The All-New Super Friends Hour

The All-New Super Friends Hour
Also known as 'Super Friends II'
Genre Adventure
Animation
Fantasy
Sci-Fi
Created by E. Nelson Bridwell
Carmine Infantino
Julius Schwartz (consultants)
Developed by Dave Gibbons
Gil Kane
Alan Moore
Written by Dick Conway
Willie Gilbert
Orville H. Hampton
Elana Lesser
Duane Poole
Dick Robbins
Cliff Ruby
John Strong
Jeffrey Scott
Mark Jones
Robert Kanigher
Directed by Charles A. Nichols
Creative director(s) Iwao Takamoto
Starring Norman Alden
Michael Bell
Danny Dark
Olan Soule
Casey Kasem
Louise "Liberty" Williams
Shannon Farnon
Narrated by William Woodson
Opening theme Hoyt Curtin
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of episodes 15
Production
Executive producer(s) William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Camera setup George Epperson
Jerry Whittington
Chuck Flekal
Curt Hall
Ron Jackso
Jerry Smith
Running time 60 minutes (including commercials)
Production company(s) Hanna-Barbera Productions
DC Comics
Distributor Taft Broadcasting (original)
Warner Bros. Television Distribution (current)
Release
Original network ABC
Audio format mono
Original release September 10, 1977 – September 2, 1978
Chronology
Preceded by Super Friends (1973 TV series)
Followed by Challenge of the Super Friends

The All-New Superfriends Hour is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from September 10, 1977, to September 2nd, 1978, on ABC. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and is based on the Justice League and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics.

Summary

The popularity of TV's Wonder Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man spurred network interest in reviving the Super Friends program, which had run in the 1973/1974 season. When it was again unveiled in 1977, more young children and teenagers than before tuned in, making The All-New Super Friends Hour a huge ratings success. The success prompted the ABC television network to plan a new and even more innovative series for the fall of 1978.

Characters

In this particular incarnation of the Super Friends, the DC Comic book legends Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman and Aquaman return to fight for justice. However, this time, they get help from the shape-shifting super-teens Zan and Jayna (a.k.a. The Wonder Twins), along with their space-monkey Gleek.

Format

The All-New Super Friends Hour featured four animated shorts per program which followed a basic format each week. The first segment of every show featured two of the heroes (for the purposes of the team-ups in the first and fourth segments, Batman and Robin were considered one hero) teaming up in a separate mini story. The second segment featured a story with the Wonder Twins. The typical plot is that teenagers engage in a specific anti-social activity like vandalism or hitchhiking, and the Twins are summoned to deal with it. Inevitably, the misbehaving teenagers find themselves in danger as a consequence of their misbehavior and the Twins rescue them.

The third segment was considered the "primary" adventure of the week which featured the entire Super Friends roster (including the Wonder Twins) in a longer adventure. The fourth and final segment featured a story with one of the primary lineup along with a special guest star. The fourth segment typically featured a problem which was solved using the guest star's unique abilities. In addition, there were additional short spots between segments with members of the Super Friends giving basic safety lessons, basic health and first aid advice, magic tricks, and a two-part riddle featuring the week's primary plot line.

Syndication/cable

The 15 hour-long shows were later cut into half-hour installments for local syndication in the early 1980s. Episodes from the 1977 series were included in The Superman/Batman Adventures, which aired on the USA Network in 1996 and later on the Cartoon Network and Boomerang Network, which would air the original hour-long shows from 1977 in their entirety (save for the next week's previews) in July 2004 and again in June 2008.

Character lineup

Guests

Black Manta appeared on the episodes "The Whirlpool" and "The Water Beast", where he was referred to simply as "Manta" and his suit color was now olive brown.

Gentleman Ghost appears in the episode titled "Ghost." In this show, he is referred to only as "Gentleman Jim Craddock" instead of "Gentleman Ghost." A man casts a spell to bring Gentleman Ghost to the living so that he can take revenge on Superman and Wonder Woman for imprisoning his spirit. He uses his powers to turn U.N. representatives into ghosts and later turns Superman and Wonder Woman into ghosts. The curse is eventually broken, after which the Super Friends used the mystical Rods of Merlin to send Gentleman Ghost back to his grave, never to return.

List of episodes

Cast

Production credits

Home media releases

Warner Home Video released The All-New Super Friends Hour – Season 1, Volume 1 on DVD[1] on January 8, 2008, containing 7 episodes (28 cartoons). However the episodes are not in the order they originally aired on ABC. On January 27, 2009, Warner released The All-New Super Friends Hour – Season 1, Volume 2 featuring the remaining eight episodes.

DVD name Ep No. Release date
Season 1, Volume 1 7 (28 cartoons) January 8, 2008
Season 1, Volume 2 8 (32 cartoons) January 27, 2009

DC Super Friends

Despite using the main theme from The World's Greatest Super Friends, the 2010 DC Super Friends "The Joker's Playhouse" shares several elements of its opening sequence with The All-New Super Friends Hour including introducing several of the Super Friends by name.[2]

References

  1. Cyrenne, Randall (2008-02-04). "The All-New Super Friends Hour: Season One, Volume One • Animated Views". Animated-views.com. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  2. "DC SUPER FRIENDS™ The Joker's Playhouse DVD Episode | Imaginext | Fisher Price". YouTube. 2011-08-26. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
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