1 week Ago By Nick Valdez
Fox Kids was home to some of the most notable franchises for kids that still have fans today, but there’s one show from its block that has yet to release on streaming through an official platform and is very hard to watch. Fox Kids was a special programming block on Fox network affiliate channels that kicked off its broadcast in 1990 and went all the way up through the early 2000s. This was a block that showcased some of the biggest shows at the time like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (and its many sequels), and many hidden gems that can’t really be found elsewhere after all this time.
Some of these shows have faded into obscurity over the years despite how big they might have been at the time (or despite any cult followings still enjoying the series to this day), and some of these shows were unique in that they were inspired by the likes of Power Rangers to show off a new kind of action series for children. One such show was Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog, a fantasy series rooted in Irish mythology that ran for a single season of 50 episodes to try and make a completely Western style Tokusatsu action series. And you can’t really watch it legally anymore unless you have a VHS copy.
Saban EntertainmentWhat Is Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog? Saban Entertainment ruled Fox Kids in the early 1990s. Thanks to the success of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the company found a successful formula in adapting Japanese action franchises like Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, and various Metal Hero shows into new American productions with new stories, characters, and footage added onto the already filmed action sequences. It was a Frankenstein’s monster kind of production that fused these shows together to form a new final product, but it resulted in some massive successes for the company at the time.
Power Rangers went on to be a franchise that ran for 30 years, multiple sequels, feature films, and even multiple companies owning its production. But for as successful as it was, there were other efforts that didn’t quite get to reach that level of prominence like Masked Rider, VR Troopers, or Big Bad Beetleborgs due to the limitations of the original footage Saban Entertainment would license from the original Japanese shows. So there was an effort to try and sidestep this issue with a brand new show that would feature the kind of action seen in those shows, but without needing any footage from those overseas efforts.
This resulted in Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog. This show was Saban’s very first fantasy influenced series and followed four (later five) knights as they set out on a quest to defeat Queen Maeve before she took over the fantasy kingdom of Kells. Led by the main protagonist Rohan, these knights head into the land of Tír Na nÓg and pass tests to unlock elemental based powers and suits of armor to coincide them.
Transforming into knights of fire, water, wind and earth, they ventured on a 50 episode quest to save their kingdom. RELATED: Power Rangers Should Start Fresh With New Disney+ Reboot SeriesWhat Happened to This Fox Kids Show? Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog unfortunately fell to the same fate as the other shows developed by Saban Entertainment during that era. While there were reportedly talks of a potential second season of the series (which according to some would have introduced a new element to the mix), this was just too expensive of a show to produce.
There’s a reason why Power Rangers began as a show that was just filming kids in a high school before cutting to Japanese footage, it was just much cheaper to maintain. With Power Rangers becoming so much more successful than any of the counterparts, Power Rangers just became the de-facto standout for Saban Entertainment. Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog unfortunately has been literally swept under the rug in the year since too.
Not only was there only a single VHS for the series released of its first few episodes (which is the case for many of the Fox Kids selections), but nothing that has come since. This is especially the case for its streaming options as there’s no legal or high quality way to watch the show if you happened to remember it existing. There are episodes of Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog on YouTube that fans had been able to get television rips of all those years ago, but that’s a far cry from the convenience and quality that watchers have come to expect from the streaming era.
This is the kind of show that would really hit with audiences today, and could be even prime material for an elaborate reboot of some sort. But if the original show isn’t available to watch conveniently anywhere, then those hopes are in vain. Bring back Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog.
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