Interviews – Karan Ashley Yellow Power Ranger

This is Karen Ashley, and you're listening to

the GeekCast Radio Network. listening to from

the command center it's from the command center

hi scotty how are you yes i am tf2 and mike he

is scotty cash we are doing well and uh this

is a very late belated birthday present for you

we're about to talk to uh your favorite female

power ranger ever karen ashley yes uh you're

so great you're so you're so good to me mike

Okay, don't go creepy, dude. I'm not going creepy.

I'm just saying. No, I was a fan of Aisha way

back in the day, and now she's kind of showing

herself back in the public eye with her new show,

Growing Up. So this is going to be an awesome,

awesome interview. Yes, and that will be right

now. Time to boogie with the bear. Hello and

welcome to yet another interview here on From

the Command Center. I am one of your hosts, TFG1

Mike, from the Geekcast Radio Network. Joining

me is Scotty Cash from the Pop Culture Network.

You are back, sir. Hello. I am back, and I'm

back for a good reason. Yes, exactly. You pulled

me off the shelf and dusted me off for a special

interview. Yes, that's right. Joining us on From

the Command Center is the one, the only, Karen

Ashley. Hi, Karen. How are you? I'm wonderful.

Thank you for having me. Thank you for responding

to the message. I know. People are always shocked.

They're like, is this really you? Oh, my gosh.

I can't believe you're actually doing this. My

pleasure. Facebook is a great way. I mean, if

you present yourself in a professional manner

and say, hey, we have this. We would like to

talk to you for this. It's a great, easy, fast

way to get in touch with people. Yeah. But at

the same time, you know, sometimes, you know,

people are busy. And, you know, we understand

that. Before we really get into the questions

here, would you like to tell us about any upcoming

projects you've got going on? Sure. Absolutely.

I have a new project called Grown Ups. If you're

on Facebook, I'm sure you have. seen or heard

of it because I've been all over Facebook and

people have really embraced it. It's a wonderful

new sitcom that I actually co -created and basically

it's a fun show about Three individuals who find

themselves at a crossroad in their life where

I find me and mostly all my friends are at, where

you kind of go, okay, how did life pass me by

and where am I? Like, what am I doing? And you

find yourself where you kind of just, you kind

of settled a little bit on some things. And so

these three individuals decide that they are

going to take a chance and follow a longtime

dream that they have of opening up a nightclub.

the story unfolds and they've got a million other

creative characters around them. And it's just

a really fun, um, you know, sitcom, you know,

everyone loves sitcoms and, you know, if you,

if you want to hear more about it, we've got

a fan page. It's called grownups, um, on Facebook.

And then we're also doing a fundraiser, um, for,

for it as well. So it's, it's just really cool.

Awesome. Yeah. We'll be shooting. We'll be shooting

next month, but we'll also, um, be doing some

other things as well. We hope to be shooting

the pilot and then the actual show next year.

So keep your fingers crossed. So after you shoot

the pilot, I mean, do you have, obviously you

have... someone to go around and shop the pilot

to the different networks? We do. We've got a

great team around us, a great team of producers.

We've got a, you know, an agent that we're securing.

We've got a great lawyer. So, yeah. So, I mean,

it's definitely a walk out on faith. I mean,

it's one of those things, you know, where I have

kind of gone from being just an actress to actually

producing. And now I've co -created the show.

So, yeah, that's the plan. The plan is to get

it to all the different networks and try to find

it a home. You know, we're hoping. Yeah, we're

hoping that we can do that. So the Facebook thing

has been such a great thing because I know of

other shows that have kind of gotten deals and

their deals. You know, it was it was really cool

for them in the negotiation process to go, you

know, we've got already this many followers and

no one has even seen a mess and is even seen

an episode. So that's kind of our thing right

now is we're really trying to build that fan

base. We're raising the money to actually shoot

the sizzle reel, which is very expensive to do.

But we've got most of our funding in place. So

we're just kind of at the we're in the finish

line at this point, trying to get it all together.

Awesome. So where did you grow up and did you

always want to get into acting? I grew up in,

I was born in Odessa, Texas, and I grew up in

Dallas, Texas. And I think from the moment I

could say something, I did. I wanted to, I don't

know that I wanted to be an actor, but I just

knew that I wanted to be on a stage, whether

it be singing, dancing, acting, talking. I mean,

it was like, I just liked performing. And I always

say I kind of got hit with the acting bug. I

got hit with the acting bug. I auditioned for

a movie, didn't get the part, but it was like

at that moment, I was like, wow, I really want

to do this. And so I knew early on that that's

kind of what I wanted to do. I knew. Now, according

to IMDb, your first role, and it's IMDb, take

it with a grain of salt. Your first role was

Monica Carson on Hanging with Mr. Cooper. What

was that like working on that show? That was

amazing. That actually wasn't my first role.

I did that when I was on Power Rangers. It was

an amazing show because at the time, hanging

with Mr. Cooper was huge on ABC. And I auditioned

for the part. And I just remember auditioning

for, you know, you go and these producers, you

walk in, you audition for the casting director,

and then they have a callback. And then you walk

in and there's like 10 people sitting there watching

you. And it was like, oh, you know. And I got

the part, and that cast was amazing. I mean,

it was like everyone was funny in their own way,

but it was a very family -oriented atmosphere.

Everybody gave each other a hug before we would

tape, because it's like you kind of go in and

you work for a week trying to fine -tune the

script and trying to fine -tune all the jokes

and all the moments. And I just remember right

before the show, I was so nervous, because I'd

never really shot anything in front of a live

audience. And Mark Curry came up to me, gave

me a huge hug, and was like, have a good show.

And the next thing I know, everyone in the cast

was like, have a good show, have a good show.

And I just was like, wow. And there it was. We

did the show. And, you know, you go out at the

end of the episode and take a bow. And the audience,

you know, they laughed at the jokes. You know,

it's so weird doing it in front of a live audience.

It was the best thing. So this was while you

were on Power Rangers, though. It was. I actually

got the part. We had a break. And I went on an

audition and got the part and I shot it on one

of our breaks. And yeah, it was while at Power

Rangers. My first my first roles were like I

did some I did a. a little small part on Walker,

Texas Ranger. And then I had like commercials.

Yeah. They shot in Dallas. I did a couple of

commercials in Dallas. So those are like my first

parts, but my big break was Power Rangers. Like

that was the big, like leading role. You've got

lines in every episode kind of part, you know,

just from hearing what, you know, you've just

talked about, it seems kind of like, I won't

say mainstream, but everything you've done. has

been pretty big because Texas, you know, our

Ranger Texas Walker was, you know, always big.

Hang with Mr. Cooper was big. And then obviously,

you know, the Power Rangers. So nothing gets

better than that. I guess you've been blessed

in, you know, what you've done. Absolutely. I

agree 100%. I've been so blessed. And I'm so

blessed because a lot of the shows I did after

Power Rangers, they've all went into syndication.

So it's kind of nice to get that little surprise

residual check after doing something 50 million

years ago. But yeah, I've had some great opportunities

and I've had some great experiences in my career.

Even being on Kenan & Kel? Yeah. Oh my gosh.

I love being on that show. Those guys were so

freaking talented. Like that was the first time

I had been on a show and like every take they

would do would be different. Like they would

just like, I'd never seen comedy. I'd seen obviously

comedians be funny, but they were always older

people, you know? So these guys are so like,

they were like my age. We're all like super young

and they were so. funny and um they were cool

guys i'm still really good friends with kel and

um and keenan but mainly kel we've done like

a couple of charity events together and he's

a really cool cool guy but yeah i mean it's like

i i've been lucky i have gotten on a lot of the

really good shows yep i never thought about it

that way what was it like to work with steve

harvey oh my gosh steve harvey is like the funniest

man ever, just because he's like the way he is

on TV, how he's kind of grouchy. He's kind of

like that in person too, not in a mean way, but

that's just his MO. Like he's just, you know,

this guy that's like been in the business probably

longer than anyone and has like done, like, he's

like what I, I, when I was on that show working

with him and Cedric, the entertainer, I realized

what a true seasoned comedian, like these are

guys that have probably done thousands of shows.

prior to them ever even getting a TV show. And

they just know how to do it. You know, they know

how to turn it on. They know how to, you know,

make it funny. You know, it was amazing. I was

in awe, actually, when I was on that show, because

that was a very, it was a totally different atmosphere

from hanging with Mr. Cooper. But it was like,

that show was a well -oiled machine. Like, they

all, everyone knew their part. Everyone knew.

what kind of jokes they told it, everyone knew

kind of their role and it worked. And, um, I

actually got a, I came on a couple of different

episodes, so I was excited to keep coming back

and they were really nice, really nice people.

I don't know if you know this, but, and I'll

have to find the link when Steve was doing his

family feud stint, there was a question. I don't

remember. I'm going to have to find the YouTube

video about it, but it's so hilarious. There's

a question about somebody. One of the survey

questions was smoking something and somebody

said some sort of drug paraphernalia thing. And

Steve just goes completely blank face. Like he

didn't know what, like he couldn't pick up after

the, after the contestant answered. It's so funny.

You know what's funny is that he reacts very

honestly. Like, he really, like, if he thinks

something's funny, he laughs. If he does it,

he does it. It's like he reacts very honestly.

And I remember when I was on that show, I can

imagine him going blank face because he's just,

like, an honest kind of person. But going on

that show, I played a really dumb girl. Like,

I was kind of dumb and just dumb. Like, she wasn't

naive. She was just dumb. And I remember I'd

had to give him like there was a part where I

looked at him and I had to, you know, be dumb.

And so I gave him this really blank and just

like odd stare. And he started laughing. And

I was like, oh, my God, I made Steve Harvey laugh.

But what was so funny is he really thought I

was dumb. And it wasn't until like. Like he was

just like like he said he could see like he could

see like I forget the saying where you can just

see like I look through him and he's like, oh,

my God, there's nothing behind those eyes. Like

there's right. So then I remember the day that

we were taping, we were all in the makeup room

together and they're getting everybody ready.

And someone had asked me something and I answered

them. And, you know, he looked and he was like.

He was like, how old are you? Cause you're, he

was like, I thought you were dumb. Like, I guess

my acting was too good. Cause he really thought

I was stupid. And so I was like, no, I'm, I'm

actually, you know, I actually have some intelligence

here. And he started laughing. So I always was

proud of the fact that I made him laugh. And

I think that's why they brought me back. Cause

of that one moment, I kept making him laugh and

we kept having to redo it. Cause he kept laughing

during the take. So switching over to the Power

Rangers stuff, take it away, Scotty. All right.

So obviously that's why we're here. I mean, we

obviously want to know about your past, but how

did you, I mean, did you want to be a Power Ranger

or was this like something that was just, you

know, showed its face so you went up and auditioned

for it? You know what I mean? Was it something?

Yeah, go ahead. No, I didn't know anything about

the show. And when I say this, like at conventions

and stuff, it's almost like some of the fans

are like, what? How dare you? Right. It was the

craziest thing because I wanted to be an actress,

obviously, and I was pursuing it. And I had made

the decision that I wanted to move to L .A. And

a friend of mine, my friend Felicia, she called

me. We're still very good friends to this day.

She called me and she she was like, there's this

audition and you have to go to it. And I was

like, really? She's like, yeah, I saw it in the

newspaper. And it's for a young, you know, young

person like yourself. And you got to either be

a dancer, a singer, a dancer, a gymnast or martial

artist. And I think you'll be perfect for it.

It's this show, Power Rangers. It's huge. And

I was like, Power Rangers, what is that? And

she goes, you don't know Power Rangers? You don't

even know what that is? Like, she's like giving

me crap about it. And she goes, just go, just

go. And I was like, okay. And I mean, I really

wanted to be an actor. So I was like, heck yeah,

I'm going. I show up and there's like thousands

of people there. And I'm like, what the heck?

And I just remember thinking like, if this is

acting, I don't know that I ever want to do this.

Like, I'm going to be there for hours. But, you

know, I wanted it. So I stayed. And four days

later, I was living in L .A. and I was a Power

Ranger. And I have to be honest with you. We

went in. We auditioned. We had, like, literally

30 seconds to impress the casting agent. And

she told me, I need you to dance. And I was like,

okay. And so I had, like, a CD. And she was like,

we don't have a CD player. And I'm like, what?

So I had to, like, bust a move, like, freestyle

right there with no music. And then she's like,

can you come back in a few hours? And I was like,

absolutely. Well, in that time, from when I first

auditioned to when I came back, I went home and

Power Rangers was on and I sat and watched an

episode because I was like, how am I auditioning

for something I don't know about? And I don't

think I really grasped what how big it was until.

you know, we were on the show and it was just

like, whoa, like I struck gold here. So pretty

much what you're telling us is you got the role

Aisha because you could cut a rug. Exactly. That's

what you're telling me. Yeah, you should ask

Steve and Johnny. They were in like when we auditioned.

I went, we went in, I auditioned and then they

auditioned. Like we all went in and did our,

our, we had like, you know, got to do our performance.

We had to read a script and then we had to audition.

And then at the second, like the second round

of it, the producers started pairing us up and

they paired me up with Steve and Johnny. And

we went in, we were the first group to go in

and they got to sit and watch my audition. And

I mean, I dance like I let it all out. And I,

you know, they were like, what the heck? Cause

I, I, I was smart enough to get a friend of mine

who knew karate and have him come over and he

showed me how to do a few kicks and he showed

me how to do a few punches. But the biggest thing

that the, the producers wanted to know was could

you do choreography, you know, and all of our

fights were choreographed. So they wanted to

know how quick you could learn it. So obviously

my dancing, it was very athletic. And then me

putting in a kick or two. And then I ended, I

remember I ended it with like this karate pose.

And it was like, that was it. You know, Shooky

Levy told me the minute I walked in and I smiled,

he goes, you had the part the minute you walked

in and smiled. He goes, but then when you did

the karate moves and your dance, it was like,

forget it. She can do it. Yeah, I've talked to

Johnny one other time so far. We are planning

on getting him on the show as well. But yeah,

Johnny's has some great stories. I was told that

Johnny was like actually looked forward to becoming

a Power Ranger. Like he wanted to become a Power

Ranger. Do you know if that's true or not? I

don't know if he looked forward to it, but I

know that him and Steve were martial artists.

So obviously they were much more familiar with

the show and Johnny and I were very close and

Johnny really wanted to be a martial artist and

wanted to be. famous like a famous actor like

he back then I remember he introduced me to Jackie

Chan like he used to make me watch Jackie Chan

movies and I was like what is this so I know

that he they were definitely much more familiar

so that could very well be true um but yeah they

definitely were fans of the show and you know

um I mean but you know it was a martial arts

show so it was like martial artists really appreciated

seeing you know I mean they really appreciated

the fight scene so Those guys, they loved it.

They loved doing the fight scenes. They were

so good at it, too. Now, we all know that the

majority of Power Rangers, it is stunt people,

but did you guys ever get to do your own stunts?

Were you ever actually in the suits? Well, no,

not in the suits. Just because when we first

got on, I don't know if you guys remember VR

Troopers. Yeah. Right when we got on, one of

the guys on VR Troopers broke his leg. So they

were like X -May on X -May. Like, you guys, like,

they're not going to, they couldn't run the risk

of any of us getting so hurt that we couldn't

work. So then, you know, but the guys, they got

to do a lot of, they got to do a lot of their

stunts. And, like, Johnny, Steve, you know, Jason,

and especially David, they were all, they knew

how to turn flips and they knew how to, you know,

they were gymnasts as well. So they were able

to do a lot of the flips and stuff. When we first

started the show, we would always do a civilian

fight. Like they wanted us to fight as ourselves.

And I think that was like the most popular part.

And it wasn't until that guy got hurt that we

kind of backed off the civilian fights. And then

we started getting a lot of flack from parents

because they said we were teaching kids to be

violent. So then that's kind of when they really

started to push us away from seeing us fight

as individuals. Because I guess they felt like

kids couldn't distinguish the fact that we were

fighting monsters. We weren't fighting other

kids, you know. And we had to start doing all

these PSAs. And then we, you know, as luck would

have it, we just got behind, you know, shooting

the movie. We got totally behind in our shooting

schedule. So it ended up that the stunt team

had to do a lot more of the fights just because

we didn't have time to shoot. We didn't have

time to catch up to our shooting schedule. That's

crazy. Yeah. Yeah. So it was like a domino effect

and we eventually didn't get to do any civilian

fights and that kind of stuff. I see. I see.

We've asked a couple of people this. Was there

a main Joker on the set? You know, absolutely.

Jason David Frank. He's like, that's what they

all say. Yeah. Like he is a nut. Like he's. He's

the guy who, on the 12th hour, you're about to

fall asleep and will wake you up because he's

done something to someone. He definitely is the

class clown of all of us, for sure. No doubt.

What would you say is your favorite episode on

any of the episodes that you were in? My favorite

episode was the Wild Wild West episode. Just

because we had so much fun. It was like Johnny

and I could not stop laughing. We talked in that

country accent for like two weeks. We could not

stop laughing. And we were cracking up. And we

were just acting so silly. I have such fond memories

of shooting that. It was so much fun. like being

a period piece and all that good stuff. All right.

So now, so now tell us what the worst episode

was. I'm sure you had a good time at all the

episodes. I'm sure there's one where you're like,

I'm glad this is over. I wouldn't say, well,

I wouldn't say it was the worst episode, but

I was so glad it was over. It was our very first

episode. we had to do a triathlon and they literally,

we had to bike, we had to swim and we had to

run. Right. But they didn't take into the equation

that I'm a black girl and I, you know, you can't

dunk me in water and then, you know, cut to me

being, you know, normal. They were so pissed

off because my hair was like, they had to blow

dry my hair and it took like two hours to get

my hair straight again. Like they were so big.

And I was like, what? what you think like it's

not gonna just be dry like I and I kept telling

them I was like if I go underwater you're gonna

regret it my hair will be curly you needed a

stunt swimmer yes and then the funny thing on

that episode like we were to triathlon I had

a snake in my lap it was like we were in a we

did the whole like karate like we were um we

won that Like I believe there was like an angel

grove competition. So I mean, it was a lot of

like physicality. So for the first episode, I

was like, Oh my gosh, I'm so glad it's over.

I think that was season two, right? The beginning

of season two. Yeah. That's when they introduced

us. Like they, they met us at the juice bar and

we were this, you know, we, we won this competition.

I gotta be honest. When you guys first showed

up, I hated your guys' guts. Cause I knew what

was going to happen. I was like, I wish they

would just leave. I know. and we're so lucky

that everyone turned around really quickly. Yeah,

it was fine after a while. I took to you guys.

Thank you. How did you feel about Aisha's, just

how her storyline ended? Because I know Scotty

didn't particularly care for it, but how did

you feel about the way that Aisha's story wrapped

up? I absolutely hated it because I had had a

meeting with her. Huh? I said, I had a girl?

I'll tell you the truth. I had a meeting with

the producers and I had gotten off. I asked to

be taken off the show and they promised me that

I would have, you know, 10 episodes and the 10

episodes would slowly write Aisha out and it

would make sense. It would be, you know, and

so then we had this break. I went into hanging

with Mr. Cooper. I come back and that was my

last day. So I absolutely hated it because they

lie. And I think I'm almost positive that I think

I said that to you, Mike, that it was kind of

fishy how she left because, I mean, they did

the whole kid thing. But before that, you know,

the couple episodes before they got younger or

whatever, it was kind of like your parts were

very limited and it only showed you like very

small speaking parts. Like it was almost like

pre -recorded, you know, from something else.

Yeah, no, I agree. It was so it was so weird.

And it was so like, just kind of a horrible thing.

But, you know, it's Hollywood. And, you know,

I think at that time, it just had things that

kind of slowly but surely started to get kind

of tough on the show. It was it wasn't always

the happy go lucky experience on the show, you

know. So now on the flip side of that. Over the

years, they've had different anniversary episodes.

If they ever asked you, would you want to resurrect

Aisha for maybe an appearance on one of the anniversary

shows? Absolutely. I mean, I was asked to do

one, but the show has always stayed non -union,

and I'm union. And so when they asked me to do

one, I was like, well, I'm SAG. And then that

was the end of the conversation. They didn't

want to pay me, you know, cause you have to pay

a SAG actor a certain rate. So, and you know,

it just, but yeah, absolutely. I've always said

that I would do, you know, I would like to do

that. And I would, I would even do a reunion

show if the rest of the cast would do it. Yeah.

Sounds like a plan. We need to put that together,

Mike. We need to start collecting pennies and

stuff so we could pay, pay her salary. No, it's

not even about that. Those men, they've made

so many millions, I mean hundreds of millions

of dollars. They should pay us. That's a different

interview. Exactly. They've got to subscribe

for that. Right. Did you guys get to interact

at all with your kid forms, if you will, like

when they shrunk you guys down or whatever? Oh,

my God. Gosh, yes. It's so funny. But I am very

good friends with the girl who played me. Minnie

Ayesha? Yeah, Cicely. She actually went on to

do one -on -one. And it was the most hilarious

thing because I was on one -on -one. And she

played me as a kid on Power Rangers. And then

when I was on one -on -one, we were high school

students together. And her and her mom were like,

what the heck? Do you ever age? Now you're playing

the same age as her. And we like laughed and

we're really good friends. And it was just the

most, it was the funniest thing for the person

who played me as a child. Now I'm acting alongside

her and we supposedly are in high school together.

But yeah, I did. We got to know them really well.

And she was such a sweet girl. Her and her mom

brought me flowers one day and all the kids were

really great. That's good. Yeah, it was kind

of I mean, I was kind of disappointed how they

did it. And even even her story where like, you

know, she just appeared in like, you know, the

the jungle or whatever. And she's just like,

oh, and now I have to leave. I don't even know

you. But now you're the new Yellow Ranger. Yeah,

I was kind of like, well, what? What just happened?

It was tough. It was tough. And I'm really good

friends with Nakia. And I never thought about

it that way. But Nakia once told me she goes.

you know my character i don't think they ever

developed my character um as well as aisha was

but it was tough because you left and then they

kind of just threw whatever was left at me and

i was like oh my gosh but i never saw it that

way and she said you know and it was it was hard

for me to you know get kids because they they

really liked you and it was hard for me to turn

them around but luckily she was able to and yeah

huh well right right because the way it transitioned

out of body morphin into zeo exactly it was totally

the way that they wrote it and the way that they

set it up it was like i mean gosh it was like

they could have come up with something better

but you know saban's been notorious for that

they kind of just saw how the we didn't even

know we were replacing people when we first got

the roles we thought that they were I thought

they were doing a whole new cast or maybe they

were introducing new Rangers. I didn't realize

we were replacing people that they just like

cut out as well, you know? And see, that's why

I like now after, I think it was after the lost

galaxy season, they just started using, well,

it. actually after Power Rangers in Space because

Lost Galaxy was a completely new cast, starting

from Lost Galaxy up until now where we're at

Samurai, each year it's been a new cast. Instead

of having all this character development of the

previous year's cast and then, oh crap, here

we go, let's replace, instead of taking away

all of that, they just write one season stories

for each cast each year. Right. I think that's

a lot better. Yeah. I've heard a lot of people,

they don't like it because it's hard for them

to identify with it. But you're right. I mean,

it's almost like you know it's going to happen.

Well, you know, if a certain season tells a complete

story, and again, I've got to go back to Jason

and the character of Tommy. Tommy came back for

Dino Thunder. And it continued the character

of Tommy Oliver and it made him, well, according

to Johnny Young Bosch's character, Adam on one

of the episodes, he said, Adam says, I still

can't believe he was, he became a doctor. But

it's one of those things where you take a character

and you bring them back for a season. You tell

an adult story, because at that point, obviously,

Jason was an adult. You tell Tommy's adult life

story, and that's fine if you do that. But if

you do it the way that they did it in the early

90s of, okay, these actors... you know, can't

be on the show anymore because of whatever reasons

there is, whether it's contracts, whether it's

personal reasons, whatever let's replace, you

know, it's much, I think it's much better now

where they get, they tell one story each season.

Right. Okay. Very cool. Yeah. No, I mean, I think

it's definitely. I think it definitely is easier

that way than just like, like, you know, some

of the characters who've just gotten, it's just

all of a sudden like, where are they? You know,

and that's it, you know? Yeah. And it doesn't

pigeonhole them into, Oh, Hey, we have to do

all this character development and then let's

just take it away. Yeah. Yeah. So did you have,

um, did you have any favorite bad guys, you know,

like the monsters that you guys were fighting

or, you know what I mean? Yeah, I definitely

did. I love I always love the putties. Like I

always like I always feel like the putties didn't

get no justice because they weren't really monsters.

They were just kind of like, but I loved how

we could punch them, you know, right in that

that little symbol and they would like, you know,

evaporate or whatever. But I loved Ivanews. I

loved Ivanews. I love Rita and Zed. I thought

that their characters really took on like comical

parts almost, you know. They were very entertaining

to watch. I think those were the main ones that

I liked. Every episode, we'd get a new monster,

so it was kind of hard to keep up with them.

But I really liked Rita Z, Ivanews, and I just

absolutely loved the putties. I hate that at

one point we came back and they were just gone.

I actually pointed out when it switched from

Rita to Zed and Zed brought in the Z putties

with the little Z on the chest. Yeah. I actually

brought up the fact, and Scotty knows this because

we did it in an earlier episode, one of my gripes

about the Z putties is that you could just punch

them in the arm. They could fall backwards. They

could land on the Z, but they don't disappear.

Right. I know. It was almost like sometimes they

would disappear and sometimes they wouldn't.

Mike hates weird things sometimes for no good

reason, but that's why we love him. Right. Power

Rangers is a good show. You can really analyze

it and find all kinds of things. The funniest

thing is that we actually talked to Barbara and

Robert, who voiced Ed and Rita. Great people.

I think the number one misconception about Barbara

and Robert for most fans is that They're not

involved with each other. They're married to

completely different people. But because they

always do appearances and stuff together, people

have to imagine, well, they must be either dating

or married to each other or whatever. And they're

completely not. They have completely separate

lives. But because of who their characters are.

Right. They're kind of a package deal. Yeah.

I agree. It's funny. They're so immensely talented.

We get to see each other, obviously, a lot more

often now that we do a lot of conventions together.

Such lovely, lovely people. So talented. How

has your convention experience been? It's actually

been wonderful because I... I feel like when

you're in the midst of a show like Power Rangers

and we had such a demanding shooting schedule

and it was so it was so a lot of work. I mean,

it was so much work that you don't really get

to always appreciate the moment, you know, or

even realize like I didn't realize how big that

was until after the fact, you know, and then

so meeting people now as adults and they're like,

you know, you the show changed my life. You're

my hero. You know, I mean, we've heard so many

wonderful stories. It's like I'm so blessed and

so honored to have been a part of something that

has touched so many people. And when you touch

someone as a child, it's a different kind of

nostalgia. It's like it really is genuinely.

It was something that was so positive to so many

people that I don't know that I would have gotten

that if I wouldn't have done conventions. Because,

you know, we meet hundreds and thousands of people

and it's just like every story is so different.

And you just go, wow, I did that? Like, really?

Like, I mean, it's just, it's so beyond you.

Like, I think the show was larger than life.

I always tell people all the time I could do

a million other things, but I don't know that

I'll ever do anything as meaningful to so many

as Power Rangers. And I'm OK with that. I love

the fact that that show meant so much. And it

seems like that's what we get a lot from. Well,

I mean, not just, you know, Power Rangers, but

a lot of people that they just don't they don't

understand how how much it meant to so many different

people. But absolutely it did. It did. And it's

like. I mean, really, it's like here I am sitting

doing an interview with you guys. And, I mean,

the show, I was on a show, I mean, a zillion

years ago, you know. That's a long time ago.

Huh? A zillion years, that's a long time ago.

I know. Well, maybe not a zillion. But it feels

like, I mean, it just, there's been, like, it's

been so many years. And it's so relevant. it's

still so relevant to so many people. And I don't

know that there's that many actors who can say

that about some of the things that they've done.

So for me, I find it as such a blessing. Like,

I can't believe how impactful it was. And it's

just one of those things that I think, you know,

it's like a hidden treasure, you know? Well,

one of the things, one of the reasons, because

I actually brought the, like... from the command

center is actually Scotty's video series that

he actually reviews power Rangers toys. Cause

he collects the toys. Um, I brought an idea to

him. I said, Hey, why don't we transition this

into a podcast and we can review each television

series. And when we started out talking, you

know, when we started out Mighty Morphin season

one with the original cast, and then obviously

Tommy came, obviously Jason came in and everything

else. It was like I was instantly transported

back to my 13 -year -old self in 1993, and it's

like, holy crap. Sure, there are certain things

about Mighty Morphin overall and certain things

about the Power Rangers franchise overall that

can be nitpicked at, but in general, I still

love it. Right. No, and it's absolutely true.

It was so funny. We did a convention a couple

months ago, and right, I think, that week before,

it was released on Netflix. And every single

person, I mean, these hundreds of people coming

up to me like, oh, my God, I just saw you on

Netflix. Oh, my God. And I mean, it's like people

still sit and they will watch the episodes. And

it's a funny thing because I never watched them

because, I mean, it's like weird. It's just weird

for me to see myself. And then it's even weirder

to hear my voice. And I got total issues. But

like my nephews, they're four years old. They

just turned five. And they are the hugest Power

Ranger fans. And, I mean, they've watched every

single episode. They know everything about the

show. And so it's given me a different appreciation

because it does mean a lot to a lot of people,

you know? So not only are you Aunt Karen, you're

also Aunt Aisha? Yeah, well, it's funny because

one of them, when he was watching, you know,

obviously he started watching it before he could

talk really well. He talks fine now. But he used

to call me Asha. And I was like, why does he

call me Asha? And my, you know, my name is Karen

Ashley, but my family calls me Ashley. And so

I was like, well, he can't pronounce Ashley.

But I realized he was getting Aisha and Ashley

mixed together. So it became Asha. That's awesome.

I hope he calls you that forever. Right. I know.

Right. I don't want to. I was like, keep it Asha.

And then the other one, he's the funniest thing

because his name is Jonathan and he is absolutely

obsessed. with uh rocky and he's like everything

is rocky and he doesn't say the word he doesn't

say red he says it's rocky it's that's i want

the rocky you know bag or whatever and he always

calls me and is like his his mom will be like

hey do you want to talk to ashley and he goes

Who, Ashley the Yellow Power Ranger? She's like,

yeah. And I mean, that's my name. It's not like,

and he will say, Ashley the Yellow Power Ranger.

Like, he'll say the whole thing. Like, it's not

ever just Ashley. It's Ashley the Yellow Power

Ranger. He just doesn't want to get you confused

with another Ashley. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's got

everything in order, right? And so he'll call

me, and he'll be like, where are your friends?

And I'm like, I don't know. I'm like, what do

you mean, my friends? He goes, ah. Your Power

Ranger friends. And I'm like, oh, well, they're

at home or they're, you know. And every time

we talk like he I had said something about Jason

Frank hurting his arm, you know, and we were

all on like Jason Frank will send these text

mass text messages where we're all linked to

it. So it's like 10 Power Rangers all linked

and we're all like, hey, what's up? And it's

like annoying, but great. And he had mentioned

his arm was broken. And we were like, oh, my

gosh, what happened? And he's like kind of telling

us what happened. And he's like, I'm about to

rip this cast off or whatever. I need to start

training. And we were all laughing about it.

And somehow I mentioned it in one of my conversations

to my sister and my nephew. Here's it. And he's

like, to this day, I mean, he's like, how is

Tommy's arm? Is Tommy's arm still broken? He

knows the show better than I know the show. Like,

the other day I was talking to him on Skype,

and he was like, so, you know when Ninjor came

on and gave you the new power? And I'm like,

what? Who is that? Who are you talking about?

Right, and he's, like, five years old. But he

lives in Texas, so he thinks in California, like,

I leave to go be Aisha. Like, that's what he

thinks. And I'm not going to mess with it. I'm

going to let him continue to think that. That's

right. Yeah, I'm not going to ruin it. So do

you do you watch? Have you watched any of the

Power Rangers since then? I watched it with them.

And it was so funny because some of the episodes,

you know, you don't remember what you do every

day. And I was like, I didn't like some of them

I didn't remember doing, but it was like it all

would come back to me. Like I was like, oh, my

gosh, I remember this. Oh, my gosh. And like

all the memories of like the behind the scenes

memory started coming back. It was actually pretty

fun. I didn't have a problem watching it. I actually

enjoyed it with them because they got so excited.

They get so excited in the middle of the show.

Do you watch any of the recent Power Rangers

Samurai or Dino Thunder? Do you watch any of

those? Or if they're scrolling by, do you stop

and watch it for a second or anything like that?

I do, of course. If I see it on when I'm like

flipping through the guide, I totally will look

at it. I haven't watched any of the newer stuff,

but I did watch Dino Thunder because I had a

friend of mine. Her kids were really into it

and they go, Tommy, Tommy's back. And I was like,

he's back. And they were like, yeah. And then

friends of mine had told me that producers from

Power Rangers told me that Jason David Franklin

was coming back. So I had to watch it. I was

like, oh, my God, I'm so happy for him. Yeah,

so, I mean, I won't lie. I will definitely stop

and look and go, oh, my gosh. Like, it's funny.

I watched a little snippet of Samurai, and they

were already in the suits. And I was like, man,

this stuff has not changed. It's so hilarious.

So, when Tommy was going back on Power Rangers,

did you send him a text and tell him to grow

up and get over it? No, no. I was happy for him.

I was happy for him. You should have told him,

stop trying to hang on to the past. Let it go.

I think they paid him really well. I'm sure.

I can't wait to talk to him. I'm excited to talk

to him. Yeah, yeah. I've heard nothing but good

about him. Yeah, you'll love it. He's so animated.

He's a really good interview. Mike, what do you

think? You got anything else? What have you been

doing since Power Rangers? I mean, I know we

mentioned a couple of your other shows, but like

I said before, it's like you kind of disappeared

off the grid. I did. I did. I think I kind of

just needed a break, you know, from the world

of acting. I mean, it's a tough business. And

at some point you kind of go, what the heck?

But the break was good for me because I got into

writing and I got into producing. And so, I mean,

I've produced stuff for other friends of mine

and I've been able to really parlay my career

into creating my own stuff. The good thing about

it is now a lot of that downtime, now you guys

are kind of seeing or starting to hear about

it. I formed my own production company, Cash

Pictures, and you'll start seeing more things

in the next coming years, but it's been all kind

of a buildup. And, you know, I came back to L

.A., I moved back to L .A., and I'm hitting the

ground running. That's awesome. Thank you. Thank

you. Fill up that IMDB page a little more. Yeah,

like I said to you on Facebook, I know it's mostly

user -generated, but I don't know. I don't know.

It was kind of weird. But, you know, that's understandable.

I mean, you know, it's just like anybody else.

Once you get tired of something, you have to

move on to something else. Yeah, yeah. Or if

you're doing so much that it burns you out, you

have to stop for a while and do other things.

Yeah. It's definitely true, especially in this

business, because you get more no's than you

get yes's. So it's really one of those things

where you go, you know, you get to I've been

on I've tested for networks. I've been on so

many auditions. I've had so many callbacks. I've

had. And then you don't get the part and you're

like, what the heck? You know, so it's like a

roller coaster of emotions. And at one point

I kind of just hit a wall and was like. I'm cool.

You know, why am I taking the beating? I'm taking,

you know, and it's like, you know, I, I've had

a great run and, and let me just kind of take

a break. And I literally said this to myself,

I'm going to take a break. And if I, if I really,

if I really am passionate about it, I won't let

it go. And I never did. I mean, I never let it

go. And so finally I was like, I'm moving back

to California and I'm really going to go. balls

of the wall and just go for it. And so I've been,

that's what I've been doing, you know, and I,

I tell people all the time, you got to fight

in this industry. And if you, if I can't give

you anything, you got to fight for what you're

passionate for. And, and, you know, grownups

is a true example of that. I mean, we were fully

funded and then we had to kind of get rid of

an investor just because of, you know, it's,

it's a hard business to trust people. And then

when you find out, you know, scrupulous things

about people, you kind of have to move on and

move quick. And I had to really come to a place

where I was like, okay, well, let's fundraise

the money because everyone kept going, you just

need to do it, you just need to do it. And I

was like, I don't know. But it dawned on me that

I had already started to get so many people,

they were so excited about it. The cast is amazing.

I mean, I don't know if I mentioned this, but

Elisa Reyes from All That is on it. Wesley Jonathan

from City Guys, Roll Bounce, he's on it. Annalise

Vanderpool from That's So Raven, she's on the

show. And so I was like... You've got to fight

for it. Point blank, period. If it's whatever

job you're doing, there's going to come a time

where you've got to fight for it. And so that's

what I'm doing. I'm in the midst of pulling out

my Power Ranger moves. I'm kicking some ass over

here. Awesome. Tell everybody what the name of

the show is again and where they can go to find

any information on it. You can go to, if you

want to check us out, we're on Indiegogo, which

is I -N -D -I -E -G -O -O .com backslash grownups.

And that'll take you right to our fundraiser

page. But also you can find us on Facebook. We

are, you know, Facebook and I think Grown Ups.

There's the Grown Ups movie, which everyone keeps

going, is it associated with that? It's a totally

different thing. It's a TV show. And you'll see

pictures of us. If you do a search, you'll see

it. There's a fan page. And we would love your

support, prayers, and whatever else you got.

Shoot it our way. We need all the positive energy

we can get. Before we let you go, though, I got

to hear it. I just need to hear you say, it's

time to boogie with the bear. If you could, just

one time for him. One more time. All right. I

thought you were going to want me to say it's

morphin' time. No, you probably said it all the

time. Don't take both. We would like to thank

Miss Ashley for taking the time to chat with

us in this special From the Command Center interview.

We'll ask you to hold the line, and Scotty and

I will be back after this. This is Karen Ashley,

and you're listening to Pop Culture Network.

That, ladies and gentlemen, was 48 Minutes of

Awesome. I agree. I did forget to ask her if

she would marry me. I'm just saying, what if?

What are the odds, kind of like on Dumb and Dumber,

like one in a million? What's the odds here?

But I guess I'll have to wait until next time.

No, it was a great pleasure to talk to her. She's

really, really funny. She was really, really

honest. And I find it funny that at the time,

when she went to audition, she hadn't even seen

the show before. You get that a lot on some of

their bigger shows where they're just kind of

like, I don't know what it was. I just wanted

to get paid. And you can't blame them. You know

what I mean? Well, no. No, you can't blame them.

So that is the special interview here on From

the Command Center of Karen Ashley. She played

Aisha on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I think

that's it for now. Stay tuned for episode six

where we will be tackling Power Rangers Zeo.

Are you not going to sing happy birthday to me?

Dude, your birthday was like five months ago.

Maybe next time. Maybe if I, you know, had the

interview like around your birthday, maybe she

would have sung happy birthday to you. You need

to get her back on the horn for Christmas then.

She could sing some Christmas jingle bells or

something. All right, so, yeah, next up, From

the Command Center is back. This is October 2011.

I almost said 2010. Holy crap. 2011, and, yeah,

the next episode you guys are going to hear is

the Power Rangers Zeo episode. What's after that?

What is it, Turbo? Yep. Yeah, Zeo, then Turbo.

So in November, you'll get Turbo. So we are back.

We are in full force. I am TF2 and Mike, and

you are? Scotty Cash. Let's shift into turbo.

Well, first we have to form the Zeo crystal.

We can't shift into turbo yet. Oh, let's form

the Geo crystal. I said Geo. The Geo crystal.

And then we can shift into turbo. Oh, God. We'll

see you next time, folks. Hey, Skull, what's

that sound? I think it's those gray guys behind

you. What gray guys? Hey, Skull. Oh, yeah, Bulgy.

They're coming toward us. We need the Power Rangers.

Let the power protect you.