Remember the ‘90s? Back when every kid’s show was about colorful teens in spandex punching rubber monsters while the soundtrack screamed guitar solos that sounded like they were recorded inside a blender? Among all the Power Rangers clones that flooded the airwaves, one stood out like a chrome-plated fever dream: Big. Bad. Beetleborgs.
And it’s time — no, it’s past time — to bring this beautiful, bonkers masterpiece back. Because Beetleborgs wasn’t just a show. It was metal armor, monsters, and mayhem distilled into 22 minutes of pure, uncut ‘90s magic. One need not look any further than this totally radical BBB intro that, quite honestly, still rocks.
For the uninitiated (and those who had the misfortune of growing up without Fox Kids), Big Bad Beetleborgs was what happened when Saban Entertainment — the same maniacs behind Power Rangers — asked, “What if we did this again, but made it weirder?”
The show was about three kids who break into a haunted mansion and unwittingly free a ghost named Flabber who looked like Elvis had a baby with a can of shaving cream. He then grants them a wish as thanks to turn them into their favorite comic book heroes, the Big Bad Beetleborgs. Boom — they become armored bug superheroes who fight monsters from the comics.
That’s the entire premise. And it rules. We had:
- Blue Stinger Beetleborg (Andrew “Drew” McCormick) — the everykid hero with the coolest armor of the group and the ability to use telekinesis.
- Red Striker Beetleborg — (Josephine “Jo” McCormick) the only female on the team. She had super strength and could easily beat the shit out of the the other two.
- Green Hunter Beetleborg (Rowland Williams) — a kid obsessed with magic tricks. The dude could also activate super speed by snapping his fingers. Every kid’s dream. Seriously, this dude taught me how to snap.
Later, in the same style the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers got the Green Ranger, or the Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog got the Mystic Knight of Forest, we got a fourth Beetleborg:
- White Blaster Beetleborg (Josh Baldwin) — the special addition to the team with the ability to turn invisible. As the bonus hero, he quickly became everyone’s favorite and kids viciously fought over who would portray him during post-lunch recess.
Beetleborgs didn’t just mix superheroes and monsters — it threw everything at the wall. Haunted house? Check. Elvis ghost? Check. Actual horror movie monsters hanging out in a kid’s comedy show? Double check. Villains that looked like Beetlejuice’s cosplay nightmare? Absolutely.
The show was loud, weird, and unapologetically fun. It didn’t care about logic or tone — it cared about vibes. One second you’re watching slapstick gags in Hillhurst Mansion, the next you’re seeing three armored bug-warriors vaporize an evil clown with a laser sword.
That’s not “children’s television.” That’s art.
With all these reboots and sequels and prequels and tie-ins to countless lifeless shows and films that kids would never appreciate in the modern era, we would argue that it is time to give the same treatment to 90s sentai copycat television franchises. Hell, the budgets for shows these days are unfathomable and the love for anime is proof that kids are obsessed with Japanese programming. Not convinced? Here are five excellent, irrefutable, undeniable points that should sway your opinion:
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It Was F*cking Awesome.
That’s not nostalgia talking — that’s objective science. Kids today deserve to see a world where the words “bug-themed superhero” are followed by “explosion.” -
The Premise Still Works.
With the right mix of CGI and practical effects, a reboot could lean into the comic book angle, make it meta, and still keep that over-the-top monster energy. Kind of like a low-budget Blue Beetle but instead of one guy working with the Justice League, it’s three comic book nerds who are out of their depth thanks to the ghost of an Elvis impersonator with genie powers. -
It Was Weird in the Best Way.
Shows today are too afraid to be weird. Beetleborgs wasn’t. It had vampires, mummies, and a sassy Frankenstein sharing screen time with laser-slinging superheroes. And they were the good guys! You don’t need to “modernize” that — just film it in 4K and let the chaos breathe. -
Everything Else is Getting Reboots, and That’s Not Fair.
Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, Walker Texas Ranger, Sex and the City, all these franchises keep getting reboots while the pile of gold in the corner of the 90s media content vault is collecting dust. It’s like the big name studios are allergic to making money! - We Deserve High Definition
All 88 episodes of the Beetleborgs across two badass seasons are available in fairly low but standard-definition quality on Amazon for $1.99 a piece, or for free but even lower quality over on Tubi. We deserve a remaster at the very least, which would obviously sell millions of copies a week, which would in turn open the eyes of the corporate execs to the massive multi-billion dollar earning potential of the Big Bad Beetleborgs.
In a world obsessed with reboots, reimaginings, and cinematic multiverses, Big Bad Beetleborgs is a goldmine. Give it to Netflix or Amazon Prime with a slightly darker tone — not grimdark, just enough grit to make the armor look heavy and the monsters look expensive.
Let the kids who grew up watching it now become the ‘Borg mentors, passing the torch (and the bug armor) to a new generation. Keep the humor. Keep the heart. Keep the Flabber. You can even throw in a sly Power Rangers crossover — because we all want to see a teenagers with attitude in spandex tag-team with three armored bugs from a haunted mansion.
There’s no excuse anymore. Hollywood has rebooted everything from Animaniacs to Dumb and Dumber. But somehow, Big Bad Beetleborgs — the most gloriously unhinged superhero show of the ‘90s — remains untouched.
It’s time to change that.
Give us Beetleborgs with modern effects, a killer soundtrack, and that same “what the hell am I watching” energy that made the original legendary. Because Beetleborgs doesn’t just deserve better… it deserves more. A lot more.
