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Super Friends
 
 

 

  
 

Prod. Notes:
 

September 1973 - September 1986,  ABC (see below)

Hanna-Barbera

 
Cast:

 

SUPER FRIENDS  (1973 - 1975)

 

Superman .................................................................................. Danny Dark

Batman ......................................................................................... Olan Soule

Jonathan Kent .......................................................................... Olan Soule

Robin ........................................................................................ Casey Kasem

Jor-El ....................................................................................... Casey Kasem

Trouble Alert Computer .................................................... Casey Kasem

Wonder Woman ............................................................. Shannon Farnon

Martha Kent .................................................................... Shannon Farnon

Aquaman ............................................................................... Norman Alden

Plastic Man ......................................................................... Norman Alden

Flash ...................................................................................... Norman Alden

Lara ................................................................................... Sherry Alberoni

Wendy .............................................................................. Sherry Alberoni

Marvin .................................................................................... Frank Welker

Wonder Dog ........................................................................ Frank Welker

Flash ............................................................................................ Ted Knight

Narrator ..................................................................................... Ted Knight

Voices .............................................................................. John Stephenson

 

 

 

THE ALL-NEW SUPER FRIENDS HOUR  (1977 - 1978)

 

Aquaman ............................................................................... Norman Alden

Plasticman ............................................................................ Norman Alden

Superman .................................................................................. Danny Dark

Batman ......................................................................................... Olan Soule

Robin ........................................................................................ Casey Kasem

Apache Chief .......................................................................... Michael Rye

Green Lantern ........................................................................ Michael Rye

Atom ............................................................................................. Wally Burr

El Dorado .................................................................. Fernando Escandon

Wonder Woman ............................................................. Shannon Farnon

Zan ............................................................................................. Michael Bell

Gleek ......................................................................................... Michael Bell

Jayna .................................................................................. Louise Williams

Flash ............................................................................................ Ted Knight

Narrator ..................................................................................... Ted Knight

Narrator ........................................................................ William Woodson

Voices ....................................................................................... Ted Cassidy

Voices ......................................................................................... Jane Jones

Voices ................................................................................... Joyce Mancini

Voices ............................................................................. Chuck McClennan

Voices .................................................................................. Barney Phillips

 

 

 

CHALLENGE OF THE SUPER FRIENDS  (1978 - 1979)

 

(Super Friends episodes)

 

Superman .................................................................................. Danny Dark

Batman ......................................................................................... Olan Soule

Robin ........................................................................................ Casey Kasem

Trouble Alert Computer .................................................... Casey Kasem

Wonder Woman ............................................................. Shannon Farnon

Aquaman ................................................................................. Bill Callaway

Jayna ................................................................................ Liberty Williams

Zan ................................................................................................... Mike Bell

Gleek ............................................................................................... Mike Bell

Narrator ........................................................................ William Woodson

 

(Challenge of the Super Friends episodes)

 

Flash ............................................................................................ Jack Angel

Hawkman ................................................................................... Jack Angel

Samurai ...................................................................................... Jack Angel

Cheetah ............................................................................. Marlene Aragon

Bizarro ..................................................................................... Michael Bell

Riddler ..................................................................................... Michael Bell

Aquaman ................................................................................. Bill Callaway

Black Manta ............................................................................ Ted Cassidy

Brainiac .................................................................................... Ted Cassidy

Superman .................................................................................. Danny Dark

Wonder Woman ............................................................. Shannon Farnon

Giganta ..................................................................................... Ruth Forman

Black Vulcan ......................................................................... Buster Jones

Lex Luthor ........................................................................... Stanley Jones

Robin ........................................................................................ Casey Kasem

Scarecrow .............................................................................. Don Messick

Sinestro ........................................................................................ Vic Perrin

Grodd ....................................................................................... Stanley Ross

Captain Cold ................................................................................. Dick Ryal

Green Lantern ........................................................................ Michael Rye

Apache Chief .......................................................................... Michael Rye

Batman ......................................................................................... Olan Soule

Solomon Grundy ............................................................... Jimmy Weldon

Toyman .................................................................................. Frank Welker

Narrator (opening segment) .................................................. Bob Lloyd

Narrator ........................................................................ William Woodson

Voices ................................................................................. Louise Williams

Voices ....................................................................................... Lewis Bailey

Voices ............................................................................. Melanie Chartoff

Voices .................................................................................... Henry Corden

Voices ................................................................................................. Al Fann

Voices ...................................................................................... Bob Hastings

Voices .............................................................................................. Bob Holt

Voices ....................................................................................... Renny Roker

 

 

 

THE WORLD'S GREATEST SUPER FRIENDS  (1979 - 1980)

 

Superman .................................................................................. Danny Dark

Batman ......................................................................................... Olan Soule

Robin ........................................................................................ Casey Kasem

Trouble Alert Computer .................................................... Casey Kasem

Aquaman ................................................................................. Bill Callaway

Wonder Woman ............................................................. Shannon Farnon

Jayna .................................................................................. Louise Williams

Zan ................................................................................................... Mike Bell

Gleek ............................................................................................... Mike Bell

Narrator ................................................................................. Bill Woodson

 

 

 

THE SUPER FRIENDS HOUR  (1980 - 1982, 1983 - 1984)

 

Zan ................................................................................................... Mike Bell

Gleek ............................................................................................... Mike Bell

Aquaman ................................................................................. Bill Callaway

Superman .................................................................................. Danny Dark

Robin ........................................................................................ Casey Kasem

Trouble Alert Computer .................................................... Casey Kasem

Batman ......................................................................................... Olan Soule

Wonder Woman ............................................................. Shannon Farnon

Jayna .................................................................................. Louise Williams

Narrator ................................................................................. Bill Woodson

Voices ......................................................................................... Jack Angel

Voices ................................................................................ Marlene Aragon

Voices .......................................................................................... Wally Burr

Voices ......................................................................... Fernando Escondon

Voices ........................................................................................... Pat Fraley

Voices .............................................................................................. Bob Holt

Voices ...................................................................................... Buster Jones

Voices ................................................................................... Stanley Jones

Voices ............................................................................... James Reynolds

Voices .......................................................................... Stanley Ralph Ross

Voices .............................................................................................. Mike Rye

Voices .................................................................................. Vernee Watson

 

 

 

SUPER FRIENDS: THE LEGENDARY SUPER POWERS SHOW

 

Superman .................................................................................. Danny Dark

Batman ........................................................................................ Adam West

Robin ........................................................................................ Casey Kasem

Wonder Woman ................................................. Mary McDonald Lewis

Aquaman ................................................................................. Bill Callaway

Bizarro .................................................................................... Bill Callaway

Black Vulcan ......................................................................... Buster Jones

Apache Chief .......................................................................... Michael Rye

Green Lantern ........................................................................ Michael Rye

Atom ............................................................................................. Wally Burr

Samurai ...................................................................................... Jack Angel

Flash ............................................................................................ Jack Angel

Hawkman ................................................................................... Jack Angel

Firestorm ................................................................................. Mark Taylor

El Dorado .................................................................. Fernando Escandon

Darkseid ............................................................................... Frank Welker

Kalibak .................................................................................. Frank Welker

Mr. Mxyzptlk ....................................................................... Frank Welker

Desaad ........................................................................... Rene Auberjonois

Brainiac ...................................................................... Stanley Ralph Ross

Professor Martin Stein ......................................................... Olan Soule

Narrator ........................................................................ William Woodson

Narrator (titles and teasers) ............................................... Bob Lloyd

 

 

 

SUPER POWERS TEAM: GALACTIC GUARDIANS  (1985 - 1986)

 

Desaad ........................................................................... Rene Auberjonois

Aquaman ................................................................................. Bill Callaway

Bizarro .................................................................................... Bill Callaway

Superman .................................................................................. Danny Dark

Cyborg .................................................................................... Ernie Hudson

Robin ........................................................................................ Casey Kasem

Scarecrow .............................................................................. Don Messick

Braniac ........................................................................ Stanley Ralph Ross

Green Lantern ........................................................................ Michael Rye

Firestorm ................................................................................. Mark Taylor

Wonder Woman ......................................................................... B.J. Ward

Darkseid ............................................................................... Frank Welker

Kalibak .................................................................................. Frank Welker

Mr. Mxyzptlk ....................................................................... Frank Welker

Batman ........................................................................................ Adam West

Narrator ....................................................................................... Bob Lloyd

Narrator ........................................................................ William Woodson

Voices ......................................................................................... Jack Angel

Voices ........................................................................................... Joe Baker

Voices ....................................................................................... Steve Bullen

Voices ............................................................................................ Bob Doqui

Voices ......................................................................... Fernando Escandon

Voices ........................................................................................... Patti Glick

Voices .................................................................................. Arlene Golonki

Voices ..................................................................................... Jerry Hauser

Voices ................................................................................. Darryl Hickman

Voices ...................................................................................... Buster Jones

Voices ................................................................................... Stanley Jones

Voices ........................................................................................... Paul Kirby

Voices .............................................................................................. Lucy Lee

Voices ..................................................................................... Sidney Miller

Voices ..................................................................................... Haunani Minn

Voices ...................................................................................... Lynne Moody

Voices ...................................................................................... Bobby Morse

Voices ........................................................................................ Ken Sansom

Voices .......................................................................................... Olan Soule

Voices ............................................................................... Eugene Williams

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis:

 
 

Deep in the corridors of the Hall of Justice resided some of DC Comics' greatest superheroes: Superman, Aquaman, Batman & Robin, and Wonder Woman. In the DC universe these crimefighters were collectively known as the Justice League of America. To children all across the land "tooned" in to Saturday morning TV, they were known simply as the Super Friends. The Super Friends kept Saturday mornings safe for a whopping 13 seasons in various incarnations:

 

Super Friends  (1973 - 1975, ABC)

The All-New Super Friends Hour  (1977 - 1978, ABC)

Challenge of the Super Friends  (1978 - 1979, ABC)

The World's Greatest Super Friends  (1979 - 1980, ABC)

The Super Friends Hour  (1980 - 1982, 1983 - 1984, ABC)

Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show  (1984 - 1985, ABC)

Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians  (1985 - 1986, ABC)

 

 

 
SUPER FRIENDS

Based out of the Hall of Justice in the city of Metropolis, the Super Friends were kept abreast of crisis the world over by the Trouble Alert. When the Trouble Alert sounded, Col. Wilcox appeared via high-tech video feed and debriefed the team members who were quickly dispatched to handle the crisis. The dynamic duo, Batman and Robin, used gadgets and crimefighting savvy to defeat evildoers. Wonder Woman flew an invisible jet and made regular use of her magic lasso. Aquaman used telepathy to summon the help of his aquatic friends of the deep. Superman possessed superhuman strength, x-ray vision, and the ability to fly. Added to the lineup were child superheroes-in-training Marvin, Wendy, and Wonder Dog, who headed up the Junior Super Friends.

With the intent to simultaneously entertain while delivering a moral lesson, the adventures dealt mainly with ecological threats and brought attention to the dangers of pollution. The three junior superheroes saw a good deal of action, but usually required saving by their veteran counterparts. It was through the lessons learned by Wendy and (especially) Marvin that the audience at home learned the moral of each episode. Other superheroes such as Plastic Man and Flash occasionally made cameo appearances.

Battling well-meaning, but misguided, environmental critics, the series ran for two seasons before cancellation in the fall of 1975. It was brought back by ABC as a midseason replacement in January 1976. When a half-hour version of the original hour-length stories scored surprisingly high ratings, the show was revived as The All-New Super Friends Hour.

 

 

 
THE ALL-NEW SUPER FRIENDS HOUR

In The All-New Super Friends Hour the creators chose to do away with Marvin, Wendy, and Wonder Dog, and replace them with twins Zan and Jayna from the planet Exxor, and their space-monkey Gleek. Better known as the Wonder Twins, the siblings proved much more capable in a fight than their junior predecessors. It was just as well, because the moral lessons inherent in the first series had been dispensed with, and the stories took on a more straightforward, action-oriented tone.

The Wonder Twins had the ability to telepathically communicate with one another and used shapeshifting powers to fight crime. When they wanted to change form they had to touch rings with one another and declare, "Wonder Twin powers, activate!" Once activated, Jayna would take the "shape of" some type of animal, while Zan would assume the "form of" water in a solid, liquid, or gaseous state.

So as not to lose touch with the show's sense of moral responsibility altogether, each episode featured a special public service cartoon warning kids about the evils of cheating, smoking or drag racing (among other vices).

 

 

 
CHALLENGE OF THE SUPER FRIENDS

The Super Friends ran as an hour-long show during the 1978-79 season. In addition to the 16 episodes of Challenge of the Super Friends, Hanna-Barbera animated 16 episodes of the Super Friends featuring the established core group of superheroes from the previous year. These episodes aired during the first half-hour of the show, followed by an episode of Challenge of the Super Friends. The episodes that played in the first half of the show had no special title assigned to them, and have therefore had the All-New Super Friends Hour intro used for them in syndication.

Challenge of the Super Friends dispensed with junior sidekicks altogether and pitted an expanded cast of superheroes against the Legion of Doom - a syndicate of supervillains bent on conquering the universe. The rich cast of characters in Challenge of the Super Friends provided a plethora of story arcs for the adventures, and the stories themselves came closer to portraying the spirit of the comic books than in previous versions of the series.

On the side of good were eleven heroes from the Justice League of America: Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Black Vulcan, Apache Chief, and Samurai.

Facing the do-gooders were thirteen of the most sinister (according to the introduction) villains of all time: Lex Luthor, Cheetah, the Riddler, Captain Cold, Bizarro, Brainiac, Toyman, the Scarecrow, Grodd the Super-Gorilla, Black Manta, Solomon Grundy, Sinestro, and Giganta.

Standards and Practices objected when it noted that the Legion always managed to escape capture. As a result, in the last few episodes the villains were occasionally captured at the end of the story. The last episode of the series, "History of Doom" was heavily objected to because it essentially showed the Legion of Doom, while attempting to destroy the Super Friends, destroying the world and themselves in the process. When it was pointed out that "destroying the world" was not an imitable act that a child could do, the episode stood. So successful was Challenge of the Super Friends that the show was expanded to 90-minutes in mid-season.

 

 

 
THE WORLD'S GREATEST SUPER FRIENDS

Despite its popularity, the Legion of Doom was not carried over into a second season. The World's Greatest Super Friends continued with stories featuring the regular cast of characters - Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin, Aquaman, and the Wonder Twins.

Episodes became more diverse, mixing occasional comic book villains with storylines based on popular books and legends. The superheroes' adventures took them into underground kingdoms of dwarves, mushroom worlds populated by tar creatures, transformed them into vampire bates, pitted them against the super-enemies of an alternate dimension's Hall of Evil, and even to a planet that the fifth-dimensional imp, Mr. Mxyzptlk, had based on L. Frank Baum's land of Oz.

 

 

 
THE SUPER FRIENDS HOUR

The Super Friends Hour played reruns from the previous six seasons, along with new 7-minute episodes of the Super Friends. This format was continued until 1984, although for the 1982-83 season ABC aired The Best of the Super Friends, which played only reruns of the older half-hour episodes. The new 7-minute shorts consisted of the same group of superheroes as in previous seasons; namely, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman & Robin, Aquaman, Zan, Jayna & Gleek. Occasional cameos were made by Justice League members who appeared on Challenge of the Super Friends. Brand new characters were also introduced, such as Atom, El Dorado, Hawkgirl and Rima.

 

 

 
SUPER FRIENDS: THE LEGENDARY SUPER POWERS SHOW

In 1984, as a tie-in with the Kenner Toys Super Powers line of toys and comics based on DC Comics heroes, Hanna-Barbera created Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show. This series returned to a half-hour format, and introduced new member Firestorm, a nuclear-powered character with the fused personality of two people in one body. The team had their hands full fighting the evil Darkseid, ruler of Apokolips and his minions, but were assisted by regular cameos from a host of former Super Friends.

 

 

 
SUPER POWERS TEAM: GALACTIC GUARDIANS

The Super Friends moniker was dropped altogether in 1985, when the title was changed once again; this time to Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians. Storylines featured a more conventional, consistent and authentic line-up for the Justice League of America. An expanded team roster included, among others, the Flash and Green Lantern, with a strong focus on Firestorm and the Teen Titan's Cyborg. With a larger regular cast there was apparently no room for perennial members The Wonder Twins, who were nowhere to be seen. The heroes faced off against established villains such as Lex Luthor and the Scarecrow mingled with more recent creations like Darkseid.

As fearsome as their adversaries were, the Galactic Guardians' demise came with the inundation of soft and cuddly cartoon creations such as the Smurfs, whose kindly ways had made superhero cartoons obsolete by the mid-1980's. With Galactic Guardians, Hanna-Barbera's 12-year run of the Super Friends series ended in 1986.