ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 23, 1996 TAG: 9604230164
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: TOM MAURSTAD DALLAS MORNING NEWS
The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers are about to disappear. That's right. Terminated. Offed. No more.
Before you parents out there race outside to light your ceremonial pyre of thanksgiving, dab away your tears of joy and read on. They are being replaced by a new generation of spandex-suited superheroes: Power Rangers Zeo.
As anyone with a child between the ages of 2 and 11 knows, ``The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'' has been the highest-rated weekday children's show since it began airing 21/2 years ago on Fox. And big numbers have a way of begetting more big numbers.
Since then it has generated more than $1 billion in toy sales, while a touring live show grossed nearly $30 million in ticket sales in 1995.
In the midst of such success, why the changes? After all, if the Power Rangers aren't broken, don't fix them.
But as it turns out, though they aren't exactly broken, the phenomenon is fading. Nothing is more fickle than children's obsessions, and though the show is still No. 1 in the five-day-a-week category, it is no longer the highest-rated kids program on television - that distinction goes to ``Goosebumps,'' the weekly series based on R.L. Stine's horror stories.
Even more disturbing to the Power Rangers' proprietors at Saban Entertainment is the downward turn toy sales have taken. Though the Power Rangers continued to be the most popular toy in the action-figure category, according to the Los Angeles Times, sales in 1995 dropped as much as 35 percent from 1994 levels.
``It's true,'' says Peter Dang, president of children's entertainment for Saban. ``The Power Rangers have a problem: They are no longer a phenomenon. They are just No. 1.''
Tellingly, it wasn't the flattening out of ratings - which is to be expected with any TV sensation - that prompted the changes.
``We started hearing from our franchises and licensees that the toys and related products are not doing as well as they used to,'' Dang says. ``And we realized that some freshening was necessary and that it's best to do that while you're still number one rather than wait until you're, say, 33.''
And so the Zeo-ification of the Power Rangers will be unveiled, beginning with Saturday's episode and culminating Wednesday with an episode called ``The Shooting Star,'' in which the new generation of Rangers will make its debut.
For all but their pint-sized fans, the new Power Rangers will be indistinguishable from the old Power Rangers. Most of the changes amount to cosmetics - the Rangers' spandex costumes are now adorned with gold brocade highlights, and their plastic helmets have been re-styled. And in keeping with the new Zeo mythology, they have new zords (giant robot-like contraptions they use to thwart foes) that are called - what else? - Zeo Zords.
The Power Rangers also have three new actors. Former Blue Ranger Billy (David Yost, who's looking a little long in the tooth to play an adolescent) is still on the scene, but now serves as assistant to Zordon (the Rangers' mentor).
The other ``big'' change is in the evil foes the Rangers will face. Gone are the dreaded Lord Zedd and his merciless mate, Rita Repulsa. They have been chased from the galaxy by the new bad guy, King Mondo; his queen, Machina; and their cute, comic-relief offspring, Prince Sprocket. In keeping with the machine motif (Mondo and family are living robots), what once were Putties - zombie henchmen - now are Cogs.
``We had to decide what our equity elements were,'' Dang says. ``What we should keep, what we should change. We decided that the evil characters were the most expendable. We also felt that having evil machines fits in well with our new industrialization theme.''
But though the Power Rangers anti-technology additions may end up reflecting more the fears and frustrations of parents than their computer-literate kids, nothing is forever in TV land. Dang speaks of the Power Rangers being ``a soap opera for kids,'' and like all soap operas, nothing is ever done that can't be undone.
``Zedd and Repulsa don't die, they just go away. We can always have them return. We were working closely with toy manufacturers, and we'll see how kids react to the changes and what they want.''
Working closely with toy manufacturers is right. Indeed, the television debut of the new Power Rangers, far from being the first step in the switch, is one of the last. The roll-out began in February, when ``Power Rangers Zeo'' was launched at a toy fair in New York.
``So much attention in the media has been focused on the question of violence with the Power Rangers,'' says Clay Steinman, co-author of the book "Mapping the Wasteland: TV and the Environment of Commercial Culture." ``... The real problem is the way a show like the Power Rangers is all about making consumers out of children too young to understand what's being done. There have always been childhood fads, and marketers have always sought out ways to tie into them. The difference is that now the merchandising comes first, and the storytelling is just viewed as part of the marketing campaign.''
LENGTH: Medium: 89 linesby CNB