"Challenge of the SuperFriends" (1978)TV series

Writers:

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

8 September 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Family | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The Justice League of America battles the plots of the supervillian team, the Legion of Doom.

Plot Keywords:

DC Comics | Justice League | Superheroine | Superhero | Based On Comic

Cast

Danny Dark	...	Superman / ... (16 episodes, 1978)
Shannon Farnon	...	Wonder Woman (16 episodes, 1978)
Stan Jones	...	Lex Luthor / ... (16 episodes, 1978)
Casey Kasem	...	Robin / ... (16 episodes, 1978)
Michael Rye	...	Green Lantern / ... (16 episodes, 1978)
Olan Soule	...	Batman / ... (16 episodes, 1978)
Jack Angel	...	Hawkman / ... (15 episodes, 1978)
William Callaway	...	Aquaman, Bizarro / ... (14 episodes, 1978)
Ted Cassidy	...	Black Manta / ... (14 episodes, 1978)
Vic Perrin	...	Sinestro (14 episodes, 1978)
Marlene Aragon	...	Cheetah (10 episodes, 1978)
Buster Jones	...	Black Vulcan (10 episodes, 1978)
Stanley Ralph Ross	...	Gorilla Grodd / ... (10 episodes, 1978)
Dick Ryal	...	Captain Cold (9 episodes, 1978)
Don Messick	...	Scarecrow / ... (8 episodes, 1978)
Frank Welker	...	Toyman (8 episodes, 1978)
Jimmy Weldon	...	Solomon Grundy (7 episodes, 1978)
Michael Bell	...	The Riddler (6 episodes, 1978)
Ruth Forman	...	Giganta (5 episodes, 1978)

Runtime:

30 min (16 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-Y7

Company:

Hanna-Barbera Productions

Trivia:

Dick Ryal gave Captain Cold a quavering voice in the first episode, evidently to suggest that he was, in fact, cold. He dropped this affectation in subsequent episodes.

Goofs:

Continuity: In "Trial of the Super Friends", Black Manta and Bizarro are in two places at once. They appear at the trial in the Hall of Doom, while at the same time, they're at the government base stealing the "liquid light".

Quotes:

Narrator: Banded together from remote galaxies are thirteen of the most sinister villians of all time, The Legion of Doom. Dedicated to a single objective, the conquest of the Universe! Only one group dares to challenge this intergalactic threat, The Super Friends! The Justice League of America versus The Legion of Doom! This is the Challenge of The Super Friends!

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Duck Dodgers: The Green Loontern (#1.9)" (2003)

One of those "had to see" series

After watching all these heroes I had never seen before (Green Lantern, the Flash, the Atom, Hawkman and Hawkgirl), the thought of an ongoing series which regularly featured them thrilled me. I had to be on my best behavior or risk being banned from the TV and therefore missing an episode.

I enjoyed the show, but looking back on Cartoon Network reruns saw quite a few flaws in the characterization and details. For example, Green Lantern was able to deflect some of the yellow-colored attacks posed against him, and sometimes he could. At the time, as GL fans know, his ring was always powerless against anything colored yellow. They also committed the same offense as in other series'; for Batman and Robin, it was all about the devices in the utility belts. For Wonder Woman, the jet and Magic Lasso. Lose these things, and they're helpless? Please!

Whatever. Just bring on the whole JLA and I was happy. Still a classic.