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| genre = [[Tokusatsu]]<br/>[[Science fiction]]<br>[[Action film|Action]]/[[Adventure]]<br/>[[Mecha]]<br/>[[Superhero fiction|Superhero]]<br/>[[Comedy thriller]]<br/>[[Cyberpunk]]
| runtime = 20 minutes
| company = [[Tsuburaya Productions
| composer = Reed Robbins<br/>Mark Simon
| executive_producer = Andy Heyward<br/>Noboru Tsuburaya<br/>Robby London<br/>Brad Kreisberg<br/>Joe Taritero
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| voices = [[Tim Curry]]
| narrated = [[Gary Owens]] (opening narration)
| country = Japan<br/>United States
| language = English
| network = [[Broadcast syndication|First run syndication]] (1994–1995)<br/>[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] (1994)
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}}
'''''Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad''''' (
==Plot==
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* Sydney "Syd" Forrester (portrayed by Robin Mary Florence) - the band's keyboard player and the brains of the group. She is also a good singer, as shown in "His Master's Voice". She is one of North Valley High's brightest students, and often displayed a caring personality. She is the object of Tanker's affection, and the two enjoy being together. Sydney's Syberspace uniform was a pink biker suit with a gold helmet and a see-through visor.
* Amp Ere (portrayed by [[Troy Slaten]]) - the team's so-called "space cadet" and the band's bass player. He becomes the band's bass player after revealing to them that his brother (who was originally intended to join them instead of Amp) was going back to college. His intelligence is curious, as he either is clueless to his surroundings or displays some unusual intellect. He has an unorthodox way of performing tasks, such as writing in a notebook using his toes or studying by eating book pages with milk and sugar. To enter Syberspace, he always uses a different phrase to be humorous. Amp's uniform consisted of a helicopter helmet and leather jacket. It is later revealed that Amp is really an alien and returns to his own planet with his parents off-screen.
* Lucky London (portrayed by Rembrandt Sabelis) - a [[Surfing|surfer]] and Amp's replacement in Team Samurai. His attitude was often laid-back, sometimes to the dismay of Principal Pratchert, and his level of intelligence seemed to be about the same as that of Amp. In Syberspace, Lucky's uniform is a red and white jet ski helmet with a black visor and life jacket.
===Supporting characters===
* Jennifer "Jen" Doyle (portrayed by Jayme Betcher) - Sam's on-again/off-again girlfriend and a cheerleader at North Valley High School. Malcolm tries to compete for her affections. In the alternate version, Jen is a genius who liked Malcolm befriended and helps Sam get back to his normal universe.
* Principal Pratchert (portrayed by [[John Wesley (actor)|John Wesley]]) - the school principal who is usually strict, particularly when dealing with antics caused by either Sam and/or Malcolm. When his daughter loses the student council presidency to Malcolm in "The President's a Frink", he initially refuses to recount the votes when Malcolm comments it would make the Education Board suspect he was playing favorites and could do so only when he agreed that Malcolm could use his parking space should he remain victor. Pratchert would reconsider recounting the votes when Mrs. Starkey wisely suggests he does so for not only the sake of his job but also his daughter Yolanda. He does and it is revealed Malcolm rigged the votes using Skorn so he can win, so Pratchert punishes him by making him move his car out of his parking space for an undisclosed time in detention. In "Pratchert's Radical Departure", it is revealed that Pratchert used to be a [[hippie]] when he was younger - Malcolm uses this to his advantage by creating a Mega-Virus monster that makes him think he was a hippie again, much to the delight of Lucky London (at least until the Mega-Virus'
* Mrs. Rimba "Cha-Cha" Starkey (portrayed by [[Diana Bellamy]]) - the cafeteria [[lunch lady]] who often cracks jokes relating to the poor quality of the food she serves, such as enjoying her hobby of riding her motorcycle and being married multiple times. She also seems to have an affinity for [[Dennis Quaid]], as mentioned in a few episodes. She is the only faculty member in North Valley High School who doesn't like Malcolm. When Pratchert was depressed over Yolanda refusing to talk to him, Starkey wisely suggests he does the right thing and recount the votes and admits her suspicion that the voting was rigged. After the recount and although Mrs. Starkey pretends to forget suggesting it, she is touched that Pratchert does value her opinion.
* Yolanda "Yoli" Pratchert (portrayed by Kelli Kirkland) - the principal's daughter and Jennifer's closest friend. She's North Valley High School's [[student council]] president, a position she temporarily loses in "The President's a Frink" when Malcolm cheats his way into office (with the help of a virus) but she regains it when Principal Pratchert recounts the votes after Servo defeats the virus sent to change the results. In "What Rad Universe!", an alternate dimension version of Yolanda finds companionship in Kilokahn making her that dimension's version of Malcolm while the Malcolm of that dimension is a good person much like the real Yoli and Sam.
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* Chronic - a virus made from chromium alloy with a bladed left arm and a pincerlike right arm. On its chest was a red jewel that unleashed a barrier when attacked by beam weapons. First appearing in "Money For Nothin' and Bits for Free", Chronic tapped into the city's bank accounts making Malcolm rich. Servo then engages Chronic. After Tanker goes in and helps to get Servo unpinned from Chronic while destroying its red jewel, Servo destroyed it. In "Romeo and Joule-Watt", Malcolm revamps Chronic and sends him into the school's stage lights during the school's play of ''Romeo and Juliet''. In "It's Magic", Chronic returned to disrupt Sam and Lucky London's magic show.
* Skorn (voiced by [[Neil Ross]]) is a [[ninja]]-style virus, deemed as perhaps the smartest of viruses, second-in-command to Kilokahn, and one of the only few who could actually speak. His combat skills were similar in technique to both a [[samurai]] and a ninja and were up to par with Servo's, and he wielded different weapons in battle, such as a sword, and a pair of [[nunchaku]] (which he also turned into a bo). Skorn also had the ability to create multiple clones of himself. Malcolm created him in "His Master's Voice" to send into the keyboard synthesizer to swap Sydney's voice with Tanker's voice. Sam transformed into Servo and fought Skorn. Tanker piloted Drago to help Servo. They formed Phormo and used its Lightning Grid Power to destroy Skorn. In "An Unhelping Hand", Malcolm revived Skorn and has Kilokhan send him into Sydney's wristwatch and controlled her hand. Skorn used this to hinder the attempts of Servo's friends to help him. Eventually, with Tanker holding back Sydney's hand and Amp typing in the computer for Sydney, they managed to send Servo his shield and sword programs to help him when Skorn clones himself. He was killed by Servo when Servo launched his sword/shield directly through Skorn. In "The President's a Frink", Malcolm uses him to fix the school presidential election. Here, he is destroyed again by Servo's shield/sword combo. In "Loose Lips Sink Microchips", Malcolm revives Skorn and sends him into Sam's school radio show at school to reveal embarrassing secrets about people. Here, he is again destroyed by Phormo.
* Kord is a giant reptilian monster with a camera-style eye, blinding floodlights built into his back, two tails, and is covered in magnetic plates. Kord had the ability to shoot fireballs of up to 10,000 degrees Celsius (as measured by Sydney) and could also make his shell super-heated, making physical contact with him dangerous. He could also restrain his opponents, leaving them vulnerable to his fireball attacks. He was responsible for trapping Sam inside a video camera in "Lights, Camera, Action". Servo had the initiative early on but then got burned when touching Kord's high-temperature eye/camera. Kord proceeded to have Servo shackled where he was burned by Kord's fireballs. Eventually, with the help of Xenon, who smashed the virus'
* Gramm is a dinosauric ice virus and the sister of Plexton. She was sent into Sam's air conditioner in "The Cold Shoulder" causing Sydney, Tanker and Amp to turn cold and against one another. She was destroyed when Servo thrust his sword through the gem on her chest, just moments after Servo wiped out Plexton in the fight. She later teamed up once again with her brother against Servo, but was again tricked into attacking each other, causing the two of them to fight. Servo then took this opportunity to destroy them with his sword. In "Rock 'n' Roll Virucide", Servo fought Plexton and Gramm again. Servo defeats them with the same tactic.
* Sucker Virus is a dinosauric virus with a large mouth (with coils built into it). In "Amp Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!", the Sucker Virus was sent to suck in all the power from every nuclear power plant. In battle, he tried to suck Servo inside of him until Sydney rushed in with Borr and bailed him out. However, Sydney took some damage, but Tanker and Amp turned the tide by coming in on Tracto and Vitor, respectively. They all merged with Servo to create Synchro, who then proceeded to wipe out the virus with a Grid Power Punch.
* Skeleton Virus is a Ceratopsian-headed dinosauric Mega-Virus monster. It had an armor that made him resemble a [[Skeleton (undead)|skeleton]] and he had something of a loud howl. While this virus was introduced in "Lights, Camera, Action", he had no formal introduction as the team fought him at the beginning of the episode. Plus, that battle was mirror-imaged. First appearing in "Amp Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!", Kilokahn sent him to damage all the communication networks. The damage was shorting machinery circuits everywhere, jamming TV signals, and created an earthquake in the high school. Sam went into the digital realm as Servo to take this menace on. Servo had his way early on, but was sent reeling by fireballs that the virus shot from his mouth. Sydney sent Servo his Battle Shield to protect him from the fiery projectiles. The virus had another trick up his sleeve - he also had arrows built right into his armor, which he then proceeded to shoot right at Servo. Then, following another fireball attack, Servo's damage levels overloaded to the point that he was sent out of SyberSpace and the next second, Sam was back in his basement again. This time, Sam and Sydney, as well as Tanker and Amp, all went in to confront the virus again, and using Tracto, Borr and Vitor, they quickly merged with Servo to make the Synchro program. Synchro gave the virus a good thrashing, and neither the virus'
* Unnamed Virus #1 - this draconic virus was sent into the [[fortune-telling]] game in "Que Sera Servo" that would turn everyone into the opposite of what their future would be. While fighting a cowardly Servo (as a result of Sam becoming a coward because of the spell), he used a spell that turned Servo evil. When Xenon came in to attack the virus, he had the upper hand until Kilokahn intervened using his powers to throw Team Samurai back out of cyberspace. Amp (who had become a genius because of the effects of the virus) took one of Sydney's chains and smashed the game, with the shock caused in Syberspace rocking Servo and turning him good once again, turning the tide of the battle back in his favor. He then used a powerful Grid Power kick on the virus, which caused him to actually go right through, and ultimately destroy, the virus.
* Hock - one of the deadliest viruses drawn by Malcolm and brought to life by Kilokhan. This green [[aardvark]]/dinosauric virus had tough armor and was armed with a pair of sword gauntlets on both arms. First appearing in "A Break in the Food Chain", Malcolm and Kilokhan sent him into the food factories for the purpose of stopping shipments of food to the world that needs it. In battle, he was actually able to block Servo's Grid Power punch, but as the battle was turned back in Servo's favor (after Servo was able to strike him with his sword/Grid Power combination), the virus retreated. Servo took him on again in "Sweet and Sour Kilokahn" at the time when Sydney used a program that made Kilokahn good causing him to not bring Hock to life for Malcolm. When that was eliminated from Kilokhan, Servo fought Hock and the virus again retreated. He later reappeared in "The Taunt Heard Round the World" with some upgraded armor and was redubbed "The Hockinator". He had a target system in one eye and threw powerful boomerangs at Servo that would knock out at least 12% of his power per hit. After Sydney sent him the Dragon Cannon, Servo used it to turn the tide of the battle back in his favor, and then soon afterwards, Hock was finally eliminated by Servo's Grid Power. The normal Hock did appear again in the episode "Truant False", inside the school's computer, but was destroyed by an anti-virus system that appeared similar to Manfu. In the episode "What Rad Universe!", Sam, who was in an alternate dimension, became Servo with the help of Malcolm (who in that dimension was a nice guy and a computer whiz) to fight against the Hockinator once again (who was brought to life by Yolanda Pratchert instead of Malcolm Frink), and defeated him again with the Grid Power.
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* Stupid Virus (voiced by [[Neil Ross]]) - a black dinosauric Mega-Virus similar to Skeleton who tampered with the national test scores at high school in "Cheater, Cheater, Megabyte Eater". Its key power and weakness was its third eye, which was taken out by Servo after being pinned down by Xenon. Earlier in the battle, when Xenon fired its missile fists, the third eye was able to redirect the fists to hit Servo instead. In "Over the River and Through the Grid", the Stupid Virus was sent to cut Mrs. Starkey's utilities making her unable to attend the annual Thanksgiving motorcycle trip with her friends as it was instructed to immobilize any electronic device within a certain radius. Servo and Xenon defeated it with the same tactic.
* Manfu - a dark green hunchbacked Mega-Virus whose head is embedded in his abdomen, and on that head he had two horns from which he could emit blasts of electricity. This was one of Malcolm's deadliest viruses. Servo encountered him three different times. He first was sent into the school's water fountain in "Stiff as a Motherboard" and when Sam tried to drink from it, he became completely paralyzed, unable to move or speak. With the help of his friends, Sam was able to go into the computer and become Servo. In battle, Manfu trapped Servo (encasing him in computer chips from the waist down), and while Servo managed to hold back Manfu for some time with his shield and sword, it was not enough and it prompted the others to form Xenon to help Servo. However, Manfu proved to be too much for Xenon (first shooting off its arms and then finishing it off with a second blast, causing Sydney, Tanker and Amp to be thrust back out of Cyberspace and into the real world again). Servo then escaped by reflecting back the energy at him. He then broke off Manfu's horns, and then tossed him high in the air. While he was still spinning in the air, Servo eliminated him with his Grid Power Punch. In "Syberteria Combat", Manfu created a barrier around the school at night. The battle went similarly, though this time Manfu took out Xenon in one blast, but Servo emerged victorious again. In "Truant False", the school computer sent an anti-virus after Hock, which Malcolm used to try to alter his attendance records so he could skip summer school. After the anti-virus destroyed Hock, Malcolm decided to corrupt the anti-virus, modifying its look to make it look exactly like Manfu, and Servo went to battle it. Sydney reminded Servo that he could not destroy it since it was actually an anti-virus, and destroying it would crash the computer system. The anti-virus very nearly destroyed Servo, but Sydney was able to reprogram it just in time, turning it back into the anti-virus and making it good again.
*
* Raedon is a Mega-Virus that resembles an armor upgraded version of Troid. Its wings can emit deadly lasers or be used to fly. In "Starkey in Syberspace", Kilokahn and Malcolm realized that typically their monsters were stronger than Servo, but he managed to win because of the others providing back-up in their vehicles. Kilokahn created an Input/Output barrier so that the next time Servo went into Syberspace to battle Raedon, he would be cut off from the help of Team Samurai. However, Mrs. Starkey had accidentally transported herself into the digital world before the barrier was up when she mistook a picture of the Drago Jet on Sydney's laptop for a video game. Per Kilokahn's expectations, this virus proved to be super strong and almost had Servo beaten, but Mrs. Starkey (who was obviously unaware of Servo's origins or identity) helped Servo out against the monster. After getting fired at a few times by the Starkey-piloted Drago Jet, Raedon was finally eliminated by Servo's Grid Power Punch.
* Unnamed Virus #3 - this virus was not officially named on the show, but he very much resembled a non-armored version of Krono. This version of him had a light bulb-like structure on his head. Upon reluctantly agreeing to save Malcolm from Mrs. Starkey (who was under the love spell that came from the music box that the virus was placed into) in "Love Me Don't", Sam went in as Servo and made short work of the monster, tossing him about, breaking the light bulb on his head, and destroying him with his Grid Power. This was also the virus featured in "Take a Hike" where he was modified to knock out all the electricity in the world. As Sam was not present due to him being out of town, Tanker had to become Servo to take this virus on. He did and he manhandled the virus (Sydney remarked that Tanker fights viruses like he plays football) before destroying him with the Grid Power Punch.
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==Arsenal programs==
===Zenon program===
* '''Zenon''': A powerful humanoid robot created when the Vitor, Tracto, and Borr programs combine. Its fists can execute a ranged rocket punch, as in the battle against Kord, which it almost defeats on its own.
** '''Borr''': An orange and black twin-drilled tank that can fly or burrow underground. Its driver is Sydney. Also, a famous basketball player - Charles "High Jump" Johnson - is dragged along to fight a Mega-Virus monster as a temporary driver for Borr when the band use the vehicles to escape the locked high school (in "Syber-Dunk"). Borr forms either Synchro's gauntlets and shoulder armor or Zenon's lower torso and upper legs.
** '''Tracto''': A blue laser-equipped mini-tank. Its driver is Tanker. Tracto forms either Synchro's boots or Zenon's legs.
** '''Vitor''': A red fighter jet armed with lasers, missiles, and a rig to restrain monsters. Its pilot is Amp and later Lucky. On one occasion it is piloted by Sydney, who has trouble flying it. Vitor forms either Synchro's helmet and body armor or Zenon's head, arms, and upper body.
In an odd occurrence, Zenon fights Servo in "Que Sera Servo" when a Mega-Virus places Servo under a spell which has him obey solely Kilokahn, until Amp is able to break the virus' hold by using Syd's belt to reboot him.
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==Production==
''Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad'' was originally created by [[Tsuburaya Productions]], Ultracom Inc. and [[DIC Entertainment|DIC Productions, L.P.]] and was originally going to be named ''PowerBoy'', but was renamed during production to avoid confusion with [[Saban Entertainment|Saban Entertainment's]] American tokusatsu series ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/1994/tv/news/dic-saban-in-power-struggle-118033/|title=DIC, Saban in 'Power' struggle|date=Feb 4, 1994|work=Variety|access-date=2017-08-15}}</ref> The series was made to capitalize on the upsurge in popularity of imported Japanese monster-robot shows which could be adapted with new, regionalized live-action footage. The series' development mirrored the creative construct established earlier with the ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]''. The master toy licensee, [[Playmates Toys]], funded the series, interpolated American development via toy licensing rights, and did a commercial buy-in on the Fox network, where [[Haim Saban]] had established a kids block, with programs such as ''Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers'' and the 1992 ''[[X-Men (1992 TV series)|X-Men]]'' cartoon. Playmates called upon the development team at DIC—which, coincidentally, was working with [[Pangea Corporation]], which assisted in the development of DIC's ''New Kids on the Block'' and Playmates'
Elements of this series are used in the anime series adaptation of ''Gridman the Hyper Agent'', ''[[SSSS.Gridman]]''. The "SSSS" abbreviation in the title references ''Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad''.
==Episodes==
{{Episode table |background=#92000a |overall= |title= |director= |writer= |airdate= |episodes=
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=1
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|WrittenBy= Michael Patrick Dobkins
|OriginalAirDate={{start date|1995|03|28}}
|ShortSummary=A power surge in Syberspace sends Sam into an alternate universe, where everyone he knows is different than from the universe he knows: Yolanda is a nasty individual who creates viruses for Kilokahn, Lucky is a prep,
|LineColor=92000a
}}
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|LineColor=92000a
}}
==Home media release==
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* ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' - A 90's series also adapted from a Japanese tokusatsu.
* ''[[Gridman the Hyper Agent]]'' - The Japanese tokusatsu counterpart of origin of this series.
* ''[[SSSS.Gridman]]'' - The anime series adaptation of ''Gridman the Hyper Agent''. Makes references to ''Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad'' through its ''SSSS'' title and the Neon Genesis Junior High students.
* ''[[SSSS.Dynazenon]]'' - The sequel to ''SSSS.Gridman''.
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[[Category:Television series by Fremantle (company)]]
[[Category:Teen superhero television series]]
[[Category:American Broadcasting Company
[[Category:American action television series]]
[[Category:American adventure television series]]
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[[Category:American comic science fiction television series]]
[[Category:American television series based on Japanese television series]]
[[Category:American English-language television shows]]
[[Category:Cyberpunk television series]]
[[Category:Martial arts television series]]
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[[Category:Television shows about virtual reality]]
[[Category:Ultra television series]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Japan in non-Japanese culture]]
[[Category:Television series created by Jymn Magon]]
[[Category:Superhero television series]]
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