This is a mystery that calls for the help of Batman, Robin, Aquaman, Wonder Woman and Superman. How exactly did these Super Friends episodes get lost? Did somebody at Hanna-Barbera stick them inside a lead-lined vault in the basement beneath the Bat Cave so that Superman couldn’t locate them? What is the secret origin of The Lost Episodes? Turns out that back in 1983, ABC canceled Super Friends. Before the axe fell, Hanna-Barbera made 8 half-hour episodes featuring 24 adventures. When the series was put back on the schedule in 1984, they made a new batch of adventures. The Lost Episodes ended up in a limbo. A few were shown in Australia. Finally all the episodes aired on USA Network’s Batman/Superman Hour in 1995. Super Friends: The Lost Episodes gives us all the action so viewers can enjoy what ABC denied them over a quarter of a century ago.
The Super Friends at this point were aiming to attract minority viewers. They supplemented their main white superheroes by creating a batch of multi-racial friends of the Super Friends. Black Vulcan, Apache Chief, Samurai and El Dorado didn’t leap out of the DC comic pages. They were TV creations like how the Wonder Twins were alien adaptations of Donnie and Marie Osmond. Gleek being a purple ape version of Jimmy Osmond. The minority members assisted the major stars, but were never given the ability to act alone. They didn’t have enough star power in their punches. Not that they could give that many punches on the small screen. Because of a fear about putting violence on Saturday morning, these super heroes weren’t allowed to physically fight the super villains. Strange they didn’t try to turn Ghandi into a Super Friend.
“Mxyzptlk’s Revenge” has the strange character lure Superman and Batman into his universe. Problem is how do they get rid of the annoying jerk since having him say his name backward only sends him back to his world and they’re already there. “Roller Coaster” involves a gang initiation at an abandoned amusement park. The inductee has to ride a rickety roller coaster that’s going to kill them all. Luckily the Wonder Twins were nearby at a decrepit movie theater. They have the Atom arrive to help them shut down the coaster and rescue the gang members. “Once Upon a Poltergeist” shakes up Wayne Building. There’s no Earthquake. Batman, Robin and Apache Chief discover it’s a Mohawk spirit upset at the Wayne Foundation for putting it’s foundation on what he thinks is an indian burial ground. Everything gets sorted out as a misunderstanding. “Two Gleeks Are Deadlier Than One” swaps the dumb space monkey for an android. Can they spot the imposture before he can cause less damage than the real Gleek? Or would the real Gleek be the end of the Super Friends?
“Bulgor the Behemoth” transforms a TV writer into the monster in his script when lightening strikes his typewriter. Superman and Apache Chief have to give this guy the red light. This is just too cheesy for its own good. I could almost buy this if the guy was using a word processor. “Terror On The Titanic” turns the wrecked ship into a monster. Aquaman and Black Vulcan must go iceberg on the wreck. “The Revenge of Doom” reunites the Legion of Doom in the best of The Lost Episodes. Lex Luthor turns Superman and Wonder Woman into statues. Is the world doomed? Can Batman and Robin escape? Why didn’t they just stick to Legion of Doom storylines on this series? Did anyone really want to see monsters that come out of typewriters?
Super Friends: The Lost Episodes is a fun revelation for those of us who were denied the first time around and weren’t into sitting around watching cartoons on cable in the mid-’90s. There is a frustrating factor in not watching Superman just knock sense into the bad guys. While violence might not be the answer, it’s certainly a solution to stop TV writers from turning into monsters. The uncovering of Super Friends: The Lost Episodes will please Saturday morning fans who want to relive the good times when caped heroes could save the world during breakfast. Although to properly enjoy these cartoons, use your cereal milk to mix up a White Russian.
The Episodes
“Mxyzptlk’s Revenge,” “Roller Coaster,” “Once Upon a Poltergeist,” “The Krypton Syndrome,” “Invasion of the Space Dolls,” “Terror on the Titanic,” “The Revenge of Doom,” “A Pint of Life,” “Day of the Dinosaurs,” “Playground of Doom,” “Space Racers,” “The Recruiter,” “Warpland,” “Two Gleeks Are Deadlier Than One,” “Bulgor the Behemoth,” “Prisoners of Sleep,” “An Unexpected Treasure,” “The Malusian Blob,” “Return of the Phantoms,” “Bully for You,” “Superclones,” “Attack of the Cats,” “One Small Step For Superman” and “Video Victim.”
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The transfer is relatively clean. Probably helps that these episodes weren’t repeatedly rerun over the last twenty five years. The audio is Dolby Digital mono. The loudness level is proper so you won’t need superhearing to figure out what the Wonder Twins want to become. There’s a dub track in Portuguese. The subtitles are in English, French and Portuguese.
Super Friends Comic Book Adventures features pdf files of “The Mindless Immortal” and Wendy and Marvin Meet the JLA.” You can watch download these to the computer. Can the second title be a hint that we’re finally going to get DVDs of the original Super Friends series with Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog.
Super Friends: The Lost Episodes gives us 24 more adventures from the world’s greatest superheroes. The action doesn’t get too nasty or scary since this is made for Saturday mornings over 25 years ago. This is a nostalgic trip for overgrown kids who wondered what happened during that missing season. The Lost Episodes vary in quality and believability. Watching the Titanic turn into a monster and eat another ship is worth having this Super Friends in the collection.
Warner Home Video presents Super Friends: The Lost Episodes. Starring the Voices of: Dany Dark, Olan Soule, Michael Bell, Casey Kasem, Louise Williams and Shannon Farnon. Box set Contents: 8 episodes on 2 DVDs. Released on DVD: August 11, 2009. Available at Amazon.com
