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 DVD
Review: Lois & Clark: The Complete Second Season
Written by Craig
Byrne - KryptonSite Webmaster
The
first season of Lois & Clark
may have been my favorite TV season of anything, but the second
season of L&C holds a special place to me because
it is the year that taught me how to be a fan.
September
18, 1994 - the night the Season 2 premiere, "Madame
Ex," first aired - was coincidentally also the first evening
I ever went online. There, I found a message forum on Prodigy
where people were talking about the show. Their bulletin board
system was archaic, but it was so cool to see others talking
about the show - particularly when it came to seeing that they
felt the same way I did about recent changes made to the show.
Series
creator Deborah Joy LeVine exited after the thrilling first
season finale, and departing at the same time were Tracy Scoggins
(Cat Grant), Chris Demetral (Jack), and - the most painful loss
at the time - Michael Landes, who I referred to back in the
day as "the real Jimmy." He was replaced by Justin
Whalin in the role, and I admit, I didn't take to him very easily.
The show went for more of an action-oriented tone, but luckily,
Lois & Clark had some very good writers who STILL
managed to find a way to keep the romantic elements of the series.
Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain had a chemistry, as did their characters
of Lois and Clark, and you can't help but feel for them as they
go along.
 Season
Two was also the season where Lois & Clark finally
became a hit - no "sophomore slump" here. From the
time Clark finally asked Lois on a date in "The Phoenix"
things were looking up. No Mayson Drakes or Dan Scardinos could
get in the way of finally getting these two characters together.
Watching
this DVD I am reminded of that period of time and the excitement
associated with the second season. Our comments about Scardino
and his Peter Brady hair and plungers... the surprise at the
end of "Lucky Leon" which I won't spoil here... Tempus
revealing it all... and "Whine Whine Whine." I don't
think any series, aside from maybe the 2005 revival of Doctor
Who, has had me as glued to the television and anxious for
more. If it weren't for Season Two of Lois & Clark,
there may have never been a KryptonSite - after all, the
first Krypton Club Newsletter went out the night of the
Season Two premiere.
Sure
the special effects back in 1994 weren't the greatest. They
made do. And surely, I know I'll get flak for this but Dean
Cain just isn't Superman. As Clark Kent, he's got it; as Superman,
he just looked like "a guy in a pair of tights and a cape."
And Teri Hatcher as Lois, especially as Season 2 came near an
end and her hair was getting longer, looked stunning.
Pity she chopped her hair off the next year. As I said it took
me a little while to get used to Justin Whalin as Jimmy. Though
he wasn't Michael Landes, eventually he grows on you. And then
the late Lane Smith as Perry White - he just *was* Perry.
 Upon
watching the DVD, my first stop after the special features was
"Whine Whine Whine." This all-star episode was one
that a friend of mine from high school even liked, and she hated
TV. In it, Superman fights a foe more dastardly than Kryptonite
- greed. The episode featured guests like Ben Stein, Adam West,
Frank Gorshin, Martin Mull, and others... it's just great. Long-time
Lois & Clark fans will also remember it for bringing
in a scene that we've waited for for a while. "Tempus Fugitive,"
an episode with a time-travelling H.G. Wells and his sarcastic
companion Tempus, is next on my list. But I'm getting ahead
of myself here!
You're
probably more interested in the special features, rather than
my yammering on about what I liked or disliked about the show.
Like Season 1, the producers of the L&C DVDs went
all out in providing an assortment of special material, and
for the most part they were very successful. Dean Cain provides
interviews again (no Teri this time), and other interviewees
included K Callan (Martha Kent), Eddie Jones (Jonathan Kent),
Denise Crosby (Dr. Gretchen Kelly), and Justin Whalin (Jimmy
Olsen). The show's Season 2 writers and some crew are also featured,
including John McNamara, who is awesome not only for his great
L&C contributions, but because he co-created Profit,
which is the best show you probably have never seen.
In
the interviews Justin Whalin talks about the initial fan reaction
to his recasting, which makes me feel a bit bad for the way
I felt and posted years ago after he was cast. I later met Justin
and thought he was a really nice guy. I've also noticed on the
DVD interviews that Justin has apparently not aged at all in
the past 10 years - he looks almost exactly the same, aside
from no longer wearing the black and white checkered shirt that
we called "Ned."
Another
bonus feature takes a look at the fandom for the show, again
featuring some actors and creators and some visits to some fans
at a recent "FoLCFest" (Fans of Lois & Clark)
gathering. I was glad to see an assortment of people interviewed
for the featurette, but I was a bit disappointed that no one
from the Krypton Club was represented - after all, its subscriber
list WAS bigger than the listserv or the IRC channel for most
of its existence - but that fact seems to have been forgotten
in the passing of time.
Finally,
Dean Cain provides commentary for "Season's Greedings,"
where you hear - about 2 dozen times - about how foamy material
rather than real snow were used to provide the "snow"
for the episode. It's very cool to hear Dean talking about his
writing debut, which conveniently also happened to be one of
the most popular episodes of the series. Dean's a great sport
and I really love the fact that he's even doing DVD commentary.
Let's hope Season 3 has him commenting on that crazy Clone/Amnesia
arc, though they'll probably tip him off for "Virtually
Destroyed," the second episode that he penned.
The
DVD packaging and menus are nice, even though the DVD box features
a photo of John Shea as Lex Luthor that is clearly from the
first season. (What? No bald shots?) The box isn't shiny like
the Season 1 set was, but the individual discs still look very
nice. Sound quality and video are good, and I was happy to see
that some of the early-season variations (such as the very different
opening credits for "Madame Ex") stayed and were not
replaced by the titles used for the later episodes.
 Is
the DVD worth it for the random Superman fan, or a fan of
Smallville? Absolutely. You get bald Lex Luthor, some romance,
a Lois Lane that is attractive AND smart, humor, Clark Kent's
ties, Metallo, time travel, someone telling Lois Lane how "galactically
stupid" she really is, the 1960s Batman and Riddler, gangsters,
George and Weezie, Booger from Revenge of the Nerds, Dick Van
Patten, Bronson Pinchot, Raquel Welch, and if that's not enough...
Lois and Clark go undercover as two characters named "Angel"
and "Spike," a full three years before Joss Whedon
ever went to Sunnydale. How can you go wrong there?
I
give this DVD four and a half stars out of five. There's not
much more it could have done to be awesome, and best of all,
it brought back some pleasant memories. Definitely be sure to
check it out by ordering
a copy.
Now
that you've read the review, check out KryptonSite's look back
at Lois & Clark!
Note:
The views of Craig Byrne don't necessarily represent the thoughts
and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite.
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