Revisiting 'Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'

[R0NIN]

I actually started rewatching this too.
Like others have said I agree and think this was the bed portrayal/version of Clark. Teri Hatcher is my favorite Lois. The costume itself could've been better and often changed throughout the series. It did often times get silly, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. More so than Smallville anyway.

[adkal]

Costume-wise, I always (in the first season or so) treated it as a 'figure it out as I go along' thing (for him and Martha). The one where the top half of his chest is bare and his cape looked like shoulder-pads was such an example - I remember writing an 'off-screen' scene where Lois said he should cover up a bit as he was showing more cleavage than she was...

Superman-wise, although the budget was small and the effects variable, we had:

- faster than a speeding bullet
- generating a localised 'earthquake' (okay, okay, shaking a building )
- stopping a tsunami
- inhaling fire
- stopping a nuclear reactor and not being affected by the radiation

And that's just in the first half of the first season.

Across the seasons, we had:

- the death and return of Clark Kent
- love interests for Clark (Mayson) and Lois (Scardino)
- the destruction of the Daily Planet

and so on.

We even had the Batmobile turn up.

[ForeverYoung8]

Mine, too.

Confident, witty, digging in to Lex...




Agreed.

The scene where he's talking about how he regrets having to have someone killed, that it shows a failing on his part...and when he manipulates a 'win' out of a defeat and comes out smelling like roses.

(The massage scene in one episode was hilarious - the relief on his face when the phone rings...and the...well, the look when the masseuse crushes the declined credit card...)




I don't know...no offence to Cain but he just didn't have 'It' when it comes to Superman. As Clark he was fine...Superman...just...wasn't there...



I often did, too...until the reboot...now, sometimes I 'hear' Bruce Greenwood *shrug*

I completely agree that there was something missing about his Superman. But I think a lot of it came down to him not being comfortable in the costume (at least, he always looked uncomfortable). This might be why he always had his arms crossed.

Course, although he was still in excellent shape, the little weight gain by season 4 probably didn't help him much in that regard. I think if he'd been more comfortable he'd have turned in a performance equal to his Clark. But bad costume or not, as an actor he should have overcome it.

At the end of the day, it was basically Byrne Superman that the show gave us; for that reason alone I will always love it because I grew up with the Byrne/Jurgens era, and nastalgia will always bring me back to that. Everyone always says how Batman is such a great character because no interpretation is wrong; he can be done campy (60's), ultra violent (Burton), Noir (TAS), etc. But Superman is much the same way...he's had the Golden Age done well (Fliescher, Reeves), the Silver Age (Reeve films), Post-Crisis (Lois & Clark), or a modern spin on all eras (Smallville).

[adkal]

I completely agree that there was something missing about his Superman. But I think a lot of it came down to him not being comfortable in the costume (at least, he always looked uncomfortable).

Yeah, he often did look uncomfortable in the costume.

This might be why he always had his arms crossed.

Body language is a massive (overlooked) aspect of Superman. Often the 'arms-crossed' scenes were close-up and rather than conveying attentiveness and authority they conveyed reservation, insecurity and discomfort - basically, if there had been more full body scenes with his legs shoulder-width apart, for example, there would be more 'authoritar' ()

Course, although he was still in excellent shape, the little weight gain by season 4 probably didn't help him much in that regard. I think if he'd been more comfortable he'd have turned in a performance equal to his Clark. But bad costume or not, as an actor he should have overcome it.

The directors should also have tried to bring that out, too, in my opinion.

[ForeverYoung8]

Good point about the directors.

And I'd forgotten the Batman references. My favorite was Clark to Lois: "Could you say that a little louder? I don't think they heard you in Gotham City." Huge grin here every time I see that scene. Just seemed to work better than Clooney head-bobbing "This is why Superman works alone."

What did you think of their choice for his hair? Bryne Superman liked to slick it back for Clark, and loose for Superman; they went opposite for 'L&C'.

[DochaDocha]

I thought he crossed his arms all the time just to accentuate his musculature.

Regarding the flip-flopped hair styles, I can sort of see the rationale. "Clark" was supposed to be the natural guy, and "Clark" got more screen time, so it kind of made sense to give Clark the less stylized hair. It's not the way I would've done it, but based on the overlying direction of the show, it made sense.

[adkal]

As DochaDocha said, for the dynamic they were going for, the hair worked. If Superman was the one receiving more screen time then the 'normal' approach would be more appropriate.


@DochaDocha, he may have been trying to 'accentuate his musculature' but most of the time it came across as 'discomfort', even to my teenage mind. However, that may have more to do with the framing of the shot rather than actual discomfort on Cain's part.

[ForeverYoung8]

Sure, I know *why* they did it. I was just curious on if anyone here liked it.

[John Ossie]

I loved it when it was on and I recently bought the complete series on dvd am currently re-watching them. Still enjoy it now especially Perry. And Dean remains my favourite Clark to this day though yes I do think he looked a little uncomfortable at times when he was folding his arms but it may've been the way they shot it.

Anyways I like the show a lot anyway personally.

[Lexrules]

It was a good show for what it was and with the budget it had. Had the pleasure of sitting down and talking with Dean Cain this past year for about 20 minutes and he is a great guy and a class act in every way who is very thankful to have been able to play the character.

And yes this was better then Smallville.

[Auguste Dupin]

Discovered it relatively late. Thought it was a good show for its first season, then it progressively got worse until the little I've seen of the last season became a bit laughable.
Dean Cain was a good Clark, but his Superman was as uncharismatic as possible. Overall, the show never really managed to be good at picturing Superman's adventures, and while it wasn't that problematic when they were focussing on the Lois and Clark thing, it may be the reason the show went downhill, at least in my book.
Teri Hatcher was a good Lois.

[John Ossie]

It was a good show for what it was and with the budget it had. Had the pleasure of sitting down and talking with Dean Cain this past year for about 20 minutes and he is a great guy and a class act in every way who is very thankful to have been able to play the character.

And yes this was better then Smallville.

Great to hear that Dean is a great guy. As for Smallville oddly enough I've never seen it though I kept meaning to. Aah well that's life huh?

[Daybreak_st]

I watched all four seasons a few years ago. I love season one. It was top notch. If you compare the pilot episode with all of the Superman Films so far you'll see much more character development for Lois, Jimmy, and Perry. That was the best part of the show. The characters and their chemistry. They were all interesting and likeable. I honestly feel like this show provided the perfect template for handling the staff of the daily planet.

The quality of the show really declined with the wedding stuff. The whole lois as a frog eating clone pretty much ruined season 3. That was a long drawn out story arc that was disappointing. My wife really enjoyed the show up to that point (this was her first time watching the whole series) but after that lost interest. The build up of the romance was great but that false wedding and drama afterwards just deflated all expectation. It seemed really contrived.

The later seasons didn't have the same magic as the early ones. What they lacked in visual effects and Superman level threats they made up for in great characters, especially Terri Hatcher as Lois. That was perfect casting.

[Daybreak_st]

And yes this was better then Smallville.

I think both shows had different strengths. Smallville did a solid job with casting Tom Welling as Clark I thought. He had the look, stature and did a solid job when acting more "Supermanly" if you will. And they did a perfect job with Lex Luthor (while Rosenbaum was playing him at least). The visual effects were top notch for a tv show and I was really happy with some of the Superman villains they brought to life, Brainiac was the best example. Metallo, and Bizarro were also well done.

I honesty feel like if you combined the best aspects of Smallville with the best parts of Lois and Clark you'd have a pretty solid template for a live action Superman.

[CMBMOOL]

The what now?

Sorry, I don't really watch much television, and barely know what the channels I've got available are...

This channel...