Rewatching LOIS & CLARK

[manofsteel1979]

I actually thought the use of Intergang as an ongoing threat in Season 2 and, obviously, the introduction of Tempus were pretty well done. And I do agree with others that this show did a fairly great job with the complexities of the New Krypton arc.

Speaking of John Shea, one of his best moments as Lex that I can never get out of my mind is in his return in season 2...

That moment when he and Lois are down in that basement/tunnel together and, at this point, she knows exactly what he is and what he’s done and she’s completely repulsed by him. There is a struggle and Lois, in the struggle, gets shoved into a pit by his jealous doctor (who was jealous that after she had gone to so much trouble to bring him back, he still wanted Lois). Lex is trying to reach for Lois and he gets so angry he accidentally kills the doctor. And, then OF COURSE, Superman flies down and picks Lois up.

Superman and Lois fly up to Lex and Shea’s expression in that moment is just so good. He’s just like “oh you’ve got to be kidding me, this ***** again.” The reality that Lois never truly loved him. That she always loved Superman/Clark. It’s so well done. They would always love each other. It was never going to be him and he was not going to win.

I agree. I liked that episode and that moment. I also agree intergang and Tempus were great villans,although with intergang I wish they went ahead and had Bruce Campbell play Morgan Edge instead of a Morgan Edge knock off. I wonder why they couldn't use him?

As for Shea's return,the only thing I disliked about that episode is the terrible bald cap they made him wear.i know they wanted to have Lex be bald at least once on the show to tie it back to his comics roots,but it was...just bad. Thankfully they dropped that conceit with his season 3 arc. I mean, I liked the idea that his resurrection cost him his hair...but that bald cap is the stuff of nightmares!

I also wish we got at least one episode where Lex and Tempus had a team up. Since we never got Brainiac on the show,instead of a Luthor/Brainiac team,we could have had a Tempus/Luthor team.

[Stanlos]

Lane Smith has forever influenced the way I think about and write Perry White.

As well he should! I suspect Warren Ellis might think similarly given his depiction of the newsroom in NEW MAPS OF HELL. Oh how I wish he had gotten a 12 issue run on Superman!

[achilles]

Tempus Fugit...he was the funny one who told Lois how the future thought of her? It was certainly mean, that scene, but also funny because it's exactly what a real person would feel. Hatcher's reactions sold that one IMO, along with whoever the actor was with his over the top delivery emphasizing how stupid Lois must be to not know... Wasn't the greatest show I've ever seen, but I liked it. It was fun, mostly, and Cain and Hatcher had that chemistry. Plus, Jimmy, (later in Special Unit Two, another genre thing), was maybe the best live action Jimmy I've seen. And yes, Lane Smith was my ultimate Perry. And I loved that they still used Ma and Pa Kent. I like them, and wish DC would just let up there.

[PCN24454]

Tempus Fugit...he was the funny one who told Lois how the future thought of her? It was certainly mean, that scene, but also funny because it's exactly what a real person would feel. Hatcher's reactions sold that one IMO, along with whoever the actor was with his over the top delivery emphasizing how stupid Lois must be to not know...

It's something I found funny then, but it just annoys me now. Fourth Wall humor feels really cheap.

[achilles]

It's something I found funny then, but it just annoys me now. Fourth Wall humor feels really cheap.

Eh, as you say, at the time it was sort of new.

[manwhohaseverything]

Could it be 1x011 - Honeymoon in Metropolis? I think there's another one where they spy on someone from across the building but I can't remember the episode.

Thanks,I will check it out again.

[PCN24454]

Eh, as you say, at the time it was sort of new.

Fair enough.

[Nelliebly]

Tempus Fugit...he was the funny one who told Lois how the future thought of her? It was certainly mean, that scene, but also funny because it's exactly what a real person would feel. Hatcher's reactions sold that one IMO, along with whoever the actor was with his over the top delivery emphasizing how stupid Lois must be to not know... Wasn't the greatest show I've ever seen, but I liked it. It was fun, mostly, and Cain and Hatcher had that chemistry. Plus, Jimmy, (later in Special Unit Two, another genre thing), was maybe the best live action Jimmy I've seen. And yes, Lane Smith was my ultimate Perry. And I loved that they still used Ma and Pa Kent. I like them, and wish DC would just let up there.

Tempus was a villain and his opinion of how the future viewed Lois was not supposed to be taken at face value. Herb said as much later in the episode. That Lois was not viewed as stupid because people recognized that love could blind people in the moment “especially that one great love that changes us forever.”

Lois and Clark’s canon was quite literally that their descendants (that baby they found in the series finale was going to be revealed to be a descendant in the 5th season proving they actually::could:: have children together) were going to change the world and help establish peace and justice for all people.

Again, Tempus was a VILLIAN and his cruelty towards Lois was not supposed to be taken as truth. If your takeaway from the episode was that Lois truly was “stupid” than you missed the point. Herb literally said as much in the same episode.

[rpmaluki]

Tempus himself also fell for the secret identity ruse in an alternate universe of his own making, so Lois wasn't this dumb idiot as his cruel barb suggested. He was nothing more than a villain disillusioned by the world he came from that honoured not just Superman but Lois' contribution in that society. He was a bitter man and wanted to hurt Lois with his words. It's not to be taken seriously, except those fans that look down Lois already for the same reason by ignoring how Lois has, on her own, discovered Clark's secret only for him to mess with her through some sci-fi shenanigans like body doubles to throw her off the truth. Lois isn't dumb, no matter what people say.

[skyvolt2000]

Yeah I'm aware that he wanted to spend more time with his family. They could have recast Lex for Season 2, but that would have been somewhat unfair to John. The loss of Lex as at least a somewhat regular adversary for Clark (and Lois) was a detriment to the show. They really struggled to fill the huge void Lex's exit left.

If they had recast,John Glover may have been a great choice. His Lionel gave off John Shea Lex vibes,particularly early on. He could have pulled off the same mix of charm and menace.

FYI the person that was originally in charge of the show got sent packing (she went on to do Early Edition)-who knows who else went with her.

You got new folks in charge and were told the show needed to change to compete with Seaquest-that was part of the reason we got a new Jimmy Olsen and Cat got dumped. So that started the camp movement.

I think it got worst when some Fox show started up....called X-Files.

Season 5 was set until some disagreements with Disney got it axed and costed ABC a certain talk show that went to NBC called Rosie O'Donnell.

ABC was screwing over a LOT of shows at that time that would later benefit other networks. Star Trek Voyager, Moesha, Steve Harvey Show & Sliders would look different (Rembrandt, Paris, Kess & Tuvok would all have different actors) or not exist (Moesha & Steve Harvey) if the shows (with ratings mind you) hadn't gotten axed by ABC. As they all had cast members from those axed shows or pilots.

[Nelliebly]

FYI the person that was originally in charge of the show got sent packing (she went on to do Early Edition)-who knows who else went with her.

You got new folks in charge and were told the show needed to change to compete with Seaquest-that was part of the reason we got a new Jimmy Olsen and Cat got dumped. So that started the camp movement.

I think it got worst when some Fox show started up....called X-Files.

Season 5 was set until some disagreements with Disney got it axed and costed ABC a certain talk show that went to NBC called Rosie O'Donnell.

ABC was screwing over a LOT of shows at that time that would later benefit other networks. Star Trek Voyager, Moesha, Steve Harvey Show & Sliders would look different (Rembrandt, Paris, Kess & Tuvok would all have different actors) or not exist (Moesha & Steve Harvey) if the shows (with ratings mind you) hadn't gotten axed by ABC. As they all had cast members from those axed shows or pilots.

It was Deborah Joy Levine. She was the creator. They fired her and replaced her with a male showrunner. Then they told the show to tone down the romance and play up the action.

Except the romance was what drew a lot of women to the show and so the beginning of season 2, with the change of course, didn’t go as well. UNTIL, you guessed it, they realized they had made an error and had Clark ask Lois out on a date. From that point on, the show increased in viewers and it continued through Season 3 with “Ultrawoman” which was their highest rated episode ever at something like 21 million viewers.

Through a 2021 lens, what they did to Deborah Joy Levine is pretty crappy. But she got the last laugh in the sense that they realized rather quickly that her vision for the show was the one people wanted.

[charliehustle415]

This show made me love the Daily Planet so much, I always wished for a Gotham Central style book about the Daily Planet.

I loved the romance and chemistry between Cain and Hatcher; however, the minute they finally got together it wrecked the dynamics of the entire show.

Knowing that Levine was fired is such a shame because this was the first comic book show that did something for the masses and didn't do fan service for fanboys.

[DochaDocha]

I wonder if I'm in the minority in liking the first Jimmy more. Even way back in the 1990s, I thought the second Jimmy was someone they cast to be more hip, and IMO Jimmy isn't supposed to be particularly hip.

[rpmaluki]

I wonder if I'm in the minority in liking the first Jimmy more. Even way back in the 1990s, I thought the second Jimmy was someone they cast to be more hip, and IMO Jimmy isn't supposed to be particularly hip.

I too, liked the first Jimmy.

[Nelliebly]

I wonder if I'm in the minority in liking the first Jimmy more. Even way back in the 1990s, I thought the second Jimmy was someone they cast to be more hip, and IMO Jimmy isn't supposed to be particularly hip.

Maybe an unpopular sentiment but I enjoyed them both equally.

The second Jimmy was a shock at first but he grew on me and I loved him in time.