Welcome to the Bottom of the Bargain Bin - An Introduction

Every once in a while, a television show comes along that's such a massive hit, such a pop culture icon, that it captures the hearts and minds of a generation. Ratings soar, merchandise sells out, armies of children dress up as the characters for Halloween - and all throughout the entertainment industry, less-inventive people set out to copy it. This blog is not about one of those successes, but if it were, it would be about Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the kids' action show from Saban Entertainment that premiered in the summer of 1993 and became an overnight sensation, launching a franchise that has endured for over two decades.

In its wake came a slew of imitators, other shows combining old Japanese stock footage of superhero shenanigans with newly-filmed American story segments. Many came from Saban itself - VR Troopers in 1994, Masked Rider in 1995, Big Bad Beetleborgs in 1996. This blog isn't about any of them either. Nor is it about Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad, DIC Entertainment's cash-in that premiered a week after VR Troopers. This is a blog about a show that really wishes it could've been any of those other shows. A program that tried as desperately as it could to be the next Power Rangers and then didn't try at all at anything else. DIC Entertainment's OTHER live-action super teenager show...

Go ahead. Say that five times fast. Yes, Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills. It's an actual show, one that ran for a single season of 40 episodes on the USA cable channel from October to December of 1994. All 40 episodes are now horrifically preserved for posterity on a complete series DVD set that sells for $7. That's less than 18 cents per episode, which coincidentally is exactly how much it looks like it cost to produce.

Unlike all the other Power Ranger ripoffs - with the later exception of Saban's 1998 oddity Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog - Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills was not based on a prior Japanese program, nor did it use costumes or footage from pre-existing shows. It was a series that was, technically, entirely original, and yet it manages to be the least original Power Rangers ripoff by far.

So, if you dare, embark with me on this journey through the dark underworld of children's entertainment as I subject myself to far more of this terrible show than mortal eyes should ever witness. I'll relay the happenings to you, dear readers, in eye-searing detail. Let's get this over with.