Time Travel Tuesday Revisits MMPR

Back in September, when I first started Things Liz Loves, I posted a few things from my old Wordpress blog that I thought were particularly awesome. One thing I brought over was a post about the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, which was one of a few posts that became Time Travel Tuesday. I decided to do a bit of a throwback to a couple of posts that were from the TLL early days that many of you may not have seen because you didn't know I existed. So the first one we're going to look back at is the MMPR post.

The first set of Power Rangers.

After the first Ranger swap...

After that man-stealing Kat took over for the Pink Ranger.

I loved the Power Rangers as a kid. After re-reading that post, I started to get curious. What are the old school Power Rangers up to these days? I'm only going to cover the actors from the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, not the ones from later incarnations, i.e. Turbo, Animal Force, etc.

David Yost - Billy the Blue Ranger

David Yost has been in the news fairly recently because he publicly announced that he is gay. Normally, this wouldn't be that big of a deal, but he also alleged that his sexuality is the reason behind his leaving the Power Rangers back in the day. He said that he was ridiculed by the production staff and called "a f@#got" constantly, and that his co-stars were questioned about his sexuality behind his back on several occasions. The MMPR producers said this isn't true, but the production company has refused to comment on the situation. He released a film in October 2010 called Degenerate.

Amy Jo Johnson - Kimberly the Pink Ranger

Amy Jo Johnson was my IDOL as a kid. I wanted to be the Pink Ranger almost as bad as I wanted to be a singer/actress. As it turns out, Amy Jo Johnson is all three. Johnson has had a fairly successful career as an actress, starring on a few shows, including What About Brian, Wildfire and Flashpoint. She's a singer-songwriter and has released three albums, all of which are available to buy on her website. You can also get her albums and all the movies and TV shows she's starred in through Amazon.

Austin St. John - Jason the Red Ranger

I was so ridiculously in love with Austin St. John when he was on Power Rangers. He was SO HOT it was insane. Even now, when I see pictures of him when he was in that second Power Rangers movie, all evil and shmexy, I can't help but hyperventilate a little. Of course, people get older and don't always hold onto the hotness of their teens and early twenties, but I can hold onto the crush. St. John is a paramedic and firefighter now, which is awesome! There was some rumors that St. John had started making gay adult films, but it turns out there was a lookalike that was doing the films and some website had published that it was him. Lawsuits happened and the site recanted, but the damage was done and people still think it's true. An Austin St. John fan website has video interviews with him about this and what he's got going on now. Check them out here.

Thuy Trang - Trini the Yellow Ranger

Thuy Trang was born in Vietnam and moved to America as a child for political asylum. Her acting career was unfortunately short-lived, with her having roles in Spy Hard and The Crow: City of Angels. Trang passed away unexpectedly in September of 2001 due to a fatal car crash. She was beloved by fans and her former co-stars, most of which were in attendance at her memorial service. There is a fan website dedicated to honoring Trang's memory, which features videos, information, fan art and forums, called Thuy Trang Tribute.

Walter Jones - Zack the Black Ranger

Walter Jones, the original Black Ranger, has been fairly busy since leaving Angel Grove and the Power Rangers. He's done a lot of voice over work, including work on the video game Red Dead Redemption and a few cameo voice appearances on the later incarnations of the Power Rangers series. He currently has two films in post-production, Man Without a Head, which stars the always amazing Shannyn Sossamon, and Speed Demons. He was arrested on suspicion of DUI in 2009, but the charges were cleared and Jones was exonerated. Jones has a fan support Facebook page for anyone who wants to join and support the man who karate kicked and hip-hop danced his way into our hearts in the 90's. And he looks almost exactly the same! Where is the Black ranger anti-aging potion stashed...?

Jason David Frank - Tommy the Green/White Ranger

Tommy...Tommy, Tommy, Tommy. The most popular of the original Rangers, at least with the girls I knew. Everyone loved some Jason David Frank in the 90's. And why not? He was hot, kind of a rebel with a heart of gold, and he was a freaking Power Ranger. You really can't do any better than that, right? Well, look at Mr. Frank now. I have to say, he's still looking pretty freaking hot. I'm a sucker for tattoos and arm muscles. He's recently begun his foray into MMA fighting and teaches martial arts in his own school, Rising Sun Karate. I'm half tempted to give in and cough up $25 for a signed t-shirt. Frank has had some independent film projects, but several have fallen through. He does have a film, The One Warrior, in post-production.

Steve Cardenas - Rocky the Red Ranger

There isn't a whole lot of Hollywood related stuff going on for Steve Cardenas anymore. He was involved with Power Rangers till 1997, at which point he left acting to pursue other things. He still does martial arts competitively, specifically Brazilian Jujitsu. He also worked with an advertising company for a while. I wasn't able to dig up anything about what he's up to now, but he has a Myspace fan page that he apparently checks from time to time. Maybe he'll give me an inside scoop...

Johnny Yong Bosch - Adam the Black Ranger

The second Black Ranger has been a busy guy. Johnny Yong Bosch has been the most successful Power Ranger alumni in terms of number of jobs. His IMDB page has a laundry list of work that has had him on some job or another almost constantly since his Ranger days. He does a ton of anime voice over work, including frequent appearances on Bleach and Naruto. He's also lending his voice to Happy Feet 2 with a star-studded cast that includes Elijah Wood and Robin Williams. Bosch is the front man for the alternative rock band Eyeshine, and I just became a huge fan. They sound awesome! Anyone who says a Power Ranger can't rock is sorely mistaken! You can find Johnny on Myspace and Twitter.

Karan Ashley - Aisha the Yellow Ranger

The second owner of the yellow spandex suit has been a star since before she donned the famous Power Coin. She already had a platinum music album under her belt when she won the role of Aisha, and her time on the show really got her career going. Since then, she's written, produced and starred in two festival films that received great reviews, Unto Thee and Devon's Ghost. She has her own production company now, KASH Pictures, and makes regular appearances at MMPR fan events. She has a Facebook page, for those of you who want to send her a little hello!

Catherine Sutherland - Kat the Pink Ranger

The final Ranger to appear on the original MMPR is Catherine Sutherland, the Australian Pink Ranger. She took over for Amy Jo Johnson, both in the role of Pink Ranger and in the role of Tommy's girlfriend. (gasp!) A lot of fans didn't like the change, but I took it as a sign of hope that even Amy Jo Johnson wasn't infallible, and child-sized me had a shot at becoming the Pink Ranger after all. Since her Pink Ranger days, Sutherland has starred in a couple of made-for-TV movies, had a part in the Jennifer Lopez vehicle The Cell and has done some voice over work in a few episodes of later MMPR spin-offs. She now works as a personal trainer and is focusing on being a mom to her two kids.

Pick up DVDs of the first 6 seasons of MMPR and the movie below from our Amazon A-Store.