CORPORATE LINE: Building on the Superman myth, this television series from the 1990s centers on the young adult life of Clark Kent (Dean Cain) in the modern-day city of Metropolis. While struggling to balance his Superman duties with his job working for the Daily Planet, Kent meets and falls in love with fellow reporter Lois Lane. When news breaks of Superman’s existence, however, Lane becomes smitten with the elusive superhero and unaware that Kent and Superman are the same person, wards off Kent’s romantic advances. Driven by this odd romantic triangle of sorts, the show’s first season also focuses on life around the Daily Planet office, and Superman’s battles with a whole host of villains, making it part-romance, part-action/adventure. Contains all 22 one-hour episodes of Season One.
THE SHOW: Lois & Clark was a soap opera. Those who were fans of the comics mostly likely left early in the series while those who might have been watching other shows like 90210 or Dawson’s Creek fell under its spell.
What made the show so attractive, and you could take it literally, was the cast. Cain was okay in his roll as Superman while Teri Hatcher was fantastic as Lois Lane. Hatcher, due mostly to the writers, played a character that wasn’t always in need of saving. She was sassy and smart and half of the time you felt like she might be the one saving Clark. It didn’t help that Cain brought little more than a cute smile to the part.
The first season also boasted John Shea who brought a genuine flair as Lex Luther. Most of the cast was very well suited to make the stories come alive.
The biggest problem with the first season of Lois & Clark was the lack of meat to the stories. Everything comes of as formulaic. Obviously, there is quite a bit of focus on Clark saving the day as Superman. Most of the stories revolve around some weak need for Superman to save the world or at least his neck of the woods within the usual television time constraints.
DVD FEATURES: One of the better commentaries is included for the pilot episode (includes Cain, executive producer Deborah Joy LeVine, and director Robert Butler).
“Taking Flight: The Visual Effects of Lois & Clark” is exactly what it says—a look at the visual effects—why I don’t know as they are mostly cheesy. There is an interview with Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher and finally a limited-quantity commemorative bonus disc containing the never-before-released-on-DVD Smallville episode “Crusade.”
FRANKLY: It’s not impossible to recommend Lois & Clark but it certainly wasn’t a great show nor was this a great season. Because it leaned more towards family the story lines were weak and hapless. By the end of the season it falls apart making it hard to watch as it grew more and more tiresome.
+ Charlie Craine
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