In our first Episode, Super-fans Henry Bernstein and Professor Sam Brody talk about Superman on TV. What's worked? What hasn't? Henry shares his top 5 lists of Superman things on tv!

Henry's Top 5 Superman on TV:

Top five best shows Overall:
Superman The Animated Series
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
The Adventures of Superman (George Reeves)
Ruby Spears’ The Adventures of Superman

Best Theme Music:
Ruby Spears’ The Adventures of Superman (John Williams Theme)
Superman: The Animated Series
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Smallville (Save Me)
Superboy

Metropolis:
The Adventures of Superman (1950’s)
Lois and Clark
The Animated Series
Smallville
Ruby Spears Superman

Best Super-suit:
Superboy (Season 2)
Lois and Clark (Season 2-4)
Adventures of Superman (Color season)
The Animated Series
Ruby Spears Superman

Superman:
Tim Daly (TAS)
George Newbern(JL, JLU)
Bud Collyer (60’s NAoS)
Gerard Christopher (Superboy Season 2-4)
George Reeves (50’s TAoS)

Clark Kent:
Dean Cain (L&C:NAoS)
George Reeves (50’s TAoS)
Gerard Christopher (Superboy Season 2-4)
Tim Daly (TAS)
Beau Weaver (Ruby Spears)

Lois Lane:
Teri Hatcher (L&C:NAoS)
Erica Durance (Smallville)
Dana Delany (TAS, JL, JLU)
Noelle Neil (50’s TAoS)
Joan Alexander (Ruby Spears)

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Henry and Sam talk about their overall impressions of the Pilot episode. What worked, what didn't, did you catch all the Superman references?

Overall thoughts on the premier:
Thumbs up Thumbs down?
I loved it. I watched it twice, it might be the closest to what I think of as Superman.

What they got right:
Bitsie Tulloch might be the best Lois of all time. I love how cool but kind she was to Clark at their first meeting. She seems like a great mom and a great partner. Very contemplative, thoughtful, planful.
Tyler was really solid. I’ve enjoyed his Clark/Superman in the crossovers and was wondering if he could pull it off here. His Clark is exactly how 90’s comics Clark is. A little clumsy yet confident, cool but nerdy in a sweet way, loves Lois but is chill about it. Great emotional scenes and really surprised me as a powerful yet relatable Superman
It was more cinematic, serious and less cheesy than previous Arrowverse shows. Tonaly it seemed completely different than Supergirl.
Real visual fx shots, wires and rigs not just cgi.
Twins were good. I didn’t think I’d care about their scenes but I did. Even though the switcheroo on the powers was kinda telegraphed, I still liked it.
Smallville as kind of a rundown town and not just a perfectly preserved 1950’s hometown
I didn’t think I would like it, but Sam Lane as an ally who knows the secret was cool. At odds with Lois, but not with Clark. Different.
LOVE Clark’s vulnerability.

What they got wrong or what I hope will get better:
I missed the hustle and bustle of the Daily Planet with Perry and Jimmy, but I get what they’re doing. The beginning though, just seemed like a high rise call center. Not so much a bullpen.
It was weird to me when Lois tells Clark he had to stay home and not be Superman, but it worked for the moment.
I prefer my Clark to have parents who are alive. But let’s see where this goes.
Cutting to Clark getting fired and not seeing the scene was weird.
Lana isn’t really working for me yet, and I know he’s a heel but the husband just seems too unlikeable. Let’s see. It’s not Lana Lang. It’s a different character. Kinda like Mechad Brooks on Supergirl.
I’m concerned that Morgan Edge will just be a stand-in for Luthor...The whole bank/Lana thing just seemed dumb.
The router up high so they could set up the accident was ridiculous! How and why would Martha have done that?
The music, or lack of it. It wasn’t as inspiring as I had hoped, and there was no theme. I hear that’s coming next week but I want my Superman to start with a rousing theme that can also be played during heroics.
How OLD are Lois and Clark? When Crisis reset and their babies became twin teens did the grownups age up too?
I would’ve preferred Clark telling the twins the secret before they busted him. Even if they had the same reaction. Have they never seen their dad without glasses?
The sliding scale of powers/vulnerability to Kryptonite. How was he able to just pull the kryptonite out?

Superman Reference/Easter Eggs that I caught"
Action #1/Fleisher homage
“My mom made it for me” (For All Seasons)
Superman lifting ice was the same shot as Superman Returns with kryptonite land mass. And using an iceberg is from Superman III
Donner, Siegel/Shuster 1938 on the blackboard
Steve Lombard
Foswell
Injustice 2
Jordan is Jor El
Doc Fry (Superman The Movie, Pa’s dr.)
Shuster Mines
Lana Mentioning “Superwoman”
Superman in space was another shot from Superman Returns

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In this episode Henry is joined by longtime friend and teen educator Daniel Warshawsky to talk about how mental health, and teen anxiety is being portrayed on Superman & Lois.

SHOW NOTES:
Episode 2, “Heritage” written by Todd Helbing, Directed by Lee Toland Krieger

“While adjusting to their new lives in Smallville, Lois and Clark make an important decision concerning one of their sons; tensions begin to rise between Lois and Morgan Edge; Lana Lang Cushing invites the Kent family over for a barbecue.Jonathan has his first day on the Smallville football team but discovers that the other players aren't thrilled to have him. Clark takes Jordan to the Fortress of Solitude to study his son's newfound powers, and Lois is on the trail about Smallville's supposed benefactor, Morgan Edge.”

We’re not going to talk about everything that happened in the episode but let’s talk about the theme for a bit. As I mentioned in our first episode the Superman theme is important to me. First of all, there really was just a snippet of it in the opening scene.

The new theme:
I didn’t love it. I thought it fit the tone of the show. It was slow, contemplative, and fit the slowed down lifestyle that the Kents have now. But it didn’t get me excited. It didn’t pop, it didn’t soar, it didn’t say “Superman.” Reminded me of the MoS theme which, in my opinion never really went anywhere.

Overall:

I really loved it. I had the same goofy grin on my face that I had last week. There was no cheesiness, nothing cringy. There was high quality acting, solid writing, and a compelling story.

The Production:
The high level of production value continued. This episode felt just as cinematic. The scenes on the farm were gorgeous, Lois walking into the town hall felt important and Superman’s action scenes were exciting. The tone continues to feel different from the other CW shows. I actually watched The Flash right after, and while I did enjoy it it did feel sillier than usual.

The fortress:
The look of the fortress was great. Felt familiar but wasn’t a retread of previous versions. Definitely an upgrade from the Fortress in Crisis last year.

Jor-El:
Forgive me but I don’t want to see a Jor-El that’s in worse shape than me. He also looked NOTHING like Tyler Hoechlin. If you’re going to do an homage or style similar to Superman The Movie, then go all the way. He just was boring and lame.

Lois Lane:
This was Lois’ episode to shine, and boy did she ever. Having her frame the episode with a voice over was perfect because you could imagine that she was writing this somewhere. Maybe in a journal, maybe in an article but it felt real. “You don’t go to the news, the news goes to you”
The way Bitsie moved through the episode as intrepid reporter, loyal partner and super-mom was beautiful. I squealed with delight when she walked into town hall and when she walked into the Smallville Gazette I exclaimed out loud, “OHHHH SHIT!”

Sam Lane:
In the comics, specifically from 1986 and on, Sam is adversarial to both Clark and Superman. Doesn’t think Clark is tough enough to marry his daughter, and doesn’t like how potentially dangerous Superman is and therefore doesn’t trust him. I like this twist where he’s Superman’s support network but still questions Clark as a husband and as a dad.

Clark:
Clark is still struggling as a dad and even when he has a small victory with Jordan. The up and down experience of parenting, specifically teens, is very real. Let’s talk a bit about this with Daniel.

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