Discuss Adventures of Superman
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Jumping the Shark
posted by sukhisooSTAFFMOD on January 18, 2021 at 8:22 AM
Watching The Adventures of Superman on Heroes and Icons has evoked a sensation of fond nostalgia.
Currently, the show seems to be winding down. I recently watched "The Magic Secret" and I now recall a feeling of being let down. I did not yet know the term "Jumping the Shark," but I would point to the episode as a possible moment.
Jimmy, Lois, and Superman are trapped in a 60 foot deep pit while kryponite rains down on them. Then, the walls start to move in, potentially crushing the lot of them. Superman extricates them from the situation by using a magic trick and "levitating" Lois horizontally in the air (look no ropes). Her rigid body stopped the walls from crushing them while Jimmy manages to climb up and re-aim the kryptonite gun elsewhere.
I could accept the premise that Superman had powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men, but how did Lois somehow get a titanium strength spine that prevent the stone wall from crushing the trio? Also, Superman's levitating trick felt false to my ten year old self.
I remember fidgeting a little. The magic of the show was dying.
Reply by sukhisoo
on January 21, 2021 at 12:05 PM
This final season is still bothering me.
While it is nice that the villains are starting to develop weapons that give Superman a run for his money, it is annoying that Superman seems to be pulling brand new superpowers out of his butt.
In "Divide and Conquer," he discovers he can divide himself into two Supermen.
In "The Mysterious Cube," he can walk through walls.
And it gets worse. In "Atomic Captive," he can push a nuclear explosion back into the ground. Then he does some sort of reverse polarity thing and cancels out Lois and Jimmy's radiation poisoning.
There is too much power creep.
I'll watch it to the end, but I am liking this final season less than previous entries.
Reply by PT 100
on January 21, 2021 at 2:55 PM
Yes, the episodes mentioned above did seem to stretch credibility, even for a fantasy series. What really bothered me about "Divide and Conquer" was that even if each Superman were only half strength, he would still be way more powerful than he seemed to be. I found it hard to believe that each of the two was only approximately like a regular human in strength/power.
In episodes like "The Mysterious Cube" and "Atomic Captive" they tried to make it more credible by having a scientist help Superman discover new aspects to his powers or new solutions to problems. Their theories seemed rather contrived to me, even as a child in the 1950s.