AG Monday!
This week: that 70's superhero show.
Put on your polyester shirts and bellbottom jeans, because it’s time for Steven and Tom to journey back to the 1970s, when superhero TV shows were popular. You’d think that we would have been excited to see our beloved comic book characters translated to the small screen…But the results were mixed, at best. Wonder Woman, The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, Captain America, The Six Million Dollar Man, and even Doctor Strange — they’re all here, kinda sorta.
See the world’s greatest superheroes sandwiched into the TV tropes of the 1970s! Gasp at the avocado carpets and gold wallpaper! Be amazed at the extremely sub-par writing and acting! Thrill at all the vans! (So many vans…)
Ancient Geeks is a podcast about two geeks of a certain age re-visiting their youth. We were there when things like science fiction, fantasy, Tolkien, Star Trek, Star Wars, D&D, Marvel and DC comics, Doctor Who, and many, many other threads of modern geek culture were still on the fringes of culture. We were geeks before it was chic!
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How could you forget the Shazam-Isis Power Hour?
I assume cartoons like Super Friends and Hong Kong Fooey were not under consideration.
@James Joyner: Careful where you go! We’ll end up talking about Mighty Mouse and Atom Ant (not Adam Ant).
I remember some of those shows. I mean I recall watching them every week, yet have no clear memory of any episodes. Just bits and pieces, and sound effects.
One thing I do recall from The Incredible Hulk, was wondering why Banner’s pants and underwear didn’t rip along with the rest of his clothes. I mean, other than it was on TV and they couldn’t do nudity, even in green.
@James Joyner: We decided not to do cartoons on this one. There is a passing reference to Shazam as well as Electra-Woman and Dyna-Girl!
We were Ultraman fans on Okinawa and back in states.
@robert sharperson: I was a huge Ultra Man fan as a kid, although even then it was sitting through the boring human part of the show featuring the Science Patrol until Hayata finally used the Beta Capsule to turn into Ultra Man to fight the various monsters. It didn’t hold up well when I caught reruns decades later.
My little brothers loved UltraMan. I couldn’t understand why — it was so immensely stupid, such poor special effects, so lacking in plot. It made Speed Racer look clever.
My blind spot for SF TV has to be the show UFO, now mostly forgotten…