Does anyone else think Challenge Of The Superfriends is boring?

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

http://www.seanbaby.com/super.htm

Don C.

[huedell]

Ok, I know a lot of folks like this cartoon, and I'm not really knocking it, but after watching a few eps, I was finding that the plot was pretty much the same week after week: Get rid of the Superfriends, and world domination. It was pretty predictable, really. And I know that folks liked that they showed some of the other Justice League characters and the villains, but I kinda thought it was just too much.

Well... everything about every season of SUPERFRIENDS I could
catergorize as "too much".... meaning I feel the writers had no shame
when it cam to scripts and story logic.

Even today's BATMAN B&B cartoon, altho' written to appeal to younger
children has a much more "adult sensibility" when it comes to,
at the least, "humor"... if not story logic.

When I was a kid, I was pretty clueless to what "good writing" was
but was big into the DCU on TV.. and I was thrilled when I saw COTSF
with all the heroes and arch villains... in fact, COTSF was so heavenly
that ever after I regretted when any other version of the SF show was
broadcast (I might'nt of minded the last two SUPER POWERS iterations
too much, but at that point, I had "grown away" from Sat morning
cartoons and never saw them when originally broadcast).

In a nutshell: during it's original broadcast, I thought Challenge was
incredibly watchable... in fact, I'd say I was obsessed with it.

When I tracked down the episodes in the early 2000s... I was too aware
of the lackluster story logic and immature scriptwriting in all SF iterations,
yet I found the SUPER POWERS seasons to be suprisingly a bit palatable...

...and COTSF? Although, like most SF material, I found the COTSF
episodes cringingly poor... the nostalgia of the thrill of all the DCU
characters in one cartoon was enough to SUPERCEDE most problems
I had with the COTSF cartoon... quite an amazing thing when I think about it.

To this day COTSF is something I can still watch and be entertained...
I can't say that about 90% of the rest of the vintage SF material.

...so, no HardyGirl, I don't find COTSF boring... in fact it's magically
the opposite of that... and it's interesting that you started a thread about this issue, as I saw your comment about COTSF in the other thread, and
was poised to say something, but this new thread is what gave me the
real inspiration to actually say anything

Again, it all comes down to COTSFs scope when it came to incorporating
DCU characters in it's content. I have always been a big sucker for
DCU "merch".... and back when COTSF premiered, I wasn't reading dang
DC comics a fraction as much as seeing DCU characters in other venues
and would discover what was being marketed to me through merch (like
Megos!)... movies and, of course: "T.V."....

And now, with COTSF, it wasn't just the typical heroes and villains I was
aware of because COTSF introduced a huge amount of characters in one
dang show... and, if they would've offered a SOLOMON GRUNDY BEACH
TOWEL back then, I would've wanted it BADLY, ya know? Discovering new DCU characters like that was an exciting change from the other 30 or
so DCU characters I was so used to up to that point.

[HardyGirl]

Still it's funny. Thinking about the topic I remember as a kid the anticipation for the Super Friends on Saturday morning was more than enough incentive to get me out of bed before dawn to patiently wait for the show. Mego's in hand playing on the coffee table. Boy, to recapture that enthusiasm for what today seems like the most trivial things would be the greatest self help book on the planet.

Maybe that's the one I should write?

I get to co-author that book, Jim. I still watch the SuperFriends every Saturday, (different versions), w/ my Megos on my bed, recapturing my youth. Regression is good for the soul and a great stress reliever. I have very little stress in my life thanks to my inner child.

[palitoy]

It's still the pinnacle of Superfriends for me. You don't really want to think very hard about the plots though, that way lies madness.

[jimsmegos]

Sadly I have to agree. From a nostalgia viewpoint "Challenge" will always be the best Super Friends show mainly because it had all the cool Super Villains. But yeah watching 'em nowadays does draw a yawn.

Still it's funny. Thinking about the topic I remember as a kid the anticipation for the Super Friends on Saturday morning was more than enough incentive to get me out of bed before dawn to patiently wait for the show. Mego's in hand playing on the coffee table. Boy, to recapture that enthusiasm for what today seems like the most trivial things would be the greatest self help book on the planet.

Maybe that's the one I should write?

[Earth 2 Chris]

I will say that one part of the Super Friends that holds up, from every version, is the theme. So much better than any super hero team show theme before or since. When I hear it, I can imagine how I THOUGHT the Super Friends episodes were back then. It gets me pumped up.

I still love the Super Friends, I just have to really get in that 5-year old frame of mind to enjoy them.

Chris

[HardyGirl]

Every episode and series of Superfriends is brilliant!!! This cartoon represents what Saturday mornings were when you were a kid!! Get with it!!! I can't even believe the title of this thread? It should be locked and you should be banned!!!!

Will's Ultimate Super Friends Episode Guide!

~~~~~~~~~~ (Bronx cheer!)

[Mego Superboy Prime]

Every episode and series of Superfriends is brilliant!!! This cartoon represents what Saturday mornings were when you were a kid!! Get with it!!! I can't even believe the title of this thread? It should be locked and you should be banned!!!!

Will's Ultimate Super Friends Episode Guide!

[jds1911a1]

all iterations of Superfreinds can be tough to watch as a grown up but I find challenge the least annoying. that said my 7 and 8 year old LOVE challenge becuase that is the age the show was written for. The same way they can enjoy batman B & B but not young justice

[Werewolf]

I liked Challenge. I personally never could stand the early Super Friends with Wendy and Marvin. At their worst the Wonder Twins are still better than those two.

Super Powers was always my favorite. Especially the second season with the improved animation style.

[MIB41]

Superfriends are something I enjoy looking at more than listening to. The images are fun to see, but the stories and vocal acting are very stale. The actors sound bored in their characterizations. So that lack of energy translates to me as the viewer. Now take the '67 Spiderman. I can watch AND listen to that all day. Even though the material was not strong, the vocal performances were. Plus Spidey always added a bit of wit in places that were more adult grounded than what kids got in the mid 70's. Plus you could tell those actors were really into the characters, so it was easy to be that kid again and just let them carry you through the animation. I never felt any real relationship between the Superfriends. They talked to each other in their "hero" voices just like they did the average five year old on the street. So it was impossible to find a personal bond with them. Spider-man was personable, which is why I still feel that love after all these years. It's like checking in with an old friend.

[Goblin19]

Other than for nostalgic kicks, it is harder to watch these as an adult, particularly compared to how awesome the past twenty years of superhero cartoons have been. I think they are generally better left in my childhood memories. .

Pretty much my thoughts, though I do enjoy it for nostalgic reasons.

[Twiki1979]

NO way....I loved 'em as a kid and I love them now.....one of the greatest cartoon shows ever

[Mikey]

When I first rediscovered the Challenge of the Superfriends theme on Napster I thought it was the greatest thing in the world (for nostalgia sake because they never reran them in my area)

A few years later some channel played some and they were cool ... But today I find them hard to watch.

Like most Kroft shows, they were better as a foggy memory

[cjefferys]

I ate up all those old super hero cartoons as a kid, but have a hard time sitting through any of it now. Same goes for any Saturday morning cartoon, I'd really like to enjoy them but I can't do it. On the other hand, I still very much enjoy watching the old Disney cartoon shorts, Looney Toons, Tom and Jerry, etc. I guess because they weren't really strictly made just for kids.