Video of the event hit the web and is closing in on 10,000 YouTube views.
Such is life for a group of friends who formed DasTV89.
DasTV is a YouTube comedy channel that gets updated two or three times a week with funny new clips of the group. The YouTube hits have poured in since the channel started last November, nearing 100,000 in total.
And yes, all of the videos involve the Power Rangers. The slogan: “Are You Entertained?”
Steven Dennis is the leader of DasTV and appears most often on camera, but other members include AJ Mack, Clinton Milbourne, Samantha Vincilione, Ben Fields and TJ Strenger.
“We all love the Power Rangers and some of us had the suits, and we figured since we were hanging out we should do something,” said Milbourne.
Not only does this group of college kids bond over their Ranger love, they all met online through forums dedicated to the show. The group comes from Carroll, Douglas and Paulding counties.
DasTV videos involve forays into the public, such as Walmart or Zaxby’s, with scripted pieces involving two characters, Daytime and Sundown. Daytime never wears a Power Ranger suit, whereas Sundown always does. The two live together and the videos document their adventures and arguments.
DasTV89 stands for Daytime and Sundown and is also Dennis’ initials backward. The ‘89’ is the year he was born.
“Power Rangers” is a television series involving a team of superhuman crime fighters who save the world. Regular teenagers by day, the characters “morph” into the special suits to save the day when trouble comes.
Dating back to the 1970s in Japan as “Super Sentai,” the show came to the United States in the early 1990s and became a surprise hit with children. Nostalgia is a big part of DasTV, but only a part.
The “Power Rangers” TV show is nearly always serious, so a lot of what makes DasTV funny is seeing the Rangers in everyday society, eating fast food or shopping, or losing a job, as Sundown invariably does.
“Mostly with ‘Power Rangers’ it’s nothing but seriousness, so it’s funny when we do crazy, stupid stuff,” Mack said.
Dennis has always loved the show, but his interest took off while stationed in Japan in the Navy.
While DasTV clips aim for laughs, the Ranger suits are no joke. They range in price from $600 to $1,300 depending on quality and equipment. Dennis has nearly $10,000 invested in the suits.
“We’re trying to do more fight scenes, but these suits don’t breathe very well,” Dennis said. “You have to smear a thin layer of toothpaste on the shield just so the mask won’t fog up — it’s an old diving trick I learned in the Navy.”
DasTV89 isn’t appropriate for all ages, and certainly isn’t for everyone, but in the online culture of which it’s a part, the group is becoming a big deal.
“A lady at Toys ‘R Us actually offered to pay us to do a birthday party,” said Mack. “We thought, ‘we could do a birthday party, but let’s go to Walmart!”
The Internet plays a big role in the gig. Without it, the team wouldn’t be able to upload their videos and in fact wouldn’t even know each other. Many DasTV subscribers live in other states, but are bonded by their unusual interest.
“The whole community is like a tight-knit family that comes together, because Power Rangers stand for doing what’s right and doing the right thing,” said Milbourne. “We have our group, but beyond us there’s a bigger community of people who come together, like a family that sticks together, based on the TV show. ... If you search hard on the Internet, you can find someone who has the same interests as you and bond with that person.”
While they don’t plan on making big bucks off of their show, the group does hope to be recognized at the various conventions where Rangers fans gather to socialize and meet former stars of the show.
“I’ve always loved Japanese culture, and me going over there kind of made it all come together,” said Dennis, who always pretended to a Ranger on the playground as a child. “In Japan I found the people that were on all the shows I grew up watching. I realized I could actually become one of these guys and make people smile. That’s really what it’s all about, making people smile.”
DasTV89 can be found at YouTube.com/user/DasTV89 and also on Facebook at Facebook.com/DasTV89.
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