Superman & Lois - Heritage

I think I've figured it out. If "Lois & Clark" was "Moonlighting" with super-powers, "Smallville" was "Dawson's Creek" with superpowers, and "Supergirl" started as "The Devil Wears Prada" with superpowers, then "Superman & Lois" is "This Is Us" with superpowers. 

Spoilers ahead!

Two Girls, a Guy, and a Pastoral Place

Whoopsie, went a whole year without posting.

I very much enjoy the Arrowverse shows, even though the only episodes of Arrow I've seen are the crossover tie-ins. Legends of Tomorrow is a constant delight, Black Lightning is incredible, The Flash is good superhero melodrama, and Supergirl is fine. It's fine. It's generally mostly fine. 

Look, Supergirl started out strong on CBS, but since it moved to CW, it's been plagued by recurring problems. The cast is stellar. I love every actor and character on that show. Dreamer is a revelation, and I want to see her ongoing comic series (where maybe her powers will be slightly more clearly developed). 

But the politics? The recent episode dealing with violence against trans women (and trans women of color in particular) was a welcome and refreshing shift in the show's usual tone of Peak Liberal White Feminism. For a show that has its heart so clearly in the right place, tackling real-world issues like internment camps for immigrants and the radicalization of cishet white men into fascist paramilitary organizations, it has also featured a hero who, up until last season, was consistently working with a government organization and adopting center-left approaches that openly demonized actual leftists and ignored intersectionality in favor of a lily-white worldview. 

Buckle in, comrades. This is an anarchist blog now. 

There are other problems as well. The way they derailed the Kara-Jimmy relationship to pair her with Mon-El for a season, then fumbled around to find something to do with his character until he left the show, feels more than a little casually racist. I think there are legitimate queerbaiting complaints to be had about how they've handled the Kara/Lena relationship. Alex's shifting desires and priorities have felt less like character development and more like trying to figure out where she fits in the show now.

There's a lot of good, too, especially with some of this most recent season's course corrections. Killing Dean Cain's character offscreen was a hilarious solution to that unfortunate problem. I appreciated Brainiac-5's evolution that gave him a more comics-accurate Coluan appearance and removed some of the played-out "smart guy doesn't understand emotions" character type. I like that every time Lena says "Non Nocere" it makes me think of standing in a Buffalo Stance.

And I've liked Tyler Hoechlin and Bitsie Tulloch as Superman and Lois Lane, on the occasions where they've appeared. Tulloch isn't my favorite Lois, and I wish Hoechlin's costume had the trunks, but they've been quite good when they've shown up. And, you know, this is the first live-action Superman show with tights and flights and the word "Superman" in the title since 1997. I am, unexepctedly, excited for that. 

Besides that, it's a different take on the characters. Lois gets second billing, but rather than being a will-they/won't-they romantic dramedy, it's centered on Clark and Lois as an established couple and experienced parents of teenagers. Personally, I'd prefer the kids to be younger—Crisis changed their single infant into two teenage boys—but I suppose there are some story and tone reasons to prefer teenage kids. Overall, I think a lot of the choices are really savvy: setting the story in Smallville immediately sets this show apart from urban Supergirl, and the teens who cut their sci-fi melodrama teeth on Clark and Lois and Lex in Smallville are now in their thirties, settling down and having kids of their own. This show has the potential of tapping into that 20-year nostalgia cycle for the mid-2000s.

But...well, my excitement has been dampened somewhat in the lead-up to the premiere. Naturally, there's the stories Nadria Tucker has told about experiences in the writers' room, how they dismissed concerns about racism and sexism, about "#metoo jokes" and the like. There's also the optics; Supergirl is coming to an end next season, and it's hard not to feel weird about the diverse, female-dominated show about found family being more-or-less replaced with the nuclear family show whose principal cast is four white people, three of them dudes. I never really watched the trailer, but the response to it on my social media feed was largely negative (though for whatever reason, my social media feed is heavy on people who apparently aren't happy if Superman's not snapping necks in a rubber suit). On the other hand, I've seen really positive responses from two of the Superman fans I respect the most, Charlotte Finn and David Mann. And that clip of Hoechlin in the Fleischer suit and the Action #1 pose? Yeah, that's pretty cool. 

So I'm not sure what to expect as I finally hit up the ol' TiVo and watch the two-hour Pilot. But I'm about to find out. 

Have you guys heard that I like Superman?

As if you couldn't tell by the two hundred and twenty little daily fanfics, my obsession has become a little...obsession-y, lately. For instance, my go-to show for background noise and entertainment while I work on other things has been the first season of "The Adventures of Superman," what with George Reeves and all. Taking a bit of a break today, I picked up the last disc of season 3 of "Lois & Clark." And I was hit with an interesting bit of synchronicity.

See, I remarked on Twitter about the "Adventures of Superman" episode I watched last night, where Perry took Jimmy on a fishing trip. Maybe I just haven't had those formative relationships with my employers, but I've never been on a fishing trip with anyone I've worked for. Or with. But hey, if Perry wants to take Jimmy under his wing, that's great. It just feels like a detail from a bygone era, real Andy and Opie stuff.

But then I watch this "Lois and Clark" episode, and Perry's handing out assignments. At the end of the spiel, he says that he wants Lois and Clark to get their story in by one, because nothing is going to stop him and Jimmy from going on their fishing trip.

I swear, if the next Superman comic I flip through has Perry and Jimmy on a fishing trip, I might take it as a sign that I need to cut back. Just so you know.

Walking with Superman: Day 197

While Superman tackles the deadly duo of Brother Eye and Solaris the Tyrant Sun, his 853rd-Century counterpart takes on the deadly new O.M.A.C. in the skies over Houston! The original Man of Steel faces the World's Fiercest foes, a satellite built by Batman as a countermeasure against rogue superhumans and a sun built paradoxically by a future Superman and programmed to be the constant nemesis of the Superman dynasty for the next fifty thousand years, and it's going to take more than his strength to defeat them! Meanwhile in the Space City, his super-scion stands against the hyper-adaptive abilities of the Organic Metahuman Annihilation Construct, and this strange visitor from a distant future is the only obstacle between it and the destruction of the metahuman race! It's a tale so titanic it needed two Supermen to tell it--but there's more to the Man of Beyond Tomorrow's visit than meets the eye!

Belay that last post

You know, I like Geoff Johns an awful lot. And I like James Robinson too. I really like the ideas behind the Brainiac and New Krypton stories so far, and I can't wait to see where the latter ends up going. Supergirl's been given a pair of new status quibus in the last couple of days, and that's going to mean some very interesting developments for her character. But there are the niggling little things that keep bugging me.

First, what happened to Cat Grant to transform her from the character she was in the '90s--a troubled, passionate, competent reporter--to the character she is now--a vindictive tramp? I mean, it looks like they're pulling a bit from her characterization in "Lois and Clark," but there the trampiness was largely an act, and she actually had some depth (at least in one episode she did).

Second, why is Perry White smoking cigars? The man nearly died of lung cancer a few years back and gave up the habit back then. It wouldn't be a big deal--in fact, it really isn't--but Johns is supposed to be the king of continuity, and Robinson's no slouch in that department either. Poor Perry's been backsliding for awhile now under Johns' pen, so maybe I'm a little hypersensitive to changes like this one.

Third, we've had some high-profile appearances by both Ron Troupe and Lucy Lane in recent months. While I'd rather see more of Ron than Vince Lombard and Cat Tramp Grant, I'm a little upset that I've not seen either one mention the fact that they're married and have a son. The last time I remember seeing little Sam Troupe, it was when Greg Rucka was writing Adventures of Superman, but I haven't heard anything yet about Superboy Prime punching him out of reality. I suppose entering the Army wouldn't necessarily preclude raising a toddler, and I suppose Ron could be the more stay-at-home of the two parents, but I'd like some confirmation that they didn't sell their marriage and child to Mephisto Neron or something.

Fourth, a small note to Gary Frank: please stop making Lois Lane look like Margot Kidder. I can think of at least four people who have looked and acted better in that role.

Finally, there's the Pa Kent thing. On one hand, it's got Clark referring to Jonathan as his father again--a nice change of pace from two years ago (by the way, Johns started two years ago?! I thought it was a year at most). On the other hand, why is it necessary? I like that Clark has his parents alive; how many other superheroes can actually go get advice from two living parents?

This is not to say that the death wasn't expected. Even if the cover solicitations hadn't made the end obvious, the conversation Clark and Jonathan had in the first part was basically one long "we're so happy; what could possibly go wrong?" I'm just at a loss to understand why.

No, I'm not. Not really. See, all of these changes--like so many changes in comics these days--have a common thread. Every single one of them is trying to set the status quo back to a point that the authors have arbitrarily deemed perfect or otherwise sacrosanct. In the case of Geoff Johns, as has been obvious since he started on the title with Richard Donner, that period is 1978 and the Superman movie. In order for that to happen, Clark has to be an unpopular nebbish, Lois ought to look like Margot Kidder, Jor-El has to be a major influence on Superman's life, Perry White has to be an angry cigar-smoking tyrant, and Pa Kent has to die tragically of a heart attack. Throw in some more tropes of the past--Vince Lombard, for instance--keep some of the more modern bits--Ron Troupe, Clark and Lois's marriage--but take everything else as close to the past as possible. I'm a nostalgia buff as much as anyone, but I'd prefer progress, or at least the illusion thereof. New Krypton and Supergirl's new Linda Lang identity are examples of just that sort of illusory progress--both are taking classic ideas and spinning them into something new and interesting. Killing Pa Kent the way he died in the movie, the way he died in All-Star Superman, the way he nearly died in 1993, isn't progress, and so far I haven't seen anything to suggest that the death is going to be a springboard for greater developments. Pa Kent's death should have been a big deal; it shouldn't have been treated as an inevitability, something minor to happen in-between major events like Brainiac's attack and the birth of New Krypton. It bothers me that these changes seem to be happening not because the characters or plotlines dictate it, not because they'd open up new avenues for storytelling, but because that's the way things used to be. Nostalgia's great, until it becomes the main driving force behind a story. At that point, things tend to fall apart.

I read recently, and I wish I could remember where (I'm sure some intrepid commenter will remind me), a blog post or something with the thesis that comic writers who grew up in the '90s (with Kirkman as the prime example) are better than the previous crop, precisely because '90s comics sucked. Those writers, then, aren't quite so rosy-eyed nostalgic about the comics they grew up with, and had to seek out a variety of other eras and genres to get excited over. I'll admit, the idea has a lot going for it, especially if the crop of Loebs and Quesadas trying to take comics back to the '60s and '70s is any indication. No one wants a return to the age of useless straps and ubiquitous mullets.

Like I said, I'm a fan of nostalgia. Who isn't? But nostalgia is like salt: it's great to sprinkle over actual food, but eaten on its own, it's gross and unhealthy. Nostalgia's a great tool for spicing up a story, but it doesn't work for its own sake.

Supermonth: Whence "Smallville"?

Anyone know when Lois started calling Clark by the nickname "Smallville"? I think I first encountered it in "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," but I'm not sure if it premiered earlier than that.

In any case, I like that it has since been adopted as a multi-media Lois trope. It is, somehow, particularly illustrative of her character, I think.

Input?

Supermonth: Lois and Clark Liveblogging

I've been meaning to start this for a few days now, but I wasn't quite sure where to start. My plan is, every couple of days, to "liveblog" the premiere of one of the various Superman series, some of the films, and possibly some key episodes along the way. So, to kick things off, I'm going to blog and review one of the very few of these premieres that I actually watched when it first aired: the first episode of "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman." Follow along at home!

• 0:00 - I like the way the title sequence proceeds, running the credits in front of the S-shield. It gives the premiere more of a cinematic feeling, and it doesn't present any spoilers the way that running a normal "scene montage" theme song opening might.
  
• 1:20 - We begin with very little indication of when this is taking place. It's obviously in Metropolis, but the 1950s taxi makes one wonder where everything is going. Are they going to recap Clark's rocket landing? If so, why is Metropolis involved?
  I'm not actually asking, but I imagine that might have been the purpose for the first-time viewer.
  
• 1:40 - The bearded guy who got out of the cab is entering the Daily Planet offices, treating us to a wide-angle shot of the newsroom. My initial reaction was that this would result in some kind of bomb/shooting threat early on, which conflicted with my fuzzy memories of watching this show years and years ago.
  
• 2:00 - But it quickly becomes clear that the bearded guy is Lois in disguise. Jimmy recognizes her (from behind, wearing a ski cap) and helps her take off the fake beard and moustache, which calls into question why, if his observational skills are so keen, he can't figure out who Superman is. Lois, of course, had been undercover for a story about a car theft ring.
  
• 2:55 - Perry enters, with his southern-fried accent. I remember that bothering me a little as a kid (especially as he got Flanderized into an overpowering Elvis obsession over the seasons). He demonstrates a sense of humor, Lois demonstrates competence and independence, and the Planet staff demonstrates a sort of camaraderie that we don't see much in adaptations (or even in the comics).
  
• 3:27 - Jimmy is clever and ambitious, Perry wants him to write obituaries. I remember this being a big change in how Jimmy is portrayed in popular media; most of the time he's a kid, a cub reporter. Here, he's still young, but obviously older than we usually see him, and significantly more confident and competent. Still, brash and ambitious enough to get into plenty of trouble.
  
• 4: 30 - We get our first look at Dean Cain's Clark Kent, literally fresh off the bus, carrying a beat-up old suitcase with his initials in chipping, tarnished gold on the side.
  
• 4:44 - This is one of the two scenes I remember from the premiere the first time it aired--Clark stopping the bus with his bare hand, saving a string of clichéd pedestrians that included a mom with a stroller and two nuns (good thing he wasn't trying to get rid of a bomb). Naturally, in the hustle and bustle of Metropolis life, only one woman notices Clark's amazing feat. I've always liked the image of his handprint pressed into the bus's bumper.
  
• 5:45 - A homeless-looking guy with a package wrapped in brown paper rushes to Lois's desk talking about things going to explode. You know, if you're trying to alert reporters about urgent news, this is not the way to do it.
  
• 7:08 - Cat Grant sounds a bit like a drag queen. I'm not sure why they decided to go "sleazy prostitute" with her character for this show, but I seem to recall that Morrison did the same over in All-Star Superman.
  
• 9:49 - Clark's interview is interrupted by Jimmy, then Lois. Perry makes an effort to introduce Clark to the latter, but she's clearly more interested in talking about her lead. It's a suitably awkward way to bring the characters together, and to set Clark up as a bit of a doormat.
  
• 10:37 - Clark being rejected at his interview is an often-repeated theme in retellings of the Superman origin, but not one that generally gets much notice.
  
• 10:55 - Ma and Pa are introduced. I remember always liking Callan and Jones as the Kents, and I'm glad this incarnation decided to keep them alive. In fact, I think this is the first TV series to do so, following the post-CoIE status quo.
  
• 12:15 - The first flying sequence. Clark lazily (and rigidly) rises up off his bed to fix a flickering lightbulb. The effect comes across as more than a bit stiff.
  
• 12:53 - And now he's pacing on the walls. It's a good image, although the effect is a bit obvious, thanks to Cain's movements.
  
• 13:42 - Lois enters her apartment with a large brown bag of groceries (I'm on alert for oranges!) and calls out for Lucy. I didn't remember that Lucy was living with Lois in this series. How long did this last?
  
• 14:34 - Some really heavy-handed exposition there, with Lucy explaining to Lois about her relationship problems. "You've gotta stop scaring them off, Lois. You've gotta stop being so smart all the time, so intense!"
  
• 14:51 - "Lois, I just want you to meet a super guy." Oh, bad.
  
• 15:52 - And Lois is crying in bed, watching a tape of a soap opera. Because what every strong, independent woman wants is a cookie-cutter romance. Maybe it's not quite that bad, but they've spent the whole episode showing how strong and capable Lois is, and now she starts bawling at hammy actors saying stuff like this: "Tonight, my body is yours. But my heart, my heart beats only for one man." Either it's undermining, or it's trying to demonstrate that the strength is a front to hide the troubled, lonely person inside. Either way, it's a bit of a crock.
  
• 17:15 - We get to see some covert demonstrations of X-Ray and Heat vision. The former looks pretty good (though it'll be hard to top the MRI-vision of "Superman Returns"), the latter not so much.
  
• 18:18 - Clark's a theatre fan. If I thought this would come up later in the episode, it'd be Chekhov's Chekhov.
  
• 19:07 - Wow, that's an old-school laptop. Clark sets it smoking with some super-speed typing. And naturally, he gets the job after turning the story in.
  
• 20:18 - Some pretty bad effects on a space shuttle fire. I mean, maybe I'm being a bit harsh on the '90s, but it's very '90s.
  
• 21:13 - Good ol' fast-talking Lois. That seems to be a recurring trope in media adaptations of the character.
  
• 23:18 - "Space Station Prometheus"...it's probably just a coincidence, or a similar thematic allusion, but I like how often Prometheus turns up in Superman stories.
  
• 26:30 - And now Drag Queen Cat is dressed like Elektra. Or possibly someone in a roller derby.
  
• 28:30 - Lois asks Clark out, Clark plays coy. I like how well-dressed Clark is in this; again, it's taking a cue from the comics at the time, where Clark's awkward nerdiness was downplayed.
  
• 30:15 - We get a decent flying sequence that's ruined a bit by too much flourish, and then an obvious green-screen that's ruined by a bad super-speed effect.
  
• 33:15 - Wow, mentioning that they don't know if Clark can "have a family" this early on? That's really cutting to the chase. I remember that being a major plot point in the last season or so, but I didn't realize they'd bring it up yet.
  
• 33:56 - Jimmy lists some of Lex's biographies--"Rags to Riches," "The Self-Made Billionaire"--so it looks like they're going with the Suicide Slum foster kid origin for Lex, another post-Crisis innovation (as far as I know) and one that I wish survived a bit more than the "Smallville" version that's been creeping in since "Birthright."
  
• 34:09 - John Shea's Lex Luthor. Not one of my favorite versions of the character; I can't recall him ever really seeming threatening.
  
• 34:34 - Lois says "Lex Luthor" and there's a crash of lightning and thunder. I guess it does sound a bit like "Frau Blucher."
  
• 35:00 - Seeing Lois gets a rise out of Clark. Literally. A nice, clever little character bit.
  
• 35:39 - I've never really liked the "Lex loves Lois" trope. It was a major plot point in "Ending Battle," and I thought it felt shoehorned-in then, too.
  
• 37:08 - Clark takes a bit of a trip around Lex's weapons room. The scene reminds me of a similar one in the 1989 Batman flick. I like that Lex compares himself to Alexander the Great. Nice showcase of his ego and megalomania.
  
• 30:49 - I don't know, I guess I just like Lex better when he's slick and malevolent, not so much when he's just smarmy.
  
• 39:48 - Surprisingly good hologram effect.
  
• 41:25 - Someone in a turban sends a cobra in to kill Lex, but Indiana Luthor stares it down. It slithers away, and apparently the snake charmer works for Luthor, and this has been planned? It doesn't make an awful lot of sense, unless Lex is trying to prove to his servants what a badass he is. Or gets a thrill out of near-death situations. Not sure exactly what kind of character development they're going for with that bit.
  
• 43:55 - I think Cat Grant took her hairstyle from Ron Perlman, circa "Beauty and the Beast."
  
• 45:29 - Maybe John Shea just reminds me too much of Don Adams. It's something in the voice and inflection.
  
• 48:00 - Would an actual meal from China include Fortune Cookies? Lois is right, though--it wasn't a fortune, and I don't like "aphorism cookies" either.
  
• 50:55 - I like Clark's feelings of helplessness at being unable to prevent their informant's death. It's a nice setup to eventually putting on the costume. I'm glad they're going for a slow build-up to the superheroics, doing the "covert guardian angel" thing. It seems that decompression wasn't invented in 2000.
  
• 51:21 - Beefcake!
  
• 54:51 - "The Congress of Nations." The '60s Batman movie had the "United World," and Doctor Who's UNIT had to recently change their name from "United Nations Intelligence Taskforce" to "UNified Intelligence Taskforce." Why can't TV shows use the United Nations?
  
• 59:59 - Oh great, Clark's a stalker in this too. Then again, when Lex Luthor is taking Lois home, it's probably best to be worried. Still, floating outside her window to eavesdrop? A little creepy, Clark.
  
• 1:02:02 - There's a neat thematic thing going on here. Perry's expressing some skepticism ("Let me get this straight") about Lois and Clark's story that the Prometheus station is being sabotaged and that the rocket will explode, based on their interview with Samuel Platt (the informant who died earlier), "a man who was banned from the scientific community." Ignoring, of course, that the scientific community isn't in the habit of banning people, there's a nice parallel between this and Jor-El's predictions about Krypton. An unbelievable story about an impending explosion, a respected scientist scoffed and kicked out of the scientific community, and such. It's not blatant enough that I can say it's definitely intentional, but it's neat to think about.
  It's also nice to see Perry playing it safe; any real editor would be worried about libel in that kind of situation, and asking for "hard facts" is totally warranted.
  
• 1:04:33 - I somehow can't see Lex Luthor wearing a rugby shirt. Particularly the sort of red-and-blue number that would have been in Clark's closet on "Smallville."
  Look at me, talking about "Smallville" in the past tense. Wishful thinking, I guess.
  
• 1:06:05 - Lois just beat up a reject goon from a a Chuck Norris flick.
  
• 1:08:20 - Perry follows Clark into the Storage Closet, interrupting his jump out of the window. An awkward conversation follows, in which this exchange occurs:

  Perry: Um. Well, I guess I'd better be getting back.
  Clark: Yes sir.
  Perry: When are you coming...out of the closet?
  Clark: Soon, sir. Very soon.

  Well, I guarantee there's a joke I didn't get in 1993.
  
• 1:09:10 - Strangely, Clark's more intimidating with his underwear on the outside of his pants.
  
• 1:16:17- And we come to the other scene I remember from this episode's first airing, the costume tryout montage, set to Bonnie Tyler's immortal classic, "Holding Out for a Hero." Strangely enough, I'm pretty sure I've had a soft spot for this song since before this episode aired.
  
• 1:16:20 - I actually like some of these costumes. It would have been neat, though, if some of them had been copies or sly shout-out versions of other established heroes. Sure, it would have been campy, but trying on a red and yellow-lightning-bolt costume and saying it's "too flashy" or a red-and-gold one with a short white cape that's "too cheesy" would have made for a fun scene. There's one that looks a bit like a Captain America costume, but I'm not sure it's intentional.
  
• 1:17:43 - Oh my god, that Superman costume has nipples! No, wait, it's just tight. They used the "S shield came from Krypton in the rocket" bit, which has grown on me in the last several years. They never really attach it to the costume though. It just kind of shows up there. Maybe it's iron-on.
  
• 1:20:11 - And Lois is stowing away on the space shuttle. It's actually really neat how many elements this story takes from the '80s and '90s Superman comics. It's clear that they made that a specific effort.
  
• 1:21:00 - At least Clark used a door on his way out.
  
• 1:22:24 - I like Superman's little hop through the door of the space shuttle. It's reminiscent of how George Reeves would jump into the scene to make it look like he was landing. It's nice and dynamic, if ever so slightly goofy.
  
• 1:23:30 - "I'm...a friend." I love that this line has become so emblematic of Superman's introduction. Was "Superman: The Movie" its first use?
  
• 1:25:05 - Superman's cape is sure doing a lot of flapping about in space.
  
• 1:25:34 - Perry: "I still don't believe it--a man who flies." Nice callback to the movie tagline.
  
• 1:25:51 - The first "Great Shades of Elvis" utterance. Superman carrying Lois in through the window is a decent effect, but his "I'll be around" line falls way flat.
  
• 1:27:23 - Superman gets a name, and makes his first confrontation with Lex Luthor. The gray mock turtleneck is the first thing Lex has worn in this episode that really looks like something he'd wear. With the possible exception of the tuxedo--but even that seemed a bit off.
  
• 1:29:12 - "By the way, if you need to find me, all you have to do is look up," quips Superman, in a nice callback to Lex's earlier comments about taking the high ground and liking that everyone in the city had to look up to him.

And that's the end of it. I'll admit, Dean Cain wasn't quite as good in this as I remembered him being, but it's also the first episode. His Clark is actually pretty good, but his Superman frequently came off flat, and there's not much effort to make the two characters distinct. One of the great things about Christopher Reeve, Brandon Routh, even Bud Collyer, is the effort they put physically and vocally into making Clark and Superman distinct. It takes that extra step to sell the secret identity, and this doesn't have that. Consequently, the "how can no one notice it's the same guy" complaint is particularly salient here.

The show has a distinct '90s feel, which is unsurprising, but it also feels a lot like the comics of the era. I like that, largely because I like the '90s Superman comics, but your mileage may vary.

They made some interesting casting and character decisions. Making Jimmy older and more wise-ass than naive kid was a good choice; making Cat Grant into a cougar, not so much. Perry works well here, and Ma and Pa Kent are great. Lex Luthor's a bit of a misstep; he's too much the playboy, not enough the mastermind or the ruthless businessman. Even when he's just killed his hapless lover, he doesn't feel menacing or even frighteningly aloof. He's just...bland.

And then there's Teri Hatcher, who's one of the best Lois Lanes we've ever had. A damn sight better than Margot Kidder, this Lois really set the stage for Dana Delany in the animated series, and even Erica Durance in "Smallville." Kate Bosworth would do well to steal a bit of this Lois's fiery personality for the next Superman flick, and that's coming from someone who didn't mind her performance in "Superman Returns."

The plot felt like it was "Man of Steel" #1 as written by Brian Michael Bendis. It didn't have the same sense of humor, per se, but it was structured in a similar fashion to the first few issues of "Ultimate Spider-Man," particularly with the extended Clark/Lois plotline. The show made a good choice to start in Metropolis rather than Smallville (or on Krypton), and that sets it apart from most adaptations. It also sets the mood for the show, which is trying to be more of a "Moonlighting"-style urban romance/comedy/drama than the typical superhero show.

Overall, it holds up a lot better than I expected. The effects are nothing to write home about, even in the '90s, but everything else is pretty spot-on. I think I may have to continue watching this even after Supermonth is over. I fully expected that my fond memories of the show were the result of rose-colored nostalgia glasses and an easily-impressed childhood, but the show actually works pretty well.

I may, however, stop watching before we get to the frog-eating clone Lois years. No amount of nostalgia can make me think that was good.