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Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

Pilot (2)

Season 1, Episode 2, Aired Sep 12, 1993

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Part two of the show's pilot shows how Clark becomes Superman, and how he uses his super powers for the good of mankind.

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Cast & Crew

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GUEST STAR
Elizabeth Barondes

Lucy Lane
GUEST STAR
Kim Johnston Ulrich

Dr. Toni Baines
GUEST STAR
Kenneth Tigar

Dr. Platt

K Callan

Martha Kent
Michael Landes

Jimmy Olsen (season 1)
Dean Cain

Clark Kent/Superman
Teri Hatcher

Lois Lane
Lane Smith

Perry White
Tracy Scoggins

Catherine "Cat" Grant (season 1)

Fan Episode Reviews (2)

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Superman makes his first appearance.

8.3

"Great"

By RHam_01, Mar 28, 2007

This episode was another good one.

I was in splits as Martha had Clark try on all those suits. The leopard print one specially looked hilarious. That was one of the highlights of the episode.

The other highlight was Superman's first appearance. That is always special. In any Superman show or movie the first appearance is always very important. This one was above average.. not spectacular.. but not bad at all. They did a good job considering the limited budget of a TV show and the fact that special effects weren't that advanced as they are today.

I liked the showdown at the end of the episode between Lex and Supes.. it was great. The start of a long and hard fought war between two enormously powerful enemies.moreless
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While Lois Lane, an average gal, is striving to be a superwoman, Clark Kent, a superman, is trying just to be an average guy.

8.0

"Great"

By swingthesickle, Nov 24, 2006

I've never been privy to such a meeting, but I imagine loud groaning and sighing when a writer pitches yet another Superman television series. The producer might ask, "Superman, the man who cannot be stopped by bullets or laser guns. What are you going to use as a plot point? Kryptonite?" Nor do I know what is going through the producer's head when he okays a series such as Smallville when I'm sure the writer must have emphatically shook his head yes to Kryptonite.
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman took a different route which will make it forever stand out as one of the best Superman series of all time. Clark Kent is not the secret identity, Superman is. Clark just happens to have super powers because he was born on another planet, but he desperately wants to be an average guy who can get a job and have a girlfriend.

Lois is no damsel in distress. She is a motivated woman who is attracting a lot of attention as an investigative reporter. What else would you expect from a 90's television series? The dynamic between Lois and Clark, the titular characters, is spot on from the very first episode. Lex Luthor, Perry White, and Jimmy Olsen add a bit of spice to the mix also, but Lois' sister Lucy seemed absolutely useless in the pilot.

A pilot is all about character interaction, and this pilot scores high marks in getting the characters and dialogue right. Unfortunately, it does not score as high with plot. Lex Luthor is a creepy bad guy with lots of promise for future episodes, but sabotaging a space station really did not capture my attention bringing this episode down to an 8 out of 10.

So why did this Superman series work while Smallville is such a disappointment? My opinion: it's all in the approach. Deborah Joy Levine, who created Lois and Clark, states in the special features of season one that she was fearful the whole time she penned the pilot of alienating Superman fans. She wanted to create a fresh series that remained true to the classic character. Robert Butler, who has directed episodes of classic series such as Star Trek: TOS, Hogan's Heroes, Mission: Impossible, and, The Fugitive, was the perfect choice to give the pilot of Lois and Clark the classic Superman feel. The very purpose of Smallville is to appeal to young adults by making Superman soapy in feel rather than maintaining the classic, pulpy spirit of the great superhero.

-Matthew Miller
Find this review and more at tv.swingthesickle.commoreless
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (1)
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- Two versions of this episode aired. The first, the two-hour premiere, aired in September 1993; and the second was the two-part version which aired that December. The two-part version has several scenes that were not in the original version aired in September.
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QUOTES (6)
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- Lois: You are a strange one, Clark Kent. Clark: Am I? Lois: Yeah, but I think I got you figured out. Clark: Really? Lois: Um-hm Clark: Didn't take you very long. Lois: Well, it's my business looking beyond the external. Don't fall for me farm boy. I don't have time for it.
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- Lois: So, explain something to me. You...You eat like an eight-year-old, and you look like Mr. Hardbody. What's your secret, and can I have it?
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- Lois: (staring at Clark, who is shirtless) I said nine. I thought you'd be naked...umm, ready.
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- Cat: I see it, but I don't believe it. Newspaper Worker: What, a man who flies? Cat: No, Lois Lane, finally literally swept off her feet. Too bad he's an alien.
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- Clark: (modeling his Superman outfit for his mother) What do you think? Martha: Well, one thing's for sure, no one's gonna be looking at your face. Clark: Mom! Martha: Well, they don't call 'em tights for nothing!
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- Amy Platt: I like your costume. Superman: Thank you, my mother made it for me.
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NOTES (3)
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- Music Used In This Episode: Holding Out For a Hero by Bonnie Tyler (costume making montage)
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- This episode was nominated for numerous awards: an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing in a Drama Series", a C.A.S. Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television", and a DGA Award for "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Specials".
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- The original script for "The Pilot" had Lex involved in other challenges besides facing the cobra. He was also supposed to fend off an attack from a samurai and be dropped into a shark tank.
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ALLUSIONS (2)
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- Lois: (after Clark calls her a snob) Well, coming from Mr Greenjeans that's really.... Mr Greenjeans is a character from the children's TV show Captain Kangaroo. Mr Greenjeans was a farmer and handyman who wore overalls in green.
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- Costumes: Blue suit with red and white stripes above red briefs ; All red satin with full head cowl. Comic fans may recognise these as nods to Marvel's Captain America and Daredevil. The first suit is very close to the Captain's - with Superman's yellow replacing the white and the lack of a star on the chest. (Captain America was created not long after Superman.) The all-red, head-concealing suit is close to Daredevil's, only lacking his trademark "horns".
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