As much as I enjoyed the early seasons of Arrow, my favourite superhero show by far is The Umbrella Academy. There's something to make me cackle with glee in every episode, and the second season only ramps it up; it's a joy to watch.
I hope that everyone is doing well, and staying safe and healthy.
One of the things that's unnerving about "The Vow" is how, you can kind of see where the initial setup can lure you in before you go deeper down the rabbit hole. It's been riveting to hear how Sarah, Nippy, Mark and Bonnie got their way into NXIVM, and what the emotional toll has been getting out of it. And my heart is breaking for Catherine as she struggles with trying not to lose her daughter to it. It's weird how so much of NXIVM is essentially a different form of Scientology.
I've been covering the Atlanta Film Festival since last Thursday- it's a hybrid virtual/drive-in format, and as spoiled as I felt like I was doing Fantasia Fest from the comfort of my own home, it's been fantastic to have scheduled screenings to go out for, knowing it's a safe and controlled way of watching the movie in terms of social distancing. One of the drive-in sites is actually one of the locations they've shot films like "Hunger Games" and "Baby Driver" at, and that's an indoor drive-in location. It helps that it's been a nice selection of films, as well.
As for favorite superheroes on the small screen, I will be honest that I haven't really taken in many small screen superhero shows. I did finally start "Watchmen," which was terrific, and I really liked the way "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" ended its run.
As a kid, I loved The Greatest American Hero but as I’ve grown older, I like revisiting the Batman ‘66 series. Yes, it’s camp, but Adam West is so great as Bats and the villains are so iconic. Purely a pleasurable watch.
One of my favorite and best blu ray set purchases ever. Whenever I'm feeling down, I pop in a Riddler episode, because Gorshin is such a delight. Honestly, he should've been The Joker, not Romero. Even though I think Romero is good, Gorshin just brings an energy and glee that's unmatched.
My favorite superhero show(s) on television is a bit of a loaded question, because there are so many, yet so few that are actually good television enough to recommend to someone else. And even among the shows that are good, they can have individual seasons which are great and then seasons that absolutely drop the ball, or as in the case of The Flash, every season after the second season is a case of diminishing returns to the point that I stopped watching in the middle of last season.
My favorite superhero show all time is Batman: The Animated Series. I know that's a copout, but come on, it's the pinnacle of both the animated superhero show as well as the genre of superhero shows overall. Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited are all a combined close second.
Sticking with animation, Young Justice is pretty good as is Harley Quinn, both for completely different reasons.
In the last decade or so, I'd have to say the best superhero TV I've seen are the first two seasons of Arrow and The Flash, and then closely followed by Arrow season 5. Legends of Tomorrow season 2 and 3 are closet to that level, given how insane that show can be. My advice with Legends is to skip the Hawks-infected S1 as it's mostly terrible. After The Flash's S2 though, that show began to fall apart, just like Arrow did. Although while Arrow enjoyed a S5 renaissance that was just as good as seasons 1 and 2, The Flash, as I said, has been diminishing returns since the end of its second season, replete with characters added that no one cares about and lame villains.
Over on DC Universe (now I guess HBO Max) Titans and Doom Patrol have been fun, but not as fun as the aforementioned seasons of Arrow and The Flash. And while I enjoyed the first season of The Boys, I haven't enjoyed the season season as much.
So hey, if you want superhero fun replete with the bare minimum of CW-inspired soapy angst, check out Arrow seasons 1, 2, and 5, and seasons 1 and 2 of The Flash. You won't be disappointed.
Hey Drew just wanted to say I saw your email this AM and decided to take the plunge, so here I am. Thanks for that and congrats on this!
To answer the questions above, I'm not a big superhero on TV fan. Watched all the DC CW shows for a few seasons but just seems all they care about is fan service and pushing romance on all the characters, whether it makes sense or not. Just too soapy for me. I enjoy shows that try to do something different w the genre - Watchmen/The Boys etc. Wish someone would talk Marvel/Disney into making X-Statix into a show - now that would be amazing!
I wrote a much longer response to this that I “dumbassedly” (copy written for your pleasure) erased. But I want to respond anyway.
I don’t have a favorite superhero TV show per se, but I own a few. Harvey Birdman, 90’s Flash, Lois and Clark, and Watchmen are good enough to physically own a copy..
What’s more interesting to me is that in trying to determine what shows were my favorites, I read about shows that I want to revisit or somehow missed the first time around. So I guess this weekend, I’m going to try to find Sable, the 1992 Human Target, and Mantis. Wish me luck.
Man, I would kill for another look at Sable. Not a great show, really, but I have a lot of affection for the comic, enough to enjoy it as is. And I thought the 2010 Human Target was pretty fun, at least for the first season. They buggered up the second something fierce.
With Sable, I liked what I was able to read of the comic, thoroughly enjoyed the novel, and remembered the TV show fondly but not well. There is a crappy copy of that series on YT. I saw Mantis this weekend and I thought the pilot was impressive for its time. It seemed like a slam dunk but I’m now curious why the show didn’t succeed.
As far as I can recall, they had budget issues after the pilot, and I think the network was trying to lean into the cop/procedural part of the plot. Plus, a black lead wasn't a slam dunk then, either.
The imagination behind Legion stands out. Nice tightly-written seasons and stories other shows wouldn't even attempt, never mind land. Other favorites are Agent Carter, Jessica Jones, and the Tick.
As much as I enjoyed the early seasons of Arrow, my favourite superhero show by far is The Umbrella Academy. There's something to make me cackle with glee in every episode, and the second season only ramps it up; it's a joy to watch.
My wife and I watched "Umbrella Academy" when Season Two came out- I really enjoyed it.
I hope that everyone is doing well, and staying safe and healthy.
One of the things that's unnerving about "The Vow" is how, you can kind of see where the initial setup can lure you in before you go deeper down the rabbit hole. It's been riveting to hear how Sarah, Nippy, Mark and Bonnie got their way into NXIVM, and what the emotional toll has been getting out of it. And my heart is breaking for Catherine as she struggles with trying not to lose her daughter to it. It's weird how so much of NXIVM is essentially a different form of Scientology.
I've been covering the Atlanta Film Festival since last Thursday- it's a hybrid virtual/drive-in format, and as spoiled as I felt like I was doing Fantasia Fest from the comfort of my own home, it's been fantastic to have scheduled screenings to go out for, knowing it's a safe and controlled way of watching the movie in terms of social distancing. One of the drive-in sites is actually one of the locations they've shot films like "Hunger Games" and "Baby Driver" at, and that's an indoor drive-in location. It helps that it's been a nice selection of films, as well.
As for favorite superheroes on the small screen, I will be honest that I haven't really taken in many small screen superhero shows. I did finally start "Watchmen," which was terrific, and I really liked the way "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" ended its run.
As a kid, I loved The Greatest American Hero but as I’ve grown older, I like revisiting the Batman ‘66 series. Yes, it’s camp, but Adam West is so great as Bats and the villains are so iconic. Purely a pleasurable watch.
One of my favorite and best blu ray set purchases ever. Whenever I'm feeling down, I pop in a Riddler episode, because Gorshin is such a delight. Honestly, he should've been The Joker, not Romero. Even though I think Romero is good, Gorshin just brings an energy and glee that's unmatched.
My favorite superhero show(s) on television is a bit of a loaded question, because there are so many, yet so few that are actually good television enough to recommend to someone else. And even among the shows that are good, they can have individual seasons which are great and then seasons that absolutely drop the ball, or as in the case of The Flash, every season after the second season is a case of diminishing returns to the point that I stopped watching in the middle of last season.
My favorite superhero show all time is Batman: The Animated Series. I know that's a copout, but come on, it's the pinnacle of both the animated superhero show as well as the genre of superhero shows overall. Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited are all a combined close second.
Sticking with animation, Young Justice is pretty good as is Harley Quinn, both for completely different reasons.
In the last decade or so, I'd have to say the best superhero TV I've seen are the first two seasons of Arrow and The Flash, and then closely followed by Arrow season 5. Legends of Tomorrow season 2 and 3 are closet to that level, given how insane that show can be. My advice with Legends is to skip the Hawks-infected S1 as it's mostly terrible. After The Flash's S2 though, that show began to fall apart, just like Arrow did. Although while Arrow enjoyed a S5 renaissance that was just as good as seasons 1 and 2, The Flash, as I said, has been diminishing returns since the end of its second season, replete with characters added that no one cares about and lame villains.
Over on DC Universe (now I guess HBO Max) Titans and Doom Patrol have been fun, but not as fun as the aforementioned seasons of Arrow and The Flash. And while I enjoyed the first season of The Boys, I haven't enjoyed the season season as much.
So hey, if you want superhero fun replete with the bare minimum of CW-inspired soapy angst, check out Arrow seasons 1, 2, and 5, and seasons 1 and 2 of The Flash. You won't be disappointed.
Hey Drew just wanted to say I saw your email this AM and decided to take the plunge, so here I am. Thanks for that and congrats on this!
To answer the questions above, I'm not a big superhero on TV fan. Watched all the DC CW shows for a few seasons but just seems all they care about is fan service and pushing romance on all the characters, whether it makes sense or not. Just too soapy for me. I enjoy shows that try to do something different w the genre - Watchmen/The Boys etc. Wish someone would talk Marvel/Disney into making X-Statix into a show - now that would be amazing!
I wrote a much longer response to this that I “dumbassedly” (copy written for your pleasure) erased. But I want to respond anyway.
I don’t have a favorite superhero TV show per se, but I own a few. Harvey Birdman, 90’s Flash, Lois and Clark, and Watchmen are good enough to physically own a copy..
What’s more interesting to me is that in trying to determine what shows were my favorites, I read about shows that I want to revisit or somehow missed the first time around. So I guess this weekend, I’m going to try to find Sable, the 1992 Human Target, and Mantis. Wish me luck.
Man, I would kill for another look at Sable. Not a great show, really, but I have a lot of affection for the comic, enough to enjoy it as is. And I thought the 2010 Human Target was pretty fun, at least for the first season. They buggered up the second something fierce.
With Sable, I liked what I was able to read of the comic, thoroughly enjoyed the novel, and remembered the TV show fondly but not well. There is a crappy copy of that series on YT. I saw Mantis this weekend and I thought the pilot was impressive for its time. It seemed like a slam dunk but I’m now curious why the show didn’t succeed.
As far as I can recall, they had budget issues after the pilot, and I think the network was trying to lean into the cop/procedural part of the plot. Plus, a black lead wasn't a slam dunk then, either.
The imagination behind Legion stands out. Nice tightly-written seasons and stories other shows wouldn't even attempt, never mind land. Other favorites are Agent Carter, Jessica Jones, and the Tick.