Media Diary Week 4 - The Text that Changed My Life

Media Diary Week 4 – The Text that Changed My Life

For this week’s media diary, I have chosen ‘Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman’ as the text that changed my life. I first watched this show in 2005, when I was aged seven. Prior to this point I had no particular interest in superheroes; I enjoyed watching Christopher Reeve as Superman, but the films were only something I would watch on occasion. However, watching ‘Lois & Clark’ was what inspired my interest in Superman, and superheroes in general. What I found interesting about this show at the time was the line-up of characters, characters that I had known on film for so long, but played by different actors. I had no idea at the time of how old the series was, having run for four seasons between 1993 and 1997, to me it was completely new and modern in contrast to the Superman movies of the ‘80s. The pilot in itself is a new Superman movie, combining comedy and peril along with some “super” acting from Dean Cain as Clark Kent/Superman, and Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane. This is the show that would go on to fuel my love of sci-fi and superheroes, which I continue to take pleasure from today.

When I first watched ‘Lois & Clark’ back in 2005, the aspect of it I took the most enjoyment from was its humour. It was unlike that of any TV show I had seen before, the jokes were witty and on occasion over-the-top, but as a child this was something that I enjoyed watching. The jokes that this show featured appeal to both children and adults – the show did occasionally venture into more adult humour. I had never before associated superheroes with humour, however watching only the first few episodes changed my perspective on that. Combining comedy with danger proved to be a successful format for this series, and Season One in particular shows the audience a whole new take on a classic tale.

In addition to this, the Clark-centric approach to the series was something I also noticed at the time. Unlike with Richard Donner’s ‘Superman’, Clark’s background was not explained within the first episode, before him subsequently becoming Superman – in fact, he has little idea of his origin in the first few episodes! ‘Lois & Clark’ focused on Clark being the true identity, whilst Superman was the disguise. This was important as I think it helped me relate to the character more; he wasn’t so much an alien pretending to be a man, but a man who discovered he was an alien.

When I return to ‘Lois & Clark’ now and re-watch it, it tends to elicit an emotional reaction from me. I feel an overwhelming sense of nostalgia in watching the show. I recall the jokes I once found funny (and still do) and remember what it was about the show that made me come to this genre of film and TV. The slapstick humour that the show features is still something I enjoy, and I now have a greater understanding of some of the issues that the show tackles (e.g. sex, terrorism, nuclear arms, suicide). It did not occur to me at the time I first watched them how the show was making serious issues palatable to a prime-time audience; something in retrospect I find very impressive.

‘Lois & Clark’ has been relatively well-received over the last 20 years. It has been given overwhelmingly positive appraisals due its modern ambience; however it has being slated by critics for venturing into soap opera/romantic comedy territory over the course of its final season (the wedding of Lois and Clark being a big factor in this). With regards to how individuals other than me may interpret the series, I think it ultimately depends on your viewing tastes. Lovers of comedy, such as the Batman serials of the 1960s would enjoy this series, as the humour it employs is not unlike that. There’s much in the way of slapstick comedy, but also drama and suspense. However, lovers of serious sci-fi shows (such as ‘Star Trek’) may not be as enthusiastic about it. Although the show has gone so far as to have episodes focused on time travel, travel between dimensions, cloning and resurrection, the topics are not tackled with great scientific accuracy, often resorting to the use of sci-fi jargon. Fans of the more recent ‘Man of Steel’ and ‘Smallville’ may find this interpretation to be too tongue-in-cheek, developed to work well as a prime-time show, but with fewer adherences to comic book lore.

‘Lois & Clark’ is a show that did go on to change my media consumption. I would describe it as the most mature TV series I had watched to that point in my life, and it has since inspired me to watch other superhero TV programmes, such as ‘Smallville’ and the ‘Batman’ TV serials starring Adam West. As recently as this year, I went to see ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, a superhero film that employed comedy in its storytelling, and it reminded me how much I enjoyed this style of narrative, utilising comedy as a means of defusing a situation younger viewers may find scary or unsuitable. It means that the text can be enjoyed by both the young and the old, which is why I think ‘Lois & Clark’ works so well.