Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad



Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad is an American television series. It was produced byTsuburaya Productions, Ultracom and DIC Entertainment, with distribution by All American Television (now Fremantle Media), and ran for one season from September 12, 1994 to April 11, 1995 in syndication, as well as on ABC. It was an adaptation of the Japanese tokusatsu seriesDenkou Choujin Gridman which was produced by Tsuburaya Productions. The series was originally going to be named PowerBoy but was renamed Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad to avoid confusion with Saban Entertainment's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.[1]

The series development mirrored the creative construct established earlier with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The master toy licensee -- Playmates Toys -- funded the series, interpolated American development via toy licensing rights, and did a commercial buy-in on the Fox Network, where Haim Saban had established a kids block of time with other programs like "Power Rangers." Playmates called upon the development team at DIC (which coincidentally was in league with Pangea Corporation, who assisted in the development of DIC's "New Kids on the Block," and Playmates earlier phenomenon, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"). DIC, Pangea and Playmates' marketing group created an ensemble of character names, traits and profiles, which were spun into a most ambiguous series offering. More than anything else, this was a quick-to-market slam dunk to capitalize on the upsurge in popularity of imported Japanese monster-robot shows which could be adapted with new, regionalized live action footage.

Plot
High school student Sam Collins is the head of a band (Team Samurai). During a recording session, Sam is zapped by a power surge and disappears, only to reappear seconds later with a strange device attached to his wrist (which is at the time unremovable). Later, after his friends Amp, Sydney, and Tanker leave, one of his video game programs dubbed, Servo, is subject to a power surge and zaps Sam again. This time, the zap pulls him into the digital world and turns him into his creation. As Servo, he roams the digital world and fights monsters called Mega Viruses.

Meanwhile Malcolm Frink, another student from Sam's school, is designing monsters on his home computer when Kilokahn (an escaped military Artificial Intelligence presumed dead in the power surge) visits Malcolm via computer screen. Kilokahn strikes a Faustian deal with Malcolm and turns his digital monster into a Mega Virus Monster who is not only capable of corrupting electronics, but is also capable of affecting the real world.

Sam (now as Servo) must enter the digital world and stop Malcolm's and Kilokahn's Mega Viruses. Sometimes, when Servo was unable to handle a virus by himself, he would call on the help of his friends using his Arsenal Programs. The Arsenal Programs could fight the viruses solo, transform (with the help of other Programs) and attach to Servo as armor. Since Team Samurai consisted of only 3 people at any one time (excluding Sam), only 3 vehicles were available at any one time. When Servo linked up with these Programs as armor, he changed his name to either Phormo or Synchro (when he combined with Drago or Xenon, respectively).

Team Samurai

 * Sam "Servo" Collins - The star of the series. He is the frontman and guitarist of his band, Team Samurai. He was always willing to help anyone in need or be their friend, and often vies for the attention of cheerleader Jennifer Doyle, having been in and out of relationships with her, sometimes even competing with Malcolm Frink for her affections. He has even gone so far as to try to be friends with Malcolm, although Malcolm never returned the favor. He also loves his (unseen) little sister, Elizabeth, though oftentimes felt pestered by her shenanigans. He is portrayed by Matthew Lawrence.
 * Tanker - The band's drummer and a stereotypical jock. He was particularly adept at school sports, especially football. He had a crush on fellow Team Samurai member Sydney, especially admiring her for her intelligence. He always seemed to have a large appetite, and as evidenced in the episode "A Break in the Food Chain", he would go crazy if he didn't eat anything for a period of time. He also held a particularly strong dislike for Malcolm Frink. In Syberspace, Tanker's uniform was a black biker suit with a black helmet and a see-through visor. He is portrayed by Kevin Castro.
 * Sydney "Syd" Forrester - The brains of the group, Sydney is the band's keyboard player. She is also a good singer, as shown in "His Master's Voice". She is one of North Valley High's brightest students, and often displayed a caring personality. She is the object of Tanker's affection, and the two enjoy being together. Sydney's Syberspace uniform was a pink biker suit with a gold helmet and a see-through visor. She is portrayed by Robin Mary Florence.
 * Amp Ere - Amp is the team's so-called "space cadet" and the band's bass player. He became the band's bass player after revealing to the gang that his brother (who was originally intended to join them instead of Amp) was going back to college. His intelligence was curious, as he was either clueless to his surroundings, or displayed unusual intellect. He had an unorthodox way of performing tasks, such as writing in a notebook using his toes, or studying by eating book pages with milk and sugar. To enter Syberspace, he always used a different phrase to be humorous. Amp's uniform consisted of a helicopter helmet and leather jacket. It is later revealed that Amp is really an alien and returns to his own planet with his parents offscreen. He is portrayed by Troy Slaten.
 * Lucky London - Lucky is a surfer and was Amp's replacement in Team Samurai. His attitude was often laid-back, sometimes to the dismay of Principal Pratchert. In Syberspace, Lucky's uniform consisted of a red and white jetski helmet with a black visor and Life Jacket. He is portrayed by Rembrandt.

Villains

 * Kilokahn: Kilometric Knowledge-base Animate Human Nullity - A military artificial intelligence program who unleashes computer viruses to attack major computer systems. He derisively refers to humans as "meat-things." Kilokahn considers himself the ruler of the digital world and also wishes to take over the real world starting with the world's computer network. He is voiced by Tim Curry.
 * Malcolm Frink - A loner who dresses in black garb and also attends North Valley High School. He only finds companionship in Kilokahn. Using a special program, he designs the Mega Virus monsters which are brought to life by Kilokahn and sent into a specific electronic object. Sam sees that Malcolm is alone and tries to strike up a friendship with him, but Malcolm rejects his offers stating that he likes being alone. Malcolm has a very strong dislike of Tanker. Malcolm derives enjoyment out of hurting other people with his computer viruses, which he creates and Kilokahn brings to life. In spite of Kilokahn regularly betraying him, lacking any other 'friends' Malcolm always comes back to him. He even purposely restores Kilokahn to his sociopathic self after he is temporarily rendered harmless. He is portrayed by Glen Beaudin.

Mega-Virus Monsters

 * See List of Mega-Virus monsters

Supporting characters

 * Jennifer "Jen" Doyle - Sam's on-again/off-again girlfriend and a cheerleader at North Valley High, Malcolm tries to compete for her affections. She is portrayed by Jayme Betcher.
 * Mrs. Cha-Cha Rimba Starkey - The cafeteria lunchlady, who often cracks jokes relating to the poor quality of the food she serves, enjoys her hobby of riding her motorcycle, and was married multiple times. She also seemed to have an affinity for Dennis Quaid, as mentioned in a few episodes. She is portrayed by the late Diana Bellamy.
 * Principal Pratchert - The school principal who is usually strict, particularly when dealing with Sam Collins and Malcolm Frink. When his daughter lost the student council presidency to Malcolm, he initially refused to recount the votes when Malcolm commented it would make the Education Board suspect he was playing favorites and only could do so when he agreed that Malcolm could use his parking space should he remain victor. In "Pratchert's Radical Departure", it was revealed that Pratchert used to be a hippie when he was younger. Malcolm used this to his advantage by creating a virus that made Pratchert think he was a hippie again, much to the delight of Lucky London (at least until the virus was destroyed by Servo). He is portrayed by John Wesley.
 * Yolanda "Yoli" Pratchert - The principal's daughter and Jennifer's closest friend. She's North Valley High School's student councilpresident, a position she temporarily lost in "The President's a Frink" when Malcolm cheated his way into office (with the help of a virus) but she regained it when Principal Pratchert recounts the votes after Servo defeats the virus sent to change the results. In the episode "What Rad Universe!," an alternate dimension version of Yolanda found companionship in Kilokahn making her that dimension's version of Malcolm Frink while the Malcolm Frink of that dimension was a good person much like the real Yoli. She is portrayed by Kelli Kirkland.
 * Elizabeth "Liz" Collins - Sam's "unseen" kid sister, who communicates with her brother off screen through a vent connected from the upstairs. She always plays pranks on her older brother, usually dropping things on top of him through the vent. She is voiced by Kath Soucie.

Casting Continuity
The episodes "Don't Reboot 'Till Christmas" and "Kilokhan Comes To Town" were aired after Troy Slaten departed and was replaced. However Amp Ere was still in the cast in this episode and there is no mention of Lucky or the events regarding Amp's departure. These episodes may have been filmed prior to the departure, but leaving a continuity gap in the characters.

Xenon Program
In an odd occurrence, Xenon fought Servo in Episode 10.
 * Xenon: A powerful humanoid robot created when Vitor, Tracto, and Borr combine. It's fists can be fired as missiles, as in the battle against Kord, which it almost singlehandedly defeated on its own.
 * Borr: An orange and black tank with twin drills that can fly or burrow underground; its driver is Sydney. Once it was piloted by Amp, who had problems driving it. Also, a famous basketball player—Charles "High Jump" Johnson—was dragged along to fight a Mega Virus Monster as a temporary driver for Borr when the band used the vehicles to escape the locked high school (in the episode "Syber-Dunk"). Borr forms Synchro's gauntlets and shoulder armor; and Xenon's torso and upper legs.
 * Tracto: A blue mini tank with lasers; its driver is Tanker. Tracto forms Synchro's boots and Xenon's legs.
 * Vitor: A red fighter jet armed with lasers, missiles and a rig to restrain monsters; its pilot is Amp (and later by Lucky). On one occasion it was piloted by Sydney, who had trouble flying it. Vitor forms Synchro's helmet and body armor; and Xenon's head, arms, and chest.

When it combines with Servo to form the upgrade, Synchro, which is armed with a pair of shoulder drill missiles. The scene of Synchro using the drill missiles against the Skeleton mega-virus has also been shown in the introduction credits of the TV show and when advertising the full-sized Xenon toy set.

Drago Program
When it combines with Servo, they form Servo's upgrade known as Phormo, which is armed with a pair of laser gauntlets.
 * Drago: A mechanized Dragon formed when Jamb and Torb combine. It was almost always piloted by Tanker, and occasionally by Sydney. Later in the series, Jamb and Torb would just appear as one single jet fighter and was piloted by either Sydney or Tanker and eventually just transform into Drago. Neither Amp or Lucky have piloted Drago during the series run. While Tanker and Syd were the default pilots for the "Drago Jet," Mrs. Starkey did pilot the vehicle in one episode ("Starkey in Syberspace").
 * Jamb: A dragon head mini-jet which also acts as a bazooka type flame thrower, known as the Dragon Cannon, which is used by Servo. Its main pilot is Sydney.
 * Torb: A giant jet with various weaponry. Its main pilot is Tanker.

Main characters

 * Sam: "Let's Samuraize, guys!" (strums his guitar or presses on his wrist communicator)
 * Tanker: "Let's kick some Giga-Butt!" (knocks his drumsticks together)
 * Sydney: "Pump up the power!" (jumps on one leg and raises her fist into the air)
 * Amp: His battle calls and poses always varied. Some of them included: ["Two for a Dollar!", "Three for a Dollar!", "With a Cherry on Top!", "And Side Order of Fries!", "Shake Well Before Using!", etc.]
 * Lucky: "Surf's up!" (does a surfer's pose)

Other

 * Charles "High Jump" Johnson: "Uh....go team?" (confused look)

Episode list
1: To Protect and Servo - Sam Collins discovers the world of Syberspace and becomes Servo, fighter for justice.

2: Samurize - Malcolm creates the Blink virus and sends it into the police files in order to cause a false arrest.

3: Samurize, Guys! - Sam and his rock band, Team Samurai, are to perform at a concert at North Valley High School that night, but Malcolm has other ideas. He creates the Trembulor virus to create an impenetrable barrier around Sam's house.

4: Amp Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! - Amp falls in love with Ms. Tilden, a substitute teacher. After mistaking an utterly hideous old woman to be the object of their friend's affections, Sam, Sydney, and Tanker come up with a plan to make him forget about his crush.

5: An Un-Helping Hand - After Sydney earns a 'B' on her report card, this is the least of her worries because a Mega-Virus has taken over her wristwatch. It causes her hand to go on a petty crime spree.

6: His Master's Voice - The Skorn virus is created after Malcolm's voice is made fun of on a keyboard synthesizer. This virus has a mind of its own and sends it into the synthesizer effectively switching Syd and Tanker's voices!

7: Some Like it Scalding - Sam decides to have a slumber party at North Valley High School as the school's fundraiser. However, Malcolm sends the fire virus, Plexton, into the school's thermostat. With the party literally boiling over in the intense heat, can Servo save the day?

8: Mal-Kahn-Tent - Kilokahn decides to experience life in the real world by taking over Malcolm's body. He then sticks Malcolm inside of a mega-virus monster. Sam and the others notice that it really is Kilokahn inside Malcolm's body, and it is up to Servo to save Malcolm.

9: The Cold Shoulder - Malcolm creates Gramm, sister to the fire virus, Plexton and sends it into Sam's air conditioner to turn people cold and against one another. Servo must destroy Gramm in order to break the spell and in the process, fend off the reserve virus, which is none other than Plexton.

10: Que Sera Servo - A fortune-telling game is infected by a virus and it causes everyone's personalities to completely reverse. From this spell, Sam becomes a wimp, Tanker becomes a nerd, Amp becomes intelligent, and Sydney becomes extroverted.

11: A Break in the Food Chain - Malcolm creates the Hock mega-virus monster and sends him into the food factories for the purpose of stopping shipments of food to the world that needs it.

12: Ashes to Ashes Disk to Disk - The Troid virus which has been sent into Jennifer's pom-poms, random victims are stored on Floppy Disks. Sam is the only person he knows that is left, and must find a way to bring the people back.

13: Lights, Camera, Action - Sam learns just how dependent he is on his friends when he's sucked into a video camera and nearly goes insane from the prolonged enforced solitude.

14: Sweet and Sour Kilokahn - Sydney installs a children's computer program and is able to use it on Kilokahn, turning him from evil to good. When Malcolm discovers the good Kilokahn, he is infuriated but attempts to take on life as a good-natured fellow, only to fail miserably.

15: To Sleep, Perchance to Scream - After Sam has a strange nightmare, Kilokahn seizes this opportunity to send a virus into Sam's alarm clock which gives Sam continuous nightmares. How will Sam ever wake up to actually defeat the virus?

16: Out of Sight, Out of Time - In order to make Sam miss a date with Jennifer, Malcolm creates a Mega-Virus that will render time meaningless around the world, messing clocks all over the world.

17. Money for Nothin' & Bits for Free - Malcolm taps into bank accounts across the country, making him incredibly rich while everyone else struggles to pay for necessities. He uses his money to bribe his schoolmates into doing embarrassing things. When his little sister, Elizabeth, gets into a car accident and needs surgery, Sam must take action.

18: Water You Doing? - After Malcolm's dramatic reading of Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is shunned at the school talent show, Malcolm enacts thematic revenge in turning all the water in the city into hydrochloric acid. Also, Tanker learns the danger of bingeing on dill pickles, and suffers from severe stomach pain, and learns where his limits lie.

19: Just Brown & Servo - Desperate to prove to Jennifer that he's romantic, Sam plans a romantic dinner for the two of them. However, when he lets Tanker, Sydney, Amp, and Mrs. Starkey help him out, Malcolm overhears this and sends a Mega-Virus Monster into Mrs. Starkey's egg-timer to make her go insane.

20: My Virus Ate My Homework - Sam's report for school is destroyed by Elizabeth, and Sam feels he's about to face impending doom at school because of this. But that is the least of his worries when Kilokahn, against Malcolm's wishes, releases a mega-virus monster to sound off an alarm system which will apparently trigger warheads throughout the globe.

21: Hello Darkness, My Old Friend - Amp is attempting to get in shape for a competition, and Malcolm creates a virus that attempts to knock out all the electricity in the world.

22: Born With a Jealous Mind - Sydney wins a date with superstar Chad Williams, leaving Tanker very jealous. Sam tries to convince him not to be jealous. Meanwhile, Malcolm attempts revenge at the people of Japan, where his new hard drive came. It ate his disk and severely messed up his hand. He sends out a smog virus to harm the people.

23: Cheater, Cheater, Megabyte Eater - Malcolm creates a Stupid Virus in order to tamper with the national test scores at high school, and Principal Pratchert accuses Amp of tampering with the scores.

24: Romeo & Joule-watt - Tanker & Jennifer are cast as Romeo and Juliet in the school play, much to Sam's and Sydney's dismay. Malcolm revamps the Chronic virus and sends him into the school's stage lights.

25: Rock n' Roll Virucide - A Rock n' Roll Virus is created to turn Mrs. Starkey into a heavy Rock n' Roll maniac.

26: Stiff as a Motherboard - Malcolm creates the Manfu virus and sends it into the school's water fountain, causing whoever touches it to become stiff and unable to move or speak. Unfortunately, that victim is Sam. How will he be able to fight if he can't move? It's up to his friends to help him out on that.

27: Pride Goeth Before a Brawl - Kilokahn no longer wants Malcolm's help in making viruses, so he turns to the first computer user he can find, which is Sydney. He gets her to create her own virus for Servo to fight. After a bit of confusion, it seemed as if the virus would not cause any harm after all, that is until Malcolm turns the virus completely evil. Sydney, feeling responsible, aids Servo in defeating the virus by piloting the Drago system in order to create Phormo.

28: Starkey in Syberspace - Sam disguises himself as a girl in order to break into Sydney's club at school, but then is discovered by Mrs. Starkey. After Sam runs out, Starkey snoops around on Sydney's laptop and is accidentally sucked into Syberspace, inside one of the Sybersquad's vehicles!

29: Hair I Stand, Head in Hand - Malcolm revamps the Plexton virus and sends it into Sam's blow-dryer. After water is dumped on his head, Sam is forced to use the dryer, only to have it turn his hair into a whole messy field of static electricity.

30: Portrait of Artist as a Young Virus - Malcolm creates a virus with the intent of altering the high school students' new schedules to schedules with undesirable classes, as well as putting him in all the same classes as Jennifer.

31: The Taunt Heard Round the World - Kilokahn sends out a global taunt via television to Servo to fight against the revamped Hock virus, now the Hockinator, or else all television stations around the world would be shut down permanently.

32: Tanks for the Memories - A virus is sent into Tanker's walkman and headphones, while Tanker is using them, causing him to go insane and make obscure quotes, thus distracting him from normal life and the danger in Syberspace.

33: Love Me Don't - Malcolm sends a virus into a music box, hoping that when Jennifer opens it, she would fall in love with the first person she'd see – Malcolm. Sam is very angry when he feels that Jennifer is hoping to dump him for Malcolm. Unfortunately for Malcolm, however, it's not Jennifer who opens the box - it's Mrs. Starkey. A reluctant Sam must destroy the virus in order to break the horrid love spell.

34: Syberteria Combat - Malcolm resurrects the Manfu virus to create a barrier around the high school, which imprisons the gang, who is staying after school. Tensions fly for the gang as the time goes stuck together and they begin verbally attacking one another.

35: Over the River & Through the Grid

36: Do Not Reboot 'Til Christmas - It's Christmas time and everyone but Malcolm are into the holiday spirit, preparing for the charity toy drive. Malcolm decides to take his rage out on them by sending a 'special' virus into the battery powered toys and sets it to explode at midnight.

37: Kilo Is Coming to Town - After the destruction of their virus, Malcolm and Kilokhan track Servo's home data stack to within a 6-mile radius of Malcolm's computer. Knowing he's close, Kilokhan sends Malcolm out to set up the town with Christmas lights to give Kilokhan the power to pin-point their enemy. When he finds and erases the minds of Tanker, Sid and Amp, he turns against Malcolm. Now determined to help save Christmas and the world, Servo goes on one last mission to destroy Kilokhan, but when he destroys the Samurai vehicles, Malcolm and Jennifer watch and hope that Servo can save the day once again.

38: Hide and Servo - A power surge is created in syberspace, and when Sam uses the computer to investigate, he, as Servo, is thrust through syberspace in a rapid, endless, and uncontrollable flight. Throughout the day, Sydney keeps hearing his calls for help everywhere she is, though Tanker and Amp don't believe her at first. Until that is, they hear it too and investigate. If Servo is to escape, Plexton awaits him.

39: Little Ditch, Big Glitch - With the help of a television screen, Kilokahn sets out to put everyone in North Valley High School under his power. Can Team Samurai, who are stuck in detention, put a stop to this?

40: Hasta la Virus, Baby - Amp is supposedly in trouble and gone from school, and the gang and Yolanda and Jennifer recall past experiences with Amp. It's revealed that Amp is back in outer space and later, the gang witnesses the arrival of surfer Lucky London, who would become the newest member of Team Samurai.

41: Give 'Til It Megahertz - Malcolm resurrects the Kord virus and uses him to turn people into a bunch of overly generous people, including the gang of Team Samurai.

42: The President's a Frink! - Malcolm uses the Skorn virus in order to win the student body presidential election over Yolanda Pratchert.

43: Beep My, Beep My Baby - A virus is sent into Jennifer's pager, which causes Jennifer to dislike Sam and love Malcolm.

44: Forget You! - A virus is created that causes everyone affected to forget everything - even who they are.

45: Loose Lips Sink Microchips - Malcolm resurrects Skorn and sends him into Sam's radio show at school, causing embarrassing secrets to be revealed about people, including Sydney and Tanker's secrets. Sam must face Skorn and stop him once more in order to stop the leak at the station!

46: It's Magic - Lucky decides to incorporate the concept of Sam disappearing into syberspace behind a curtain)as a part of his magic act at school. Unfortunately, after the first part of the trick works, the second part doesn't, since Sam, as Servo, is stuck fighting the Chronic virus again.

47: Pratchert's Radical Departure - Malcolm decides to use a virus in order to mentally bring Principal Pratchert back to his hippie days, much to Lucky's pleasure.

48: Foreign Languages - A virus is created for the purpose that, whenever Servo is fighting him, no one will be able to hear Servo's calls for help if he gets into a jam.

49: Truant False - When Hock is sent into the school computer in order to tamper with the summer school program files, the school sends an anti-virus system to destroy him. Then Kilokahn alters the anti-virus to look like Manfu - and turn him evil - to get Servo to try to destroy it, not knowing what consequences would lie in wait should the anti-virus be destroyed....it could mean summer school forever!

50: Lucky's Unlucky Adventure

51: What Rad Universe -A power surge in syberspace sends Sam into an alternate universe, where everyone he knows is different than from the universe he knows: Yolanda creates viruses for Kilokahn, and Malcolm is a good-spirited guy who likes to help people. Sam must destroy the Hockinator virus in the alternate universe and find a way back home before it's too late.

52: Syber-Dunk - Sam, Tanker and Lucky try to get basketball superstar High Jump to come to their school before a big game tonight by telling him there is a charity event. When High Jump finds out that it is all a scam, everyone can't leave the school because of the Krono virus which created a barrier around the school. Because of this he will likely miss the game, unless the Syber Squad and the help of High Jump, can defeat the virus in order to send High Jump on his way.

53: Take a Hike - While Sam is home spending time with Jennifer, Sydney, Tanker, Lucky and Yolanda are taking a camping trip out in nature. Malcolm then creates a virus that will sink all the electricity in the world. When the virus strikes, the gang finds themselves in a real dilemma because Sam is not present. Therefore, it's up to Tanker, in the unlikely role of Servo, to save the day!

Online distribution
Currently five episodes of Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad are available on Jaroo (new episodes are added and old episodes are removed on Wednesdays), an online video site operated by Cookie Jar Entertainment, whom DIC has since merged with.