It was an absolute hit and I don't think anyone really knew just now strong TMNT's staying power would be.
TMNT spawned many copycat shows during the height of it's popularity.
Including Street Sharks, Battletoads, Biker Mice from Mars, Samurai Pizza Cats, Bucky O'Hare, the list is practically endless.
The 90s had a similar hit. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.
For anyone who was around in the 90s you'll know just how big of a thing Power Rangers really was.
It was nearly impossible going anywhere without seeing something with the Power Rangers on it.
Toys, School Supplies, Home Decor, Clothing... I even had a Red Ranger Telephone as a kid.
The impact was HUGE. So big that over 25 years later and we're still getting new episodes and toys.
Power Morphicon is a great example of how the fan base is still thriving.
Like with TMNT, naturally there were companies who tried to capitalize on it on the success of this weird show with Multi-colored superheroes fighting rubber-suited monsters.
Trying to replicate the success of Power Rangers by taking the Power Rangers formula. Taking Japanese stock footage and splicing it with American footage creating a Brand New Superhero show.
This wasn't JUST other companies, it was also done by Saban themselves who tried to make lightning strike twice... more than twice actually.
So here we'll take a look at some shows that followed the Power Rangers formula but weren't nearly as successful.
- Masked Rider (1995 - 1996) [One Season]
Taking it's fight and monster footage from "Kamen Rider Black RX" This was one of the few direct spin-offs of Power Rangers.
Just a week before Masked Rider premiered, the main character Dax was introduced in the Power Ranger 3-parter called "A friend in need".
This is kind of like when the Flash was introduced on an episode of Arrow, and got his own show the following season.
Interestingly enough, once the show aired they never mentioned Power Rangers. Minus a crossover in the comics that isn't canon to the show, they cut all ties from Power Rangers.
Which is unfortunate because the idea of an expanded Power Ranger universe is awesome.
If this show would've been successful, we'd probably still be getting Kamen Rider based shows.
Some people would do anything for a Klondike bar, what It'd do to get Kamen Rider Ex-Aid in the U.S.
Masked Rider? VIRTUAL RIDER... VR...
Speaking of V.R...
VR Troopers (1994 - 1996) [Two Seasons]
This show actually took it's footage from three different shows.
THREE!
- Metal Hero Series: Superhuman Machine Matalder
- Dimensional Warrior Spielban
- Space Sheriff Shaide
That's a lot of Japanese stock footage!
So as you can probably imagine frankensteining this show was a tough task.
The series did well enough to run for 2 seasons but it couldn't replicate the success of Power Rangers.
Fun fact. Jason David Frank was supposed to play the main character in this series.
Not as Tommy but a whole new character... but we made a video about that... you should totally watch it.
Since this show played with the idea of Virtual Reality, you know what other show did the same?
Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad (1994-1995)
Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad... While Saban was trying to create more cultural phenomenons, DiC was busy trying to get into the game themselves. Taking footage from Denkou Choujin Ultraman... I mean Gridman Denkou Choujin Gridman...Yeah! they take their footage from a show in Japan that's done by the guys behind Ultraman.
- Big Bad Beetleborgs (1996-1998) [Two Seasons]
Another show that also has a special place in my heart... Big Bad Beetleborgs... This show took footage from Juukou B-Fighter for the first season, and B-Fighter Kabuto for the second season. I LOVED this show. I thought the suits were awesome. That super cool bulky robot design, the colors. Their base was a haunted mansion filled with The Universal Monsters' goofy cousins and Genie from Aladdin and Jay Leno's love child. The Beetleborgs themselves were kids like I was at the time, which didn't bother me like it did on Power Rangers Turbo... Which was airing at the same time. Coincidentally enough they had a crossover... in the comic... again, not canon. Man, Saban REALLY wanted characters young kids could relate to.
- Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills (1994 - 1995 ) [One Season]
Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills... man that's a mouthful... Airing at the same time as Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad this was another attempt by DiC to rival against Power Rangers. Like Syber-Squad that came before it, this show didn't last more than one season and to be honest I had absolutely NO idea this existed when I was a kid. Which is one of the reasons why it probably failed. What set this show apart from the rest, is that it doesn't actually take any fights or monster footage from any Japanese shows. Instead it tried to mimic the "team of teenage superheroes" thing that Power Rangers had. I guess it was trying to rip TMNT off too. And yeah, that means technically this show shouldn't be on this list, and you're probably right. But I'm going to keep it on here, if you don't like it. Well consider this a bonus entry. I wish I can tell you more about this show, but to be honest I never watched it. And honestly, I'm a bit scared to.
- Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight (2009) [One Season]
Up until I was making this list, I had no idea this existed. Adapting Kamen Rider Ryuki This came out during a time where I wasn't paying attention to Power Rangers or anything like it. It stands out for a number of reasons. This show came out AFTER the Power Ranger craze. This show for the most part kept it's Japanese name. This show wasn't done my Saban or DiC like the others instead being done by the independent Company Adness Entertainment for CW's "CW4KIDS" programming block. I have yet to watch it, so I'm curious to how it turned out. But my friend Ash likes it, so I'll probably give it a watch. 2009 wasn't that long ago.
- Los Luchadores
I loved Wrestling as a kid, because of my heritage Lucha Libre was something I grew up watching. I loved Superheroes and I loved Power Rangers. Los Luchadores was a show about Luchadors by day, Superheroes also by day. They were Luchador Super Heroes. This in theory would have been the perfect show for me, right? Well, not quiet. It failed to capture what made Lucha Libre great, littered with stereotypes and sloppy writing made this show difficult to watch, even by kid standards. Why's this show on this list? Saban produced this and tried to piggy back off the success of Power Rangers. And that's it...
I probably missed some shows, and if I did please let me know in the comments down below so I can check them out. Did you watch any of these shows? Which was your favorite? Let me know, if you liked this video please do me a favor and give that like button a good 'ol falcon punch. And if this your first time watching my face, please subscribe. I'll be putting out more videos soon. Thanks for watching. DFTBA!
