Believe it or not: for at least one generation of children, Saturday mornings were what is known as ‘appointment television.’
(Trust me: I was there. I know what I’m talking about.)
Saturday mornings were a veritable oasis of entertainment built to rescue the young and the young-at-heart from the doldrums of the weekly school schedule. While, yes, each of us likely had our own after school programming choices that met with acceptable variety, we lived for these weekend excursions with our favorite animated or live action extravaganzas. For it was in these adventures we were whisked away, transported to another time and another place where math tests, spelling bees, and state capital quizzes just didn’t matter. For those few fun-filled hours, there was no world outside; instead, there was only the best escapism ever conceived and built by man. It was about as glorious a way to pass our time as ever there was, and one of the more popular excursions was those flights of fancy hosted by the Super Friends.
From 1973 through 1985 (though I seem to remember small gaps here and there), this Hanna-Barbera-produced line-up of the greatest superheroes assembled to have ever defended our planet was a mainstay of that Saturday morning experience. Though the full roster changed from time to time – as did the central title of the show – audiences were rapt with adventures of Batman, Robin, Superman, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman that maybe not so much defied the imagination as they attempted to display that problems had solutions, and these solutions often required a bit of cooperation between opposing forces in order to achieve productive balance. In fact, I distinctly recall that most episodes closed with discussions – not action – that kinda/sorta served as an educational ‘moral of the story.’
Because the show endured a bit of reinvention several times over its life, I find it a bit difficult to offer some general observations on its overall quality. Originally conceived for an hour-long format, the first and perhaps best incarnation of the show explored adventures a bit more complex and developed; as it evolved and inevitably shortened, some of that superhero magic was lost in the shuffle. After all, any debacle that can be introduced, explored, and wrapped up in a scant, say, seven minutes of running time is going to be necessarily slim on details; and I suspect the changin’ of the times as well as the growing routine of reinvention killed its prospects as much as its diminishing returns.
Still, a case could be made that this is where TV’s original fascination with superheroes entered its Golden Age … a sentiment shared by those who were there when it all began …
(Trust me: I was there. I know what I’m talking about.)
Saturday mornings were a veritable oasis of entertainment built to rescue the young and the young-at-heart from the doldrums of the weekly school schedule. While, yes, each of us likely had our own after school programming choices that met with acceptable variety, we lived for these weekend excursions with our favorite animated or live action extravaganzas. For it was in these adventures we were whisked away, transported to another time and another place where math tests, spelling bees, and state capital quizzes just didn’t matter. For those few fun-filled hours, there was no world outside; instead, there was only the best escapism ever conceived and built by man. It was about as glorious a way to pass our time as ever there was, and one of the more popular excursions was those flights of fancy hosted by the Super Friends.
From 1973 through 1985 (though I seem to remember small gaps here and there), this Hanna-Barbera-produced line-up of the greatest superheroes assembled to have ever defended our planet was a mainstay of that Saturday morning experience. Though the full roster changed from time to time – as did the central title of the show – audiences were rapt with adventures of Batman, Robin, Superman, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman that maybe not so much defied the imagination as they attempted to display that problems had solutions, and these solutions often required a bit of cooperation between opposing forces in order to achieve productive balance. In fact, I distinctly recall that most episodes closed with discussions – not action – that kinda/sorta served as an educational ‘moral of the story.’
Because the show endured a bit of reinvention several times over its life, I find it a bit difficult to offer some general observations on its overall quality. Originally conceived for an hour-long format, the first and perhaps best incarnation of the show explored adventures a bit more complex and developed; as it evolved and inevitably shortened, some of that superhero magic was lost in the shuffle. After all, any debacle that can be introduced, explored, and wrapped up in a scant, say, seven minutes of running time is going to be necessarily slim on details; and I suspect the changin’ of the times as well as the growing routine of reinvention killed its prospects as much as its diminishing returns.
Still, a case could be made that this is where TV’s original fascination with superheroes entered its Golden Age … a sentiment shared by those who were there when it all began …
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the series’ IMDB.com page citation:
“The greatest of the DC Comics superheroes work together to uphold the good with the help of some young proteges.”
As I tried to express in my preamble above, Super Friends and its several iterations – Super Friends (1973-1974), The All-New Super Friends Hour (1977-1978), Super Friends / Challenge Of The Superfriends (1978-1979), The Worlds Greatest Super Friends (1979-1980), SuperFriends (1980-1982), The Best Of The Super Friends (1982-1983), the ‘lost episodes’ (1983-1984), SuperFriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984-1985), and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985-1986) – is a bit difficult to parse critically because each incarnation had its own storytelling format. These changes weren’t necessarily a reaction to any shortcomings with a previous version; rather, I believe it was more of a way for the writers and animators to continue delivering content based on viewership changes.
What I can tell you about this particular version of the Justice League is that – while not my favorite – it deserves a good deal of respect for paving the way for so much of what inevitably followed in its wake. The ongoing success of Super Friends encouraged other studios to seriously invest in bringing more superhero-themed animated to the forefront – along with additional looks at the Justice League and its various players decades later – and all of viewing mankind has been the recipient of some of the most lavish productions on the Boob Tube, via direct-to-DVD releases, and theatrical output ever. In a way, this is where it all began – the veritable superhero fountain of youth – and I couldn’t be happier to be reconsidering it after such a long hiatus.
However, it is important to take note: Super Friends and its spin-offs were under the care and nurturing of the Hanna-Barbera label, and anyone who knows anything about their television catalogue can probably assure you that this was, is, and will always be very, very, very kid-friendly … almost to a fault. The stories were fashioned in such a way as to explore a theme – i.e. energy conservation comes up regularly, as does everyone’s shared responsibility in being a good steward to Planet Earth – and, yes, that stuff can get a bit old if not downright passé at times. Such framework lends itself to predictability, so I encourage those who might be venturing into these waters to know full well that the early 1970’s had its own hang-ups: though most of the messaging is useful – especially for children – it can be understandably dated here and there.
From the series’ IMDB.com page citation:
“The greatest of the DC Comics superheroes work together to uphold the good with the help of some young proteges.”
As I tried to express in my preamble above, Super Friends and its several iterations – Super Friends (1973-1974), The All-New Super Friends Hour (1977-1978), Super Friends / Challenge Of The Superfriends (1978-1979), The Worlds Greatest Super Friends (1979-1980), SuperFriends (1980-1982), The Best Of The Super Friends (1982-1983), the ‘lost episodes’ (1983-1984), SuperFriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984-1985), and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985-1986) – is a bit difficult to parse critically because each incarnation had its own storytelling format. These changes weren’t necessarily a reaction to any shortcomings with a previous version; rather, I believe it was more of a way for the writers and animators to continue delivering content based on viewership changes.
What I can tell you about this particular version of the Justice League is that – while not my favorite – it deserves a good deal of respect for paving the way for so much of what inevitably followed in its wake. The ongoing success of Super Friends encouraged other studios to seriously invest in bringing more superhero-themed animated to the forefront – along with additional looks at the Justice League and its various players decades later – and all of viewing mankind has been the recipient of some of the most lavish productions on the Boob Tube, via direct-to-DVD releases, and theatrical output ever. In a way, this is where it all began – the veritable superhero fountain of youth – and I couldn’t be happier to be reconsidering it after such a long hiatus.
However, it is important to take note: Super Friends and its spin-offs were under the care and nurturing of the Hanna-Barbera label, and anyone who knows anything about their television catalogue can probably assure you that this was, is, and will always be very, very, very kid-friendly … almost to a fault. The stories were fashioned in such a way as to explore a theme – i.e. energy conservation comes up regularly, as does everyone’s shared responsibility in being a good steward to Planet Earth – and, yes, that stuff can get a bit old if not downright passé at times. Such framework lends itself to predictability, so I encourage those who might be venturing into these waters to know full well that the early 1970’s had its own hang-ups: though most of the messaging is useful – especially for children – it can be understandably dated here and there.
The other modest distraction is that it would seem that once a talent was signed to a Hanna-Barbera show then you can rest assured you’d be hearing their voice in – ahem – just about anything and everything. Those of us who grew up on a steady diet of their Scooby-Doo cartoons should rather easily recognize a few crossover voices (not characters), and I can distinctly remember thinking as a young’un about how Robin sure sounded an awful lot like Shaggy. (FYI: this is owed to the fact that Casey Kasem played them both.) I realize that’s a minor quibble, but – as a kid – it can really rock your world, if you think too long and hard about it.
Because there was this cultural shift in children’s programming of the era to ensure that shows were educating as much as they were entertaining, some of these adventures are understandably lackadaisical. Whereas cartoons that would follow in the 1980’s and 1990’s were able to ramp up the spectacle to a degree (with notable exceptions), the emphasis back then was more on using superheroes as a construct to produce better human beings, so installments would end with a good deal of reflection on what those budding caped crusaders on the team had learned. Yes, it was formulaic. Yes, it was a bit saccharin. But it was all animated with good intentions.
Even as a young’un, I can recall having my own axe to grind with the show and its several versions. Having grown up as a reader of various DC Comics’ titles, I knew a bit more than the casual viewers about some the various villains’ histories. The transition from page to small screen was rarely handled with any finesse; and, sadly, a great deal of what made these multiple evildoers gets lost in the process. Instead, their screen stories were more about misunderstandings or misperceptions between their perceived reality and ours; consequently, they weren’t so much ‘supervillains’ as they were ‘super-confused.’ Any aggressor you can come together with in the finale and chat about your troubles with isn’t a true archnemesis, so with Super Friends the focus was always a bit too much on ‘Friend’ than it was ‘Super.’
Furthermore, the scattered adventures occasionally had to work really hard to involve that great warrior of the sea, Aquaman. (When you limit stories to just the deep blue, then the same could be said of the land-locked, so don’t think I’m discriminating here, folks.) Sadly, there wasn’t always direct use of a warrior’s ability to telepathically marshal all the fish of the ocean, so these yarns would twist and turn to incorporate the son of Atlantis in ways that arguably pushed the boundaries of what was necessary. Sometimes, they accomplished his participation better than others, but the later shows handled it more efficiently by giving him time off to deal with whatever issues were underwater (if you’ll pardon the pun).
Still, Super Friends worked best when it stayed focused on the Big Five within the ranks of the Justice League. While it was great to see that they were always branching out and bringing in other players – many of which have still never been afforded a great deal of screen time in spin-offs – there’s nothing like Batman, Robin, Superman, Aquaman, and Wonder Women to truly make a visual meal. On that front, the show achieved heights other programs just couldn’t match.
Because there was this cultural shift in children’s programming of the era to ensure that shows were educating as much as they were entertaining, some of these adventures are understandably lackadaisical. Whereas cartoons that would follow in the 1980’s and 1990’s were able to ramp up the spectacle to a degree (with notable exceptions), the emphasis back then was more on using superheroes as a construct to produce better human beings, so installments would end with a good deal of reflection on what those budding caped crusaders on the team had learned. Yes, it was formulaic. Yes, it was a bit saccharin. But it was all animated with good intentions.
Even as a young’un, I can recall having my own axe to grind with the show and its several versions. Having grown up as a reader of various DC Comics’ titles, I knew a bit more than the casual viewers about some the various villains’ histories. The transition from page to small screen was rarely handled with any finesse; and, sadly, a great deal of what made these multiple evildoers gets lost in the process. Instead, their screen stories were more about misunderstandings or misperceptions between their perceived reality and ours; consequently, they weren’t so much ‘supervillains’ as they were ‘super-confused.’ Any aggressor you can come together with in the finale and chat about your troubles with isn’t a true archnemesis, so with Super Friends the focus was always a bit too much on ‘Friend’ than it was ‘Super.’
Furthermore, the scattered adventures occasionally had to work really hard to involve that great warrior of the sea, Aquaman. (When you limit stories to just the deep blue, then the same could be said of the land-locked, so don’t think I’m discriminating here, folks.) Sadly, there wasn’t always direct use of a warrior’s ability to telepathically marshal all the fish of the ocean, so these yarns would twist and turn to incorporate the son of Atlantis in ways that arguably pushed the boundaries of what was necessary. Sometimes, they accomplished his participation better than others, but the later shows handled it more efficiently by giving him time off to deal with whatever issues were underwater (if you’ll pardon the pun).
Still, Super Friends worked best when it stayed focused on the Big Five within the ranks of the Justice League. While it was great to see that they were always branching out and bringing in other players – many of which have still never been afforded a great deal of screen time in spin-offs – there’s nothing like Batman, Robin, Superman, Aquaman, and Wonder Women to truly make a visual meal. On that front, the show achieved heights other programs just couldn’t match.
Alas, I’m not entirely convinced that today’s more cynical audiences will flock to this release. While it looks good and finally gives fans who’ve wanted a single purpose for their respective entertainment libraries, Super Friends will likely remain a favorite for those of us who were there in the beginning to experience those early forays into animated history. Even the shorter episodes fall heavily into predictability – Hanna-Barbera wasn’t exactly well regarded for re-inventing the storytelling wheel – as the exploits grew far more about the message than it ever was the mayhem. That would change inevitably when other competitors entered the arena, but that’s a different argument for a different day. For now, purists and completists should celebrate this impressive release for what they’ve always wanted: the dawn of a new era in superhero mythmaking.
Super Friends: The Complete Series (1973-1985) was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, Warner Bros. Television, Eric Porter Studios, Taft Broadcasting, and Warner Communications. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Warner Archive. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert (as well as the fact that I’m looking at these episodes for the first time in decades), I find the provided sights-and-sounds to be exceptional from start-to-finish: I don’t see all that much of the negative effects time and aging can have on traditional film, so I believe most viewers will be impressed with how the source masters have held up. Indeed, the Warner Archive press release confirms that these were all remastered for this Blu-ray release; and I think they look grand. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? Alas, there are none … a big miss, but it is what it is. I believe this is the first time in the United States when a fan can have all 93 episodes together in a single set, and that might be enough to convince buyers to pick this one up.
Recommended.
In all honesty, Super Friends: The Complete Series (1973-1985) isn’t probably as earthshaking to the older and wiser (mostly older, though) version of myself penning this review today. As a kid, I can remember running to the television set for the earlier episodes (not so much as it wore on into the 1980’s). Additionally, I can remember those times when friends – boys and girls alike – would recount what we watched that past Saturday morning on the bus, at lunch, out on the recess fields because it was a seminal experience for so many of us. I don’t think we realized how pivotal the show could be in those days. While it may’ve lost a bit of its luster, there’s still no replacing its greatness.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Warner Archive provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of Super Friends: The Complete Series by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
Super Friends: The Complete Series (1973-1985) was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, Warner Bros. Television, Eric Porter Studios, Taft Broadcasting, and Warner Communications. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Warner Archive. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert (as well as the fact that I’m looking at these episodes for the first time in decades), I find the provided sights-and-sounds to be exceptional from start-to-finish: I don’t see all that much of the negative effects time and aging can have on traditional film, so I believe most viewers will be impressed with how the source masters have held up. Indeed, the Warner Archive press release confirms that these were all remastered for this Blu-ray release; and I think they look grand. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? Alas, there are none … a big miss, but it is what it is. I believe this is the first time in the United States when a fan can have all 93 episodes together in a single set, and that might be enough to convince buyers to pick this one up.
Recommended.
In all honesty, Super Friends: The Complete Series (1973-1985) isn’t probably as earthshaking to the older and wiser (mostly older, though) version of myself penning this review today. As a kid, I can remember running to the television set for the earlier episodes (not so much as it wore on into the 1980’s). Additionally, I can remember those times when friends – boys and girls alike – would recount what we watched that past Saturday morning on the bus, at lunch, out on the recess fields because it was a seminal experience for so many of us. I don’t think we realized how pivotal the show could be in those days. While it may’ve lost a bit of its luster, there’s still no replacing its greatness.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Warner Archive provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of Super Friends: The Complete Series by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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