Marvel may have spent the last five years pummeling DC Comics in movie
theaters, but on the small screen, DC is king. With "Gotham," "The
Flash," and "Constantine" premiering this fall, and supposed "Supergirl"
and "Teen Titans" shows in the works, it's time to look back at the
last 70 years of the live-action televised DC Universe. Here are some of
the best, worst and weirdest adaptations of some of their most beloved
characters.
"Superboy" (1988)
Unsurprisingly,
"Legends of
the Superheroes" signaled
the end of superhero TV shows for nearly a decade. That, plus the tailspin of
the Christopher Reeves "Superman" films, kept DC off the
airwaves throughout most of the 80s, and when it returned, it did so with "Superboy." Kind of underwhelming, right?
The show wasn't known for its quality; it was more of a poorly written version
of the "Superman" movies. There's some joy in
watching WWF Superstar Lex Luger in a Superman costume, but not enough joy to
recommend this show.
"Swamp Thing: The Series" (1990)
Failing
to match the sophistication of Alan Moore's mid-80s comic book run, the campy fun
of the early-80s movies or
the subsequent cartoon series’s theme song, "Swamp Thing: The Series" had a strong cult following but
also some serious detractors. Watching the show now is a chore, but it somehow
managed to wrangle 72 episodes between 1990-93. Nine years later, "Freaks and Geeks" would be canceled after 12,
because life isn’t
fair.
"The Flash" (1991)
While
"Swamp
Thing: The Series" and "Superboy" were enjoying
an undeserved multi-season runs, and Tim Burton’s "Batman" was breaking
records, CBS decided to take "The Flash" for a spin. With CBS
investing $1.6 million per episode, "The Flash" needed to
hit the ground, uh, running. So the show attracted big name guest stars, such
as Mark Hamill and David Cassidy, to fill out the hero's Rogues Gallery, but
scheduled for a Thursday night slot, "The Flash" was going
up against "The Cosby
Show" and "The Simpsons," which were embroiled in a
heated ratings battle at the time. Armed with only the seemingly useless power
of running really fast, things became too much for The Flash to handle, and the
show was quickly canceled and forgotten.
"Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" (1993)
"Lois &
Clark" may have
started the trend towards shows about out-of-costume superheroes, which
continues to this day with ten years of "Smallville" and tonight's
premiere of "Gotham." While Lois (Teri Hatcher)
was a focal point for the series, which focused more closely on Clark (Dean
Cain) than Superman, "The New
Adventures of Superman" did have
enough costumed adventuring to keep the show on the air for four seasons. And the
show was a smash hit, with 15 million people watching new episodes every week
by Season 3.
"Justice
League of America"
(1997)
This
unaired pilot is a nightmare, a poorly scripted, acted, and directed sitcom
that just happens to feature superheroes. It's a strange assortment of Justice
League participants -- Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and The Flash being
the most recognizable -- in a war against lousy special effects, ill-fitting
costumes and a villain who really doesn’t help either of those things. With
such nail-biting adventures as The Atom fixing the TV of his roommate Green
Lantern, it's not hard to figure out why no network picked this one up.
