"Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" (1993) TV series 1993-1997

Creators:

Joe Shuster
Jerry Siegel

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

12 September 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

Plot:

In addition to fighting evil, Superman has a burning romance with Lois Lane in both his identities.

Plot Keywords:

Superman | 1990s | Shrinking | Kryptonite | Superhero

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Dean Cain	...	Clark Kent / ... (87 episodes, 1993-1997)
Teri Hatcher	...	Lois Lane (87 episodes, 1993-1997)
K Callan	...	Martha Kent (87 episodes, 1993-1997)
Lane Smith	...	Perry White (84 episodes, 1993-1997)
Eddie Jones	...	Jonathan Kent (77 episodes, 1993-1997)
Justin Whalin	...	Jimmy Olsen (65 episodes, 1994-1997)

Also Known As:

Lois & Clark
The New Adventures of Superman (UK)

Runtime:

60 min (88 episodes) | Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Finland:K-11 (DVD rating) (2006) | Iceland:L (some epiosodes) | USA:TV-PG | Australia:PG | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Pacific Mutual Building, Newport Beach, California, USA

Company:

December 3rd Productions

Trivia:

Early on in series 1, Lex Luthor attempts to test the abilities of Superman. He questions his associates and remarks that amongst other things Superman could be "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful then a locomotive able to leap tall buildings in a single bound". These are the exact words that began the George Reeves serial.

Quotes:

Clark: Don't threaten me, Doctor. You have no idea what I'm capable of.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Saturday Night Live: Teri Hatcher/Dave Matthews Band (#21.18)" (1996)

Wonderful promise, but the show couldn't live up to it

As a loyal fan of L&C, I have to say that I loved most things about the show. Teri Hatcher turned in my favorite portrayal of Lois Lane to date. Lane Smith's attitude as Perry White was usually enjoyable. Most importantly, Eddie Jones and K Callan set a new standard as Jonathan and Martha Kent. Originally billed as recurring characters, their efforts on screen were just too wonderful to be denied and became a staple of the show through its many ups and downs.

Dean Cain was solid as Clark--and the idea that Clark was a person with problems and goals and insecurities of his own and that Superman was the convenient guise he used to help people always appealed to me. I know that most of the die-hard fans are of the opposite opinion, but humanizing Kal-el and focusing on his relationships with his family, his friends, and the love of his life was one of Deb Joy Levine's truly masterful ideas. The ensemble cast of the first season with Michael Landes as Jimmy Olsen and Tracy Scoggins as Cat Grant worked superbly together onscreen. John Shea turned in a respectable performance with a good mix of glitz and sinister ambition for a '90s Lex Luthor. I loved almost all the episodes that first season and one of my abiding regrets is that the show's writing staff and cast changed for the second season. Nonetheless, the first two seasons were both solid (even if the alternating introduction of competing love interests became grating after awhile).

Much as I hate to admit it, the show didn't end too early. The wheels came off in the third season with the much-despised clone-amnesia arc and the disturbing introduction of the concept of New Krypton. By the close of the fourth season, a consistent villain was nowhere to be found and the idea of Lois's possible pregnancy, of a Superfamily, wasn't strong enough to help the show recover from a disastrous newlywed phase.