Big Bad Beetleborgs
Series, 1996, The mid '90s, Set in Hillhurst Mansion
Big Bad Beetleborgs is #15 of 22 in release order and #15 of 22 in chronological order in the Fox Kids Classics.
The story
When three kids explore Charterville's haunted Hillhurst Mansion on a dare, they discover a lot more than they bargain for! The trio find a wild and wacky phasm named Flabber, who changes their lives forever when he grants their wish to become the superheroes they've read about in BeetleBorgs comics. However, not only does Flabber grant the kids' wish, but he also accidentally facilitates the escape of supervillains from the comic books as well! Now it's up to these three newly tapped superheroes - aided by a friendly neighborhood phasm and armed with fantastic powers and awesome vehicles - to save the world from the forces of darkness that threaten the peace and harmony of all mankind.
Big Bad Beetleborgs recap
Big Bad Beetleborgs (1996) turns three kids into the armored comic book heroes they love, thanks to a wish granted by a phantom in a haunted mansion. Saban Entertainment made it with Toei, cutting fight footage from the Japanese series Juukou B-Fighter into new American scenes, and it ran on Fox Kids for two seasons and 88 episodes from September 7, 1996, to March 2, 1998. On a dare from rich bullies Trip and Van, Drew McCormick (Wesley Barker), his younger sister Jo (Shannon Chandler, later Brittany Konarzewski) and their friend Roland Williams (Herbie Baez) enter Hillhurst Mansion outside Charterville. They free Flabber (Billy Forester), a phasm trapped in the pipe organ, who makes them the Beetleborgs, but the same magic releases the Magnavores, villains from the comic. The mansion's other monsters, Mums, Frankenbeans, Count Fangula and the werewolf Wolfie, carry much of the sitcom humour, and Art Fortunes, who draws the Beetleborgs comic, designs new powers for the kids. Late in the first season the villain Nukus is brought to life. The second season, retitled Beetleborgs Metallix and built on footage from B-Fighter Kabuto, opens with Nukus wiping out the kids' armor. Art designs new Metallix armor, Nukus breaks Art's brother Les out of prison to draw monsters called the Crustaceans, and the fight grows to include the giant Roboborg and the Astral Coins.
Big Bad Beetleborgs ending explained
Big Bad Beetleborgs ends with "Mega Borg Power," aired March 2, 1998, in which Nukus uses Les Fortunes' drawings to create Repgillian, a monster that only Roboborg and the Crustaceans' giant robot Boron can beat together. The Beetleborgs win Boron over as an ally, stripping Nukus of his greatest weapon, and Les chooses to return to Charterville Prison, ending his ability to turn drawings into monsters. The series stopped there; no third season was made, and Saban did not revive the show.
Where to watch Big Bad Beetleborgs
Big Bad Beetleborgs is streaming on Prime Video, Plex, and Tubi in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon.
Ratings
IMDb 6.2/10
Where it fits
- Release order: after Goosebumps, before The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police.
- Chronological order: after Goosebumps, before The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police.
Cast
- Herbie Baez as Roland
- Wesley Barker as Drew
- Brittany Konarzewski as Jo
- Billy Forester as Flabber
- David Fletcher as Frankenbeans
- Joe Hackett as Count Fangula
- Blake Torney as Mums
- Scott Page-Pagter as Wolfgang (voice)
- Frank Tahoe as Wolfgang
- Channe Nolen as Abbie
- Rappin' Granny as Nano
- Dave 'Foots' Footman as Typhus (voice)