With Superman Returns entering theaters this week all of CinemaBlend has been struck with red and blue fever. Look around and you’ll see the popular “S” shield all over the place (along with our “must read” retrospective on the hero on film), so what better topic to talk about in The Clicker this week than super heroes on television?
DC Comics has actually had quite a successful run on the small screen, with shows spread over several generations. For some reason Marvel has never quite captured that same success, or even really tried for it. With the exception of the campy Spider-Man show in the ‘70s and a few cartoons, television has primarily been the home of Superman, Batman, and a couple other DC creations. Although Marvel is trying to break out of that with the upcoming “Blade: The Series”, DC is still holding its grip tight, with the placement of Aquaman on HBO’s “Entourage” and an upcoming series featuring the aquatic hero.
Actually, only original, designed for television heroes have managed to rival DC, and much of that depends on your definition of super hero. The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers are definitely heroes, but would you consider Buffy the Vampire Slayer to be a kind of super hero? Some people do, as she is often linked to discussions of heroism on television.
But this week is all about Superman. Here’s my take on DC’s television successes (and failures), starting with the big blue Boy Scout and working backwards.
”Smallville” (2001-present) – There were many people who were a bit skeptical about the idea of a young Superman show, particularly when it was announced that the show would have a “No tights, no flights” policy. Superman would never be seen in costume and the show would end before he developed the ability to fly. Considering Siegal and Shuster’s original Superman couldn’t fly, only leap buildings in a single bound, that idea stays true to the evolution of Superman and saves the show from budgetary constraints that ended up hurting other versions of Superman on the small screen (see “Lois & Clark” below).
The show had some growing pains to get past, particularly the first season’s kryptonite caused “mutant of the week” storylines. While some of the weekly villains were kind of cool, the show really began to hit its stride as it began to explore Clark’s past and his relationship between Clark with his eventual nemesis Lex Luthor. The Luthor family alone would make “Smallville” worth watching.
“Smallville” is the one show on this list that is still on the air and going strong, making it the strongest contender on the list. If you find yourself addicted to Superman at the end of the summer, tune into the most promising show the new CW Network has to offer as “Smallville” enters its sixth season this fall.
”Birds of Prey” (2002 - 2003) – “Birds” barely managed to last one season and for good reason. The title characters, Oracle, the Huntress, and Dinah Lance (aka Black Canary) were B-line characters from the Batman comics. The idea of giving them a live action television show was a bit hare-brained to begin with, even if it did give Dina Meyer and Mia Sara another legitimate acting job.
Thirteen episodes was all audiences could take of these “Birds” before they had to take flight. Those in the know say the show was just finding its wings and getting ready to soar, but the network had enough and caged “Birds of Prey” before it could really take off. I don’t know what was going on behind the scenes, but I could only stand one or two episodes before I was done with the show. It was bad enough seeing the Batman franchise treated so badly, but the scripts were weak and the budget couldn’t support characters who were supposed to be aerodynamic crusaders against evil.
”Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” (1993-1997) – As much as I like “Smallville”, Dean Cain and she-who-must-not-be-named had the most promising version of Superman on the small screen. Cain fit the tights pretty well, although he wasn’t as successful as the alter-ego Clark Kent – at least not when compared to the awesome job Christopher Reeve did at creating two separate yet connected characters. She-who-must-not-be-named made a great Lois Lane, although the show didn’t let her get anywhere near as sexy as possible, and it’s only later as a “Desperate Housewife” that we’ve gotten to see that aspect of the actress.
Sadly, “Lois & Clark” showed why Superman can’t really work without a big budget. Villains became outright outlandish (just how intimidating are Harry Anderson and Howie Mandell supposed to be anyway?) and Superman taking flight consisted of Cain jumping out of frame past the camera. On top of that, John Shea’s Lex Luthor couldn’t hold a candle to any of the other incarnations of the character, eventually causing the character to be written off and only used as a voice. As “Lois & Clark” continued, the show became one step away from the 1960’s take on comic books. After four years, two Jimmy Olsens and massively rumored production problems that included one cast member never having his lines memorized, the show was thankfully put out of its misery.
The Animated DC Universe (1990 - present) – One can’t make a list of DC heroes on television without mentioning the cartoons that have dominated TV for the last sixteen years. It all started with the perfect small screen version of Tim Burton’s Batman, turning Bruce Timm and Paul Dini into names fans could count on for quality. “Batman: The Animated Series” was such a great version of the comics that it led to the creation of its own character that eventually was adopted by the comic creators as cannon (Harley Quinn).
Batman paved the way for “Superman”, voiced by Tim Daly, just about the most perfect vocal casting the show could have asked for, backed up by Clancy Brown bringing a truly nefarious Lex Luthor to TV and Dana Delany as Lois Lane. Not being restricted by real life physics, the animated series could truly let Superman soar with the same realism it had given to the Dark Knight. The animated “Superman” is arguably the best adaptation of the Man of Steel to come to television.
But it didn’t end with “Superman”. Since 1990 numerous other animated versions of DC’s comic book series have been brought to the screen through shows like “Justice League” and “Teen Titans” while the animated world have created other additions to DC’s universe like “Batman Beyond.” While the quality of the animated world has taken a bit of a drop lately with shows like “Krypto,” the cartoon side of DC’s creations is still going strong.
”The Flash” (1990-1991) – I just couldn’t write an article about DC television shows without including the campy version of the speedster in the early nineties. Many will complain about John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen aka the Flash, but I liked him. Amanda Pays was an additional bonus, who I had held a crush for since her earlier days on the equally short lived “Max Headroom”. Although he was just as silly as the “Lois & Clark” villains would eventually be, I can’t help but mention Mark Hamil’s two episode stint as The Trickster, a role that set Hamil up perfectly to become the voice of the Joker in the animated world.
The show suffered from the same budgetary constraints as the other shows I’ve talked about so far, with the added problem of being about a super hero that just wasn’t as popular as Batman or Superman. The Flash himself was well known, but he didn’t have anywhere near the rogues gallery, making familiarity with the Central City character a problem. Add on top of that the running gag of two befuddled police officers who constantly argued about the existence of The Flash and you have weak script idea after weak script idea. The show managed to survive an entire season (more than it’s “Birds of Prey” successor) most likely due to its Danny Elfman theme song, playing on audience familiarity with the Batman theme of the time.
”Batman” (1966-1968) – An entire article could be written on the Adam West television show (which means I probably will write about it sometime in the future – no stealing that idea fellow Clicker writers) but I can hardly put a list of this type together without mentioning West’s fabulously overacted version of the Dark Knight.
It’s one thing to say the show only survived for three seasons, but it should be mentioned that over that three seasons nearly 120 episodes were created and culture was forever changed thanks to the simple Batman theme music and Batusi dance. You can’t help but laugh at the show (West himself most likely laughs at it as well) but it definitely makes a substantial part of comic book television shows.
DISCLAIMER: I’ve spent the last few years trying to avoid many of the cheaper offerings television tries to pass off for entertainment. As such, this part of the column may be less fulfilling while I acclimate myself back to what typically passes for television enjoyment.
”Deadwood” (HBO) 9:00 pm
True Colors- (New!) – I haven’t gotten into the Deadwood phenomenon yet, but there are some people out there who will threaten to shoot my kneecaps if I don’t include this as being worth a look. This week’s episode brings a stagecoach and with it most likely more old west swearing.
”Entourage” (HBO) 10:00 pm
Dominated- (New!) – Sunday night has become for HBO what Thursday nights once meant for NBC. This week an ex-con joins Vince and his pals. Not sure how you’d tell the difference since just about everyone around is living large off of Vince’s money, the only difference is an ex-con may take it with a gun. The more entertaining story will probably be Ari (Jeremy Piven) who has to deal with his daughter making famous friends.
”Kyle XY”(ABC Family) 8:00 pm
Pilot- (New!) – “Kyle XY” looks like one of those shows that looks good but ends up coming up short. In this Tabula Rasa tale, Kyle awakens naked without any memory of who or what he is. Sadly just about every other show that started with this premise ended up cancelled within the first 13 episodes. Will Kyle make it that far or be gone a lot quicker in a world where networks (even ABC Family) don’t give shows much time to sink or swim?
”How I Met Your Mother” (CBS) 9pm
Return of the Shirt – (rerun) – Every week you read about how writers think HIMYM is brillant. Well, who am I to argue with them? This really is one of the best sitcoms to come along in years. It’s not as brilliantly clever as “Entourage” or “Arrested Development”, but because it’s not as clever it’s more successful. This week is an episode I missed the first time around, as Ted discovers a piece of clothing he hasn’t seen in years. No doubt, something legendary ensues.
”Amazing Stories” (Sci-Fi) 8:00 am
Marathon - Sci-Fi is running a marathon of Spielberg’s “Twilight Zone”-esque attempt at short stories. I loved “Amazing Stories” when it was on and the more I watch it decades later the more I find I still enjoy it. With an eight hour marathon, there’s no doubt some of my favorite episodes will air, like “Thanksgiving” with the hole people, or John Lithgow’s obsession in “The Doll”. If you haven’t checked these out before and you don’t have a day job, here’s your chance.
”Blade: The Series” (Spike) 8:00 pm
Pilot - (New!) - As I mentioned above, Marvel is making its attempt to break back into television by following the Wesley Snipes trilogy of movies with a series. Blade was a great movie based on a mediocre comic book character, but the movies got less impressive with each outing. I’m interested in seeing what they decide to do with the transition to television, although I have the feeling fans will be disappointed.
”My Name is Earl” (NBC) 8:00pm
Stole A Badge- (rerun) – While this wasn’t my favorite of Earl’s antics this year, this was definitely in my top five. Earl and his friends stole a badge from an officer and used it to pose as law enforcement themselves. Earl attempts to make things right but his ex-wife Joy is particularly troublesome this time around. A definite classic episode of the season! Want more Earl? Another episode airs at 9:00pm.
”The Office” (NBC) 8:30pm
The Christmas Party- (rerun) – Probably the most quoted episode around my house this year, the Christmas Party features the Dunder Mifflin folks participating in a “Yankee Swap” over Christmas presents with most of the employees trying to get their hands on an iPod. If that’s not enough for you, “A Couple of Head Cases” airs at 9:30, featuring the foot-injured Michael and head-injured Dwight.
”The Science of Superman” (National Geographic) 9:00pm
I heard the author of “The Science of Super-Heroes” on NPR over the weekend and all I could think is “wow… that’s a lot of free time.” No doubt that person will be a consultant for this National Geographic show which will cash in on the Superman buzz by exploring the real world physics of the fictitious hero. (guys, it’s make believe – there’s no science to it)
It’s the weekend – time to go catch Superman Returns in theaters. According to all of my sources, that’s all that’ll be worth watching after Thursday night. Go see the big blue boy scout save the day. In fact, watch it a couple of times instead of turning on the television. Your brain will probably thank you for it.
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