ultramatt2000-1
... a reviewer by the name of ultreamatt2000-1 praises the heck out of this program. You bet I am. Welcome to "Matthew Praises". All of the great superheroes join forces to fight the forces of evil. This is awesome! It is very imaginative. What I love about it is the music by Hoyt Curtin. It is awesome. Why, it is so awesome, I can't wait to have an album of his works he made over the years. Also, the famous transitions, along with the sound that accompanies it. Who can forget those voices. That's right. The voices. I admire the voices. From Frank Welker to Ted Knight. I always thought the narration is by Frank Welker, but Ted Knight is the narrator. The story telling is magnificent. You can EASILY understand what is going on. The obstacles the writers put in the show is downright imaginative. All in all it is the greatest show I have seen in my life! Bottom line: Give it a go. I highly recommend it. It is fun for the entire family. Rated TV-Y7 for fantasy violence and peril.
voicemaster71
I may have seen this on Saturday morning, but probably was too young to remember. I was already aware of this version because of a coloring book I had with Wendy and Marvin in it. My greatest memories of this series was coming home after school and watching it in syndication weekday afternoons from 1981-1985 on the network that would become Fox in the mid to late 80's. At that time, they aired on Thursday and Friday afternoons as 2 parters. It wasn't until Cartoon Network that I saw them in their original hour format.If you love the SuperFriends and you want to show your kids this show, then heed my advice. This may be the first series, but do not show them this version first. Otherwise, it will bore your kids to tears. I would start them off with either the Legion of Doom or the Wonder Twins. Get them comfortable with the heroes first before showing them this series.SuperFriends of 1973 is the tamest most non violent version in existence. If you want to blame someone for the lack of action and lack of good comic book villains, then blame the Broadcast Standards and Practices for all the restrictions this show really had. That was due to parent groups complaining about the 60's Super Hero cartoons being so violent. This series was at least a good follow up to the classic Superman, Aquaman, and Batman cartoons by Filmation of the 60's. Especially since Ted Knight narrates this series and the voices of Batman and Robin from the Filmation show (Olan Soule and Casey Kasem) were aboard for the decade long ride. While I liked Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog as a kid, I really hate them now, especially the pooch. Hanna Barbera was really trying to cash in on the phenomenon created by Scooby Doo. The 70's was a decade where HB did lots of cartoons with a group of teens and a mascot of some kind. The SuperFriends were not immune. Wendy is a crossover of Velma (for being a brainy student) and Daphne (for exclaiming Jeepers! all the time). Marvin was a cross between Fred (Frank Welker as the voice over) and Shaggy (tall and lanky). Wendy was annoying as the teachers pet who was always talking down to Marvin. (not that Marvin didn't have it coming at times). Marvin was even more annoying . A teenager with a towel sewed on his shirt with aspirations of being Superman or should I say "Super Marv". Although he did show his smarts now and then, Marvin came across as an idiot. And as for Wonder Dog. I felt he was the worst of the lot. A bad carbon copy of Scooby Doo, only he didn't talk, he did charades and acted like a human at times. These three are unbearable to watch and they were totally useless. Just as useless as the misguided villains, most of whom proved to be good hearted or had good intentions. Like Anthro, from the pilot episode "The Power Pirate, or Colbar from Too Hot to Handle. And others like Profesor Baffles, Dr. Pelagian, Dr. Rebos, and the list goes on. The only thing we had even close to a real villain was Raven in "Menace of the White Dwarf". Other than that, the only other costumed villain was King Plasto in the "Fantastic Frerps".The heroes are actually the reason to watch this show. Danny Dark, Olan Soule, Casey Kasem, Shannon Farnon, and Norman Alden were superbly cast as Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman. Superman and Wonder Woman were good and powerful. Batman and Robin usually get a bad rap for all their Bat gadgets and no fist fights. Well, in this series, their devices are few, basic, and simple, and the Batmobile is their main mode of transportation. And Aquaman usually gets a bad rap for being useless and out of water a lot. Well, in this series, Aquaman is in the water quite a bit. The last episode, "The Watermen " is an underwater story. This series gave us a couple of treats. We see Plastic Man make a cameo in the Professor Goodfellow's G.E.E.C. and we see guest starring roles for the Flash in "Too Hot To Handle" and Green Arrow in his one and only appearance in "Gulliver's Gigantic Goof". Plus, this series is the only one with a recurring character in the form of Colonel Wilcox, the military official who contacts the SuperFriends in time of trouble.All in all, the original SuperFriends is mostly about brain power over brute strength, moral lessons, ethics, ecological issues and anti pollution messages. The best action you'll see the heroes in is when they use their abilities to rescue people. Most of the villains learn their lessons before episode's end. SuperFriends is a lackluster start to a long running series that does promise to get better. If anything, the theme of this series is well worth watching. But like I said, before exposing your kids to Wendy and Marvin, start them off with one or more of the other more exciting versions. This series was okay, but could have been much better.
QuintessentialQuipper
I used to watch this show in the mid to late 70's, when I was a little boy. I'd get up quite early on Saturday mornings to wait for it to come on. This was in the days when we only got 4 or 5 channels total. At 5am NOTHING was on, except static or rainbow-colored stripes running vertically on the screen. When Superfriends finally came on, around 9 or 10am, I felt really happy for a true Boy cartoon, not sissy like the cartoons my sister had been watching. To emphasize how Boyish the show was, my sister always left the room when it came on, and my Dad even joined me to watch some of the episodes. I liked it; it's nostalgic. Was the storyline really that interesting? It didn't matter. And perhaps I'm the only one, but I kinda -liked- the Wonder Twins!
