Space Rangers

Sure, this series was kind of hokey, and sure, the characters were -- as one of the IMDb comments points out -- rather cartoonish. And there's no denying that the stories were highly derivative; you'll find deliberate echoes of "Star Wars," "Star Trek," "Aliens," and a host of old space operas from the early days of TV.

But that's pretty much the point. I'm old enough to remember those early shows -- "Captain Video," "Captain Midnight, " "Tom Corbett," "Space Patrol" -- and "Space Rangers," when I saw it back in '93, had the same kind of unpretentious charm, along with likable (if thoroughly stereotyped) characters, colorful aliens, and plenty of action. It also had a terrific, pounding opening theme by Hans Zimmer (it is on my iPod even as I write this), as well as the pulchritudinous six-foot-tall Marjorie Monaghan as a pilot (so easy on the eyes) and -- in a brilliant bit of casting -- the diminutive Linda Hunt as the Rangers' commander, possessor of one of the most soothing, intelligent voices in the Solar System.

The fact that the show had an obviously low budget seems somehow appropriate; it gives "Rangers" yet another connection to "Tom Corbett" and its ilk.

I was never a fan of "Star Trek"; it seemed just a bit too slick, smug, and preachy. Sure, it was probably, quote-unquote better than "Space Rangers," but I preferred the latter, and I still remember how surprised and disappointed I was when it was canceled so abruptly.

I wish I could give this series a good remark that would be uplifting to those die hard fans of obscurity. I simply can't. Many episodes were doomed with questionable writing that resembled something out of bad 1970's Flash Gordon knock off. There are many instances where you think that this series will be turned around with good ideas, but at best the writers were only able to depart from the 'science' of fiction and add a lot of stupidity in place of a solemn ending. This is a common mistake with SF series- not realizing that the viewers are smart enough to see through the holes. If the writer asks the audience to skip over a few things, that's left up to the imagination, such a request can be fine in an already 'hit' TV series. But even the jokes weren't that good. These were people of excellent talent, being asked to play pretend on a set that was faker than a spray painted box and the audience was asked to join in. No, this is not even of the same caliber or entertainment value as Irwin Allen's "Lost in Space"- I only hope that it paid well enough for the actors to be associated with it...

"MAD"'s spoof of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" ended with the space station being under threat from "Babylon 5," "Time Trax" and "Space Rangers." As it turned out, it outlasted all of them; "Space Rangers" was the first to get the chop. Not that it was such a great loss, but it wasn't totally useless.

This action-based show was pretty much a live-action cartoon focusing on our peace-keeping heroes, breaking the rules and irritating their superior (Linda Hunt - a long way from "The Year of Living Dangerously"), and with no story arcs anywhere in sight... or any thoughtful writing or strong acting, admittedly (star Jeff Kaake was last heard of on the even less successful "The D.R.E.A.M. Team" alongside Angie Everhart, Traci Bingham, Caprice and Roger Moore). But when a show has even ONE moment that hangs around in your mind for years - in the first episode's teaser an underground creature that pulls down its prey with tentacles and eats it alive snatches one of the villain's men and later on nearly gets Space Ranger Jojo (Marjorie Monaghan) - it has to have done something right.

Not too bad.

I adored the episodes I saw of this show, and hungered for more. Only the first three were shown during its first run, although all of them may have been shown at a later time. I believe there are five episodes in all, and you can rent them on VHS, I encourage you to do so. Some reviewers at the time called it "A-Team in space," which is quite valid, and it was lots of fun. Great special effects, the actors were really good, and the story lines were not too heavy, but had enough meaning that it's worth watching. I'd love for Sci-Fi Channel to show the episodes regularly or in a marathon. Go watch the video, and enjoy! :)

I really liked this show when it first came out. I was upset when they canceled it and I've only seen a few of the episodes. Crackle has five shows available to watch I was unaware there was a total of 13? I would like to see this show redone and expanded. I really liked how gritty it appeared, and I feel that if they redid this show and made it at least if not more so as gritty and ragtag it would be very appealing as a science fiction show especially with updated special effects. I also felt that the character development was really good The acting was pretty good. I love the design of the ship.