Judd Lynn

This article is about a/an writer, producer, and director in the Power Rangers franchise.

Judd Lynn, also known as Chip Lynn, is an American television writer, producer, and director, best known for his work on the children's action/adventure series Power Rangers.

Background[]

Judd Lynn began his work in the franchise when he wrote the Season 2 episode "Welcome to Venus Island" and continued writing throughout the second season. For Season 3 and Power Rangers Zeo, Judd didn't write any episodes but did serve as the Production Manager although he directed second unit scenes for Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie. He was initially just a writer for Power Rangers before becoming a director on Power Rangers Turbo, starting with the fourth episode "Shadow Rangers." He served as a staff writer for the first seventeen episodes before Haim Saban made him head writer for more than five years beginning midway though Power Rangers: Turbo. This was because the previous head writers and producers, Ann Austen and Douglas Sloan left during writing the episode "Rangers in Concert" (which was cancelled once they left) with Lynn being chosen as their replacement since he was the most experienced writer in the franchise. The change in writers was speculated to be a reason as to why various plot elements were either abandoned or never expanded upon within Turbo itself, such as the Millenium Message. Despite this, the writing of the season is commonly regarded as having significantly improved. Once production of Power Rangers Turbo wrapped, Lynn was made Co-Producer with Jonathan Tzachor, beginning with Power Rangers in Space, Lost Galaxy, Lightspeed Rescue and Time Force, the last season he was involved in before his departure from MMPR Productions.

Lynn was the one who chose to base In Space in outer space as opposed to the video game theme of Denji Sentai Megaranger. He had grown up with series such as Star Trek and Star Wars and wanted to homage them in what was originally the final season of Power Rangers. Lynn was also responsible for causing the franchise to move in a more adult direction instead of primarily wacky slice of life. He also pushed for greater effort in filming PR-exclusive footage than previous incarnations, with Tzachor's decision to adhere heavily to the Sentai being one reason for his departure post-Time Force.

Judd Lynn eventually returned to the franchise and wrote two episodes of Jungle Fury (under the pseudonym Ally Mondera due to participating in the 2007-2008 Writer's Guild of America Strike). Lynn returned to the franchise as an Executive Producer for Power Rangers RPM after the newly-appointed Eddie Guzelian was relieved from his duties as executive producer by Disney employees during the middle of the season due to going over budget twice. However, this led to many character arcs going nowhere by season's end and most infamously meant that Flynn McAllistair's dad plot went nowhere.

In a 2010 interview, Lynn defended Disney in response to fan backlash concerning the shows cancellation and Disney’s perceived dislike for the franchise upon purchasing it. “We knew the show was coming to an end with Disney for some time. That had been relayed to us during the second to last season. These things happen. There are certain expectations for all shows and Power Rangers wasn’t living up to them. We never had any major issues with Disney. They were always good to us and never gave us problems over budget or content.”

Lynn was not involved in the development of Samurai and Megaforce as Jonathan Tzachor returned as executive producer, but returned to the franchise for Dino Charge, replacing Tzachor who was fired after Power Rangers Super Megaforce. After the end of Power Rangers Beast Morphers, Judd Lynn stepped down from his role as executive producer and was replaced by long standing director Simon Bennett. Why he was replaced is currently unknown. Lynn still works on the franchise as executive director for Dino Fury and one of the main three writers alongside Becca Barnes and Alwyn Dale.

Writing Style[]

Jackie Marchand has said Lynn had a collaborative, writing-room approach where all writers would get together and choose what to do. ^[1]

Acting[]

Judd Lynn's only onscreen appearance in the franchise was in the final episode of Power Rangers Turbo when he portrayed Dark Specter's Messenger via CGI.