Power Rangers Samurai is the eighteenth season of the children's television series Power Rangers, which is based on the Japanese Super Sentai Series.[1] The season was the first to be produced by SCG Power Rangers, after Saban Brands (a successor to the original production company, Saban Entertainment) acquired the franchise. The season marks the franchise's debut on Nickelodeon, premiering on the main network and Nicktoons on February 7, 2011.[2] Samurai uses props, footage and characteristics from Samurai Sentai Shinkenger and, according to press material, had a "brighter tone and an infusion of fun and comedy that wasn't present in seasons 16 and 17."[3] Samurai is also the first season to be shot and broadcast in 16:9 widescreen and in HD. Though 2006's Boukenger (which was adapted into Operation Overdrive) was the first Super Sentai series to be shot in widescreen, preceding Power Rangers seasons were not. However, Shinkenger was also the first Sentai series to be filmed with an HD camera at 720p resolution. Samurai also returns the series to a multi-seasonal format; the second season, titled Power Rangers Super Samurai, began on February 18, 2012 and is officially considered the nineteenth season overall.[4][5][6]