Mighty Morphin Power Rangers S01E01, "Day of the Dumpster" (30 Years Later) TV Episode Review

Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing pretty well. Today is a very special day. It's the 30th anniversary of Power Rangers. Which makes me feel old because I was 6 going on 7 when the show first aired back in 1993, though I wouldn't discover the show until a few months later, after I'd turned 7. In honour of the 30th Anniversary of the franchise, I'm going to be reviewing the first episode, "Day of the Dumpster", which aired on this day in 1993. There will be spoilers because, it is a 30 year old show. So let's get into it.

 The best first episodes are the ones that do a good job of introducing the audience not only to the main characters, but to the world they live in, because they won't be familiar with the setting. But "Day of the Dumpster", after the initial opening scene, dumps us into what our world might've been in 1993. Not all of us were teenagers or adults back then, and we might not have had a Youth Center and a juice bar that we could go hang out at with our friends every single day. But, some of us did live in a small town or small city, and some of us did have four friends that we hung out with all the time, so in that regard, MMPR dropped us into a familiar location. 

The '90s had a real problem in fiction, children's fiction especially, where astronauts would land on the Moon, an asteroid or other planetoid, discover some unknown thing, that turns out to be dangerous, and either open it, unleashing aliens, or take a sample of it with them back to Earth. I just watched the three part introduction of Venom from Spider-Man: The Animated Series, and it was the same thing. Except here, they freed Rita and her henchmen from their confinement, but still, they encountered the space dumpster, yes, Once & Always confirmed that it is indeed a space dumpster, and opened it even though they had no idea what it was. Mind you, this won't be the last time someone in the Power Rangers Universe will accidently unleash the bad guys by opening their prison, but still, it's funny that astronauts, of all people, would be that foolish.

I just wanna talk about the cast for a moment, because they did a spectacular job, especially the ones playing the Rangers since this was their first job. None of the characters are unlikeable in this episode, not even Rita, but she's not great at conquering worlds, so even though she's evil she's still likeable. Bulk and Skull are the only characters that I don't like in this episode, just because they're portrayed as more problematic in these early episodes, this one in particular, than they would be as the season, and the series, went on. But they aren't the focus of these early episodes, as we spend more time with the Rangers doing Ranger stuff, than we do with them in their normal, every day lives. Similar to how in Batman (1966-1968) we'd spend the first few minutes of part 1 of the two part episodes with Bruce and Dick before they went to Police Headquarters as Batman and Robin. Though here the Rangers don't morph right after the opening credits, since they're before the episode starts.

Austin St. John is great as Jason. He just has that leadership presence in a way that some modern Red Rangers don't in their first episodes, and you know he does his best to help Billy overcome his difficulties in getting the moves down, since Billy is more intellectual than physical, and David Yost really got that down perfectly in this episode. I love Walter Jones as Zack. I didn't when I was a kid. I didn't hate him, but Zack wasn't one of my favourite Rangers. Adam was, Kimberly was, and Jason and Tommy were my top favourite Power Rangers in the Mighty Morphin era. But during the rewatch of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers that I did a year ago for the review series that stalled out after Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, I came to really appreciate Zack as a character. the 30th Anniversary special, Once & Always, made me appreciate him even more, after seeing him return to that role after 28 years. Amy Jo Johnson is great as Kimberly, though here she's very Valley Girl. I mean, moreso than she'd be portrayed as later on in the season, and into season 2. And, of course, Thuy Trang as Trini is good in this episode, she just didn't have as much to do since the focus was on the five Rangers as a group, rather than one particular Ranger like future episodes would be.

What's incredible to me is how they managed to combine the footage from Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger, with the original footage the American production crew shot for this episode. I guess it's made easier because there isn't any crossover between the Japanese and American footage since you don't see the Rangers morphed in American footage, outside of the costumes appearing on the Rangers as Zordon is explaining to each Ranger which Zord they'll be piloting, though, unlike in later seasons, the Rangers aren't told what colour of Ranger they're going to be, which is really weird, and the scenery doesn't need to match between the American footage and the Japanese footage like it will in later episodes, and in later seasons. 

So, I actually don't remember when I saw this episode for the first time. I think it was in reruns on either YTV or Global, but neither channel aired it in reruns very often, if at all, so I might not have caught it at all. So the latest I would've seen the episode was when my friend Kelly lent me the Power Rangers Power Playback: Classic Ranger Edition - Red Ranger Adventure VHS tape when we were in high school as it's the first episode on the tape, which I actually have in my current VHS collection. It was also the first episode aired in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Reversion series that ABC Kids aired in 2010, between Power Rangers RPM, which was the final season produced by Disney, and Power Rangers Samurai, which was the first season that Saban produced for Nickelodeon. I definitely watched that version, because it was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers back on TV after 15 years.

Overall, "Day of the Dumpster" is a very solid start to a franchise that has been around for 30 years. Power Rangers has had so many ups and downs in the last 30 years. It was cancelled three times, twice by Fox Kids (the show was canceled during Turbo, with In Space being the final season), once by Disney, moved networks four times, didn't air in some areas, and low ratings, as well as high ones. Yet, Power Rangers has managed to endure for 30 years. Very few franchises can say that. Even Star Trek and Star Wars have had periods where they were essentially dead. But Power Rangers has never had that lull as the TV show has consistently been in production and on the air for 30 years straight. 

That's gonna be it for me for today my friends. I'll be back on Wednesday for a comic book review, and I'm also gonna try and have A Dance with Dragons finished by the end of the week too, but I'm not making any promises. That review might have to wait until next week. So until then have a great rest of the day and I will talk to you all later. Take care.