LOST PILOT- Before VR Troopers, Jason David Frank and Jamie Kennedy were in CYBERTRON

[Chad Bonin]

As history told, Jason David Frank joined the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers as Tommy, the Green Ranger. He went on to gain the powers of the White Raner, Red Zeo, Red Turbo, and Black DinoThunder, and become one of the legendary Power Rangers.

At the same time, a show called "VR Troopers", also by Saban, starred Ryan Steele and two friends fighting Grimlord.

But, when the Green Ranger left MMPR, Jason David Frank was not to be left powerless. No, he was to become Adam Steele, and be Cybertron! Forget the other VR Troopers, Adam Steele was on a solo mission to save his father!

http://henshinjustice.com/2007/09/0...t-for-vr-troopers-starring-jason-david-frank/

... wow, this is one of the holy grails of American Tokusatsu. The original pilot and pitch for what would become VR Troopers.

 

[Beat]

It makes a bit more sense without the virtual reality gimmick inside it, but it still has next to nothing in common with the original story or Kikaider.

Also, poorly remixed "Go Green Ranger Go!" makes my ears bleed.

 

[Antiyonder]

It's based off Metalder.

 

[Robin2099]

Yeah he did a Q&A at an Anime convention(thats available on youtube) where he talks about Metalder and how him and Brad Hawkins switched characters. It's a good Q&A and comes highly recommended.

 

[Beat]

It's based off Metalder.

Which in turn was based off Kikaider.

I still like it a bit more than VR Troopers.

 

[Antiyonder]

Which in turn was based off Kikaider.

I still like it a bit more than VR Troopers.

But it was using footage and costumes from Metalder, so saying that it's based off Kikaider is misleading for those who don't know about it.

That's like saying Spider-Man The Animated Series is based off the Pulp Fiction character The Spider. The comic yes, the cartoon is based more off the Spider-Man comics than The Spider.

 

[HellCat]

I think this would have been better then VRT. It actually seems somewhat darker, more like the style Japan would put out. However, all the human characters Saban added are pure cheese. Wise, easy name to remember Asian master. Comic relief buddies. No nonsense sensei's daughter. Butt of jokes, poorly named jock.

Any particular reason we didn't get this instead of what we did? Minus the name issues, which I'm sure is due to Transformers.

 

[Beat]

Metalder was only 39 episodes, since it wasn't too popular in Japan. Instead of creating an anthology series (which probably would have followed Cybertron with adaptations of Jiban, Janperson, etc all) Saban thought it easier to cannibalize other shows and merge them together. I could easily see Saban shying away from the newer (at the time) Metal Heroes shows, a Japanese version of Robocop and a remake of Robot Detective K, respectively.

And back then, people THOUGHT VR was the future.

 

[80's guy]

Here are that reason it was change to VR Troopers, instead Cybertron.

1.Like Hellcat said, Transformers, since they use the name Cybertron.

2.Power Rangers fan wanted Tommy back because he became a popular to the series.

3. The syndication policy to air 65 espisode.

So Go Green Ranger Go was really a call Cybertron.

 

[NinjaJack]

Thats Jamie Kennedy as one of the comic relief guys.

 

[Hanshotfirst1138]

It makes a bit more sense without the virtual reality gimmick inside it, but it still has next to nothing in common with the original story or Kikaider.

Kikaider? VRT was based on some of Toei's Metal Hero shows.

 

[Conan-san]

So, what happened to Cyberton?

Unicron ate him, OH HOHOHOOHOHOHOHHHO!
OhhhhhhhhI'llseemyselfout.

 

[JohnCrichton]

The above was apparently a "pitch trailer."

Here's the pilot... the rough cut.

 

[Hanshotfirst1138]

So, what happened to Cyberton?

Unicron ate him, OH HOHOHOOHOHOHOHHHO!
OhhhhhhhhI'llseemyselfout.

You sound like me.

 

[Chad Bonin]

...

So, the question I now ask is...

How would this have fared if "Cybertron" was, instead of a Jason David Frank vehicle, a Tommy Oliver spin off?

Think about it. Tommy has his run as the Green Ranger, and when he loses his powers, he hears about his dad going missing. He goes to Tao, his teacher, and gains Cybertron powers. Have a team-up with the remaining Power Rangers, and let him become Cybertron, adapting both Metaldar and Shaider.

This would allow the character of Tommy to continue, crossovers with PR to be natural, and so forth.

 

[Hanshotfirst1138]

Interesting idea, but wasn't lack of Sentai footage what sunk VRT and Beetleborgs? Maybe Saban feared that.

 

[NinjaJack]

Remember, Sentai relating to Power Rangers only. The generic term is Tokusatsu or Henshin. But to be specific VRT used footage from Metal Hero which is the sub genre Metaldar is from

 

[Storm Eagle]

Remember, Sentai relating to Power Rangers only. The generic term is Tokusatsu or Henshin. But to be specific VRT used footage from Metal Hero which is the sub genre Metaldar is from

So is B-Fighter, which was used for BeetleBorgs.

Interesting idea, but wasn't lack of Sentai footage what sunk VRT and Beetleborgs? Maybe Saban feared that.

Like NinjaJack said, Sentai wasn't what was used for VR Troopers and BeetleBorgs. So, even if Cybertron did end up becoming a full-fledged series, and got a second season, they could have probably used Shaider for it. That's what they used for Ryan in VR Trooper's second season. There was also Gavan and Sharivan, the first two Metal Heroes series. Heck, they could have even used Spielban for a second season, with Mia being the Cybertron counterpart of Diana Lady (who was used for Kaitlin Star in VR Troopers).

Also, I believe VR Troopers tanked simply because of low ratings.

 

[Beat]

The above was apparently a "pitch trailer."

Here's the pilot... the rough cut.

It has all the elements a Saban toku butcher circa the early 90's has.

McDojo style krotty tournament for no reason? Check.

Assurance that all the bad guys are robots? (The guy that kicks Cybertron's butt in the pilot is actually a human who was a double for Zitkor's Japanese counterpart) Check.

Idiot comic relief- Check and check.

OK, I get that just maybe, Jiban might have been a bit much (Dead cop bought back as cyborg to fight evil organization? Where have I heard that one before?), but why did Saban insist on putting in all those similar elements over and over again?