Power Rangers Turbo

''This article refers to the series. For the movie, refer to Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie.''

Power Rangers Turbo (often abbreviated as PRT) was a television show based on the Japanese Super Sentai television series Gekisou Sentai Carranger (translated as Racing Squadron Carranger) featuring the fifth generation of the Power Rangers.

The series is the followup to Power Rangers Zeo and the continuation of the storyline begun in the film, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, in which the former Zeo Rangers Tommy (Zeo V - Red), Adam (Zeo IV - Green), Tanya (Zeo II - Yellow), and Kat (Zeo I - Pink) are joined by Justin, the 12-year-old new Blue Ranger (who replaces an injured Rocky), in the quest to stop Divatox, a barbaric but beautiful space pirate, from unleashing the evil of her demonic fiancé, Maligore, upon the universe. The power of the Zeo Crystal and the Zeo Zords are not strong enough to withstand this new evil, so Zordon and Alpha 5 assist the Rangers in creating the new Turbo Powers, which also give the Rangers new Turbo Zords. The series is unique in the fact that there are only 5 Rangers for the entire duration of the series, instead of the usual 6 when a series is complete.

Production
While Zeo began following a lengthy story arc at the conclusion of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, Turbo would be launched with a single theatrical film. The film was produced by Saban Entertainment and distributed by 20th Century Fox, unlike the the first film, which was produced directly by Fox. Because Zeo had only been a modest success, Fox executives were unwilling to commit to a nationwide release for Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie. As a result of its limited release and the declining popularity of Power Rangers to begin with, the movie flopped at the box office, starting Turbo on rocky ground.

The production of "Power Rangers Turbo" as a whole was controversial on numerous levels and is sometimes considered to be the 'jump the shark' moment for the series. The film also saw the departure of Steve Cardenas from the Power Rangers franchise. Cardenas was injured while performing a stunt towards the end of Power Rangers Zeo and as a result, had to leave the series. As such, his character Rocky DeSantos was phased out in a similar manner: while practicing for a martial arts tournament, Rocky tries to do a spin-kick, but he trips, falls out of the ring and throws out his back. This injury forces him to retire from his Ranger duties.

The departure of Cardenas led to what is considered the most controversial moment of the history of the Power Rangers franchise; as Fox executives forced Saban to add a child actor to the cast as Cardenas's replacement. Blake Foster was cast as Justin Stewart, the new Blue Turbo Power Ranger as a ploy to bring new young viewers to the show, since the core of the show's young viewership were now in their teens. To their dismay, the move backfired horribly, as the character failed to bring in new viewers and alienated a large portion of the existing older audience of the show.

There were other major problems with the cast: two of the main actors on the show, Jason David Frank and Catherine Sutherland wanted to leave the show and pursue other projects (though Sutherland says this was false on her part). Both agreed to short-term contracts for 18 episodes, which would give the show's producers enough time to cast and introduce replacements for their characters. Another problem was the pregnancy of Hilary Shepard Turner, who played head "Power Ranger: Turbo" villain Divatox in "Turbo: A Power Ranger Movie". For the bulk of the season, Carol Hoyt would play Divatox until Turner could resume the role towards the end of the series.

Finally there was the issue of how to handle the source material for the show's fight and Zord footage. The 20th incarnation of the Super Sentai series, Carranger spoofed the long-running Sentai formula and featured a lot of physical comedy and slapstick humor as the series progressed. This created problems for the writing team at Saban, who were divided between those who wanted to gut Carranger down to the bare essentials so they could go with a more serious apocalyptic storyline and those who felt that they should embrace the over-the-top campiness of the source material. This chaos was increased when longtime Power Ranger writer, Doug Sloan, left the series early in the show's run. The series progressed for 18 episodes before longtime Power Rangers writer, Judd Lynn (who was the main supporter of going the direction of making "Turbo" a comedy-centric series), was given the job as head writer.

When it came time to phase out Jason David Frank and Catherine Sutherland, it was decided to phase the entire original cast out sans Blake Foster, resulting in Johnny Yong Bosch and Nakia Burrise being released as well. Zordon and Alpha-5 were also phased out and replaced with Dimitria (played by Carol Hoyt, upon the return of Hilary Shepard Turner) and the jive-talking robot Alpha-6. Both characters were unpopular with viewers. New cast members were hired to take over the now open Ranger slots and a one-shot character from Carranger was made into a reoccuring sixth Ranger called the Phantom Ranger.

Ultimately by the end of the series' run, the ratings were down as the series began to prepare for yet another relaunching since the Carranger footage had run out. Blake Foster was let go and the series ended with the four rookie Power Rangers, now powerless, zordless, and with only Alpha-6 to guide them, borrowing a NASADA space shuttle and heading off into space to continue their fight against Divatox.

The series would have likely been canceled had it not been for the following season, Power Rangers In Space, which proved very popular with fans and introduced several plot devices and storylines never before seen in a Power Rangers series.

Synopsis
After the defeat of Maligore, the older Turbo Rangers graduate from high school and resume their normal lives, but are attacked once again by a vengeful Divatox and her forces and an endless supply of detonators and monsters that threaten the citizens of Angel Grove.

A new twist into the story involves Zordon and Alpha 5 returning to Zordon's home planet of Eltar, thereby relinquishing the mentorship of the Rangers to the spectral Dimitria of Inquiris (who is suggested to be Divatox's long-lost twin sister) and the street-talking Alpha 6.

The Rangers are then joined by Blue Senturion, an intergalactic police robot who brings with him the "Millennium Message", a pivotal story arc which foretells the later events of Power Rangers: In Space. The four older Turbo Rangers are then retired from duty, "Passing the Torch" to four new Rangers - T.J., Carlos, Ashley, and Cassie, while Justin remains as the Blue Turbo Ranger.

The mysterious Phantom Ranger, whose identity is never revealed and whose powers originate from Eltar, arrives on Earth in the nick of time. Divatox's brother General Havoc arrives, bringing with him a new Space Base for his sister and a Metallasaurus Zord which steals the Turbo Megazord. The Phantom, who becomes Cassie's love interest, gives the Turbo Rangers new Rescuezords, and the Rangers later manage to retrieve the Turbo Zords as well.

However, the end of the series brings tragedy and devastation as the Rescue Megazord is self-destructed on T.J.'s command in a failed attempt to destroy Goldgoyle, the Turbo Megazord is in turn destroyed by him and the Turbo Ram is rocketed into Goldgoyle's mouth, finally destroying him. Dimitria and Blue Senturion leave for the planet Eltar, which has fallen to evil forces (which later turn out to be Dark Specter and the United Alliance of Evil). Alone, the Rangers then find their Power Chamber under attack by Divatox's forces and are unable to prevent their base from being utterly destroyed, right before Divatox is summoned by a messenger from Dark Specter (who has captured Zordon) to leave the Earth for the Cimmerian Planet. The Rangers are left with no choice but to follow in hot pursuit in a NASADA space shuttle, sans Justin, who chooses to remain on Earth with his father. This leads directly into the sixth Power Rangers season, Power Rangers: In Space.

Rangers

 * Main article:Turbo Rangers



Allies

 * Zordon
 * Alpha 5
 * Dimitria
 * Alpha 6
 * Lerigot

Villains

 * Divatox
 * Elgar
 * Rygog
 * Maligore
 * Porto
 * General Havoc
 * Piranhatrons
 * Putra Pods
 * Chromites


 * Monsters in Power Rangers Turbo

Arsenal

 * Turbo Morpher: Morpher of the Turbo Rangers, activated by inserting and turning a special key.
 * Auto Blaster: Standard Ranger sidearm.
 * Turbo Weapons: Assortment of personalized weapons used by Turbo Rangers.
 * Turbo Navigator: Handheld GPS that can be converted into a blaster.
 * Turbo Sword: Standard Ranger weapon.
 * Senturion Synergizer: Standard blaster/sword/com. device of the Blue Senturion.
 * Turbo R.A.M. (Robotic Arsenal Mobilizer): Combination of Turbo Weapons, forms a racecar and blaster.
 * Turbine Laser: Weapon that can move by itself and be mounted on Storm Blaster.
 * Turbo Carts: Go carts equipped with lasers for Ranger use.
 * Senturion Cycle: Personal transport of the Blue Senturion.
 * Lightning Cruiser/Storm Blaster: Pair of sentient cars used by Red and Blue Turbo Rangers.

Zords

 * Turbozords
 * Red Lightning Turbozord (Tommy/T.J)(Red)
 * Mountain Blaster Turbozord (Blue/Justin)
 * Desert Thunder Turbozord (Adam/Carlos)(Green)
 * Dune Star Turbozord (Tanya/Ashley)(Yellow)
 * Wind Chaser Turbozord (Kat/Cassie)(Pink)
 * Turbo Megazord (Combination of Turbozords)
 * Robo Racer (B. Senturion)
 * Rescuezords
 * Lightning Fire Tamer Rescuezord (Red/T.J)
 * Siren Blaster Rescuezord (Blue/Justin)
 * Thunder Loader Rescuezord (Green/Carlos)
 * Star Racer Rescuezord (Yellow/Ashley)
 * Wind Rescue Rescuezord (Pink/Cassie)
 * Rescue Megazord (combination of Rescuezords)
 * Rescue Turbo Megazord (combination of 2 Turbozords & 3 Rescuezords)
 * Artillatron (Phantom)

Reception
Turbo was a critical failure. Its feature film, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, was a box office bomb and the critical reception for its movie was negative. While ratings for the show had declined during Zeo, Turbo featured such low ratings that they could be considered truly poor. Such bottom-dwelling ratings for the Power Rangers franchise was unheard of at the time, and with the realization that Power Rangers as a fad was over, Fox executives decided to cancel the series after its sequel season was completed.

The list of problems drawing the ire of fans included: The long-term reputation of Turbo wasn't helped any further by the irony in that its original source (as noted - Carranger) was an enormous success in Japan. Fortunately for Power Rangers, the follow up of this season was the antithesis of Turbo and rescued the franchise from cancellation.
 * The departure of Steve Cardenas from the Power Rangers franchise. Cardenas wanted to leave to focus on his karate school towards the end of Power Rangers Zeo.
 * This was the only series to have a pre-teen to be a Ranger (Justin Stewart). The Justin character is usually criticized in the fandom.
 * The series' villains were filled with unimpressive and tedious comical humor.
 * The Megazord battles from its Carranger footage often had staggered edits and rough cuts.
 * Constant atmosphere-shifts between the more serious Power Ranger footage and the more comedic Carranger fight footage.
 * This series marked the end of appearances of Rangers who served in previous teams, such as Tommy, Adam, Tanya, and Kat. Although Tommy later would return in a guest appearance in the Wild Force Red Ranger reunion episode "Forever Red," as well as coming back full time for Dino Thunder, and Adam would return in guest appearances in Power Rangers in Space (Always a Chance) and Operation Overdrive (Once a Ranger).

Trivia

 * See Power Rangers Turbo/Trivia