Press Release from TVShowsOnDVD.com:

Shout! Factory and Saban Brands announced a multi-year, multi-property alliance to bring Saban’s iconic live-action pop culture series, including Power Rangers, to the home entertainment marketplace in the U.S and Canada. The announcement was made today by Shout! Factory’s founding partners Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos; and Elie Dekel, President of Saban Brands.

The multi-year alliance provides Shout! Factory with exclusive home entertainment packaged media (DVD/Blu-ray) and select digital rights to Saban Brands’ extensive catalog of properties including more than 700 episodes of Power Rangers (1993- 2009), 92 episodes of VR Troopers, 26 episodes of Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, and 88 episodes of Beetleborgs for home entertainment releases and digital distribution across select entertainment platforms in North America. [...]

Shout! Factory plans an aggressive rollout of Saban Brands television properties beginning this summer 2012, including from individual programs as well as complete series. As excitement builds for these upcoming home entertainment product-lines, Shout! Factory and Saban Brands will announce additional news and activities in forthcoming months.

(Courtesy: zeogo via Rangerboard)

I wasn’t going to post about this, but looking over this recent Topless Robot list of The 8 Mightiest Power Rangers Series again, I couldn’t ignore it. From 8 to 1, they start out with Zeo. Putting my own bias aside, I let that go…until I saw Wild Force at Number 5! And then I sorta let that slide (by a bare margin) until RPM wasn’t even on the list! Come. on.

I don’t mean to go hard on this guy, but I’m so over the folks that fill their lists of “serious” seasons and call them the best ever. Sprinkling the list with Zeo and Dino Thunder can only carry you so far. Oh yes, and the obligatory Mighty Morphin as Number 1.

To end on a good note, more people writing about Power Rangers is always a good thing. But damn, advice: Watch RPM.

Last October we reported about a give-away promotional DVD that was available at the Disney Store chain, promoting ABC/Disney’s return of the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers episodes to the television broadcast lineup. This promo disc had some news with it, too, on the outer sleeve. [...]

So we’ve checked into it further, and found out a couple of things. First, and most importantly, Disney has passed along word to one of our contacts that these titles are “on hold”. That’s the exact phrase used, which could mean that they are simply delayed, or it could possibly mean that they won’t be happening at all; we haven’t gotten clear on that. Secondly, and also interesting, the gossip is that perhaps Amazon had no knowledge that their name would be invoked on the sleeve of that promotional disc; our contacts hint that no agreement had been made at that time for such an arrangement (we suppose that this could possibly be part of the reason ABC/Disney put the releases “on hold”).

In short, the DVDs are “on hold” and supposedly Amazon didn’t even know that they were going to be used in the promotional Disney DVD for the new line of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers toys.

There are no words.

12/26 at 12:30pm
1932 – “Danger and Destiny, Part II”
In order to defeat Venjix, another virus will have to be inserted into his system. The rangers have Tenaya walk back into enemy lines to insert the virus. Meanwhile the rangers have to hold up against Venjix in a fight. Dr. K is able to reverse Venjix’s deletion of the Gold & Silver Rangers. Reunited they attack Venjix in his weakened state. Venjix is defeated and the war is over.

(Courtesy: KyL416 via Funaroboard)

12/19 at 12:30pm
1930 – “End Game”
Venjix’s end game is about to reveal itself. Every attack bot has been a calculating step closer to his plan. The city is filled with hybrids just like Dillon. Venjix is going to activate them all and Corinth will be brought down.

(Courtesy: KyL416 via Funaroboard)

(Courtesy: Linear Ranger via Rangerboard)

10/3 at 12:30pm
1928 – “Run Ziggy Run”
It’s time for Ziggy to payback the 5 million he owes Fresno Bob. Tenaya 15 makes a deal with Fresno Bob to give him Ziggy in exchange for a certain case. Instead she double crosses Fresno Bob and Ziggy ends up saving him. The rangers deploy Dr. K’s Rail Saber weapon against the latest attack bot. Fresno Bob and Ziggy are now even.

(Courtesy: KyL416 via Funaroboard)

September 19 – Episode 24 – 12:30pm ET
September 26 – Episodes 25 & 26 – Noon-1pm ET
October 3 – Episodes 27 & 28 – Noon-1pm ET
December 19 – Episodes 29 & 30 – Noon-1pm ET
December 26 – Episodes 31 & 32 – Noon-1pm ET

On the one hand, it’s great that we don’t have to wait until next year to see the finale, but on the other hand, the finale premieres on Boxing Day!? (For the Americans who don’t know, Boxing Day is the day after Christmas.) I’d rather have a huge break for the show and then ramp it back up in the new year, but it’s not surprising that Disney wants to get RPM out of the way as fast as possible.

(Courtesy: BurgundyRanger via Rangerboard)

(Note: There will be no new episodes shown for at least eight weeks following this presentation)

(Courtesy: KyL416 via Funaroboard)

Airing 9/26
1925 – “Key to the Past”
It dawns on Dillon that the two keys to his watch fit together to play another song. It’s the same song that Tenaya 7 sings! Tenaya 7 is hit by memories of her past. She does some investigating on her own and finds out what really happened to her.

(Courtesy: KyL416 via Funaroboard)

1923 – “And… Action”
For the first time ever join Ziggy as he takes you behind the scenes of Power Rangers. See how explosions and stunts are really done. As well as the funny moments that don’t make it into the episode, but keep the Power Ranger set a lively place to work as a ranger.

(Courtesy: KyL416 via Funaroboard)

(Courtesy: KyL416 via Funaroboard)

(Courtesy: KyL416 via Funaroboard)

Note: This is the first episode where Judd Lynn takes over from Eddie Guzelian as the Executive Producer. Granted, Judd Lynn has had a hand in the post production of earlier episodes, but this is the first that is Eddie free.

(Courtesy: Kyle416 via Funaroboard)

8/1

1918 – Belly of the Beast
The rangers must return to the factory and destroy the Venjix Doomsday Bot that is being built. Dillon attempts to find his sister before it’s too late. Dr. K sends Gem & Gemma on a secret mission to reprogram the Doom Bot enabling it to fuse with the ranger zords and create a new megazord formation.

(Courtesy: KyL416 at FunaroBoard)

6/20
1915 – Ghosts
Still on the search for answers to Dillon’s past, Dr. K figures out that Venjix has sent them on a wild goose chase. Before she can warn them they walk right into an ambush. Good thing the mysterious rangers from before show up in time to give them a helping hand. The Falcon and Tiger Ranger reveal themselves as Gem and Gemma.

7/4
1916 – In or Out
Scott decides to join Gem and Gemma in a more offensive approach in the battle against Venjix. Colonel Truman defaults to his usual defend the city tactics and ends up trapping everyone inside while a Venjix bot sucks all the air out of the city. The remaining rangers make a deadly escape from Corinth and regroup with Scott in order to save the city.

7/11
1917 – Prisoners
Gem & Gemma plan on destroying a factory they were held at as prisoners to work for Venjix. Their plans change when Dillon finds out that his sister might be a prisoner there. Sneaking into the factory, Dillon downloads information and searches for his sister. His search is cut short when he has to return to help his friends stop the latest Venjix bot designed to destroy rangers.

(Courtesy: KyL416 via Funaroboard)

Judd Chip Lynn and Koichi Sakamato in particular have been going back and cutting out full drama scenes with actors to replace it with more slow motion explosions, fighting, and lame foot on the gas shots. They have been done…get a clue! People loved the first 3 episodes because they had story / character moments.

Blitz was an amazing episode at start and end, but the middle was over run with crap that Koichi put in because he gets kick backs from toy companies the more the morphed Ranger suits are on screen. Eg. go back to Doctor K ep and watch when Gem and Gemma hand her the birthday pencil. You see maybe 2 colors when she looks at it. What was written was that the pencil is actually 5 colors as she rotates it to see green, yellow, blue, red and black. A beautiful moment cut short so that more cheese could be screened to sell toys.”

However, Keith from Henshin Justice responded with information from one of his sources:

Hey guys… now you KNOW you can trust me and I looked in to this.. not only do I have very good word from a source that this is confirmed as false a little education also places something like this as pretty much impossible to do.

And we know Judd’s work, people… if anything he’s always worked to make sure character stays in the show.

Whatever the case may be, no one can argue that this is one of the most interesting, most talked about Power Ranger series in a long time. All of this talk is bound to produce wild rumors and speculation, so remember to take everything with a grain of salt!

(Courtesy: Star Points RangerCrew and Henshin Justice)

(Courtesy: tempestus_inu via The RPM Garage)