Worst to First: Ranking the Live-Action Superman TV Shows

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12. Superboy

Ran from: October 8, 1988 – May 17, 1992

Channel: Syndicated

Heroes: Superboy

Villains: Mister Mxyzptlk, Bizarro and Lex Luthor

Notable Guest Stars: Noel Neill and Jack Larson from Adventures of Superman

What’s Good: Following the disappointing performance of Superman III and Supergirl, Ilya and Alexander Salkind tried to squeeze a few more dollars out of their rights to Superman in the form of a low budget TV show. The first season focused primarily on Clark Kent as a college student and a reporter for the school newspaper. It helped that the show was written by comic book writers like Mike Carlin, Andrew Helfer, Denny O’Neil, Cary Bates, J. M. DeMatteis and Mark Evanier. When the show was picked up for additional seasons, the budget was increased which allowed Superboy to face some of his comic book villains.

Here’s a bit of trivia that may be of interest to readers here at Le Blog. Superboy was the first TV show to be filmed at the studio in Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando. Later, when the budget was increased, the show moved to facilities at Disney’s rival, Universal Studios Florida.

What’s Bad: We’re dealing with a low-budget syndicated show from the late eighties. Keep your expectations in check and you should be fine.

The Salkinds intended to end Superboy as a series despite continuing popularity. The show would have ended with a cliffhanger that would have been followed up with TV movies. But Warner Brothers was developing its own Superman TV show and ended up suing the Salkinds to get back the rights. That brought an end to the Salkinds’ history with the Man of Steel.

Verdict: For what it is, Superboy is surprisingly watchable.

9. Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

Ran from: September 12, 1993 – June 14, 1997

Channel: ABC

Heroes: Lois Lane and also Superman

Villains: Lex Luthor, the Prankster, the Toy Man, Mister Mxyzptlk

Notable Guest Stars: Sonny Bono, Tony Curtis, Roger Daltrey, Shelley Long, Morgan Fairchild, Jonathan Frakes, Sherman Hemsley, James Earl Jones, Raquel Welch, Adam West and Frank Gorshin

What’s Good: Lois & Clark realized the limitations of the medium of television. I think you have to give it some credit for that. Instead of trying to depict the adventures of Superman on the small screen, the show focused on the romantic relationship between its two leads. This was the “sexy” Superman show. Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane was a revelation at the time. In the early days of the internet, Hatcher’s image was the most downloaded for a time. Lois & Clark was the Moonlighting of superhero shows. If that’s what you were looking for, it delivered for a time.

What’s Bad: Like Moonlighting, eventually the “will they or won’t they” element of the show got tiresome. It didn’t help matters that the show pulled stunts to try to pull in ratings. A marriage fake-out left viewers feeling burned. Superheroics took a back seat to just about everything else which made Lois & Clark a Superman show for people who don’t necessarily like superhero shows. A few villains who were actually threats to the Man of Steel might have injected a little excitement into the show.

Verdict: Lois & Clark started off as a fun, fresh take on the Superman story. The less said about the latter seasons, the better.

7. Adventures of Superman

Ran from: September 19, 1952 – April 28, 1958

Channel: Syndication

Heroes: Superman

Villains: Generic bad guys

Notable Guest Stars: A bunch of people who were probably better known to TV audiences in the fifties

What’s Good: Adventures of Superman was a huge show. If you are ranking these shows by the size of their pop culture footprint or historical importance, Adventures of Superman is easily top two. The TV show spun off from the theatrical film, Superman and the Mole Men which starred George Reeves and Phyllis Coates. Expectations for the series were low and production was discontinued until a sponsor could be found. Kellogg’s, having sponsored the Superman radio show, came up with enough money to resume production. Even the cast was shocked when the show turned out to be a massive hit. Coates was unavailable beyond the first season due to prior commitments, so Noel Neill took over the role of Lois Lane.

Even if you didn’t grow up in the 50’s, there’s a pretty good chance you have fond memories of watching The Adventures of Superman in reruns. For Gen X’ers like myself, George Reeves was the definitive Man of Steel until Christopher Reeve starred in Superman: The Movie.

What’s Bad: I expect my relatively low ranking of a classic TV show will not sit well with some readers. I am going with my own personal preferences here. And the cold, hard truth of the matter is, I am looking for something a little more exciting than the 50’s Superman. If nostalgia is your thing, Adventures can deliver that in spades. But I can’t think of any other reason to watch the show and nostalgia will only take you so far.

Verdict: Generations of kids have been thrilled by this show. That’s a huge accomplishment. It’s aged better than a lot of television from that era, but it’s still aged. For many viewers, myself included, Adventures is a relic.

6. Smallville

Ran from: October 16, 2001 – May 13, 2011

Channels: The WB which later became the CW

Heroes: “The Red-Blue Blur”, Green Arrow, Supergirl, Aquaman, the Flash, Cyborg and Hawkman

Villains: Lex Luthor, Lionel Luthor, “freaks of the week” Brainiac, Zod, Metallo and Doomsday

Notable Guest Stars: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Teri Hatcher, Dean Cain, Helen Slater, Lynda Carter, James Marsters, Carrie Fisher, Pam Grier, Tom Wopat in a Dukes of Hazard reunion, Amy Adams, Brian Austin Green and Tori Spelling

What’s Good: I give Smallville a lot of crap. Most of it is deserved. Over the course of ten years, the show did a lot of things very badly. But credit where it’s due, the show also got some things right. Unlike the Zach Snyder movies which somehow found a way to screw up Pa Kent, John Schneider was right at home playing an all-American farmer and father figure. Annette O’Toole (who played Lana Lang in Superman III) was equally good as Martha Kent. (Hey, Batman’s mom is named Martha too! I wonder if anyone ever noticed that?)

Michael Rosenbaum stole many scenes during his time on the show playing Clark’s frenemy, Lex Luthor. He was only outdone by John Glover who played his Machiavellian father, Lionel. Allison Mack shone in a supporting role and Erica Durance made a terrific Lois Lane relatively late in the show’s run. Gradually, Smallville evolved from a Buffy the Vampire Slayer clone into a prototype for today’s superhero shows with episodes featuring a variety of characters from DC Comics.

What’s Bad: When singling out members of the cast for praise, I left out leads Tom Welling and Kristin Kreuk. While easy on the eyes, neither Welling nor Kreuk brought much to the material beyond their good looks.

In the early days, Smallville followed a “freak of the week” formula that quickly grew tiresome. As the show dragged on, storylines became insanely complicated. Writers worked overtime to find ways to keep Clark and Lana apart before finally giving up and replacing her with Lois. Once Rosenbaum left the show, writers struggled to keep Lex working behind the scenes in case he ever decided to return. As cool as it was to have Booster Gold on a live action TV show, it was a little weird that practically every C-List character in the Justice League became a superhero before Clark donned his cape. In fact, the actual Justice League was formed during the show’s sixth season while Clark was still running around in a hoodie.

Verdict: Smallville is cheesy as hell, but it’s not boring. Better shows have come along, but for a time it was the only way to get a superhero fix on television. And yes, it hurts me a little that I am ranking it above the other two Superman TV shows.

1. Supergirl

Ran from: October 26, 2015 – present

Channel: CBS (season 1) The CW (season 2-present)

Heroes: Supergirl, Martian Manhunter, Guardian, Mone-El

Villains: Non, Silver Banshee, Live Wire, Cyborg Superman, Lillian Luthor, Mister Mxyzptlk, Parasite, Metallo

Notable Guest Stars: Kara’s adoptive parents are played by former Superman Dean Cain and former Supergirl Helen Slater. The villain Indigo was played by Smallville’s Supergirl, Laura Vandervoort. Terri Hatcher and Kevin Sorbo played Mon-El’s parents and Lynda Carter plays the president. Calista Flockhart was a regular during the show’s first season on CBS but became a guest star when the show moved to Vancouver with the other CW shows. Tyler Hoechlin started playing Superman in the shows second season.

What’s Good: Television has struggled to do right by the Man of Steel. Modern special effects allow Supergirl to have adventures George Reeves never dreamed of. While the movies struggle with getting Superman right, Supergirl understands that its protagonists greatest superpower is her ability to inspire. As an added bonus, Supergirl gives under-served little girls a heroine they can look up to which is kind of a big deal.

What’s Bad: This is a CW/Arrowverse show with all that entails.

Verdict: I could easily swap Supergirl and The Flash as they both provide the kind of comic book adventures I am looking for. I am giving the Maid of Might a slight edge because pop culture needs more superheroines.