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 2 of 2)
12-26-2007 @ 3:05PM
fuggees said...
I don't know if anyone can figure this one out but here goes. I remember a Superhero TV show I wanna say from the late 70's maybe early 80's that had something to do with a guy that created a superhero from his computer. The car the guy drove could make a 90 degree turn. That is about all I can remember from it. Would anyone happen to remember that show?
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12-30-2007 @ 5:27PM
Spud said...
Shame...
First of all, you're confusing Saturday morning children's shlock from the 70s (Shazam!, Elektra Woman and Dyna Girl) with primetime TV shows. That's apples and oranges. Second of all, Elektra Woman and Dyna Girl was just one show that made up the Krofft Saturday Super Hour. It's Sid and Marty Krofft...which is about as far away as you can get from Masterpiece Theater.
But I could excuse all that except you didn't put NBC's old "Man From Atlantis", with Patrick Duffy in his pre-Dallas days, on the list. I used to pull abdominal muscles as a kid trying to replicate how Duffy swam underwater.
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