ARLEEN SORKIN DEAD AT 67

 

You can read the full story here.

She was not only inspired the creation of the character Harley Quinn, but also voiced her beginning with Batman: The Animated Series through various DC Comics-based shows and projects until 2012 when she retired from the role. She also voiced Veronica in an episode of Taz-Mania and wrote two episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures.

BOB BARKER DEAD AT 99

 

You can read the full story here.

Best known as the long-time host of The Price is Right who reminded everyone daily to have your pets spayed or neutered, he also appeared as himself on an episode of Bailey Kipper’s P.O.V. and as Bob Barnacle in an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.

POWER RANGERS OPERATION OVERDRIVE

 

POWER RANGERS OPERATION OVERDRIVE
(Toon Disney, February 26-November 12, 2007)
 
BVS Entertainment, Renaissance Atlantic Entertainment, Toei Company Ltd., Ranger Productions Ltd.

 

MAIN CAST:
James Beaufort (as James Maclurcan) – Red Overdrive Ranger/Mackenzie “Mack” Hartford
Samuell Benta – Black Overdrive Ranger/William “Will” Aston
Gareth Yuen – Blue Overdrive Ranger/Dax Lo
Caitlin Murphy – Yellow Overdrive Ranger/Veronica “Ronny” Robinson
Rhoda Montemayor – Pink Overdrive Ranger/Rose Ortiz
Dwayne Cameron – Mercury Ranger/Tyzonn
Rod Lousich – Andrew Hartford
David Weatherley – Spencer
Kelson Henderson – Norg, Mig
Gerald Urquhart – Flurious
Mark Ferguson – Moltor
Ria Vandervis – Miratrix
Adam Gardiner – Kamdor, Bombardo

 

 

Power Rangers Operation Overdrive is the 14^th incarnation of the Power Rangers franchise, the 5^th of the Disney-era, and the 15^th season overall. It utilized footage from Toei Company, Ltd.’s 30^th Super Sentai series, GoGo Sentai Boukenger. While Boukenger was the first entry to be filmed and aired in widescreen, Disney would crop all of that footage to fit the 4:3 television aspect ratio.

The Overdrive Rangers.

Two brothers, Flurious (Gerald Urquhart) and Moltor (Mark Ferguson), tried to steal the legendary crown, the Corona Aurora, but failed and were imprisoned. Its guardian, The Sentinel Knight (Nic Sampson), scattered the crown and its jewels around the Earth in the hopes to keep it safe. Unfortunately, explorer Andrew Hartford (Rod Lousich) discovered the crown and inadvertently freed Flurious and Moltor. Hartford decided to recruit four elite teenagers to become Power Rangers to keep the crown safe: Will Aston (Samuell Benta), Dax Lo (Gareth Yuen), Ronny Robinson (Caitlin Murphy) and Rose Ortiz (Rhoda Montemayor), as well as his own son, Mack (James Maclurcan), reluctantly. They would soon meet and be joined by an alien named Tyzonn, who would become the Mercury Ranger, and they would definitely need the help. Not only did they have to worry about Flurious and Moltor, but Miratix (Ria Vandervis), who wanted the crown to free her master, Kamdor (Adam Gardiner), and the Fearcats that Tyzonn was trying to keep from unleashing their full army from a mirror world.

The Retro Rangers, coming to lend a hand.

Power Rangers Operation Overdrive debuted on Toon Disney’s Jetix block on February 26, 2007, with reruns airing a week later on ABC as part of the ABC Kids programming block. The theme was composed by Transcenders featuring J7 D’Star. Story editor Jackie Marchand had said that the series was pitched as “Indiana Jones…a new exotic location every episode” to Disney who responded favorably, only to turn around and give them a small budget with a mandate to use more stock footage; making working on the show a challenge. Working titles for the series included Drive Force and Relic Hunters. As the 15^th anniversary of the franchise was approaching, producers decided to reward the fans with a two-part anniversary special, “Once A Ranger”, reuniting Rangers from each of the Disney-era shows and a popular Ranger from the 1990s. As a result, when Thrax (Glen Levy), the son of evil witch Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd, cut the Overdrive Rangers off from the Morphin Grid and therefore their powers, a team of “Retro Rangers” (a term officially used by the Power Rangers Action Card Game) was assembled by The Sentinel Knight; including Adam Park as Mighty Morphin Black (Johnny Yong Bosch), Tori Hanson as the Blue Wind Ranger (Sally Martin), Kira Ford as the Yellow Dino Ranger (Emma Lahana), Bridge Carson as the S.P.D. Red Ranger (Matt Austin), and Xander Bly as the Green Mystic Ranger (Ricardo Brancatisano). This marked the final unmorphed appearances of all but Adam, who would return in the 30^th anniversary special Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Always.

POWER RANGERS MYSTIC FORCE

 

POWER RANGERS MYSTIC FORCE
(Toon Disney, February 20-November 13, 2006)
 
BVS Entertainment, Renaissance Atlantic Entertainment, Toei Company Ltd., Ranger Productions Ltd.

 

MAIN CAST:
Firass Dirani – Red Mystic Ranger/Bowen/Nicolas “Nick” Russell
Angie Diaz – Pink Mystic Ranger/Vida “V” Rocca
Richard Brancatisano – Green Mystic Ranger/Xander Bly
Melanie Vallejo – Blue Mystic Ranger/Madison “Maddie” Rocca
Nic Sampson – Yellow Mystic Ranger/Charlie “Chip” Thorn
Peta Rutter – White Mystic Ranger/Udonna
Antonia Prebble – Clare Langtree, Niella
Barnie Duncan – Toby Slambrook, Piggy
Kelson Henderson – Phineas

  

Power Rangers Mystic Force is the 13^th incarnation of the Power Rangers franchise, the 4^th of the Disney-era, and the 14^th season overall. It utilized footage from Toei Company, Ltd.’s 29^th Super Sentai series, Maho Sentai Magiranger. This was the first time a Sentai filmed in New Zealand along with Power Rangers.

Leanbow and the wizards prepare to repel evil.

20 years ago, the Forces of Darkness came into power in a magic-filled dimension and began a war called The Great Battle between good and evil. The army of monsters were opposed by five wizards led by the most powerful of all, Leanbow (Chris Graham). He cast a spell to seal the dark forces off from the other realms and went to the other side himself to ensure it stayed closed. In the present, a massive earthquake struck the city of Briarwood and broke the seal, allowing evil to resume its invasion of Earth under the leadership of Octomus the Master (John Leigh), Supreme Master of the Underworld. Sorceress Udonna (Peta Rutter) gathered the warriors of legend to fight against them: Nick Russell (Firass Dirani), Xander Bly (Richard Brancatisano), Chip Thorn (Nic Sampson), and sisters Vida (Angie Diaz) and Maddie Rocca (Melanie Vallejo). Leanbow also returned as the evil Koragg until the power of good restored his original personality, turning him into the Wolf Warrior and ally of the Power Rangers. They were also aided by Daggeron (John Tui), who wielded the power of the sun as the Solaris Knight, and his feline genie, Jenji (Oliver Driver).

The Mystic Force Rangers with the Wolf Warrior and the Solaris Knight.

Power Rangers Mystic Force debuted on February 20, 2006 on Toon Disney’s Jetix block, with reruns later airing on ABC as part of the ABC Kids programming block. Jackie Marchand was finally made story-editor by producer Bruce Kalish; a position she’d hold until RPM. Ron Wasserman pitched both a rap and a rock theme for the series, but they were ultimately rejected and Disney went with Chaka Blackmon as its composer. Because S.P.D.’s finale cost so much, the production was under strict orders to use as much Sentai footage as possible with a slashed budget for new material; which meant no annual team-up episode was produced. That also had the unfortunate consequence of giving an excessive amount of focus to the Red Ranger over the others, which fans took issue with. Antonia Prebble, who previously played the Nova Ranger in S.P.D. and Krista in Dino Thunder, played the dual role of Clare, Udonna’s niece and apprentice, and her mother, Niella. Tui had also played Anubis Cruger in S.P.D., and Machiko Soga, best known as Rita Repulsa, was the Mystic Mother through posthumous use of footage from Magiranger.

POWER RANGERS S.P.D.

 

POWER RANGERS S.P.D.
(ABC Family, Toon Disney, February 5-November 14, 2005)
 
BVS Entertainment, Renaissance Atlantic Entertainment, Toei Company Ltd., Ranger Productions Ltd.

 

MAIN CAST:
Brandon Jay McLaren – S.P.D. Red Ranger/Jack Landors
Chris Violette – S.P.D. Blue Ranger/Schuyler “Sky” Tate
Matt Austin – S.P.D. Green Ranger/Bridge Carson
Monica May – S.P.D. Yellow Ranger/Elizabeth “Z” Delgado
Alycia Purrott – S.P.D. Pink Ranger/Sydney “Syd” Drew
John Tui – S.P.D. Shadow Ranger/Anubis “Doggie” Cruger, Sergeant Silverback
Brett Stewart – S.P.D. Omega Ranger/Sam (older)
Michelle Langstone – S.P.D. Kat Ranger/Dr. Katherine “Kat” Manx
Kelson Henderson – Boom
René Naufahu – Emperor Gruumm
Oliva James-Baird – Mora
Josephine Davison – Morgana
Barnie Duncan – Piggy
Jim McLarty – Broodwing (voice)
Derek Judge – Blue-Head Krybots (voice)
James Gaylyn (voice) – Orange-Head Krybots, Zeltrax

 

Power Rangers S.P.D. is the 12^th incarnation of the Power Rangers franchise, the 3^rd of the Disney-era, and the 13^th season overall. It utilized footage from Toei Company, Ltd.’s 27^th Super Sentai series, Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger. Where “S.P.D.” stood for “Special Police Dekaranger” in the Sentai, here it became “Space Patrol Delta”.

Newtech City in the year 2025.

In the year 2025, Earth had become part of a larger community when it welcomed alien beings to live peacefully with humans. However, there are always those out there looking to spoil the party. In this case, the planet-conquering Troobian Empire led by the evil Emperor Gruumm (René Naufahu). The only thing standing between them and Earth was the S.P.D.: an interplanetary law-enforcement agency that oversaw extraterrestrial immigrants on different planets and used advanced technology to maintain peace and order. And the elite members of Earth’s S.P.D. division were Power Rangers.

The S.P.D. A-Squad.

The best of the best were positioned on the A-Squad. These five Rangers possessed the ability to morph instantly without the use of a Morpher, had heavy armor that gave them greater endurance, and large armaments known as S.P.D. Enforcers. Their Zords were known as the Delta Runners: Red (Gina Varela) piloted the Delta Runner 1, a 6-wheeled police car; Blue (Taran Howell, voiced by Nick Kemplen) Delta Runner 2, a gyrocopter with laser barrels in its engines and a rescue cable; Green (Thomas Kiwi, voiced by Kemplen) Delta Runner 3, an 18-wheel mobile command center that contained the Megazord’s weapons; Yellow (Allan Smith, voiced by Greg Cooper) Delta Runner 4, an armored truck with blinding lights on the roof; and Pink (Motoko Nagino, voiced by Claire Dougan) Delta Runner 5, a small buggy whose sign was used to direct traffic and make judgements. The five Runners could combine to form the Delta Squad Megazord. The Megazord had the Delta Blaster and Delta Sword, and came equipped with a giant Delta Morpher-activated Judgement Scanner to determine the guilt or innocence of a subject. Detained prisoners were incarcerated inside a Containment Card.

S.P.D. B-Squad: Sky, Syd, Jack, Z and Bridge.

Unfortunately, the A-Squad seemed to have disappeared while on a mission, necessitating the activation of the B-Squad. The squad consisted of cadets with unique abilities of their own apart from their future Ranger powers. The initial members were Schuler “Sky” Tate (Chris Violette), who shared his parents’ abilities to generate energy shields that could be used defensively or offensively; Bridge Carson (Matt Austin), who possessed mental powers that allowed him to sense auras, limited telepathy, and some precognitive ability; and Sydney Drew (Alycia Purrott), who was able to take on the molecular structure of anything she touched. They would be joined by two thieves they were sent out to capture that also possessed abilities: Jack Landors (Brandon Jay McLaren), who could phase through solid objects, and Elizabeth “Z” Delgado (Monica May), who could create holographic duplicates of herself that could become solid if desired. An issue of contention on Sky’s part was that when they were given their Delta Morphers, he was Blue while Jack was Red. Sky not only felt he deserved Red because he was already an S.P.D. officer and Jack was a criminal, but because his father was once the Red Ranger. Additionally, Bridge was given Green, Syd became Pink, and Z was Yellow. Together they protected Newtech City and, ultimately, the world.

The Delta Squad Megazord.

Among their standard equipment were the Deltamax Strikers, highly versatile weapons for long and short range attacks; the Delta Cruiser, a standard patrol jeep; the Delta Patrol Cycles used by Red, Blue and Green that were both very fast and armed with lasers; the Delta ATV, used by Cruger and equipped with powerful blasters; and the S.W.A.T. Truck, a powerful armored vehicle. There was also the Robotic Interactive Canine, or R.I.C.: a robot dog that could become a powerful cannon that could take down or imprison criminals instantly, and was later upgraded to interact with Jack’s Battlizer mode. They would also gain a second set of Zords called the S.W.A.T. Flyers.  Classified by a number designation, 1 was Jack’s and the fastest of the group; 2 was Sky’s, which had hovering capabilities, high stability, and wingtip-mounted blasters; 3 was Bridge’s, best suited for conveying dangerous goods; 4 was Z’s, which had stealth capabilities, flares and tear-gas; and 5 was Syd’s, equipped with a massive speaker system for warning transmission and had fire suppression abilities. They could combine into either the S.W.A.T. Megazord, or the S.W.A.T. Flyer Cannon that could target enemy aliens within their own Zords or who have been made gigantic. In times of extreme emergency, there was yet another Megazord: the Delta Command Megazord, whereby Delta Base could be transformed after its occupants were removed or safely in lockdown. It could be piloted by a single Ranger or an entire team, and fired lasers from its fingers, Super Crime Scene Tape, and photon beams from its knees. It could also use the S.W.A.T. Megazord as a weapon. Delta Base also had another mode, the Delta Command Crawler, where it became a globe-traversing transport with two powerful photon beams and the ability to carry all of the Zords.

Anubis Cruger.

Their commanding officer was Anubis “Doggie” Cruger (John Tui), a dog-like humanoid member of the Sirian race; which were wiped out by Gruumm. He was tough but fair, completely dedicated to his job and expecting no less from his recruits. His best friend at Delta Base was Dr. Katherine “Kat” Manx (Michelle Langstone), a humanoid feline that was the head of R&D, the Rangers’ technical support, and the designer of most of their weapons. Both of their homeworlds were attacked by the Troobian Empire, and circumstances led to Kat developing Morphers for them to become extra Rangers: turning Cruger into the Shadow Ranger and her into the Kat Ranger. She also designed the special S.W.A.T. Mode for the B-Squad Morphers that granted them armor and weaponry similar to A-Squad’s—assuming they could learn to work together.

Kat in her lab.

Other characters included Boom (Kelson Anderson), a former cadet who flunked out of the Academy after only a few days, worked as Kat’s assistant and Chief Gadget Tester, and dreamt of being a Ranger himself (orange was his color of choice); Piggy (Barnie Duncan), an alien that served as an informant for both the S.P.D. and Gruumm; Isinia Cruger (Tandi Wright), Anubis’ wife who was believed dead like the rest of their species; Supreme Commander Fowler Birdie (Paul Norell), Anubis’ superior who looked down on the B-Sqaud and often gave them orders that unintentionally served as a detriment to their effectiveness and safety; Sergeant Silverback (Tui), a S.P.D. drill sergeant tasked with turning the B-Squad into an actual team; Series One Processor Hyper Intelligence Encryptor, or S.O.P.H.I.E. (Natacha Hutchison), a cyborg computer programmer who became a programmer for the Theta Quadrant after the Rangers initially got her expelled from the Academy after learning her secret origins (cyborgs were prejudiced against); and Ally Samuels (Beth Allen), owner of a clothing store that helped the less fortunate who became romantically involved with Jack.

The Omega Ranger makes the scene.

The Rangers would gain a more frequent 6^th member from the most unlikely place: the future. The Rangers actually met him in the present first, as a young boy named Sam (Aaron James Murphy). Like them, he had the special ability to teleport objects and was ostracized for it. This let him be easily manipulated into helping Gruumm’s schemes until Z turned him around. In the dystopian year 2040, Sam became the Omega Ranger (Brett Stewart) and came back in time to help prevent the B-Squad’s inevitable loss against the Troobians. The trip, however, had its cost: not only couldn’t Sam return back to his own time, it also denied him of his human form; leaving him either permanently a Ranger or an orb of energy. However, he did come with his own futuristic gear including the Uniforce Cycle and a motorcycle-like Zord called the Omegamax Cycle, which could transform into its own Megazord, combine with the Delta Squad Megazord to become the Delta Max Megazord, or be ridden by the Delta Squad Megazord. Sam’s Omega Morpher also allowed him access a variety of abilities, such as electricity projection, a powerful charged-up energy blast, strength enhancement, time manipulation, increase all of his physical stats, and had a Judgement Scanner.

Gruumm and Morgana.

Gruumm led his Troobian army on a conquest of the universe, launching full-scale assaults against planets to take their resources. Alone he was formidable enough, having the ability to shape-shift, mental powers, lightning blasts, and a genius mind. His Axe Staff was capable of firing energy of its own and allowing him to teleport through explosions. The Troobian army was largely comprised of three types of robotic drones known as Krybots: the Whites, which were the primary ground forces; the Blue-Heads, which were stronger and smarter than the Whites and served as Gruumm’s personal guards; and the Orange-Heads, which were the most powerful and led on the battlefield. His general was Mora (Olivia James-Baird), a powerful warrior found and brainwashed into servitude, and later turned into the adult Morgana (Josephine Davison) as punishment for a failure (which she hated and wanted to win back her youth). Along with the ability to teleport and a powerful battlesuit, she was able to bring to life monsters she drew. She often served as the snarky voice of reason to Gruumm, providing him with excellent battle strategies that often failed due to his own blundering. The primary weapons dealer for the Troobians was Broodwing (Jim McLarty); a three-eyed vampire bat-like alien whose suit provided an artificial environment for him to survive in. Along with flight and energy blasts, he could control a rare race of bats whose bite could turn someone into a giant. When Broodwing’s weaponry proved repeatedly unable to defeat the Rangers, Gruumm refused to keep paying him; prompting Broodwing to set sights on conquering Earth himself and defeating both the Rangers and Gruumm.

Omni, the real brains (pun intended) behind everything.

While it initially appeared as if Gruumm was talking to himself in his base, in actuality he was talking to his boss: Omni (Geoff Dolan). Omni was essentially a giant brain with a single eye on a tentacle. He was heartless and hateful, though also calm and emotionless, and possessed psychic abilities; primarily, the ability to brainwash others by spraying a purple powder on them. Gruumm eventually used the countless resources he stole to create a colossal biomechanical body for Omni that turned him into The Magnificence and gave him incredibly destructive powers.

Battle of the Yellows: A-Squad gives B-Squad a toss before blasting.

But wait, there’s more! Remember the A-Squad our heroes were replacing? It turned out that they hadn’t disappeared, but in fact turned traitor and joined Gruumm’s forces to be on “the winning side”. They used this hidden fact to their advantage in order to infiltrate and disable S.P.D. from the inside upon their return. They also used the Delta Squad Megazord to destroy the Omegamax Megazord. Broodwing would eventually supply them with a Megazord of his own design as part of his schemes.

The full S.P.D. Ranger crew, including the Shadow and Kat Rangers.

Power Rangers S.P.D. debuted on Feburary 5, 2005 on ABC Family (now Freeform) where it ran for the first 25 episodes and the 35^th, with the remainder airing on Toon Disney’s Jetix programming block and reruns starting shortly after on ABC as part of the ABC Kids programming block. In 2011, a Japanese dub would air on Toei’s digital television channel with the Dekaranger cast providing the dubs. As primary producers and writers Doug Sloan and Ann Austen had left the franchise, Greg Aronowitz and Bruce Kalish took the reins seemingly for the better. Fans praised the series for easily being one of the most ambitious versions of Power Rangers yet. The cast was notably particularly strong and portrayed their characters well, earning them praise as one of the best in the franchise’s history. This was aided by the fact that every Ranger had an entire episode dedicated to fleshing them out and expanding on their character development early on. Communication with the fans was expanded with the production crew actively engaging them on websites like Rangerboard. The series was written by Kalish and Aronowitz, along with Jackie Marchand, John Tellegen, Mark Hoffmeier, David Garber, Matt Hawkins, Jesse Horsting and Stan Berkowitz, with costumes designed by Gavin McLean and music composed by Bruce Lynch. Ron Wasserman provided the theme song. Because in Dekaranger all of the weaponry featured shot actual bullets, laser beams were digitally added to any Sentai footage with weapon use, and shots of the Rangers pointing to the screen with bullet holes appearing were replaced with ones at a different angle and the bullets removed.

Sky finally becomes the Red Ranger.

S.P.D. marked a number of firsts for the franchise: the first time the Pink Ranger had no skirt on her uniform; the first time that a female Yellow Ranger had no skirt and a female Sentai counterpart; the first to have an episode take place in Super Sentai’s home country of Japan; the first to not only have a teammate use another active one’s powers (Jack loaned Sky his), but to have members promoted to new colors (Jack retired leading to Sky becoming Red and Bridge moving up to Blue); the first to have an exclusive team of American Rangers (the A-Squad), as well as the first female Red Ranger (which the producers had to fight Disney to have); the first where the final battles didn’t just include monsters that grew, but also monsters that retreated to their own giant Zord-like robots;  and the first whose episode titles consisted of only one word (an in-joke to one of Kalish’s previous series, Black Hole High).

Blast from the past as the Dino Rangers meet the S.P.D. Rangers.

There were two crossover episodes with the cast of Dino Thunder. The first, “History”, had Broodwing bring the Red (James Napier), Blue (Kevin Duhaney) and Yellow (Emma Lahana) Dino Rangers to the future to help destroy the world. However, they escaped and joined with the S.P.D. Rangers to defeat Gruumm. Originally, the plan was for Broodwing to use the Dino Gems to create clones of the Dino Rangers, but Aronowitz said during RangerStop 2015 that Disney pushed for the time travel angle so that audiences wouldn’t be confused about if they were the actual Dino Rangers. “Wormhole” saw the reverse as Gruumm would retreat into the past to conquer Earth in a less advanced time. Jack, Bridge and Z followed and teamed up with the full Dino Rangers team—including the White (Jeffrey Parazzo) and Black (voiced by Parazzo) Dino Rangers—to fight against him and the cyborg Zeltrax (Gaylyn). Ultimately, Gruumm decided to return to his own time to avoid the hassle of having to reconquer all the worlds he already had. Cruger would wipe both Rangers teams’ memories of the event to prevent any damage to the timestream. “Wormhole” would be the last team-up episode to feature two complete teams of core and 6^th Rangers until Power Rangers Beast Morphers. Future team-up episodes would feature only a single veteran Ranger or a makeshift team comprised of veteran Rangers from multiple shows (with the exception of Super Megaforce, which featured all of the veteran Rangers up to that point).

The Magnificence lands in the city.

Unfortunately, any praise garnered for S.P.D. was quickly dashed as it progressed. There were a number of obvious filler episodes designed towards pushing the series towards its conclusion that were directly adapted from Dekaranger. Kalish would defend the use of Sentai material in an interview saying they were “paid to translate, not tell original stories.” Interactions with the cast and crew would also minimize as time went on as the amount of vitriol, derogatory criticism and crass jokes began to rise. Additional criticism was levied over the production’s refusal to pay Jason David Frank to reprise his role of the Black Dino Ranger in “Wormhole”. And the ambitiousness of the series became too much for Disney’s liking, as the CGI-heavy finale ended up costing a significant amount of the budget. Disney would make up for this by significantly slashing the budget of the next installments and mandating they use as much Sentai footage as possible.

Bridge moving up in the ranks.

While the S.P.D. Rangers would appear in future installments, only Austin would reprise his role in Operation Overdrive as the newly-promoted S.P.D. Red Ranger from the year 2027. McLaren was initially asked to reprise his role despite his character’s retirement, but as he and Lahana had once dated and subsequently broken up, and as she was participating in the crossover as well, he declined. Violette was also unavailable, resulting in Bridge’s promotion to Red Ranger.

S.P.D. in Power Rangers Annual.

Jetix Magazine in the UK ran a new strip based on S.P.D., the first to be written by long-time Transformers writer Simon Furman. He was joined on art by fellow Transformers veteran Andrew Wildman, who had already been doing Rangers strips when the magazine was known as Fox Kids Wickid. The strip had its own running subplot about a Krybot that became self-aware and actively worked against Gruumm and aided the S.P.D. Rangers with a device that would take out the Krybot fleet. The strip also ended with its own finale to the S.P.D. series, the first time one had done one of its own that differed from the actual series. The strip saw A-Squad brainwashed instead of corrupted, and the B-Squad had to deal with them, Gruumm and Omni before being promoted to A-Squad status. In 2017, the S.P.D. Rangers returned to comics in BOOM! Studios’ graphic novel Soul of the Dragon, which was written by Kyle Higgins along with Frank. It established that Tommy Oliver’s son J.J. was the new S.P.D. Green Ranger, Sky’s promotion to Commander of the Earth S.P.D. base and becoming the Deka Ranger, and Cruger’s promotion to Supreme Commander following Birdie’s retirement. They also appeared during the “Shattered Grid” crossover event, with a story centered on them in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 2018 Annual. The B-Squad Green Ranger would also appear in 2022's Power Rangers Universe #3.

  As with other entries in the franchise, Bandai produced a line of merchandise for the series ranging from action figures to role-play items. A toy-exclusive was the Blast Runner Zord: a small all-terrain vehicle with cannons that could become a blast shield for the Delta Squad Megazord. While it never appeared in S.P.D., it was featured in Dekaranger from whose toyline it was pulled from. When Hasbro took up the license in 2019, they released A-Squad, Shadow, Omega and most of B-Squad as part of their Lightning Collection, with B-Squad Yellow releasing as a GameStop exclusive.

 A video game for the Game Boy Advance was developed by Natsume and published by THQ (for the final time in the franchise) in 2006. It was a side-scrolling beat ‘em up where the player could use each Ranger in turn. While each Ranger played similarly, they had some different capabilities; such as Blue and Green being able to double-jump while Red had to wall-kick to reach higher areas. They each had a unique special ability based on their respective powers (although breaking with canon by using them in Ranger form): Red could phase through enemies and obstacles; Blue could create force fields; Green could track energy signatures to find missing objects; Yellow could create three duplicates of herself; Pink could turn her hand into iron to increase her attack power or punch through obstacles; and Shadow could create an energy blade that would hit several foes at once. The action was broken up with a level featuring a Missile Command-like game with the Green Delta Runner, racing levels with the Red, Yellow and Pink Delta Runners and the R.I.C., and Megazord battle levels. In 2007, Disney Interactive Studio released side-scrolling beat ‘em up Power Rangers: Super Legends for PlayStation 2, PC and Nintendo DS. The console version featured the return of Lord Zedd (Steve Blum) who recruited foes from different eras to battle the Rangers. The future Omega Ranger (Yuri Lowenthal) recruited his own through the Hall of Legends, the repository for Ranger history, which included S.P.D. members Omega, Shadow (Darryl Kurylo), Red and Orange. The DS version featured Gruumm leading the collection of foes, and had Omega, Red and Orange joined by the Blue Ranger. nWay Games’ trilogy of Power Rangers games involved members of S.P.D. 2017’s Power Rangers Legacy Wars mobile game had Red, Blue, Omega, Shadow and Kat, the Delta Squad Megazord, and Gruumm’s spaceship as a league base, while 2019’s Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid featured Kat (Melissa Flores) and Anubis (Kyle Hebert) as playable characters, as well as the Delta Squad Megazord. Power Rangers Morphin Legends, a mobile game soft-launched in 2022 before ultimately being cancelled in 2023, had Bridge and Charlie as playable characters.

The complete series DVD.

 Buena Vista Home Entertainment released the first 25 episodes and episode 35 across five DVD volumes, as well as three VHS collections containing five episodes each. They also released the complete series internationally in 2008. In 2013, the complete series was released by Shout! Factory as part of the season 13-17 box set, the 20-season Power Rangers Legacy Mighty Morphin Red Ranger helmet set, and then individually in 2017. For a time, the series was available to stream on Netflix and was purchasable on Prime Video. The entire series has been made available to stream on Power Rangers’ official YouTube channel.

 

 

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Beginnings, Part 1” (2/5/05) – Three experienced members of the B-Squad get promoted to Power Rangers when they’re tasked with apprehending two powered criminals.

 

“Beginnings, Part 2” (2/5/05) – The criminals are recruited as Power Rangers to help stop the evil Emperor Gruumm from opening a portal to invade Earth.

 

“Confronted” (2/15/05) – While the B-Squad must step up to cover for the disappeared A-Squad, Jack finds himself abusing the benefits of being a Red Ranger.

 

“Walls” (2/19/05) – Sky is upset over not being the Red Ranger to the point he skips group activities, especially when Jack and Bridge are given new Patrol Cycles.

 

“Dogged” (2/26/05) – Syd is disappointed to be partnered with the buggy R.I.C. while investigating several disappearances.

 

“A-Bridged” (3/5/05) – The Rangers believe they have their intergalactic bank robbing suspect, but Bridge remains unconvinced and launches his own investigation.

 

“Sam, Part 1” (3/12/05) – Tease for his teleportation abilities, young Sam joins Mora to help her creation Bugglesworth turn the citizenry into dolls.

 

“Sam, Part 2” (3/19/05) – Cruger reveals the origins of powered individuals and their connection to S.P.D. as Z is able to finally befriends Sam and turn him against Bugglesworth.

 

“Idol” (4/2/05) – Sky’s old friend returns to the academy, but it turns out he has begun to work for Broodwing.

 

“Stakeout” (4/9/05) – Syd is disappointed she has to work on her birthday when she’s pulled into a stakeout with Jack to watch an escaped villain’s partner.

 

“Shadow, Part 1” (4/16/05) – General Benaag returns and challenges Cruger to battle, but his refusal leads to Kat being kidnapped by Krybots and confronted by Benaag.

 

“Shadow, Part 2” (4/23/05) – While the Rangers deal with energy spikes Gruumm placed around the city, Cruger becomes the Shadow Ranger to rescue Kat and defeat Benaag.

 

“Abandoned” (4/30/05) – Taking the Shadow Ranger for granted, Cruger decides to teach B-Squad a lesson by leaving them on their own to face Drakel.

 

“Wired, Part 1” (5/7/05) – A standout D-Squad cadet takes matters into her own hands when Kat needs to decrypt a new sequence for Delta Base’s Defense System.

 

“Wired, Part 2” (5/14/05) – The Rangers hastily expel S.O.P.H.I.E. believing her to be dangerous, causing her to fall into Valko’s hands and allowing him to take control of giant robot Goradon.

 

“Boom” (5/21/05) – Syd and Bridge help Boom sell the lies he told his parents about his position when they come to visit, while Jack and Sky hunt the dimension-hopping General Tomars.

 

“Recognition” (6/4/05) – The Rangers apprehend Wootox but he manages to escape by switching bodies with Sky.

 

“Samurai” (6/11/05) – An ancient Japanese alien samurai named Katana is brought to the present by Gruumm and is convinced by Broodwing that the Rangers are the true bad guys.

 

“Dismissed” (6/18/05) – Commander Birdie decides to implement his own methods onto the Rangers and takes command of Delta Base from Cruger.

 

“Perspective” (6/25/05) – The Rangers all have a different account of stopping the World Gold Depository heist that makes each one out to be the best.

 

“Messenger, Part 1” (7/10/05) – Boom’s radio signal grabber appears to receive a message from the future telling of the Rangers’ defeat by the Troobian army.

 

“Messenger, Part 2” (7/16/05) – The Rangers are saved from the brink of defeat by the mysterious Omega Ranger from the future.

 

“Zapped” (7/25/05) – Syd is placed under a spell when she applies to be a magician’s assistant, and Sam is sent to spy on his magic show.

 

“Reflection, Part 1” (8/12/05) – The Rangers’ day off is interrupted when New Tech City is attacked by criminals they’ve already locked up.

 

“Reflection, Part 2” (8/12/05) – Gruumm uses Mirloc to capture the Rangers, and after Sam manages to free them Jack lends Sky his morpher to get some personal revenge on Mirloc.

 

“S.W.A.T., Part 1” (8/15/05) – Tensions mount as a threat is on the rise and the Rangers constantly bicker, causing Cruger to send them to Planet Zentor to be trained by Sergeant Silverback.

 

“S.W.A.T., Part 2” (8/22/05) – The Rangers end up demoted to D-Squad and on the verge of expulsion while Sam and Cruger end up captured trying to reclaim stolen S.P.D. tech.

 

“Robotpalooza” (8/29/05) – The Rangers find themselves besieged by robots while Bridge has dreams of fighting other robots on another world.

 

“Katastrophe” (9/26/05) – Kat decides to take a new position with S.P.D. Galaxy Command, but in her absence the Rangers’ equipment suffers and the team finds themselves in trouble.

 

“Missing” (10/3/05) – The Rangers must find where Bridge is being held captive before he’s crushed by the closing walls of his cell.

 

“History” (10/11/05) – Broodwing brings the Red, Yellow and Blue Dino Rangers to the future as part of his plans, but they end up teaming-up with B-Squad instead.

 

“Impact” (9/23/05) – Professor Cerebros sends a meteor towards New Tech City, and Jack crashes Sky’s mission to stop it.

 

“Badge” (10/17/05) – Cruger’s academy rival returns and slowly dismantles his Rangers team.

 

“Insomnia” (10/28/05) – Overhearing Cruger and Kat discussing how the A-Squad would have beaten Gruumm already, B-Squad goes over their past failures and try to deduce Gruumm’s plans.

 

“Wormhole” (7/30/05 CAN, 2/2/06 US) – The Rangers follow Gruumm to the year 2004 where they team up with the Dino Rangers to take on him and Zeltrax.

 

“Resurrection” (11/4/05) – Jack’s new relationship interferes with his Ranger duties while a distress call leads the Rangers to discover the missing A-Squad.

 

“Endings, Part 1” (11/7/05) – B-Squad battles A-Squad while Broodwing gathers his army to attack the defenseless base.

 

“Endings, Part 2” (11/14/05) – Omni becomes the Magnificence and takes on the S.W.A.T. Megazord while the Nova Ranger and troops from S.P.D. Command arrive to help.