Rewatching LOIS & CLARK

[Jim Kelly]

Rewatching LOIS & CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN from the beginning.


--season 1, 1993 - 1994--

The stars:

In the pilot, Clark has a mullet--as does Superman later when he finally makes an appearance. Perhaps Dean Cain didn't want to commit to a short haircut until he knew the series was picked up. However, Teri Hatcher had to cut her hair for the part of Lois Lane (producer Deborah Joy Levine insisted that Lois would have a utilitarian hairstyle as an on-the-go reporter). Hatcher kept her pony tail in the glove compartment of her car for years.

There's a nice scene between Hatcher and Melanie Mayron playing Detective Reed (whose hair is a hot mess) when they're tied up and Reed admires Lane's hair, how it bounces. It really is something the way it moves and shines--Dorothy Hamill would be envious.

Superman's slicked back hair in the show is functional--as they were blasting a lot of air at Cain in the flying sequences--so this way, with so much gel in his hair, it was never out of place.

The costume that Martha Kent puts together for the pilot only lasts for that episode. Through the series they kept tweaking the costume design, experimenting with fabrics. Although at the time, I didn't think much of the outfit, I now find it a lot more satisfying than other costumes we've seen in live action. After a few episodes, they figured out how to tuck the cape into the suit, so it looks like how it should in the comic books. And Superman has the classic S shield design.

Perhaps because these costumes are low budget efforts, they could keep fussing with the outfit until they had it right for the show. In today's world, the costumes cost so much money to make, they're not willing to abandon them and then they will stick with bad designs for far too long.

Clark is Clark Kent first and foremost. He comes to Metropolis to work on the Daily Planet--becoming a costumed super-hero is an afterthought. He's apparently always worn glasses. In SUPERGIRL, Dean Cain's Jeremiah Danvers gave Kara the glasses when she started to have problems with her super-vision--maybe Clark uses the glasses for the same purpose.

This is completely different from the John Byrne version. There Clark was flying around, without glasses, being a super-hero, just not in costume. Clark, Martha and Jonathan create the reinvented persona of Clark Kent--glasses, slicked back hair--to hide the fact that he's Superman.

Apparently Dean Cain was a big heart throb at the time, which is ultimately what won him the role, despite having little experience. And while many might say he was not a great Superman, I think that was hardly the main consideration when casting him. It's LOIS & CLARK--that's what the show is about. Getting the right guy to play Clark opposite Hatcher's Lois, that was the whole point.

Superman is rather stiff by contrast to Clark--he hasn't much dimension--Lois loves him because he's Superman. Even though this is a 1990s series, the way that the Man of Tomorrow presents himself in Metropolis is like the Superman of the 1960s. He makes public appearance, gives interviews. Clark never seems to worry that so much exposure will blow his cover.

While the show might have changed its focus in later seasons, the first season is this romantic comedy-adventure between Lois and Clark. It's about Lois slowly coming to love Clark Kent. It's the "will they, won't they" that makes the show work--teasing that story out for as long as possible was important. And Teri Hatcher is the key. She brings us into the story and breathes new life into an old love story.

[Jim Kelly]

The season 1 supporting cast:

Lucy Lane (Elizabeth Barondes), the younger sister of Lois, seems to have been intended as a series regular, but she exits after the first three episodes. She also had a developing romance with Jimmy Olsen, so her departure leaves him without a love interest.

As played by Michael Landes in the first season, Jim has great chemistry with Lane Smith's Perry White. Lane Smith is so impressive as an actor. The things he does in some scenes are dynamite. Giving him the catch-phrase "Shades of Elvis" instead of "Great Caesar's Ghost" introduces his amazing fascination with Elvis.

I was not too happy to have Luthor as a series regular when the show originally aired, but I quite enjoyed John Shea's wicked portrayal of the villain this time around. He has three different flunkies, in different episodes (they never seem to meet one another)--there's Asabi, Nigel St. John and Mrs. Cox. The latter is the kind of female assistant that comic book Luthor prefers.

Tracy Scoggins as Cat Grant is hit or miss for me. She's all a bit too much at times--but that's the 1990s for you, when T.V. shows didn't know the meaning of the word subtle. When she tones it down a bit, she's a more interesting character. I wonder how Ms Scoggins felt about the way she was used in the series. She's already gone by the final two episodes of this season, not to return.

In a minor supporting role, Miguel Sandovel is Eduardo Frieze, a Daily Planet staffer in episodes 4 and 9.

Henderson is played by two African-American actors--Mel Winkler in the pilot (he also voiced Henderson for SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES) and Brent Jennings in episode 3. But Richard Belzer enters as Inspector Henderson in episode 12 and plays him in three other episodes this season, including the season finale. Belzer had previously appeared in the 1990 series of THE FLASH as T.V. reporter Joe Kline.

The delinquent teen-ager, Jack is introduced in "Foundling," episode 16, and goes on to work at the Daily Planet. Played by Chris Demetral, Jack seems to be the first person at the Planet to make the connection between Clark and Superman. He doesn't say it out loud but he communicates his suspicions with a look. However, Jack is so grateful to Clark that he would never say anything--he had the potential to be the Pete Ross of the series.

Phyllis Coates--Lois Lane from THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, season 1--appears as Lois Lane's mom in the final episode of season 1, when Lois is going to marry Luthor.

In that season finale, James Earl Jones plays Franklin Stern who buys the Daily Planet and revives it after Luthor had destroyed it.

[Alpha]

Jack is so grateful to Clark that he would never say anything--he had the potential to be the Pete Ross of the series.

What do you mean?

[Jim Kelly]

What do you mean?

Pete Ross--good friend who knows Clark is Superman, but Clark doesn't know he knows; helps Clark in sticky identity situations without Clark knowing that he's helping him out.

[Alpha]

Ah yeah, nevermind

[Nelliebly]

I think the reason Lois is drawn to Superman in this first season are a bit more complex than just “because he’s Superman.”

Clark as Superman is in complete awe of her work as a journalist and he treats her as very special to him as Superman. Clark as Clark, at this point in time, goes out of his way to compete with her and tease her. Which isn’t bad or wrong. Obviously, as time goes on, Clark starts to more openly pursue Lois as Clark and express how he feels. But I think it’s fairly obvious in this first season why her feelings lie with Superman. Particularly in the context of this show where Lois has been betrayed by a LOT of men when she meets Clark/Superman. Superman is the good man she had lost hope existed.

[rpmaluki]

To be honest he's one of my favourite Lex, not because he was a powerhouse in performing the role but due to how campy and serious he took his role. He and Tempus are my favourite villains of this show.

[Jim Kelly]

Hey! I rember watching an episode where lois and clark were spying on someone together.Can anybody provide the number?Much appreciated.

You'd have to be more specific. Spying on someone is in their job description.

To be honest he's one of my favourite Lex, not because he was a powerhouse in performing the role but due to how campy and serious he took his role. He and Tempus are my favourite villains of this show.

This time around, I was impressed with John Shea's acting chops. He commits to the role and goes for it. He's like a top musician who knows exactly what notes to play and how to play them. One might quarrel with the type of Luthor he's playing (which he'd have no control over), but once you accept that this is the Luthor the show is going for, he's doing everything required for a great performance.

There's one scene where he's talking to someone and it's only revealed at the end of the scene as the camera goes around him, that he's talking to himself. And then there's the episode with the Superman clone, where he's playing father to the clone and there are all kinds of tones in those scenes--from broad humour to psychologically twisted mania.

[manofsteel1979]

To be honest he's one of my favourite Lex, not because he was a powerhouse in performing the role but due to how campy and serious he took his role. He and Tempus are my favourite villains of this show.

Until Rosenbaum came along,he was my favorite live action Lex Luthor. Now after Rosenbaum and Cryer he still rates top 3. It's a shame that he barely appeared after season 1.