It's morphin' time! A celebration of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Do you remember when Power Rangers ruled the Earth? It's a trick question, because they still do. It's a rare TV franchise that lasts more than a handful of years, but Power Rangers just crossed the quarter-century mark last year. There have been 26 seasons of the various Power Rangers incarnations and three feature films, but it all started in 1993 with "five teenagers with attitude" who came together in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

To celebrate our ongoing appreciation of the series, SYFY WIRE spoke with three members of the original cast: Austin St. John, Walter Jones, and David Yost, as well as later addition Jason David Frank, to get their Power Rangers perspective and even a few origin stories. As related by Frank, he was only supposed to appear as Tommy Oliver/Green Ranger in 10 episodes, but he was retained by the series and Tommy went on to become the show's breakout character.

According to Jones, the cast members began feeling the intensity of their newfound fame even before the show aired. Power Rangers Mania peaked in 1994 when a rare live appearance by the cast at Universal Studios Hollywood drew so many people that it brought Los Angeles to a standstill. That is not a euphemism: We dug up some news footage of a freeway shutdown caused by Power Rangers fans!

Power Rangers toys were a hot commodity at Christmas, and the series was popular around the world. All of the cast members expressed their amazement about how far their fandom extends, as well as the way it's been passed on to the subsequent generations. The Power Rangers' popularity has waxed and waned over the past 26 years, but it has never completely gone away. It’s always going to be Morphin' Time!

For more Power Rangers details and behind-the-scenes stories, check out the full video!