Generation In-Between: A Xennial Podcast

Power Rangers Fandom: A Millennial Guest Star

• Dani & Katie • Season 1 • Episode 39

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Do your favorites superheroes wear helmets, instead of capes?

Were you an average teen called upon by a higher power to fight evil unleashed on earth?

If you've ever burned an enemy with the phrase "You ooze, you lose" -- you might be a xennial, or millennial, and also a Power Rangers fan.

Join us as we chat with guest and Power Rangers superfan Carlos about all things from the Mighty Morphin era to modern day. 

Leave us a glowing review wherever you listen to podcasts, and connect with Generation In-Between: A Xennial Podcast at all the places below:

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Dani Combs:

Did you and your lunch table buddies ever argue about whether the red, black, blue, yellow, green or pink was the best Ranger? Did you ever shout it's morphin time before you fought some 10 putties in your living room? If you ever wish that you had your very own Morpher, you might be a xennial, albeit a younger one, or you may at least have an affinity for xennial culture, like our very special guest we have today. Welcome everyone to generation in between, a zennial podcast where we remember, revisit, relearn all kinds of things from our 80s childhoods and 90s, teen and young adulthoods, and if you didn't figure it out already, today, we are going to be talking Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Just want to make sure I said them all correctly and in the right order, so you don't come for me with our friend. Super fan, Carlo. Yay. Hello everyone. Welcome Carlos. So before we get into all things Power Rangers, which Katie and I don't know as much as you, I probably know the least in this room, I have a feeling. But anyway, we want you to please introduce yourself. Tell us a little bit about you, why you're here, if you're a zennial, just all the things. Okay, so I am Carlos Jimenez Jr. I am not a Zen y'all, I know, unfortunately, I'm sorry. I was born in 89 which is way off, I think, straight up millennial, yeah, like at the beginning. But, you know, I love the zennial things, because I grew up with xennials in the household. My uncle and aunt were zennials.

Carlos Jimenez:

So, you know, being like your fun aunties, basically, you're like my fun aunties. The reason I am here is because I am not only a super fan of Power Rangers, but I am a super fan of generation in between. I have been binging you guys for a while now, and I have become the annoying super fan. We love it so much, and I'm like texting you guys. Oh, so this one is this, and that one is that. So, you know, I have gotten a couple of shadows because you've

Dani Combs:

heard us because Carlos corrects. So we need that because you have, like, a rock solid memory. You also are younger than us, so your your brain cells have not deteriorated.

Unknown:

Well, my fiance says that I have a brain of an elephant, so you totally do, like, and even my mom dad, everybody that knows me, they're like, how do you remember that from back then? I'm like, well, it stuck with me. So we appreciate

Dani Combs:

it. Awesome. You are now our research consultant. He'll be Carlos. Will be the first one we add to payroll when we, you know, even start paying ourselves, we need a research or fact checker.

Unknown:

That's what we need. Oh, I could do that. We have no money to give you. That's fine. I'll do it for free. I do it. I do it for free. Now I'm okay with that. Basically, just keep doing what you've been doing. Awesome. Yeah. All right, yeah, Katie, let's, let's tell everybody how we actually know Carlos in real life. Okay, so you go first.

Dani Combs:

So I met Carlos, I guess, about a year and a half ago when I did a Vita at the vinegar. Yes, Carlos was the tango singer Magaldi, and so we met in that show. I was in the ensemble, and we actually have a really great picture of us from that show in the cafe scene when he's singing his song, and I'm just like, so excited. I've got this huge smile. And it really is kind of like how I really feel about Carlos, right? But a professional picture, yeah. And I don't know if you remember, you probably don't, because why would you care? But the dress I wore in that scene was amazing. It was like the best costume I've ever worn. So it was, like, a really good memory for me, in addition to Carlos being there. So and then we've done like, lots of stuff together since then, and right now, we're working together with the middle schoolers and teens at the henagar on High School Musical. I'm the music director, and Carlos is the choreographer, and I got to see we're all in this together. Yes, on stage yesterday, yes. And I was like, almost crying,

Unknown:

because it was amazing.

Dani Combs:

And the kids just like, were killing it.

Carlos Jimenez:

Oh, they were killing it. It was so good I had so I had three, two days to clean it. I finished the choreography in three days, teaching it to them, and then we cleaned it the past two days, and they have been super focused and just killing it. So I can't wait for you to see it. I know

Dani Combs:

I can't wait to see it either. And listen. Props to y'all, because y'all work with children, and middle school children are their own category. So Applause, applause. So what about you? Danny, how do you and Carlos? So I knew of Carlo. Carlos before I actually met him in person, because I watched him perform at the hennegar So what we what we haven't said yet is we haven't in other episodes, is that Carlos is an amazing performer. He is what we call a triple threat, so and we hate him. I mean, with love,

Carlos Jimenez:

with love for it.

Dani Combs:

So much so for those of you who do not perform a triple threat, is somebody who can sing, dance and act. Yep, Katie and I do one of those three things. Well, sometimes most of somebody asked me during one show. They're like, oh, so are you a are you a singer or a dancer first? And I said, I'm an actor first. And Carlos is giggling because he's performing me. And he's like, yes, anyway. So I watched Carlos and Evita. I watched Carlos and Avenue Q. Oh, my God. Oh my god, iconic. And one of the most important things, and I won't tell the whole story, because I want all three cry was seeing him play Sebastian and Little Mermaid, which is pivotal in our life, because that was the first show that my youngest saw, where he turned to me and said, I think I would like to try this theater thing. Yay. And that changed his life. His life has totally changed since that moment. And the coolest thing is that he said to me, I want to be able to be in a show with all these people that I saw in this in this musical that made a difference. And so far, he's done almost all of it. He was in a show with Carlos. Justin Scotty, yep. Sasha Ryan, just go down the list, yeah. And all the ensemble peeps. I say he's in a show with Austin right now, right flounder, so it's really neat, so that that's just really cool. And then I knew of Carlos. And then just recently, I got to be in a show Carlos. We were in Diana, the musical, and we had so much fun together, we should save the one story from Diana for our after. I don't know what one story, the one story, the main event. Yes,

Carlos Jimenez:

I gave Danny a look like, you know the story.

Dani Combs:

We had that one. We had a number where we were next to each other for the whole thing. And we absolutely despise we love you. Kara, we love you so much. Kara, our choreographer, but man, that number was a pain in our butt. I eventually, I actually, at the end of the show our last one, we killed we killed it. And I was like, Okay, I'm actually gonna miss this number. Funny with that. If it's like, right at the end, right at the end, you're like, oh, okay, so now I like this, right? That's totally what happened to us. Yeah. Anyway, okay, so now we have spent half the show nothing to do with the topic that we introed. So if you're still around and you're like, please start talking about Power Rangers, we have arrived. I think we can do it. Yeah, so Carlos take us away. Okay, we we're ready. And so our first question, we gave Carlos just some basic questions, and he has the most organized, cute research I've ever seen. It is color coded. It is neatly hand written, above and beyond what Katie,

Carlos Jimenez:

well, you guys gave me power ranger, so I color coded with the Power Ranger colors. All right, so we're gonna

Dani Combs:

let you he's taken the lead on this. So lots of questions, I'm sure. Yeah. So we're ready for you to kind of just share this, share with us, just like the basic history, origins of the show when it was created, seasons, all of that. We're ready bring us in. All right.

Carlos Jimenez:

So it all started when, Hi, I'm Saban, who is basically like the creator of the English version of Power Rangers, or the American version of Power Rangers, went on a trip to Japan. Was in his hotel room, turned on the TV and saw Super Sentai. Super Sentai is what they called it in Japan, and so he said, this would be a great show to bring to America. So what he did was he basically had a conversation with whoever was in charge of super sense. I said, Hey, can we use some of your footage? I don't know if he paid them for it or not. I'm sure that they got a little something. But basically he took that Japanese footage of when they morphed and were fighting and all that stuff to America and hired American actors. I shouldn't say American actors. Some of them might have been from other places, but hired actors to play the unmorphed scenes, and they had to base their right they had to base their episodes off of the Japanese footage that. Was already done. So the writers, I would say, are super creative to have to watch a Japanese version of a show, yeah, and then create, like, a whole Americanized version of

Dani Combs:

it. So they didn't refilm all of it. Is that what you're saying, correct?

Carlos Jimenez:

They did not refilm all of it, okay? So, and that's a whole other thing too, with actors. And right? Yeah, I'll get into that too. So yeah, they didn't film all of it. They only filmed the American side of it. Used the Japanese footage when they're morphed and fighting, and then while they're fighting in the morphed stuff, the actors were dubbed. So they went into a studio, they recorded their voices to then tie the story all together. Got it Yes, so it wasn't, it didn't go from like American to like now they speak, which would have been hilarious. No, they dubbed it. They went into a studio, they dubbed their voices. Um, so that was how it came to America.

Dani Combs:

That's cool. It was a Japanese show first. It

Carlos Jimenez:

was a Japanese show first, some

Dani Combs:

of that Japanese footage, or a lot of it remains for when they are morphed Correct. Okay, is that just in the first season? That's in

Carlos Jimenez:

all the seasons up until recently, okay, up until recently, they're still

Dani Combs:

making Power Rangers,

Carlos Jimenez:

I think they're on their last. Okay, I'm

Dani Combs:

jumping way too far. Yeah,

Carlos Jimenez:

I think, I think they're on their last, but I I'm not sure. Okay, Power Rangers will never die. I I'm gonna say that now it will never die. So even if they say that this is their last, something's gonna happen. IT'S LIKE, SHARE Yes, yes, with, I don't know how many comebacks, but they're coming back if they ever end got it Yes. So the original Super Sentai in Japan had been going on for years before he even discovered them. So I must I would say that they were probably going on in like, the 70s, and then all the way up until the 90s, where he discovered them, and they made their debut in America, August, 28 1993 okay, so

Dani Combs:

you were how old Carlos, I

Carlos Jimenez:

was four. Jesus Christ.

Dani Combs:

I had just why did I ask that question? How old were you? Katie, in 1993 I would have been 11. I was 13. Yeah. I mean, that checks. I remember I started seeing it like, middle school ish, yeah, would have been after that. And my younger brother, who's five years younger than me, so a little older than you, he was about six or seven, when by the time he was like, eight or nine, oh, yeah, he was really totally into it, yeah. And that's like, when I remember it, and I I know about Power Rangers, because I remember it was, like, either on the TV as I was getting ready for school or after school, something like that. And I even had middle school friends who were super into it, but it wasn't my jam, but I know about it. And I did go see the movie, which I don't know why I did that, but maybe I went with a boy. It actually was pretty good. I can't lie. Anyway, sorry, I just wanted to get age reference there. Yeah. Like, what's happening? Great. 93

Carlos Jimenez:

Yes, all of us. So

Dani Combs:

that's when it came out.

Carlos Jimenez:

Okay, that's when it came to came out. I was very much into it at the very beginning. Okay, for those of you who don't know me, I am gay, so anything with multi colors, yes, literally, my jam. I love anything and costumes and helmets and pretty pink rangers and

Dani Combs:

check our socials. Yeah, we'll get there. We're going to talk about that. Yes.

Carlos Jimenez:

So, um, so, yeah. So all the fight scenes were done, um, morphed were done in Japan. Okay, now the actors that were picked had to audition. And not only did they have to have some sort of acting skills, not really a lot, but

Dani Combs:

Right? I remember some of that acting, yes,

Carlos Jimenez:

so. But they had to have some sort of martial arts skills, or some sort of gymnastic skills, oh, because of all the flips and tricks and everything that they threw into the show. So they did their own stunts. They did their own stunts. Impressive. Yes, they did their own stunts. So and again, get into all that here soon. But it started off with five actors who got cast, and so the characters are going to be Zach, the Black Ranger was played by Walter Emmanuel Jones, Kimberly. The Pink Ranger was played by Amy Jo Johnson, Billy, the Blue Ranger was played by David Yost. Trini, the Yellow Ranger, who was originally played by Audrey Dubois, could not, or did not want to do the show because of money issues. Oh, and I'm assuming that she was probably a, like, an actress and knew, like, all this stuff. So she was like, not for me. They had already shot the pilot episode with her in it, and had to redo it again with Thuy Trang, who was a Japanese martial artist, also an. Actress in, I'm gonna say China, maybe Japan. I didn't get her backstory, but she was an actress back then. Sorry. Sorry,

Dani Combs:

correct the correct. Sorry. Tweet, I love you. Can't wait to send you a text link,

Carlos Jimenez:

but she was, she was already in acting, and then wanted to bring it to the states. Then Jason the Red Ranger was played by Austin St John. Those were the original five. Okay, okay, later on in the season, they wanted to spice things up, so they added an evil Green Ranger, oh, Tommy, who was played by Jason David Frank, okay, so remember

Dani Combs:

the Green Ranger? Why do you remember him? Was he cute? Yeah, okay, that's why.

Carlos Jimenez:

Oh yeah, okay, Googling right now as you're speaking and and he's also one that aged well,

Dani Combs:

oh yeah, we were talking about that earlier, about that probably too much. I'd say that. Shout Out James Van Der Beek, I'd say that about 75% of our conversations lately looking up pictures of Rob Lowe and Scott Foley,

Carlos Jimenez:

men who aged very well. Oh,

Dani Combs:

wow. Green Ranger in. The Green Ranger go on. Yes.

Carlos Jimenez:

Keep going, yes. So, so yes. So the evil Green Ranger came in. It was supposed to be a five part episode, or five episodes to tie in the whole story. Basically, okay, and then he was supposed to be gone, like the Green Ranger was supposed to be, was supposed to be, yeah, yeah, that's him. I

Dani Combs:

remember him now, yeah, long hair.

Carlos Jimenez:

Oh yes, he did, sorry. And so it was supposed to be a five episode arc story, and then he was supposed to be gone. Oh, well, when he left, the fans went crazy and was like, this cannot be the end of Tommy. He cannot go anywhere. We need him back. So after all that fan mail, they brought,

Dani Combs:

oh, they listened to the fans. Smart. They listened to the fans. I have a question. You said he was evil, yes, so he did not work with the other Power Rangers, not at the beginning. Oh, and then he, like, has a change of

Carlos Jimenez:

heart, correct? So they basically, what happens in the episode is, well, the last one, they find the source of the Evil, destroy it, and then the spells broken. Oh, I

Dani Combs:

love Yes. So when he came back, when the fans asked for him back, he was no

Carlos Jimenez:

longer evil. He was no longer Well, he was no longer evil before, before that. Okay, right, right, right. So when they brought him back, he was just joining the team got it. Yeah,

Dani Combs:

I love it. Yes. Are you gonna talk about the villains at some point? Of course? Oh, well, I'm gonna save my question. I'll save my

Carlos Jimenez:

course. I am so now the way that the Power Rangers would morph is they would have a morpher. Now the Morpher was given to them by Zordon, who is this intergalactic being, okay, who was in a tube and could not survive outside of this tube. I know it's, it's, I couldn't describe it any other way, but yes, so he was basically the mentor of the Power Rangers. He chose them to be these protectors. Yeah, that's him, that sort of

Dani Combs:

very oz Wizard of Oz, like, yes, literally, like a regular human face in a tune a tube. Also very synergy. Like, yes, you know, he looks like Glen bell in a tube. Ventura, Taco Bell. All the Power Ranger. Fans are very angry at us right now, so we're gonna just stop. But isn't

Carlos Jimenez:

that wrong? He did also have a robotic helper named alpha five who basically hit all the buttons. Oh, so if they needed something, he was there to help Zordon and all that stuff. He's

Dani Combs:

like, Batman's Alfred, basically,

Carlos Jimenez:

basically, yes. So the way that the Power Rangers would morph is they would hold up their morphers and shout out the names of their dinosaurs. Wait. Now,

Dani Combs:

tell me, what their Dino, what

Carlos Jimenez:

Dino? Zords. All right, Dino zords are Megazords that basically form together to create this giant being that fights. So what happens is the villains would somehow grow into these enormous into these enormous beings. And obviously the Power Rangers could not grow to fight them. So they call upon these Zords, okay, and then they form them the giant Megazord. So they form a giant thing together, together, okay, so some of them is separate. So they start off separate, and then they. Morning, the mighty Megazord, correct, you

Dani Combs:

called it a dinosaur. Are they dinosaurs? They

Carlos Jimenez:

are, okay. So they so, like, I

Dani Combs:

know nothing, yeah, literally, I know nothing. I'm just listening. So

Carlos Jimenez:

they, they, they called their dinosaurs. Okay, so Zach, being the Black Ranger, was the mastodon. Okay? And this is, this is not all dinosaurs. It's all prehistoric era. Okay, so, so Zach, the Black Ranger was the mastodon. Kimberly, the pink ranger was the pterodactyl, yes. Billy, Billy. The Blue Ranger was the Triceratops. Trini, the Yellow Ranger had the saber tooth tiger, I know. And then Jason being the Red Ranger, leader of the group, obviously the Tyrannosaurus Rex, okay, so, so then they all, you know, like I said, they had individual Zords, okay, but in order to it's basically a teamwork thing, basis of it is working together as a team. So when they work together as a team, then they form the mighty Megazord, okay,

Dani Combs:

I see, yeah. I see a picture of a toy here, and they all come together exactly, okay, I get it, and it's the different colors and it's

Carlos Jimenez:

the different colors, right? Got it. Now, the only thing that they didn't do, which I was a little upset about as a kid, and I noticed it as a kid, was that the pterodactyl was not pink. She was red. Why? I know.

Dani Combs:

So she didn't stay pink. No,

Carlos Jimenez:

no, the Pink Ranger stay pink. Oh, the dinosaur. Oh, I see, yeah. Like, everyone had their own color, but hers was red, so

Dani Combs:

you had two red ones, yeah, lame. No, that's a big fault, right there.

Unknown:

And I don't know, I don't know why they did it. Maybe it was because of where it sat on the Megazord they needed to match the Red Ranger. Lame, but I was mad and all

Dani Combs:

of that, just to keep this straight in my own brain, footage Megazord was American. Stuff that they was created in America, that was

Carlos Jimenez:

Japanese footage. All of it was Japanese. Anything morphed, anything morphed, anything to have to do with Megazords was, yes,

Dani Combs:

I was thinking when they were the Rangers in, like, fighting as people, that was Japanese footage, which it was, but on top of it,

Carlos Jimenez:

on top of it, the Megazord was, thank you, yeah, the only time that it was American footage was when they were unmorphed, like regular scenes, normal, correct. Got it. So you see Amy Jo's face, not in the Pink Ranger outfit. It's her actual face and everything that was obviously her. All done. Okay, yes, got it. So that was the the giant Megazords. Now I'm gonna give you the origin story of the first episode. Okay, yay. That way we all know how it all started. Okay, here in America. So two astronauts decided to go to the moon, and they find a moon dumpster. They called it a dumpster. Does not look like a dumpster, like a dumpster on the moon base, just it looks like this little canister, but they called it a dumpster.

Dani Combs:

I don't understand Moon trash can, dumpster.

Carlos Jimenez:

Got it for real. And in that dumpster were the villains. The main villain being Rita Repulsa,

Dani Combs:

I was waiting.

Carlos Jimenez:

I remember, we love Rita. We are a Rita Stan

Dani Combs:

Rita Repulsa, that's amazing. Rita Repulsa, so she was in a trash can on the moon, she was in a trash amazing already. Why have I not watched the show more? I don't know. This is completely up Danny Sally, but Katie's like and I'll pass were there Snorks?

Carlos Jimenez:

There were not Snorks. So you have nothing to worry about. The Snorks

Dani Combs:

were under the sea. They were not in the match. Silly me. All right, so Rita in the trash

Carlos Jimenez:

comes out. She's been released after 1000 years, 10,000 years. I'm sorry,

Dani Combs:

child, you better get it right. Hold on, Katie's gonna text you later.

Carlos Jimenez:

After 10,000 years, I'm free. It's time to conquer Earth. 10,000 okay, I had to replay the theme song in my head.

Dani Combs:

So she's been in this trash can for 10,000 10,000

Carlos Jimenez:

years. So she's pissed, yes, so she's she's very upset. And so now the alarms go off. Alarms go off. Zordon is now, you know, oh no, what's going on? And alpha says it's Rita. She's been released. So now Zordon has to call upon five teenagers with attitude, okay? Five teenagers with attitude, because

Dani Combs:

they will save the world. Yes,

Carlos Jimenez:

you know. So then it goes into the scene of the teenagers in a youth center. Have you guys ever had a youth center?

Dani Combs:

Yeah, is that like, like, a YMCA, right? Ish,

Carlos Jimenez:

yeah. Like, they had, they had weights and things, but they also had, like, just one balance beam for Kimberly to show off her skills, you know, a loan balance beam and do all your trading here, right? So, yeah. So they had a youth center. They. Were all in there doing their thing, you know, together, yeah, okay, well, some of them were, like, paired off, you know, like, Zach and Jason were the martial artists. So they were got it practicing. Kimberly was doing her thing on the balance beam. Trini was doing her little who saw thing, you know, martial arts thing. And you know, so it goes into that scene. Then all of a sudden, there's an earthquake. It's Rita. She has finally made it to Earth or near Earth, and then Zordon just beams them to their command center. Okay, okay, wow, yeah, they they call it teleporting. They teleport to their command center. Then Zordon explains to them why they're there. They don't believe it. Obviously they're teenagers, and they're like, ah, yeah, whatever you know. So he gives them all of their stuff, like this. Who you are. This is the zord you're going to be commanding when you need them call upon the power and yada yada yada. So they don't believe him. They walk away and leave the command center. Well, you know, after all that's happening, they're still talking like, well, he could have at least teleported us back into town. So now they have to walk all the way back, and Rita sees them and then sends out her putty patrol. I love the name of this. Yes, the putty patrol. They are literally made of clay. They're made of putty. Shush. Okay.

Dani Combs:

Now Google again. No, I just Googled because I couldn't remember what she Oh,

Carlos Jimenez:

she's iconic.

Dani Combs:

I know I do the one picture I'm looking at, and I know it's not her, but like she kind of is giving Kristen Chenoweth in Descendants, yeah, just that one picture, yeah. Okay, so they're made of clay, all right,

Carlos Jimenez:

yeah. So they're made of clay or putty, and they're made into this machine that turns them into animate objects. They are now sent to earth to fight these rangers and destroy them before things get completely out of hand for Rita, because she's trying to conquer Earth. Okay, yes, so they they fight the Rangers. The Rangers don't win. And so now they're like, well, Zorn on gave us these powers to use. Let's use them. And then they have their first morph in the first episode, very, very first morph. Then they go into town where Goldar, who is Rita's henchman, is now waiting for them to battle.

Dani Combs:

Are you even an evil person, if you don't have a henchman, right? Or

Carlos Jimenez:

several, or a

Dani Combs:

body patrol, or a putty patrol, weird Storm Troopers

Carlos Jimenez:

made of clay, right? So then Golder is there waiting to fight them. They fight. Then Rita takes her magic wand, throws it down to earth, and that's how she makes them grow, and she uses the line magic wand make my monster grow.

Dani Combs:

I was hoping you would do voices. I

Carlos Jimenez:

can't do the voice like Barbara Goodson, who is the voice of Rita pulsa.

Dani Combs:

Gotcha.

Carlos Jimenez:

I cannot do her voice very well. But I did attempt. I

Dani Combs:

think that was pretty damn good. Thank you. Thank

Carlos Jimenez:

you. Yeah. So obviously the Rangers triumph. They win. They go back to the command center. Then everything is all hunky dory, and then you get the Power Rangers,

Dani Combs:

right. There you go, Okay, so basically, after that happens, do when they go back to the command center, are they now like a different vibe, because they left like, Oh, this is weird, correct? But now are they like, yes, we shall, Yeah, crazy stuff going down now, so guess we better do this, right?

Carlos Jimenez:

Yes, exactly. Well, some of them were kind of like, well, we were chosen, so we should do it okay, you know? But after they did win and everything had happened, they're like, You know what? We can do this. I

Dani Combs:

love and we shall, and we shall show for a very, very, very long time.

Carlos Jimenez:

But of course, to throw, to throw a little 90s wrench in it, yeah, at the very end. And I love this scene because it's Kimberly. And she goes, so everyone's like, yeah, we can do this. We can do this. And Kimberly's like, I don't know, you guys, my hair gets all tangled up in the helmets. I can't do this. And they go, no, come on. She goes not to throw that in there. I love that. Oh my god. When you guys see you'll see how cheesy it is.

Dani Combs:

I remember it being so cheesy, which also I love, yes, I also love campy. And

Carlos Jimenez:

that's very campy.

Dani Combs:

It's sort of like you at that point, with all these things you just described and other things like, you can't not acknowledge the cheese, right? I can't try to make it not cheesy. You have to be like, Yes, this is what is. What it is. Do you like it? Great, right? Right? But as a kid, right? Well, as a as a kid,

Carlos Jimenez:

as a four. Year old, not

Dani Combs:

to say Tell us about your origins of So, do you have more history for us before I bust in? No, okay.

Carlos Jimenez:

Well, one thing that I had was the Tommy. Tommy, when he became good, yeah, he had his own Megazord, okay? It was called the Dragon Zord,

Dani Combs:

because they had to film something new because he they weren't planning on him sticking around.

Carlos Jimenez:

I think so, Oh,

Dani Combs:

you're so smart. Well, here, here's

Carlos Jimenez:

what I think happened. I think that they had taken the origin story of the Green Ranger in a different direction. Okay, like, I think that what was gonna happen is they weren't gonna use the Green Ranger footage. Because I don't think that they had imagined that Power Rangers was gonna explode the day. So I don't know if they had thought, well, we're just gonna do this season, see how it goes. We'll take the Green Ranger out. We won't use the Green Ranger footage and be done with it. Well, when the fans went crazy and they saw how big it was getting. Then they were like, No, we need to bring them back. Now. We need that Green Ranger footage. We need to do all that stuff. Gotcha? Yeah. So I think that's when they started to, like, actually take all that other right? And they're like, now we need to edit all this and include him, and include him. What season was that? It's still all in the first season. Oh, all night, all of that was still done in the first season. Yeah, they were gonna take him out. It aired and, well, all of that happened in the first season, but he came back, sees like opening of season two. Okay,

Dani Combs:

gotcha? Got it. Got it. Got it. So he is in the So, okay, so tell us when you personally started watching the show. Did you watch it at four? Like you watched it when it came out? Oh, yeah. Okay. So tell us what memory some memories you have. I already know one, which is why he's giggling and I can't wait. You are gonna tell that story, right? Okay, I'm so excited I can't wait. So, um, tell us some memories you have with being a young fan. What? What made you love the show? Let us know, yeah. Baby

Carlos Jimenez:

Carlos, yes. Baby Carlos, so again, I, I've always been infatuated with anything colorful, yeah, anything like it could have been a show about horses with dyed hair, My Little Pony. There is one, My Little Pony. I anything the Snorks I love because they were multicolored. Boom, another Snork hair. Bears I love because they were multicolored. Yes, like all those multicolored things, I always, I've always been, in fact, any teams, X, men, anything like that? Yeah. So when I saw the Power Rangers, and I remember this distinctly, my grandma had turned on the TV, and already it was well into the episode, because the first thing I saw was them morphed, ah. And I was like, Ooh, I love this. So, you know, I just started watching it and putting it on and, you know, singing the theme song and all that stuff. Well, the memory that I told Danny was picture little four year old Carlos wanting to be the best Power Ranger he could. And in Power Rangers, they love to do these front flips right after they morph, yes. So I'm in my living room with my grandma. She's on the couch, she's just, you know, relaxing or whatever, and I'm watching Power Rangers. They start doing their flips. Well, little Carlos decides that he wants to do his Power Ranger flip lands straight on his back, and my grandma is trying really hard to hold back the laughter. But you can see the shoulder is moving with the giggles, and then she's trying to ask me if I'm okay, but she cannot get the words out. So that's never did that again, because that hurt,

Dani Combs:

because I just like, I'm thinking of your grandma, because my kids, like, I just, they're those kids where I'm like, don't do that. You're gonna hurt yourself, even then I'm like, you know, fine, right? So you told you, like, I'm not, like, one of those parents. It's like, oh, and Cooper will tell you, like, oh, okay, I will. But like, I'm like, Okay, well, you hurt your back.

Unknown:

I told you not to do that. Was her Yeah, grandma was a young grandma. I mean, she was at this point, she was in her mid 40s, wow, yeah, yeah. So

Dani Combs:

she was a hip Grandma. Grandma, was

Carlos Jimenez:

it our

Dani Combs:

ages? Ooh, Lord. Can you imagine having a four year old Carlos?

Unknown:

Well, you guys had your kids later, later. Yeah, that was 25 Yeah, my mom, my mom was 20 turning 21 yeah, when she had me, and my grandma had her at 18, yeah. So,

Dani Combs:

so even when you just shave off, it's crazy, like, if you shave off a couple years, yeah, it's and then generationally that, yeah, eventually it's like a much bigger gap, even though. Yeah, it doesn't feel like 21 said different than that happens, yeah? Well, also I feel like times change, like I feel like people have kids later and

Carlos Jimenez:

and we're Hispanic, so, you know, we just they have kids.

Dani Combs:

We'd be having kids, period, all right. Well, you said

Carlos Jimenez:

it. We did not look if I was a straight man, I'd probably have seven. I'm just gonna throw that, you know, oh, I'm in my mid 30s now, so yeah, I probably have seven. Well,

Dani Combs:

never too late. No, may not make it to seven at this point,

Unknown:

never too late. No, no, no, no. Thank you. Thank you. Well, I did want to circle back to the dragons, or though, because, yeah, there was a fun fact. So you know how in Japan, they had Godzilla, oh yeah, and how they were scared of God well, they turned him into a hero. Oh so the Dragonzord was modeled after Godzilla. Oh,

Dani Combs:

but now he's a good Godzilla and not a scary Godzilla, right?

Carlos Jimenez:

Okay, so yeah, they made him, great. Yeah, they made him into a good guy. So now, do I get into the actors side of Oh, yes, and the drama, I

Dani Combs:

don't know you're leading this, Lama, so we are following your lead. Okay, no, zero. So

Carlos Jimenez:

these actors were non union actors. Oh,

Dani Combs:

okay, I figured that would happen. Yeah. I mean children and, yeah, yeah. Well, were

Carlos Jimenez:

they children? They were not. They were actually adults, you know, young adults? Yeah, yeah, like any show in every 90s that you see, and I'm like, Are you, like, living, I don't believe you to be 14, you know. So, they were young adults. Okay? They were non union, non union actors. The pay wasn't great. The pay was not great for the amount of hours time and stunts, yeah, form, so it wasn't great. And that's why, when the contracts were supposed to renew, some of them left. New actors came in, and that's why you're not used to seeing like Jason Zach and Trini did not make it into the movie because they had left before that got it. Movie deal had happened, gotcha. So then you got the three new people and all that stuff. So, so instead of

Dani Combs:

fixing the work ethic there, they just said, Hey, we'll just hire some more people.

Unknown:

Correct? Yeah, Hollywood,

Dani Combs:

yeah. Shame on you.

Carlos Jimenez:

That's bad. So it's not, it's not all good things behind the scenes the show itself, which was great, but behind the scenes, it wasn't all that great, right? Yeah. So they kept going with the seasons and the same actors that would stay, that were willing to stay and do all that stuff. Well, after a certain amount of time, I would say after season five, six, no five, I was I was right, five or five or six, that's when Haim decided that he was gonna do what the Japanese version did. And every season after that, was gonna have a whole new story, all new actors, all new origin story. Oh, for how these new Rangers are not coming into their new powers. Got it

Dani Combs:

so it's like a Gen, not a generation. What it was Katie, what's the word I'm trying to think of, um,

Carlos Jimenez:

read her mind.

Dani Combs:

She usually can, like, know what you're saying, yeah? Well, like you said about the origin story, but it's like a Yeah, I can't think of it, see, we don't think of it. Wow, but, but essentially, by doing that, it gives you all new characters each season, correct? But I would guess, and maybe you can tell us, did they still kind of fit these sort of tropes, these sort of stereotypes like the Kimberly and the like whatever, or did they kind of vary what kind of backgrounds and skills they had? Yeah?

Carlos Jimenez:

So each character did have their own story. Some of them did circle back to the pretty blonde or the, you know, the prettiest one is the pink ranger, or whatever the case may be. Sometimes they flipped it in one of my favorite seasons, which was in space, I always thought that the Yellow Ranger was super pretty, and the Pink Ranger she was, don't get me wrong, she was pretty too, like she was this cute little Asian girl. And I loved her too, and I loved her character. But if you were gonna go with, like, the acrylic nails, the hair done, the makeup, it was the Yellow Ranger at that during that season, and that's the one in space, and that's your favorite season. That's that's my favorite season. Yes, the storyline in that one, like, goes beyond what most. Children can comprehend. And I think that they did that on purpose, because at this point, you have now grown up into a little a little bit more mature, because in space was 97 Okay, so I was like eight, so it's not from four to eight. It's not that big, I know. But they decided to take it into a little bit a little bit more mature and create the story of this Ranger, Lone Ranger, Lone Ranger, looking for his sister. Oh, who was kidnapped when they were kids. Okay, yeah. And so now the team is now joining him in this search, and later they find out that she's been under their noses the entire time because she was the villain. Spoiler alert, I'm sorry, but if you haven't seen it by now, if you haven't seen it by now,

Dani Combs:

spoiler alert, from 1997 1997 I mean, I see what you're saying, though, because it was a way to kind of hold on to the fans, right? Like, as a Yeah, as a grow Yeah. And then obviously you're gonna get new fans into the other things. And I suppose there were probably reruns and stuff of the earlier seasons that the younger fans could get into, but that would be a way to kind of grow with your fan base, correct?

Carlos Jimenez:

And actually, the seasons following Mighty Morphin were not doing so well. Oh, really, space kind of saved it. Oh, yep, space

Dani Combs:

and that was what number season.

Carlos Jimenez:

That was Season Six. Six.

Dani Combs:

Okay, wow, okay, so

Carlos Jimenez:

Mighty Morphin had three seasons, okay, then it jumped into Zeo, okay. Then turbo, yes, turbo and then space six.

Dani Combs:

So they're not called Mighty Morphin. The whole time they're not called, I didn't know that either. I know my intro was real wacky. No, no, we're

Carlos Jimenez:

focused on Mighty Morphin. Okay, yeah, okay. This is mighty more.

Dani Combs:

I tried

Carlos Jimenez:

no but the the originals is always the OGS is, mm, P, R, okay, I d Morphin Power Rangers, and that

Dani Combs:

was the 90s. So that was the early 90s, early 90s. So you told us about your favorite season. So we need to we know the answer to this, yes. We need to know about your favorite Power Ranger of all of them, and why that's your favorite? Yeah,

Unknown:

I am a pink ranger fan. I love the pink ranger. I have always loved the Pink Ranger. I did grow up in a family where you have the macho dad, and he's like, Well, you're not supposed to like the pink ranger, but, but you know it's whatever. Yeah, you know behind dad's back, I still love the pink ranger. Sorry, dad, love you. Can't squash I know this now, right? But back then, I still love the pink ranger, even though I told you that I love the red.

Dani Combs:

Sorry, you had to do that. It's

Carlos Jimenez:

okay. It's okay. Times were different. Back then, Dad and I are good. Now,

Dani Combs:

okay, that's what matters. Yes, all right, dad, we'll let it go. I guess I might still side eye you.

Unknown:

But a funny story about that too is that I have so on that side of my family, I have seven other brothers. You do seven other brothers. Wow, my family, so seven in Lord, so seven in me. So we're eight total. Wow. Yeah, I'll show you guys a picture later. Eight, all of us, eight boys. I my dad.

Dani Combs:

I have a house with three males, four, including my cat, and I think I would have to just take a break from that.

Carlos Jimenez:

And that's why, whenever we had any pets, we had to get

Dani Combs:

females. That's your poor mother. That is so much, that is so much, that is so much eight

Carlos Jimenez:

boys. So bless her, and out of eight boys, two of us came out gay. Oh,

Unknown:

but I love that.

Dani Combs:

I love it. So I wonder, like, percentage wise. Like, what that looks like nowadays anyway? Like, in a family, yeah, what percentage of siblings

Carlos Jimenez:

are gay? Yeah,

Dani Combs:

maybe 50% maybe 20% or something like that, or 25% something like, I mean true also to like, Can we just not have the labels and like, just let people like, like, I feel like we're getting close to there where we can just like, let people just be my sister and I have conversations about this all the time, about just labeling gender and sexuality like, because I think most people, whether they want to admit it or not, live in the gray like most people are in the gray you just society tells you to pick one way or the other, but I think most peeps in both those categories. Do you all not agree with me? Yeah, for sure,

Carlos Jimenez:

and I don't like the fact that there's you have to. Come out, I know. Like, yes, straight people don't have to come right?

Dani Combs:

I didn't have to sit my parents down and be like, I gotta tell you something, not really like boys.

Carlos Jimenez:

So I'm hoping we get to that point where it's like, I agree. People could just grow up. Yeah, and then, hey, Mom, this is who I'm dating, and that's it. Or just like any kind

Dani Combs:

of anybody you want.

Carlos Jimenez:

If you introduce Troy to your mom and dad, it's just like, like,

Dani Combs:

that thing, like, you don't, you don't need a conversation ahead of time, the person correct comes to dinner like, Oh, hey,

Carlos Jimenez:

this is who it is.

Dani Combs:

I would say, No, I don't know. Like my kids so far, my teens have dated, you know, cisgender direction, but like, I feel like in our house, that is something that probably would happen. Wait, one of them will just imagine, with that welcome, yeah, I don't know. I mean, I hope, I hope that that will be the case, but it won't be like, a big conversation or anything, right? It'll just be like, Oh, cool. This is who they like, exactly, great. Yeah, then like next month, because they're teenagers. Oh, cool. This is

Carlos Jimenez:

right next month two week policy. It's a two week policy.

Dani Combs:

I always just say, Look, all I want is for somebody to be in your life who loves you and respects you exactly all I'm wanting you to have, yes, 100. You know what? How? Whatever that looks like for you. I'm happy, and that's

Unknown:

how my parents now are. Now are good, fantastic. Yeah, evolution, yes, that's what love does. So I want to give a quick shout out to my brother, Johnny. Hey, Johnny. Hi, Johnny. So Johnny is my brother, who is gay as well, and his favorite color is yellow, all right, so we never had to fight over who is pink and who is Yay. All of my other brothers fought. No, I'm blue. No, I'm blue. I'm red. No, me and Johnny were just standing in the back. Like I got mine. We got our colors. When are we gonna start this? We've been waiting to play this game and fight these putties, and y'all sitting there trying to figure it out. So

Dani Combs:

you had, like, a family ready? Let's like Katie's house with five kids. Yes, you just have, like, playmates ready to be God.

Carlos Jimenez:

We had, yeah, Power Ranger Team

Dani Combs:

assemble. What do they say? What do they say?

Carlos Jimenez:

They don't, oh, they just say, it's more the Avengers. Oh, there we

Dani Combs:

Avengers. Someone says it, yeah, the Avengers, okay, well, we have totally Yes. Go back sorry to your research. Yes.

Carlos Jimenez:

Well, I also wanted to throw another story, Power Rangers. I'm part of a blended family. My parents are divorced, yay. Blended family, yes, and they read they have remarried. Okay, I'm gonna take this a little bit of a morbid direction, sorry, but it's, it's light. I, I had an uncle who had Down syndrome, and he lived a very long life, and he was very much into Power Rangers as well. Nice. Yes, very much into Power Rangers. He had clubs like, if you upset him, you were out of the club. Oh, if you were on his good graces, you were in the club. Oh, quick shout out to Uncle Marco. Love you. But today is actually the anniversary of his funeral. Today, today is the anniversary of his funeral. And I had to just say that it's weird how time happens. Yeah. So when we had his funeral, all of us, nieces and nephews, obviously told stories about us and the Power Rangers and him, he loved the Black Ranger. He was our Black Ranger. And I actually took a power coin from one of my collections, and I took the Black Ranger power coin and I put it in with his, his remains in with there, yeah, so sorry, that's take it there. I'm sorry, but it's a full circle, because it happened in both sides of my family. Really, Power Rangers was that big that it happened on both sides of my family. So it was, it was just fantastic, how I could go from one side of my family and then go to the other and still play the same games. I love that now my new siblings, you know? So, yeah, so and again, I had one step sister on my mom and step dad side of the family, and she was the Yellow Ranger. Oh, got it. So then I was a pink ranger. You never had to share, never had to share, except for with my cousins. Oh, because, you know, like I said, with Uncle Marco, if you upset him, you were out of the club. So when I was out of the club, my cousins were in Oh, and so they would be the Pink Ranger. And I'm

Dani Combs:

like, Dang Yeah, I gotta get back.

Carlos Jimenez:

I gotta get back. I gotta get back in the club.

Dani Combs:

I love that. So, like, Power Rangers has, like, lots of emotional ties for you a lot, like, there's a lot of layers here, a lot, which I feel like so many things that we look back on with nostalgia. It's never just for one reason. There's always, like. Yeah. And I was also thinking, while you're talking, like, as a young gay kid, did you feel like the Power Rangers were like, kind of part of like, did that help you with your you weren't allowed to be your full self, but maybe you felt like you could when you were being the Pink Ranger, yeah? Like, I mean, that's very, very like, out there. No,

Carlos Jimenez:

it's, it's, it's within, um, kind of, yeah, it was more of the fact that, you know, like when I would, when I would play with my siblings on my step dad's side of the family, and it was with my uncle and everything, you know, he did not see colors, yeah? Being a specific gender, yeah, I said I wanted to be the Pink Ranger, yeah? He saw a girl played it, but he was like, All right, be the Pink Ranger, yeah. And it was okay, you know, it didn't register to him that it's a girl color, right? Sure. You know, he was like, okay, that that's who you want to be beautiful, yeah? Then do it. I'll put you down in the club. I'll put you down in the club. But yeah, it kind of let me express myself, yeah, like on my feminine side, yeah. You know, I feel like I have both sides. I have a feminine side, I have a masculine side. One shows more than the other. I know

Dani Combs:

we all have both. We all definitely do, but I can see as, like, a kid, like, yeah, because you were in costume, yeah, you were allowed. You could be like, Oh, but I'm a character right now, which, you know, we're all performers. We all do that. Like, there's characters that I've been I got cast as a villain in a few years in something. And it was amazing, because I was like, in real life, because Katie is so anti not New Zealand. I was like, I am, like, actually doing this, so I'm finding this somewhere. Yeah, yeah. I cannot worry, like, what it looks like or how I'm perceived, because I'm in character, right, right, right, right. Like, and I can just have fun with it and go as far as far as I want, because it's a character, yeah, and nobody's telling you to stop exactly, exactly. So I feel like maybe even as a kid like that could have been you. Like, I don't. I can go as far as I want as the Pink Ranger, exactly. It's this character who has these superpowers, basically, right? You know? So that's very loved.

Carlos Jimenez:

The costumes, of course, also, yeah, they were all amazing,

Dani Combs:

of course, so good. And not to skip ahead in years, but Carlos has a official cosplay costume made for him of the pink ranger in space, right? Yes,

Carlos Jimenez:

the Space Ranger, which

Dani Combs:

you can see, I said pink ranger in space. That's wrong. I don't know what the title is. Yeah. Is that right? Okay, all right. And you can see his pictures on our social it's amazing. And shout out to Cindy, who

Unknown:

altered it a little bit. Yes, shout out to Cindy. And shout out to who was the person who made okay? So, holu, H, A, l, u, 007, on Instagram, yeah, made the costume, all right. And then wild Ranger five on Instagram is who made my helmet, okay? And he's got two helmets. I have two helmets, yeah, made by the same person because his work is amazing. Oh my gosh. All of my Power Ranger fans, if you want quality helmets, wild Ranger five, Instagram, check

Dani Combs:

them out. Check them out. Yeah, we always like to give shout outs.

Unknown:

I love it.

Dani Combs:

Yeah, the helmets are amazing. So good. All right. So what else you got? What else do you got for us? And those color code I know, so pretty, so

Carlos Jimenez:

pretty being that the Power Rangers the first season were supposed to be, you know, from like the prehistoric era, their first original names were Dino Rangers. How cute, exactly. So I think it's exactly I made a face exactly, but that's why they change it to Mighty Morphin, because when they were introduced as the diner Rangers, a lot of people went, Daddy's like, Oh, fun, or that's cute. We're not going for cute. Yeah,

Dani Combs:

you don't want like, yeah, no. Rangers does remind me of, like, a cartoon, right? Which I get, which was cartoonish in nature, but they weren't going for Saturday morning cartoons, exactly. It was campy, not cartoony. That's different, yes,

Carlos Jimenez:

right, yeah, oh, for sure. It's a major

Dani Combs:

says the person who's like, Yay, Dino Rangers cartoon Carlos are

Carlos Jimenez:

like, I know. I didn't like the name. I do love cartoons, but I did not. They

Dani Combs:

changed it. They

Carlos Jimenez:

changed it to Mighty Morphin because it sounded powerful. Now I have a circle back for you girls.

Dani Combs:

Oh, no, another correction,

Carlos Jimenez:

no, no. Okay, you guys had later. That's for later. That's when I listen back. You know, you guys had mentioned Inspector Gadget, yes, and how much you both love Inspector Gadget. Okay, so the person who was trying to figure out, Okay, now we need a theme song, because all 80s, 90s shows had amazing theme songs that had to be orchestrated and all that stuff. Well, at that time, Inspector Gadget had. A very catchy theme song. And so the person that was in charge of it was like, I want to incorporate go go something like, I want to incorporate, kind of like how Inspector Gadget says, Go, Go gadget, blah, blah,

Dani Combs:

blah gadget.

Unknown:

And then it goes, yeah. So they wanted to incorporate the word go, and that's where go go. Power Rangers came into that's awesome. Came into play. That's a fun one. And I always have liked that theme song. If no one has heard that theme song, you need to like stop now, press pause and find listen to it. It is really good. I mean, they did not need to go that hard on.

Dani Combs:

That's what they did back then in the 90s, everything is a banger. We would have watched it anyway, but thank you for the effort. We'll take both. I always say that this is about Shrek, the musical. Oh, for sure, because the music's so good. I'm like, they didn't need big music. Like any people will come see this show, and like, every song is amazing,

Carlos Jimenez:

exactly, yeah, that's what it is. Yeah. It's just like Power Rangers. So they had an amazing theme song, not like the costumes and everything. Didn't already draw you right now you have this rocking theme song. I love that. That just ties it all together. Yeah. So good, yes. So now going back to the history or the facts about Power Rangers, it is still going, okay, okay. So it is so 93 to now, 2024

Dani Combs:

with no pause or no, oh, wow.

Carlos Jimenez:

They kept going. That's amazing. They literally have not stopped. I

Dani Combs:

will say that speaks to the fandom too, because you have a fandom that, like totally is strong for that long, 30

Carlos Jimenez:

years, 34 hours, 30 plus years.

Unknown:

Yeah, yeah,

Carlos Jimenez:

I'm 30 I'm 3430 years. Oh, look at that. Look at our gonna be 35 Yeah. So yeah, it's been going on for that long. And like I said, I think that this one might be their last one, but again, like Cher, yeah, is gonna come back, yeah. And then after season six, so seven, going forward, they've always had a new cast come in every season, every single work, every season. No, no, no, no, no. He's like, do

Dani Combs:

you remember the back flip incident?

Carlos Jimenez:

I am not a martial artist. I am not a gymnast. So they

Dani Combs:

have somebody who does double pirouettes.

Unknown:

I mean,

Dani Combs:

right? That could be your superpower. It

Carlos Jimenez:

could be if the if the Japanese footage had somebody who did pirouettes, I could have so dominated.

Dani Combs:

They run out of Japanese footage by now, the Japanese are still going. So they're still going too, I see. So they're just taking what they're doing. Okay, question then, yep. So this American guy who took the idea. So of course, me always wondering, who's stealing from people? Is there? Do they work together with the Japanese company? Who does the show? Are they just, I mean, there's got to be some kind of deal worked out. They have their footage,

Carlos Jimenez:

I'm sure. And I'm pretty sure that that's probably the reason why they're not paying their actors what they should be making. Still paying a lot for that. I'm sure that now, with inflation, it's gotten a little better, but it's not something that they could you know,

Dani Combs:

I'm just curious because, like, is it a partnership deal with like, the Japanese?

Carlos Jimenez:

Most likely they've been going on for 30 years on, I

Dani Combs:

won't throw shade to them. Yeah, pay your workers. Yeah, the worker thing sucks, yeah? But your workers, please, yeah, painter workers, pay your damn workers well.

Carlos Jimenez:

And in the first season alone with marketing, capitalism, I hear that word all the time here, capitalism, marketing, toys, videos, VHS, tapes, all that stuff. Not on top of that. They had to do extra behind the scenes things. So the Green Ranger had a Martial Arts video that he had to shoot, doing a whole VHS about, like, little martial arts, and

Dani Combs:

he didn't get paid for that. I'm

Carlos Jimenez:

sure he did. Probably no

Dani Combs:

royalties, exactly, yeah, like you get paid for the time, for the right pay you for the shoot, but then, but that's it. They make everything, right?

Unknown:

So press stuff, all that, yeah, nothing. They just like that, right? So the the creator of the American version, made a billion dollars that year, but yeah, you would think you could share some of the wealth.

Dani Combs:

Listen, is he a white man? No, okay, well, he's a man. So

Carlos Jimenez:

his name is Haim Saban. Oh, I have no idea what, who, where he's from, yeah, but he has an accent, so be

Dani Combs:

okay. All right. I was just asking that. Just gives me an extra layer to yell at him about if he was white.

Carlos Jimenez:

No, for

Dani Combs:

real, and he's not paying the. Workers. So come on, dude, yeah, capitalism, see strikes again. But yet we are consumers of it. So exactly like we've been fans for 30

Carlos Jimenez:

it's just so good. It's so I know. I know. So 30 seasons in, yeah? Basically, I think I wrote this down 30 seasons in 22 different variations of Power Rangers. Wow. So some of them re capped or came back. So like, you have, like different versions of dinos or ones you have different versions of wild life, you know, like lions, and there's wild forces, another season that I really like, and they had animal based swords. That's fun. So cute. I love it. Well, cute is not the right word. I love just the suits. They were great,

Dani Combs:

okay, when they were kind of like Google, they might have to like, see this Wild

Carlos Jimenez:

Force was a good one. Um, so Wild Force was a good one. And again, there was another one that was after that called Jungle Fury. So again, with the animal theme. So there were 22 different variations of Power Rangers. Gotcha. Three movies. Oh, wow. Three movies and special that they just like it was a Netflix special. There's no more TV. No, I'm kidding. No more Netflix special came out last year where they brought some of the OGS oh five back. Now I'm gonna circle back to that okay one, because there's also a curse that's tied into, at least that they say that there's a curse tied into the Power Rangers, where anyone who's been in it or has been associated with it, has something bad has happened to them? Oh, yes. One of the first ones that has happened was tui Trang, who was the original Yellow Ranger. She died in a car accident in 2001 yes. And the most recent big one that just happened was Jason, David Frank, who played the Green Ranger. No, no, no. Sorry. He committed suicide a couple years ago. Yeah, oh, no. So, and then there's stuff in between of Ranger, like other rangers or tech, or anybody who's either been diagnosed with cancer and didn't make it, or, you know, something has happened, yeah, I think another, another Ranger actor also committed suicide. He was on another season. So they call it the Power Ranger curse, dang, because of,

Dani Combs:

and if you're changing casts every season, that's a lot of, that's a lot of,

Carlos Jimenez:

yeah, yeah, that's Yeah, so, but again, I don't believe in curses, so this is just what they're saying. The

Dani Combs:

other side of that, you're changing casts every season, a few of them probably something bad is going well, that's true,

Carlos Jimenez:

right? And you don't know what's going on in somebody's life. Literally,

Dani Combs:

like seven people the whole time, and three of them right now dead, you'd be like, Whoa. Like, if we're talking about 50 or 60, you know, I mean, like, over the course of time, not light of any of it. No, no, of course, terrible. But like, like you said, you know, it just adds to the alert Exactly. And like, what? Yeah, what's going on with it? So

Carlos Jimenez:

that being said. Now, circling back to this new Netflix special, yeah, being that they brought the originals back, they had to make a story about how the Yellow Ranger had perished. Oh, and they did mention that Rita was the one who did it. So now they brought in a new actress, being Trinis daughter. Oh, that's cute. Oh, I like that. And now she's trying to gain the power of her mother. Oh, I really like that. Yes. And towards the end they have this whole flashback scene that have I cry. I'm about to stop thinking about it now, they had this whole flashback of all these scenes that tui was in back in the 90s. In the original show, they got all that footage, and they just did like a little flash, like a quick flashback. Oh, my God. Brought me two tears, because we all love twee, yeah, we all love her. So, yeah, so I'm glad that they incorporated her still in this new, uh, special, yeah, me too. Oh, it was it. I think it was well done. If you guys haven't seen this call Power Rangers once and always.

Dani Combs:

Okay, but do we need to know anything about Power Rangers to watch it? Um, no, they kind of recap. Okay, so maybe that's where we start.

Carlos Jimenez:

They kind of, they kind of recap. But, you know, like, you'll you'll notice, like, some of the actors did not come back for whatever reasons they had, like, it would have been great to see Amy Jo, but she did not, no, she didn't come back. I know

Dani Combs:

she's the one I remember the most. Yeah,

Carlos Jimenez:

I also love, she's Susie Q, I

Dani Combs:

know, I mean, and I have also loved pink. I mean, I mean, you know, so

Carlos Jimenez:

that now, although she didn't come back, they did have some of her voices dubbed in. So they, I guess they took some from, like old footage that they might have had, and dubbed her voice in. Again, I don't know if she got paid for it, but they. But they dug their voice. But it was good to hear like I noticed it, like it didn't go unnoticed. So I was like, All right, Amy Joe, you're

Dani Combs:

here ish, you're here ish, yeah. I

Carlos Jimenez:

loved it. I love that. But yeah, once and always is a very good they tied it back to the OGS brought it. It was just great nostalgia. So

Dani Combs:

on that note, why? Why do you think that Power Rangers left a mark, not only in the 90s, but are still leaving a mark, like in pop culture today? What do you think the driving force is? Well, or what multiple ones? Of course,

Carlos Jimenez:

well, I think Alex say, who is Amanda's boyfriend? I have to give him his shout out, because that's my that's my cousin, not really my cousin, but he's my cousin,

Dani Combs:

also Puerto Rican Prince, right? Yes, you have a lot of cousins, so I would have believed you.

Carlos Jimenez:

No. Well, he's Puerto Rican and, you know, so as soon as I met him, we clicked, and it was this subject that we clicked on, and so I just call him a cousin. Well, he put it the best way possible. Anyone can be a ranger, and that doesn't mean a Power Ranger. Anyone can be a hero, if you step up and, you know, just stand up for what you truly believe in, and don't stay quiet about it, you yourself can be a hero, and I think that's what the Power Rangers, especially being that there's so many seasons now, so many actors, different colors, different backgrounds, everything that they've incorporated in this show. Now I see my representation. Anyone can see their representation. Now as a ranger, you yourself can be a I'm a ranger. Finally, I am finally a Power Ranger, you know? So it's, I think that's what that's what it is. It's that it started off with this group of teenagers or young adults, and has grown into now I see myself. I see me that could be me on TV, that could be me as a hero. I love that. And I think that he that's what it is. It's just like anyone can can be a hero, and then once you're a hero, you're always a hero. They say that once a ranger, always a ranger. Oh, and it's just, I love that. That's how it is. So I think that the fandom and they truly believe in that Yeah, and that message that has been given out for 30 years, yeah, wow. So I think that's why Yeah, too. And

Dani Combs:

I think that's a benefit to the the cast, like, whatever capitalistic reasons they have for doing right, like you mentioned, like, there's probably someone in there who who looks like you or has interests like you, or some something you identify with somewhere in there, exactly, and then they move on. But, like you said, once a ranger, always, always a ranger. So, like, that's you too. Like, I did this thing in my life, and now I'm doing this thing, but I always will have that, you know? I think that that's really powerful. And

Carlos Jimenez:

I do love the fact that they, they will bring them back, yeah, you know, there's episodes where they come back, and even if they haven't been in a Power Ranger show years ago, they'll come back and do one episode. Oh, I love that, you know. So, like, there, you know, there's different specialty episodes that they'll have within the season, and they'll do things like that. And then you're watching and you're like, Oh my God, you're back, and it's, you know,

Dani Combs:

I love that so much. Fantastic. So well, did we get to everything? Do

Carlos Jimenez:

you always more? I, you know what I probably do?

Dani Combs:

Well, we had to go to a part two with Troy. So, I mean, we can always do that. We can always do that. I mean, look at how

Carlos Jimenez:

neat and color code, I know, yes, I already touched up on the actor pain, yeah, thank you

Dani Combs:

for not asking us trivia.

Carlos Jimenez:

Don't you worry, because we would have failed. Oh, I did want to mention some, some countries banned car Rangers, oh. And why violent? Too violent, or it just did not read well in their country. And so they were like, no. So, countries like New Zealand, Canada, Canada and Malaysia, what? Yeah, okay, but New Zealand and Canada obviously lifted that, because now they played in Canada and they shoot in New Zealand.

Dani Combs:

Oh, well, they're like, and never mind. So

Carlos Jimenez:

they were like, wait, you want to shoot

Dani Combs:

here? Okay, you

Carlos Jimenez:

know, we'll play your show. We'll play your show. You know, you gotta show parts of our country. We'll lift we'll lift that band. Capitalism remains,

Dani Combs:

even in New Zealand, take a stand.

Carlos Jimenez:

I think that lasted for like the first season, maybe, and then they were like, never mind. Yeah, whatever. So it wasn't long. I. Yeah, it was,

Dani Combs:

I know. What else did you have to tell? I

Carlos Jimenez:

know. I'm telling you I lit you guys. So much of it lives up here. You have no idea how much of a fan I was of your show that I wanted to be in this. So when you guys literally said we want you to do this and talk about Power Rangers, I went crazy. It makes

Dani Combs:

me so happy.

Carlos Jimenez:

I love it. Another circle back. Rob, okay, yay. McDonald's toy.

Dani Combs:

Oh, hooray. Wait a second, did the Power Ranger toys have wheels? Yes, they

Carlos Jimenez:

had wheels. And yes, look it up, they had wheels. And we were promised, we were promised a Megazord that you can turn into the actual Megazord. So they were gonna have different pieces. So you actually had to get different Happy Meals to make sure you get all the collection and then put it together. Never got that, yeah, I was like, these, don't look like they went together. We never got that. They which one, so you have to, okay, look up, yes, okay, so that pink ranger one right there, and this group right here, that's what I was. This was right after the 95 movie. So 19, yeah,

Dani Combs:

1995 together. No, you know what? I still ate Happy Meals like as a teen. Obviously, I had my birthday party. I had the Pink Ranger toy of this. I just that just brought me

Carlos Jimenez:

back. Yeah, weird, yeah. So these are the Megazords that were in the movie, okay, in 95 so they're all different. They're not the original Megazords that you're used to. So they're not the Tyrannosaurs Rex or anything like that. So now you have the White Ranger was the Falcon, Yellow Ranger was the bear, the pink ranger was the crane, Blue Ranger was a wolf, Black Ranger was the frog, and the Red Ranger was the ape.

Dani Combs:

Okay, so that's not the dinosaurs. That's not the dinosaurs. Okay,

Carlos Jimenez:

so you would put your characters inside your zord and wheel them. So when you mentioned that the toys had wheels, I was like, Oh, my God, you're right, they all had

Dani Combs:

wheels. Why is that McDonald's burning question?

Carlos Jimenez:

I don't know. I'm gonna have

Dani Combs:

to find out, because what has began as a casual observation has now turned into like some conspiracy theory rabbit hole. Yes, they

Carlos Jimenez:

had wheels. What the

Dani Combs:

heck yes. Oh my gosh. Well, we love, we love having, like, friends on our show, yeah, but friends who are also fans is really fun. Like, and also, by the way, people out there who listen to the show, who want to be on the show, you have to have a reason. I bet so many people like, I want to be on your show. I'm like, Cool. What's yours? Any old tie in and any old tie in? And they're like, blank, like, I mean, I love you, and I like, we want to hang out with you, but like, you gotta have something that ties you to any old something. Well,

Carlos Jimenez:

I was, I was literally that fan. I was like, I was like, I love your show. I want to be on it. And you're like, well, give us a topic, and we're like, oh. Then I

Dani Combs:

was like, Wait, Power Rangers, because I heard you and Amanda talk about it during Diana and Alex, a was very upset that we did not ask him to be

Carlos Jimenez:

no okay, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna say this, I I'm happy to be on the show. I love you guys. I think he's more of a super fan

Dani Combs:

than he said it, he said

Carlos Jimenez:

it, I said it. I love you, Primo. That's cousin in Spanish. But yes, I Yeah, so, but I

Dani Combs:

come on for something we should, okay, you heard it here? Yeah, yeah.

Carlos Jimenez:

I'm sure he'd love it.

Dani Combs:

I know, you know, he'd be great. He's He's also a performer, yeah, yes, he actually, they're coming in town for the golden apple. Maybe we should talk to him. Yes. All right, you heard it here, Amanda, if he didn't hear it, tell him, because I know she listens. All right, so, all right, what else on it? We hit all the things,

Carlos Jimenez:

okay, and then just one final thing that I wanted to, that I wanted to hit on, that I didn't. And I should have sorry, but a lot of people were a little hurt about racial things that were happening that they thought were happening in the show. It's not, it wasn't intentional. So what? Tell us so Zach, played by Walter Emmanuel Jones. Okay. Was black, okay. Played a Black Ranger. Oh, I see tweet rang. Was Asian. She played a Yellow Ranger. Again, this was not intentional. It was just how it happened. How white people, right? Yeah, it's just how it was cast. You know, the character itself, Walter, was the best for it. He happened to be black. The Yellow Ranger was Audrey Dubois originally, and she quit, so they found twee, yeah, so a lot of people don't know that. They think, oh, well, back then, why they had the Black Ranger be black and the Yellow Ranger be Asian, and it was. Like, that's just how it was cast. It wasn't intentional, like they weren't even thinking about it, right? So it's our own perception getting into our own heads as fans seeing that, yeah, so, but it wasn't. It had nothing to do with it. I wanted to clear that up, yeah? Because

Dani Combs:

Danny would have been like, hold on a second to be texting you later. I just noticed. Why did you not tell me this? Why

Carlos Jimenez:

did they do this in the show? It was you not intentional. And then when they hear that, yeah, and then when they redid the movie, I think it was 2017 fact check me, it was somewhere in the mid 2000s they redid the movie, or did a new movie, Power Rangers, right? And now they had an Asian playing the Black Ranger, a black man playing the Blue Ranger, then you had a Hispanic as the Yellow Ranger, Becky G

Dani Combs:

so they essentially made sure they did not make that mistake again again, even though they didn't do it really the first time. They wanted to be very sure they did not, because

Carlos Jimenez:

of the controversy they had. Well, good for them, yeah, even though they kind of fixed it after those actors left, yeah, they kind of fixed it because then the new actress who played the Yellow Ranger, she was black, and the Black Ranger was Asian, so

Dani Combs:

yeah, but I can see how they would just, like, deliberately be like, wait a second, yeah, yes. Where are we putting this person? Hmm, how about Blue, right? Just, just because of, like, Yeah, that's amazing. Well,

Carlos Jimenez:

it had nothing to do with it's just like, our our scenarios, when we go into an audition, if we fit the role we play, right? You know? I mean, obviously there's some roles that you just can't play, but those are roles you should not be auditioning

Dani Combs:

for. Correct? Don't show

Carlos Jimenez:

up. It had to be said. It had to be said. If you know that you are not supposed to be there,

Dani Combs:

do not show up. Go white people were talking to you.

Carlos Jimenez:

However, however much you want to play the role. If you know it ain't for you. Yeah, it ain't. No, don't

Dani Combs:

do it. Let it be. Yeah, I

Carlos Jimenez:

say to myself, if I know I'm not supposed to play a character, I'm not gonna show up for the audition, but I'll sing the song in a cabaret or something. Oh,

Dani Combs:

but he'll definitely show up to audition to be Gloria. Just saying, Gloria,

Carlos Jimenez:

look, I may not be the right gender, but I am Hispanic. I mean, and Gloria Stefan is like, my it girl.

Dani Combs:

We'll do another episode on her. Yes, we should. I can't wait to hear it.

Carlos Jimenez:

I cannot wait to hear it. All right,

Dani Combs:

all right. Well, thank you, Carlos. If you are a fan on Patreon, we are gonna do a little after show, so stick around for that, for the story from Diana and whatever else, and Carlos is actually gonna join us for a Dawsons Creek episode, right? If you see season one, episode six, the bait, or it's just called Baby, baby, baby, Carlos is also on there. So even if you haven't listened to our Dawsons Creek but you want to hear more Carlos, that's where to go. Who doesn't, or come on over to Patreon, and hopefully we'll have him back again very soon. Yes,

Carlos Jimenez:

whenever. Thank you guys, so much for inviting me. Guys, I've had so much fun. I

Dani Combs:

learned a lot me too, like so much. So thank you awesome. Well, we will see you next time. Guys, thanks for listening. Thanks for joining us. And until next time, I wrote down a catchphrase, and now I lost it. Where'd it go? Oh, May the power protect you. Yeah, I don't even know who says that, Zordon, as Zordon always says, May the power protect you, yay. And see you guys next time, bye. You.

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