side note Zsa Zsa Gabor was a guest star on this series)

In the words of my girlfriend, “I can’t believe you actually watched this when you were little.” My response, “Cheesy special effects, bad acting and cleverly marketed toys made us all want to do karate and be super heroes.”

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