World's Greatest Super Friends

It's no secret that my favorite cartoon growing up was the Super Friends. Back in the seventies, we didn't have a DVR, TIVO, or even a VHS, so a kid had to make sure that he caught all the episodes. And I had a deep-rooted fear of missing any episode.

These days I have the entire series of Super Friends, nine season spanning twelve years, available digitally and fed to the screen through my Apple TV. Any childhood memory can be summoned in an instant.

Except for one season. One miserable season. One season containing only eight episodes from 1979. It's been killing me.

The thing is, this show is currently being broadcast on various cable channels devoted to nostalgic TV or cartoons. So it's not like that season has been lost to the winds of time. But I've been monitoring iTunes and the DVD news watching for this season to be released for awhile now.

Finally! Finally. On April 23rd this season went on sale as a Target exclusive, and now I have it.


There is not one single original thing happening in these eight cartoons. Nothing mind-blowing at all. Each story is heavily lifted from other source material. It's the most derivative season of the show. (Yes Bill, I did look up 'derivative' to make sure I was using it correctly.)

BUT... but... it's also the most memorable of the Super Friends offerings. Except for perhaps the Challenge of the Super Friends, no other season sticks out in my mind so much. This could be because there were only eight episodes, therefore each episode was rerun several times through the year. Or it could be the derivative nature of the material that makes it so memorable.


The Super Friends end up fighting the genie from Aladdin's lamp.


The Super Friends get changed into hobbits and go on a Lord of the Rings style quest.


I always loved this one for several reasons. It showcases Luthor as the main villain. It was rare that the show would use actual DC villains outside of the Challenge of the Super Friends season. And Luthor ends up winning, but has to release the Super Friends in order to save his own butt. With the touch of a button, the Super Friends are freed, much butt is kicked, and the Earth is saved once again.


The Super Friends fight Captain Nemo. This one is interesting because it uses characters from the bottle city of Kandor.


Easily one of my favorites, despite Aquaman not being present. The Super Friends start fighting Frankenstein's monster. But by the end of the episode Dr. Frankenstein has sapped all their powers into a new monster. And it's up to a powered-up Robin to save the day.

Dr. Sims: "You don't understand! If you use this machine, it could kill you!"

Superman: "I'm afraid it's you who doesn't understand, Doctor Sims. We're GOING to use it."


This one has Batman fighting a space knight with a light saber in a castle on another planet. Glorious. How could one forget an episode with Superman as the Black Knight?


Perhaps the best remembered episode of Super Friends. Superman switches places with an evil counterpart from another dimension. We get to see the evil Super Friends. Including Pirate Aquaman before Peter David made it a reality in the 1990's.


I think this picture speaks for itself.

So yeah... my collection is complete. It's time to hit the couch with the kids and boggle my mind at light saber Batman, hobbit Wonder Woman, super-Robin, evil Superman, and scarecrow Aquaman. And get transported to 1979 all over again.

Thanks,
DCD