Y'know what, let me just get it out of the way, right away. THE ORIGINAL POWER RANGERS SERIES (MIGHTY MORPHIN') IS OVERRATED DUE TO NOSTALGIA OF IT BEING THE FIRST SERIES!!!!! TOMMY IS OVERRATED!!! KIMBERLY IS OVERRATED!!!
There I said it. Now allow me to explain. We all started off with the original series, sure. And that causes nostalgia, which causes us to remember things more fondly than they were. And trust me, the original series was NOT as great as you remember it, and was certainly not the best series. No, while I only watched up to Galaxy (didn't actually watch that much of it), they all (with the exception of Turbo) were better in pretty much every way than Mighty Morphine (that's not a typo btw). Let's look at the typical episode of MMPR:
1. Rangers have some moral Lesson of the Week to learn that's set up.
2. Monster of the Week appears.
3. Rangers lose to MotW.
4. Rangers go on to learn their LotW.
5. Rangers fight MotW again, win.
6. MotW grows big, Rangers summon Megazords, win again.
7. Rangers reflect on LotW.
Yup, that was the vast majority of the episodes. Does that REALLY sound good? REALLY?!! I think not! Only on rare occassions (the famous Green Ranger Saga, rare parts that introduced new characters) did an actual plot appear, and those were the only parts actually worth watching. Of course, eventually an entirely new series came along (Power Rangers Zeo), which was basically the original series but with better production values, better plot (though not by too much), and most of all ACTUAL CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! Turbo came next, which was...eh... Then Space came, which is far and away the best of all I saw as it not only had everything the past series had but better, but an actual *GASP* CONTINUOUS PLOT AND VILLAINS THAT WEREN'T ALMOST COMPLETELY ONE-DIMENSIONAL!!!
Now let's get into the most famous Ranger of all...
Tommy Oliver, AKA Jason David Frank. Yes, he was the Ensemble Darkhorse of the series, going on to become more popular than all of the others. But why? Because he seemed 'edgier' than the others at first. And how could he not be? Remember in the very first episode when Zordan said to summon 5 "teenagers with attitude"? What happened to that? Because what we got were a bunch of yutzes who practically slept charity work. However, then they just started whoring him out, making him 'the cool one' that we're all supposed to like best. Admittedly this wasn't hard due to the after mentioned yutzes, however there were rangers that came after him that were infinitely cooler and more well-developed, such as Space's Andros, who on his FIRST episode infiltrated an meeting of all the villains from the previous seasons AND new villains, and after getting found out FIGHTS HIS WAY OUT, and the second Black Ranger/Zeo Green Ranger Adam Park, who is FUCKING VASH THE STAMPEDE!!!
And finally, the other most famous Ranger, though for a different reason...
Yes, Kimberly, AKA Amy Jo Johnson. Now why was she popular? Simple: She was the original hot one. And like with everything else here, nostalgia comes into play. Character-wise she was a putz just like all the original ones, but everyone only liked her cuz she was the hawt one. However, was she really any hotter than, say, some of the later females that no one remembers because they weren't in the original (and mostly terrible) series, such as...
Unfortunately, with the exception of the last one, it's hard to find quality pics of most. Anyway those are only some from what I watched! Yup, I think my work here is done now. (also, all of the above were in the Lost Galaxy series...I REALLY should have watched more of it >_<)
There I said it. Now allow me to explain. We all started off with the original series, sure. And that causes nostalgia, which causes us to remember things more fondly than they were. And trust me, the original series was NOT as great as you remember it, and was certainly not the best series. No, while I only watched up to Galaxy (didn't actually watch that much of it), they all (with the exception of Turbo) were better in pretty much every way than Mighty Morphine (that's not a typo btw). Let's look at the typical episode of MMPR:
1. Rangers have some moral Lesson of the Week to learn that's set up.
2. Monster of the Week appears.
3. Rangers lose to MotW.
4. Rangers go on to learn their LotW.
5. Rangers fight MotW again, win.
6. MotW grows big, Rangers summon Megazords, win again.
7. Rangers reflect on LotW.
Yup, that was the vast majority of the episodes. Does that REALLY sound good? REALLY?!! I think not! Only on rare occassions (the famous Green Ranger Saga, rare parts that introduced new characters) did an actual plot appear, and those were the only parts actually worth watching. Of course, eventually an entirely new series came along (Power Rangers Zeo), which was basically the original series but with better production values, better plot (though not by too much), and most of all ACTUAL CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! Turbo came next, which was...eh... Then Space came, which is far and away the best of all I saw as it not only had everything the past series had but better, but an actual *GASP* CONTINUOUS PLOT AND VILLAINS THAT WEREN'T ALMOST COMPLETELY ONE-DIMENSIONAL!!!
Now let's get into the most famous Ranger of all...
Tommy Oliver, AKA Jason David Frank. Yes, he was the Ensemble Darkhorse of the series, going on to become more popular than all of the others. But why? Because he seemed 'edgier' than the others at first. And how could he not be? Remember in the very first episode when Zordan said to summon 5 "teenagers with attitude"? What happened to that? Because what we got were a bunch of yutzes who practically slept charity work. However, then they just started whoring him out, making him 'the cool one' that we're all supposed to like best. Admittedly this wasn't hard due to the after mentioned yutzes, however there were rangers that came after him that were infinitely cooler and more well-developed, such as Space's Andros, who on his FIRST episode infiltrated an meeting of all the villains from the previous seasons AND new villains, and after getting found out FIGHTS HIS WAY OUT, and the second Black Ranger/Zeo Green Ranger Adam Park, who is FUCKING VASH THE STAMPEDE!!!
And finally, the other most famous Ranger, though for a different reason...
Yes, Kimberly, AKA Amy Jo Johnson. Now why was she popular? Simple: She was the original hot one. And like with everything else here, nostalgia comes into play. Character-wise she was a putz just like all the original ones, but everyone only liked her cuz she was the hawt one. However, was she really any hotter than, say, some of the later females that no one remembers because they weren't in the original (and mostly terrible) series, such as...
Unfortunately, with the exception of the last one, it's hard to find quality pics of most. Anyway those are only some from what I watched! Yup, I think my work here is done now. (also, all of the above were in the Lost Galaxy series...I REALLY should have watched more of it >_<)
