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Superfriends
Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice...

The show that determined more of what you (used to) know (or think) about superheroes than even Batman.

This long-running Hanna-Barbera series, which ran on ABC from 1973 to 1986, featured superheroes from DC Comics. The core heroes were Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Batman and Robin. Originally, they were joined by "Junior Superfriends" Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog. The series' first season, in 1973-4, consisted of hourlong stories, most of which concerned current issues such as energy conservation; the "criminal" usually had benign motives as a Well Intentioned Extremist who is usually easily persuaded to a more reasonable stand at the end.

Subsequent seasons could conceivably be considered separate series, not unlike Super Sentai AKA Power Rangers:

  • The series was revived in 1977 as The All-New Superfriends Hour, with some reworking of the concept. Most notably, the "Junior Superfriends" were replaced with the shape-shifting Wonder Twins, Zan and Jayna, and their monkey, Gleek, who, unlike their predecessors, had actual semi-useful (if occasionally silly) superpowers. Episodes typically contained more action and less Anvilicious point-making and plodding stories. This and subsequent seasons included short segments on health, safety and stage magic. The All-New Superfriends Hour was divided into two parts: one half-hour episode, and another half hour of Three Shorts, which typically followed a pattern: first, two of the original four heroes; then, a short spotlighting the new Wonder Twins; then, the main story with the entire team; and finally, an episode spotlighting one established hero and introducing another hero, who generally would later appear on the next series:
  • Challenge of the Superfriends in 1978 had the largest cast of the various series: 11 heroes and 13 villains (see Heroes Unlimited). Three of the more notable heroes not present were the Wonder Twins and Gleek. By this time, the stories began to resemble those found in the actual comic books, although some of the heroes and villains existed only in animation, including three new "Minority" heroes, Black Vulcan (African-American), Apache Chief (Native American), and Samurai (Asian). The most fondly remembered series, it evolved as it went on. Most episodes focused on a Mac Guffin, and early episodes ended with a Villain Exit Stage Left, as if actually capturing the Legion would end their threat, despite the fact that's never how it works in comic books (see Failure Is The Only Option, Joker Immunity, Cardboard Prison). Once they got over that, later episodes raised the stakes and had the Legion introduce ever greater threats, with episode titles starting to take on names like "The Final Challenge" and "Doomsday." The penultimate episode involved the Superfriends being picked off one by one by a "Noxium Crystal" but ultimately being revealed as robots; the final episode begins After The End, as we follow a group of Sufficiently Advanced Aliens as they encounter the scene and wonder what happened. It turns out the Legion fired a solar flare at Earth, and with Superman out of commission, the Superfriends activated their "global force field"; the mixture of the two bathed the earth in deadly radiation. It ultimately ends with the aliens using Time Travel to push the inevitable Reset Button, moving the moon in the path of the flare (I Am Not Making This Up). Originally was still part of an hour-long show; the episodes they ran with, which included the core five and the Wonder Twins, are now very rare and almost entirely forgotten, and the last six are out-and-out Missing Episodes, though a recent DVD release labeled "The Second Season" may include these episodes.
  • World's Greatest Superfriends, 1979: Core five members and the Wonder Twins. Only eight episodes; one Whole Plot Reference after another. The only two exceptions are a Mirror Universe and an Homage to Superman The Movie. Mostly ran with reruns originally, which helps explain it.
  • From 1980-3, new episodes came in the form of shorts, which generally followed a subtle form of A B A structure, with A teaming one or two of the Core Five with another hero, almost always one appearing on Challenge, although these shorts did introduce El Dorado, essentially a Token Minority. The second series aired in the first season not to be originally aired as an hour-long show. The third series were originally only shown abroad, as the show had been cancelled in the US, and made up another set of Missing Episodes until the 1990s.
  • The show was revived again in 1984 as the Merchandise Driven Superfriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, intended to tie in with the Super Powers toy line from Kenner. The show consisted of two 15-minute shorts, except for some two-part half-hours. It introduced Firestorm, who was so heavily spotlighted as to be accused of being a Marty Stu. This was also the series that introduced Darkseid and his fellow villainous New Gods of Apokolips to animation, a decade before Superman The Animated Series, although many aspects of his personality were toned down from the original, and he was given a bizarre fixation on making Wonder Woman his bride.
  • The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians, 1985. Hanna-Barbera gave the show a Re Tool, eliminating all but one of the characters they created themselves (including the Wonder Twins), introducing Cyborg from the comic books (nearly twenty years before he next appeared in animation on Teen Titans), redoing the character designs, calling the group "The Super Powers Team" instead of the Superfriends, and adding a more Heroes Unlimited feel. The main connection to the previous series was the voices and the villains, as Darkseid was still around (now redesigned to look closer to how his creator, Jack Kirby, intended). Some of the episodes were darker and more somber than prior ones.

And that was that, until Justice League came along. Many thanks to Will's Super Friends Episode Guide and Challenge of the Superfriends.

This show was very campy in its day, Challenge included (although the last couple of seasons began to veer away from this atmosphere), and used many of the worst tropes of animation. Despite many of the superheroes' portrayals as rather bland, the show also had the unfortunate effect of inexplicably tainting the character Aquaman's reputation among the general public (see This Looks Like A Job For Aquaman). Although Aquaman, especially recently, has been more of a King Arthur figure than a traditional brawler, the main problem was the show's general Media Watchdogs-induced abhorrence of violence and actual fighting. While Superman could fly, lift heavy things and melt metal things, Batman had his cool gadgets, and Wonder Woman had her Lasso of Truth, Aquaman could basically swim and talk to animals. Check out the character of whom Aquaman's a Captain Ersatz, Marvel's Namor the Sub-Mariner, for a case where having little more than the ability to swim (and fly) can actually make you quite kick-ass.
This series provides examples of:
Superbook
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Superjail
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