Gary Goddard is near the end of a hunt. It's a hunt that may result in a second chance at life for the TV series Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future
" We've basically reached agreement with Mattel on the distribution rights to the first season's shows," reports Goddard, the creator of the Captain Power series (STARLOG #128). " It's just a matter of signing the contracts. The distribution rights to those shows should be ours again in a couple of weeks."
Goddard however, isn't putting all his Captain Power eggs in one basket. He's currently hard at work on a script for a Captain Power motion picture that would be a "completely different story, but would follow the back story that has already been set up."
But Goddard concedes that his heart is still in reviving the TV series.
" And to have any chance at getting the financial backing for a second season, we must have the distribution rights to the first season's show from MTS [Mattel's now defunct TV production arm,]," he explains. " It would be almost impossible to get new shows off the ground without the rights to the first season's episodes."
Why it's necessay to seek new money to keep a hit show afloat has been the subject of much conjecture. Goddard offers his thoughts as to why Mattel suddenly pulled the plug on the syndicated series.
" At the end of the first season, we decided to move the Captain Power saga out of the Power Base and into the rest of the world. We were basically moving in many new directions that Mattel did not necessarily prefer. Another problem was that Mattel basically oversold the toys so there wasn't going to be the demand for them in the coming season. But the most damaging thing was Mattel's decision to fold their television production division.Once they did that, Captain Power was essentially dead," says Goddard.
But Goddard trots out recent Nielsen ratings as evidence that the lame duck series, despite having lost a number of markets, continued to draw viewers. " We're still in the top 10 in syndicated network and kids ratings. Even with the loss stations, we're still drawing in a 3.6 to 4.4 share and, when we're slotted in the evening in some markets, we're drawing a 7 to 9 share," he explains.
Despite these encouraging stats, Gary Goddard remains cautious on the possibility of a second season." It's going to be tough. There's a stigma attached to a hit show going off the air the way Captain Power did. But the series is very dear to my heart. I would certainly like to see it continue."
* This article was written in 1989 and in no way represents the situation at present. As far as I know, there is no likelyhood of a second season of Captain Power.