Μarvel & MMPR

The series first caught Loesch's eye in 1985, when she was president and COO of Marvel Comics' TV production company. Stan Lee, Spider-Man's creator, had brought Loesch an episode from a 20-year-old live-action series produced in Japan. Loesch thought the show was funny and offbeat, and decided to try to adapt the show for American audiences. "It reminded me of the Godzilla movies my brother and I liked as kids," she says. After spending $25,000 to produce a pilot, with voices dubbed into English, Loesch and Lee pitched the idea to ABC, CBS, and NBC. "We were resoundingly rejected," she admits. "One network executive asked, 'How could you bring us this piece of garbage? You, who were responsible for making Muppet Babies.' " Loesch shelved the idea, but she remained confident that kids would love it.

Seven years later, after Loesch had joined Fox, a prominent children's show producer named Haim Saban coincidentally pitched an idea to her based on the same Japanese series. He, too, had shopped it around and been shot down by other networks--including Nickelodeon. Loesch, of course, jumped on the show and developed a pilot for Fox.

One week before the Power Rangers program was scheduled to air, it was very nearly killed. A changing of the guard left Loesch with a new boss, Lucie Salhany. Salhany looked at a videotape of the new show and was alarmed. She sent a fax to Loesch, who was on vacation in Santa Barbara, urging that Power Rangers be shelved. "Maybe I'm too old," Salhany wrote, "but this will be a disaster." Loesch faxed back, "You're right--you're too old. Kids will like it, and I've got a backup if they don't. Please let me go ahead." Loesch says, "To Lucie's credit, she let me try it."