Spoilers MY ADVENTURES WITH SUPERMAN Review Thread

[The Realist]

They're both in the title, hence co-leads. ("As I said." ) And somebody's name has to come first.

You'd actually have a better case with My Adventures with Superman. Lois is not named in the title, but she's certainly the "My," and therefore arguably framed as the viewpoint character.

 

[Christopher]

And somebody's name has to come first.

It was hardly just a coin flip. Indeed, Lois & Clark began with a series premise that DC president Jenette Kahn and editor Mike Carlin developed and pitched to networks under the name Lois Lane's Daily Planet. (See p. 35 here.) Kahn's idea was to avoid special-effects expenses by making it more of a traditional drama about the Planet staff with Superman only making cameo appearances.

You'd actually have a better case with My Adventures with Superman. Lois is not named in the title, but she's certainly the "My," and therefore arguably framed as the viewpoint character.

I see the title as more symbolic. I figure it applies just as much to Jimmy as Lois, and is meant to evoke the show's novel approach of a partnership between friends who share the adventure, rather than a solo hero series where Superman keeps his friends at a distance. And perhaps it encourages the young audience to see themselves as the ones having the adventures with Superman -- kind of like My Little Pony, where the "My" is meant to apply to the toy buyer/viewer rather than any character in the story.

 

[The Realist]

It was hardly just a coin flip. Indeed, Lois & Clark began with a series premise that DC president Jenette Kahn and editor Mike Carlin developed and pitched to networks under the name Lois Lane's Daily Planet. (See p. 35 here.) Kahn's idea was to avoid special-effects expenses by making it more of a traditional drama about the Planet staff with Superman only making cameo appearances.

I knew most of this, but hadn't seen the Back Issue excerpt, so thanks for that. As for the "coin flip," I think the order of the names was more down to the "Lewis and Clark" pun than anything else (yielding a title that Kahn describes, rightly, as "pithier [and] wittier" than the original pitch). Plus Clark actually gets name-checked twice in the full title (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman).

Personally, I'd be entirely down for a show that made Clark a secondary character to Lois (cue kirk55555 meltdown), but I don't think L&C is it. In execution, I don't see where either is really prioritized over the other. It's very much a "partnership" dynamic, which I see as very positive and appropriate for these characters.

 

[Christopher]

Personally, I'd be entirely down for a show that made Clark a secondary character to Lois (cue kirk55555 meltdown), but I don't think L&C is it. In execution, I don't see where either is really prioritized over the other. It's very much a "partnership" dynamic, which I see as very positive and appropriate for these characters.

Looked at literally, no, but my point is that putting Lois's name first was symbolically important. Even making her a coequal lead to Superman was a groundbreaking step at the time, however natural it seems to us today.

Besides, the title Lois Lane's Daily Planet and the idea of reducing Superman to cameo appearances makes it pretty clear that the original intent was to focus more on Lois's perspective, but there was inevitably network pressure to push it more toward a conventional Superman formula. Indeed, this continued once the show was on the air. In season 1, the focus was indeed mainly on Lois & Clark as reporters and romantic interests, with the Superman material often relegated to a couple of brief scenes per episode; but after season 1, it was retooled to feature the action more prominently. It's important to recognize the difference between what the creators of a show aspire to achieve and what the network forces them to settle for.

 

[Tuskin38]

Odd the episode didn’t air on Adult Swim Canada Friday (or at the very least my PVR didn’t catch it). Google also said there was no episode Friday, but now it does. I’m confused

edit: oh I see I’m not actually subscribed to adult swim. I guess there was a free month on or something coincidentally

edit 2: it also airs on Cartoon Network Canada, which I do get.

 

[Commander Troi]

I really liked the different take on Brain and Mallah. And @Christopher, I'm thinking more and more that you're right and the General is Lois' father.

 

[Christopher]

I really liked the different take on Brain and Mallah.

But if Mallah was uplifted by a German-accented scientist working for an American Project Cadmus, how come he has a French accent?

And @Christopher, I'm thinking more and more that you're right and the General is Lois' father.

Yeah, the fact that they're being cagey about revealing his name makes it likely that they're building up to a Shocking Reveal that he's Lois's dad.

 

[cylkoth]

I can laughingly imagine it as a misdirect. It'll be a brand new character...

General Olsen.

Father (or mother-has the General ever been gender checked in dialog?) of the person who knew he was rooming with an alien all along.

 

[Commander Troi]

But if Mallah was uplifted by a German-accented scientist working for an American Project Cadmus, how come he has a French accent?

Now THAT is a good question!

I can laughingly imagine it as a misdirect. It'll be a brand new character...

General Olsen.

Father (or mother-has the General ever been gender checked in dialog?) of the person who knew he was rooming with an alien all along.

Mallah and Brain referred to the General as "he" I believe.

 

[Christopher]

This week's episode was the first one I didn't care for. It's too early to bring in the multiverse and saddle these characters with the baggage of knowing about their alternate selves' futures. I'm getting tired of how every superhero franchise these days has to get metatextual and reference earlier adaptations as parallel worlds. It's become a cliche by this point, and it doesn't let the new adaptations flourish on their own, which a take as fresh and innovative as this show should be free to do. (Though the Easter-egg nods to the DCAU Superman & Lois and other classic versions were cute.)

Also, I was just saying in the "DC Movies" thread the other day how overused the "evil Superman" trope has become, and here it gets referenced yet again.

 

[Commander Troi]

It was a bit early in the show for that stuff. However, I liked their take on Mxy.

 

[publiusr]

Well, they did literally name a show Lois & Clark, putting her first. Granted, that was largely a pun on "Lewis and Clark," .

Who got the model of the shuttle external tank space-station on the first episode?
That was to be a potential real-space build…as per Gene Meyers of Space Island Group.

 

[the G-man]

This week's episode was the first one I didn't care for. It's too early to bring in the multiverse and saddle these characters with the baggage of knowing about their alternate selves' futures. I'm getting tired of how every superhero franchise these days has to get metatextual and reference earlier adaptations as parallel worlds. It's become a cliche by this point, and it doesn't let the new adaptations flourish on their own, which a take as fresh and innovative as this show should be free to do. (Though the Easter-egg nods to the DCAU Superman & Lois and other classic versions were cute.)

Also, I was just saying in the "DC Movies" thread the other day how overused the "evil Superman" trope has become, and here it gets referenced yet again.

DC is addicted to the multiverse, under one name or another. CoIE was barely over before they were starting in with the Time Trapper’s pocket universe, Elseworlds and Hypertime.

 

[Tuskin38]

One of the evil Clark’s they showed also appeared to be wearing a costume based off the Justice Lord Superman from JL.

 

[Set Harth]

I'm getting tired of how every superhero franchise these days has to get metatextual and reference earlier adaptations as parallel worlds

As usual, Marvel did it first, then DC followed suit.

 

[The Realist]

False.

 

[Christopher]

Both the 2003 and 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series did crossover specials or movies portraying earlier animated, comics, and film adaptations of TMNT as parallel universes. The Ben 10 animation franchise established that its live-action movie spinoffs were parallel worlds (which was a retcon, as the first movie was intended at the time to be canonical to the animated series). And the Arrowverse first did it in Elseworlds with the 1990 Flash, a year before Crisis took it further.

But the problem is that we're well past the point where it matters who did it first. The problem is that everyone is doing it now, and it's getting tiresome. I'd like to know when people are going to stop going to that well.

 

[BillJ]

I’m really enjoying the show, and don’t see the issue with using the multiverse if they’re telling good stories. With, likely, only twenty to thirty episodes in this run. If the multiverse plays an important part in the story, now was the time to introduce it.

 

[Redfern]

[QUOTE="BillJ, post: 14589037, member: 222"...only twenty to thirty episodes in this run...[/QUOTE]

I'm often wrong about these things, but I recall reading some statement this initial run of episodes amounted to a mere 10. Now, it could conclude with a cliffhanger for a second season, so that's why I used the word "initial". That means only 2 more after tomorrow night's cable cast.

 

[BillJ]

I'm often wrong about these things, but I recall reading some statement this initial run of episodes amounted to a mere 10. Now, it could conclude with a cliffhanger for a second season, so that's why I used the word "initial". That means only 2 more after tomorrow night's cable cast.

It has been renewed for a second ten episode season.