Here’s one for ya, Captain Power! Remember this shit?! I was a little too young to remember much about this show as it only ran for 22 episodes back in 1987-88. I do remember really liking this show however and making my parents buy me the action figures. The image of Captain Power is so ingrained in my mind that I felt I owed it to childhood me to do a little research (I also owe childhood me a dinner of cake, pop and gummy candies).
Fun facts I found:
– The show takes place in the 22nd century during the “metal wars” (I’m guessing Man vs Robot is what is happening or a pretty sweet rock concert)
– The bad guy’s name was Lord Dread (I mean name a kid that and what do you expect him to grow up to be? Also he might be a robot…)
– The show was an attempt to create a Science-Fiction show that could appeal to kids (worked on me!) and adults alike. Turns out the show was too violent and tackled too tough of subject matter such as Nazism (oh yeah no joke) for kids. Apparently adults took one look at the title and said “pass”, so that didn’t help ratings.
– The show apparently cost One Million Dollars per episode! And this is back in 1988! You know how much cocaine and VHS copies of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure you could buy with that back in 1988?
So there are some fun facts for us all. You want to know more? Does this website say Wikipedia.org? No? Then look it up your damn self, I got a bee hive to attend to. Yes, I am a beekeeper. Does that really surprise you?
Oh and here is the opening to Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future which also explains a lot:
It’s coming back as “Phoenix Rising.” Think a complete re-tooling of the show, a la BSG. Really looking forward to it!
Phoenix Rising has been shelved pending a network- they need to find one willing to pick it up.
I’m a member of the PNDD fan club- aka ‘Pilot’s Not Dead Damn It” Club- those fans who choose to believe that Pilot didn’t die at the end. Anyway, just want to say, with regards to the shows canceling. It wasn’t about the violence depicted- it was about the harping from the parent organizations who cry that show pitted the ‘haves against the have nots”. They’re the ones that killed it- via Mattel and the tie-in toys. These org’s barked that the show was only good for watching if you had the toys to participate- and thus excludes those children who’s parents could not afford to buy these toys. Mattel justified their caving to these demands by pointing to the less than satisfying sales of said toys.
Facts-
This is the first and, so far, only TV show with interactive toys.
The Complete series was released on DVD / Blu-Ray for the 25th Anniversary.
The soundtrack has since also been released.
-both are available on Amazon, Best buy, and other video / music retailers.
(for those who prefer to ask where to get them instead of Googling.)
Pingback: Really?: ‘Captain Power’ is about to make a comeback | The Nostalgia Blog