The Big Picture: Power Drain

[CrazyGirl17]

I'm a child of the nineties, so I generally didn't know much about how bad they could get (good thing I got into comic books in the late nineties/early new millennium, otherwise, I might have been turned off...) I still generally prefer 90's cartoons though. As for this cartoon, it looks... okay, I guess (wonder where Bob got the clips, I heard they were hard to find) but the second season... wow... reminds me why I don't like 90's game shows (well, except maybe Legends of the Hidden Temple). Well, at least the guy who played Johnny Turbo seems to be doing alright for himself, that's good to know, I guess.

 

[Nojh]

Wow. I totally remember both season of Video Power now. I remember season 1's cartoon more than the live action segments, but I totally remember the 2nd season. I was addicted to it as a little kid. I think this was also the game show that supposedly let you play video games over the phone at the end of the show.

 

[Lunar Templar]

The terribleness of it all. I feel unclean...

Does it ever go away?

Only temporary, with the use of alcohol, no, not even time will make it go away, it can not be unseen

I should know, I used to watch that crap

 

[Keith K]

This is complete news to me. Maybe it wasn't aired in Canada.

 

[Aardvaarkman]

To be honest, I find a lot of irony in the whole "90s sucked" mentality. I do understand it though, after all it's cool for kids to diss the previous generation, and "Generation X" is the lost generation and pretty much got skipped over economically and socially for reasons well beyond it's control.... screwed to irrelevency from birth in a very really sense.

Well said. The 90s was actually an awesome decade, and the mocking of it is mostly mindless revisionism. Or a byproduct of people who were into the wrong things at the wrong time. The 90s wasn't a time to be into TV and mainstream entertainment, there were far more interesting things going on.

As for Generation X, you are right - it will continue to be misunderstood, because the generations that came before and after it it are so much bigger and more economically powerful. But it was Generation X that paved the way for the freedoms and culture that Generation Y and beyond enjoy.

 

[PunkRex]

oh god the 90's...

Hey now, for a kid like myself growing up in the 90's was the shit! Cartoons were damn good, unlike the Tweenie's or whatever the 2000's decided to call themselves... poor Toonami... you were my brother.

Im not saying the 90's were perfect mind, know what I saying dawg?

 

[TheSchaef]

With two preschool boys at home, I can confirm that the original opening to Video Power is consistent with how Saban tends to open his children's programming (read: Power Rangers).

The "90s" transition on this show kind of exemplifies the distinguishing characteristic that makes the 90s a specifically horrible decade. Like a few others in this thread, I am of course approaching this as a child of the 80s, but my unscientific observation is that the 80s were so terrible that they were awesome, like Commando, or the Ninja Turtles (I'm stretching a bit by granting 1990 honorary "late-80s" status). The 90s were so much more terrible, that they were... just terrible, like Ninja Turtles TWO.

Even that is probably still being unnecessarily harsh, because for every Sonic and ReBoot, there was also Batman, Gargoyles, X-Men, Animaniacs, The Tick, Doug... cartoons actually kinda bucked the trend by getting progressively better overall.

I still feel a deep-seated envy, though, when watching old-school Turtles and Voltron, and then watching my kids grow up with the likes of Phineas and Ferb, MLP, Foster's, Fairly Odd Parents, Turtles 2012, etc.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

I liked Captain N...

I've never seen The Power Team and I'm kind stumped on that because I watched everything as a kid.

And as a child of the 90s that made me wonder what the hell I was doing watching some of those things because hooooolyyyyyy shit that was over the top.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Thanks Bob. I had never heard of that show before today and I think I was better for it.

 

[Darth_Payn]

Man, Nick Arcade was the TITS! I wanted to be on that show since the day it premiered, which I forget now. What I noticed about that one scene was that there was some real character development there, as much as you can have in a cartoon about 3rd-party video game heroes. Bob, your "WTF did I just watch?!" caption once again is used wisely. Upon remembering what little I can about cartoons from the '90's, I can only think "Wow. I watched a lot of crap back then."

 

[userwhoquitthesite]

liek OMGosh yu gaiz, he totes ripped off nostalja critcis catchfrase!


lol. But yeah, i really don't see how this was SOOOO much worse than the others.

oh well. It is time for Cowboys of Moo Mesa

 

[hotdogoctopus]

Anyone else see this coming next episode?

 

[ace_of_something]

I just wanna say i desperately wanted to be on Nick arcade when i was 11

 

[RJ 17]

A black guy named Tyrone constantly dribbling a basketball...whose only ability is playing basketball...

Well, I believe Peter Griffin put it best with: "That's just good ol' fashioned family racism."

This is what happens when you try to force diversity, you end up coming off more racist than you would have if you just didn't bother.

 

[Nurb]

I successfully managed to repress memories of all these horrible cartoons while fondly remembering He-Man, Silverhawks, Thundercats, Ghostbusters, and a few others. Until you brought them up again.... thank you sooooo much Bob!

 

[Soak]

Honestly, your conclusion is the best part of it all!

Somehow, i have a very dim memory of a "game-show" like this, at least like the first season, but i can't say for sure. The second season though looks just awefull, but hey, that's how TV works.

 

[Hutzpah Chicken]

Well, I understand why Saturday cartoons have died a slow death. TV is weird...

 

[phoenixcalm]

That. Was. Brilliant.

I couldn't stop fucking laughing towards the end. I remember being a kid and watching ALL OF THAT. Holy cow. Seriously, that was such a good, whatever it was good.

Jesus Christ

 

[Mr_Terrific]

Somehow forgot about all of this until watching this video. I also remember cutting up my NES controller and Light gun to be Cpt. N.

As for the Power Team, I don't remember the cartoon but I do remember the douchy kid host.

Strangely, that show reminds me of Gamepro. I remember JD but who was that other guy that was wayyyy too dude bro even for that time????

 

[Vozati]

I felt bile crawling up my throat, just waiting for a chance to vomit all over my keyboard watching all those clips of 90's version of that show.