The Super Friends, part 1: Humble beginnings
© Jeff Sparkman
Superman. Batman and Robin. Wonder Woman. Aquaman.
What could be cooler than these heroes working together in one cartoon? These were the big guns -- everyone knew these people (except maybe Aquaman, but we'll get to that later in another column).
On September 8, 1973, kids turned on the TV to see an hour-long adventure with their favorite heroes. The Super Friends (at first, two separate words) marked the return of comic book heroes to mainstream Saturday morning television. The backlash against what some considered too much violence in superhero cartoons had opened the door for some very different kiddy fare -- pretty much any of the Sid and Marty Krofft shows, the Scooby Doo clones (Goober and the Ghost Chasers, Archie Comics' Josie and the Pussycats, Speed Buggy, etc.).
When the superheroes made their return with the Super Friends, there were certain things that the powers-that-were wouldn't allow -- like physical contact. Think back -- how many times did Superman just smack around the villain of the week? These Super Friends were much more likely to reason with villains that were essentially riffs on the misguided-but-well-meaning scientist, such as the not-so-villainous Dr. Shamen and his giant "U." (Shame on you. Get it? Sigh.) The scientist realizes what effect he had on the environment and repented.
While it was cool to see Superman and the gang on the little screen, an hour-long cartoon without much action tended to be stilted and preachy. To be fair, though, "Professor Goodfellow's G.E.E.C." and its concern over machines taking over people's everyday lives is still pretty relevant.
Still, even the great bombastic narration from "Mary Tyler Moore Show" alum Ted Knight wasn't quite enough to keep you glued to the set.
Worse, someone decided that the SF weren't cool enough on their own. They needed a bigger draw for kids, so they added (sigh) Wendy, Marvin and Wonderdog. Two teens and their dog -- almost Scooby Dooian in concept. Like Scooby, Wonderdog was smarter than his master and was able to speak in a limited fashion, though not as articulate.
The Super Friends let these "Junior Super Friends" participate in their adventures. Even more astounding, they were privy to Superman's dual identity. Sure, don't tell Lois Lane, the woman he loves, but two teen-agers? Why not? Of course, if you want to be cynical about it, Superman always had hesitated to reveal his identity to Lois because of safety issues. Maybe Wendy and Marvin annoyed him to the point where that wasn't so much of a concern.
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