It’s been nearly 40 years since Fox Kids first changed Saturday mornings for a whole generation of children, but there are a few live-action shows that stand out even more from their animated counterparts after all this time. What was great about the curated programming block was that there was not only a ton of room for animation to flourish, there were also plenty of action and mystery shows to enjoy during the block too. Some of these shows have gone on to even outlast some of the biggest cartoons of that era.
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While there have been animated shows that have been both big and small airing with the Fox Kids block during its tenure, there are just as many live-action shows that have been absolute game changers when they were at their peak. They’re kind of in that same boat where some will be much more memorable than the others, but also the kind of shows that you’ll instantly get a flashback as soon as you see them again. Especially for those ’90s kids watching eagerly week to week.
7). Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation
Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation is such a wild show in retrospect. To this day it’s the only live-action TV series ever produced for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, and you’ll immediately see why with its single season run. Set after the events of the third movie and featuring a brand new sister turtle, Venus, an older and more experienced group of turtles faces off against a new group of dragon villains that take the fights in a new direction.
Hilariously, you’ll probably more remember this series with its crossover with Power Rangers in Space, “Shell Shocked,” but it was just so expensive. After its year on the air, there was really no need to keep it going alongside some of the other more successful Fox Kids shows. You can find it streaming free for Tubi these days.
6). Masked Rider
Saban Entertainment was behind many of the shows you’ll see on this list as following the success of Power Rangers, Saban adapted even more Japanese classic Tokusatsu shows for American audiences. Masked Rider takes on Kamen Rider Black RX, but takes it in a much different kind of direction than Power Rangers did. You might have seen Dex in a crossover Power Rangers event episode, but he’s an alien from outer space who ends up living with a wacky human family (and Ferbus).
As a champion sent from his planet to defend Earth from an evil invading villain, Dex spent most of his episodes figuring out Earth’s customs and his place within it all. It was a much wackier skewing show than Power Rangers ever was, and ultimately didn’t catch on as well with “only” 40 episodes ever produced during its run due to low toy sales. You can’t really stream it either.
5). Big Bad Beetleborgs
Big Bad Beetleborgs is probably the most successful non-Power Rangers off-shoot ever produced with Fox Kids, and it’s because it went in a whole new direction. It was more of a sitcom with kids as its heroic center, and adapted both Juukou B-Fighterย andย B-Fighter Kabutoย into two differently titled shows to mark the eras. It was a wacky adventure series that had stakes, but ultimately was much easier to jump in and out of each week if you missed any of the episodes.
But what made this one stand out even more was the fact it was able to tap into that same Power Rangers vein with lots of fun stories, villains with the same powers, and a house full of horror monsters telling jokes. It’s also now streaming with Tubi if you wanted it to check it out for free in the meantime.
4). Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog
There’s a good chance you don’t remember Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog. Unlike the other hero shows, it didn’t adapt an already existing Japanese show but instead was an entirely original production. Taking inspiration from those Tokusatsu shows and using Irish mythology as a base, this was also an expansive 50 episode series that told a complete story. Much like Power Rangers it was a monster of the week adventure, but made sure to drop notable lore each week.
Rohan is an orphan apprentice who wields a magical sword that gives him the ability to wield the power of a knight of fire. Joining others who are able to wield magical armors and weapons of the elements (and an additional elemental knight that arrived later, of course), there were all sorts of monster fights and more that were a lot cooler than kids could’ve gotten at the time. Too bad it’s been largely forgotten by time and not streaming anywhere.
3). Eerie, Indiana
Eerie, Indiana is a bit of a strange case. It wasn’t an original Fox Kids produced show like the others, but instead originally made its debut with NBC. It only ran for 19 episodes during its original run, but ended up finding a whole new life with the Fox Kids block. It’s why its identity is more closely attached to the block itself. It was much more popular with kids on Saturday mornings, and ultimately even got a spinoff series as part of that success.
It’s a show that was truly ahead of its time. A kid moves to the titular town, and finds all sorts of weird things happening all over. Like there’s an episode where a guy hunts down tornadoes, one with bigfoot, and all sorts of other fun ideas. It might have just been too fun compared to the rest of the block, and didn’t really find its audience outside of Fox Kids. Make sure to check this one out on Tubi for free.
2). Goosebumps
If there’s one major franchise that truly was a success with Fox Kids (outside of the obvious that you’ll find at the top of the list), it had to have been Goosebumps. Taking R.L. Stine’s original books, Scholastic helped to produce one of the most memorable kids shows of all time. It’s hard not to point at any given episode as an example of the way it was able to blend real horror with enough wackiness to help it survive on a Saturday morning basis.
It’s just got so many memorable stories brought to life, and the episodes themselves had enough differences from the original books that they stood out on their own. Night of the Living Dummy, The Haunted Mask, and more have become icons in their own right on TV, and honestly have probably stood out much more from the original books themselves. It was just a breath of fresh air.
1). Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
There’s just no amount of glazing one could do to really emphasize just how important Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was to Fox Kids. It’s truly hard to convey just how big of a hit this show really was if you weren’t there. It was just an absolute juggernaut of merchandising. Launching 30 years of a franchise across multiple owners, iterations and more, there’s really nothing like it. It was the breakout hit from the Fox Kids block, and remained a pillar of children’s entertainment for decades.
’90s kids were all changed with this one forever, and there are some that still keep it in such high regard to this day. Teenagers with attitude facing off against a dangerous monster every week kept you tuning into each episode every Saturday, and you can find it on Tubi if you wanted to tap into that same vibe all these years later.
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