"Ruby-Spears Superman" DVD Talkback (Spoilers)

[James Harvey]

The classic animated series sees a complete series DVD release!

Ruby-Spears Superman
Studio: Warner Home Entertainment
Release Date: November 3rd, 2009

Synopsis: As a 50th anniversary gift, DC Comics legendary Man of Steel got a brand-new Saturday morning cartoon. Produced by Ruby-Spears, this new Superman series brought back a few familiar foes, along with new unfriendly faces, for weekly battles and a peek into the private life of the man with the S on his chest. Also providing a look back at how Clark Kent grew into the role of Superman, revisit this fan-favorite animated series with the new Ruby-Spears Superman release from Warner Home Video.

Bonus Features:
-"Corruption of the Corrupt: The Rise of LexCorp" Featurette
-Trailers

Please post only comments about the DVD release in this thread, as this thread is only for discussion of the actual DVD release. To discuss the included episodes, please use the talkbacks linked below.

Episodes Included:
-Destroy The Defendroids / The Adoption
-Fugitive From Space / The Supermarket
-By The Skin Of The Dragons Teeth / At The Babysitters
-Cybron Strikes / The First Day Of School
-The Big Scoop /Overnight With The Scouts
-Triple-Play / The Circus
-The Hunter / Little Runaway
-Superman and Wonder Woman VS The Sorcerer Of Time / The Birthday Party
-Bonechill / The Drivers License
-The Beast Beneath These Streets / First Date
-Wildshark / To Play Or Not to Play
-Night Of The Living Shadows /Graduation
-The Last Time I Saw Earth / Its Superman

Discuss This DVD!

Related Threads:
-Ruby-Spears Superman DVD Review (Spoilers)

Note: We appreciate and encourage discussion. Please keep your posts the thoughtful, relevant and insightful. Please do not post any improper or inflammatory material. We will issue warnings if we believe it necessary. Please keep discussion ON-TOPIC!

[Trevor]

I just picked this setup and I'm looking forward to watching the series.

I popped the 2 discs into my computer and I noticed that in terms of video it looks like Warner Brothers just used the masters that were made in 1988. (My computer monitor is widescreen, so when it displays a standard image it will display it in a 1.37:1 box with shows that were mastered from tapes that were edited together in a linear format appearing with parts of their edges missing in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio.)

[freezeface]

Just finished watching the first disc. I was surprised at how well this series still held up after 21 years. Great animation, great opening with the john williams theme, and I like the first taste of the corrupt billionaire Luthor, complete with kryptonite ring. It was great to see other villains in the show too like Zod and the prankster, and even made up villains like the hunter were pretty cool.

Can't wait to watch disc 2!!

[hobbyfan]

My brother bought this for me for my birthday back in February.

The main stories were decent, especially the ones written by Marv Wolfman, who was also story editor and was a writer on one of the Superman books for DC at that time.

However, what bogged the show down, and likely ultimately caused its cancellation, was the Family Album segment at the end of the show. Too short and contrived, and the segment was inserted, according to articles I read, at the request of then-programming head Judy Price for educational purposes. Nice idea, wrong hour of the day for it. CBS could've coupled Superman with the TMNT in a mid-morning block, instead of using it as a lead-in for Muppet Babies. Had they at least moved it during the season to 10:30 (in between Pee-Wee's Playhouse and the Turtles), it might've gotten a 2nd season.

[Ioz]

I bought this a couple months back. Although it wasn't one of my favorite shows, I liked it. I didn't mind the Family Album segments. I agree the timeslot was a pretty poor one for a show like this. It should have been on later in the morning.

[KJ Styles]

This was a very good show and I remember being mad at it being cancelled back then. I didn't mind the Family Album segments. I do agree with Hobbyfan and Ioz that it had a bad timeslot though. It aired opposite Winnie The Pooh at the time, and I flip flopped between both shows. That was a bad matchup for it and I think that caused it's cancellation more than anything else.

Oh and BTW, the Turtles weren't on Saturday Morning in 1988, they didn't debut on SatAM until 1990. all the more reason why Superman should have aired later in the morning that year.

[TnAdct1]

This was a very good show and I remember being mad at it being cancelled back then. I didn't mind the Family Album segments. I do agree with Hobbyfan and Ioz that it had a bad timeslot though. It aired opposite Winnie The Pooh at the time, and I flip flopped between both shows. That was a bad matchup for it and I think that caused it's cancellation more than anything else.

Oh and BTW, the Turtles weren't on Saturday Morning in 1988, they didn't debut on SatAM until 1990. all the more reason why Superman should have aired later in the morning that year.

Definitely agree that Superman's cancelation was the result of it being on a bad timeslot (with it against Winnie-the-Pooh). As for why CBS would put this show in such a damaging time slot, I can think of three reasons for it:

1. The time between 9:00-10:30 was already dedicated to CBS's two main powerhouses at the time, Muppet Babies and Pee-Wee's Playhouse.

2. CBS felt (rightfully so) that the breakout series for their 1988-1989 Saturday morning lineup was going to be Garfield and Friends. Hence, the show was given the 10:30 AM slot in order to take advantage of people still watching CBS after Pee-Wee's Playhouse.

3. 11:00 AM and beyond can be a dangerous time to air new shows, as local channels may pre-empty it with other programming and air it the following Saturday in the early hours (between 6:30 and 8:00) instead. Given how Superman is such a popular character, I have a feeling that CBS knew better than to put it on a timeslot where it would risk getting pre-emptied in some areas.

[ashleesmach1]

Glad it was made and I'm happy to have the series on DVD. Now if the WB can only just release the rest of the Dc character Cartoon series they have failed too up to this point. yipee!

[Trevor]

Glad it was made and I'm happy to have the series on DVD. Now if the WB can only just release the rest of the Dc character Cartoon series they have failed too up to this point. yipee!

...or the rest of the live-action Superboy.

[Robin2099]

...or the rest of the live-action Superboy.

That's already been confirmed by DC as not happening due to poor sales. Sucks though.

[Trevor]

That's already been confirmed by DC as not happening due to poor sales. Sucks though.

Too bad they couldn't put it on iTunes internationally.

But, really, I'm trying to think just how much Superman-related TV shows and movies DC and Warner brothers still have in the vaults, either live-action or cartoon, and really, aside from the Superboy cartoons of the 60's (and the live-action pilot of the same era, along with Superpup) and the live-action Superboy, I think DC and Warner Brothers have pretty much scrapped the barrel empty. So if Warner Brothers was ever looking for any "New" Superman DVD releases, then aside from reissuing the older DVD's, the only stuff left in the vaults are the above mentioned series/cartoons.

[ashleesmach1]

did not release all the filmation Superman series or the superboy and krypto series so they need to do that.

[JTMarsh]

I bought this a few months back. It's a fun, fluffy show, aimed more at little kids but still fun for what it is. More than almost any other superhero show I've seen, Superman & Lois Lane really look like they were ripped straight from the comics of that era. It's funny that Superman/Clark Kent's voice actor was Beau Weaver (taking over for the late Danny Dark, who voiced Superman in all the Super-Friends cartoons), Weaver was later the voice of Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic in the 90s Fantastic Four cartoon.

On the voice acting, you listen to this and compare it to the 90s DCAU Superman cartoon you'll hear a whole world's difference in terms of voice acting. Specifically, like a lot of 80s cartoons, the voice acting here tends to be a bit more flamboyant and theatrical than what you hear in more modern cartoons. Case in point, the 90s Superman, which featured much more low-key acting by comparison.

[Optimus81]

I was really looking forward to this series and picked it up the day it came out. I enjoyed it given the great 80s nostalgia feel it had, and I even liked a lot of the stories they did, including the family album segments in Smallville (with the exception of the ones where Clark is a baby with super powers- those were just annoying).

Highlight episodes of the season for me were:
- The Big Scoop
- Triple-Play (surprisingly)
- The Hunter
- Superman and Wonder Woman vs. The Sorceress of Time

I found Beau Weaver's voice to be a little wimpy for Superman, though, but the animation was great! All in all, thumbs up on this series. Not the greatest DC adaptation ever but very good, especially if you enjoy 80s cartoons.

[JTMarsh]

I didn't think Beau Weaver's Superman voice sounded wimpy. I suspect they cast him because he sounded similar to the previous Superman voice actor, the late Danny Dark (RIP). But that's just me.