Before Elizabeth Tulloch and Tyler Hoechlin, before Amy Adams and Henry Cavill, before Kate Bosworth and Brandon Routh, and even before Erica Durance and Tom Welling, TV’s hottest reporter/superhero combo was played by Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
The series aired for four seasons on ABC from 1993 to 1997. It made stars out of Teri and Dean, and without it, you might not be reading this website today, as KryptonSite was preceded by “Planet Krypton” also known as “The Krypton Club Newsletter” in 1995.
Now, all 87 episodes of the series are remastered and available on the HBO Max streaming service, and we can’t wait to start digging in! If you haven’t seen the show before, we do have a few recommendations. While it’s not a complete list of all 87 episodes, and it might not even comprise all of “the best,” these are some standouts:
“The Pilot” (Season 1) – Of COURSE you’re going to have to see how it began, and the two-hour Lois & Clark pilot remains one of our favorite Superman “movies.” You immediately see what a great guy this Clark is, and you totally understand why he would instantly fall for Lois Lane.
“The Green, Green Glow of Home” (Season 1) – This episode introduces Smallville and kryptonite to the mythos, making this a major story for the show’s history.
“Barbarians at the Planet/The House of Luthor” (Season 1) – The two-part first season finale of the show. Hard to believe at the time, audiences didn’t even know if there’d be a Season 2 or not. In this season finale, Lex Luthor proposes to Lois… and she says yes! 1950’s Lois Lane Phyllis Coates shows up as Lois’ mom.
“Season’s Greedings” (Season 2) – Best to watch over the holiday season, this story is written by Dean Cain himself, and shows what happens when the Toyman Winslow Schott (as played by “George Jefferson” Sherman Hemsley) creates an Atomic Space Rat toy that makes children greedy while making adults act like children.
“The Phoenix” (Season 2) – Lex Luthor is back, and Lois and Clark finally start to admit their warm and fuzzy feelings for each other… another historic one.
“Tempus Fugitive” (Season 2) – Hello! Duh! Those are the only words you need to know.
“We Have A Lot To Talk About” (Season 3) – Find out what happens when Clark proposes and Lois reveals that she knows he’s Superman.
“I Now Pronounce You” (Season 3) – Lois and Clark get married… or do they?
“Swear To God, This Time We’re Not Kidding” (Season 4) – Probably not an especially good episode, but it is the one where Clark and Lois finally get married, so we’ll include it on the list.
“Meet John Doe/Lois and Clarks” (Season 4) – One of the better two-parters in the show’s final season which sees the villainous Tempus running for President. Also, the return of the Clark from another world! (Season 3’s “Tempus Anyone?” which introduced the alternate world almost made this list.)
In any event, this is the best these episodes have ever looked, nearly three decades later. If you haven’t checked out HBO Max yet, now you have yet another reason!
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Recently started watching Lois & Clark for the first time and i'm really enjoying it.
So is this the first time the show has been fully remastered? I remember it being quite grainy on the DC Universe streaming service, is the DVD complete series set the same quality?