Synopsis of Saturday Morning Show

This final re-working of Super Friends lost a few heroes and added a few more, but was otherwise true to the original concept. The show was designed with the intention to give B-level super heroes a boost by being part of a super-powered team, pitching in their various talents in a way that would make teamwork look attractive to young viewers.

The gang, including Superman, Aquaman, Batman and Robin, and Wonder Woman, was now joined by Cyborg, a “black bionic wonder,” and Firestorm, a nuclear-powered character who bridged the generation gap in a novel way—fusing two personalities into one body, he had a scientist's brain power and the strength and energy of a teenager.

Revered for being true to the DC Universe in its half-hour stories, Super Powers was the first animated show to tell the origin of Batman and his parents’ deaths, in an episode called “The Fear.” Old villains like Lex Luthor and The Scarecrow mingled with more recent creations like Darkseid to do weekly battle with our heroes. As fearsome as these supervillains were, the Galactic Guardians' defeat came at the hand of those omnipresent and nigh-omnipotent Smurfs, whose kindly ways had made superhero cartoons obsolete by the mid-1980's.

Release History

9/7/85 - 9/6/86 ABC

TV Sub Categories

animated
sci-fi/fantasy
action/adventure

TV Studio

Hanna-Barbera , DC Comics

Television Cast

Batman Adam West
Robin Casey Kasem
Firestorm Mark Taylor
Joker Unknown
Penguin Unknown
Lex Luthor Unknown
Cyborg Ernie Hudson
Wonder Woman B.J. Ward
Superman Danny Dark

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