Power Rangers RPM[1] was the title for the 2009 season of Power Rangers. It is based on Engine Sentai Go-Onger. It was the last season of Power Rangers to be produced by Disney, as they had intended to cancel the series after Power Rangers Jungle Fury however decided to go ahead on a final season (it is believed this was due to having a contract with Bandai). Despite this, Disney dropped the show from its new 'Disney XD' channel leaving it to be aired on ABC Kids.

Eddie Guzelian took over as Executive Producer from Bruce Kalish at the beginning of the season, however was let go part-way through after using up the RPM's entire budget just over half-way through the series as well as due to allowing an unacceptable slowdown of the writing process, Guzelian was replaced by previous producer Judd Lynn who brought the series to its conclusion. Power Rangers RPM also marked the departure of long-term writer Jackie Marchand.

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After the final episode aired, Disney announced that the following season would be a 'reversionised' Mighty Morphin Power Rangers however the long-term status of the franchise appeared to be in limbo until it was reacquired by Saban Brands who immediately announced the production of Power Rangers Samurai.



Synopsis

In the not-so-distant future, the mysterious and sinister Venjix Computer Network is attempting to conquer and lay ruin to the entire planet. It had succeeded and nearly conquered the entire Earth. Fortunately, mankind has retreated from the threat into environmentally-shielded domed cities to protect against the pollution and machines unleashed by Venjix. In the shining city of Corinth, an elite force of Rangers must learn to drive and operate an arsenal of radically advanced biotech vehicles in order to battle the attacking machine army bent on world domination.



Production History

Power Rangers RPM was the first Power Rangers season since 2005 to have a fresh lead producer, as Bruce Kalish departed in 2008 to work on Aaron Stone. Taking his place was Eddie Guzelian, former American Dragon: Jake Long executive producer and Kim Possible story editor. R.P.M. was his first live action series. With Guzelian came two writers he had been associated with on various Disney Channel projects, Matthew Negrete and Madellaine Paxson. The three of them, along with R.P.M story editor John Tellegen and producer Jackie Marchand made up the writing team for the 32-episode season.

A few months into production, Marchand left the show, seemingly fired given her message to the fans of "welcome from the peace conference", alluding to the situation in which Austin St. John, Thuy Trang and Walter Jones were written off the show. Not long after, Guzelian was fired mid-season by Disney executives, and replaced by returning writer and producer Judd Lynn in July. Reports have Paxson and Negrete leaving the show in solidarity with Guzelian. Lynn's return to the series that he has been involved with since day one was not an easy one, and there have been reports of difficulty with the transition between executive producers. Lynn left the series with Time Force, but a sudden rise in the quality of "Jungle Fury" writing caused rumors that he may have contributed a script under a pseudonym during the Writer's Strike.