Superboy

Before there was the long running Smallville this more modest show was also out there depicting young Clark Kent as those powers and abilities start developing. Two Superboys were in the cast as the original John Haymes Newton left the show and without a ripple got replaced by Gerard Christopher. Stacy Haiduk plays Lana Lang and this show depicts his days at Shuster University where he majored in journalism.

Superboy was a modest show and done for the juvenile viewers. I remember it being broadcast early in the Saturday morning time slots. The shows were efficiently and competently made. It sure didn't look like the poverty row budgets that were in the Captain Marvel and Isis shows from a decade earlier.

It might be nice to see these again.

It seems that sometimes very few people even remember that "Superboy" existed. But it did. And I have felt for a long time that this is the best ever (so far anyway) television adaptation of the Superman mythos. This show really stayed true to its comic book roots. This series marked the first live-action appearances of Mr. Mxyzptlk, Bizarro, & Metallo. It also featured some really inventive storylines such as those featured in "Roads Not Taken" and "The Road to Hell", two 2-part episodes dealing with the Superboys of alternate universes, and "To Be Human" which featured Bizarro being transformed into a normal human only to have to give up his humanity to save Superboy's life. I don't care what anyone says, this series surpassed any other Superman television series in quality of stories and truth to its comic book roots.

I liked the series when it was John Haymes Newton. He looked perfect.

Gerard Christopher looked fine, but the series, in my view, became surrealistic. Every episode seemed to me to be about Lex Luthor having Superboy trapped in another mind game -- VR -- and I didn't like that or the actor who portrayed Luthor as a grinning maniac.

I'm probably in the minority in liking JHN. I am probably NOT in the minority in thinking that "Lois and Clark" turned into a soap opera. It was cancelled quickly after that.

After seeing that the only comment on "Superboy" was extremely negative, I had to comment on it. I can only remember a handful of episodes since I was pretty young and not into Superman enough at the time to watch it regularly. But what I remember was alot of fun. Unlike "Lois & Clark", which was made to attract people to Superman, "Superboy" was made for Super-fans. It was focused alot more on science fiction and fantasy than "L&C," and therefore dealt more with Kal-El himself. The major flaw of "L&C," and I guess what attracted alot of people to it as well, was that it made Lois Lane at least as important, if not more than, Superman himself. While Superboy did have Lois' equivalent in Lana Lang, they only used her in a story when they had a good reason. If you like romantic comedies, then "Lois & Clark" was for you. But if you enjoy the Superman mythos, fascinating sci-fi concepts, and good television in general, then "Superboy" is the better choice.

This is certainly one one of the best of the Superman TV shows or movies ever done. Unfortunately it was not well supported by the owners, Viacom. Although the #10 show in syndication at the time, it never received the kudos that it deserved! Top rate show, top rate performances and scripts.