‘Power Rangers’ head writer admits to the major mistake he made with the Black and Yellow Rangers

The original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, a hugely popular TV show from the 1990s, is being looked at again because of how its characters were cast. The show first aired in August 1993 and starred Walter Emanuel Jones as Zack Taylor (the Black Ranger) and Thuy Trang as Trini Kwan (the Yellow Ranger). Something that many have pointed out as likely being racially driven.

Head writer Tony Oliver recently admitted in the Investigation Discovery documentary Hollywood Demons that choosing a Black actor to play the Black Ranger and an Asian actor to play the Yellow Ranger was a big mistake (per EW, via Variety). He said this happened without realizing it was reinforcing racial stereotypes.

Oliver said the casting wasn’t done out of prejudice. Instead, Jones was picked because he had the confident, cool attitude they wanted for the character, and Trang was chosen because she matched the calm, thoughtful personality they imagined for the Yellow Ranger. Originally, a different actress, Audri Dubois, was supposed to play the Yellow Ranger, but she left because of a pay dispute. Trang was then brought in and added to scenes that had already been filmed for the first episode.

Power Rangers writer claims original casting was an oversight

However, Oliver now admits that casting the characters this way was a problem because it reinforced racial stereotypes without anyone realizing it at the time. He only understood the issue when an assistant pointed it out during a meeting, calling it a “mistake.” This realization, years after the show ended, shows how little awareness there was about racial sensitivity back then.

Oliver said, “None of us [were] thinking stereotypes, and [that’s why the show ran for two seasons with] the Black character as the Black Ranger and the Asian character as the Yellow Ranger. [It wasn’t until] my assistant pointed it out in a meeting one day. It was such a mistake.”

Behind-the-scenes clips even show Jones making a joking comment about the situation, pointing out the irony. The show kept the same cast for two seasons before Jones, Trang, and the Red Ranger, Austin St. John, were replaced. This was due to many background issues about contracts, not to do with their race.

Co-creator Shuki Levy had a different take, telling Complex that growing up in Israel made him less aware of racial issues in American culture. He explained that where he came from, skin color wasn’t something people focused on, so he didn’t think about it when casting. While this makes sense, it doesn’t change the fact that the casting choices ended up reinforcing stereotypes.

This controversy says a lot about how people thought about race in the early 1990s and how ideas about representation in TV and movies have changed since then. Even though the choices made back then can be understood in the context of the time, their impact is still felt today, leaving a mark on a show that many people loved.