Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993-1997) – Comic References

[Silver Nemesis]

That's understandable. But the few times that L&C ever poked a toe into the more cosmic elements of the Superman mythos... honestly, I don't think it works to the show's strengths very well. There's a chance it could've turned out just fine.

But I look at stuff like Superman's showdown with Lord Nor in season 04, which looks more like American Gladiators (a cheesy early Nineties American gameshow) than a visceral battle to save the world, and that gives me a little bit of doubt as to how well executed Apokolips or Warworld would've been.

Admittedly the show's makers would have had to heavily adapt the material to fit the style and tone of L&C, which would have angered many diehard fans, but I think it could have been done. L&C generally didn't use alien makeup or creature effects. There were some exceptions, like the fake aliens in 'Contact' or Tez in 'Big Girls Don't Fly'.

But I don't think we would have seen too many weird-looking aliens in future episodes. Maybe one or two in the background. But most of the alien characters from the comics would have been re-imagined so that they looked like ordinary humans. In order to justify building elaborate sci-fi sets, they probably would have had to use them across multiple episodes like they did with the sets for the New Krypton ship. So any storyline featuring Warworld or Apokolips would likely have been at least a two-parter. Perhaps a three-parter.

I imagine the L&C Warworld being a parody of American Gladiators and other forms of 'sports entertainment'. There was an absurd episode of Charmed titled 'Wrestling with Demons' in which the Halliwell sisters had to fight in a demonic underground wrestling tournament. Their opponents were played by real pro-wrestlers Scott Steiner and Booker T. It was ridiculous, but entertaining. I imagine the L&C Warworld being somewhat similar, featuring wrestlers or American Gladiators as guest stars. The American Gladiator Lori 'Ice' Fetrick had already guest starred as Vixen in season 4.

And of course Dean Cain won the American Gladiators celebrity special back in 1994. So some kind of tie-in with that show, or maybe even the WWE, doesn't seem beyond the realms of possibility.

I see the L&C Mongul as a sort of Vince McMahon type managing an interplanetary sports entertainment show similar to The Running Man. They could have got a famous game show host to portray him, or better yet a famous wrestler or Gladiators star. McMahon himself would have been the perfect choice, but I doubt he would have done it. A good alternate pick might have been Lee 'Hawk' Reherman, who acted in a number of films and TV shows including Columbo, Last Action Hero and The X-Files. Here he is going up against Cain on American Gladiators.

It would have been a lighter and more comedic take on Mongul, and he wouldn't have looked anything like his comic book counterpart. Instead he'd have been a tall, buff human in a flashy purple and gold suit. But he would have retained the comic Mongul's mischievous grin and ruthlessness.

In terms of special effects, there would have been some model/CG shots of Warworld as seen from space. Satellites, space stations and spaceships often featured in L&C, so I don't think the exterior shots of Warworld would have been a problem.

For the interiors, they would have had to build a reasonably large arena set, plus several smaller sets for things like prisoner cells and Mongul's private chambers. The plot would involve Mongul forcing Superman to compete in his game show (which would literally be called 'Warworld') and Lois would have to overcome her aversion to sports journalism to become The Daily Planet's sports news correspondent so she could travel to Warworld and cover the contest in person.

Many comic book fans would have hated this approach, but it's the best way I can imagine Warworld being adapted for L&C's budget, tone and unique style. It would have been funny and satirical, but nowhere near as savage as the comic book Warworld.

With Apokolips, I expect they would have taken a darker and more serious approach. As with Warworld, there would have been some model/CG effect shots of the planet from space and showing its hellish surface. There would have been a set for Darkseid's throne room, plus maybe one or two smaller chambers and passageways. Here's what a late nineties TV Apokolips might have looked like, courtesy of the Stargate SG1 episode 'The Devil You Know'.

And Darkseid's throne room.

Season 5 would have begun airing in 1997, and that's the same year that Stargate SG1 started. SG1 star Christopher Judge (who later appeared in The Dark Knight Rises) would have been perfect as the L&C Darkseid.

Again, he would have looked like a human rather than the grey-skinned goliath from the comics (though the grey skin was a possibility, since the makeup would have been relatively straightforward). His costume would have consisted of simple robes or armour, fashioned within the limitations of a TV budget, with the omega symbol featuring prominently. But he wouldn't have looked too much like the comic book Darkseid. If Mongul was a goofier villain, then I imagine the L&C Darkseid being a more serious and threatening adversary in the vein of Lex Luthor and Baron Sunday.

I see the L&C Darkseid being a mysterious background villain who would remain in his throne room for most of the season while he observes his agents operating on Earth. Characters like DeSaad would have travelled to Metropolis and interacted with Lois and Clark. Once again, they would have looked like ordinary humans.

Parademons, if they appeared at all, would have been limited to some brief CG effect shots. Or they might just have been human guards equipped with cloaks, helmets and staffs.

DeSaad would have stayed on Earth, occasionally visiting The Daily Planet offices and secretly taking control of Intergang. Every now and then he'd report to his mysterious master back on Apokolips. Darkseid would only have appeared in maybe three or four episodes total, including the season premiere and the two-part season finale. His agents on Earth would show up once every three or four episodes, just to remind the audience that they're there. Perhaps there could have been an episode similar to The Call of Cthulhu in which DeSaad forms a cult of Darkseid worshippers. Omega symbols start cropping up in graffiti all over Metropolis, and The Daily Planet team anxiously ponder the question of "Who or what is Darkseid?"

There would have to be a scene early in the season where Darkseid destroys one of his underlings using his Omega Beams, just to establish how powerful and deadly he is. The special effects for Omega Beams would have been well within the show's means.

In terms of action, there wouldn't have been any epic battle scenes. The showdown in the season finale would have gone something like this. Superman goes to Darkseid's throne room using a Boom Tube or similar portal, or else Darkseid comes to Earth. Superman punches Darkseid in the face, but Darkseid barely flinches. Darkseid grabs Superman by the throat and throws him across the room/street so that he makes an impression in a wall. At this point Superman realises Darkseid is much stronger than anyone he's ever faced before. Darkseid would then attempt to obliterate Superman using his Omega Beams, and Superman would try to repel the beams using his heat vision. There'd then follow a contest of strength, similar to the showdown at the end of 'When Irish Eyes Are Killing'.

Lois would shout words of encouragement to Superman, which would give him the willpower to overcome Darkseid and repel his Omega Beams back at him. Darkseid would then fall victim to his own power and be transported to a time and place unknown, leaving the door open for him to return in a later season.

Fans hungry for epic battles and fight scenes would have gone unsatisfied, but I think the essence of the Darkseid character could have been captured in L&C. This show was always more about the writing and the characters than the special effects anyway. The show's makers could have moulded a good story arc from the Apokolips mythos. That's a direction I'd explore if I was writing a season 5 comic. I've also got some ideas about how you could tie the Apokolips storyline in with the baby that was left on Lois and Clark's doorstep at the end of 'The Family Hour', but I won't go into that now.

The show did wire work amazingly well and it's a shame they didn't do more of it.

They cut back on the wirework very noticeably in season 2. In the show's second year, they mostly relied on the trick of having Cain sweep his cape in front of the camera as he leapt out of shot while having the other actors look up so their eyelines suggest he's airborne.

By time you get to season 4, they were using CG effects for many of the flying scenes. You'd have Cain standing on the ground, then he'd suddenly turn into a superfast blur and zoom skyward. With that technique, they could show him manoeuvring at speeds and trajectories that could never have been achieved using just wires. I thought this approach worked well considering the show's budgetary and technological limitations. But even then, they still used some of those stock flying shots from season 1. I watched 'Faster Than a Speeding Vixen' recently, and there's a flying shot in that where you can clearly see Superman wearing the cleavage suit. And that's in season 4!

But there is some great wirework in the 'Pilot'. Especially that scene where Superman flies Lois into The Daily Planet building.

The bit at the end of that clip where he flies out of the window is one of the best live action flying shots of Superman ever put on film.

[thecolorsblend]

Less of an influence from the comics and more of an influence ON the comics, there was a one-shot published in 1994 entitled Superman- Under A Yellow Sun.

I've been a fan of that one-shot since the day it was released. And what I've always loved about it is how it feels like a kicked-up season 01 episode of L&C. It's most reminiscent of the episode Fly Hard, with the flashbacks to America's Prohibition Era where the main cast all played different roles. Under A Yellow Sun does something similar, where Clark casts the people in his life as characters in his novel.

It's not quite perfect. As might be expected, UAYS one-shot features Superman doing stuff that no network TV show back in the Nineties could've afforded. The super-powered guns, Superman pitching somebody literally across a shipping dock, an airplane exploding, etc. So, it's not quite perfect.

But if you mentally scale things down a little bit, yeah, you can read UAYS as a sort of "lost episode" from L&C's first season. And it works pretty well.

[Silver Nemesis]

I'm not familiar with that story, but it sounds like one I might enjoy. I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

I have some examples of scenes from the TV show that were referenced in the comics, but since they're from later seasons I'll save them for now.

[thecolorsblend]

Elizabeth Barondes had played Lucy Lane in the first season of Lois & Clark, but in the second season she is played by Roxana Zal. Lucy is mentioned in later episodes, but 'Metallo' marks the character's final on-screen appearance in the series.

I always regarded the departure of Elizabeth Barondes as a pretty big loss for the show.



Barondes played Lucy as a minor foil for Lois. Lucy could be Lois's semi-slacker little sister who is, nevertheless, a bit more "worldly" than Lois herself. It would've been a subtle but effective dynamic, aided by the real chemistry Hatcher and Barondes had together. Plus, Clark always had the Kents in his corner. But the loss of Barondes meant Lois stood alone more often that she rly should've. Barondes's Lucy would've given Lois a support network that she sorely lacked in season 01.

So, why did things change? I don't know that Barondes has ever gone on the record about it. But fan gossip basically says there was some sort of contractual dispute between Barondes and the showrunners. They couldn't bridge that particular chasm. So, Barondes abruptly quit.

L&C is a good show. But it had a peculiar way of upsetting some of the talent. Examples include Tracy Scoggins, who quit the show after Fly Hard, as well as John Shea, who had a falling out with Levine (or somebody anyway) because he was fed up with flying to LA from New York once a week.

Chris Demetral, who played Jack, got his pink slip from the show about a week before shooting was due to begin for Madame Ex, the season 02 premiere. Michael Landes discovered that Jimmy Olsen had been recast a day or two before Whalin was announced as his replacement, which itself was scarcely a month before shooting Madame Ex.

By the time you start getting into season 02, the show had lost four regulars from the first season and recast one of the remaining regulars. That's a LOT of surgery to perform on one series in less than a year.

Rumor has it that there was network pressure to write K Callan and Eddie Jones out of the show as well. But it looks like Levine (or Robert Singer?) held the line there, stating that Clark needed the Kents for exposition purposes. Clark could level with his parents in ways that he couldn't for any other character on the show, not even Lois. So, the Kents narrowly avoided termination. But it was close. The network perspective was they wanted to play up the "young, modern, sexy" take on Superman without extras from Cocoon running around. But thankfully, cooler heads prevailed in the end.

Circling back to Barondes, she had some sort of QUALITY to her. Her eyes? Her voice? It's hard to pinpoint. But to this day, I miss her being on the show. Nothing against Zal. But Zal was a guest star who played the character like a guest star. But Barondes clearly invested a lot of effort into turning Lucy into a real character and her efforts were bearing fruit when she suddenly quit after SV.

For those reasons, it's interesting to consider how Barondes's Lucy would've affected the dynamics of episodes like Requiem For A Super Hero and All Shook Up.

Speaking of Demtral, it's wide open to interpretation just how much he actually knows about Clark. The Foundling provides circumstantial evidence that Jack discovered Clark's secret identity. But comments Jack makes in Fly Hard as well as The House Of Luthor are a little incoherent if he DOESN'T know Clark is Superman. I had occasion to ask Cain about his perspective on this at a con Q&A. Cain's answer was that he personally believes that Jack knew Clark's secret (which I tend to agree with). He added that he loved the Jack character because it gave the show some extra youthful energy as well as providing Clark with a "little brother" of sorts.

As with Barondes, it's interesting to ponder how Demetral's Jack would've impacted Madame Ex or Scoggins's Cat would've affected Barbarians At The Planet and The House Of Luthor. Again, we'll never know. But those episodes seem tailored to include those actors/characters and their absences are definitely felt.

Yeah.

[thecolorsblend]

Since I apparently have a lot to say about L&C, I want to yammer a bit about Lane Smith's Perry. Smith is one of my favorites. I mean, I enjoy Jackie Cooper's Perry. But his Perry is just sort of there. Whereas Smith gave his Perry a lot of flavor and individuality. The American Southern thing, the Elvis fandom, his ongoing trials and tribulations with Alice, there's a lot to enjoy about this version of Perry.

But one thing I struggled to justify is Perry's relationship with Jimmy. It goes back to the early days of the show and continued up to the very end. Now, I can recognize the necessity of pairing Smith with Landes/Whalin because Cain and Hatcher were frequently paired up by the very nature of the show. But still, Perry's relationship with Jimmy seemed a little hard to grasp for a while.

But what I eventually realized is that Perry was always on the lookout for his replacement. And he identified Jimmy early as the best candidate.

See, Clark and Lois are the rockstars of the Planet. So, it would make superficial sense for Perry to keep an eye on either or both of them. But I don't think Perry would consider either Lois or Clark as his eventual replacement.

For starters, Lois is just too damn good at her job to ever risk kicking her upstairs and taking her away from the action. Her talents will ALWAYS be utilized as a writer/reporter. She could do great as EIC. But is that the BEST use of her abilities? I say no. Which is one reason why I never bought the main premise of 'Stop The Presses'. There's no way Perry EVER would've done that, except maybe as a temporary thing.

As for Clark... well, I can't prove it. But my headcanon says that starting somewhere in the second season, Perry figured out that Clark is Superman. Now, he would NEVER have been stupid enough to say so out loud to anyone. Because that knowledge is dangerous. But still, you don't get to Perry's station in life by being an idiot. Lois is just too close to see it (at first) and it would never cross Jimmy's mind that Clark is Superman. But Perry? Yeah, I think he figured it out. Which means Perry knew that Clark already had enough on his plate without ever becoming EIC.

But Jimmy? He has the same youth and energy that Perry himself once had. But Jimmy needs a lot of seasoning. I completely believe that Perry got close to Jimmy to begin grooming him as the future Planet EIC. Plus, I don't think Perry is an idiot either. Jimmy clearly needed a father figure (as per 'The Dad Who Came In From The Cold') in his life. And for his own part, Perry wanted a son figure (as per 'Lethal Weapon').

If Jimmy was 19 in season 01, then my headcanon is that Jimmy would've become a staff writer and photographer by the age of 24 or so, a department head by 30, assistant editor by 35 and EIC by age 40. Which is a fairly believable career arc. Perry (50 in season 01) would've probably retired by the time Jimmy was 35 with the EIC job teed up and waiting for him.

[Silver Nemesis]

For me, Lane Smith's Perry is the definitive live action version of the character. He was an authentic southern gent with the perfect look for the part, and his performance always struck the right balance of humour and emotion. I appreciate how the writers of this show treated Perry like a fully rounded person and incorporated storylines from the comics, such as his marital problems with Alice and his troubled relationship with his criminal son Jerry. Most other screen versions of Superman don't delve that deeply into Perry's personal life, but L&C did.

Smith himself might never have been a big star, but he had a solid career as a character actor. L&C was the first thing I saw him in when I was a kid. As an adult, I've enjoyed spotting his appearances in classic movies like Network (1976), Red Dawn (1984) and My Cousin Vinny (1992). I've heard he was good as Richard Nixon in The Final Days (1989) and even got a Golden Globe nomination for his performance, but I haven't seen that yet.

I never considered that Perry might know Clark's secret, but it does gel with the all-knowing insight he claims to have in this scene.

Jimmy becoming editor is an interesting idea. He obviously had the potential to go far in life, and we see that potential actualised in the parallel universe from 'Tempus Anyone?' where he owns The Daily Planet. It's strongly implied that Jimmy's life got off to a rocky start in the prime universe, which might explain why he's not as successful there. He spent time in juvie and didn't have his dad around to straighten him out. Perry's fatherly relationship with him certainly extends into professional mentorship, and I can imagine Jimmy as editor using his specialist IT skills to bring The Daily Planet up to date in the age of social media. That would be another avenue to explore in the unlikely event we get a comic book or TV revival of L&C.

[thecolorsblend]

Funny you mention the Nixon thing. Because one of my main arguments for why L&C Perry knows Clark is Superman (aside from the fact that he's damn good at his job) is from the second season episode Top Copy.

Diana Stride announces to the world that Clark is Superman. When it happens, everyone at the Planet looks utterly shocked... except Perry. And he says, "People say I look like Richard Nixon. But I ain't never been to the White House."

In a clever wink to Smith previous credits, Perry pounced on the first excuse (provided by Jimmy) that he could find to publicly reject the theory. Because that scene you posted definitely shows that Perry knows when to keep his mouth shut about something.

It's up for grabs when Perry figured it out (although All Shook Up from season 01 is a good candidate). And it's headcanon anyway. But I am POSITIVE that Perry knew what was up no later than Top Copy in the second season.

[The Dark Knight]

I'm sure Perry knows in most incarnations of Superman. Fishburne definitely does in the Snyderverse. I like the idea that he's Superman's version of Gordon in that both relationships are handled in an unspoken way. Perry will ride Clark at times to do the best job for the Planet, but he's always on his side and the secret is safe. I think he liked Clark from the start but didn't show it overtly for a number of reasons. Discovering the secret was the cherry on top which deepened the level of respect. It's an underrated dynamic between these two characters that should get more attention than it does - the man who can do just about anything is merely an employee when he's under the roof of Perry's building, and he's soaking in the knowledge of a mentor figure. It's just as interesting as the guidance he receives from Martha, Lois or Jor-El. Each figure comes from a different perspective.

[thecolorsblend]

But there is some great wirework in the 'Pilot'. Especially that scene where Superman flies Lois into The Daily Planet building.

It could be a sign of where my head was at when I watched the pilot when it first aired. But I just couldn't figure out how the shot of Superman and Lois flying into the newsroom was done.

There's no way CGI was advanced enough to do that back then. Totally impossible. And unaffordable for TV in any case. Besides, it looks and FEELS like a wire shot.

But how? Because in that shot, someone pushes the doors open and Cain and Hatcher get pulled on the wires from one side of a wall to the other side of the wall in one unbroken/uncut camera move. The wire work is ridiculously precise, so I knew right there that I could rule out green screen. But I didn't see how it was possible to pass from one side of a wall to the other side with the actors rigged up on some kind of wire setup. The precise movements combined with the obstacles that have to be avoided also ruled out some kind of gimbal.

I was flummoxed.

But luckily, the season 01 DVD set included a sizzle reel of then incomplete effects shots from the pilot. Including the bit where Cain and Hatcher were wire-lifted into the newsroom. And it's where I finally found my answer. Turns out, it was staring me in the face the entire time.

The above comes from the sizzle reel. Here you can see the top section of the wall is completely gone. This would allow the wires to pull Cain and Hatcher through the doors. From there, the wire coordinators pulled off a pretty complicated series of maneuvers to guide the actors through the doorway, above the railing and then back down to begin their descent onto the newsroom floor. Talk to anybody who does wire work in that town and they'll be happy to tell you what a pain in the nuts those kinds of complex, nuanced movements can be to get right.

Of course, that has to get fixed for the final broadcast. So, someone comped in a top section of the wall to complete the illusion of Superman and Lois flying through a narrow opening (which wasn't narrow at all on the day of filming). The top section of the wall that's clearly missing from the first image is now visible in this finalized shot.

Now, it's obvious that somebody was proud of the work done that was done here (rightfully so, I might add) because that shot appeared in every L&C opening credit sequence. It's some pretty flawless work and boy does it hold up after all these years. Very high quality.

The bit at the end of that clip where he flies out of the window is one of the best live action flying shots of Superman ever put on film.

The sizzle reel shows visible wires on Cain's harness. Obviously, those wires are not visible in the final shot. Which means they had to get painted out.

To be totally honest, the amount of detail and craftsmanship in those newsroom shots make the final product doubly amazing if you ask me. Because the sizzle reel shows just how much work was needed to achieve those awesome shots of Superman flying around like that.

If anyone's interested, I'll go looking for the sizzle reel on YouTube. It's probably up there somewhere. Worst case, I'm pretty sure I've got it buried somewhere on one of my hard drives and can load it up on YouTube myself.

To give everybody a baseline of comparison, compare the smooth-as-glass wire techniques used in the L&C pilot to this moment from the Smallville episode 'Rosetta'.

The shaky, wobbly quality could be a deliberate creative choice. But I don't think it is. I think that moment was meant to show Clark eerily gliding through the air with purpose and precision. But that's not how the shot comes off. Now, Smallville was no stranger to using wires for effects shots. But they WERE strangers to using wires for flying shots. Which probably explains (1) why we see so little of Welling on the wire rig and (2) why the shots of Welling on the wire rig are so wonky.

I love Smallville, huge fan. But it's clear that L&C prioritized quality wire shots where Smallville kind of didn't.

Which makes it an even bigger shame that L&C ultimately didn't do very many wire stunts. Because they did it so well.

[thecolorsblend]

How did I not think of this sooner?

But in the second or third episode, when Clark gets a phone call from his new landlord, he repeats the name "Glenn Whitmore". Apparently, the landlord is named Glenn Whitmore?

Glenn Whitmore was the colorist of Superman comics of the time. He helped pioneer computerized coloring in the Superman titles. Standard color separations were used until Superman: Man Of Steel #21.

Beginning in Adventures Of Superman #500, the Superman titles were selling in such huge numbers that somebody higher up the food chain thought it was worthwhile to invest in computerized coloring for the Superman titles.

As far as I know, the Superman books were the first DC titles to feature computer coloring at the standard $1.25 cover price.

Previous titles that used computer coloring were Legends Of The Dark Knight (the 'Prey' storyline for sure but maybe others) and other similar "premium" titles. But it was Superman that brought computer coloring to the unwashed masses.

Spearheaded by Glenn Whitmore.