30 years ago Ruby Spear's Superman and Superboy aired

[adkal]

Who else remembers the CBS cartoon of Superman from 1988 and the live-action Superboy series?

Meeee!!!

i did when i was a kid as i taped both shows and too bad Superman lasted one season but luckily we got Batman TAS in 1992 and some writers from Superman 88 worked on Batman TAS as well.

I had VHS copies of the Ruby Spears cartoon and used to tape Superboy (but we only really got the first season in the UK). I've got a DVD set of the cartoon and seasons 1 and 2 of Superboy - and only found out a little while ago that seasons 3 and 4 have been released (US-format versions, though)

Ruby Spears is far and away my favorite version of Superman because of the Family Album segments. Those stuck in my mind for years long after the show went off the air. Now, I have no illusions about it. It hasn't aged well, unlike something like maybe TAS. But when you're a ten year old kid, seeing what one of your favorite super-heroes was like when he was your age and watching him grow up with powers can have a lasting impact on a kid. It, and the Donner movies, defined Superman for me. And you could definitely see the Donner influence on the show.

The Family Album stuff was great. Poor Ma having to carry all those hot dogs...

As for Superboy, what I find fascinating about it was here you have a live action Superman show that aired for four years and yet almost no one remembers it existed. That's the same amount of time Lois & Clark was on the air. I didn't get to see it much growing up because it was always on at wonky times. Which might be one of the reasons it isn't as fondly remembered as some other versions. And probably why I'm not nearly as attached to it.

I don't think Superboy was syndicated to the same degree as Lois & Clark, which may be why it's not as well remembered. As mentioned above, we only really got the first season in the UK, for example.

The tie in comic by Moore, Mooney, Swan (!), and Templeton is still in my collection. Cool stuff.

I loved the photo-cover to the first issue (I suppose having a crush on Stacy Haiduk played a big roll in that), and issue 2, where he spoilers:

discovers he's bulletproof

end of spoilers was great - the reactions the characters had in that scene and issue 5, with him wearing a leather jacket and having a toothpick in his mouth. Oh, and Lex trying to figure out who Superboy really is (and getting foiled and, I think, spoilers:

Clark even being on the list, but lower down than the sports-suspects

end of spoilers).

[superduperman]

I know there were legal fights over the ownership of the Superboy show. That's one of the reasons for the delayed release of the DVD collection. I also know that WB wasn't really proud of it and wanted it gone. Supposedly there was going to be a TV movie where he becomes SuperMAN but that was after Lois & Clark was announced and that put the kibosh on anything Superboy related.

[adkal]

Supposedly there was going to be a TV movie where he becomes SuperMAN but that was after Lois & Clark was announced and that put the kibosh on anything Superboy related.

I think there was some interview back in 1999 where Gerard Christopher said he had been shortlisted for the role in Lois & Clark (after auditioning for it) but then someone realised that he had been Clark/Superman in the Superboy series and it was determined that audiences wouldn't realise it was a different show.


...I wish there could be a multiversal event using all the different Supers in various ways and maybe bringing some of them together (so we'd have Cavill, Welling, Cain, Christopher, Newton, and Daly and Newbern (and maybe even Stuart Milligan)).

[superduperman]

...I wish there could be a multiversal event using all the different Supers in various ways and maybe bringing some of them together (so we'd have Cavill, Welling, Cain, Christopher, Newton, and Daly and Newbern (and maybe even Stuart Milligan)).

I've made the joke that Supergirl should do something like that. She gets stuck in the multiverse and ends up on all the various Earths from the different TV shows! I could see her land on the L&C Earth and wonder why Superman looks like Jeremiah Danvers and why Lois looks like Rena! Of course I'm sure there's all kinds of legal issues revolving around why they can't do something like that.

[adkal]

I've made the joke that Supergirl should do something like that. She gets stuck in the multiverse and ends up on all the various Earths from the different TV shows! I could see her land on the L&C Earth and wonder why Superman looks like Jeremiah Danvers and why Lois looks like Rena! Of course I'm sure there's all kinds of legal issues revolving around why they can't do something like that.

Issues that can be worked out if they really wanted to

It was amusing when, in Legends of Tomorrow*, spoilers:

Ray (Routh) said that Kara looked like his cousin

end of spoilers

(or *spoilers:

some other episode in the crossover event, I wasn't keeping tabs on the episodes in general

end of spoilers (whoopsie) )

[phantom1592]

I loved Ruby Spears Superman. it was my favorite Superman cartoon bar none. Just the animation and character design just screamed SUPERMAN to me. Coming from Superfriends, even the plots were detailed and more nuanced :P

And yes, the family album stuck with me for years. Part of the reason I've always loved Superbaby and all Kryptonians having powers from the moment the yellow sun hits them.

I wish it had a season two with some more established guest stars. wonder woman was great (and the best animated Wonder Woman ever) but man I'd have been in heaven if Green lantern or Batman and Robin ever showed up!!!

[superduperman]

One episode made reference to Gotham City. If the show went on for another season, that would have been after the first Batman movie came out. So using him in an episode would have definitely helped the show at the time. I recently saw a magazine about Superman's 80th anniversary and they had completely forgotten this show ever existed! As in it outright said there were no Superman cartoons between the time Super Friends went off the air and TAS! They had at least a couple pages on the Superboy show but didn't mention this one at all. Of course they also mistook Lana for Lois in Smallville so obviously they weren't fans.