Superboy TV. … Wow… I only watched the first half of the first episode… There are SO many fan films/videos that put that to shame.
I remember why I only watched that one episode when it was on TV. So Bad!!
It’s pretty old
I used to watch Superboy back-to-back with “My Secret Identity” … too bad, DCU can’t find a way of getting that license.
Though I have not yet watched all of it, everything I’ve ever heard about this series is that it gets quite a bit better as it goes along. I plan to watch through it when I have the time. I remember watching a few episodes when it originally aired, but it must have become unavailable in my area, because I missed most of it back then. I do remember My Secret Identity, as well (good callback, Tobias). It’s ironic that Jerry O’Connell is now voicing Superman. As for it being old, foodini, those of us who remember when it originally aired resemble that remark. 
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I’ve read Marv Wolfman worked on it, so at some point it gets pretty good I assume.
I like what I’ve seen of the show, so far. There are some episodes in season one that were a stretch, but Stacy Haiduk made up for most of them.
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@Tobias-RCO2, was My Secret Identity that sitcom about an alien girl that looks human, lives with a human family and has powers? It sounds very familiar.
It’s best to start with the second season, get used to that, and then be ready for seasons three and four to-- however cheaply-- rock your socks off. I never understand picking on this show. At 22 minutes an episode, including credits, and about $265,000 per, less first season, actually much less for the first 13, many of these shows are miraculous little gems. All of which are much better because Stacy Haiduk is in them.
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Yay for Ms. Haiduk =)
She was on SeaQuest DSV too. Underrated show.
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I had forgotten how amazing Stacy Haiduk truly was until I re-watched this show. And no offence to Kristen Kreuk (who is probably the better actress objectively… although she got better material to work with) but on a shallow note, but Superboy has the hotter Lana Lang.
As for the show as a whole… those fan films were not made in the late 80’s/early 90’s. The show is low budget and showing it’s age for sure, but re-watch almost all syndicated tv from that time, especially Sci-Fi shows and they are almost all like that. The show is a product of it’s time and while the enjoyment of it for people watching it for the first time now is likely not going to be great, it was a big hit in it’s day and one of the top shows in syndication.
I definitely think the first season was the weaker one, the budget was insanely low even for a show back then and the decision to have few threats of any comic book, or even sci-fi/supernatural origin makes for a lack of suspense and TJ and Lana taking turns being put in danger since there was never any real threat to Superboy in most of them. And Lex Luthor while a decently written character was hindered by a very bad performance, I don’t know how that dude got the part but while I am sure he is probably a nice guy in real life, he was not a good fit.
But it had it’s momements. The sci-fi/fantasy elements when they were show mostly near the end of the show were decent episodes, and I did like that season 1 had more of an emphasis on college life and used the Florida setting more to make it truly feel like a different chapter in Superboy’s life. And having Clark be less of a bumbling nerd was actually more in line with the comics of the time and allowed them to do things with Clark that they were not able to tell in previous TV mediums.
The second season had better stories as a whole but won’t lie and had a more comic book feel to them, sometimes I felt there was too much emphasis on humor. Gerard Christopher was definitely the better actor of the Superboy’s but I did find his Clark Kent a bit over the top even compared to Christopher Reeves, and a bit odd since the comics by then had gotten away from the hopelessly nerdy and bumbling Clark Kent.
As a whole the 3rd and 4th season were the best. The stories were better written and although the 3rd season mostly taking place at night was clearly an akward attempt to mimic the Batman film it was mostly well done. Although it did sometimes feel too Superman in that the bureau was The Daily Planet, Lana became mor like Lois Lane then the girl next door she had been before, the college angle aside form a couple early mentions of them being interns and some Shuster name drops was almost gone, and the head of the Bureau was Perry White. It did feel more familiar but sometimes made the counterparts feel like cheap copies of iconic characters rather then their own thing.
But all and all while once the nostalgia wore off I enjoyed it a bit less, it is a fun show and I had fun re-watching it. Due to the rights issues keeping it from ever airing again on TV after it’s initial run and Lois and Clark coming out shortly after it ended, the show has kind of become a forgotten chapter in Superman lore and super hero TV, but I don’t think it gets enough credit for the success it had at the time. Prior to the current era of Super Hero TV in the last less then a decade a Super Hero show was a huge risk and seldom a success, yet Superboy managed to pull off 100 episodes and be a hit show for it’s time. That is not for nothing.
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Loved this show as a kid. I seem to remember it was the first show filmed at the Universal Studio in Orlando so It has a different look with Clark and Lana in College. Without the nostalgic aspect it’s probably rough going but I’m looking forward to watching it soon.
Didn’t David Warner play Jor-El on this show? He gets around in DC productions.
Nope, it was George Lazenby, and he was kinda a fake.
I goofed. David Warner played Jor on Lois & Clark.
Sherman Howard did play Lex on this show and then Derek Powers/Blight on Batman Beyond. That’s neat.
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