Does anyone else think Challenge Of The Superfriends is boring?

[Cosmicman]

As a young lad I thought it was the greatest thing growing up! Then there was a bunch of years when it never played and then finally when the Cartoon Network started to re-air all of them in the late 90s early 2000s I was like "huh? This was stupid....what was I thinking?"
So, it must have made more of an impact to me as a kid.

[BOTZWANA]

I have most of the sets on DVD except the last two latest ones. My favorite is World´s greatest.

[Cmonster]

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.

The thing to keep in mind about these types of threads, is the fact that these shows weren't only made for kids, they were made for kids IN THE 70'S. The whole nostalgia vs quality thing is admittedly something I've always struggled with, but it's important to keep it in perspective. As much as I love Land of the Lost, Sigmund and the Seamonsters, or Challenge of the Superfriends, they're all REALLY hard to watch now for anything more than nostalgia. Luckily, nostalgia plays a very important role in both my personal and professional life, so I still watch all of it often and enjoy it.

That being said, I think it also depends a lot on the kid. To put it to the test, I've showed kids today those shows and the reactions were mixed... Some kids dug it, some didn't. Some laughed out loud for one reason, some for completely different reasons. I watched all these shows from the ages of 6-10ish, maybe 11. Today's kids that DID like the shows, were MUCH younger. By much younger, I mean 3-5. Anyone 6 years old or older, thought they were a complete joke. Now, I know there's people out there who will say; "My son or nephew (or whatever) is 12 and LOVES that stuff...". I'm not doubting them, it just seems to be the rare exception in this day and age, to see kids who really enjoy and want to be kids.

SC

[HardyGirl]

The thing to keep in mind about these types of threads, is the fact that these shows weren't only made for kids, they were made for kids IN THE 70'S. The whole nostalgia vs quality thing is admittedly something I've always struggled with, but it's important to keep it in perspective. As much as I love Land of the Lost, Sigmund and the Seamonsters, or Challenge of the Superfriends, they're all REALLY hard to watch now for anything more than nostalgia. Luckily, nostalgia plays a very important role in both my personal and professional life, so I still watch all of it often and enjoy it.

That being said, I think it also depends a lot on the kid. To put it to the test, I've showed kids today those shows and the reactions were mixed... Some kids dug it, some didn't. Some laughed out loud for one reason, some for completely different reasons. I watched all these shows from the ages of 6-10ish, maybe 11. Today's kids that DID like the shows, were MUCH younger. By much younger, I mean 3-5. Anyone 6 years old or older, thought they were a complete joke. Now, I know there's people out there who will say; "My son or nephew (or whatever) is 12 and LOVES that stuff...". I'm not doubting them, it just seems to be the rare exception in this day and age, to see kids who really enjoy and want to be kids.

SC

Yeah, It does depend on the kid. But being a teacher, (and a former after school teacher), I've learned something. Kids pick up their cues from the adults that are influencial in their lives. If the adults in their lives are really into retro, and make it known to the kids, chances are, the kids will be more open to it. I taught in the after school program for 6 years, and was the director of it for an additional 9. More often than not, my kids liked the classic stuff I brought in for them to watch, listen to, and play with. They knew that I loved the 70s. They loved and respected me, so they wanted to understand and even enjoy some of the things that I hold dear. One of the cartoons I brought in was the '73 SuperFriends. These kids were ages 5-11. Not only did they (as a group) love it, they yelled at me for turning it off. Now I'm sure it would be a completely different story if I didn't care about the 70s stuff, then out of the blue, brought it in. I'm sure I would have heard scoffing, jeering and seen quite a bit of eyerolling. Yes, it depends on the kids, and the adults in their lives as well.

[MIB41]

I think had they personalized the characters more, they would have endured better over the years. The absurdity of storyline is a given with animated superheroes. Most people can suspend their disbelief when watching these types of shows. What doesn't gel, is when the characters are as wooden as the story. Then we, as viewers, have very little left to hinge our interest on what we see. It's very easy to understand why today's kids laugh at the show. You have characters in superhero poses, talking in campy superhero voices, making even campier statements. There's a complete disconnect with the viewer. And Sandy is right. These characters are talking to an entirely different generation of kids who were not exposed to the kinds of images and language kids see today. Shows today inject a bit more humor and wit in their dialogue. So kids tend to be a lot more savvy to the context of what is said.

[VintageMike]

I also found original hour long ones to be a bit boring. Love "Challenge" and the rest because I always have the "the nostalgia goggles" on when I watch as someone said.
If you're going to watch it and compare to say "Justice League" it's going to fall short.
Plus, you have to remember they were made for the much less scrutinizing minds of children. As seeing super heroes in a cartoon was cool. Real villians from the comics? Even better! I relate it to Megos in the way the toys are picked apart by us as adults. An adult says "Captain America's out fit isn't 100% accurate and he has the wrong boots". A back then (including me) said "It's Captain America AND he has his shield. Cool!"

[Brazoo]

I only watched episodes of the goofier seasons Superfriends with the Wondertwins. (Was that the same show?) I remember liking one episode where they went to Oz and Mr. Mxyzptlk was the wizard.

I'm kind of a weirdo - I never liked any of the action/adventure 70s/80s cartoons everyone else my age seemed to love. They were all really boring to me - drawn out dumb stories and the animation looked horrible.

I loved animation, even bad animation, but I only watched the comical cartoons (or cartoons that were trying to be comical).

I always loved older cartoons best, like Fleischer Bros. and Looney Tunes, Rocky & Bullwinkle.

[huedell]

I think had they personalized the characters more, they would have endured better over the years. The absurdity of storyline is a given with animated superheroes. Most people can suspend their disbelief when watching these types of shows. What doesn't gel, is when the characters are as wooden as the story. Then we, as viewers, have very little left to hinge our interest on what we see.

I think there needs to be a distinction made between "absurd storyline"
and just "poor plotting/story logic". Yeah, most sci-fi for kids is easily
termed as "absurd" but what'll hold that together is better script,
and better plot details that don't come off so blatantly awkward.

It's very easy to understand why today's kids laugh at the show. You have characters in superhero poses, talking in campy superhero voices, making even campier statements. There's a complete disconnect with the viewer.

A smarter viewer. -- Frankly, we weren't bred to be that discerning
compared to today's kids. So what you said: " And Sandy is right. These
characters are talking to an entirely different generation of kids who were
not exposed to the kinds of images and language kids see today. Shows
today inject a bit more humor and wit in their dialogue. So kids tend to be
a lot more savvy to the context of what is said.." is pretty on the nose
AFAIC.

[david_b]

Even as a kid, it was another show I typically 'tried-to-like' when it first came out.

Being only 10 in '73, it should have been a shoe-in AND it was one of the only new superhero shows even out there, but it was way too watered down.

I caught probably half the first year just for Batman&Robin, then stopped watching it..

Was much more a Marvellite back then, wishing I could find a station that was rerunning the Spiderman cartoons.

I preferred 'Star Trek TAS' MUCH more..

[Mikey]

To be honest, as a kid I found most cartoons boring --- even much liked ones like Spiderman, Superfriends, Speed Racer and even Star Trek.

The only cartoons I really-really liked were Looney Tunes, Flintstones and Magilla Gorilla.

Everything else was just watchable to unwatchable

[huedell]

I was born in '71... just a few years earlier, and i imagine I'd be singing a
much more simillar tune to the 2 posts above this one.

[UnderdogDJLSW]

I guess I'm the odd one out for really enjoying the 1st season with Wendy, Marvin, and Wonderdog. I never liked the WonderTwin ones when they started making multiple eps per Saturday. I was 6 when the hour long shows were out and to me it was like watching a movie. I like Challenge for the comic character and villain additions, but I didn't like that in most of the stories the bad guys pretty much are winning, but then fail because of Aliens from the future or something like that. The deus ex machina endings for the heroes started getting to me.

[Brazoo]

To be honest, as a kid I found most cartoons boring --- even much liked ones like Spiderman, Superfriends, Speed Racer and even Star Trek.

The only cartoons I really-really liked were Looney Tunes, Flintstones and Magilla Gorilla.

Everything else was just watchable to unwatchable

Yeah - I sometimes watched stuff like Scooby-Doo in a trance, not really enjoying it that much because every episode was exactly the same, but not switching either.

[Brazoo]

I guess I'm the odd one out for really enjoying the 1st season with Wendy, Marvin, and Wonderdog.

I never saw it as a kid - I saw some episodes of that on Boomerang a few years ago - it was more fun to me than the later episodes for sure.