Breaking News: The All New Super Friends Hour Season 1 Volume 2 Announced

[filmation batman fan]

For those of you who like the SuperFriends, Warner Home Video has announced that the second half of the All New SuperFriends Hour will be released on DVD on January 27, 2009. No price or extra features have been announced yet, but the box art for the front cover is really good. This time, Batman is shown enlarged on the left side with Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash are shown in action poses and there are headshots of Aquaman, the Wonder Twins, and Green Lantern. And while the last volume's packaging was in red, this one is in blue.
You can see for yourself @ TVShowsOnDVD.com.

Cheers.

[Riffster]

woo hooo... but am i the only one that wants the real season one Wendy and Marvin episodes?

[aquatroy]

woo hooo... but am i the only one that wants the real season one Wendy and Marvin episodes?

No sir. You are not.
BTW, you can buy the real season 1 eps on itunes.

[goldenryan]

breaking news?? i think you may be overacting , now if it was the spider-friends being released on dvd it might be

[Riffster]

really? *heads off to itunes, but still want them on dvd

No sir. You are not.
BTW, you can buy the real season 1 eps on itunes.

[filmation batman fan]

breaking news?? i think you may be overacting , now if it was the spider-friends being released on dvd it might be

Breaking News because it was just announced this morning. And I don't think I'm overreacting. I'm a DIE HARD SuperFriends fan. Especially this series. But I also hear you in that I love the Spider Friends and I also hope some more of Marvel's classic animated series like the Spider Friends, The Incredible Hulk of the 80's. the 1960's and 70's Fantastic Four shows all come to DVD.
Cheers.

[megoscott]

So clear me up, I get so confused by this series. Are the Legion of Doom episodes on disc complete?

[The Toyroom]

So clear me up, I get so confused by this series. Are the Legion of Doom episodes on disc complete?

I think the only season of "Challenge of the Super-Friends" was released on a 2-disc set (16 eps)...previously they had released 2 or 3 compliations of "Challenge" with 4 eps or so per disc if I recall.

[The Toyroom]

The break-down by season:

Super Friends (1973–1974)
The All-New Super Friends Hour (1977–1979) *
Challenge of the Super Friends (1978–1979) *
The World’s Greatest Super Friends (1979–1980)
The Super Friends Hour (1980–1982)
The Best of Super Friends (1982–1984)
Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984–1985) *
The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985–1986) *

* ON DVD (Hopefully I got this right...)

[filmation batman fan]

TO clear it up, Challenge of the SuperFriends was the first SuperFriends series released on DVD. The studio labled it, Challenge of the SuperFriends: The Complete First Season. Then they came out with the 1978 episodes with the Wonder Twins, which were in turn, the companion episodes to the Challenge episodes on Saturday mornings. The studio labeled that set, SuperFriends: The Complete Second Season.
I don't know why they're doing it this way, just so long as all SuperFriends shows eventually get released. All that's left for DVD consideration are the original series of 1973, the 8 episode World's Greatest Series from 1979, and all 66 short length episodes from 1980-1983.
Cheers.

[Earth 2 Chris]

woo hooo... but am i the only one that wants the real season one Wendy and Marvin episodes?

I want to like those. There's more pure Toth in that season. Flash, Green Arrow and Plastic Man guest star. But Marvin....I can't get past him. I can deal with Wendy and Wonder Dog, but not "Super Marv". UGH.

Chris

[ThatBatmanGuy]

woo hooo... but am i the only one that wants the real season one Wendy and Marvin episodes?

Nope I love the true first season.

I want to like those. There's more pure Toth in that season. Flash, Green Arrow and Plastic Man guest star. But Marvin....I can't get past him. I can deal with Wendy and Wonder Dog, but not "Super Marv". UGH.

Chris

Hey if anyone can get past the stupid Wonder Twins, they can get past Super Marv.

The break-down by season:

Super Friends (1973–1974)
The All-New Super Friends Hour (1977–1979) *
Challenge of the Super Friends (1978–1979) *
The World’s Greatest Super Friends (1979–1980)
The Super Friends Hour (1980–1982)
The Best of Super Friends (1982–1984)
Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984–1985) *
The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985–1986) *

* ON DVD (Hopefully I got this right...)

Super Friends (1973–1974)

Alot of mistakes can be forgiven, because of this being the first season. But these episodes have good action and stories for their time. Of course Alex Toth was involved too.

The All-New Super Friends Hour (1977–1979)

Pretty good stuff, but I never really liked the Wonder Twins.

Challenge of the Super Friends (1978–1979)

Oh yeah baby!

The Super Friends Hour (1980–1982)
The Best of Super Friends (1982–1984)

Are the weakest of the bunch. By this time, they knew what to do and still messed it up. Poor storylines, characters colored wrong, no action... Just a watered down version. Too much of the Wonder Twins and Gleek helping fix someone's flat tire on their bike.

Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984–1985)
The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985–1986)

Both are pretty good for the time. Also Alex Toth had been replaced to a degree with Jack Kirby. These episodes are rated just under the Challenge episodes. Very close. The series ended on top of it's game.

Bob

[filmation batman fan]

I love the original series myself. I had a coloring book of the SuperFriends and that was my first introduction to Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog. I too hope this series comes to DVD. But I must say that some of the scenes in this series are very hard to sit through. Primarily, with Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog. While I do agree with Earth 2 Chris about Super Marv. I am equally as annoyed by Wendy. She was the teachers pet. The SuperFriends favorite student. Mature before her time and very bossy and self righteous around Marvin. I got so sick and tired of her talking down to Marvin. Not that he didn't have it coming to him. Super Marv was very immature for his age. And Wonder Dog, Ugh!! A horrible rip off of Scooby Doo. The scene with Wendy and Marvin trying to get Wonder Dog to go for a walk with them in "Prof.Goodfellow's GEEC" was SO ********!
Now I like the Wonder Twins. Give me Zan and Jayna over Wendy and Marvin any day. BUT they could have been better characters, especially if they didn't have that stupid monkey Gleek around. I hate Gleek and Wonder Dog both. I felt the Twins were better written characters in the SuperFriends Comics. In the cartoon, Zan was the problem. He had a super ego and lame shape changing powers. There was actually nothing wrong with Jayna.

Here is my evaluation of the SuperFriends shows:

SUPER FRIENDS 1973:
Agreed on that this series is pure Alex Toth. It looks like realistic characters like Super Heroes and the like co existing with cartoony characters like Wendy, Marvin, and most of the villains. While mistakes are forgivable, the fact that Peggy Charren and her organization the Action for Children's Television made this series so strict in terms of dialogue and lacking in action. The only action we saw was when the SuperFriends used their powers on rescue missions and saved lives. No real villains. What a joke! However, the appearances of the Flash and the one shots of Green Arrow and Plastic Man are a plus.

THE ALL NEW SUPER FRIENDS HOUR: 1977:
Really exciting. Better animation and better stories. A nice variety in that you had 4 episodes weekly. One fully 30 minute show with 3 short length ones. A team up with two of the regulars, the Wonder Twins segment was used to introduce us to the characters and their involvement with kids and teens was a cue taken from the live action Shazam TV series, and the last segment was one everyone liked, which featured guest heroes Our first looks at Green Lantern, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, the Atom, and Rima, plus the return of the Flash. And we were first introduced to Black Vulcan, Samaraui, and Apache Chief. Plus, I enjoyed the Health and Safety Tips, Crafts, Magic Tricks, and DeCoders in between the shows as well. While most villains were non comic book foes, at least they were more interesting than the ones in the 1973 series.

CHALLENGE OF THE SUPERFRIENDS: 1978
One of the all time best SuperFriends Series hands down.
The SuperFriends have more of a Justice League format and we are treated to weekly villainy by the Legion of Doom.

SUPER FRIENDS 1978:
Companion series to Challenge of the SuperFriends. For those who like the Wonder Twins, these episodes are awesome! More cosmic in nature. We encounter three villains from the Phantom Zone, Count Dracula, and the first appearance of Mr. Mxyztplk.

THE WORLD'S GREATEST SUPER FRIENDS 1979:
Hour long show marred only by the fact that there only 8 new half hour episodes surrounded by a bunhch of reruns. . These shows borrowed from Literature in their tales, like Aladdin, King Arthur, 20,000 League Under the Sea, Frankenstein, and the Wizard of Oz for inspiration. One episode introduced us to the evil counterparts of the SuperFriends. If only more episodes had been made in this season. Plus we saw the return of Lex Luthor and Mr. Mxyzptlk.

SUPER FRIENDS: The 80's Shorts
(SUPER FRIENDS HOUR 1980, SUPER FRIENDS 1981,)
SUPER FRIENDS THE LOST EPISODES 1983)
Agreed. This was indeed the weak period. Though there were various team ups, the episodes were all 6 minute stories. Some of the same team ups were used over and over again. 1981 introduced us to EL Dorado, and the 1983 season didn't even air in the US until syndication in the 90's and some of those episodes were bizarre. The series needed a shot in the arm.
THE BEST OF THE SUPER FRIENDS: 1982:
Nothing to say about this show. It's merely a rerun series conveniently placed on Saturday mornings in the 19821983 lineup.
SUPER FRIENDS: THE LEGENDARY SUPER POWERS SHOW 1984:
The shot in the arm the series needed. Two episodes a week. We're introduced to Firestorm as well as Darkseid and his minions. We see a new Brainiac as well as Lex Luthor's new power suit. Adam West comes aboard to voice over Batman. The ethnic SuperFriends play predominant roles in this series while long time mainstays like Aquaman are phased out of this series and the Wonder Twins are reduced to a few episodes.

SUPER POWERS TEAM: GALACTIC GUARDIANS: 1985
The next best series behind the Challenge series. The Alex Toth designs are replaced with the styles of Garcia Lopez, who was the DC artist during the popularity of the Super Powers Toylines and comic books. Cyborg comes aboard for this final series. We see the Joker, Penguin, and Felix Faust, the origin of Batman is told and Adam West is still voicing him over. The Death of Superman is another great story. These shows make you want to get the Super Powers Toy Figures in your possession. This series brings true characterization and some personalities with Firestorm and Cyborg. While most of the ethnic SuperFriends characters and the Wonder Twins are eliminated, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman and Samaraui are reinstated as background characters.

That's my take on the SuperFriends.
Cheers.

[DC_Guy]

No sir. You are not.
BTW, you can buy the real season 1 eps on itunes.

I want to like those. There's more pure Toth in that season. Flash, Green Arrow and Plastic Man guest star. But Marvin....I can't get past him. I can deal with Wendy and Wonder Dog, but not "Super Marv". UGH.

Didn't know that about iTunes! Can you get the individual eps., or only the full season? I really want the Flash, Green Arrow and Plastic Man ones, and I remember there being a really good one with a flashback to Krypton.