History Trivia / VrTroopers

* CreatorBacklash: Kaitlin's actress Sarah Brown does not have fond memories of her time on this show and [[https://twitter.com/sarahjoybrown/status/1176220824430186496?s=19 said]] the reason why she stopped acting along with refusing to attend conventions related to ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' and ''VR Troopers'' is that co-creator (and then-fiancé) Shuki Levy was physically abusive to her and that Haim Saban and his wife Cheryl were complicit in such a thing along with telling fans to boycott them[[note]]Levy is no longer involved in ''Power Rangers'', having left after the Disney acquisition of Fox Family and the Fox Kids library, which included this show, while Saban's involvement has been reduced since Hasbro's acquisition of Saban Brands[[/note]] and the franchise because of this.

* RomanceOnTheSet: Sarah Brown was briefly engaged to the show's executive producer Shuki Levy and the couple had a child together in 1998; [[MayDecemberRomance Levy is 28 years older than Brown]]. Their relationship ended on acrominous terms, as Brown [[https://m.twitch.tv/videos/486894304 said]] in a 2019 interview that Levy was physically abusive towards her, along with attempting to kidnap their daughter and attempting to murder her by setting their house on fire.

* CreatorBacklash: Kaitlin's actress Sarah Brown has [[https://twitter.com/sarahjoybrown/status/1176220824430186496?s=19 said]] the reason why she stopped acting along with refusing to attend conventions relating to ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' and VR Troopers is that co-creator (and then-fiancé) Shuki Levy was physically abusive to her and that Haim Saban and his wife Cheryl were complicit in such a thing along with telling fans to boycott them[[note]]Levy is no longer involved in ''Power Rangers'', having left after the Disney acquisition of Fox Family and the Fox Kids library, which included this show, while Saban's involvement has been reduced since Hasbro's acquisition of Saban Brands[[/note]] and the franchise because of this.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The show's premise is essentially 'virtual reality can create anything,' but even beyond that, at one point the characters bemoan the fact that they cannot contact one another at any time, being dependent on pay phones and landlines, resulting in a specific piece of tech being created for them, the VR-VTs. The complete lack of cell phones place the show blatantly in the early nineties.

** There was loose talk during production of possibly doing a crossover with ''Power Rangers''. Various interviews with the cast revealed the sets of both series were in close proximity of each other, but nothing ever came of it.

* CreatorBacklash: Kaitlin's actress Sarah Brown has [[https://twitter.com/sarahjoybrown/status/1176220824430186496?s=19 said]] the reason why she stopped acting along with refusing to attend conventions relating to ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' and VR Troopers is that co-creator (and then-husband) Shuki Levy was physically abusive to her and that Haim Saban and his wife Cheryl were complicit in such a thing along with telling fans to boycott them[[note]]Levy is no longer involved in ''Power Rangers'', having left after the Disney acquisition of Fox Family and the Fox Kids library, which included this show, while Saban's involvement has been reduced since Hasbro's acquisition of Saban Brands[[/note]] and the franchise because of this.

* RomanceOnTheSet: Sarah Brown was briefly engaged to the show's executive producer Shuki Levy and the couple had a child together in 1998; [[MayDecemberRomance Levy is 28 years older than Brown]].

* ToylessToylineCharacter: [[http://www.toyarchive.com/VRTroopers/PrototypeTSGrimlord.html Grimlord]] and [[http://www.toyarchive.com/VRTroopers/PrototypeJebMOSC.html Jeb]] both had figures planned, but they were both scrapped, Jeb at the last minute, for reasons unknown. The VR Troopertron never got a US release; obviously the Gran Nacza (Spielban's equivalent) was released, but not in the US.

** Originally a vehicle for former Green Ranger Creator/JasonDavidFrank, a short pilot using footage from the ''Metal Heroes'' series ''Choujinki Metalder'' called ''Cybertron'' was filmed with him alone. However, his immense popularity as Tommy led to Saban deciding to pull him back to ''Rangers.'' As such he switched places with Brad Hawkins (who was originally supposed to be the White Ranger during the second season of ''MMPR,'') who became Ryan Steele. This alone led them to believe the show was beyond hope, but because of commitments to broadcasters, they had to press on.
** Since they didn't have Frank's Green Ranger star power to support the show, they decided to expand it, buying up a second ''Metal Heroes'' series, '' Jikuu Senshi Spielban,'' hired two more actors, and made the show about a trio. Since the two series were completely unrelated, the only footage they had off all three Troopers together and morphed were things they filmed themselves, which they didn't have the time or budget to do a lot of, so the majority of episodes involved finding new and unique ways to split Ryan away from Kaitlyn and J.B.

** The second season had the ''Metalder'' footage (Ryan's armor) run out fast, so they had him get an upgrade to new armor, this time from ''Space Sheriff Shaider'' (an even '''older''' series). The second season limped along with its endlessly repeated StockFootage, until, by the end of the season, both ''Shaider'' and ''Spielban'' footage had run dry. They bought up a '''fourth''' ''Metal Heroes'' series, ''Juukou B-Fighter,'' but rather than run the risk of alienating kids by overhauling ''everything'' at once (''Power Rangers Zeo'' hadn't happened yet, so Saban wasn't sure if a complete visual overhaul would work; until that point, even though ''Rangers'' got new zords each season, the suits were still the same familiar ones from ''Zyuranger''), they decided to finally chuck ''Troopers'' in the bin and instead turned ''B-Fighter'' into ''Series/BigBadBeetleborgs.''

*** This tied into rumors that Ryan Steele was to become a {{Transplant}} and end up as the Gold Ranger on Zeo, due to Brad Hawkins voicing Trey; this was actually a stopgap until Saban could hire an actor (or as it was, actors) to play him.

* YouLookFamiliar: Sara Brown has played in a variety of soap operas in her career after leaving VR Troopers. Not exactly two genres that have a ton of overlap, to be fair, but it still applies.
* WorkingTitle: ''Cybertron'', and before that, ''Psycon''.

* ToylessToylineCharacter: [[http://www.toyarchive.com/VRTroopers/PrototypeTSGrimlord.html Grimlord]] and [[http://www.toyarchive.com/VRTroopers/PrototypeJebMOSC.html Jeb]] both had figures planned, but they were both scrapped, Jeb at the last minute, for reasons unknown. The VR Troopertron never got a US release; obviously the Gran Nacza (Spielban's equivalent) was released, but not in the US.

* ShesAManInJapan: Despera. Dress and all. [[http://metalheroes.wikia.com/wiki/Priest_Poe Seriously]].

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: In the wake of Creator/ShoutFactory's announcement that they will not proceed to release the last few episodes of the show on DVD due to mediocre sales.
** Recently averted: Shout! Factory just put the last few episodes out on their "Select" label for sale on their website. The entire series is on Netflix as well.

** Saban originally conceived the show as a vehicle for Creator/JasonDavidFrank. However, the [[EnsembleDarkhorse runaway popularity]] of his ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' character Tommy led to their keeping him on ''MMPR'' and recasting the role in ''VRT''. Jamie Kennedy also had an early role.

* DawsonCasting: Ryan Steele was called "an 18 year old martial arts instructor" in a promo video and Brad Hawkins was 20 when the show began.

* ToylessToylineCharacter: [[http://www.toyarchive.com/VRTroopers/PrototypeTSGrimlord.html Grimlord]] and [[http://www.toyarchive.com/VRTroopers/PrototypeJebMOSC.html Jeb]] both had figures planned, but they were both scrapped, Jeb at the last minute, for reasons unknown.

* RecycledScript: Not only the underground lab raid, but the brief OncePerEpisode sequence of a giant floating head thingy that would attack Ryan, only for his {{super robot}} to come and shoot it down throughout Season 2. There's no explanation given as to where either of these come from or why they're not used for more than this sequence.
** Well, the head was called Gargantus, and the robot was the transformed state of the Skybase, called the VR Troopertron.

** The ''Cybertron'' pilot also shows that the series was originally intended to be a stand-alone adaptation of ''Metalder'', with Tao as his ally. It was only after Jason David Frank was replaced by Brad Hawkins that the series was revamped into a team show and the ''Spielban'' footage was brought in for the two additional main characters (since Metalder was a lone hero, whereas Spielban had a costumed female sidekick). By that point, Saban was also using footage from two different ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' series for ''MMPR'' (''Zyuranger'' and ''Dairanger''). Not only that, but Hasbro nearly sued them over the use of the name "Cybertron", which is the name of the ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' home planet, which might explain why ''VRT'' toys were made by then Hasbro subsidiary Kenner rather than Bandai. The Cybertron name was retained in the ending credits, listing the production company as "Cybertron Productions", in the same mold as "MMPR Productions".

* TheOtherMarty: Creator/JasonDavidFrank was originally set to play Adam Steele in the unaired ''Cybertron'' pilot while Brad Hawkins was cast as Rocky the White Ranger on ''Power Rangers''. A second pilot was also made which featured Professor Hart being played by an Einstein-esque Caucasian. Saban realized that replacing Frank on Power Rangers was too risky so Frank returned to the show as Tommy in the role of the White Ranger and Hawkins stepped into the role renamed Ryan Steele. The name Rocky ended up being reused for for the second Red Ranger.

** The second season had the ''Metalder'' footage (Ryan's armor) run out fast, so they had him get an upgrade to new armor, this time from ''Space Sheriff Shaider'' (an even '''older''' series). The second season limped along with its endlessly repeated StockFootage, until, by the end of the season, both ''Shaider'' and ''Spielban'' footage had run dry. They bought up a '''fourth''' ''Metal Heroes'' series, ''Juukou B-Fighter,'' but rather than run the risk of alienating kids by overhauling ''everything'' at once (''Power Rangers Zeo'' hadn't happened yet, so Saban wasn't sure if a complete visual overhaul would work; until that point, even though ''Rangers'' got new zords each season, the suits were still the same familiar ones from ''Zyuranger,'') they decided to finally chuck ''Troopers'' in the bin and instead turned ''B-Fighter'' into ''Series/BigBadBeetleborgs.''

* WorkingTitle: ''Cybertron''.

* PropRecycling: The suits used for the battle grid fights were based on the spandex suits used in ''MMPR'', notably using the Red Ranger helmet mold from ''MMPR''. You could even see the dino details on the helmet.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Saban originally conceived the show as a vehicle for [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Jason David Frank]]. However, the [[EnsembleDarkhorse runaway popularity]] of his ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' character Tommy led to their keeping him on ''MMPR'' and recasting the role in ''VRT''. Jamie Kennedy also had an early role.

** Reportedly, Saban planned on making a third and final season to tie up all the loose ends, with ''Series/BlueSWAT'' as the intended series for adapting[[note]]''Blue SWAT'' had 3 main heroes, which would have fit the three main heroes of ''VR Troopers''[[/note]]. However, Saban reportedly did not want to alienate the existing fandom, so they instead chose to use ''Series/JuukouBFighter'', and eventually to make an entirely new series, ''Series/{{Beetleborgs}}''. Ironically, Saban would later end up adapting the SpiritualSuccessor of ''Blue SWAT'', ''Series/KyukyuSentaiGogoV'', as ''Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue''.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: In the wake of Creator/ShoutFactory's announcement that they will not proceed to release the last few episodes of the show on DVD due to mediocre sales. Recently averted: Shout! Factory just put the last few episodes out on their "Select" label for sale on their website. The entire series is on Netflix as well.

** Reportedly, Saban planned on making a third and final season to tie up all the loose ends, with ''Series/BlueSWAT'' as the intended series for adapting[[note]]''Blue SWAT'' had 3 main heroes, which would have fit the three main heroes of ''VR Troopers''[[/note]]. However, Saban reportedly did not want to alienate the existing fandom, so they instead chose to make ''Series/{{Beetleborgs}}''.

** Reportedly, Saban planned on making a third and final season to tie up all the loose ends, with ''Series/BlueSWAT'' as the intended series for adapting[[note]]''Blue SWAT'' had 3 main heroes, which would have fit the three main heroes of ''VR Troopers''[[/note]]. However, Saban reportedly did not want to alienate the existing fandom, so they instead chose to make ''Series/Beetleborgs''.

** There was loose talk during production of possibly doing a crossover with ''Power Rangers''. Various interviews with the cast revealed the sets of both series were in close proximity of each other, but nothing ever came of it.

** A promo seen on certain Power Rangers videos prior to the show's debut had Jeb with a different voice, Kaitlyn with a different last name, and Professor Hart was played by a Caucasian who looked like Einstein.

* {{Defictionalization}}: In a sense. While the series' primary depiction of VR obviously ain't gonna happen, the VR headsets they used have become the current wave of VR technology, what with Oculous Rift, Google Cardboard, [=PlayStation=] VR, and even View-Master VR.

* DawsonsCasting: Ryan Steele was called "an 18 year old martial arts instructor" in a promo video and Brad Hawkins was 20 when the show began.

* TheOtherMarty: Jason David Frank was originally set to play Adam Steele in the unaired ''Cybertron'' pilot while Brad Hawkins was cast as Rocky the White Ranger on Power Rangers. A second pilot was also made which featured Professor Hart being played by an Einstein-esque Caucasian. Saban realized that replacing Frank on Power Rangers was too risky so Frank returned to the show as Tommy in the role of the White Ranger and Hawkins stepped into the role renamed Ryan Steele. The name Rocky ended up being reused for for the second Red Ranger.

* {{Defictionalization}}: In a sense- while the series' primary depiction of VR obviously ain't gonna happen, the VR headsets they used have become the current wave of VR technology, what with Oculous Rift, Google Cardboard, [=PlayStation=] VR, and even View-Master VR.

* PropRecycling: The suits used for the battle grid fights were based on the spandex suits used in ''MMPR'', notably using the Red Ranger helmet mold from ''MMPR'' retooled/repainted to remove the dino details and to look closer to the trooper suits.

** The ''Cybertron'' pilot also shows that the series was originally intended to be a stand-alone adaptation of ''Metalder'', with Tao as his ally. It was only after Jason David Frank was replaced by Brad Hawkins that the series was revamped into a team show and the ''Spielban'' footage was brought in for the two additional main characters (since Metalder was a lone hero, whereas Spielban had a costumed female sidekick). By that point, Saban was also using footage from two different ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' series for ''MMPR'' (''Zyuranger'' and ''Dairanger''). Not only that, but Hasbro nearly sued them over the use of the name "Cybertron", which is the name of the ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' home planet, which might explain why ''VRT'' toys were made by then Hasbro subsidiary Kenner rather than Bandai.