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 DVD
Review: Lois & Clark: The Complete Third Season
Written by Craig
Byrne - KryptonSite Webmaster
I
have to admit, I'm so excited that one of my favorite series
of all time, Lois
& Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, is hitting
DVD. The releases of the L&C sets seem to be the most eagerly-anticipated
in my book, and it's exciting to know that the whole series
will be out by the end of 2006.
I've
had the chance to do an advance review of the Season Three set,
and my feelings are shown below:
 Packaging/Artwork:
The exterior design is consistent with the other two sets,
though the light gray doesn't look as impressive as the red
and blue of the seasons before it. I do love that the back cover
includes a shot of K Callan and Eddie Jones doing their best
Ethel and Fred Mertz impression.
Inside,
the individual discs look great, and are thankfully single-sided,
but they did that whole packaging thing where I fear that my
discs are going to scratch each other when I pull them out.
Luckily, I've run into no problems at all. Discs 1 and 2 have
the same image on them (Dean Cain as Clark Kent), 3 and 4 have
Dean as Superman, and 5 and 6 feature Teri Hatcher.
Commentaries/Extras:
No commentaries this time, which is a bummer, since Dean
Cain penned "Virtually Destroyed," but also, it would
have been interesting to hear the producers or cast talking
about what the fans then described as the "Arc from Hell."
There is a bonus feature, Lois & Clark: A History of
Romance, which takes a look back at the characters throughout
various incarnations of Superman and among other things, features
new interview material with Dean Cain. Dean is sporting some
very bleached hair as we originally reported here on KryptonSite.
The documentary is good, but the producers of it seemed to forget
that Smallville, too, has a Lois Lane, who was not mentioned
or seen at all.
Thankfully,
Disc Three also includes an excerpt from the superb documentary
Look! Up In The Sky! The Amazing Story Of Superman,
which is great stuff, and on its own disc that you can order
here if you want to see the whole thing. Highly recommended.
The
Episodes: The third season was probably the most memorable
time for me to be a part of the Lois & Clark fandom,
as the show started hitting high gear. Unfortunately, some of
the situations that I found to be "funny" back as
a kid are just kind of annoying and childish now. If I ever
see Olivia Brown's Star anytime soon, it'll be too soon. Jonathan
Frakes and Genie Francis also camp it up way too much as collectors
Tim and Amber Lake. And they're not the only ones who bring
bad camp to the season.
 Luckily,
some episodes have a good mix of camp and story. "We Have
A Lot To Talk About," the season's premiere, is an episode
that will always be close to my heart and has some of the best
quotations in Superman history. ("That is SO unfair! You
know I can't fly!") There's camp in the form of the Churches
in that said episode, but when it's Peter Boyle, Bruce Campbell,
and Jessica Collins, you really don't seem to mind.
 "Ultra
Woman" gives Lois super-powers, and again, a very campy
costume, but makes for a good story anyway. The episode also
features the Metropolis Park Wishing Well, which now can be
paused so you can actually see this author's name inscribed
on the well! I've been waiting for years for a good copy of
this episode.
Another
highlight of the season - and one of the series' best all around
- is "Tempus Anyone," a return appearance for the
Tempus character from Season 2's "Tempus Fugitive."
Season
Three rushed right into a wedding, and "I Now Pronounce
You" promises the "wedding of the century" -
a wedding that ABC touted as being "bigger than Burt and
Loni, Michael and Lisa Marie..." You see where they're
going with that. I don't want to spoil the episode, but the
episodes following it may become increasingly frustrating, even
though "Double Jeopardy" and "Seconds" are
also two of the season's best shows.
 (On
that note, it's sad that some of the original ABC promos couldn't
make their way onto the set - some of them were REALLY good.)
The
season finale introduces some aliens fom a New Krypton. This
is the spot where the producers chose to ignore the whole "Last
Son of Krypton" aspect of Superman, and sadly, it was kind
of downhill from there.
I'd
also like to warn, from a shallow point of view, that this is
also the season where Teri Hatcher cuts her hair into an atrocious
short hairstyle. And sadly, as Lois cut her hair, she also lost
a bit of the spine and wit that she had in the show's first
two seasons.
Don't
get me wrong, I love this set and I am very excited to see these
episodes again... but if you want the real, good Lois &
Clark experience, I'd probably sooner recommend seasons
one and two.
The
final verdict: 7 stars out of 10. Even though some episodes
are clunkers, it's still a great set and I'm still impressed
that Warner Home Video even bothered to do bonus features for
a 10-year-old show. Props also to Dean Cain for participating
in interviews.
This
DVD is part of Warner's "Year of Superman," and features
a special video montage of all their Superman promotions at
the start of Disc One. The montage is classy. And some packages
come with passes to see Superman Returns for free - how
can you go wrong there?
Order your copy of Season Three on DVD!
Now
that you've read the review, check out KryptonSite's look back
at Lois & Clark - includes a gallery of images from Season
Three!
Read
our review of Lois & Clark: The Complete Second Season
Official
Warner Bros. site with preview clips from this DVD release:
loisandclarkdvd.com
Come
back to KryptonSite for more on the June 20 Warner Home Video
releases!
Note:
The views of Craig Byrne don't necessarily represent the thoughts
and feelings of everyone at KryptonSite.
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