Ecto Phase Activate! It’s time for a brand new episode of everyone’s* favorite podcast, Remember That Show?, and Adam and I have got something special for ya this time around. I’m gonna have to be honest with ya, though: I wasn’t as excited to cover this show as one might have assumed. Sure, it’s “Power Rangers Adjacent”, and I do love me some Power Rangers, but I’m also kind of afraid of the online Power Rangers fanbase. Those *censored* can be CRAZY! And I just know I’m gonna say something wrong, which could end up on a livestream attended by some New Zealand actor who happened to be a Power Ranger for nine months back in 2006. The stakes are too high!
Anyway, we’re discussing Saban’s Masked Rider, which was originally a spinoff of Haim Saban’s MEGA successful Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Following the same formula as Power Rangers, Saban got Japanese fight footage from Toei Company, Ltd, from the 1988 tokusatsu (that’s basically Japanese for “They fight big rubber monsters”) series Kamen Rider Black RX, and then hired American actors to complement that footage. Where as the Power Rangers were Earth humans, chosen to wield the powers of dinosaur spirits to protect their planet, Masked Rider, instead, focused on an alien sent to Earth. T.J. Roberts (Adam LOVES T.J. Roberts!) stars as “Dex”, the prince of the distant planet Edenoi, and he’s introduced in a backdoor pilot that serves as the third season premiere of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Titled “A Friend In Need”, the story sees the Rangers (sans Kimberly) travel to Edenoi, where they meet Dex, and also find out that he created their friend Alpha 5. Dex’s uncle, the evil Count Dregon, is bent on world domination, blah, blah, and the Rangers help Dex – who has inherited his family’s superhero “bug” powers to become Masked Rider – vanquish Dregon. At the end of the story, though, we find out they simply “poked the bear”, as Dregon makes Earth his next target.
Saban’s Masked Rider would debut 2 weeks later, and pretty much sever all ties to Power Rangers. Dex arrives on Earth, and is taken in by a family that appears to have been put together by The United Colors of Benetton. Each episode follows Dex as he thwarts his uncle’s plans, gaining new powers along the way. While the show debuted on Fox Kids, only 27 of its 40-episode order would actually air on Fox. The remaining 13 would debut when the show went into syndication, which happened to be when I caught it.
While this era was PEAK Power Rangers, I couldn’t be bothered with Masked Rider. I felt like I had already been burned by Saban’s VR Troopers, which was way more grimdark than it needed to be. In what felt like a move to “course correct”, Masked Rider was much lighter in tone, but that made it almost too goofy. I just couldn’t really get sucked into it. It was never destination television on Saturday morning for me, as I was pretty much a TNBC addict by then, but it was adequate enough for watching weekday mornings as I got dressed for school. So, it was interesting to look back, and see if I had been right in my assessment, or if I had maybe missed out on a true gem. As always, you can listen to the episode here, or find it on your favorite pod catcher!
*”Everyone” = 37 listeners