Rating:  -
I never saw this show as a kid when it was on in the 80's although I did know it existed. I just never knew when it was on. Trying to get into it now was kind of hard. It has a super low budget look and looks like it was shot with a hand held camera sometimes. However I respect it. It does succeed in telling the story of Superboy even if it is a little cheesey. Plus I like in an episode how Lex is bulling a student to lose a basketball game so he wins a bet and Clark uses his super breath from a distantance to blow Lex into water behind him. Which gave me a nice thought...why can't Clark ever do that in Smallville. I mean Lex and Lana are kissing infront of a fountain or something and he blows them into it to get a laugh. Clark in Smallville doesn't have a sense of humor like that though. He just whines and complains "Chloe, Lex stole Lana", "Chloe...Lana was mean to me". It bugs me how he takes how Lana treats him after he saved her life a million times.
Which brings me to the Lana in Superboy. She isn't over emotional and doesn't always bug Superboy to have a serious and waste of time emotional talk kinda like Lana does with Clark in Smallville in pretty much every episode!... Stacy Haiduk may not have Kristin Kreuk's sexy looks but she's still a cute Lana and...a less annoying Lana. Probably because the writer's of Superboy don't worship her as much as the writer's of Smallville. They focus on the story of Superboy while Smallville uses Lana so much that I'm starting think it's more of the coming of age story of Lana than it is Clark..
Superboy doesn't have Smallville's budget to say the least but at least it's not a little too Dawson Creeekish like Smallville. Sometimes though it's like watching Saved by the Bell with....Superboy lol. I do like how it manages to tell good stories in just a half hour show though. It has more original ideas in a half hour show than Smallville can have in a whole hour.
Rating:  -
Hi, I am a Superboy fan and and so excited that the series (which ran from 1988-1992) is now being put out as DVD box sets. I got mine today and love the chemistry between John Newton, Jim Calvert, and the ever sexy Stacy Haiduk in the episodes I have seen so far.
Superboy is an awesome oppurtunity to get your Super fix if you do not care much for the Chris Reeve films or the more modern-oriented Smallville, and on the plus side, the episodes on this set are only 25 minutes or so.
It is a great way to introduce your friends or kids to the Boy of Steel without having to sit through a two hour movie or hour long show with overdeveloped stories. It doesn't take as much time which surely would be of interest to all the young parents out there!
Or if you are like me and you remember watching Superboy and his amazing adventures back in the day, this is a good chance to relive some of those memories of our carefree youth!
Order Superboy The Complete First Season online and enjoy it!
Ammendum: I have changed the spelling of Stacey to Stacy as that is the correct spelling. I got the recently arrived autographed photo from her to prove it.- M.G.
Rating: -
"Superboy" has been a long-neglected chapter of the 'Superman' saga, due, in large part, to Warner Bros., who refused, with a few exceptions, to allow the four-season series to be re-syndicated or marketed for 14 years (after winning a court ruling against Alexander and Ilya Salkind, long-time 'Superman' franchise producers). Fortunately, the WB has finally released the first season on DVD (in conjunction with the release of "Superman Returns"), and, despite some obvious 'growing pains' in plot and execution, the series certainly is a worthy addition to any fan's library!
Filmed at the Disney/MGM Studios in Orlando, the first season of the half-hour series offered hunky John Haymes Newton, 22 (cast because of a resemblance to Christopher Reeve), as the Shuster University Journalism student/Superhero, with wholesomely sexy Stacy Haiduk, 20 (Newton's offscreen girlfriend) as his friend (who could be more), Lana Lang. Rounding out the 'regulars' was mop-topped Jim Calvert as 'Jimmy Olsen'-like T.J. White (nephew of Perry), who provided some welcome lightness and humor to the proceedings.
The first episodes appear rushed and routine (the introduction of occasional guest star Scott Wells as snobbish, evil 'frat boy' Lex Luthor is poorly-acted and disappointing), and, sadly, many critics who panned the series never looked beyond those episodes, to the later, more polished stories, penned by veteran 'Superman' comic book writers. Those episodes (particularly the introduction of impish Mr. Mxyzptlk, portrayed by a perfectly-cast Michael J. Pollard), show the promise of the VERY good series "Superboy" would become, in time.
"Superboy" would foreshadow "Smallville", highlighting the bonds of young Clark to his adopted parents (portrayed by the excellent Stuart Whitman and Salome Jens), his small-town roots and sense of integrity, and the frustration of an attraction to Lana that he cannot consummate, because of the secrets he keeps. Newton, while lacking the smoldering sex appeal of Tom Welling, is very likable, and is far closer in age and personality to the character he portrays than either Welling, or Gerard Christopher (who would assume the role in Season Two of "Superboy").
Sadly, a combination of publicized scrapes with the local police (he seemed to drive at super-speed!), and salary demands would cost Newton the role after the first season, and most fans prefer Christopher's 'take' on the character, but this, to me, makes this collection even more 'special'. Comparing actor portrayals is a lot of the fun of the various incarnations of 'Krypton's Last Son', and Newton is certainly worth watching...
Give this collection a chance, and I think you will like it, on its own merits, and as the introduction of a long-absent chapter in the 'Superman' story!
Rating: -
Don't give up on this one, the first half a dozen episodes are beyond B rated. I mean you literally see the string from the crane as Superboy flies and the dialog is almost as bad as the actors. But laugh those off, they change Superboy actors later on and the other actors learn how to act. The show gets better and better until you can't wait for season 2 to emerge! Besides, you can make it a game, see who can spot the string the most times!
Rating: -
As part of my superman collection no bad, the stories not that great but ok, better special effect than Lois and Clark
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