Name That Crappy Show

January 14, 2019 7:08 AM

Back in the 90's when the Power Rangers were all the rage, and every other show targeted to that demographic was some kind of Power Rangers knock-off, I remember there was one that was in the same visual style but which had variations (rip offs?) of classic Universal Monsters. A vampire, a mummy, etc. For the life of me I can't remember what this show was called. It was live action (so not Mummies Alive), and very much in the genre of "American teenagers get Japanese powered armor and fight Ultraman-style villains". Was this show just a fever dream, or does anyone remember this as being an actual thing? All of my searching turns up lists of Power Ranger clones, but none with the lead monsters I am remembering....
posted by Lokheed to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

Could it have been Eerie, Indiana? I don't recall the teenagers getting armor, but there were a bunch of classic movie monsters and the time is right.
posted by fiercecupcake at 7:20 AM on January 14, 2019

Response by poster: No, it was definitely more "Saban" than that.
posted by Lokheed at 7:25 AM on January 14, 2019 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: It was like.... the monsters all lived in a creepy house, and all bickered in the same way that Power Rangers monsters would. And I *think* maybe the kids would come visit them there or something?
posted by Lokheed at 7:27 AM on January 14, 2019

Best answer: Big Bad Beetleborgs? I didn't watch this show, but it was the best guess from Mummy_(monster)#Television on Wikipedia.
posted by jozxyqk at 7:38 AM on January 14, 2019 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Oh, God, I found it! Big Bad Beetleborgs!
posted by Lokheed at 7:39 AM on January 14, 2019 [4 favorites]

Was this show just a fever dream, or does anyone remember this as being an actual thing?

Looks like it may have been a little of both...
posted by Naberius at 8:06 AM on January 14, 2019 [5 favorites]

The second I saw "Power Rangers knock-off" and "classic Universal Monsters" I came here to scream BIG BAD BEETLEBORGS and was delighted to see that I wasn't the only one who watched a lot of terrible mid-to-late-90s tween programming. It was on Netflix awhile back (and may still be there?) and I tried to rewatch some of it for the nostalgia but I just...couldn't do it. And I say this as someone who STILL counts Big Wolf on Campus as one of my favorite TV shows of all time.
posted by helloimjennsco at 12:10 PM on January 14, 2019 [5 favorites]

I have... so many... questions. I don't know how I feel after watching that intro song.

It has two seasons on Netflix streaming since hellimjennsco mentioned it.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 1:28 PM on January 14, 2019