A Super Friends question

[gentlesatirist]

Recently picked up the classic Legion of Doom season of this much-loved animated series. Two-disc set features all 16 episodes plus glowing on-screen testimonials from the likes of Alex Ross, Geoff Johns, Mark Waid, Paul Dini and Dan Didio about how much the series affected them.

That being said, the obvious question is why did the Legion of Doom series endure for only that magical 1978 season?

The only answer I've ever heard offered is that the length of the series' hour-long episodes made it a difficult sell for TV ads. If a kid didn't want to watch it or didn't like that week's stories, ABC lost that kid's eyeballs for the duration of the show, which meant a lot in the high-stakes 1970s Saturday morning market. In those pre-cable days, Saturday morning was about the only conduit to get toy and/or cereal commercials into the greedy and rapacious brains of kids across America.

By having several shorter stories in the Super Friends lineup, ABC had at least the possibility of regaining some of those kids. If they didn't like the Wondertwins segment, hey, here's a Batman/Apache Chief team-up!

Does this make sense? Has anyone ever heard another reason offered?

In spite of - or in some cases because of - their many faults, these are still wonderful cartoons.


- FE
Wickliffe OH

[gentlesatirist]

...as to why this legendary comic-culture icon lasted a mere 16 episodes?

What? Has Paul Levitz bought your silence?


- FE

[Sir Tim Drake]

I've never heard of a "Legion of Doom season" before, but now I'm curious about it. What was so great about this particular season?

[gentlesatirist]

...it was the 16-episode 1978 season of Super Friends, when Hanna-Barbera expanded the basic 5-member team (Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Aquaman) to 11 by adding Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman and new characters Black Vulcan, Samurai and Apache Chief.

This group then squared off against the Legion of Doom, a 13-member conglomeration of Luthor, Sinestro, Grodd, Brainiac, Toyman, Riddler, Scarecrow, Giganta, Solomon Grundy, Cheetah, Captain Cold, Black Manta and Bizarro.

At this point, Super Friends had been on the air for about 5 years, but had been almost solely in reruns. The new episodes were longer and more complex and structured.

This season is essentially what Alex Ross has adapted as the current Justice limited series. It's pretty much a crowning moment in licensed animation. Its star burned brightly, but briefly.


- FE

[Lone Ranger]

When I was a kid, I loved the Legion of Doom episodes. They were beyong awesome.

I thought the selection of villains (Scarecrow, Black Manta and Solomon Grundy) was quite inspired.

I believe the official title of that season is "Challenge fo the SuperFriends".

This thread reminded me of the Harvey Birdman episode featuring Apache Chief - that was hilarious.

[gentlesatirist]

...the SF show began in 1973 with a 15-episode season. In addition to the core cast, Flash, Green Arrow and Plastic Man each guest-starred in single episodes.

(The 5 heroes were joined by non-powered teenage sidekicks Wendy and Marvin and their non-powered dog, Wonderdog.)

I believe these 15 episodes then were re-run for the next 3 years.

In 1977, new episodes were produced, along with 30 team-up episodes, pairing one of the Big 5 with other heroes. Black Vulcan, Samurai and Apache Chief first appeared in these team-up episodes, each making 2 appearances.

The Flash also appeared in one of these team-ups, with Green Lantern, Hawkman/Hawkgirl, the Atom and Rima (a jungle character who had a mid-70s DC comic) each appearing in two.

(In 1977, Wendy, Marvin and Wonderdog also were replaced by the Wondertwins - shape-shifting teenage alien twins Zan (the boy) and Jayna (the girl) joined by their pet space-monkey Gleek.)

Then the big Legion of Doom series came along in 1978.

(Superman, Flash, GL, Atom and Flash had appeared as the JLA in a late-60s Filmation cartoon. If you think the SF cartoons are simplistic, they look like Shakespeare - or at least Dickens - compared to these Filmation ones.)


- FE

[gentlesatirist]

...with the JLA in the late-60s Filmation series.

That series was part of the Superman-Aquaman show, which also featured short solo segments of Hawkman, GL, Atom, Flash, JLA and - most impressively - the Teen Titans, with a lineup of Speedy, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Wonder Girl.

(The Batman characters were being used in a separate Filmation series at the time, so Batman wasn't available for JLA and Robin wasn't available for TT.)


- FE

[dupersuper]

...In 1977, new episodes were produced, along with 30 team-up episodes, pairing one of the Big 5 with other heroes. Black Vulcan, Samurai and Apache Chief first appeared in these team-up episodes, each making 2 appearances.

- FE

Don't forget El Derado!:D

[gentlesatirist]

...the token Latino hero, didn't appear on SF until 1981.

(Also like how they couldn't come up with a better name. I guess they didn't want car companies to sue if they used El Camino.)


- FE

[Rob Allen]

The scoop from Toonopedist and former CBRian Don Markstein:

http://www.toonopedia.com/super_fr.htm

He doesn't go into much detail about the stories, but if you email him and tell him about the profound differences between the Legion of Doom arc and the rest of the Super Friends episodes, he might revise his article.

[gentlesatirist]

...as to why the Legion of Doom concept lasted but a single season.

And since Rob brought it up, let me just say that Don's Toonopedia web site is one of the best pop culture sites on the web, bar none. Absolutely one of the finest I've ever seen. Its historical data is immensely valuable, and - unlike many fanboy sites - he provides perspective as to how these characters fared in other mediums beyond comic books, strips or cartoons. Providing a measurement of this "real-world" impact sets his site apart.


- FE
Wickliffe OH

[gentlesatirist]

...with more obsessive animation minutiae, here's how the "non-core" characters appeared in the 24 new short episodes that ran in 1980 :

Apache Chief, Black Vulcan - 3 episodes each
Samurai, Atom, Green Lantern, Hawkman/Hawkgirl - 2 episodes each
Flash, Rima the Jungle Girl - 1 episode each

Interesting that the Atom - who wasn't in the Legion of Doom season - got more play than Flash, who was.

This season also marked Rima's final appearance on SF.

Most of these episodes (15) were straight "brave-and-bold" style team-ups, but the other 9 featured four or more characters.


- FE
Wickliffe OH

[gentlesatirist]

...18 more short episodes were produced. Here's the "non-core" character breakdown for those.

Green Lantern, Atom, El Dorado (the new Hispanic character), Black Vulcan - 2 episodes each

Flash, Samurai, Apache Chief - 1 episode each

It looks more and more like Flash was given just the one appearance only because he'd been licensed. He was very under-used.

And a bit surprising that with a smaller number produced, there wasn't an emphasis on making sure token ethnic characters Samurai and Apache Chief appeared more.


- FE
Wickliffe OH

[gentlesatirist]

...then in 1983, the show left the Saturday morning lineup, marking the only time in its 13-year run that kids couldn't see it while zoning out to toy and cereal commercials while their parents slept.

SF went into afternoon syndication, with 24 new short episodes being made. Here again is the "non-core" hero breakdown.

Apache Chief, Green Lantern, Black Vulcan, Samurai, El Dorado - 2 episodes each

Atom, Superboy, Flash - 1 episode each

Superboy appeared in an episode when Superman and GL traveled back in time.

Again, Flash is delegated to only a single episode.

The Hawkman/Hawkgirl episode is their first new one since 1980.


- FE
Wickliffe OH

[gentlesatirist]

...in the 96 short "team-up" episodes that debuted from 1979-83 was : Black Vulcan!

The character - a thinly veiled version of DC's Black Lightning - was tapped for 9 of these team-ups, most of which paired a lesser-known character with one of the main Super Friends (Superman, Batman/Robin, Wonder Woman and Aquaman).

After Black Vulcan, Apache Chief and Green Lantern were second with 8 episodes each. Samurai and the Atom each made 7 appearances.

Hawkman/Hawkgirl showed up 5 times, with Flash and El Dorado each making 4 appearances and Rima the Jungle Girl making 3. Superboy also showed up in one time travel episode.

The selection shows that Hanna-Barbera (or DC or whoever was making the decision) was somewhat serious in showing a more diverse ethnic base in the group, even if they had to modify the African-American BV and invent the Native American Apache Chief and the Japanese Samurai to do so.

(At some point, I have to dig up an interview I did with BLightning creator Tony Isabella many years ago in which he said Black Vulcan was created when DC declined to pay him some minor fee in order to us BLightning.)

The episodes that didn't feature a minor character were team-ups among the main characters or with the Wonder Twins, the alien teens introduced on the show.


- FE