Saturday, November 21, 2015

Power Rangers Dino Charge - "Deep Down Under" - Episode Review

Pictures from Saban Brands and the official Power Rangers Twitter.
 
Summary:
Fury tells Sledge the Pleiso Zord must be out. Fury wants to destroy it, not taking chances like the Ptera Zord. Fury and Wrench bring Meteor, the monster from last week back to life. Kendell tells Riley to stay in New Zealand. Tyler impresses her by telling her they will talk to Dr. Runga. Shelby tells them to be professional and 'cleans them' and berates Yoda for not having shoes on. Dr. Runga tells them it is a restrited area. Shelby introduces herself, which Runga considers their musuem his competetion. He thinks they are hunting for Taniwha, like a Lochness Monster. Dr. Runga shows them his tattoo of the Taniwha/Pleisosaurus.
Black and Green use their bikes on the shore while Blue and Gold fly in the Pterazord looking for it. Kendall sends them new search coordinates. Shelby and Tyler are at the beach and the purple Energem glows near the shore. Pleiozord emerges. Shelby takes video with her phone. Meteroites attack it from Meteor and Fury, who introduce themselves. The other morphed Rangers reunite. Riley says Sledge is out of ideas. Shelby and Tyler morph. The six Rangers fight the monsters. Tyler puts his armor on and fights Meteor.
 
Fury fights Gold. The other five call the Dino Spike and strike Meteor. Fury runs off and the Rangers follow. One of the fossils are stolen and Fury threatens Dr. Runga wanting a dinosaur, saying six teenagers discovered it. He tells him he will be more famous. Fury wants to destroy the zord or destroy him. Kendall tells them the Plesiozord is sick and needs energy. Shelby is determined to find it, the others leave and Dr. Runga apologizes for being rude and offers to autograph her book. He finds the video of the zord in her phone and sends it via email to himself. When Shelby returns with a pen, he has disappeared.
 
 The Rangers search a cave. Kendall found a viral video from Dr. Runga. Shelby is mad he stole it. Dr. Runga holds a press conference and Shelby confronts him about it, she says the creature won't survive and wants him to say it was fake. He says fossils mean nothing to people. She tries to blackmail her to, to get famous. She says his books inspired her, not for fame. She says he is not the man that inspired her. The Rangers leave. The gem glows when they get near the cave and run off. Koda is confused where north is. Dr. Runga shows he is there when they near the Plesio Zord. Shelby tells them it is not a dinosaur. Tyler says it is a zord. Dr. Runga says Power Rangers use zords.
 
 
Dr. Runga reveals Fury and Meteor. Runga says he didn't know Fury was following him. Dr Runga gets to 'safety; while the Rangers fight the Viviks in the sand. The Rangers morph and the purple gem glows and she runs in. Meteor nears her. Dr. Runga grabs the gem and throws it to the Plesio Zord, it re-energizes. Meteor retreats. Plesio Zord flies out and zaps Meteor. Meteor becomes big. Pink tells Dr. Runga it was great to meet her and he thanks her for reminding him what matters. The Rangers enter the Plesio Zord. Plesio Charge Megazord formed. They fight.  Sledge is mad again when the monster is destroyed. Fury had an idea, Sledge says he has his own. Plesio Zord flies from New Zealand, Chase says he will be back. They want to make Sledge extinct.
 
Review:
I love the speech made by Shelby. When it is a Shelby episode, you know it because she is every where. I like that Dr. Runga is not a caricature completely. He learns a lesson but it is not too blatant. I hope no one thought Dr. Runga was going to be the next Purple Ranger in watching this episode. Also, I didn't like the CGI for Plesio Zord, looks inexpensive and not as detailed as the Japanese CGI. And the Japanese CGI has been criticized for its simple-ness.  Shelby being inspired by a paleontologist is not much of a stretch so this episode worked well but we did learn more information to support her character.
 
 


Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Power Rangers by Generations and Ratings

Most of the following information is from, unless otherwise said:
Thanks to Burgundy Ranger.

 
Mighty Morphin:
(FOX Kids in 1993) 4.3 million viewers
(ABC in 2010) 0.47 / 2.26 share

[Burgundy Ranger does not have Ratings info on Zeo to Time Force.]

Zeo:
"While early ratings for the show were high, maintaining the #1 ranking, they eventually faltered and the show struggled to beat out fellow Fox Kids shows Goosebumps and even sister-series Big Bad Beetleborgs."
http://powerrangers.wikia.com/wiki/Power_Rangers_Zeo
(Might not be totally accurate but it is here to show the fan consensus)

Turbo/In Space:
"Due to the negative reaction and the ratings drop during the previous season, Power Rangers Turbo, In Space was originally written as the final season for the series. In Space however, would end up being an unexpected success and with fan interest returning to the show and the continuation of the series."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Rangers_in_Space
(Might not be totally accurate but it is here to show the fan consensus)

Lost Galaxy:
"Destruction's ratings were enough that Saban chose to continue and produce future Power Rangers seasons as standalone stories".
http://powerrangers.wikia.com/wiki/Power_Rangers_Lost_Galaxy
(Might not be totally accurate but it is here to show the fan consensus)

[I could not find ratings info for Zeo to Time Force.]

Wild Force:
 (ABC Family) 0.95 rating / 4.67 share
(ABC) 1.38 rating / 6.46 share

Ninja Storm:
(ABC Family) 1.17 rating / 5.86 share
(ABC) 1.42 / 6.86 share

Dino Thunder:
(ABC Family) 1.05 of 11 reported
(ABC) 0.93 / 4.78 share
 
SPD:
(ABC Family) 0.71 rating / 3.33 share
(ABC) 0.99 rating / 4.89 share

Mystic Force:
(ABC) 0.96 / 4.64 share
(Toon Disney) 0.45 / 1.81

Operation Overdrive:
(ABC)  0.70 rating / 3.55 share
(Toon Disney) 0.54 / 2.42 share

Jungle Fury:
(ABC) 0.60 rating / 3.07 share
(Toon Disney) 0.56 / 2.97 Share
 
RPM:
(ABC) 0.53 / 2.82 share

Samurai:
(Nick) 2.936 to 2.159 million viewers (-26.5%)
 2.33 ratings / 11.50 share

 
Super Samurai:
(Nick) 2.034 to  1.675 million (-17.6%)
 3.10 / 14.46 share

Megaforce:
(Nick) 1.690 to 1.445 million (-14.5%)
Super Megaforce:
(Nick) 1.867 to 1.474 million (-21.0%)

Dino Charge:
(Nick) 1.650 to 1.323 million (-19.8%)

No show had reached higher than Mighty Morphin (4.3 Million) even though Lost Galaxy's wiki says it was but I couldn't find the numbers. Ninja Storm and Wild Force had over 6.40 share on ABC Family. Samurai had the highest viewers on Nickelodeon than any other Saban Brands series so far with 2.936 million viewers and 11.50 share. Samurai has a bigger share than the Disney seasons. Of the Disney seasons, Ninja Storm has higher share on ABC Family. Toon Disney actually had less share than ABC and ABC Family.

My theory is which every generation (MMPR Season One, Ninja Storm, and Samurai) there is going to be a popular season and then every season after that will have lower ratings and will be more or less popular. SPD and RPM is popular to fans but both have lower ratings. SPD is lower than Ninja Storm's ratings and RPM was lower than them all. Ninja Storm had higher ratings than Wild Force. I don't think New PR episodes on Nickelodeon will have higher ratings than Samurai. It's just like any season that came after MMPR. Plus the ratings I have for MMPR could be a accumulation of seasons and not just one season but it was the top rated series on Fox Kids.

So until the next 10 years or production change, it won't be high ratings. Granted, Ninja Storm's ratings weren't as high as Mighty Morphin but Samurai's were way higher than any of the Disney seasons. It is now rumored the 2017 season will be Netflix, ratings will be different because it isn't on TV but it would be graded by viewings which is completely different. Also, Nickelodeon's ratings could be higher if it didn't have rating dip of the 5 month hiatus it usually has for Power Rangers. But Nickelodeon giving Power Rangers a higher episode count is doubtful at this point with only 1.3 million viewers when SpongeBob brings in more than that.
 

Saturday, November 14, 2015