Under the heading "the wrong people keep dying" Martin Mull passed away last week. Martin was the epitome of "the guy who was in the thing". Here are just some of the things that I watched that this guy was in:
- The New Adventures of Wonder Woman
- Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
- Sabrina the Teenage Witch
- The Simpsons
- Just Shoot Me!
- Dexter's Laboratory
- Arrested Development
- Community
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- Not Dead Yet
Welcome to another edition of the Tuesday TV Touchbase. This is my weekly “Tuesday” post where I “touch base” on what I am watching on “TV”.
Are we clear?
This week’s post is about Superman, past, present and future!
In the present, we’ve got My Adventures With Superman, the animated series that features Jack Quaid as the voice of Superman/Clark Kent.
The idea of Jack Quaid as Superman may seem counterintuitive but for this series, Jack’s earnest demeanor is perfect, dang it! This is a Superman who is young and unsure of who he is but he is committed to one over riding principle: “I’m here to help.”
This series has some unique spins to the Superman mythos. The idea that Clark, Lois and Jimmy are the same age and true confidants to each other is a refreshing take on the old school concept of Superman keeping his distance from his alleged girl friend and pal.
Krypton is revealed to be the center of a brutal autocratic empire and Brainiac has convinced Superman’s cousin Kara Zor-El that the empire was a good thing and to get her cousin on board with bringing it back.
The action can be a bit too frenetic and the dialogue seems to be shouted too often (a criticism I also have about Star Trek Lower Decks) but My Adventures With Superman is a fresh new take on the Superman saga that I am enjoying quite a lot.
Looking to the future, Superman & Lois will be returning to the CW for it’s 4th and final season this fall. Since season 3 ended with Superman and the Lex Luthor constructed Doomsday monster in a knock down drag out fight, it seems the new season will kick off some version of the comic storyline where Superman died stopping Doomsday.
And he stays dead and the show is renamed & Lois.
Just kidding. I’m sure Superman will recover from his case of death.
There’s only 10 episodes this season to get anything done so I can’t imagine any “Death of Superman” storyline would play out too long.
Like the new animated series, Superman & Lois caught my attention by doing something unique with the mythos: Clark and Lois as parents of teen-aged boys and all that comes with.
Looking to the past, I occasionally will catch an episode of The Adventures of Superman on the H&I channel. Even by the standards of 1950’s TV, this show was made on the cheap. One episode featured a robot run amuck. Well, not so much run as shambled amuck in all it’s tin foil covered cardboard glory.
George Reeves’ Clark Kent is quite the snarky smart ass, a bit more tougher than the mild mannered milquetoast Clark was often depicted as in the comics.
The super stunts are cheap, almost laughable but they have an innocent charm that appeals to the child still lurking in us. And like the new animated series, it's the interplay between Clark, Lois and Jimmy that really makes the classic series from the 1950's watchable.
Another show from the past I would like to re-visit is Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. There were some really tight budgetary restrictions on the super stunts but I have some fond memories of this series, mostly for Terri Hatcher’s super smart and super sexy Lois Lane. And while I found his take on Superman a bit lacking, I kind of liked how Dean Cain portrayed Clark Kent, mild mannered, yes, but still a capable individual you can believe is a big city newspaper reporter.
But it’s Dean in the present day that kind makes it hard to look at those shows. Dean Cain has aged into a thick headed hard right MAGA wing nut who frequently makes the rounds on Fox News to remind us what a hell hole our country is. Sometimes he’ll cite his legacy as Superman and try to claim there are certain things that Superman wouldn’t friggin’ put up with. It’s sad how little Dean understands of the character he once portrayed.
Superman is not a judge or a jury or an executioner.
Superman doesn't care about your race or religion or your sexual orientation or your gender. Do you need help? Superman's response? “I’m here to help.”
That is that for this week's Tuesday TV Touchbase.
Next week: Interview With the Vampire.
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.
Let's have Martin Mull take us out for today's post, "The Time of My Life" from the film A Futile & Stupid Gesture.
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