Lois & Clark : Les nouvelles aventures de Superman

Dean Cain is nothing less than perfect in the role as Clark Kent (CK). That goes for Teri Hatcher as well, her portrait of Lois Lane is just...SUPER!

The different directors and screenwriters have done an excellent job of bringing Clark Kent back to the screen. The idea of giving Clark Kent a full background and some real space to act in, is just ingenious. Lane Smith and Justin Whalin are also worth mentioning - they are both excellent in their roles as Perry and Jimmy.

Now, why haven't this fantastic series come out on DVD?

As a loyal fan of L&C, I have to say that I loved most things about the show. Teri Hatcher turned in my favorite portrayal of Lois Lane to date. Lane Smith's attitude as Perry White was usually enjoyable. Most importantly, Eddie Jones and K Callan set a new standard as Jonathan and Martha Kent. Originally billed as recurring characters, their efforts on screen were just too wonderful to be denied and became a staple of the show through its many ups and downs.

Dean Cain was solid as Clark--and the idea that Clark was a person with problems and goals and insecurities of his own and that Superman was the convenient guise he used to help people always appealed to me. I know that most of the die-hard fans are of the opposite opinion, but humanizing Kal-el and focusing on his relationships with his family, his friends, and the love of his life was one of Deb Joy Levine's truly masterful ideas. The ensemble cast of the first season with Michael Landes as Jimmy Olsen and Tracy Scoggins as Cat Grant worked superbly together onscreen. John Shea turned in a respectable performance with a good mix of glitz and sinister ambition for a '90s Lex Luthor. I loved almost all the episodes that first season and one of my abiding regrets is that the show's writing staff and cast changed for the second season. Nonetheless, the first two seasons were both solid (even if the alternating introduction of competing love interests became grating after awhile).

Much as I hate to admit it, the show didn't end too early. The wheels came off in the third season with the much-despised clone-amnesia arc and the disturbing introduction of the concept of New Krypton. By the close of the fourth season, a consistent villain was nowhere to be found and the idea of Lois's possible pregnancy, of a Superfamily, wasn't strong enough to help the show recover from a disastrous newlywed phase.

This version of Superman has always excited me because Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain have such awesome chemistry with each other. Dean Cain makes expert display of Clark Kent's restraints and clumsiness and Superman's authority as a Metropolis savior and his playfulness as the keeper of Lois's affections. We can see his turmoil between being who he has to be and being who he wants to be...with lots of comedy in between. Hatcher, in my opinion, is by far the best Lois to date. She has strength and class and isn't afraid to take chances with her character. She'll sing, she'll dance, she'll turn on the baby-voice...and she gives Lois a persona so stubborn, only Superman can get her to see the truths about herself and the people around her. Add in Lane Smith, who's so ridiculously funny in his Elvis-ized Santa suit and you have pure comedy. Lane Smith is the wise man of the group, fostering Justin Whalen through his mishaps and growth as a photographer and a young man. Justin Whalen's Jimmy Olsen has a certain naiveté' necessary to balance the complex personalities and tensions of Lois and Clark. Michael Landes, who played Season One's Jimmy Olsen, is equally as entertaining...making it difficult to choose who is more deserving of that role. If one invests in such a purchase, it would be hard to be disappointed.

Imagine Superman had it been done by Rock Hudson and Doris Day and you have some idea of what Lois And Clark was about. It was one of the more enjoyable shows from the last decade of the last century.

Lois And Clark had all the aspects of one of those domestic comedies that were popular back in the day. Dean Cain was a hip Superman and Clark Kent and Teri Hatcher was an ultra modern Lois Lane who had a nose for news. Granted she researched the internet for background instead of wearing out high heels chasing a story, but she knew her job and her suspicions about her colleague even before they got romantically involved.

And of course the accent here was on the budding romance of Lois And Clark. It could only end in super wedded bliss where Clark Kent finally had to let Lois Lane in on the biggest secret since the Manhattan Project.

In the old Superman series with George Reeves they also had an accent on comedy as well that is rarely talked about. Dean Cain modeled a lot of his performance on Reeves who always had an all knowing smile in every episode after he bailed out other cast members.

Technology is creeping up on the classic superhero. Back in the day Clark Kent became a reporter because he could keep track of evil doing with the use of those sources. I daresay today he wouldn't need the job, just good hacking skills. He could sit at home and stay on the internet and be just as informed. I wonder how future incarnations of the Shuster&Siegel hero will deal with that.

But it wouldn't be as fun and we'd sure miss all the Tracy/Hepburn like banter between Lois And Clark.

First of all, I 'm Greek, so excuse me if my English are not perfect. I read all of the comments here. The day I 'm sending this L&C's third re-run here in Greece is still continuing, but as I could see it's close to its end. Well, I have to say I 'm a BIG FAN, and I 'm glad to know there are also many fans of one of my favorite - ever TV series. I have to admit, though, L&C was not perfect. My opinion is that it was REALLY GOOD. It had a really good casting - Dean Cain (who is very handsome) is not that short, for God's sake! - and all of the actors fitted great into their roles. The script was also good, and I don't agree with the ones who said that after Lois and Clark's wedding it went bad. And of course I enjoyed the large amount of humor in it. About these flying - scenes... Well, the truth is they could be more and better. I have to say, I never was a Superman's fan, and I 've watched only one of Christopher Reeves movies. (And I liked it.) What is completely wrong for you to say (I don't mean to be rude), is that Dean Cain didn't try to make Clark Kent and Superman look different. OF COURSE HE DIDN'T!! Clark and Superman ARE the same person!! They can't be THAT different!! They have the same character, the same feelings, the same looks... because they ARE the same. They ARE one and only person. So, this is the right way for this role to be played. I agree also with this focusing in Clark's life. After all, HE is the main character. And the problems he has is what we want to see (and his struggles with the bad guys, of course), because, even if we know he doesn't really exist, we like to feel him close to our lives and feelings. If a Superman is what we need, and we can't have him in our true lives, let's just watch him! Last thing I have to say is that I would really like the idea to see Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher back as Clark Kent and Lois Lane again, to a new series or a movie. I hope I will. If I won't, though... I hope I see another Superman, because he's a really interesting idea. Congratulations to his "inventors".