Overall, the 1988 Superman series is awfully forgettable. It seems to have made some of the same mistakes that Superman Returns made years later. In being so respectful of the live action Superman: The Movie, this series seemed almost afraid to step out of the shadow of the Superman film series. There were plenty of homages from similar scenes to musical cues, but the series lacked much identity of its own and while not really bad was quite bland. Strangely, even though there were just 13 episodes, it sort of felt like they were already out of ideas, or that they were almost out of ideas when they started.
For the most part, the Superman Family Album segments were at best pointless and at worst lame. The only halfway decent one was The Circus, but even that is a half-hearted endorsement. If there had been a season 2, I wonder if these would have been eliminated, or if there would have perhaps been rousing segments showing a grown Clark Kent shaving, or getting a car wash... As for the main episodes, there actually were a few stand outs.
Top Three
1. The Last Time I Saw Earth - The foray into space was just what was needed to inject some creativity and excitement into the series.
2. Superman and Wonder Woman - Not only was Wonder Woman a great guest star and the only guest hero of the series, but presenting the episode from her point of view added some freshness.
3. The Hunter - Even though I would have preferred a Superman II scale showdown, it was still great to see Zod and his hunter did make for a decent adversary.
Series Stinkers
Although there were other dull episodes, By the Skin of the Dragon's Teeth has to take the prize for shear stupidity of plot and the family album The Driver's License was equally poorly conceived.
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