Tag: Super Friends

Super Friends Season 2, Episode 12, Storyline D – “The Day of the Rats”

Original Airdate – November 19, 1977

Introduction: “Gotham City, where at this moment a truck, carrying exotic electronic equipment, is about to cause a disaster of unimaginable proportions.” – Narrator

Exotic electronic equipment? So, like, vibrators? This is a kids show!

The truck swerves, a crate falls out, bounces on the road, breaks apart, then the contents: some sort of contraption with a red beeping light at the top, perfectly falls through a manhole and lands in the sewer.

Sewer rats approach the blinking red light, and then their eyes turn red, and then they start running around the city attacking people.

Ok, you all, this episode is actually disturbing. Why? Because mad, frenzied, hungry packs of rats are genuinely frightening. Especially when all the rats are the size of small dogs and want to make a phone call (probably to call more rats).

 

Later, at the Hall of Justice

“Thousands of rats are swarming all over the city, something’s working them into a frenzy,” says the official looking man on the monitor.

“Holy Swiss cheese, Batman!” And a million flesh hungry rats roll their eyes.

This week, Black Vulcan is on the case along with Batman and Robin. This is an upgrade considering he was stuck with Aquaman during his last appearance.

Also, last time I thought his name was Black Falcon, so I apologize to Mr. Vulcan for getting his name wrong.

All these rats are probably under the age of twelve so I bet they paid child prices.

As Batman and Robin approach in their helicopter, they see a swarm of rats rushing into see a movie.

Well, duh. Big Buck$ staring Homer Ambro was only the biggest blockbuster of 1977, of course the frenzied rats would want to see it. Remember that scene when Homer Ambro is all, “I may have big bucks, but that doesn’t mean I have a small heart,” and then he flips that quarter to that kid with the terrible cough living in a dumpster? But it’s really a quarter that’s worth a ton of money to collectors, which is nice and all, but you’re kind of like, “why don’t you just give the kid a lot of actual money or take him to the hospital?” I’m not sure why this movie was so popular now that I think of it.

Anyway, the rats didn’t seem very impressed with the film, so they decide to attack all the other patrons. Well, that patrons in the balcony, specifically.

Batman and Robin try to grappling hook their way to the balcony, but oh no! The rats are chewing the cables!

This leaves Robin perilously hanging from the balcony, and right before he plummets to his death and is eaten by rats, Batman swoops in and saves him.

Black VULCAN then throws a lightning bolt at the rats and wrangles them into a “lightning fence,” keeping them from the balcony people. And then he’s all, “now we have to find out what’s causing the rats to go berserk,” as if he’s corralled all of them. NO YOU DIDN’T, Black Vulcan,

There are at most 35 rats right there. I believe the number was “thousands.” So, either nobody in the Super Friends universe knows how to count, or, no, that’s probably it.

Let’s Solve a Rat Mystery!

“According to the Bat Computer read out, a high pitched electronic sound wave is disturbing the rats.”

If it’s that easy, why didn’t they just split up and have one of them working on the cause? Oh, there I go, backseat superheroing again.

Robin notices that a newspaper has a headline related to this issue:

You can always count on the Daily Banner for the hard-hitting, detailed, important news in Gotham City.

“Later, at the New 200 Story Gotham Hotel” – Narrator

They even sprung for a sign:

Boy are they going to be kicking themselves when the next 200 story hotel gets built.

A swarm of rats show up. Ok, so they didn’t assume they got them all? It’s almost like  there wasn’t much thought put into any of this.

Black Vulcan is off to rush through the sewers to find the exotic electronic device, and Batman and Robin race to the hotel, where it’s reported that the rats are making their way to the ballroom.

At this point, I’m getting sad that the rats aren’t going to win.

At the ballroom, they chase a bunch of well dressed people into the elevator, where the elevator then overloads, and Batman and Robin stop it from crashing to the ground with their bat accessories.

Back at the sewer

Black Vulcan has found the electronic device.

He then throws a couple of bolts and shorts out the device, returning all the rats to their normal, still terrifying selves.

Health Segment

This is a very 1970s message about how to properly get a base tan so you don’t burn on your first attempt in the sun. Aquaman tells us to slowly build our sun exposure as we build a nice tan. We may even need to use sunscreen those first couple of times.

 

If you would like to see these shenanigans for yourself, Season 2 is available on DVD.

This week it’s time to visit the Super Friends Magic Theater again!

Batman and Robin are here to teach us a trick, standing strangely side by side like a couple of robots:

Robin is showing us the “Mysterious Egg Trick,” and he needs a purse from the audience.

Wait, the audience? What? They’ve never had an audience before. I think this is an elaborate cover up to disguise the fact that we all know damn well that Batman and Robin own purses, I mean, “utility belts.”

“Robin tells me that he will empty the purse and then, after showing that the purse is empty, he will mysteriously find an egg in that purse.” – Batman, needing something to do, so he describes in excruciating detail exactly what we are about to see.

Actually, I found a much more interesting magic trick:

1. Robin empties the purse on to the table:

 

2. And then, when they cut to the wide shot – ALL OF HER SHIT IS GONE:

MAGIC!!!!

And, just as Batman prophesied, an egg magically appears in the purse.

How did they do it?

“Before Robin even announced the trick, he gave me an egg.” – Batman

When Batman was checking to see that the purse was empty, HE was adding the egg! Amazing.

But here’s the kicker. Robin exclaims that they better get back to the show (the actual stories where they’re supposed to be saving people and things), and then they LITERALLY DISAPPEAR.

So you’ll teach us how to place an egg in a purse but an actual cool trick isn’t on the table, just like the volunteer’s purse contents. Whatever.

Also, shouldn’t you use a boiled egg? I think that would be an important tidbit to pass on to the small children who may try this trick.  But what do I know – I can’t magically vanish into thin air THANKS TO A CERTAIN CRIME FIGHTING DUO.

If you would like to see these shenanigans for yourself, Season 2 is available on DVD.

One million years ago, I posted part one of The Lionmen.

Here’s what happened in the first half of the story in case you forgot.

….A bunch of scientists tell the Super Friends that if they “got enough of the elements needed” they could make a “negative lens” to counteract the one that Lionex is using to split the Earth in to five delicious slices.

They only have two hours, MAYBE THREE, if they can slow down Lionex’s machine. Generally, if the Super Friends have hours to do something, they usually picnic or floss their teeth until about 10 minutes before the deadline, but this time they actually do fill the two-three hours with doing stuff.

When you need to be incognita, become a giant space amoeba.

Batman laments that they won’t be able to get back on the satellite Lionex has taken over, but Jayna has a plan! The Lionmen won’t think twice about a floating giant space amoeba! I didn’t really know much about these Giant Space Amoebas, so I looked them up. Here’s one it it’s natural habitat.

Zan informs us that “space amoebas are very common in their part of the universe.” Ok, thanks, Zan. Wonder Woman likes this plan because the amoeba is large enough to conceal Zan, Gleek, and herself.

The rest of the Super Friends go out in search of rare elements.

By the way, this is the status of the Earth

Oh, yeah, that’ll slide right back into place with no real repercussions at all. No problem.

Back to the Amoeba

“We’re as close as we can get to the space station, we’ll travel inside Jayna from here.” – Wonder Woman, creating all new nightmares for us all.

I warn you, you can’t unsee this:

That right there would be the last piece left in a Whitman’s Sampler.

As predicted, the Lionmen were not worried about the lavender butt with warts space amoeba.

They all make it on board and can initiate Operation Slow Down the Lionmen’s Machine or Something.

Gleek really Gleeks up the plan.

Wonder Woman manages to capture Lionex in a soundproof room that also has the  communication system in it.

Wonder Woman uses the “Justice League Voice Duplicator” to get on the loudspeaker and tell everyone in Lionex’s voice to cease operations and turn off the Strata Ray. And it would have worked if it wasn’t for a stupid blue space monkey and his tail. He switches on the camera and everyone sees the Wonder Woman behind the curtain.

Wonder Woman is then hit with a freeze ray and Lionex orders the Strata Ray turned back on at double power. Way to go, guys!

Truth Beam

“Wonder Woman is interrogated with a truth beam and forced to reveal the plans to build an anti-lens” – Narrator

Lionex then dispatches his men to stop the Super Friends from finding the rare elements.

Sorry, guys.

Everyone defeats their Lionmen and then there’s a scene that looks like Superman is going to return some kittens to the pet store because Batman, Robin, and Aquaman aren’t ready for the responsibility.

There’s a lot of discussing the plans – Superman is going to turn the Lionmen into the authorities and then visit the scientists to get the anti-lens and the others are going to the space station to turn of the kryptonite force field. It’s not the most exciting of scenes, but it is nice to actually see them try and coordinate and plan every once in awhile.

Or, you could…

Back at the space station, Lionex is petrifying Wonder Woman in some sort of contraption and promises to display her in a museum back home. He leaves the room and The Wonder Twins hatch a plan to save her.

 

And it’s nicely wrapped up like some superheroes in a giant space amoeba.

Superman makes it to the space station with minutes to spare, plugs in the anti-lens, and it magically puts the Earth back together like it hadn’t been completely ripped apart.

Wait, as far as I could tell, they gave Lionex a lecture and then sent him on his merry way back to his galaxy. Say what? I guess they couldn’t stand to see that fabulous head of hair behind bars.

If you would like to see these shenanigans for yourself, Season 2 is available on DVD.

Super Friends Season 2, Episode 12, Storyline C – “The Lionmen”

Original Airdate – November 19, 1977

This one is the third storyline of the episode, which means it is the bulk of the hour. Guess what? I don’t have my act together enough to do all of “The Lionmen” so rather than go two weeks without a Super Friends post, I’m splitting them up into parts 1 and 2. It is NOT because this one is particularly epic or has so much material to work with, it is because I do not have the attention span to finish it today. So, with that…

Introduction:  “Deep in space, in a distant galaxy, lies a strange, ominous planet where a frightening business agreement is being made.” – Narrator

Here, we see a round table of various aliens. Their ringleader (HA HA – you’ll get it once I mention he’s a lion) is a lion man. This lionman (named Lionex) is proposing that he will split up Earth into equal sections and each representative gets something they want:

Good luck with the distribution of the separate ice and water, bros.

The best part of this whole episode (three seconds in, so it was a hard twenty more minutes) was a cameo by the Plant Creatures from a previous episode.

It was so inspiring – they seem to have learned to speak perfect English instead of grunting all the time and have obviously taken some business classes and learned to read and write. I think we can all learn something from their drive and determination.

Just to be clear about Lionex’s plan, he’s a-literally a-gonna splita the whole a-planet into a-five pieces a-like a pizza pie, mamma mia!

That means there’s shit everyone wants in every slice, which means there will have to be a bunch of swapping and negotiations like when a group has to pay one restaurant bill instead of just splitting it up into separate bills. But I’m not a fancy talking lion so what do I know.

“There is some form of lower intelligence. You can use them as slaves or eliminate them altogether. I believe they are called, ‘Earthlings.'” Lionex is ALL business, bitches.

 “Later, miles above the earth in a sophisticated space station.” – Narrator

Not one of those trashy space stations where it’s all cigarette butts and strippers.

The Lionmen take over the sophisticated space station to use it to dispense their “strata ray” to split the earth up.

A note on Lionmen culture and heritage.

We don’t learn much about the Lionmen and their life back on their home planet, but I did gather this little tidbit: the leader gets to have a glorious Tina Turner-like mane of hair:

And then the underlings get underling pageboys:

Something to aspire to, I guess.

The worst kept secret

Superman just happened to be flying in space when the distress call came through. But, Lionex has done his homework, he has prepared a Kryptonite force field which prevents Superman from boarding and screwing everything up from inside the space station.

Lionex starts the strata ray up and begins the process of making individual serving sizes of Earth.

Batman says they have to figure out a way to get on the space station and Aquaman exclaims, “And that calls for a super plan!” A super plan? Well then we’re all screwed.

Phase 1 of the “Super Plan”

Superman causes a distraction by repeatedly hitting the force field with an iron shield while Wonder Woman, Batman, and Robin sneak on board.

“Holy Circuses, lion men!” – Robin

“Suffering subdivisions!” – Robin, after overhearing their Earth splitting plan. Robin is on a roll.

And, in case you were wondering about the nitty gritty science behind splitting the Earth in to 5 bite-sized pieces, Batman breaks it down for us: “They’re shooting a harmless light beam through that huge gem lens, and the lens is creating the Earth-splitting ray.”

The Lion Men catch them casually milling around the gem like there’s no danger whatsoever and start trying to shoot them with freeze rays. Robin manages to get a sample of the lens and then they get out of there. That went surprisingly well.

Everyone meets back at the Hall of Justice and concludes that their superpowers are no match for the ray and the only option is to analyze the lens sample and then create like, I don’t know an antidote lens or something.

WILL they do whatever they think they’re going to do with that lens?

DOES Lionex have the power to rip the Earth apart?

WHO will screw up the most in the next phases of the plan? (Gleek)

DO you give a shit?

Until next week…

Super Friends Season 2, Episode 12, Storyline B – “Pressure Point”

Original Airdate – November 19, 1977

Safety Segment

Aquaman, if you’re going to help some kid clean and adjust his roller skates, GET OUT OF THE FREAKIN’ WATER to do it.

Maybe he’s standing on the backs of a couple of catfish, but still – just get out of the water.

Synopsis: “A hot sun burns over the desert at Barren Hills, where a young motorcyclist may make his last jump.” – Narrator

We are then introduced to a bunch of svelt, attractive teenagers:

And….Jerry:

Oh, that Jerry! He thinks he can make it up the same hill one of the other teens just conquered, but HE’S JERRY – of course he can’t! He tries anyway and everyone laughs at him.

I wonder if he was the inspiration for Parks and Recreation’s Jerry.

Anyway, their ridicule fuels Jerry to decide to try and jump Rattlesnake Ravine. What a doofus! One of the other teens alerts the Wonder Twins.

We are then treated to a stupid scene of Zan, Jayna, and Gleek ice skating. How do they afford all this recreation? Are they paid by the Justice League?

Back to Jerry the Jerk who thinks he can Jump.

“Don’t do it, Jerry!” cries one onlooking cool teen.

“You can kill yourself!” yells another in a more encouraging tone than I think was intended.

The Wonder Twins arrive just in time to find Jerry in mid-air plummeting to his death.

I know this will shock you, but I take issue with something in this episode.

Zan then throws himself down the ravine in water form, and then announces that he wants to become – “FORM OF, GELATIN DESSERT!”

Unless Jayna became a horse and then they ground her up to make gelatin, I’m calling bullshit. Ice bridge? Ice crowbar? Ice cage? Fine, whatever, they’re made of ice. GELATIN is not a form of water. BOOOOOO BOOOOO, Super Friends.

Also, NO:

Jello  Gelatin dessert wiggles a little bit, it does not completely absorb the shock of a plummeting inept teenage motorcyclist.

But that’s not all, Jerry! Your humiliation continues!

“That’s what I call a super scooper super scoop!” – Jayna, in the form of a giant pelican, who doesn’t understand the concept of shame.

If you would like to see these shenanigans for yourself, Season 2 is available on DVD.