Superhero TV shows can be really great if done right, but for every Heroes or The Flash we get a half dozen shows that never made it past the pilot episode or made it and just weren't very good. Cracked recently had a feature about comic books that shouldn't be made into movies, and that got me thinking about superhero TV shows that failed and/or weren't that great. Below are six examples of shows that should have never been made, along with video clips so you can marinate in their awfulness.
1. Samurai: Before there was Highlander, there was Samurai. But instead of "There can be only one," we got Joe Penny running around in a headband and robe, fighting guys in offices and alleys. It looks pretty damn ridiculous.
2. Shazam: Yeah, yeah, I know, this was a Saturday morning live action show for kids, but ... come on! The Secrets of Isis was more realistic. A boy says "Shazam!" and then turns into an adult male who wears an outrageous outfit.
3. The Justice League of America: Wow, were special effects really that bad only 10 years ago? This one starred David Ogden Stiers (M*A*S*H) as Martian Manhunter, Bionic Woman's Miguel Ferrer as bad guy The Weather Man, The O.C.'s Kim Oja, and David Krumholz from Numb3rs. The clip below shows The Green Lantern saving a woman from ... hail?
4. Electra Woman and Dyna Girl: This starred Deidre Hall from Days of Our Lives. The only thing worse than the show itself was the theme song. Makes the theme from Wonder Woman should like Mahler.
5. Manimal: Why isn't this number one? Because of the name alone! He's a MAN who can become an ANIMAL. It's Manimal. That's brilliant!
6. Night Man: This was about a saxaphone-playing jazz musician (Johnny Domino!) who is struck by lightening and then is "telephathically tuned to the frequency of evil." Or something. A crossover ep in the second season featured ... Manimal! Yup, Simon McCorkindale reprised his role from the 80s show. And yes, this show somehow made it to a second season. Ah, syndication.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-19-2007 @ 11:43AM
joann said...
I love E woman and D. girl, and the whole Kraft(sp? super hour,. How could you not love Dr. Shrinker(HE a mad man with an evil mind)? I started watching DOOL because this show.
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11-19-2007 @ 11:50AM
Adam L said...
I know Shazaam was a pretty ridiculous show, but it is based on one of the great comics of all time, Captain Marvel. Of course, they couldn't use the name because of agreements between DC and Marvel, but Captain Marvel used to outsell Superman in the 40s.
None of which excuses the badness of the show, of course :)
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11-19-2007 @ 11:50AM
RadioScott said...
Wait. Are you seriously ripping Shazam!? Really?
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11-19-2007 @ 1:36PM
kel said...
Gotta dig the music for "Electra Woman..." though.
Manimal: Only in the 80's could you get away as an actor with a name like Simon McCorkindale.
Night Man: I remember seeing this on WGN (the home of bad syndication) and being in a state of pure WTF?ness for the entire episode
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11-19-2007 @ 1:19PM
Jake said...
Maybe these don't count because they were played for laughs, but "Mr. Terrific" and "Captain Nice," two sitcoms that came out after the success of "Batman" in the late '60s, were both really, really awful. Mr. Terrific had to flap his arms to fly, I think. Or maybe that was Captain Nice.
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11-19-2007 @ 12:34PM
Kel said...
"Badness", ahem, I thing you mean Bad-Assness.
SHAZAM!
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11-19-2007 @ 1:09PM
Lizzy said...
When I was or 6 I dressed as Isis for Halloween (one of those cheap kits with the plastic mask and glorified garbage bag plastic costumes you used to buy in drug stores) . . . everyone thought i was Wonder Woman.
Almighty Isis (. . Isis. . .Isis .. .Isis)
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11-19-2007 @ 3:12PM
Bill said...
Night Man wasn't the incredibly gay story of some kind of entity that attacks Charlie at night?
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11-19-2007 @ 4:57PM
Jimmy said...
OK, I'm have to disagree with you on two accounts. First, when I was a kid I could not miss Shazam!; both my brother and I never missed an episode. Second, the same goes for Electra Woman and Dyna Girl. Both of the shows come from the same era that gave us H.R. Pufnstuf -- I mean, who doesn't love Withiepoo? Sid and Marty Krofft are Saturday morning TV Gods!
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11-19-2007 @ 5:46PM
Margaret said...
What you say?! I know you're not dissing my shows!
Shazam, Isis, Manimal = good stuff! Even if they seem hokey now, they were staples of my TV watching back then.
You just wait to see how your favorites hold up in 20 odd years.
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11-19-2007 @ 7:31PM
Aberdeen said...
I loved Shazam! and Isis...ah, the good old days.
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11-19-2007 @ 6:58PM
John said...
Oh come on!!!
First you dis Shazam (not the TV show, which I can't speak to, but the comic book...) and then Electra Woman and Dyna Girl?
And the League of Super Heroes? Wasn't that an unaired pilot?
And you still left Automan off the list?
For shame!
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11-19-2007 @ 10:14PM
nick said...
When I was younger, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl and Shazaam! were the coolest shows on Saturday mornings. There were a bunch of others that had similar production values. C'mon, it was Saturday morning TV! And it was the 70s. It's not like they had the same special effects we have today.
But as far as the rest.... drivel. Manimal was mildly interesting. And was out around the same time as Automan or Knight Hawk. Only Knight Ridder thrived during that period.
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11-20-2007 @ 10:50AM
smoothie73 said...
I think it is foolish to try and rate thees shows through adult eyes.Remember that for the main part,these shows were aimed at kids at a time when production cost were on a tight budget.Sid & Marty Krofft deserve better alcolades than what the get these days. Electro woman & Dyna Girl,Bugaloos,etc,was IT when it came to kid shows of the 70s. Manimal was cool as a pre teen show.Any more dissin outta you fella and I CUT YOU MAIN!!
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11-20-2007 @ 12:34AM
Gary said...
Shazam.....ah my favorite super hero. Used to be my fav show when i was a kid too.
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11-20-2007 @ 3:00AM
Freezer said...
I can only ask "Where the hell is 'Automan'?"
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11-20-2007 @ 5:16AM
Will said...
I gotta agree: I loved Shazam when I was a kid.Those were different times, sure it may seem lame now in retrospect. I couldn't sit through, now, any of the stuff I watched as a kid (except Gilligan's Island and then only if I'm sick in bed). I can't believe some of the lousy stuff my nephew watches on Nik, but then I remember that I too was once young and foolish. I actually would watch an episode of Shazam today, just to see how really bad (I know) it was.
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11-20-2007 @ 10:45PM
Gowan said...
I had my first crush on DynaGirl.
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11-21-2007 @ 2:52AM
Mark said...
You missed the late 1970s live action TV Show spiderman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y1Uyn82US8
Absolutely stinkerific.
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11-21-2007 @ 4:47PM
Carissa said...
I'm with everyone...no dissing Shaazam (which was on late night for about three weeks a couple years ago - I Tivoed it and watched!) or Electra Woman & Dyna Girl (was also on during that same time frame - I loved rewatching every minute!). Fighting all evil deeds? C'mon! Playing outside was all about being Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Isis, Charlies Angels, Wonder Woman and the Bionic Woman. Just because the former were Saturday morning shorts did NOT mean they had lesser impact on us kiddos!
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