Beetleborgs Third Season... Or Third Toy Line??

I can't believe I didn't do a post on this or even noticed. I think I saw the pictures once but didn't pay it mind because it looked the same as before. I'm talking about the toy line that came after Beetleborgs Metallix (the second season) which was called Beetleborgs Force. The reason there was no third season despite its popularity was because there was no third series for B-Fighters, they stopped making the series in Toei. Well, there was a sequel of sorts (B-Robo Kabutack) but it was more for smaller kids and wasn't the same so Saban opted not to use it. The two teams did appear in a Christmas special for B-Robo Kabutack but it might had been hard to explain the appearance of Kabutack and the existence of two teams. It is rumored that there was a third season planned without footage but instead Mystic Knights was created (which also was rumored to have a second season called Battle Thunder but the budget was opted to be used for Lost Galaxy).

Some of these pics are from Ranger Central Unlimited, I didn't know these pics existed because my site partner Mike put them up and didn't, I didn't realize the different logo. This toy line came out in the fall of 1998 even though the series stopped new episodes in the Spring of 1998. Reruns did air on UPN from Fall of 1998 to Spring of 1999.

This 'Force' line had both teams, here is just three pictures. So I think the third season wouldn't had been called 'Force.'

These two deluxe figures were based on Jansperson, a Metal Hero from 1993. He was just one hero, and not a team.

Bandai and Plex could had easily designed new suits but I guess Saban didn't think it was worth his trouble and money. The series itself was jam-packed with so much stuff like the Hillhurst monsters and the comic book store and the kids special powers, that they didn't have to do a lot of battle footage. And since they used a lot of Beetleborg monsters for Power Rangers and Mystic Knights, I'm sure they could had reused them again. They could had easily done episodes without battle scenes and concentrated more on the monsters. The road that lead to the Beetlborgs becoming Metallix took five episodes! Plus, the Mega Spectra Sector Cycles and Mega Spectra Armor were American, so they could had kept using those suits and could had brought back the White Blaster Beetleborg. Oh well, I should stop dwelling in the past.

Power Rangers: Almost Canceled?

The following are speculations and rumors and nothing confirmed, the only one that was for sure was that Disney was quitting on Power Rangers by 2010. These are rumored instances of when Power Rangers was 'almost canceled.'

By Season 3, Power Rangers' ratings started to decline but Toy sales remained high enough to make the show profitable to all the companies involved. It was said that Big Bad Bettleborgs beat PR in the ratings for a short time. They then decided to change the name, suits, everything except most of the cast for Zeo and ratings were better.

The first half of Turbo had low ratings and sequel got mixed reviews and not a whole lot of profit, leading the crew to think their time was almost up. But the second half of Turbo had better ratings and led them to do In Space. They got Judd Lynn to lead the way for the second half, old plots were abandoned (like Divatox/Dimitria), no more Lerigot, and 4 new castmembers. I don't know if Fox Kids threatened them to cancel them or not.

A lot of evidence leads fans believe the crew thought Power Rangers in Space was the final season was because of the bringing together of old villains, the search of Zordon and of course the finale--that brought together Blue Senturion, Phantom Ranger, Gold Ranger and the Aquitar Rangers and the destruction of all known villains. But because of high ratings, the crew was led to make another season. I think by this season, they were expecting to just close up shop and wasn't threatened to be cancelled. Bandai did help with the budget for the Battlizer and continued to do so.

Lost Galaxy was also thought to be the last season, Saban was only producing Mystic Knights. Mystic Knights, the first live-action Saban did that had no existing Japanese Tokusatsu footage was to have a second season but they opted not to do it and all the budget was allocated to the second part of Lost Galaxy. Ratings were passable for Lost Galaxy so they continued. They had a lot of budget for Lightspeed, ratings were great for Lightspeed and Time Force. To give you an idea of the budgets, I made the chart above. 1995-1996 was the only time they had 3 shows filming at the same time: Season 3 of MMPR, VR Troopers Season 2, and Masked Rider. While Turbo, Space and Lost Galaxy ran in the course of one year and not between two years, Beetleborgs and Mystic Knights ran between two years, from September to Spring. Also, Beetleborg monsters were used for seasons of Power Rangers starting with 'In Space' and also Mystic Knights.

Rumor is that Jungle Fury was going to be the last season because it was the last one Disney really promoted and it was the last one to air on Toon Disney. When Toon Disney became Disney XD, Power Rangers was knocked out and new episodes only aired on ABC. RPM got no promotional photos like past Disney seasons, almost no promotion, very little merchandise (save for the toys) and it was rumored that the only reason they did RPM was because Bandai released the toys. Judd Lynn swears Disney did care about PR during RPM, I believe at least at a production standpoint. Even though not officially 'canceled' since MMPR reversion aired in 2010, production did stop in New Zealand and Disney was in conversations to sell it back to Saban. It is rumored Bandai helped with the budget, not for new Rangers or Battlizers, just for budget all together. So Power Rangers was never officially canceled but ratings did get low and there was rumors of it being 'the end.' The closest thing to being 'canceled' was the 5 months between the reversion being off the air (in September) to when Power Rangers Samurai premiered in February.

Henshin0's feelings over PR streaming on Netflix

When I read the article about Netflix streaming this "tomorrow" (today by now), you couldn't believe my ecstasy. This is one time where being an insomniac is a good thing, because lying on your bed, you start to realize, "Wait, it's midnight.....POWER RANGERS ARE STREAMING ON NETFLIX NOW!" And I got a first look, and it rocked my world. First of all, the graphics of older footage has slightly improved (the way you think MMPR revisioned would have, before you actually saw it), and at the end of the episodes of all of the shows, even the Disney seasons, they use the new Saban logo, like the one they use at the end of "Samurai". Since I didn't sleep at night, I spent the whole night watching "Zeo", and thanks to the digital remastery, I noticed things I didn't notice before even when they aired it on Jetix.

First, in the zord garage, you can see the initials "U.A.O.H." from Zeo's Japanese counter-part, "Ohranger". Also, in the power chamber, where they have capsules containing the MMPR suits, Yellow ranger's suit (are you ready for this) has a skirt. What ironic timing to notice it, when gokaiger is airing in Japan. I also noticed a few less impressive things like the rangers wearing turtle-necks......a lot, and subtext about David Yost, but that's not important. Who knows what other things I will just start to notice in other old season, but whats really cool, is the fact that it's on netfix, means that via desktop, laptop, TV internet, and iPhone, I can literally spend the whole day watching non-stop Power Rangers. Although, there are a few things you should know. First, they're not streaming Mystic Knights, or Masked rider, and second, MMPR-R is considered S-19 on Netflix, not S-18, while "Samurai" is considered 18, but isn't on netflix at all, even though the cast list is on the site.

THANK YOU SABAN FOR POTENTIALLY MAKING ME COMPLETELY ANTI-SOCIAL BY HAVING ME RELIVE MY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES ABOUT OVERGROWN TEENAGERS IN SPANDEX.......and body armor......and whatever Dr. K. said her RPM suits were made of.

VR Troopers, Beetleborgs and Power Rangers Seasons Avaliable for Streaming on Netflix Tomorrow!

A few weeks ago, it was big news as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers movie was avaliable for streaming on Netflix. But now actual TV episodes of other Tokusatsu made by Saban in the 90's. Right now it says they are 'Unavaliable' but they will be ready for streaming from 6/15/11

http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/V.R._Troopers_Season_1/70183166?trkid=2361637#height69
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/V.R._Troopers_Season_2/70183220?trkid=2361637#height69


Big Bad Beetleborgs:
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Big_Bad_Beetleborgs_Season_2/70184011?trkid=2361637#height69
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Big_Bad_Beetleborgs_Season_1/70183957?trkid=2361637#height69
They had the Season 2 suits on the Season 1 cover and the Season 1 suits for Season 2 cover.









http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Mighty_Morphin_Power_Rangers/70184128?trkid=2361637#height69
Also including the 'Disney Era' seasons. All seasons on one page. Even the MMPR reversion!!! It's counted as 'Special 19' and it even has the Samurai cast as the cast.

Big Bad Beetleborg Gallery