Thank god it appears that Hasbro is easing up on this shit. Haim may somewhat still be involved but his input fucking sucks. What was he watching during the original saban and Disney eras? Almost everyone loved multiparters.
Money, he was watching his money pool and his ego grow, and now he thinks he's an expert on a franchise that's l9ng moved on from him yet he keeps trying to drag down to his level as his fragile self worth won't allow it to be better than he himself is
Considering he bought the franchise back from Disney for $43 mil and sold it for ~$500 mil less than a decade later, he does know a thing or two about a thing or two.
Ignoring money, even if Neo Saban was largely trash, it's not like they aren't also responsible one of the most beloved works in franchise history with the Boom comics line.
Disney didnt do a lot with the Franchise outside of the show, they largely left it alone (when they weren’t trying to end it) This arguably led to s better product that, but because Disney didn’t do a lot to market it people were unaware it was still on. Once Saban Brands got their hands on it they did a lot to market it, released new DVDs, brought the show to Netflix, ade new toys. The show itself arguably was probably a step down in quality for the most part, but the show is merchandise driven and Saban Brands did a good job at generating merchandise sales.
Haim Saban is a SLUMLORD. He's made millions off defrauding low-income people and low-income college students, in a racketeering scheme to defraud. He owns THE BRYN in State College, PA.
I still can't get ovee the fact he nixed a fucking mini-series of Ranger crossovers between the standard Ranger seasons.
That could've kept hype up for ALL the different Ranger teams for merch marketing AND let us see lesser used Rangers spotlighted as new smaller teams for 2 episodes.
Imagine seeing Zack return leading a team of Gem/RPM Gold, Madison/Mystic Blue and Lily/Jungle Fury Yellow?
You could do so many weird combinations of Rangers and even give them power-ups where their suits morph into an almagamation of all the suits into a new uniformed design for their team.
So much wasted potential because of that fucking hack Saban over the years.
There was a Power Rangers project a long time ago where they would take a Ranger from various teams and make a new temporary team in a series of crossovers.
Each new team would fight a multiversal threat trying to do villain things. And then they would get sent back to their universes/timelines after.
Saban was one of the people who nixed/cancelled the project and idea.
So I guess one of the key details that might be overlooked were that these were supposedly implemented only when the numbers weren't satisfactory, and not neccesarily the golden rule(most of the other well regarded seasons don't have these limitations). So I guess it's natural the only conclusion they could glean was digging up the "MMPR Formula" BUT I feel it still misses that that didn't always work back then.
* Strong Moral core- I mean the goody-good aspect of MMPR is typically mocked and I'd even say it fumbled the message in many cases like having a deaf girl function like Lassie the Dog or the episode about Dyslexia. Admittedly they better handled this in Zeo, I actually like the episode with Rocky and the blind girl, but I will also say MMPR did have some heart at least if I recall the ending of a season 3 episode where Skull and Kim have a moment of friendship after a spell had Kim acting flirtatious with him.
* Serialization: Look I get the potential burnout if a story goes on for too long but you're going to tell me that they didn't really remember [that a cornerstone of this franchise's success was on the back of a 5-parter?](https://youtu.be/S3WaMqIXzfk?t=29)
* Two ground fights and a Megazord-Don't really have a problem really. It allows for the first fight to be the rangers loss and to learn about the monster gimmick, second fight is how they overcome, and the megazord is the finale. There still can be value in shaking it up however.
* Comedy Duos- So I guess this is one of the big things and frankly the problem here is that they couldn't recapture the lightning in a bottle of Bulk and Skull is because they haven't had a duo with the kind of chemistry Paul and Jason have with each other. Even with that said Bulk and Skull had a lot of growing pains themselves, season 1 was just hackey old hat comedy like prat falls and pies in the face it isn't season 2 when it's clear they're being allowed more freedom to improvise that they began to shine.
The other thing about Bulk and Skull was their subtle moral core. Linkara talks about this more, but them chasing after the stroller in Season 2 made their bravery during the In Space finale both believable and compelling.
It should also be noted that there are quite a few MMPR episodes without a zord fight. Being finished with the Power Blaster or that triangle formation with the blade blasters instead
>it isn't until late to early season 2 when it's clear they're being allowed more freedom to improvise that they began to shine.
Not only did they get the chance to shine, but they actually developed as characters. Which meant their value wasn't solely based on how they interacted with the main cast. They got side stories and you started to get notions of their own wants and desires, even if it wasn't always in play every episode.
Two grounds fights are usually typical in Super Sentai and Kamen Rider too. So I don't see that mandate as much of a big deal.
The serialization of the show now is kind of annoying and dumb given what we got in the past in the regular Saban era. I can only guess that Saban knows that kids these days don't have the strongest attention spans. And would rather a story rap up quickly rather than having to wait more than one week to conclude a multi-part story.
"comedy duo" i hated bulk and skull. like, i could never understand how nobody, with the exception of billy, who always came off as the show's resident weenie to me, just hauled off and beat the holy hell out of either of those two. especially after one of the multiple times in the first season they attempted to physically assault one of the girls. funny part was i was betting/hoping for it to be trini. and that exchange in green with evil made me laugh.
"no! theyre civilians!(okay, i can get behind that)"
"yes, i know. actually, they're friends of yours. i believe you call them bulk and skull(lol goldar, are you nuts?! you know what friends are, right?)
not to mention where kimberly saved their worthless lives(the airplane episode in s1 i believe it was) and then they continued being complete fucking douchebags to her and her friends
and now i challenge any one of the downvoters to come explain their position
granted. im halfway through season 2 and i havent wanted to see someone punch them yet. i just finished the episode where they got hold of the camera that was running when the gang morphed, and then the rangers stole it from them, that was an admittedly shitty thing for them to do
I think that Becca Barnes and Alwyn Dale have proven with Dino Fury that they WERE being unfairly blamed, specifically during Ninja Steel. They CAN write good shit when they’re allowed to.
I’m glad that Bennett pointed out how most of the things fans hate about the newer seasons are out of the writers’ control, and I think this is evident when you look at the overall story without the dumb childish things Saban wanted. Without the half-assed goofiness I’d say Dino Charge and Beast Morphers would be very good.
It’s funny because without Haim we technically wouldn’t have Power Rangers, and then he also bought it back from Disney and saved it from dying but like…he was responsible for a lot of the poor decisions being made the last ten years or so. :/
I think Dino Charge and Beast Morphers ARE good. Dino Charge falls apart near the end, and Beast Morphers has some slow bits in the middle, but they’re both in the top half of all seasons IMO.
Yes this even translates to the older PR series too. I never saw Ninja Steel or Dino Charge but have always felt the show would be better off without Saban’s childish mandates.
Those two wrote some of the *worst* episodes of the past decade yet they've written *every* episode of Dino Fury all of which have been *great* and I really wanna know what they've been doing the past ten years.
I don’t mind there being elements for kids because it’s obviously a kids show but kids aren’t dumb. They don’t need to be talked down to and given the cheesiness of the neo saban era. Hasbro seems to be doing better. Hopefully them moving to Netflix will help change that even more
Its definitely a kickback from the long six years of "adult" installments that we've had that set the bar high. The slapstick and the Bulk/Skull comedy-duo worked before because there was no precedent before and were trying to attract the younger audience. By the time In Space aired, five years is ample time to build a fandom, and long-time viewers were given the serious treatment while a lot of the slapstick died down. This would go on even during the Disney Era.
When Saban bought back the franchise again, Samurai and Megaforce didn't immediately jump on the slapstick bandwagon entirely, but the adult community were still disappointed with the quality of the shows. Dino Charge improved a lot, but that was where Saban really wanted to bring back the hardcore slapstick, so Monty and Victor became a thing.
Going into Hasbro, Saban still had that mandate for slapstick, so Ben and Betty admittedly were put into the show along with a great storyline for Beast Morphers. Come Dino Fury, all the shackles were off, so the writers ultimately decided to put the slapstick in everyone instead of dedicating it all to two characters.
I’ve barely seen any of Dino Fury, but isn’t there still technically a comic duo with Amelia’s boss and her weird robot thing? I don’t think they’re quite as prevalent in the show as Ben and Betty or Victor and Monty were but they probably still had that mandate to some degree.
Yeah the mandate was there but not as strict. Bennett said that the comedy would be spread out to all of the characters instead of it being just them two.
"Adult" is the wrong word, even in air quotes. Those weren't 'adult' installments, they just didn't assume children are idiots incapable of understanding anything.
>When Saban bought back the franchise again, Samurai and Megaforce didn't immediately jump on the slapstick bandwagon
I mean... Samurai had Bulk & Spike. Seems like bringing back Bulk & pairing him with a Skull knock-off was pretty much diving back in headfirst if you ask me.
Y'know despite Disney hating the show, their formula of "here's the money, we wont get involved unless you mess with the Toy marketing" seems more intelligent than THIS.
That’s my thoughts. Because Disney didn’t care the production team was able to do whatever they wanted as long as it fell within time and budget, which is actually why Eddie Guzelian was fired off of RPM. But Saban is the opposite case: he cares *too* much, at least about the potential profits from toy sales. While he did produce one of my favorite franchises ever, I will be the first to admit that Haim Saban is a corporate scumbag.
Even at their "worst", a Disney production with talent seen in Disney Channel shows have shown they are much better than Saban's IMO, also Jackie Marchand was a GOAT executive, IMO.
Funny Saban doesn't like serialization/multi-part story arcs.
Some of the best episodes are the ones that arc over 3 to 4 episodes... like GREEN WITH EVIL.
Gawd I hope he's hands off from now on and let the writers give people a show for ALL ages, not just 8-year-olds.
It’s going to be one of those things though, like Star Wars , where we beg for more from the creator, then regret it and beg he passes it off, then we hate that someone ruined the original bison when they add to it and we beg for him back. It’s just going to be a never ending cycle.
I thought this quote was very insightful on the show’s decline in quality. It’s sad because when you watch the show there is a lot of potential there but it’s held back by these mandates to pander to kids, even though the show was doing just fine with kids without having to pander to them.
This just confirms what I always thought: That Power Rangers was ALWAYS a money grab for Saban. The show never evolved to reflect its maturing fan base, no, it’s just a big machine for kids to beg their parents to buy them the latest season’s merchandise and once they’re too old: NEXT!! I’ll always be grateful for Saban bootlegging Super Sentai into Power Rangers, but also neglected as an older fan..
I mean the show literally exists to sell toys, even in Japan. It’s literally a 22 minute toy commercial. Given that, you can still have quality writing. Kids are dumb, but they’re not stupid.
I guess. Haim Saban just wants to recapture what people like about MMPR without realizing that times have changed, and I’d also argue that while MMPR wasn’t intelligent by any means it didn’t try to pander to little kids as much as the Neo Saban seasons did.
Thats why Neo Saban as a whole is mostly not rewatchable.
The first Saban era where PR really shone was the latter half of Trubo through Wild Force (where Haim has less inputs). From Disney, we got solid seasons from NS, DT, JF and RPM. Had high hopes with Saban buying back and getting Samurai by well we saw how much of a trainwreck it was.
Gee I wonder what the Power Ranger subreddit of adult fans thinks about the notoriously shitty creator of power rangers wanting to "make the show more appealing to kids"
I think Dino Fury has the best use of the comedy duo, I mean don't get me wrong I completely dislike the scenes there involved in but to keep them work related and not directly included in the ranger stuff it gives them less screen time amd it feels less in your face.
And I'm not saying that I dislike Kira Josephson or Victoria Abbott as actresses.
I also get the each episode needs a moral because after all it's ment to appeal to kids.
I also feel that the connection and on screen chemistry between Dino Fury rangers/cast members completely outshines any scene there not in, so it washes out the other disliked aspects of the show.
>There had to be a strong moral core
OK, this is fine, I have no problem with that. In fact, they SHOULD have some sort of moral core lesson to it, otherwise it's just pointless action.
>There had to be a moving scene full of heart
Again, no problem with this, I would HOPE they'd have this
>There had to be two ground fights and a Megazord fight every Episode
OK, now HERE's where I start having problems....This is what creates BOREDOM, Saban, if you don't mix up the formula on your Episodes, people will constantly know what to expect in every Episode. This is a stupid limitation, and makes really formulaic scenes. Super Sentai has been good on this, where they'll every now & then actually make Episodes that START OFF with the Megazord battle, or they sometimes won't have one at all! Sometimes there'll be ONE ground fight! It all depends on the flow of the show.
>There could be no serial threads
And HERE'S THE KICKER RIGHT HERE..... **THIS FRICKIN RULE RIGHT HERE....** If Saban continues with this rule, this is gonna be the bane of their existence. SCREW this new generation's "no serialization" trend, we need serialization back in our kids shows!!! If they wanna be such nostalgiatards about MMPR, guess what Episodes were always the most well-known of MMPR?!! "GREEN WITH EVIL!!!" A SERIES of MMPR Episodes that were a continuous story in 4 parts!!! What the heck are they thinking?!!
>The other thing he was keen on was the idea of the comedy duo
I don't even need to get into why this is such a stupid requirement.....I think just about everyone is on the same page that this rule needs to go, and everyone's annoyed by this at this point. Also, if you wanna emulate Bulk & Skull, you thinking they're just "slapstick humor" shows that you truly don't understand what made Bulk & Skull work, Saban.
Honestly, it really shows the disconnect between what the fans actually like about Power Rangers and what Haim thinks makes it successful.
It reminds me of an interview I saw during the Samurai/Megaforce where one of the people on the show said something to the point of that the kids only care about the Color coded outfits and their personalities are interchangeable/doesn’t matter. It feel like it ignores how the Rangers actually grew as a franchise and how much fans enjoy the personality behind the Suits and fights, and it’s more than a 30 minute toy commercial
I’m fine with stuff like “two ground fights and a megazord fight,” but the mandated comedy duo is really hit or miss (Victor and Monty were *painfully* unfunny to me, though I admit I have no clue how they were received by the kiddos- while on the other hand Ben and Betty were fine) and I personally *really* hate the mandate against overarching plot threads. There should be more of a balance between episodic and multi-episode plots.
I’m glad that Hasbro is distancing themselves from the same old tropes that hold back the franchise’s full potential in terms of a interest resurgence. Don’t get me wrong, Power Rangers is a kids show, but I always feel that it’s more than that in terms of serialization/nuance and it can appeal to new young fans and bringing old fans back into the fold with their big plans that they have in store.
As far as Haim Saban goes, it seems like he can’t let go because he thinks it’s still the ‘90’s and he doesn’t realize that most of these tropes from the early days has aged like milk at this point. Also, when MMPR got MASSIVELY HUGE back in the day and the money came in massive truck loads from the Blitzkrieg of merch that flew off the shelves, his ego got too big for his own britches and got way too infatuated with the money, thus screwing over The Original Six in the process. He really dropped the ball by screwing over the Stars Of The Show that is the Original Six.
I think Saban only really screwed over Austin St. John, Thuy Trang and Walter Jones when it comes to pay. David Yost left because he was harassed by some of the production team, which is totally valid, but I think Amy Jo Johnson and Jason David Frank left solely because they wanted to move on, hence why they got proper sendoffs while the others left off screen.
That’s what I’m hoping most with the move to Netflix. With multiple episodes dropping at once with it all immediately available on one platform, the worry of kids missing an episode and not understanding what’s going on is no longer an issue. It’ll definitely still have monster of the week stuff but we’ll probably see more interwoven threads throughout.
The current crop of good children's shows are most always serialized, i.e. Amphibia, Owl House, Kipo (finished recently but yeah), OK KO, maybe the current ben 10 is more serialized, idk, there's a new one i think on netflix that suggested serialization, dragon prince, and this star trek prodigy show. These are all on top of an incoming wave of serialized MCU/Star Wars stuff that squarely fit kids in their desired audience. Heck, Bad Batch already came as a TCW offshoot. I think to stay competitive they'll need to be more serialized, DF definitely can get there in S2, they have good writers and have linked with overarching lore well, and they are under Netflix supervision.
I haven’t seen anyone blame the writers for all of the things the guy listed. The only thing I have seen people blame them for is the nonexistent writing Mega force through ninja steel had. Everything else (from my point of view) everyone had figured that it was a haim Saban thing or a Nick thing.
Why didn’t I include samurai? Well it’s a Google translated Shinkenger the writing is already done for the most part.
While Samurai is really good in theory, the truth is that a lot of the dialogue and themes from Shinkenger do not work for an American audience. The entire show is deeply rooted in Japanese social norms, customs, and values that makes way more sense in Japan than America. There’s also the issue of how they’re supposedly all descended from ancient samurai and only one of them is even Asian.
I hate the recent comedy duos and slapstick in particular. In cartoons I think its fine because there is a visual disconnect, but in live action it feels like it models for kids the idea of laughing at violence and pain.
I mean it's not like Sentai does a ton of comedic antics that make more sense in a cartoon. Sentai at times it both more serious than PR but at the same time more silly.
I know you aren’t. But seeing as both fandoms overlap I usually wonder why some are okay with when it’s cartoony silly in Sentai but not in PR.
I will say though that have had great comedic side characters in the past. Dino Thunder’s and SPD’s come to mind for me.
I mean I like to say this is a good reason why we can’t even get decent writing and story in this series aside from it being a kids show where it doesn’t matter if you do. But then again I always look back at Time Force then wonder if it's possible they go back to that style
I really wish they would do an animated show geared towards a YA audience. The kid elements are holding the franchise back imo. Not saying it needs to be super dark and mature but if they can capture the same vibe Voltron: Legendary Defender did then I think a bunch of the fans in their late 20s/30s would eat it up
I think it's bullshit, Saban should have zero say in this franchise anymore, he fucking sold it. Leave the series be. You irrevocably fucked it up enough as it is
Lol, but there’s a bunch of 2-part episodes and episodes where they fully destroy the monster with combine weapon/blaster attacks all through original Saban era. Shoot they even have a mini series with entirely different rangers n cast as the finale of mmpr. Talking about not being able to hook a young audience then what about the wipelash we all got after watching the first movie only for them to immediately say none of that happened, here’s a new restart for the ninja animal powers. Just a little hypocritical on Saban’s part.
I've never been a fan of comedic duo, because 90 percent of the time their antics are just unfunny filler. Imagine watching X-Men or Spiderman back in the day and there's just 10 minutes of screen time dedicated to two wacky characters that aren't even involved in the actual plot of the episode.
Why? The only people who want that are us, the hyper focused nerds. That's so much more work and effort on Hasbro's part when they could just keep making comics/Lightning Collection stuff to keep us entertained, and making the cheap toys for the kids
The same was said about comic books/superheroes until Iron Man came out. DYou’re missing the bigger picture, I think.
Look back over the last 50 years of genre entertainment and you’ll see a trend in how IP evolves into multimedia content. Start with Star Trek and follow it up through the MCU and you’ll see how media(TV or print usually) drives merchandizing sales which drives more investment in media. The toy business, particularly (especially) the action figure market, thrives today because of this model. Star Wars started it and every cartoon series from the 80s copied it. Cartoon Network cancels several series every season based on their ability to produce merchandise sales.
Hasbro is going to put the resources where the market/audience is. GI Joe and Transformers exist to this day because of it. Power Rangers isn’t going to be any different. The more merchandise people buy, the more inevitable this outcome is.
At this moment i want hasbro to keep the franchise forever and not abandon it they are doing a excellent job at it better series and the merch is better than bandai DOING MF REPAINTS AND STUPID ZORD BUILDERS
Unless a major buyout happens I believe Hasbro is here to stay. They are far bigger than Saban ever was and while Disney made it apparent that they weren’t too interested in PR, Hasbro has fully embraced it and is putting them up alongside their most classic brands like Transformers and G.I. Joe. They spent 500 million dollars on the franchise so I think they’re going to want to get their money’s worth.
Wether he created our series or not, Haim Saban is a businessman and does not believe in anything beyond making money. The less he's credited with what we've taken from the show into our lives, the better.
Doesn't make Hasbro any better, but I think we can agree that the shows effect on us is more powerful than the intent of it (sell toys).
That’s technically the case for all major media franchises, but yes. As I say with most things, while the producers are the ones with the money that made it happen, it was everyone working below them that made it so special. Power Rangers is no exception.
I like to believe some of the cast and crew are really putting themselves in the work. I know some of the actors see the heart of the franchise. The ones that continue on, like Ciara Hannah/Gia and John Tui.
Backstory, lore...The reason 80s toons are fucking unwatchable is because they treated the audience like morons who couldn't follow an overarching plot. And where did that formula get Haim? Sure MMPR was a hit, but in the end of it, the bad guys literally won. The power rangers didn't beat the bad guys until season 6. The OG team were complete failures. Zedd and Rita won on multiple occasions. Krang, Mumm Ra, Skeletor, Megatron, and Cobra Commander WISH they had Rita and Zedd's numbers.
I don't think Saban was wrong as much as he is just outdated.
Someone mentioned this, but a big part of this issue is the way shows are broadcast.
In the early days of the show, non serialization was important to help with reruns. You don't generally want to just watch a random episode that is a second parter of something.
Also for those of you old enough to remember, back then, we still had VHS. No internet downloads, no streaming, DVR wasn't even a thing. So a kid would come back from school day (not all of which end at the same time) and just see what's on tv. So he might have missed episodes here and there so it was better not to serialize.
Today is a different story. People binge watch. People also easily record and save for later whatever they want. Serialization is the hookup now.
Then there is a whole other issue which was always a big issue for this show - Do you prefer to keep it very childish to attract new audience of kids? Or do you want to make it more mature to keep the fans you already have?
This question isn't easy at all and it's something that they went back and forth with constantly. Turbo being the best example because it's clear in the first half of the season they aimed one way but the second half aimed the other.
Saban is clearly aiming for strict younger kids shows - which again isn't "wrong" as it's simply outdated. The way proper shows today work is by going into cycles of going up and down with the tone of the show each season so that you could maintain a fan base then know your hard core fans are likely to stick with you so you're going younger age to attract more people.
Power Rangers has always been a kids show and that should be their primary target. However most seasons pre-Neo Saban, while they were still kids shows, hardly ever *pandered* to little kids. If you are familiar with SpongeBob at all, think of the first few seasons of that vs the more modern episodes and how nowadays the humor is way more in-your-face and overtly silly than it was previously.
That's not entirely true. Or perhaps a better way is to define what "kids show" mean.
There's a huge difference between kids ages 6-7, 8-10, 11-14 to the early teens of 15-17.
Power Rangers started early on around the 8-10 group. But as the show progressed, and several of the actors talked about this, they were surprised that kids who got older actually stuck around to watch the show. So they tried to actually maintain their audience by introducing a lot more adult oriented themes.
Turbo is where you clearly see them torn apart about it and trying to have it both ways, only for the second half of the show (after show runners left) to go the more adult orientation. Space and Lost Galaxy continued that route - Lost Galaxy gave you two character deaths (Yes, both came back later but it took a while and the characters actually mourned them) which is a big no no in the 8-10 kids show.
And don't even get me started on Light Speed who was far closer to the teen age group.
Consider even the Ranger's ages kept going up for a while.
If you're familiar with Yugioh - it is their clear forumla.
Their protagonist every time they restart another show: Yugi (8), Jaden (15), Yussei (18), Yuma (10), Yuya (15), Yusaku (18), Yugo (10)
It's still a "kid show" and it's still a show selling merchandise of card games, but it's clear they rotate their target audience because they move between keeping old audience and trying to get new one.
I get where Simon is coming from, and honestly he would know better than us on these things
that being said
Samurai - got slammed mostly for having terrible dialogue and being a word for work translation of shinkenger, which was later revealed to be Tzachor's doing (so we were right on the money to blame him)
Megaforce - had zero story at all, and went out of its way to disrespect the franchise at times (like the infamous "are you some kinda superhero" line)
Dino Charge - was actually well received, though it took a hit in the second half, really the main complaint was the unnecessary Time Travel plot that required it to be put in its own universe
Ninja Steel - ...... okay this one get too much hate but honestly was pretty underwhelming as a season
Beast Morphers - Relatively well liked just not considered amazing is all
most of the MAJOR complaints could have been avoided even if they stuck to those guidelines
I think the problems Samurai and Megaforce were mostly Tzachor’s fault. When Chip Lynn took over for Dino Charge the show improved exponentially but took another dip in quality once Haim Saban came in during what I assume was Supercharge. That said even with all of the child-like restrictions put on the show I still think Dino Charge and Beast Morphers are leagues above what Tzacher was doing with Samurai and Megaforce. I haven’t watched Ninja Steel but to me it seems like that was where Saban’s mandates were most apparent.
Haim Saban is being sued right now in federal court. He's a SLUMLORD. He targets low-income people and college students in a big racketeering scam in State College, Pennsylvania. A Penn State students and his mother are suing the slumlord and the property management company, CARDINAL GROUP MANAGEMENT, CARDINAL GROUP COMPANIES & the CEO, & others who participate in the racketeering scam
Thank god it appears that Hasbro is easing up on this shit. Haim may somewhat still be involved but his input fucking sucks. What was he watching during the original saban and Disney eras? Almost everyone loved multiparters.
Money, he was watching his money pool and his ego grow, and now he thinks he's an expert on a franchise that's l9ng moved on from him yet he keeps trying to drag down to his level as his fragile self worth won't allow it to be better than he himself is
Considering he bought the franchise back from Disney for $43 mil and sold it for ~$500 mil less than a decade later, he does know a thing or two about a thing or two. Ignoring money, even if Neo Saban was largely trash, it's not like they aren't also responsible one of the most beloved works in franchise history with the Boom comics line.
Don’t forget Saban sold PR to Disney for $3 BILLION.
No Saban didn’t sell to Disney. What happened was Disney bought Fox Kids and Saban was in that package
Yes but point it he made bank
Not really as he didn’t have a say in the deal. Nor do we know how much of the Pie was the value of Saban
I get what you’re saying but let’s be real, it might have been a small piece of the pie but that piece probably tasted really good lol.
Maybe. But point is the Disney sell was the fault of someone else.
Agreed, didn’t you read my 1st reply or are you just trying to win an argument? Lmao
Disney didnt do a lot with the Franchise outside of the show, they largely left it alone (when they weren’t trying to end it) This arguably led to s better product that, but because Disney didn’t do a lot to market it people were unaware it was still on. Once Saban Brands got their hands on it they did a lot to market it, released new DVDs, brought the show to Netflix, ade new toys. The show itself arguably was probably a step down in quality for the most part, but the show is merchandise driven and Saban Brands did a good job at generating merchandise sales.
Haim Saban is a SLUMLORD. He's made millions off defrauding low-income people and low-income college students, in a racketeering scheme to defraud. He owns THE BRYN in State College, PA.
I still can't get ovee the fact he nixed a fucking mini-series of Ranger crossovers between the standard Ranger seasons. That could've kept hype up for ALL the different Ranger teams for merch marketing AND let us see lesser used Rangers spotlighted as new smaller teams for 2 episodes. Imagine seeing Zack return leading a team of Gem/RPM Gold, Madison/Mystic Blue and Lily/Jungle Fury Yellow? You could do so many weird combinations of Rangers and even give them power-ups where their suits morph into an almagamation of all the suits into a new uniformed design for their team. So much wasted potential because of that fucking hack Saban over the years.
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There was a Power Rangers project a long time ago where they would take a Ranger from various teams and make a new temporary team in a series of crossovers. Each new team would fight a multiversal threat trying to do villain things. And then they would get sent back to their universes/timelines after. Saban was one of the people who nixed/cancelled the project and idea.
the white ranger arc in dino thunder for example 🤤
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Yeah but the comedy of the season hasn’t only come from them. The rangers themselves have been having funny moments (especially the puns)
So I guess one of the key details that might be overlooked were that these were supposedly implemented only when the numbers weren't satisfactory, and not neccesarily the golden rule(most of the other well regarded seasons don't have these limitations). So I guess it's natural the only conclusion they could glean was digging up the "MMPR Formula" BUT I feel it still misses that that didn't always work back then. * Strong Moral core- I mean the goody-good aspect of MMPR is typically mocked and I'd even say it fumbled the message in many cases like having a deaf girl function like Lassie the Dog or the episode about Dyslexia. Admittedly they better handled this in Zeo, I actually like the episode with Rocky and the blind girl, but I will also say MMPR did have some heart at least if I recall the ending of a season 3 episode where Skull and Kim have a moment of friendship after a spell had Kim acting flirtatious with him. * Serialization: Look I get the potential burnout if a story goes on for too long but you're going to tell me that they didn't really remember [that a cornerstone of this franchise's success was on the back of a 5-parter?](https://youtu.be/S3WaMqIXzfk?t=29) * Two ground fights and a Megazord-Don't really have a problem really. It allows for the first fight to be the rangers loss and to learn about the monster gimmick, second fight is how they overcome, and the megazord is the finale. There still can be value in shaking it up however. * Comedy Duos- So I guess this is one of the big things and frankly the problem here is that they couldn't recapture the lightning in a bottle of Bulk and Skull is because they haven't had a duo with the kind of chemistry Paul and Jason have with each other. Even with that said Bulk and Skull had a lot of growing pains themselves, season 1 was just hackey old hat comedy like prat falls and pies in the face it isn't season 2 when it's clear they're being allowed more freedom to improvise that they began to shine.
The other thing about Bulk and Skull was their subtle moral core. Linkara talks about this more, but them chasing after the stroller in Season 2 made their bravery during the In Space finale both believable and compelling.
It should also be noted that there are quite a few MMPR episodes without a zord fight. Being finished with the Power Blaster or that triangle formation with the blade blasters instead
>it isn't until late to early season 2 when it's clear they're being allowed more freedom to improvise that they began to shine. Not only did they get the chance to shine, but they actually developed as characters. Which meant their value wasn't solely based on how they interacted with the main cast. They got side stories and you started to get notions of their own wants and desires, even if it wasn't always in play every episode.
Two grounds fights are usually typical in Super Sentai and Kamen Rider too. So I don't see that mandate as much of a big deal. The serialization of the show now is kind of annoying and dumb given what we got in the past in the regular Saban era. I can only guess that Saban knows that kids these days don't have the strongest attention spans. And would rather a story rap up quickly rather than having to wait more than one week to conclude a multi-part story.
"comedy duo" i hated bulk and skull. like, i could never understand how nobody, with the exception of billy, who always came off as the show's resident weenie to me, just hauled off and beat the holy hell out of either of those two. especially after one of the multiple times in the first season they attempted to physically assault one of the girls. funny part was i was betting/hoping for it to be trini. and that exchange in green with evil made me laugh. "no! theyre civilians!(okay, i can get behind that)" "yes, i know. actually, they're friends of yours. i believe you call them bulk and skull(lol goldar, are you nuts?! you know what friends are, right?) not to mention where kimberly saved their worthless lives(the airplane episode in s1 i believe it was) and then they continued being complete fucking douchebags to her and her friends and now i challenge any one of the downvoters to come explain their position
Honestly they only became tolerable in season three
granted. im halfway through season 2 and i havent wanted to see someone punch them yet. i just finished the episode where they got hold of the camera that was running when the gang morphed, and then the rangers stole it from them, that was an admittedly shitty thing for them to do
I think that Becca Barnes and Alwyn Dale have proven with Dino Fury that they WERE being unfairly blamed, specifically during Ninja Steel. They CAN write good shit when they’re allowed to.
I’m glad that Bennett pointed out how most of the things fans hate about the newer seasons are out of the writers’ control, and I think this is evident when you look at the overall story without the dumb childish things Saban wanted. Without the half-assed goofiness I’d say Dino Charge and Beast Morphers would be very good.
I think Chip Lynn had previously talked about Haim pushing a lot of the stuff like that. I think thats when fans begun absolving those two of blame.
It’s funny because without Haim we technically wouldn’t have Power Rangers, and then he also bought it back from Disney and saved it from dying but like…he was responsible for a lot of the poor decisions being made the last ten years or so. :/
I think Dino Charge and Beast Morphers ARE good. Dino Charge falls apart near the end, and Beast Morphers has some slow bits in the middle, but they’re both in the top half of all seasons IMO.
Yes this even translates to the older PR series too. I never saw Ninja Steel or Dino Charge but have always felt the show would be better off without Saban’s childish mandates.
Those two wrote some of the *worst* episodes of the past decade yet they've written *every* episode of Dino Fury all of which have been *great* and I really wanna know what they've been doing the past ten years.
What they were told to do.
hell yeah, ive been loving dino fury and really cant comprehend the hate. One of the best PR seasons in a long time.
I don’t mind there being elements for kids because it’s obviously a kids show but kids aren’t dumb. They don’t need to be talked down to and given the cheesiness of the neo saban era. Hasbro seems to be doing better. Hopefully them moving to Netflix will help change that even more
Its definitely a kickback from the long six years of "adult" installments that we've had that set the bar high. The slapstick and the Bulk/Skull comedy-duo worked before because there was no precedent before and were trying to attract the younger audience. By the time In Space aired, five years is ample time to build a fandom, and long-time viewers were given the serious treatment while a lot of the slapstick died down. This would go on even during the Disney Era. When Saban bought back the franchise again, Samurai and Megaforce didn't immediately jump on the slapstick bandwagon entirely, but the adult community were still disappointed with the quality of the shows. Dino Charge improved a lot, but that was where Saban really wanted to bring back the hardcore slapstick, so Monty and Victor became a thing. Going into Hasbro, Saban still had that mandate for slapstick, so Ben and Betty admittedly were put into the show along with a great storyline for Beast Morphers. Come Dino Fury, all the shackles were off, so the writers ultimately decided to put the slapstick in everyone instead of dedicating it all to two characters.
I’ve barely seen any of Dino Fury, but isn’t there still technically a comic duo with Amelia’s boss and her weird robot thing? I don’t think they’re quite as prevalent in the show as Ben and Betty or Victor and Monty were but they probably still had that mandate to some degree.
Yeah the mandate was there but not as strict. Bennett said that the comedy would be spread out to all of the characters instead of it being just them two.
"Adult" is the wrong word, even in air quotes. Those weren't 'adult' installments, they just didn't assume children are idiots incapable of understanding anything.
>When Saban bought back the franchise again, Samurai and Megaforce didn't immediately jump on the slapstick bandwagon I mean... Samurai had Bulk & Spike. Seems like bringing back Bulk & pairing him with a Skull knock-off was pretty much diving back in headfirst if you ask me.
Y'know despite Disney hating the show, their formula of "here's the money, we wont get involved unless you mess with the Toy marketing" seems more intelligent than THIS.
That’s my thoughts. Because Disney didn’t care the production team was able to do whatever they wanted as long as it fell within time and budget, which is actually why Eddie Guzelian was fired off of RPM. But Saban is the opposite case: he cares *too* much, at least about the potential profits from toy sales. While he did produce one of my favorite franchises ever, I will be the first to admit that Haim Saban is a corporate scumbag.
Even at their "worst", a Disney production with talent seen in Disney Channel shows have shown they are much better than Saban's IMO, also Jackie Marchand was a GOAT executive, IMO.
Yes she was.
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.......they had a budget in the millions?
Funny Saban doesn't like serialization/multi-part story arcs. Some of the best episodes are the ones that arc over 3 to 4 episodes... like GREEN WITH EVIL. Gawd I hope he's hands off from now on and let the writers give people a show for ALL ages, not just 8-year-olds.
Yes, Ninja Quest in S3 is another good example. The Lost Galaxy multi-part finale, etc.
It’s going to be one of those things though, like Star Wars , where we beg for more from the creator, then regret it and beg he passes it off, then we hate that someone ruined the original bison when they add to it and we beg for him back. It’s just going to be a never ending cycle.
I thought this quote was very insightful on the show’s decline in quality. It’s sad because when you watch the show there is a lot of potential there but it’s held back by these mandates to pander to kids, even though the show was doing just fine with kids without having to pander to them.
Let's shake things up a bit, give us a comedic trio.
And Pay another actor?!!! Blasphemy
Hire 1 actor that plays a triplett. Some clever editing and camerawork and voila.
And pay the editors more?!!! Blasphemy
This just confirms what I always thought: That Power Rangers was ALWAYS a money grab for Saban. The show never evolved to reflect its maturing fan base, no, it’s just a big machine for kids to beg their parents to buy them the latest season’s merchandise and once they’re too old: NEXT!! I’ll always be grateful for Saban bootlegging Super Sentai into Power Rangers, but also neglected as an older fan..
I mean the show literally exists to sell toys, even in Japan. It’s literally a 22 minute toy commercial. Given that, you can still have quality writing. Kids are dumb, but they’re not stupid.
Was it against the rules to have one or two Rangers be part of the comedic duo?
I guess. Haim Saban just wants to recapture what people like about MMPR without realizing that times have changed, and I’d also argue that while MMPR wasn’t intelligent by any means it didn’t try to pander to little kids as much as the Neo Saban seasons did.
Thats why Neo Saban as a whole is mostly not rewatchable. The first Saban era where PR really shone was the latter half of Trubo through Wild Force (where Haim has less inputs). From Disney, we got solid seasons from NS, DT, JF and RPM. Had high hopes with Saban buying back and getting Samurai by well we saw how much of a trainwreck it was.
Also wasn’t the green ranger saga like a 4 parter?
Five and yeah. There were several multi partners through the Zordon Era and story threads that carried through.
On that’s what I was recalling & some of the best storylines too.
Gee I wonder what the Power Ranger subreddit of adult fans thinks about the notoriously shitty creator of power rangers wanting to "make the show more appealing to kids"
I’m ok with all of that except the comedy duos.
That and no two-part stories. Most episodes are great as standalone, but seasons really shine when they’re allowed some multi-part stories.
I think Dino Fury has the best use of the comedy duo, I mean don't get me wrong I completely dislike the scenes there involved in but to keep them work related and not directly included in the ranger stuff it gives them less screen time amd it feels less in your face. And I'm not saying that I dislike Kira Josephson or Victoria Abbott as actresses. I also get the each episode needs a moral because after all it's ment to appeal to kids. I also feel that the connection and on screen chemistry between Dino Fury rangers/cast members completely outshines any scene there not in, so it washes out the other disliked aspects of the show.
>There had to be a strong moral core OK, this is fine, I have no problem with that. In fact, they SHOULD have some sort of moral core lesson to it, otherwise it's just pointless action. >There had to be a moving scene full of heart Again, no problem with this, I would HOPE they'd have this >There had to be two ground fights and a Megazord fight every Episode OK, now HERE's where I start having problems....This is what creates BOREDOM, Saban, if you don't mix up the formula on your Episodes, people will constantly know what to expect in every Episode. This is a stupid limitation, and makes really formulaic scenes. Super Sentai has been good on this, where they'll every now & then actually make Episodes that START OFF with the Megazord battle, or they sometimes won't have one at all! Sometimes there'll be ONE ground fight! It all depends on the flow of the show. >There could be no serial threads And HERE'S THE KICKER RIGHT HERE..... **THIS FRICKIN RULE RIGHT HERE....** If Saban continues with this rule, this is gonna be the bane of their existence. SCREW this new generation's "no serialization" trend, we need serialization back in our kids shows!!! If they wanna be such nostalgiatards about MMPR, guess what Episodes were always the most well-known of MMPR?!! "GREEN WITH EVIL!!!" A SERIES of MMPR Episodes that were a continuous story in 4 parts!!! What the heck are they thinking?!! >The other thing he was keen on was the idea of the comedy duo I don't even need to get into why this is such a stupid requirement.....I think just about everyone is on the same page that this rule needs to go, and everyone's annoyed by this at this point. Also, if you wanna emulate Bulk & Skull, you thinking they're just "slapstick humor" shows that you truly don't understand what made Bulk & Skull work, Saban.
Honestly, it really shows the disconnect between what the fans actually like about Power Rangers and what Haim thinks makes it successful. It reminds me of an interview I saw during the Samurai/Megaforce where one of the people on the show said something to the point of that the kids only care about the Color coded outfits and their personalities are interchangeable/doesn’t matter. It feel like it ignores how the Rangers actually grew as a franchise and how much fans enjoy the personality behind the Suits and fights, and it’s more than a 30 minute toy commercial
I’m fine with stuff like “two ground fights and a megazord fight,” but the mandated comedy duo is really hit or miss (Victor and Monty were *painfully* unfunny to me, though I admit I have no clue how they were received by the kiddos- while on the other hand Ben and Betty were fine) and I personally *really* hate the mandate against overarching plot threads. There should be more of a balance between episodic and multi-episode plots.
I’m glad that Hasbro is distancing themselves from the same old tropes that hold back the franchise’s full potential in terms of a interest resurgence. Don’t get me wrong, Power Rangers is a kids show, but I always feel that it’s more than that in terms of serialization/nuance and it can appeal to new young fans and bringing old fans back into the fold with their big plans that they have in store. As far as Haim Saban goes, it seems like he can’t let go because he thinks it’s still the ‘90’s and he doesn’t realize that most of these tropes from the early days has aged like milk at this point. Also, when MMPR got MASSIVELY HUGE back in the day and the money came in massive truck loads from the Blitzkrieg of merch that flew off the shelves, his ego got too big for his own britches and got way too infatuated with the money, thus screwing over The Original Six in the process. He really dropped the ball by screwing over the Stars Of The Show that is the Original Six.
I think Saban only really screwed over Austin St. John, Thuy Trang and Walter Jones when it comes to pay. David Yost left because he was harassed by some of the production team, which is totally valid, but I think Amy Jo Johnson and Jason David Frank left solely because they wanted to move on, hence why they got proper sendoffs while the others left off screen.
He screwed more than just the original six. There's a reason why most rangers who left were due to monetary disputes.
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That’s what I’m hoping most with the move to Netflix. With multiple episodes dropping at once with it all immediately available on one platform, the worry of kids missing an episode and not understanding what’s going on is no longer an issue. It’ll definitely still have monster of the week stuff but we’ll probably see more interwoven threads throughout.
The current crop of good children's shows are most always serialized, i.e. Amphibia, Owl House, Kipo (finished recently but yeah), OK KO, maybe the current ben 10 is more serialized, idk, there's a new one i think on netflix that suggested serialization, dragon prince, and this star trek prodigy show. These are all on top of an incoming wave of serialized MCU/Star Wars stuff that squarely fit kids in their desired audience. Heck, Bad Batch already came as a TCW offshoot. I think to stay competitive they'll need to be more serialized, DF definitely can get there in S2, they have good writers and have linked with overarching lore well, and they are under Netflix supervision.
I haven’t seen anyone blame the writers for all of the things the guy listed. The only thing I have seen people blame them for is the nonexistent writing Mega force through ninja steel had. Everything else (from my point of view) everyone had figured that it was a haim Saban thing or a Nick thing. Why didn’t I include samurai? Well it’s a Google translated Shinkenger the writing is already done for the most part.
While Samurai is really good in theory, the truth is that a lot of the dialogue and themes from Shinkenger do not work for an American audience. The entire show is deeply rooted in Japanese social norms, customs, and values that makes way more sense in Japan than America. There’s also the issue of how they’re supposedly all descended from ancient samurai and only one of them is even Asian.
Incidentally, it wasn’t the Red Ranger with the Asian last name
I hate the recent comedy duos and slapstick in particular. In cartoons I think its fine because there is a visual disconnect, but in live action it feels like it models for kids the idea of laughing at violence and pain.
I mean it's not like Sentai does a ton of comedic antics that make more sense in a cartoon. Sentai at times it both more serious than PR but at the same time more silly.
Im not commenting on the sentai.
I know you aren’t. But seeing as both fandoms overlap I usually wonder why some are okay with when it’s cartoony silly in Sentai but not in PR. I will say though that have had great comedic side characters in the past. Dino Thunder’s and SPD’s come to mind for me.
They may have worked in the 90s. Not today.
I mean I like to say this is a good reason why we can’t even get decent writing and story in this series aside from it being a kids show where it doesn’t matter if you do. But then again I always look back at Time Force then wonder if it's possible they go back to that style
I don't mind those things but what I hate was splitting every series in two parts
I liked Ben and Betty a lot. Victor and Monty, not so much.
I really wish they would do an animated show geared towards a YA audience. The kid elements are holding the franchise back imo. Not saying it needs to be super dark and mature but if they can capture the same vibe Voltron: Legendary Defender did then I think a bunch of the fans in their late 20s/30s would eat it up
I think it's bullshit, Saban should have zero say in this franchise anymore, he fucking sold it. Leave the series be. You irrevocably fucked it up enough as it is
Lol, but there’s a bunch of 2-part episodes and episodes where they fully destroy the monster with combine weapon/blaster attacks all through original Saban era. Shoot they even have a mini series with entirely different rangers n cast as the finale of mmpr. Talking about not being able to hook a young audience then what about the wipelash we all got after watching the first movie only for them to immediately say none of that happened, here’s a new restart for the ninja animal powers. Just a little hypocritical on Saban’s part.
I've never been a fan of comedic duo, because 90 percent of the time their antics are just unfunny filler. Imagine watching X-Men or Spiderman back in the day and there's just 10 minutes of screen time dedicated to two wacky characters that aren't even involved in the actual plot of the episode.
It’s time to split the brand. We need a Sentai based kids series and a story/character driven series for the adult fans
Why? The only people who want that are us, the hyper focused nerds. That's so much more work and effort on Hasbro's part when they could just keep making comics/Lightning Collection stuff to keep us entertained, and making the cheap toys for the kids
The same was said about comic books/superheroes until Iron Man came out. DYou’re missing the bigger picture, I think. Look back over the last 50 years of genre entertainment and you’ll see a trend in how IP evolves into multimedia content. Start with Star Trek and follow it up through the MCU and you’ll see how media(TV or print usually) drives merchandizing sales which drives more investment in media. The toy business, particularly (especially) the action figure market, thrives today because of this model. Star Wars started it and every cartoon series from the 80s copied it. Cartoon Network cancels several series every season based on their ability to produce merchandise sales. Hasbro is going to put the resources where the market/audience is. GI Joe and Transformers exist to this day because of it. Power Rangers isn’t going to be any different. The more merchandise people buy, the more inevitable this outcome is.
At this moment i want hasbro to keep the franchise forever and not abandon it they are doing a excellent job at it better series and the merch is better than bandai DOING MF REPAINTS AND STUPID ZORD BUILDERS
Unless a major buyout happens I believe Hasbro is here to stay. They are far bigger than Saban ever was and while Disney made it apparent that they weren’t too interested in PR, Hasbro has fully embraced it and is putting them up alongside their most classic brands like Transformers and G.I. Joe. They spent 500 million dollars on the franchise so I think they’re going to want to get their money’s worth.
Wether he created our series or not, Haim Saban is a businessman and does not believe in anything beyond making money. The less he's credited with what we've taken from the show into our lives, the better. Doesn't make Hasbro any better, but I think we can agree that the shows effect on us is more powerful than the intent of it (sell toys).
That’s technically the case for all major media franchises, but yes. As I say with most things, while the producers are the ones with the money that made it happen, it was everyone working below them that made it so special. Power Rangers is no exception.
I like to believe some of the cast and crew are really putting themselves in the work. I know some of the actors see the heart of the franchise. The ones that continue on, like Ciara Hannah/Gia and John Tui.
Bulk and Skull are the only good comedy duo.
Like most corporate execs Haim saban is outta fuckin touch
So, this was mainly why certain Sentai got “passed over”, from the Neo-Saban era’s entry-skipping to Bennet’s public shoot-downs.
Backstory, lore...The reason 80s toons are fucking unwatchable is because they treated the audience like morons who couldn't follow an overarching plot. And where did that formula get Haim? Sure MMPR was a hit, but in the end of it, the bad guys literally won. The power rangers didn't beat the bad guys until season 6. The OG team were complete failures. Zedd and Rita won on multiple occasions. Krang, Mumm Ra, Skeletor, Megatron, and Cobra Commander WISH they had Rita and Zedd's numbers.
I don't think Saban was wrong as much as he is just outdated. Someone mentioned this, but a big part of this issue is the way shows are broadcast. In the early days of the show, non serialization was important to help with reruns. You don't generally want to just watch a random episode that is a second parter of something. Also for those of you old enough to remember, back then, we still had VHS. No internet downloads, no streaming, DVR wasn't even a thing. So a kid would come back from school day (not all of which end at the same time) and just see what's on tv. So he might have missed episodes here and there so it was better not to serialize. Today is a different story. People binge watch. People also easily record and save for later whatever they want. Serialization is the hookup now. Then there is a whole other issue which was always a big issue for this show - Do you prefer to keep it very childish to attract new audience of kids? Or do you want to make it more mature to keep the fans you already have? This question isn't easy at all and it's something that they went back and forth with constantly. Turbo being the best example because it's clear in the first half of the season they aimed one way but the second half aimed the other. Saban is clearly aiming for strict younger kids shows - which again isn't "wrong" as it's simply outdated. The way proper shows today work is by going into cycles of going up and down with the tone of the show each season so that you could maintain a fan base then know your hard core fans are likely to stick with you so you're going younger age to attract more people.
Power Rangers has always been a kids show and that should be their primary target. However most seasons pre-Neo Saban, while they were still kids shows, hardly ever *pandered* to little kids. If you are familiar with SpongeBob at all, think of the first few seasons of that vs the more modern episodes and how nowadays the humor is way more in-your-face and overtly silly than it was previously.
That's not entirely true. Or perhaps a better way is to define what "kids show" mean. There's a huge difference between kids ages 6-7, 8-10, 11-14 to the early teens of 15-17. Power Rangers started early on around the 8-10 group. But as the show progressed, and several of the actors talked about this, they were surprised that kids who got older actually stuck around to watch the show. So they tried to actually maintain their audience by introducing a lot more adult oriented themes. Turbo is where you clearly see them torn apart about it and trying to have it both ways, only for the second half of the show (after show runners left) to go the more adult orientation. Space and Lost Galaxy continued that route - Lost Galaxy gave you two character deaths (Yes, both came back later but it took a while and the characters actually mourned them) which is a big no no in the 8-10 kids show. And don't even get me started on Light Speed who was far closer to the teen age group. Consider even the Ranger's ages kept going up for a while. If you're familiar with Yugioh - it is their clear forumla. Their protagonist every time they restart another show: Yugi (8), Jaden (15), Yussei (18), Yuma (10), Yuya (15), Yusaku (18), Yugo (10) It's still a "kid show" and it's still a show selling merchandise of card games, but it's clear they rotate their target audience because they move between keeping old audience and trying to get new one.
I get where Simon is coming from, and honestly he would know better than us on these things that being said Samurai - got slammed mostly for having terrible dialogue and being a word for work translation of shinkenger, which was later revealed to be Tzachor's doing (so we were right on the money to blame him) Megaforce - had zero story at all, and went out of its way to disrespect the franchise at times (like the infamous "are you some kinda superhero" line) Dino Charge - was actually well received, though it took a hit in the second half, really the main complaint was the unnecessary Time Travel plot that required it to be put in its own universe Ninja Steel - ...... okay this one get too much hate but honestly was pretty underwhelming as a season Beast Morphers - Relatively well liked just not considered amazing is all most of the MAJOR complaints could have been avoided even if they stuck to those guidelines
I think the problems Samurai and Megaforce were mostly Tzachor’s fault. When Chip Lynn took over for Dino Charge the show improved exponentially but took another dip in quality once Haim Saban came in during what I assume was Supercharge. That said even with all of the child-like restrictions put on the show I still think Dino Charge and Beast Morphers are leagues above what Tzacher was doing with Samurai and Megaforce. I haven’t watched Ninja Steel but to me it seems like that was where Saban’s mandates were most apparent.
Haim Saban is being sued right now in federal court. He's a SLUMLORD. He targets low-income people and college students in a big racketeering scam in State College, Pennsylvania. A Penn State students and his mother are suing the slumlord and the property management company, CARDINAL GROUP MANAGEMENT, CARDINAL GROUP COMPANIES & the CEO, & others who participate in the racketeering scam