VIDEO: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman “Pilot”

by · June 14, 2013

Tom reviews the pilot of ABC’s relationship-oriented take on the Man of Steel, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, which, despite taking some liberties with the source material (Lex Luthor has hair?), turned out to be a moderately entertaining series.

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TV Show: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

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  • Muthsarah

    I remember this show from WAY the eff back. Memories’re kinda faded. I remember having some fun with it, though I can see now that a Superman fanboy would probably have been apoplectic.

    It was a goofy show, through-and-through, a soap-opera/90210 version of the Superman mythos. Really, nothing that shoulda engendered any heated emotions one way or another. If you’re a big comics buff, it can probably be dismissed as meaningless mainstream fluff; as a casual viewer, it’s really just a slapstick trifle about petty relationships and pretty people, not a serious comics-style piece. I think I remember watching it for the better part of a season, then forgetting about it. It really wasn’t anything special. Fun for a bit, that’s all. Just more disposable 90s fluff.

    Still better than Superman Returns and the last two Reeve movies, but, along with the rather “meh” WB animated series (which was far less fun than Batman), it just re-enforced an old prejudice that Superman really CAN’T be that interesting. He’s just too…much…everything. Maybe he’d’ve resonated in the 40s, but he’s just too perfect to fit with modern heroic ideals. I think the creators of this show were right in not focusing so much on his superpowers, instead making the show about his human relationships and basic adjustments to his “civilian” life. If memory serves, that part of the show was always far more interesting than the actual crime-fighting stuff.

    • Thomas Stockel

      You didn’t like the animated series? I know it wasn’t as much fun as Batman but I thought Clancy Brown’s Luthor was awesome. And I think Tim Daly’s Superman/Clark Kent is the second most iconic.

      As for it being better than Superman III…I dunno, now. After The (non) Porn Critic’s review of Superman III I am now not so sure any more…

  • The_Stig

    This show was okay. I will give it credit for putting an original spin on Superman. Nobody had adapted a comic book license as a romantic comedy before. It’s what a network wants out of a comic adaptation. Safe, marketable, inoffensive with leads that look good on a magazine cover.

    • Thomas Stockel

      “Safe” is a pretty good word for it. I think Smallville was safe in another way in that they decided to give us Superman without the costume.

      I never understood Smallville’s appeal, myself. I guess I just wasn’t the target demographic.

      • CaptainCalvinCat

        Have to admit, I liked Smallville from the third season on onwards – the first two were so utterly boring and… gahhh… I called it “sleep well”, because those first episodes sure as hell were a cure for spontaneous insomnia.

        But from season 3 onwards the show got better and I think to me, the most classic season might be the sixth or the seventh one… all pieces are into place, let’s movie them.

        So, I am looking forward to finally, finally, FI-NAL-LY getting season 10 on August the 23rd… at least I hope that.

        • Thomas Stockel

          I never saw a single episode, so I’ll have to take your word for it. 🙂

  • CaptainCalvinCat

    I own all four seasons on DVD – I so liked the show, it was definitely something, I liked to see back in the Summer of 96 in german television… and so I bought me some Nostalgia. ^^

    • Thomas Stockel

      Well, the show didn’t quite strike as strong a chord in me, but I have to admit watching Terri Hatcher week after week didn’t hurt. And the show was never afraid to poke fun at itself. The Tempus Fugit episode where the guy from the future was poking fun at Lois Lane is priceless: “I’m Clark Kent. I’m Superman!”

  • dimensio

    I find the show to be lightly campy, but with an enjoyable charm despite the less than serious tone. K. Callan remains my favourite Martha Kent.

    • Jay_Bay

      I do admit, when I think of the Kents, the Kents on this show is who I think of.

  • Jay_Bay

    Man, something about this show is just…..I know it’s cheesy to the max. But I can’t help liking it. It was a damn good show, better than that Smallville and that Arrow thing.

    • Thomas Stockel

      Oh, don’t you go dissin’ my Arrow! I love Arrow! It is the anti-Smallville.

      • Jay_Bay

        I will admit that Arrow is without a doubt the anti-Smallville and that I haven’t seen much of Arrow itself, catching most of it thru the ComicsAlliance summaries they provide. But the few episodes I did see wasn’t that great IMO. But it is a decent show.

        • CaptainCalvinCat

          And don’t diss my Smallville…. I like that show (well… from season 3 onward…)
          That is a decent show, too.

          • Jay_Bay

            Just because something is anti-something, doesn’t make it bad. Anti-Life is way more cooler than Life, amirite…..

            ….I’m just gonna sit over there.

      • Alexa

        I tried watching Arrow, but it felt like a Batman/Punisher knock off in many respects. Plus there were several extremely stupid moments in the first episode that just ruined it for me to continue. Plus the main guy seems more psycho than Dexter in my opinion. Also I didn’t watch Smallville, so there you go.

        • Thomas Stockel

          I could probably write a three thousand plus word article about the merits of the series, but if the pilot did not reel you in I don’t see how I could change your mind. Stephen Amell has done a wonderful job playing two Oliver Queens; modern day and five years back (And in one episode you got to see him before the boat trip; he did an awesome job playing a character you just wanted to punch in the face. Repeatedly.) and I think it has a pretty strong cast…

          And here I am, starting to write that article. I better stop now. 🙂

          • Alexa

            While I don’t have much insight to the character beyond Justice League Unlimited, I’m just gonna have a hunch that the show is deviating a bit too much from the original character elements. It just felt like it was trying to emulate Batman too much, which I know Oliver Queen is like in a way, billionaire vigilante and all, but still. And he just kills people all over the place the first couple episodes, a thing that I believed all DC superheroes didn’t do. It was just really off putting.

          • Thomas Stockel

            Ah, okay, I can see where you are coming from now. Yeah, they have taken quite a few liberties from the comic character. I guess because I was never really a Green Arrow fan I didn’t mind so much.

  • Jockerlee77

    this was the show that got m back into liking superman. grat review

    • Thomas Stockel

      Thanks!

  • Cristiona

    The part about staying true to the spirit instead of getting bogged down with minutiae? Amen.

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