(0:36-end mark from the theme from the final season of American Gladiators original run play the camera moves back to see James on top of the slab with the words “The Last Of The Americans” on it before cutting to James physically as most of his team is behind him working around him)
TLOTA: I'm James Faraci The Last Of The Americans
John Santos: Hey Eric could you grab the end of this measuring tape?
Eric Kurtzke: Sure thing
TLOTA: and the views...
Paulo Fonseca: You know it'll be so much better after we're done
Mike Santos: Oh hell yeah buddy
TLOTA: That I'm about to express...
Rebecca Fonseca: Renee pass me those paint samples?
Renee Miller: You got it.
TLOTA: Are that of my own and some of yours. Excuse me. Uh guys? What are you doing?
Paulo: Well James after this Top ten list is posted, you're history.
TLOTA: Why?
Eric Kurtzke: SF Debris can ride the worst Star Trek has to offer because he knows what Star Trek stands for. The Nostalgia Critic can defend the animated "Avatar: The Last Airbender" series but can also demolish Shyamalan's pile of dog puke calling itself "The Last Airbender"
TLOTA: Eric, last year The Nostalgia Critic talked about the Top 11 episodes he thought were the worst and then the Top Eleven that he thought were the best of "Avatar: The Last Airbender". Besides it would be dishonest of me as a fan not to acknowledge the worst and the best of Power Rangers. (Cut to clips of Power Rangers while James does a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): Yes, I'll be the first to admit it, as much as Power Rangers is a part of my life, however there are a few seasons that were less than Morphinominal and we're gonna look at the seasons where you hoped the bad guys won against the Rangers.(Cut to James physically)
TLOTA: One phrase you'll hear me say throughout some of these seasons except for the Number one season is the following "It's not a bad season. I just didn't like it." in different variations. With that said, let's count down the Top Ten WORST seasons of Power Rangers.
(Cut to clips of seasons of Power Rangers with the sounds of Diuretic poops making similar sounds to "Go Go Power Rangers" before cutting to a lightning bolt shaped poop and the words "The Top Ten Worst Power Rangers" appear for a second before cutting away to the number and James doing a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): Number ten
10) "Power Rangers Wild Force" (Cut to clips of "Wild Force" while James does a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): From what I have gathered this was started by Saban but was completed after Disney purchased the Power Rangers franchise and you could tell that Disney wasn't into putting in the effort into making this a good season something that will be prevalent in Disney's run and to say a lot of was wrong is the same as saying a lot of the seasons under Disney's run being the equivalent of an uphill battle that made climbing Kilimanjaro look like going up three stairs because there was a lot of bad things but the few good things do shine through like the Zen-Aku storyline, The backstory behind their Mentor and Powers was incredible but when it is given in the same way as a Children's book. It's not a good season but I think this season is more guilty pleasure for me than it is a wholly bad season. So if you want to check it out, it's available on DVD right now and who knows it might become a season you hate to admit you love
(Cut to a lightning bolt shaped poop with the sounds of Diuretic poops making similar sounds to "Go Go Power Rangers" with the number appearing and James doing a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): Number Nine
9) "Power Rangers Megaforce & Super Megaforce"(Cut to clips of "Megaforce" & "Super Megaforce" while James does a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): I know fans have as of late found this series and the series at Number eight at the bottom of the barrel but I agree with my friend that Saban Brands were trying to honor the legacy of the Original series with this 20th anniversary season with a ton of references to "Mighty Morphin'" with this season and what's at the number eight slot. But to me, "Megaforce" & "Super Megaforce" wasn't as bad because while there is a lot to dislike about this season. Namely the plot holes that could rival the one outside of Jupiter that nearly wiped us all out a few years ago. But I found more to like but not enough to put this series in the top ten best seasons. The build up to the epic finale was incredible and while yes the finale was a let down, it was a hundred times better than the crossover anniversary episode in the number one worst season on this list and again it was not a bad season, I just didn't like it that much.
(Cut to a lightning bolt shaped poop while the sounds of Diuretic poops making similar sounds to "Go Go Power Rangers" with the number appearing and James doing a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): Number eight
8) "Power Rangers Samurai & Super Samurai"(Cut to clips of "Samurai" & "Super Samurai" while James does a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): This season was the first season after Saban Brands regained the rights to the "Power Rangers" franchise and there was a whole lot of behind the scenes problems like the fact Saban Brands had to develop and produce the series in six months for Nickelodeon but I give Saban credit where credit is due. There was a lot of great episodes, I loved the return of Bulk and I give praise Noam Kaniel for recapturing the Wasserman Factor in the main theme. But there were a lot of loose ends and uninteresting characters and don't get me started on how annoying and pointless those furry Sunflower looking little buggers were or how slow the pace was of this season. But I do give Saban an A for Effort in trying make a good season but to be honest it wasn't so great to make it the one of the best seasons.
(Cut to a lightning bolt shaped poop with the sounds of Diuretic poops making similar sounds to "Go Go Power Rangers" with the number appearing and James doing a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): Number Seven
7) "Power Rangers Lost Galaxy"(Cut to clips of "Lost Galaxy" while James does a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): After "Power Rangers In Space" saved the franchise Ironic because it was meant to end Power Rangers by the way, Saban tried to keep the momentum going with "Lost Galaxy" which would've been a better sequel series if they had kept the Space Rangers and had them accidentally fall into a wormhole sending them to the Lost Galaxy to find a similar planet to Earth and the Rangers had no choice but to swap out the Space Powers for the Galaxy Powers and become that planet's defenders bringing the series somewhat back to basics but they went with a new Ranger team each season and different ideas for Lost Galaxy. And if you've seen Linkara's History Of Power Rangers then you know all the behind the scenes stuff didn't make the season any better especially with how they dragged out the "Lights Of Orion" saga or how they only got to the Lost Galaxy for a few episodes before the finale and let's face it one of the best moments in Ranger history happened when Kendrix sacrificed herself to save Cassie and her Space Ranger Powers in the second crossover episode with the Space Rangers. So why is it in the ten worst seasons if it had one of the best moments in Power Rangers history? Because as I've said in other seasons mentioned I didn't think this was a bad season, I just didn't care for it very much. But if you like it all hope and Positive Power to you.
(Cut to a lightning bolt shaped poop with the sounds of Diuretic poops making similar sounds to "Go Go Power Rangers" with the number appearing and James doing a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): Number six
6) "Power Rangers Turbo"(Cut to clips of "Turbo" while James does a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): "Power Rangers Turbo" has the bad reputation of being the worst season of the Zordon Era but while it is a bad season, it is not the worst altogether trust me the Number one season is a Whopper compared to Turbo. While I understand that people weren't into the Blue Ranger being a pre-teen or the fact they turned Bulk & Skull into primates or the mid season change in cast, regardless I found it entertaining but unfortunately it wasn't one of the best seasons but it's a good one to give a second chance to.
(Cut to a lightning bolt shaped poop with the sounds of Diuretic poops making similar sounds to "Go Go Power Rangers" with the number appearing and James doing a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): Number Five
5) "Power Rangers Ninja Storm"(Cut to clips of "Ninja Storm" while James does a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): What's the best way to describe the first season fully under Disney's autonomy?(Cut to James physically while he uses his body and the table he has to the beat of 1960's Adam West "Batman" TV Theme song while subtitles are whizzing by saying "If you don't get the joke then James will explain. And seeing as how James must explain the joke...well you know the rest" before cutting back to clips of Ninja Storm while James does a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): Yeah, imagine the Humor of the 1960's Adam West Batman series but without any of the charm or likability of it and putting it in a season of Power Rangers. And just so I am not to be misquoted I actually liked the 1960's Adam West Batman series. I am saying, I saw this season and boy did I give up on the season rather quickly. I watched it but I didn't care for it, I mean there were a few good episodes but for the Majority of the episodes trying to laugh at how bad it was made the season even harder to watch. Lothor was the male Equivalent of Divatox and held back the only competent villain Zurgane from doing his job which was to destroy the Rangers. The Rangers themselves either were bland or uninteresting. The Mentor who throughout the majority of the run was a Guinea Pig primarily because the actor who played him also was Lothor. The fact that Cam had no faith in the Rangers because they mocked him didn't make him worthy of being a Ranger. It made him arrogant and when he became a Ranger himself and suffered a setback in his first fight he tried to make it about how he could be as dumb as the others but the truth is he's even worse at least the Rangers learned a little from their mistakes even though they continued to make the same mistakes. It's one of the first flops of a season and did this hurt the Rangers but not as bad as the Number one series.
(Cut to a lightning bolt shaped poop with the sounds of Diuretic poops making similar sounds to "Go Go Power Rangers" with the number appearing and James doing a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): Number Four
4) "Power Rangers Jungle Fury"(Cut to clips of "Jungle Fury" while James does a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): Truth be told after the Number one series on this list, I was hoping this series would be the final season. Why? Because it would've been 150 trillion times better than what's at Number one. But what I saw was pretty much cut & paste storylines that were interesting but sadly I was unenthusiastic about everything even a character known as Flit who made fans ask who was worse: The Blue Ranger from the Number one worst season or this character. But there is a difference between the two. Where as the Blue Ranger from the Number one worst season was annoying as all get out and never stopped. At least Flit was able to be stopped by Camille played by Holly Shanahan. But while it got more interesting and entertaining by the end and the villains were better than the ones in the Number one worst season a lot of what was wrong in the season that came before it which is the Number one worst season ever kept what was for the most part a decent season from being one of the best.
(Cut to a lightning bolt shaped poop with the sounds of Diuretic poops making similar sounds to "Go Go Power Rangers" with the number appearing and James doing a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): Number Three
3) "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season Three"(Cut to clips of "MMPR Season 3" while James does a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): First off, this season is not bad, I liked this season but it wasn't as great as seasons one and two. The great moments are bolstered by Bulk & Skull as they join The Junior Police Squad, Ninjor, when he wasn't comedic relief, was worth his weight in salt, the multi part episodes that introduced Kat were interesting and was in a weird way a good parallel to Tommy in a way. Kat, an innocent bystander having come all the way from Australia found herself a pawn in Rita & Zedd's plans but where Tommy eventually repented and was forgiven for what he had done. Kat had to do a lot to redeem herself in the eyes of Power Rangers and their fan base and then the finale ended on such a down note in which evil had won, how or what would happen next? All in all a fair season with a great finale which left us with more but to me wasn't that great.
(Cut to a lightning bolt shaped poop with the sounds of Diuretic poops making similar sounds to "Go Go Power Rangers" with the number appearing and James doing a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): Number Two
2) The 2010 Mighty Morphin Power Rangers "Star Wars: Special Edition" season (Cut to clips of "MMPR 2010" while James does a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): I call this season the "Star Wars: Special Edition" season because it was clear when Disney decided not to go further on with the Power Rangers they decided to go the Star Wars: Special Edition Route in which they added Special Effects, comic book style onomatopoeias and a whole lot of stuff that just ruined the charm of the Original first season. Thankfully when Saban Brands repurchased the rights and this season was rightfully forgotten and possibly sacrificed by Saban Brands in order for their series to succeed. But still had they done this nearly a decade before after "Wild Force" ended it would've been clear that Disney didn't care and the Mouse eared regime would've DECIMATED a lot of great series with this decision. It's one of the worst for good reasons.
(Cut to James physically)
TLOTA: And if this season wasn't proof enough to show that Disney had little to NO respect for the legacy of the Power Rangers well then here's proof that their Lindsay Nagle type exec who did nothing but Memo the HELL out of Power Rangers until Disney & ABC had no choice but to cancel the series because the memos were driving the People in Charge of Power Rangers away from the series, I give you....(Cut to a lightning bolt shaped poop with the sounds of Diuretic poops making similar sounds to "Go Go Power Rangers" with the number appearing and James doing a voiceover)
TLOTA(Voiceover): The biggest pile of Power Rangers Dung to ever call itself a season....
1) "Power Rangers Operation Overdrive" (Cut to clips of "Power Rangers Operation Overdrive" while James does a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover): This is the concentrated pool of everything, EVERY LITTLE THING WRONG with Power Rangers. Say what you will about certain seasons I've put on this list like how dead the humor of "Ninja Storm" was or how stupid some of the episodes in "Turbo" were or just how uninterested I was about the plight of the "Jungle Fury" Rangers or how bad it treated the legendary first season by adding unnecessary effects or how the "Samurai/Super Samurai" & "Megaforce/Super Megaforce" seasons were not some of the best for it's own reasons like "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season Three" or "Power Rangers Lost Galaxy". "Power Rangers Operation Overdrive" make all of those other seasons look like some of the best seasons in Comparison. Even Linkara an UBER- Power Rangers Fan like myself finds himself hating this season and for good reason. The story arcs may have had a one or two good moments but they were so far few between I just couldn't enjoy it. While the character Spencer was enjoyable the other characters were either too dull or too stupid or in case of the Rangers were some of the WORST Rangers to ever don the Morph suits (Cut to a clip of Dax being his usual stupid self.) Case in point and don't get me started on how horrifically stupid the opening theme was. I don't know if ABC & Disney were so desperate to get rid of the Power Rangers they basically wanted to make a season so bad they'd want the viewers to leave and they nearly got their wish because SO much of the season was just intolerable. So much crap was thrown our way and believe it or not it made me hope the series would end so it's legacy wouldn't be tainted by garbage like this season. Their theme song made the claim that they were the Number One Team. Well they were close, they're the Number One pile of Number Two EVER to dare to call themselves Power Rangers. I really HATE this season! It is without a doubt the WORST season of Power Rangers EVER! GO TO HELL OPERATION OVERDRIVE! GO TO HELL! (Cut to James physically)
TLOTA: And just so I can balance everything out I'm counting down the top ten Best seasons of Power Rangers Next time. So guess what guys. (Cut to everyone looking at James in his office Doorway)
TLOTA (Voiceover): I did my ten worst seasons and guess what? There were no angry mobs, no pitchforks & torches, no backlash, nothing happened at all. Everything came out like a rose. (Cut to James physically)
TLOTA: So what were you guys worried about?(Cut to everyone looking at James in his office Doorway)
Paulo: Well there is a few more bits of Dialogue without us or you. (Cut to James)
TLOTA: Well, I'm sure nothing It's bad. I'm James Faraci The Last Of The Americans and that's my opinion. (Cut to a Black screen with the words Two weeks later in white is seen for two seconds as the scene cuts to a house in the Houston area of Texas as a familiar looking SUV rolls up to it and three figures one obscured by the fact he's out of frame and the two in frame are David Yost and Amy Jo Johnson)
David Yost: Will he be alright if we brought him?
Amy Jo Johnson: Dave, he asked for us you dork!
David Yost: Oh yeah. (The three walk with their backs being shown to an double door entrance before cutting to the inside of the entrance as the person inside looks out into a window as The three enter and left half of the face of Jason David Frank starring into the camera as a voice says "Jason" and Jason David Frank says "Austin" then Jason David Frank turns as the Camera rushes to Amy Jo Johnson, David Yost and Austin St. John)
Austin: You know why we're here, right. (Cut to Jason David Frank walking towards his desk)
Jason David Frank: Yeah, An internet reviewer named "The Last Of The Americans" listed the ten worst seasons of Power Rangers. He's going to post about us again in August. We're gonna stop him.(Cut to Austin St. John, David Yost and Amy Jo Johnson sitting comfortably)
David: What do you want us to do?
Jason David Frank: David, You and Amy get as many people you can find who ever was a Ranger. We're going on the attack. Austin, ready all the weapons we've got.
Austin: What are you going to do? (Jason David Frank stands up, turns to look into the window again before he turns around)
Jason David Frank: Ready The Zords!
Austin St. John: Well what the hell are we waiting for? LET'S POWER UP! (Jason David Frank, Austin St. John, Amy Jo Johnson & David Yost stand up and shouts out RIGHT!)
The urban legend that Turbo nearly killed Power Rangers is complete horseshit!
ReplyDeleteYes, it's true that the first half had low ratings, but that was from a two-year ratings decline that had been stuck on the franchise since MMPR Season 3 in late 1995 (Zeo would've gotten huge ratings, but Big Bad Beetleborgs was getting all the attention in late 1996). But, after the change of cast in "Passing the Torch" happened, the second half of Turbo started getting good ratings, which was good news for Saban and the Power Rangers franchise.
On top of that, the old Power Rangers (Tommy, Kat, Adam, & Tanya) were becoming adults. Yes, teenagers DO have some responsibilities and problems, but nothing compared to adulthood, which means real responsibilities such as getting a job and paying bills. These are things a teenager lacks, which makes them ideal Power Rangers. If there's a monster attack, they don't have to make up some random excuse and risk their jobs to step out. It's possible for them to go into space and leave their seemingly non-existent parents behind. Teenagers makes sense. Not terribly much sense, I'll grant you, but we all get the logic. And honestly, the replacements (T.J., Cassie, Carlos, & Ashley) are no worse than the first team of Power Rangers (Jason, Zack, Trini, Billy, & Kimberly) were when they were chosen by Zordon. Hell, Billy couldn't even fight for shit back then, and they still picked him up.