Legends of the Superheroes

Worst. Superhero. Show. Ever.

I recently got to watch Legend of the Superheroes. What's that, you ask? It's two specials for a Justice-League-esque team featuring Adam West as Batman, Burt Ward as Robin, and Frank Gorshin as the Riddler (all from the classic Batman TV show)! While these two specials were horrible, I did like the cast of characters they presented. I thought the production crew did a nice job with costumes and casting for the heroes, Captain Marvel, The Flash, Black Canary, Green Lantern, The Huntress, Hawkman, Robin, and The Atom even puts in a guest appearance. (Batman's costume, however, looks worse than it did in the Batman TV show!) For some of these characters, LotS represents their first live-action appearance... for others, it's the only one!

As far as villains go I was less familiar with many of them. Solomon Grundy, Sinistro, The Weather Wizard, Dr. Sivana, Mordru, Giganta, and the Riddler try (sometimes) to destroy the world, or, failing that - get a laugh.

This show doesn't even take itself seriously and it is intended to be funny. It even has a laugh track. It puts the heroes in absolutely ridiculous situations to get a laugh, perhaps by pointing out how ridiculous it is to run around in a costume fighting villains. In the first episode, Batman and Robin negotiate for a used car, Green Lantern buys lemonade from a roadside stand, Captain Marvel visits a shrink (on a couch sitting outside in the middle of nowhere...), and Mordru, the old wizard, uses a jet ski of all things. While none of this is actually funny or even very interesting, it is absurd which seemed to be the intent of the creators.

In the second special, all pretense of continuity or story is thrown out the window as Ed McMahon hosts a roast of the heroes inside the heroes secret base. One villain after another makes an appearance not to fight but to tell jokes. Hawkman's mother shows up at one point, as do the "heroes," Retired Man (formerly the Scarlet Cyclone) and Ghetto Man (who's battle cry is Kareem!). 

 All told, there's little redeeming quality to LotS... it's a humorous footnote in Superhero media history. The only reason to watch it is so you can say to your friends, "So, have you ever seen Legends of Superheroes?"

1LR Review - 3 out of 20 - Total Failure!