Super Friends is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1986 on ABC as part of its Saturday morning cartoon lineup. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera and was based on the Justice League of America and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics.
The name of the program (and the Justice League members featured with the Super Friends) has been variously represented (as Super Friends and Challenge of the Super Friends, for example) at different points in its broadcast history. There were a total of 109 episodes and two backdoor-pilot episodes of The New Scooby-Doo Movies, with Batman and Robin appearing in "The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair" and "The Caped Crusader Caper".
Series titles[]
Over the years, the show existed under several titles:
- Super Friends (1973–1974)
- The All-New Super Friends Hour (1977–1978)
- Challenge of the Superfriends (1978–1979)
- The World's Greatest SuperFriends (1979–1980)
- SuperFriends (1980–1983)
- SuperFriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984–1985)
- The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985–1986)
Writing[]
Plot lines for the later series involved many of the familiar DC Comics super-villains that the first incarnation of the Super Friends did not. Instead, like the comic books, they focused on the far-fetched schemes of mad scientists and aliens, who were invariably revealed as being well-intentioned, and simply pursuing their goals through unlawful or disreputable means. Typically, at the end of each story, a peaceful and reasonable discussion would be performed by the heroes to convince the antagonists to adopt more reasonable methods.
The All-New Super Friends Hour departed somewhat from the previous series' formula by featuring villains using more elaborate methods to further their goals; as a rule they could not be reasoned with, requiring the heroes to use direct force to stop them. Beginning with Challenge of the Superfriends, several of the heroes' arch-villains from the comic books (such as Lex Luthor and The Riddler) began to feature prominently in comic-style stories. Throughout the series, plots often wrapped themselves up neatly in the final minutes of an episode in the fashion of the typical comic books and deus ex machina.
Production history[]
When animation company Hanna-Barbera acquired rights to the DC Comics characters and adapted the Justice League of America comic book for television it made several changes in the transition, including the change of name to Super Friends. Nevertheless, team members sometimes referred to themselves as the Justice League on the show. The violence common in superhero comics was toned down for a younger audience and to adhere to broadcast standards governing violence in 1970s children's television.
As a DC Comics-based show, the Super Friends franchise was owned by DC's parent company Warner Bros., who later put the series into syndication. Cartoon Network, which had the rights to air most of the rest of the Hanna-Barbera library from its inception in 1992, was not able to air Super Friends until after the merger of Warner Bros.' parent company, Time Warner and Cartoon Network's parent company, Turner Broadcasting System was completed in 1996. This merger also led to Warner Bros. taking control of Hanna-Barbera and all of its other assets as well. The series was owned by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, DC Comics Entertainment, Warner Bros. Family Entertainment, and Warner Bros. Animation.
1973–1974 series[]
Super Friends first aired on ABC on September 8, 1973, featuring well-known DC characters Superman, Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman. Superman, Batman and Robin, and Aquaman had each previously appeared in their own animated series produced by Filmation, and voice talent from these prior programs was brought in to work on the new show (with the exception of Marvin Miller who was replaced by Norman Alden as the voice of Aquaman). Shortly before the Super Friends series was developed, Superman and Wonder Woman also guest-starred in two episodes of The Brady Kids (voiced by Bud Collyer and Jane Webb under Filmation), while Batman and Robin appeared in two episodes of The New Scooby-Doo Movies.
In addition to the superheroes, a trio of sidekicks was introduced, each of whom were new characters not drawn from the comic books: Wendy and Marvin (voiced by Sherri Alberoni and Frank Welker) and Wonder Dog (also voiced by Frank Welker), none of whom had any special abilities (save the dog's unexplained ability to reason and talk). The trio—or at least its human members—were depicted as detectives and/or superheroes-in-training; the "teen detectives and their talking animal" cliché, originally popularized by Scooby-Doo , and was typical in Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the mid/late 1970s.
Each episode began with the heroes responding to an emergency detected by the massive TroubAlert computer in the Hall of Justice, which served as the headquarters of the team. Colonel Wilcox, a U.S. Army official, was a recurring character who would act as a government liaison with the Super Friends during emergencies. Colonel Wilcox was voiced by John Stephenson. Conflicts were usually resolved with the antagonists persuaded to adapt more reasonable methods to achieve their aims (with the assistance of the heroes). Natural disasters triggered by human (or alien) activity were often shown, and environmental themes featured strongly in the program. Three other DC Comics superheroes were featured as guest stars during this season: the Flash, Plastic Man, and Green Arrow.
This first run of Super Friends, consisting of 16 one-hour episodes which were rerun several times, concluded on August 24, 1974. At this point, the series was cancelled. However, interest in superheroes among ABC's prime-time viewers (with the success of The Six Million Dollar Man and the live-action Wonder Woman series) caused the network to revive Super Friends. The original 16 episodes of the series were rebroadcast as a mid-season replacement, running from February 7, 1976, to September 3, 1977. These episodes were edited into half-hour versions. At the same time, DC Comics published a Super Friends comic, which used Wendy and Marvin from issue #1 (November 1976) to #6 (August 1977). In the meantime, Hanna-Barbera began production on a revamped version of the show.
1977–1978 season: The All-New Super Friends Hour[]
The All-New Super Friends Hour featured four animated shorts per program. Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog were dropped from this and all future TV iterations of Super Friends, and were replaced by Wonder Twins Zan and Jayna, and their pet monkey, Gleek. Unlike Wendy and Marvin, Zan and Jayna had actual super powers. A total of 15 episodes were produced. Darrell McNeil of the Hanna-Barbera animation studios later explained the change in cast:
When the decision was made by ABC to renew Super Friends three years after the first series' 1973 production, ABC and Hanna-Barbara wanted to ramp up (as much as they could) the series' action content. And since we were ramping that up, that meant making all of our cast a bit more serious, and giving our five leads a bit more backup than three non-powered sidekicks. [New sidekicks] also helped emphasize the 'New' in All-New Super Friends. [emphasis in original]
The show followed a basic format each week. The first segment of every show featured two of the heroes (for the purposes of the team-ups in the first and fourth segments, Batman and Robin were considered "one hero") teaming up in a separate mini-story. The second segment featured a story with the Wonder Twins. The third segment was considered the "primary" adventure of the week, featuring the entire Super Friends roster (including the Wonder Twins) in a longer adventure. The fourth and final segment featured a story with one of the primary lineup and a "special guest star". This segment typically featured a problem that was solved using the guest star's unique abilities.
Between segments there were short spots with members of the Super Friends giving basic safety lessons, providing first-aid advice, demonstrating magic tricks, creating crafts, and presenting a two-part riddle featuring the week's primary plot line. This was the first season to feature two villains appearing in the comic books, Black Manta and Gentleman Ghost. Each appeared in only one episode this season and each was somewhat modified for television. Black Manta's costume was not black and he was only referred to as "Manta". The Gentleman Ghost was referred to as "Gentleman Jim Craddock" which is his human name in the comics.
1978–1979 season Super Friends / Challenge of the Super Friends[]
The next season of Super Friends featured two segments:
First segment: Super Friends episodes[]
The first segment of the program featured the established group of heroes: Superman, Batman and Robin, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and the Wonder Twins and Gleek. They were rerun with intro from the All-New Super Friends Hour when in syndication in the early 1980s, but they are seldom seen in syndication since then.
Second segment: Challenge of the Superfriends[]
The second half-hour of the show introduced the Legion of Doom, a team of 13 recurring foes who are the Super Friends' worst enemies. They used a swamp-based mechanical flying headquarters, the Hall of Doom (resembling the helmet of Darth Vader), as a contrast to the Super Friends' gleaming Hall of Justice. A total of 16 episodes were produced.
Additional heroes who had previously appeared as guest stars were added to the roster as well, to make a total of 11. These included The Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkman from DC Comics and three Hanna-Barbera creations: Black Vulcan, Apache Chief, and Samurai. Despite the Riddler showing a set of playing cards with (from left to right) Gleek, Zan, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Batman, and Superman (which he then burns to ashes in his introduction in "Wanted: The Super Friends"), the Wonder Twins and Gleek did not appear in Challenge. Enthusiasts have expressed the view that the storylines for the Challenge episodes were the Super Friends era's best portrayal of the DC heroes.[citation needed]
The Challenge of the Superfriends segment was expanded to 90 minutes mid-season, with reruns of earlier episodes filling out the last half-hour.
1979–1980 season: The World's Greatest Super Friends[]
In the fall of 1979, the Super Friends returned to their prior format, bringing back the original set of five DC superheroes and Zan, Jayna, and Gleek. Eight half-hour episodes were created for this run, with the majority of the season consisting of repeats of The All-New Super Friends Hour from 1977 to 1978 and The Super Friends segments from Challenge of the Superfriends from 1978 to 1979. Renamed The World's Greatest SuperFriends, this series began on September 22, 1979, and ran until September 27, 1980.
1980–1982 seasons: SuperFriends[]
Renamed SuperFriends in 1980, the series changed formats again, abandoning the production of half-hour episodes and producing seven-minute shorts. Each episode of SuperFriends would feature a rerun from one of the previous six years and three new shorts. These new adventures featured appearances by the core group of five Super Friends and Zan, Jayna, & Gleek. There were also guest appearances from members previously depicted in Challenge of the Superfriends and the Hanna-Barbera-created hero El Dorado, who was added to the show in 1981 to provide cultural diversity.
This would prove to be one of the longer-lived incarnations of the series (three years). A total of 22 episodes were produced.
1982–1983 season: The Best of the Super Friends (reruns)[]
For the 1982–1983 television season ABC ran half-hour reruns of shows from the previous seven seasons, with none of the seven-minute shorts rebroadcast. ABC called the rerun package The Best of the Super Friends.
1983–1984 season: Cancellation and the "lost episodes"[]
Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros. had created a syndication package of the earlier Super Friends series (co-distributed by LBS Communications); these were picked up by stations across the United States and typically broadcast on weekday afternoons. Not wishing to compete with the syndication programming, ABC dropped the series from the 1983–1984 Saturday morning television line-up. For the second time, Super Friends was cancelled.
However, during this time Hanna-Barbera continued to produce new episodes with the Super Friends, with ABC's approval and funding. In total, 24 "lost episodes" were produced, but not aired in the United States that season; the series appeared in Australia. Three of these episodes were aired when Super Friends returned to Saturday-morning ABC television the following year. The remainder aired on the USA network in 1995, as part of the Superman/Batman Adventures show. The 1983 Lost Episodes of Super Friends were released on DVD by Warner Home Entertainment (via DC Comics Entertainment, Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, and Warner Bros. Family Entertainment) in April 2009.
1984–1985 season: Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show[]
Super Friends returned to ABC Saturday, September 8, 1984, with a new 30-minute program typically featuring two 11-minute stories per episode. This incarnation featured Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, and the Wonder Twins and Gleek, this time teamed up with Firestorm. In addition to this core group, episodes during this season also featured cameos by old (and new) Super Friends. The series ended August 31, 1985, and featured comic-book villains such as Brainiac, Lex Luthor, Mirror Master, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Darkseid, and his henchmen from Apokolips. This season and the next featured the "Super Powers" tagline, which was part of a marketing tie-in with a toy line of the same name produced by Kenner.
1985–1986 season: The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians[]
In fall 1985, the next version of Hanna-Barbera's depiction of the DC Comics heroes began, although it no longer carried the Super Friends name. This series returned to a conventional lineup for the team, with a focus on teen members Cyborg and Firestorm. Once again headquartered at the Hall of Justice in Metropolis, the heroes battled such familiar foes as Lex Luthor, Brainiac, the Scarecrow, and recurring villain Darkseid. It also contained the only appearances by The Joker, The Penguin, the Royal Flush Gang, and Felix Faust.
Most notably, it is in this series that Batman's origin is depicted for the first time outside of comics and the first cartoon series. Batman and Robin chase The Scarecrow into Crime Alley, where Thomas and Martha Wayne were murdered, which triggers a fear-induced flashback. Additionally, in the same episode, Professor Jonathan Crane appears as the Scarecrow's secret identity, which was unknown to the authorities, allowing Scarecrow to use it to secretly sabotage the Super Friends' investigations until Batman managed to deduce his identity, leading to his arrest.
The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians lasted one season before being canceled. The final new episode aired was "Escape From Space City" on October 26, 1985. This third cancellation would be the final one, and Galactic Guardians marked the end of Hanna-Barbera's 13-year run of the series on October 26, 1985.
Characters[]
The Justice League of America[]
The core group of five heroes made up the "Super Friends":
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Additional Justice League members included:
- The Atom (1977; 1980–1983)
- Firestorm (1984–1985)
- The Flash (1973; 1977–1985)
- Green Lantern (1977–1985)
- Hawkgirl (1977; 1980; 1983)
- Hawkman (1977–1978; 1980–1985)
- Cyborg (1985)
- Rima the Jungle Girl (1977; 1980) (not featured in DC superhero comics)
Justice League members created for the series:
- Apache Chief (1977–1978; 1980–1984)
- Black Vulcan (1977–1978; 1980–1984)
- El Dorado (1982–1985)
- Samurai (1977–1978; 1980–1985)
One-shot Justice League appearances were made by:
- Abin Sur (1978)
- Green Arrow (1973–1974)
- Plastic Man (1973–1974)
- Superboy (1978; 1983)
The teen sidekicks and their pets:
- Pets:
- Gleek (1977–1984)
- Wonder Dog (1973–1975)
- Wendy and Marvin:
- Wendy Harris (1973–1975)
- Marvin White (1973–1975)
- Wonder Twins:
- Jayna (1977–1984)
- Zan (1977–1984)
Other DC comic characters that appeared in the series:
- Commissioner James Gordon
- Hippolyta
- Lois Lane
- Jimmy Olsen
- Alfred Pennyworth
- Solovar (ruler of Gorilla City)
- Steve Trevor
Legion of Doom[]
Thirteen villains composed the Legion of Doom during the Challenge of the Superfriends season. They were:
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Other DC Comics villains[]
Villains appearing independently from the Legion of Doom:
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Villains appearing not adapted from the comic books:
- The Alien Mummy
- The Anti-Matter Monster
- Barko
- Bigfoot creatures
- Blackbeard
- Bulgor the Behemoth
- The Brain Creatures
- The Capricorn Kid
- Captain Shark
- The Collector
- The Incredible Crude Oil Monster
- Darkon
- Dictor and the mysterious Time Creatures
- The Dollmaker
- Dracula
- Dr. Cranium
- Dr. Droid
- Dr. Frankenstein
- Dr. Fright
- Dr. Gulliver
- The Earthors
- The Enforcer
- Giant Snow Creature
- The Highway Angels
- The Hydronoids
- The Ice Demon
- Insecta and the Arthropods
- The Iron Cyclops
- John Palette
- The Junk Creature from the Dump
- Kareem Azaar
- Keelhaul Kelly
- King Arthur
- The Lion Men
- The Make Up Monster
- Mal Havok
- The Man Beasts Of Xra
- The Marsh Monster
- Medula and her Mind Maidens
- Mongor
- The Mummy Of Nazca
- The Mysterious Mutants of the Space Sphere
- Nartan
- Ocina and the Ancient Atlantean Warriors
- Old Man Holmes
- Orville Gump (Otis in Superman)
- The Outlaws of Orion (Pack and Stardust)
- The Phantom Zone Villains (Hul, Logar, Rom-Lok)
- The Plant Creatures
- Professor Amy Zhan
- Professor Fearo
- Professor Korloff
- The Power Pirate
- The Robber Baron and Sleeves
- The Rock and Roll Space Bandits
- Rock Batman
- Rokan
- R.O.M.A.C.
- The Secret Four
- Scorpio
- Sculpin
- Sinbad and the Space Pirates
- Solderath and the Lava Men
- The Space Dolls
- The Evil Space Genie
- The Space Racers
- The Star Energy Creature
- The Super Enemies
- The Termites from Venus
- Torhana
- Tyrannic
- Vampiress, the Voodoo Vampire
- Yuna the Terrible
- Zarnum
- The Zoons
- Zycree (see General Zod)
[]
- Batgirl
- Black Canary
- Black Orchid
- Cyclotron
- Elongated Man
- Green Fury
- Global Guardians: Doctor Mist, Icemaiden, Little Mermaid, Seraph, Tasmanian Devil
- Golden Pharaoh
- Huntress
- Captain Marvel
- Mary Marvel
- Mr. Miracle
- Orion
- Red Tornado
- Supergirl
References to the Justice League of America name[]
Beginning with the original Super Friends season, the opening narration describes the team's headquarters as "the great hall of the Justice League". The opening credits of Challenge of the Superfriends names the Super Friends as the Justice League of America. In addition to the appearance of a JLA emblem on a communicator and a reference to a mission to repair the Justice League satellite, the Super Friends are often linked with the JLA. The Justice League satellite under repair is clearly the same design as the Justice League Satellite that appeared in the comics at the time, but was shown to be substantially smaller than its comic book counterpart.
Notable voice actors[]
Adam West voiced Batman in the final two seasons of the show. Ernie Hudson (Winston from Ghostbusters) was also Cyborg's voice actor in the final season.
Reception[]
In January 2009, IGN listed Super Friends as the 50th best animated television series.
DVD releases[]
Season | Episodes | Season premiere | Season finale | DVD title/volume | DVD release date and ASIN | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Region 1 | Region 2 | ASIN Number | |||||||
1 | 16 | September 8, 1973 | August 24, 1974 | Super Friends - Season 1: Volume 1Super Friends - Season 1: Volume 2 | January 5, 2010
July 20, 2010 |
B002S3Y1LQ
B003F3NE4S | |||
2 | 15 | September 10, 1977 | September 2, 1978 | Super Friends - Season 2: The All-New Super Friends Hour, Volume 1Super Friends - Season 2: The All-New Super Friends Hour, Volume 2 | January 8, 2008
January 27, 2009 |
B000W2C28Y
B001HRS8HW | |||
3 | 16 | September 9, 1978 | September 3, 1979 | Super Friends - Season 3: Challenge of the Superfriends, The First SeasonSuper Friends - Season 3, Volume 2 | July 6, 2004
May 24, 2005 |
B00023E88U
B0007XFZMS | |||
4 | 8 | September 22, 1979 | September 27, 1980 | Super Friends - Season 4: The World's Greatest Super Friends, The Complete Series | April 23, 2013 | B00CREAO9O | |||
5 | 24 | September 13, 1980 | September 1, 1981 | Super Friends - Season 5: A Dangerous Fate, The Complete Series | July 23, 2013 | B00CM0DIT6 | |||
6 | 18 | September 26, 1981 | October 31, 1982 | Super Friends - Season 6: Super Friends! Legacy Of Super Powers, The Complete Season Six (6 on DVD label) | October 8, 2013 | B00DVKKWFE | |||
7 | 8 | September 10, 1983 | September 8, 1984 | Super Friends - Season 7: Super Friends The Lost Episodes | August 11, 2009 | B0027WNRV8 | |||
8 | 16 | September 8, 1984 | August 31, 1985 | Super Friends - Season 8: The Legendary Super Powers Show, The Complete Series | August 7, 2007 | B000PC8AKK | |||
9 | 10 | September 11, 1985 | November 6, 1986 | Super Friends - Season 9: The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians, The Complete Series | October 23, 2007 | B000TSTEJG |
Spin-offs[]
Legends of the Superheroes[]
The Plastic Man Comedy Adventure Show[]
Batman[]
The New Teen Titans[]
The New Teen Titans was a proposed spin-off of the Super Friends, taking place in the same universe. Wonder Girl would have been the leader, and the team would have consisted of Changeling, Kid Flash, Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven. Terra and Blackfire and other villains would have appeared.
Sadly, it was not greenlit, due to ABC wanting more shows like The Smurfs. Yes, the gosh darn Smurfs. Because of the gosh darn Smurfs, Black Vulcan was not able to appear on the final season of Super Friends and instead got replaced with Cyborg, who would have had been in a series already!!
However, an anti-drug commercial featuring the Titans did get produced and aired, but no one has a full copy complete with audio. Sad, because Cyborg winks at us complete with gleam in that commercial.
DC Super Friends[]
Comic books[]
Super Friends[]
Extreme Justice[]
Young Justice[]
Super Buddies[]
Teen Titans[]
Justice League of America[]
Wizard magazine[]
Superman and Batman: World's Funnest[]
The Super Friends in other DC media[]
Justice League[]
Justice League Unlimited[]
The Batman[]
Batman: The Brave and the Bold[]
Smallville[]
Young Justice[]
DC Nation Shorts[]
Teen Titans Go![]
Supergirl[]
The Flash[]
Legends of Tomorrow[]
The Lego Batman Movie[]
Video games[]
Injustice: Gods Among Us[]
Toys[]
Super Powers Collection[]
Justice League Unlimited[]
DC Super Friends[]
DC Universe Classics[]
References[]
External links[]
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- ↑ "Lexington Broadcast's "4th Network"" (PDF). Channels of Communications. October 1983. Retrieved 24 October 2017.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.