Legends Of The SuperHeroes!

The success of the 60's Batman TV show was a wonderful boost to the lifeblood of the comic book industry. It was a short-term shot of adrenalin which pushed the comic book into the public consciousness in a way more positive than the witch hunts of the 50's hand done. 

In the public imagination comic books lost that atmosphere of creepy attempts to subvert children and instead became goofy and rather lighthearted attempts at entertainment. It was a positive change, but alas a lasting one. For decades and to this day still at times a story in the broader media about comic books is marked by a sense of frolic and frivolity. In the 70's superheroes were goofy nonsense for most folks and maybe that explains NBC's The Challenge of the Superheroes. 

This peculiar special event was done in two parts. The first is an adventure which has the heroes seeking a doomsday device built by Dr. Sivana (Howard Morris). The villains are led by Mordru (Gabriel Dell) and include the Riddler, Sinestro, Giganta, Weather Wizard and Solomon Grundy. The Riddler is performed by Frank Gorshin reprising his role from the Batman TV show. Also from that show are Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward). Also among the heroes are Captain Marvel, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Black Canary and the Huntress. Charlie Callas gives a singular performance as Sinestro and Jeff Altman is a snarky Weather Wizard. NBC created a new old hero called both Retired Man and the Scarlet Cyclone played by William Schallert. It's a goofy misadventure made on the cheap in and around the backroads of the area and is harmless fun. The laugh track is painful though at times. 

Ed MacMahon joins the heroes and villains for a Superherores Roast the following week.  (Celebrity roasts were all the rage for a short time back then.) The Riddler is gone but most of the rest of the original cast reappear in a goofy event which is neither fair nor foul. It's harmless nonsense which is easy to ignore. 

It was fun in the late 70's to see superheroes in pretty much any format so I remember these shows. But watching them again on DVD reminds of how far we've come in the the societal view of superheroes. It would've seemed ludicrous for these costumed types to have been taken seriously back then. The Superman movies helped somewhat but it would decades before the after-effects of the Batman show would wear off. I can't recommend this one really, but it is harmless. 

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