stumpmee77
Rating just the 1st series 4 for the 4 regular heroes--some which got a raw deal and the twins.I was 11 years old when the 1st Super Friends series came out and I distinctly recall hating Wendy Marvin & Wonderdog passionately--everyone in my house hated them. We tuned in the WMWD era in hopes it they would improve as in being more worthwhile having around they never did. Number of best episodes (as in tolerable) containing their involvement: 2. They ruined the 1st year; a year that would've been decent without them. Lone positive 4 me being introduced to Wonder Woman. They were smart enough to limit her interaction with the crappy trio.30+ years hindsight has changed my prospective over these first add-on characters somewhat. Wendy wasn't all that bad. She had a slightly above average intelligence. What dragged her character down & as said before 1st season in its entirety: being saddled with the most ugly, stupid teen guy with pet characters in that HB era. It was inferred Wendy wasn't related to Marvin so why in DC Comics was she hanging with the goof? She's endeavoring improving his brain? Dream on. Marvin should been give some sort of super powers besides super stupidity justifying his being in contact with the JLA. Wearing the cruddy cape a even cruddier shirt he's a no power kid who in his a lobotomized brain thinks its forever Halloween.Rip off Scooby Wonder Dog is nothing short of offensive of his predecessor. Scooby Doo was a coward, a glutton but he had a brain. They tried making Wonder Joke useful; goofy charades, running for help--nothing helped; all I saw was ugly. When he did the quizzical thing with his brow and opened his yap (sounding very close to Scobby). Grr.And they wasted so much screen time on these kids versus the Superheroes. Instead of lots of screen time spent on the real heroes by themselves, figuring out how to fight the villains, save people, mouth ecology tips--a ton that 1st season--Tell me why were they dealing with the three of them? Did they win some meet JLA superheroes and all took pity on Marvin and Wonder Dog? Almost turned smart heroes to laughing stocks. Batman babysitter chauffeurs on regular basis. Aquaman eating Wendy's buttermilk biscuits--thinking this scene through i haven't seen it since the 70s still makes my teeth clench. Still.When they took them out I deigned it a blessing and believe you me i didn't spend a second missing them. The Twins and monkey were a tad of an improvement. They struck me as real junior super friends oftentimes messing up using their powers; they needed help.
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.
comic207
OK, it was a kids show. I accept that. That's why they didn't want to scare kids with bloodthirsty villains like Lex Luthor and the Joker and instead used well-intentioned mad scientists so that kids could learn about right and wrong. ;-)I only remember a few scenes from the first season before they were rerun years later. First introduced to Wonder Woman and Aquaman. During reruns, I saw that there were guest appearances by Green Arrow and Plastic Man. There was even one with the Blackhawks, but I haven't seen it yet.The thing that really irks me was Wendy and Marvin. Never really liked them. And Wonder Dog was a Scooby-Doo wannabe, let's face it!Some think it's a classic, some think it's crap. I like to think of the first season as a prototype for the real thing to come, right up to "Justice League."
mfleming44
The first time I became aware of this show was when I was sent the highly circulated "wassup" parody of the short-lived budweiser commercial. I thought at the time that the dialog from that short would be far worse than the actual show. Well, it's not. This is one of the worst written shows I have ever seen, and I mean that in a good way. This show is so bad it's good. I can't believe it lasted for as long as it did. Every episode has an absolutely preposterous story that ends with Superman saving all the other useless superfriends. Why is anyone else on the team? In this version Superman has so many powers it's ridiculous, good thing for the villains that there's a bountiful supply of Kryptonite around. At any rate, the standard show comprises of a crisis being called into the Hall of Justice at which point the superfriends formulate a stupid plan and a bunch of them head out. Why? Superman should just say "Nah, I got it." and be back in 5 minutes. So, if you like cheesy garbage and like to laugh check out superfriends if you get a chance. 9/10 or 1/10
