25 Morphinonominal Years And Counting.

On August 28, 1993, a live action TV show premiered.....and took the world by storm.

This was "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers," based on a Japanese genre called Super Sentai. Essentially, the Japanese and American versions were the same: Five heroes or more became a team protecting the Earth from deadly villains and monsters. They used high tech weapons, and when the monster was enlarged, they'd destroy it with huge robots. Here in America, these were called Zords, Megazords, and Ultrazords.

The first series, in which five high school students with martial arts skills were recruited by Zordon and Alpha 5 to fight Rita Repulsa and her alien army, was to have ended after the first 40 episodes. Instead, it became a global sensation, and continued on, with Tommy Oliver joining the team, and becoming a fixture. There were action figures, videotapes, comic books, and even snack foods.

Throughout its amazing long run, this series has had many different versions, and a wide variety of evil enemies. The various teams have journeyed into space, traveled through time, and even lived through Armageddon. Tonight, a special episode commemorating 25 years of nonstop action will air on Nickelodeon.

So here's to 25 more years of Rangers!