For those of you that are in your late twenties, you’ll likely remember the phrase, “It’s morphin’ time!”

The original Power Rangers series was a global phenomenon. It was a show that kids couldn’t resist watching on TV and tons of merchandise was produced and bought during those initial years of the franchise.

The premise was pure escapism:: a giant floating head summons five teenagers to become a group of dinosaur themed costumed and helmet wearing heroes that would combat evil space aliens. The original cast played characters that kids could identify with and see as role models and many say that those early episodes are among the best in the entire franchise.

Walter Jones played the role of Zack Taylor, the original black power ranger. The following is a brief Q&A with Mr. Jones::

epcb::How does it feel to be ingrained into popular culture?

WJ:: It’s crazy, it’s like being the popular kid in school but you’re popular everywhere you go. Once the show got the notoriety it got, I knew at that point that we were involved in something that was a lot bigger than we thought it would be. We got to be a role model then and still be a popular figure today. I get great pleasure from making people smile, making people happy. When all it takes to make somebody’s day is saying hello, shaking their hand and taking a picture – it just makes me really happy that I’m blessed with that ability.

epcb:: Did you ever expect that the Power Rangers franchise would last this long?

WJ:: I didn’t, but we were the earmark of the decade. The 90’s was basically our time and these kids grew up and never forgot about us. Now that the show is on Netflix and people could look at all the episodes again, those same fans that are now in their 20s, are now showing their children and these children are growing up with it. That’s pretty amazing, that I don’t think I expected and that’s very cool.

epcb:: What do you think of the growing nostalgia of the first few years of the program?

WJ:: A lot of people that I run into say that it was the best version of Power Rangers. Not only did we all have a great chemistry together and we grew together on the show, but it was actually written that way. I think after Thuy, myself and Austin St. John left the show, the producers decided they wanted to make the characters unimportant and make only the suits important so they could sell toys and not worry about the actors having any power and that affected the way the show was written from then on.

epcb:: What is your best memory from filming the original Power Rangers series?

WJ:: One of my favorite things to do on the show was the fight scenes and being able to show off my physical abilities, as we progressed the fights got better and more innovative. Besides that, just the power of the show, there was a time when we went to a children’s hospital for the Make A Wish Foundation. We couldn’t even go in to the room but we could go to the window. The kids would look through the window and see us, and their face would light up. Some of those kids hadn’t smiled in months and there was a kid who actually spoke and they had not heard the kid speak in quite some time. To brighten the world of a kid, there’s nothing like that.

epcb:: How did you score the role of Zack Taylor?

WJ:: It came down to auditioning. I had missed the initial call for the show because I was out of town doing Star Search in Florida. When I got back, they said they were still auditioning. So I went in and they were looking for somebody that could dance, act and do martial arts and I was fortunate to be somebody that could do all those things they needed.

epcb:: Do you remain friends with any of the other original Power Rangers?

WJ:: We’re not the tightest group of friends, but when we do see each other, we can still relate because we went through something together that was unlike anything that anybody that wasn’t in that particular group ever went through. The friendship that we had remains and I speak to them every now and then.

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