This is part of my weekly Saturday Morning installment dedicated to archiving and commenting on the wonderful “what else can we put in here to make it an hour” ridiculousness that is the cartoon series, Super Friends.
Season 1 – Episode 8: “The Androids”
Airdate was October 27, 1973.
The Super Friends consist of Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Batman, and Robin. Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog are the “Junior Super Friends.” They haven’t made partner yet. They also have no super powers other than Wonder Dog’s ability to almost speak.
Short Synopsis: Some astronauts try to take off to the moon but fail and crash, mysteriously survive and leave the rocket, and Dr. Rebos has left a recorded message that this is a demonstration of his impressive skills (so, the standard nonsensical grandstanding). He demands that all space exploration end, because he thinks we have enough problems to focus on here on earth. Basically, the played out don’t-agree-with-space-travel-so-you-build-androids-to-look-like-other-people-and-sabatoge-the-space-program scheme. There were a lot more actual jokes in this episode than previous ones.
First Acknowledgement of an Alter-Ego
Clark Kent is assigned to cover the next space trip which is good because Superman can also keep tabs. Here he is invading everyone’s privacy while in the company of an awesomely 70s scientist.
Aquaman has Friends, and Don’t You Forget it.
“Aquaman sends out telepathic waves to his undersea world. A school of fish, ALL OF WHOM ARE HIS FRIENDS, stop foraging for food, and, following Aquaman’s instructions, begin gathering seaweed.” – Narrator
WTF Screenshots:
Even sea creatures couldn’t get away from macramé in the 1970s. This is a swordfish weaving with seaweed:
Ok, see if you can follow – this is a screenshot of the villain, pretending to be a reporter, getting a picture taken with Wonder Dog, to whom he has bestowed the fake and prestigious “Dog of the Year” award, but receives a “Cat of the Year” plaque, because that’s all the store had:
Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog, who, you may want to sit down for this, ended up stuck with the villain, are “held prisoner” in the villain’s PLAYROOM:
“Slides and swings? That Rebos must think we’re six years old.” – Marvin
Shut Up, Batman
“Is the chicken soup fresh?” – Batman, ordering a snack from the disguised villains.
Superman Never Has Thin Eyelashes at Home
“I’ve got to glue on these eyelashes real tight, that trip to Mars is a long way.” – Dr. Rebos, while gluing fake eyelashes onto Android Superman. Because, after all your hard work building an entire life-like android of Superman, you don’t want this to happen:
“Are you kidding? That thing wasn’t Superman. Did you SEE his eyelashes? There was no volume, and we all know Superman is the king of butterfly kisses. More like Schmuperman.”
No Comment.
“I think I’ll just hold on to you, double, until you run out of juice.” – Superman, to himself.
Last week, a reader sent me this great link. It’s a defense of Aquaman in song form. Pretty great: Aquaman’s Lament.
If you would like to witness these shenanigans in all their glory, the first season of Super Friends is available on DVD.