Review: Lois & Clark: Season 1 DVD Set
Reviewed by Craig Byrne
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Okay, I admit it: If I had to pick one favorite season of all of television history, your choice may surprise you. Smallville Season 1? Great, obviously, or I wouldn't have done this site. But no. Doctor Who's recently-finished season of 13 episodes, still yet to air in the US, featuring the fantastic Christopher Eccleston as the ninth Doctor? Great, but still, that's not it. The short-lived but wonderful Freaks and Geeks? Still doesn't get the #1 spot.

No, my favorite season of television of all time would have to be this: The first season of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. I was a junior in high school when the show premiered, and it was my first internet fandom that I participated then. At age 16, I was one of the younger ones! My first night online was actually the night the second season of the show premiered. The episode was called "Madame Ex," and by that time, the tone of the show had changed, and characters I loved, like Lex, Cat, Jack, or Michael Landes as Jimmy were nowhere to be found. I was horrified. Luckily the show quickly picked up steam again. Right after the end of Season 2, a friend and I started the Krypton Club Newsletter which, a few years later, evolved into what would become KryptonSite. You can read some interviews and such from the newsletter here.

Die-hard Superman fans are torn on this one. Some think of L&C as the black sheep of Superman history. Others see it as one of their favorite adaptations. And how could they not, really? Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher as Clark and Lois had some serious chemistry going on. The late Lane Smith as Perry White is still my favorite version of the character, though Michael McKean did a darn good job himself. Michael Landes as Jimmy, Tracy Scoggins as Cat, Eddie Jones and K Callan as Jonathan and Martha... it all really gelled. And John Shea as Lex - how was he missed as a regular in the later years.

This is the DVD set I've wanted ever since television shows began coming out in the DVD format. I was very happy when I received this to see that the set treats L&C with the proper respect.

Because of personnel changes throughout the series' run, unfortunately, there were very little references or flashbacks to the first year because the show was now guided by a new regime. But the first year really is where it's at. Teri Hatcher, before she was a desperate housewife, looked real and spectacular as my favorite Lois Lane. They dressed Lois in retro outfits that looked like they came from another decade, which gave the show a timeless quality. (Though a picture of her on the Internet wearing nothing but Superman's cape was the most-downloaded online photo of 1994.) Dean Cain as Clark offered a "cool" but alien take to the role. I'll have to say, Dean is my favorite Clark Kent but not my favorite Superman - as Superman, he still looks like a regular guy in a pair of tights and a cape. Sorry, ladies. Both Dean and Teri look really fashionable even to this day in the first season of the show; although be warned that in the show's pilot episode Dean is kind of sporting a mullet.

The special effects are hit-or-miss; in some scenes, the effects work, but in others, you cringe. We've really gotten spoiled by the top-notch effects work in programs like Smallville, and I'm sure we'll be wowed by Superman Returns' effects next year.

Guest stars in that first season include model Beverly Johnson, James Earl Jones, Michael McKean (him again!), Law & Order's Richard Belzer, Morgan Fairchild, Dean Stockwell, and many others. But it's the show's recurring cast that makes it the most, well, super.

The DVD set includes commentary on the pilot episode by actor Dean Cain, director Robert Butler, and show creator Deborah Joy LeVine. It's a LOT of fun, especially hearing stories about the show's casting and production of that pilot episode. I really wish Deborah Joy LeVine had stayed on the series as an executive producer, because she had such an amazing vision for the show that I think is a big reason of why that first season was so good.

There's also a documentary on the effects, but the real treat is a bonus documentary where almost all of the L&C cast and many members of the crew are interviewed about the show, except for Michael Landes (Jimmy #1) and Lane Smith (Perry White). How cool is it, ten years later, to see Big TV Superstar Teri Hatcher talking about her days of Lois Lane, all while speaking on Housewives' Wisteria Lane set. Even K Callan, Eddie Jones, Tracy Scoggins, and John Shea participated in the action. I applaud Warner Home Video for going to the effort of including these people.

The set includes all 21 episodes from that first season, including the extended pilot episode never before seen in the United States. (Originally, a scene of Lois getting rid of her moustache and beard outfit at the beginning of the show was cut). The extended bit with its different credits is why Dean Cain doesn't recognize the way the credits were done for the pilot.

Fans of Smallville might be curious to see the way this was done ten years ago, in the first and best season of L&C. It's a bit more mature, and a totally different take. And hey - the first season of L&C features only one or two behavior-change or mind-whammy type episodes and only two episodes with Kryptonite! Can ya believe it? It doesn't get any better than this.

(On the subject of Smallville, the DVD also includes the Season 4 premiere of Smallville, "Crusade," as a bonus in the set. While the episode is one of my favorites from the fourth year, and it introduced Lois Lane to the series, I almost would have preferred it to include the pilot episode of Smallville so people could see where it started and pick up from there. Not only is the pilot a good way to see where it started, but also, for my money, Chloe Sullivan is more of a spiritual heir to Teri Hatcher's Lois, whereas Erica Durance is much more Margot Kidder to me. Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

Seriously. If you were a casual fan back in the day or are curious now, check it out. And beg Al and Miles to put Dean Cain on Smallville someday, because we know Teri Hatcher is a bit too busy these days. A+ on the set, all the way. I am so thankful to be taken back to this wonderful show, and I really urge everyone to pick this set up, so we can be sure to get more seasons in the future.

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Note: The views of Craig Byrne don't necessarily represent the thoughts and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite.

Want us to review a new TV-show related DVD at KryptonSite? E-mail us!