Super Friends Season 2, Episode 9, Storyline D – “Volcano”
Original Airdate – October 29, 1977
Short Synopsis: First, there was a magic trick, but it was the most boring thing – Superman makes it look like he cut an envelope AND a strip of paper in half but really it was just the envelope. See aren’t you already bored? So we’ll just move on to the story…
This week’s segment has a guest superhero: Samurai, who was actually created for the cartoon shows, like the Wonder Twins. Sorry, Samurai.
“Speeding through the vastness of outer space, a strange craft from another planet rockets off course with it’s engines failing.” Narrator
Aboard is an intergalactic Green Man Group:
“We are headed straight for a planet called ‘Earth'” exclaims one. What, you mean you don’t know about us? Well, let me tell you, we’re the best and worst place ever, I’ll have you know!
“Seconds later, the strange vessel hurtles into the steaming vent of an active volcano, where it slowly begins to sink in the hot molten llllllava.” – Narrator. Ain’t that a bitch.
Later, at the Super Friends Headquarters
They are told of the spaceship by some government/NASA dude and Superman and Samurai are on the case. “Using the powers of the mind” Samurai is able to turn into “the wind.” It looks like this:
See, kids? You can do anything you set your power of the mind to.
And then, once he’s on the move, he looks like a windsock with a head:
Back at the spaceship.
I guess they can’t breathe our air because they’ve decided to stay in the spaceship in the lava (that’s not true, at the end they’re outside, perfectly fine). One says that if they can’t get the ship out, they’ll die – NO ASKING FOR HELP. Ha ha, jokes on you, you’re already gonna get some “help” whether you like it or not!
“A flying earth being is headed straight for us!” They do what any logical person would do if they saw the Super Friends version of Superman flying toward them – they activate their defense beam.
Superman can’t get past the beam and Samurai attempts to contact the aliens with a radio (WHERE on that costume he’s been keeping a radio, I have no idea). He tells them they’re only here to help, and like any reasonable person or alien, the aliens are like, “uh, no.”
So, Samurai comes up with a plan. “Calling out the Japanese words for ‘invisible,’ Samurai slowly disappears.” – Narrator
I don’t speak Japanese, so I have no idea if he actually said the words (plural) for invisible.
Then, he pulls a bunch of rope (sorry, “cable”) out his short-shorts!
Just because something is invisible doesn’t mean it doesn’t take up space. So unrealistic.
Sorry, aliens, you’re getting help.
Invisible Samurai lands on the craft sets off the sensors, which, according to the Green Man in charge, “never lie.” Not even in molten hot lava? He’s right, of course, and they press one of many yellow buttons and Samurai comes down a tube and reveals himself. I mean reveals himself as a formerly invisible person, not reveals his, you know…
The ship sinks under the lava as Superman watches helplessly because he still can’t get past the defense beams. He contacts Samurai on the radio:
Samurai says he has a plan, and his plan is to pretend to be fire, then sneak out of the tube and then press a button. Yeah, I don’t know. There’s a kerfuffle, and the alien accidentally turns off the defense beams and Superman pulls them out. It was really edge-of-your-seat stuff.
“Now that your spacecraft is repaired, you can safely return to space!” – Superman
Superman obviously has no interest in where these things are actually from, who they are, or what they are up to.
The Green Guy says he’s sorry for not trusting them and “at least now we have friends on Earth.” Then, Superman says, as they’re flying away, “and we have friends in space!”
No names, addresses, or phone numbers, just a general idea that they live in space. Superman is a great friend.
Health Segment
A child is trying to win a carnival game (baseball and stacked bottles one), he throws and misses. Wonder Woman tells him to try another and he says he can’t win because his eyesight is blurry and Wonder Woman tells him to always let his parents know if his vision changes.
Notice, however, that she does not inform him that carnival games are notoriously rigged. They can’t be expected to cover more than one topic, what are they, superheroe-oh, wait.
I’m betting Wonder Woman is co-owner of this carnival game. It doesn’t matter if he gets glasses, she’s still gonna get his 10 cents (that’s how much it costs, how times have changed!).
If you would like to see these shenanigans for yourself, Season 2 is available on DVD.
Didn’t Mr.Clean turn into a whirlwind before cleaning your floors and countertops years ago? Perhaps he was the inspiration for Samurai, although without Samurai’s six-pack and impressive..um…package.
The radio was hidden in his topknot. Have you never stuck a pencil or something through the elastic on your ponytail?
I was thinking it was in his shoulder pads but you may be right.
*internal dialogue from Superman* – “I’m going to throw my agent into a supernebula. I knew this Superfriends gig would be bad. I mean, yeah, I get to hang with Wonder Woman, but good grief everyone else is a loser.”
When people actively drowning in lava try really hard to reject your help, you know you’re in trouble.
You have to understand the poor aliens’ side – LOOK at them, they are test dummies from space, crashing hard into things for eventual retrieval by their makers is their reason of being! 😀
I think you’re right, Wonder Woman must own that game — she wields the Lasso of Truth and the Bear-trap of Selective Information, right?
The Tiara of I Didn’t Lie Because You Didn’t Ask Me Directly.
Thanks for the wiki link about Samurai. Poor guy has a pretty crappy origin story too. Bummer, dude.
For some reason, when he was the windsock with a head, he reminded me of Haku the dragon from “Spirited Away.”
I’m sure the makers of Spirited Away were heavily influenced by the Super Friends.
It looks like the aliens might be doing all this stuff while wearing pajamas. You got to admire that.
I do, I also admire them for stubbornly refusing help. Maybe they didn’t want help because people would find out they left the house in their pajamas?
Samurai does actually speak Japanese properly, although perhaps not with the most convincing accent. And sporting a hairstyle that is about 100 years out of date.
Well, I’m glad he speaks proper Japanese. He does need a makeover.