In our first Episode, Super-fans Henry Bernstein and Professor Sam Brody talk about Superman on TV. What's worked? What hasn't? Henry shares his top 5 lists of Superman things on tv!

Henry's Top 5 Superman on TV:

Top five best shows Overall:
Superman The Animated Series
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
The Adventures of Superman (George Reeves)
Ruby Spears’ The Adventures of Superman

Best Theme Music:
Ruby Spears’ The Adventures of Superman (John Williams Theme)
Superman: The Animated Series
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Smallville (Save Me)
Superboy

Metropolis:
The Adventures of Superman (1950’s)
Lois and Clark
The Animated Series
Smallville
Ruby Spears Superman

Best Super-suit:
Superboy (Season 2)
Lois and Clark (Season 2-4)
Adventures of Superman (Color season)
The Animated Series
Ruby Spears Superman

Superman:
Tim Daly (TAS)
George Newbern(JL, JLU)
Bud Collyer (60’s NAoS)
Gerard Christopher (Superboy Season 2-4)
George Reeves (50’s TAoS)

Clark Kent:
Dean Cain (L&C:NAoS)
George Reeves (50’s TAoS)
Gerard Christopher (Superboy Season 2-4)
Tim Daly (TAS)
Beau Weaver (Ruby Spears)

Lois Lane:
Teri Hatcher (L&C:NAoS)
Erica Durance (Smallville)
Dana Delany (TAS, JL, JLU)
Noelle Neil (50’s TAoS)
Joan Alexander (Ruby Spears)

Henry and Sam talk about their overall impressions of the Pilot episode. What worked, what didn't, did you catch all the Superman references?

Overall thoughts on the premier:
Thumbs up Thumbs down?
I loved it. I watched it twice, it might be the closest to what I think of as Superman.

What they got right:
Bitsie Tulloch might be the best Lois of all time. I love how cool but kind she was to Clark at their first meeting. She seems like a great mom and a great partner. Very contemplative, thoughtful, planful.
Tyler was really solid. I’ve enjoyed his Clark/Superman in the crossovers and was wondering if he could pull it off here. His Clark is exactly how 90’s comics Clark is. A little clumsy yet confident, cool but nerdy in a sweet way, loves Lois but is chill about it. Great emotional scenes and really surprised me as a powerful yet relatable Superman
It was more cinematic, serious and less cheesy than previous Arrowverse shows. Tonaly it seemed completely different than Supergirl.
Real visual fx shots, wires and rigs not just cgi.
Twins were good. I didn’t think I’d care about their scenes but I did. Even though the switcheroo on the powers was kinda telegraphed, I still liked it.
Smallville as kind of a rundown town and not just a perfectly preserved 1950’s hometown
I didn’t think I would like it, but Sam Lane as an ally who knows the secret was cool. At odds with Lois, but not with Clark. Different.
LOVE Clark’s vulnerability.

What they got wrong or what I hope will get better:
I missed the hustle and bustle of the Daily Planet with Perry and Jimmy, but I get what they’re doing. The beginning though, just seemed like a high rise call center. Not so much a bullpen.
It was weird to me when Lois tells Clark he had to stay home and not be Superman, but it worked for the moment.
I prefer my Clark to have parents who are alive. But let’s see where this goes.
Cutting to Clark getting fired and not seeing the scene was weird.
Lana isn’t really working for me yet, and I know he’s a heel but the husband just seems too unlikeable. Let’s see. It’s not Lana Lang. It’s a different character. Kinda like Mechad Brooks on Supergirl.
I’m concerned that Morgan Edge will just be a stand-in for Luthor...The whole bank/Lana thing just seemed dumb.
The router up high so they could set up the accident was ridiculous! How and why would Martha have done that?
The music, or lack of it. It wasn’t as inspiring as I had hoped, and there was no theme. I hear that’s coming next week but I want my Superman to start with a rousing theme that can also be played during heroics.
How OLD are Lois and Clark? When Crisis reset and their babies became twin teens did the grownups age up too?
I would’ve preferred Clark telling the twins the secret before they busted him. Even if they had the same reaction. Have they never seen their dad without glasses?
The sliding scale of powers/vulnerability to Kryptonite. How was he able to just pull the kryptonite out?

Superman Reference/Easter Eggs that I caught"
Action #1/Fleisher homage
“My mom made it for me” (For All Seasons)
Superman lifting ice was the same shot as Superman Returns with kryptonite land mass. And using an iceberg is from Superman III
Donner, Siegel/Shuster 1938 on the blackboard
Steve Lombard
Foswell
Injustice 2
Jordan is Jor El
Doc Fry (Superman The Movie, Pa’s dr.)
Shuster Mines
Lana Mentioning “Superwoman”
Superman in space was another shot from Superman Returns

In this episode Henry is joined by longtime friend and teen educator Daniel Warshawsky to talk about how mental health, and teen anxiety is being portrayed on Superman & Lois.

SHOW NOTES:
Episode 2, “Heritage” written by Todd Helbing, Directed by Lee Toland Krieger

“While adjusting to their new lives in Smallville, Lois and Clark make an important decision concerning one of their sons; tensions begin to rise between Lois and Morgan Edge; Lana Lang Cushing invites the Kent family over for a barbecue.Jonathan has his first day on the Smallville football team but discovers that the other players aren't thrilled to have him. Clark takes Jordan to the Fortress of Solitude to study his son's newfound powers, and Lois is on the trail about Smallville's supposed benefactor, Morgan Edge.”

We’re not going to talk about everything that happened in the episode but let’s talk about the theme for a bit. As I mentioned in our first episode the Superman theme is important to me. First of all, there really was just a snippet of it in the opening scene.

The new theme:
I didn’t love it. I thought it fit the tone of the show. It was slow, contemplative, and fit the slowed down lifestyle that the Kents have now. But it didn’t get me excited. It didn’t pop, it didn’t soar, it didn’t say “Superman.” Reminded me of the MoS theme which, in my opinion never really went anywhere.

Overall:

I really loved it. I had the same goofy grin on my face that I had last week. There was no cheesiness, nothing cringy. There was high quality acting, solid writing, and a compelling story.

The Production:
The high level of production value continued. This episode felt just as cinematic. The scenes on the farm were gorgeous, Lois walking into the town hall felt important and Superman’s action scenes were exciting. The tone continues to feel different from the other CW shows. I actually watched The Flash right after, and while I did enjoy it it did feel sillier than usual.

The fortress:
The look of the fortress was great. Felt familiar but wasn’t a retread of previous versions. Definitely an upgrade from the Fortress in Crisis last year.

Jor-El:
Forgive me but I don’t want to see a Jor-El that’s in worse shape than me. He also looked NOTHING like Tyler Hoechlin. If you’re going to do an homage or style similar to Superman The Movie, then go all the way. He just was boring and lame.

Lois Lane:
This was Lois’ episode to shine, and boy did she ever. Having her frame the episode with a voice over was perfect because you could imagine that she was writing this somewhere. Maybe in a journal, maybe in an article but it felt real. “You don’t go to the news, the news goes to you”
The way Bitsie moved through the episode as intrepid reporter, loyal partner and super-mom was beautiful. I squealed with delight when she walked into town hall and when she walked into the Smallville Gazette I exclaimed out loud, “OHHHH SHIT!”

Sam Lane:
In the comics, specifically from 1986 and on, Sam is adversarial to both Clark and Superman. Doesn’t think Clark is tough enough to marry his daughter, and doesn’t like how potentially dangerous Superman is and therefore doesn’t trust him. I like this twist where he’s Superman’s support network but still questions Clark as a husband and as a dad.

Clark:
Clark is still struggling as a dad and even when he has a small victory with Jordan. The up and down experience of parenting, specifically teens, is very real. Let’s talk a bit about this with Daniel.

While Sam is learning the joys of new parenthood, Henry will be flying solo this week sharing general thoughts on Superman & Lois episode 3.

Henry: In our first episode I shared my lists of top 5 Superman things from tv. So here are the rest of my lists. 

Perry White:

George Dzundza (TAS)

Lane Smith (L&C:NAoS)

John Hamilton (50’s TAoS)

Michael McKean (Smallville)

Stanley Ralph Ross (1988 Ruby Spears)

Jimmy Olsen

Jack Larson

Michael Landes (L&C:NAoS Season 1)

Aaron Ashmore (Smallville)

David Kaufmen (TAS)

Mark L Taylor (1988 Ruby Spears)

Jonathan and Martha:

John Schneider and Annette O'Toole (Smallville)

Eddie Jones and K Callan - (L&C:NAoS)

Shelley Fabares and Mike Farrell  (TAS)

Alan Oppenheimer and Tress MacNeille (Ruby Spears)

Stuart Whitman and Salome Jens (Superboy)

Superman & Lois

Season 1 Episode 3: The Perks of Not Being A Wallflower

Episode breakdown: “Clark shares some of his Kryptonian history with Jordan and Jonathan during a family breakfast. Jordan tries out for the high school football team, and the rest of his family wonders if he's using his super-strength to unfair advantage. meanwhile, Lois digs further into Edge's activities in Smallville, and a lead from New Carthage comes to her.”

Scene 1 - What is Morgan Edge looking at?

Football scene had a very Friday Night Lights vibe. Great little pep talk from Clark, love the confidence he has in Jordan. 

Didn’t Clark promise not to listen in on Lois? Is it just that he’s keyed in on Sam? Did he stop listening once he heard Lois?

I love how Sam is just like, “I’ll stick around this weekend.” Uninvited. Btw, I had a Grandpa Sam who was much more loving than Sam Lane. 

Morgan Edge was a total creep. Is Lana’s husband just some sort of cuckold? Like does he want Edge to bang his wife? Is he just that naive?

Interesting how Lois is a little too big to be working at Smallville Gazette. Like why wouldn’t she just write her own blog or tweet? She’s arguably the most famous reporter in the world.

Lois confronting Edge and saying, “oh who cares” when he starts talking about his accent is so ballsy and funny. She IS Lois Lane. 

Can we talk about KILLGRAVE!? I mean this show was made for our generation of Superman fans. It’s funny because my moroy of the comic is that Killgrave brings real danger but Superman sort of always sees him as a nuisance. And I believe in his second to last or last appearance Superman basically threatens him to never come back again. But it’s good seeing a classic Superman villain that’s not Lex or Brainiac who even seems formidable. The way Superman handled it was great too. He kinda needed to hear his kids in order to snap out of it and finish Killgrave with a super clap. 

Ah the classic Superman not going to an emergency because he needs to tend to his family is finally here. You knew it was coming. Why is Superman’s code name “Bishop 6?” Is it a reference to Checkmate? Also, why does Superman need a codename? He has one, it’s called “SUPERMAN.” 

Tyler looks great in the suit. Very believable. Loved seeing him fly over Chicago, reminded me of Lois and Clark but with good SFX like Chicago in The Dark Knight. 

Even for Sam Lane, putting all of that pressure on the boys was OUTRAGEOUS. This is the Sam Lane I know from the comics. A jerk and basically as bad of a grandfather as he was a father.

I know it’s part of the plot but it was incredibly disappointing that Clark didn’t make it to the town vote. I get missing a date with Lois or something but it seems like Clark Kent maybe would’ve been late but would’ve made an important thing like that. However, I do like Lois being mad but not passive aggressive and just talking about their issue. She had every right to be annoyed and she told it to Clark the way he needed to hear it. It’s so subtle but the look on Clark’s face of, “I don’t know what I’m doing anymore” felt realistic and felt like the kind of turmoil he should go through. 

In high school or college I probably would've enjoyed the party scene but it just makes me anxious now. Maybe it’s because I'm a middle school teacher and a parent. 

Lois and Lana’s girl’s night out was meh. I hate all the “men are like this and women are like this” stuff. So outdated and basic. Lois’ advice somehow leads to them completely making up over some pancakes? Ok. 

I like that Jon and Jordan took what their grandpa said seriously, (even if it was shitty advice) and wanted to solve it themselves. Great shot of Superman holding tag over the earth. 

There’s nothing quite like Lois Lane letting General Lane have it. 

Date night was so cute! And like that Sam learned his lesson. He’s not all bad. This is called GOOD character development. 

X-KRYPTONITE!!! DEEEEP CUT

Show Notes:

Does Superman work best on TV as opposed to film? Why?

Let’s talk about the recent controversy with the show. What allegedly happened according to former writer Nadria Tucker?

https://thegrapevine.theroot.com/nadria-tucker-discusses-seemingly-out-of-nowhere-dismis-1846456451?fbclid=IwAR1Ipy9N1a0ECRsd-6f_3VkAIiYuG_pE7E1QP837lXy15LDAso16R8fhbj8

Episode recap:

“As Smallville celebrates its first Harvest Festival since Martha's passing, Clark is reminded what his mother meant to him and learns a lesson that will help him move past her death. Meanwhile, Lois makes a breakthrough in the investigation of Morgan Edge. Kyle tries to reconnect with Lana, but it seems like he might be falling back into his old ways.”

• Clark’s v/o with scenes of Smallville in slo-mo! YES PLEASE! More of this. Love that the fam is watching super-feats over breakfast. 
• “Back to 1949 when Smallville was established” - ACCURATE. Superboy #2, 1949, written by Jerry Siegel. 
• Are the Kents growing corn? 
• I like that the Jordan/Sarah romance is progressing in a realistically awkward but normal way. Clark’s dorky dad embarrassing exuberance was so perfect. 
• Jonathan’s life sucks in such a teenager “my life sucks” way. Lois handled the mom-advice to him like a champ. She didn’t react to his insult, and knows to just wait it out. Clark reacting to Jon’s unreasonable request of living at someone’s apt was to laugh. LOL Then Clark knowing he was drunk was also LOL. Good parenting just sending him home in an uber and then dealing with it later. No really. I love that last episode you thought Jonathan was being TOO good and here he flies off the handle. Yet he comes back and apologizes, no problem. Clark’s turn for some GREAT parenting. 
• The Morgan Edge/Lois/Smallville story is a great reason why Superman works best serialized (tv, radio, comics). It was good to see Kyle and Lois acting normal to each other. Beppo’s line “Big Reporter Energy” was amazing.
• Really enjoyed the flashback scenes and more Martha. It’s interesting that Martha was his main influence as a teen.I wonder if we’ll get to see more flashbacks with Jonathan. I didn’t need to see him fighting crime like a proto-Batman, I would’ve prefered super-feats that help people. But I love seeing Clark being affected by the stuff around him and thinking about the past. “He knew I was here for a reason” - reference to Glen Ford talking to young Clark in STM. You get the feeling that Martha was just an absolute amazing woman. She really had a rough time raising a teenaged powered Clark as a single mom. It was cool seeing Martha send him on his way with the Kryptonian crystal. Usually it’s Jonathan passing along advice for how to proceed with what he was meant to do. Now that I think about it though, Pa dies when Clark appears to be a Senior in STM, and in Smallville Pa died about halfway through the run of the show. Anyway what exactly did Martha want him to do? Go to the fortress? Go to the future to become a Legionnaire? Where did Clark go? For how long? I mean I guess in STM he goes to the fortress at 18 for 7 years. I think I prefer the comics version where Clark graduates, heads off for an extended gap year to figure it all out then goes to Met U to study journalism. Anyway this was a strange way to do the transition from Smallville to Superman. But it was interesting. I still don’t fully understand how Clark and Lana remember their whole lives with the boys. I read a rumor that this show actually operates outside the Arrowverse...
• I love Clark saving the day secretly AS CLARK because it would be weird if Superman happened to be in Smallville. “Is that frost?”
• There’s something about Captain Luthor lurking around, pretending to be a journalist that doesn’t feel right to me. It seems like he understands that this is a different earth that he was on and that Lois is a different Lois. So why doesn’t he understand that this Superman is different from the one on his earth. And WHY doesn’t he realize that when they first meet and Superman wants to just talk. I assume what will happen is that Superman killed HIS Lois and so he’s just blinded by rage. 

Greetings Super friends! Welcome to Superman & Lois & Pals. I’m Henry Bernstein and alongside me is my favorite super pal, Professor Sam Brody. 

We’re back! That hiatus actually flew by. I would like to say that it helped that we had Supergirl and Flash to fill in, but in my opinion both have been really frustrating. I know because of Covid and because she’s a new mom the filming of Supergirl has been difficult. But this is the LAST season of Supergirl. And the last time we get Mellissa Benoist who IMO has been a wonderful Supergirl. How can you have 7 episodes in a row where your star who’s name is the name of the show just isn’t in it? The two flashback episodes, while cute, literally didn’t have Kara in them at all. And in the most recent one she showed up at the end to hug her sister and that was it. VERY frustrating. 

But we’re not here to talk about Supergirl, we’re talking about Superman. Sam what a great episode to come back with. 

“Clark reconsiders his decision to let Jordan play football; Lois' continued investigation of Morgan Edge requires her to trust an unexpected ally.”

Nice little “previously on…” Caught us up on what’s going on. 

I’m glad they’re digging in a bit more into the powers thing. Like it’s clear that Jordan has some serious powers that might be slightly different from Clark’s. So was Hologramps just wrong about him? 

Superman flying in looked great and we got MORE POWERFUL THAN A LOCOMOTIVE! I also loved that his first instinct was to talk to Tag, not punch him. That’s my Superman. I loved how he didn’t just stop the train but got it back on track. I like when heat vision fixes things instead of just blasting a bad guy. 

I liked Lois saying “I want you focused on the boys” and Clark didn’t argue. That’s a solid marriage right there. 

Why is Metropolis high school playing Smallville? There’s two options here. 

1. Metropolis is in the midwest like on the show Smallville and is quite close 
   1. Sara does say “I’d hate to go all the way to Metropolis…”
   2. They’re in a hotel
2. Metropolis high and Smallville high have the two best football teams in the country and it was a championship game or something. 

I know they’re teenagers and they make dumb decisions but I’m getting tired of the CW trope of not telling someone something which leads to a misunderstanding. Why wouldn’t Jordan tell Clark about the headaches and heat vision boiling over?

I know we’re supposed to, but I hate Kyle and I don’t buy Lana with him AT ALL. 

How cool were all of Clarks fist marks in the tree trunk. How many times did he punch that thing growing up? “You’re stronger than you think you are”

Nice to see Jonathan finally getting a chance to shine in the game, especially with Jordan working together with him. 

Glad to see Lois suspicious of “Marcus.” The main focus of the episode seemed to be on Jordan and his powers (tag etc) but Lois really shined this episode as badass reporter Lois Lane. 

Lois pointing out the ridiculousness of dressing up in disguise was funny. 

Sara’s going to have a rough time being a parent if she can’t watch a Disney movie a THOUSAND times. I HATE seeing people hit their head on stuff in movies. Like a total parent nightmare. 

Clark “catching” Jordan’s heat vision was so cool, creative and looked like it hurt Clark! I like when we see stuff we haven’t seen before that actually makes sense. 

Are we supposed to think Clark is overreacting or that Jordan is being a stupid teenager that makes mistakes? I know teenagers do dumb stuff like going out drinking but they JUST screwed up with that in the last couple episodes. This seems ill advised. Jonathan stopping Jordan’s punch was devastating. These kids are good actors. 

“You get to be Superman! Who am i? I wanted to be good at something. I’M NOT YOU! OK!” I’m glad this isn’t how it’s going in the comics but for some reason it makes sense and I like it. 

Sarah should be dead or have a concussion.

“Don’t Run! I’m here to help you” - Superman should say that. Angry red eyes of anger are a trope but they worked here for me. “STAND DOWN” Yessir mr. superman.

Incredible speech by Clark. And he immediately feels bad. 

“Probably not the best time to tell you I almost got killed tonight” Instantly gifable!

Lois totally loises two scenes in a row, first as reporter with Lana second as super-mom with Jordan. 

Poor grammar by saying “bring me farther away.”

I LOOOOOVED Clark rocketing off with Jordan, glasses still on and then going into 2nd and then THIRD Gear