DCAU Spotlight: Superman the Animated Series

I don't know what to say. The monkeys won't do.

And I also don't know what to say about those

crazy producers from the geek cop radio network.

They're driving me crazy. Hello and welcome to

the 94th episode of ToonCast, brought to you

by the GeekCast Radio Network. I am your host,

JFJ and Mike, and today I'm joined by Nightwing.

Hello, sir. Hello. How are you? I'm great. That's

good, that's good. Today we are going to be continuing

the DC Animated Universe spotlight with Superman

the Animated Series. And before we get into the

show, I just... I want to not really start the

show on a sad note or anything, but it was today,

wasn't it, that it happened? Today or yesterday,

one of those two. It happened yesterday, actually.

I thought it was today. Yeah, no, it was yesterday.

Yeah, it was yesterday. Sorry about that, folks.

We are recording this Wednesday night. I almost

said July. Why the hell did I almost say July?

Wednesday night, February 23rd, 2011. On the

22nd of 2011, February 22nd, 2011, Dwayne McDuffie

passed away. I believe it was due to surgical

complications. He was having some surgery done.

Unfortunately, he passed away. And for those

who don't know, Dwayne McDuffie was the co -creator

of Milestone Comics. He was a co -creator of

Static or The Show. Yeah, something like that.

Yeah, he was one of the main heads on Static

Shock. He also wrote numerous Justice League

and Justice League Unlimited episodes. He rewrote...

Justice League Worlds Collide to be what Justice

League Crisis Unto Earth is for the DC Universe

animated original movies. So hereforth, all of

the DCAU spotlights on ToonCast will be dedicated

to Dwayne's memory as well as Boyd Kirkland's

memory because Boyd Kirkland was a director over

on Batman the Animated Series. He had passed

away a couple of weeks ago. So all of the DCAU

Spotlight episodes here on ToonCast are dedicated

to their memory. It was just shocking to me when

I heard this news. I was like, what, really?

Yeah, it's so weird. He was doing interviews

for All -Star Superman. He was doing all the

press stuff for it, yeah. Yeah, and people were

saying that he seemed perfectly healthy and energetic,

and all of a sudden... Bam, out of nowhere, he's

dead, and that's, yeah, it's terrible. Yeah,

it's so very, very terrible. Although, you know,

of all notes to go out on, All -Star Superman

is a great one. I mean, that is a great movie.

Yeah, I haven't had a chance to catch it yet.

Yeah, it's phenomenal. Maybe the best of them

so far. It's really great. Yeah, I haven't had

a chance to catch it yet, and one of the things

that, you know, Most people make their first

impressions off of trailers or special – especially

with the DC Universe animated films, they usually

show off a trailer or a behind -the -scenes feature

on the previous film, which is what they did

with Superman and Batman Apocalypse. They had

shown the little preview for All -Star Superman.

I wasn't really thrilled with the voice cast

choices, specifically Superman's. I can't see

James Denton. a .k .a. Mike from Desperate Housewives,

as Superman. I just can't hear that. While I

do agree that Anthony LaPaglia as Lex Luthor,

that's just amazing casting. But, you know, as

far as my final judgment, whether I'm going to

like All -Star Superman or not, I'm going to

have to wait until I actually see it because

I haven't had a chance to see it yet. Well, you

know, on the note of James Denton, he actually

is very, very good. I was surprised. I mean,

in the comic, All -Star Superman, Superman is

a little bit, he seems a bit aloof and a little

bit detached, not very humble, which I kind of

hated. But in this story, he feels very down

to earth, like a very personable guy. He definitely

is Superman. I mean, you know, he's not like

Tim Daly. He doesn't sound like the same, but

yeah, he definitely is great. All the voice cast,

they're all really great. Lois Lane, Christina

Hendricks did a great job. She's the first Lois

Lane, I think, where she really is attractive.

She's not just funny. She's not just, you know,

hot to look at as an actress. No, she actually

really does, you know, you can understand why

Superman is attracted to her. You mean the Lois

Lane character or Christina Hendricks herself?

Both. Okay, well, I would argue with you that

Dana Delaney is also very hot. Okay, no, no.

Okay, yes, yes. I would argue that her main asset,

well, we'll get into this later, but is that

she's more... quick -witted and funny and smart.

She's perfect as Lois Lane. I think Christina

Hendricks is a little more, we'll say, attractive.

And again, it goes to people's tastes, and that's

fine. But as far as everyone that has voiced

Lois in the DC Universe movies, I would probably

agree with you on Christina Hendricks' voicing

her. But... Dana Delaney wins out overall for

me. Oh, absolutely. I totally agree. She is the

perfect Lois Lane, I think. Even though Christina

Hendricks is a little bit hotter, I guess. No,

Dana Delaney is absolutely the definitive Lois

Lane. Yes, she is. And for those of you not figuring

it out by now, today we are talking about Superman,

the animated series. Woo! Yes, often shortened

to Superman TAS or STAS, as most of us DCAU fanatics

shorten it that much. It's an American animated

television series starring DC Comics flagship

character Superman. The series was produced by

Warner Bros. Animation and aired on the WB from

September 6, 1996 to February 12, 2000. Warner

Bros. applied the same more modern, more serious

animated treatment to DC Comics' flagship character

in the same way that they had successfully produced

Batman in the animated series. As with the first

season of Batman TIS, the main opening title

sequence of Superman TIS had no actual title.

The series was met with high praise from both

critics and fans, claiming it to be the most

faithful adaptation of Superman to date, and

even nominated for an Emmy. Slightly to moderately

edited reruns were aired on Toon Disney and are

currently shown on Disney XD. So what are your

general memories of Superman the Animated Series,

sir? Let's see. My first ever Superman that I

ever saw was actually the Dean Cain, Terry Hatcher,

Lois and Clark series, the live -action one.

But, you know, this was very similar in that

it was also based off the post -crisis reboot

of Superman, where he was more down -to -earth,

a little bit more personal, less godlike. Yeah,

you know, when I was seven years old, I first

saw this show, and I thought, whoa, okay, this

is awesome. Yeah, I started watching it. I watched

every episode as a kid. As soon as it came out,

I watched it every day I possibly could. I think

this is probably the definitive, well, this is

the best on -screen version of the Superman universe.

Just in terms of the way it portrays Metropolis

and all the characters and everything and their

relationships, I think this really is the definitive

version. And for me, it's by far the definitive

version. This is, I think, my Superman. This

is the one that I always think of when I think

of the character. There's other ones that have

other attributes that I think maybe are a little

bit better here and there, but overall, this

is my personal Superman. For me, I... I told

the story last episode about when Batman the

Animated Series was on television back in the

90s that my stepmother told me that I was not

allowed to watch it because it was too old. Oh,

yeah. And for me, I think I completely missed

on Superman. I think I may have caught one episode

as a 16, 17 -year -old kid because it ran from

1996 to 2000. I may have caught one or two episodes,

but I never actually caught the entire series

run. And then our next week's episode, Batman

Beyond, I caught an episode of that and I was

hooked. Of course, I'll tell that story next

week. But yeah, as a 16, 17 -year -old kid, I

don't ever remember watching Superman. But I

think by the time I was 24, 25, 26, somewhere

around there. I don't remember. A few years ago,

about five, six years ago, I came around to it

and absolutely love it. There are a few episodes

that aren't that great, but the overall feel

of the show, the overall character design, the

voice acting is just amazing. Yeah, I actually

have the opposite story with... batman superman

because i actually was too young at the time

to watch batman when it was first running so

i only caught uh the new batman adventures that

you know the redesign and i caught a bit of the

older series i think i saw one episode of batman

the animated series i saw robin's reckoning part

one i didn't get to see part two for another

like two or three years that was terrible but

yeah so i had the exact opposite experience where

i missed most of batman tas until And then actually

when I was about nine, my mom said I couldn't

watch Batman or Superman because it was too violent.

So I was like, no! And that ruined the rest of

my childhood. But then, yeah, when I was older,

I went back and I got the DVDs and I love them.

So, yeah. Yeah. Jerrica in the chat was saying

something about Space Ghost hosting a marathon

on WB or Cartoon Network when they did a Superman

-Batman marathon. Yeah. They've done stuff like

that before when it's been in syndication. I

don't know how qualified Space Ghost is to host

a Batman and Superman marathon. So getting into

the characters and voice actors. Much like the

BTAS episode, I'm going to go down the line of

the actual voice actors and then the characters.

and I'm going to try to sound less shocked, because

apparently Glade Packer said I sounded too shocked

when I was reading through some of the BTAS stuff.

Really, the only one that really shocked me from

BTAS, because I never knew it, was the fact that

Helen Slater, a .k .a. Supergirl, voiced Talia

al Ghul. Yeah, I didn't know that either. I didn't

know that at all. That was the only one that

really shocked me out of the BTAS list. As far

as the actors, you've got Tim Daly as Superman,

Michael Ironside, who is Darkseid. And it is

Darkseid, not Seed, people. It's Darkseid. It's

even spelled side. If you don't know that, you

just don't know English. Sorry. Yeah. Well, it's

spelled S -E -I and not S -I. Yeah, that's what

it means. Yeah, it's just, yeah. Clancy Brown

as Lex Luthor, as we said before. Dana Delaney

as Lois Lane. David Kaufman as James Jimmy Olsen.

Corey Burton as Brainiac. Gilbert Gottfried as...

Oh, God, I know I'm going to fuck this up. Okay,

as Mr. Mxyzptlk. I think I got that right. In

the comics, I believe it's pronounced Mxyzptlk.

But in the animated series, it's mix, yes, spit,

lick. It's like four different words. He spells

it out in the show. Yeah. Yeah. So it's a little

bit different. Yeah, and then you have Joseph

Bologna. I don't know. I don't mean to butcher

the guy's last name, but it's baloney is the

way it looks like. As SCU Lieutenant Dan Turpin.

Again, George DeSunza, who I cannot pronounce

his last name to save my life, was Perry White.

Lisa Edelston was Mercy Graves. Lauren Tom was

Angela Chen. Mike Farrell was Jonathan Kent.

Shelly Fabrez was Martha Kent. Jolie Fisher was

Lana Lang. Victor Brandt was Professor Emile

Hamilton. Jonah Cassidy was Inspector Maggie

Sawyer. And some notable regular guests, you've

got Ron Perlman, who is the DCAU voice god. Anything

he does in DCAU is just amazing. Yep. Even though

Teen Titans is not in continuity. Leslie Easterbrook

as Mala. Sarah Douglas as... Oh, Mala had two

different voice actresses. Okay. Malcolm McDowell

as John Corbin. Michael Dorn. Michael Dorn! Yeah!

As Calaback. So there you go, Star Trek buffs.

He was Calaback and John Henry Irons, a .k .a.

Steel. Lori Petty as Leslie Willis slash Livewire.

Bruce Weitz as Bruno Mannheim. Jody Benson as

Angela Evans -Smith. Brad Garrett as the main

man Lobo Bibbo and Nito Corrali. I don't remember

that character off the top of my head. Yeah,

me neither. William H. Macy as the director of

the Paranormals Institute. Jason Marsden as the

teenage Clark Kent. Nicole Tom as Supergirl.

Bud Cort as Toy Man. Melissa Joan Hart as Saturn

Girl. Chad Lowe as Cosmic Boy. Scott Menville

as Braver Man. Kenny Braver Man. I don't know

who that is. I don't know. It's one of those

Teen Titans or Legion of Superheroes crossovers.

Yeah, you're right. I can't believe this next

title. Oh, God. I can't believe this. Brandon

Walsh. Oh, wait, I mean Jason Priestley as Freak

Daggle, a .k .a. Chameleon Boy. And, of course,

the ever -present, the ever -awesome Kevin Conroy

as Bruce Wayne slash Batman, Mark Hamill as the

Joker, Paul Williams as the Penguin, John Glover

as the Riddler, Bob Hastings as Commissioner

James Gordon, Charity James as Roxy Rocket, Roddy

McDowell as the Mad Hatter, Henry... Silva as

Bane, Matthew Valencia as Tim Drake slash Robin,

and David Warner as Ra's al Ghul. Heck yeah.

I know that's a long cast listing, but if you

had to pick a favorite and least favorite character

from Superman the Animated Series, who would

they be and why? Oh, man. Okay, well, Superman

is obviously a great one to pick, but, you know...

It's so hard. I want to pick Lois just because

I think she was so well portrayed by Dana Delaney.

At the same time, she didn't do anything in the

show. Occasionally, she might save Superman by

throwing the kryptonite away from him. She rescued

him that one time in the finale. In general,

she doesn't do much. She's just kind of there

to further the plot to an extent and to get saved.

Which is interesting because her character and

the way she's portrayed, you know, that's not

really her personality. It's just the situation

surrounding her. But still, I don't know. I think

personality -wise I like Lois the best, but overall

I've got to say, you know, Superman is just,

this is the definitive Superman for me. So I'll

give it to him, I think. Yeah. What about least

favorite? Good question. I don't really hate

any character from this show. Jax -er and Mala

are up there as being pretty annoying. Even though

the voice acting for Jax -er was awesome, but

yeah, the characters themselves kind of meh.

I mean, I appreciate. I'm glad we had those episodes

because I think you always need that episode

with the Phantom Zone and having the criminals

come back out. It's an important part of the

Superman mythos. I think it's a good thing to

have in there. Ironically enough, my least favorite

is going to be a weird one. It's going to be

Jonathan Kent because maybe I was spoiled by

watching Smallville later and how John Schneider

portrayed him so well in that show. But this

Jonathan Kent has no depth. He's just there to

make a kind of funny or dopey remark every now

and then. He has almost no real resonance. Concerning

the fact that they went with the post -crisis

version where both parents are still alive, I

think you needed them to really be a good presence

in his life, and Martha Kent was sort of like

that. She had some decently insightful dialogue,

but Jonathan Kent was almost like her goofy counterpart.

He wasn't that goofy, but still, he was a little

pointless. So I think that's kind of disappointing

for me. Yeah, I'm going to have to agree. I think

what they should have done, and I know they didn't

do this because obviously I don't think at the

time they really thought about it, and I'm not

sure if these two people would have been able

to even voice the characters, but Eddie Jones

and Kay Callen, who actually portrayed on screen

Martha and Jonathan in Lois and Clark, The New

Adventures of Superman, they would have been

a nice... voice over for the, for the Kents in

this series, I think. Yeah, they were good. I

liked them a lot. Yeah. I mean, you know, Jonathan

and Martha aren't, you know, they're not seen

that much as far as I remember. I mean, they're

seen obviously in the beginning, obviously in

the last son of Krypton three -parter and they're

seen and, you know, sporadic episodes throughout.

So it wouldn't be a steady, if Kay Callan and

Eddie Jones had had the time, it would, it would

have just been, you know, like one of those one

-shot voice roles that you come in every once

in a while that wouldn't be like someone like

Tim Daly or Dana Delaney where you have to be

every day or however the voice acting schedule

went. But I think it could have brought more

to them. I think, okay, well, they were very

rarely seen, but they were very important just

because, I mean, they were there. during the

scenes where Clark becomes Superman. So they

helped forge his character. And then there's

the episode later where it seems like Clark Kent

has died. The late Mr. Kent, that awesome episode

where Superman has to figure out what he's going

to do now that everyone thinks Clark Kent is

dead. And in that episode, you've got him going

back to Smallville and he's like, what do I do

now? And they have a conversation with him. And

that was the perfect time to have some... deep

character development with with them just talking

to him and martha kent talks to him uh but jonathan

doesn't have much to do there's a whole episode

called father's day where he shows up in metropolis

and there's this whole parallel between superman

and his dad jonathan kent and calaback and his

father dark side yet jonathan kent he's just

kind of there to kind of get in trouble and make

a goofy joke every now and then and it's like

oh Yeah, I mean, I'm not saying at all that the

Martha and Jonathan are ancillary characters

at all in this cartoon. I'm saying that I think

that Eddie Jones and Kay Callen would have fit

the characters better than the voice actors that

they got to fit them. They would have put that

in motion. Eddie Jones would have done more with

the Father's Day episode. So, yeah. For me, as

far as favorite characters, it actually boils

down to how they interact with everybody. No

one can deny that Clancy Brown is the best voice

acting Lex Luthor. And actually, it's funny because

I don't know why. I don't remember off the top

of my head, and maybe it'll say it later in the

script. I haven't read through the whole script

yet. They made Lex black in this series. Well,

no, he's not actually black. He has a slightly

darker skin tone, and his lips are a bit bigger,

but technically... In interviews, they mentioned

that he's not actually black. He's sort of a

little bit like of a mixed race, I guess. He's

mostly Caucasian, like we'll say 75%. But he's

got a little bit of something else in there.

So he's not actually black. People confuse that

a lot, though. But if you put him next to other

black characters on the show, it's like night

and day. It's very different. And in Justice

League, when he comes back, he's totally white.

They changed his skin tone so people wouldn't

be confused anymore. Yeah, he still does – like

when I see – and I'm not – we're not going to

get into a big debate over this. That's fine.

But like seeing him next to Superman, seeing

their faces next to each other, Superman is white.

Lex Luthor is a darker – way darker shade than

Superman. I can see that. And I'm not saying

that to be racist at all. I'm just saying that

because that's the way I perceived it. And one

of the reasons why I perceived him as African

-American was because that's what I thought that

the character model looked like, and if that's

incorrect, I'm sorry. At the time, that's what

I thought it was. And originally, I thought because

it was an African -American Lex Luthor, I thought

Clancy Brown was African -American. Well, when

I was a kid, I used to think that he had an African

-American voice actor even though I didn't think

he was black. So yeah, I was with you on that

one. Yeah. And then Dana Delaney as Lois is just

awesome. I mean, if I had to pick, like, my favorite

character out of this, I probably wouldn't be

able to. I mean, I can go ahead and pick Superman

because Tim Bailey did an awesome job. I mean,

Tim Bailey voiced not only Clark and Superman,

even though they are the same person, he also

voiced Bizarro. Yeah, that was so weird. What's

even better is later in Justice League, when

George Newbern takes over Superman's role because

Tim Daly wasn't available at the time to reprise,

George Newbern also does Bizarro in Justice League.

I've told this story before, and I'll tell it

again here. I know that we're focusing on Superman

the Animated Series, but since we're talking

about voice acting here... From the time that

I found out about Justice League until obviously

I've watched it millions and millions of times,

I just wrapped up a podcast about Justice League,

Secret Origins podcast. Go to geekcastradio .com,

check it out. But the change from Daily to New

Bern, I never noticed it. I never noticed it.

Oh, I totally noticed it and I hated it when

I first saw it. On that first episode, it didn't

help that in Justice League they gave Superman

those horrible age lines around his eyes and

his cheeks. But he has this frog in his throat.

If you compare the two voices, there's a really

clear difference. Although, in the second season

of Justice League episode, Twilight, that's where

they took away the age lines and they made Superman.

They brought back the dark side Superman conflict

from this series. At that point... Daly, I guess

he'd been practicing because I – or excuse me,

not Daly. He'd been practicing because I thought

he was Tim Daly. I was like, oh. That's what

I'm saying as far as just in general. I mean

not specifically season one or season two of

Justice League but just overall his voicing of

Superman. I didn't realize it was somebody different.

And then – and I know I'm going to end up bringing

this up in the Justice League episode or ToonCast.

Then I hadn't thought that I had ever seen George

Newbern in anything else other than the special

features for Justice League. And I didn't recognize

him. And then, I don't know, a couple years ago,

for some strange reason, don't ask me why, I

put in the DVD player Adventures in Babysitting.

He is in Adventures in Babysitting with Elizabeth

Shue. Okay. But, yeah, I really like the dynamic

between Mixie and Superman. I thought that was

hilarious. They're perfect. Yeah, I thought that

was great. I do like, I love Darkseid and Calibac.

Michael, not Michael Dorn, Michael Ironside.

Michael Ironside, I don't care who you are, Michael

Ironside, and I know you'll agree with me, but

Michael Ironside is the definitive dark side

for animation. He's the definitive dark side,

period. I don't care for anything. He's the definitive

dark side forever and ever. Exactly. I mean,

he's just... The voice in Flight, and it's Ironside's

voice. I've seen him in so many other things.

Before I even knew about Superman, I've seen

him in so many other things. One of the ones

specifically I can think of off the top of my

head, which might make people cringe, is Starship

Troopers. Oh, that's a good movie. Well, I don't

know. Some people may or may not like it. But

yeah, Starship Troopers. It's cheesy, but it's

good. You know, just... The way he handled the

dark side character was just amazing. And I so

wish, I know we can't go back in time and have

it, have it done this way. I so wish they brought

back Conroy. They brought back daily. They brought

back, uh, who else did they bring back in, in

apocalypse? Um, uh, Ed, Ed Asner is granny goodness.

You know, they brought back those three, but,

They couldn't bring back Ironside as Darkseid.

They had to use Andre Brouwer. Don't get me wrong,

I love Andre Brouwer as an actor in most of the

stuff he does, but I'm sorry, that Darkseid voice

sucked. But that's another subject for another

day. Right, right. Yes, 65 years in the future,

Tooncast Beyond. Anyway, who is your favorite

voice? I mean, I know we talked about characters,

but who is, like... the one voice that you could

listen to all the time, who, which voice actor

did you like the best? Um, hmm. Uh, well, Dana

Delaney is up there. Uh, uh, probably between

Dana Delaney and Michael Ironside, I think. Uh,

yeah, I also did like, um, Jolie Fisher as Lana

Lang, or Lana Lang, as she's called in the series.

Yeah. I thought she was lots of fun. Um, Yeah,

you know, probably one of those. Yeah, I definitely

have to agree on David Delaney as Lois. Even

though it's just his own voice, I love Garrett

as Lobo and as Bibbo. Yes. Specifically, I love

Brad Garrett as Bibbo because of all the mutterings

he does. Oh, yes, yes. And I love him as Lobo

for just how in -your -face he is. Oh, oh, yeah,

yeah. So getting into some behind -the -scenes

stuff, some production notes here. For those

of you who may not know the character of Dan

Terrible Turpin, was visually modeled after the

character's creator, Jack Kirby. His first appearance

in the episode Tools of the Trade also marks

the first series appearance of the Fourth World

characters and concepts that were Jack Kirby's

major modern DC Comics creation. Yeah, that episode,

Apocalypse Now, oh, damn. Yeah, that was a really,

really bad ending, but it was a nice in -memory

of Kirby. Well, I thought it was a perfect ending,

personally. Okay. Let's see. Series producer

Bruce Timms personally storyboarded Superman's

climactic final fight with Darkseid in the series

finale Legacy to ensure it would be done right

and have it as much of an impact as possible.

Good job. I don't think you can get much more

of an impact than that, other than, you know,

slow motion Matrix fist to the face in Destroyer

in Justice League. Well, there's that, yeah.

I mean, his fight with Darkseid in Twilight in

Justice League was also very good. I mean, that

was awesome. But this was definitely one of their,

well, one of their only and best fights. The

top three Superman -Darkseid fights, I think

there's only been three of them. Big, major battles

was Legacy, Twilight, and Destroyer. I love all

three of them for different reasons and all that.

I love the one in Twilight for... And I'm not

going to stop until you're just a greasy smear

on my fist. Well, that's the one where Superman

is like, screw you, Darkseid, I'm going to...

take you down and he does I mean it's so great

because actually with that episode when they

first aired it it was the third hour of a three

hour Superman Justice League marathon and Cartoon

Network actually showed Apocalypse Now And then

– parts one and two. Then they showed Legacy

parts one and two. And then they showed this

episode for the first time as a full one -hour

episode. So you saw Darkseid beat Superman down

in Apocalypse Now. Then you saw Superman get

brainwashed and then beat Darkseid but ultimately

not entirely win the war in Legacy. So by the

time you saw Twilight, you were so ready to see

Superman just unleash on Darkseid and finally

beat him. And he did, and it was awesome. And

everyone cheered. It was amazing. Yes. Let's

see. I found this very interesting. I did not

know this. And I've actually, if I could get

a degree in DCAU knowledge, I would still get

a degree in it because I've studied this stuff

for years now since I've known about it. But

I did not know this little trivia fact. Clancy

Brown, who voiced Lex, originally auditioned

for the lead role of Superman. That would be

a very different Superman. How did he play that?

I don't know. If we ever get an interview with

him, I'm so going to ask him. I hope he played

just like Lex, with that exact same sinister

dark tone. Probably. And then the funny thing

is about Clancy Brown, I just found this out

the other day. I knew it in the back of my head,

but it didn't occur to me. A couple weekends

ago, I was watching The Shawshank Redemption.

And he is Guard Hadley in that, the head guard.

Before this, I had never seen – before Shawshank,

I had never seen Clancy Brown in a live -action

role. And I have seen Shawshank a number of times

over the years since it's been released. And

I never put two and two together until I started

listening to Hadley's voice in that movie. And

I'm like, that's got to be Clancy Brown because

it sounds just like Lex. Yeah, yeah. Let's see

here. Getting into some of the directors and

the producers and all that stuff. Obviously,

we're just going to briefly talk about some of

these guys and gals. Kurt Gaeta, Dan Reba, who

are mainstays. Butch, is it Lucic or Lukic? I

don't know how to say his last name. Something

like that. Butch Lukic, we'll say. Yeah, I'm

not sure. Of course, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel

created Superman. Paul Dini, Hilary Bader, Rich

Fogle, Alan Burnett, Stan Berkowitz, Jack Kirby,

Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Mark Avenir, Bruce W.

Tim. Just amazing, amazing writing. And the one

thing I love about DCAU, and I'll say this in

future episodes, the one thing I love is when

Bruce, Tim, and them were able to, they brought

in the creators. Like, Bill Finger and Kane did

five episodes of this series. Obviously, I think

those probably were the five episodes that probably

featured Batman, obviously. Jack Kirby and his

fourth world characters. There's another one

on here. Jerry and Joe, obviously, since Superman

is their creation, 46 episodes. They bring in

people that either had a good run or wrote them

really well in the comics or some epic comic

story, and they have them write an episode or

two, and it's just so amazing. Well, this is

the first, I think, Superman animated production

that really worked hard to make the Superman

universe feel like the comics, where Superman

actually does punch people, and he does get into

brawls, and he is more authoritative. He's not

just flying around, saving kittens and catching

planes and smiling at the camera while he's out

in space. It's interesting because Superman is

a character that, for the most part, is actually

defined more by, I think, TV shows and movies

than he is by the comics. Most people know Superman

for the Chris Reeve films and for the TV shows,

so this was really notable that it reversed that

trend. make most stuff up. It didn't try to reinvent

the wheel like Superman the movie did. It didn't

just copy those movies like some of the other

TV shows like Superboy did. It actually went

to the comics and it found the best elements

of what was then the current run of Superman

and it brought it to animation. Exactly. One

of the biggest changes to the Superman origin

is that the evil computer Brainiac was not only

from Krypton, but was portrayed as responsible

for preventing the knowledge of Krypton's imminent

destruction from reaching its... so as to save

himself rather than be committed in the presumably

futile task of saving the population of the planet.

In addition, the ship that carried the infant

Kal -El to Earth was designed to have a pilot,

and the autopilot used instead was programmed

to land smoothly upon reaching its destination.

This means that the ship is in perfect working

condition during Superman's adulthood, and is

used as his mode of long -range transportation

in space. Yep, yep. As long as he wears a helmet

in space. Yeah, I mean, I appreciate that they

didn't make Superman, you know, like that guy

who can just, like, traverse the entire galaxy

in 20 minutes. It's like, really? If he can do

that, then he can do anything and there's no

show anymore, you know? So I like the fact that

he can't breathe in space, that he is a little

bit more human -like, you know? I appreciate

the other versions, too, where he can't breathe

in space. That's fine. But, you know, for this

show, I like the fact that he can't breathe in

space and he's a spaceship. Also, Brainiac, his

change from the comics was brilliant. I mean,

you know, he's basically Krypton's master control

program. And that was such an awesome, awesome

move to the point where every version of Brainiac

after this has copied it. They're like, oh, yeah,

that's the way to do it. They change the character,

and it's great. It has that same connection.

Because in the comics, Brainiac, he shrunk down

and basically kidnapped the entire Kryptonian

city of Kandor, put it in a bottle. But in this

one, he literally kept the Kryptonians from leaving

Krypton, thus essentially being responsible for

their deaths. And so he committed genocide indirectly.

Whenever I show my friends... This show, I always

show them the three -part pilot. I'm like, here,

watch this. And then we immediately watch Brainiac's

return in, what's it called? Stolen Memories.

Yeah, Stolen Memories. Where Superman finds out

what he did to his father and to his people,

and he is pissed, and it's like, yes. So that,

yeah, Brainiac was a great, a very well -reinvented

character for the show. Yeah, exactly. And Brainiac

was just... The thing that I loved about Last

Son of Krypton, the three -parter that started

the series, was you've got... I don't know off

the top of my head who voiced Lara, his mother.

You've got friggin' Shooter McGavin, Christopher

McDonald, as Jor -El. That's amazing. I never

knew it was him until someone pointed it out,

and I was like, oh my god, you're right. I know

McDonald's voice anywhere. I've seen Happy Gilmore

so many times that I know that voice, and I was

like, oh wow, so awesome. And then they brought

him back to voice the older Kal -El in Beyond,

and that was pretty awesome. Yes, they did. Oh,

and he came back too in Justice League, didn't

he? Yeah, he did briefly. I believe it was for

The Man Who Has Everything. Yeah. The episode

I was talking about earlier with Loana and Van

Allen and all that. Since we're talking about

the actual show and some of the episodes, one

of the biggest things for this, at least in my

opinion, was World's Finest. Yeah. Oh, God, I

love that movie. Me too, me too. I know specifically

to the show it's a three -parter, but they also

released a direct -to -video film of it, film

version of it without the – it has the cut scenes

where like – I remember one of the cut scenes

was when Bruce tagged his cape and he's like

– he picks up the tracer and smashes it and he's

like, ah, touche. He says the line touche. And

it just ends. And normally in the episodic version,

it would end and go to the credits. But here

in the movie, it's just one fluid thing. And

I just, I absolutely love World's Finest. Oh

yeah, me too. It was so weird when, because this

was the first time I'd ever seen any crossover

of any, you know, show or anything. Because,

you know, I was, I think, eight at the time.

I remember we went to the video store, you know,

this is back when Blockbuster was still in business,

you know. Actually, it was a Hollywood video.

So we were just going there, and I, of course,

walked straight over to the VHS tapes. And I

was eight. I didn't know it was coming out soon.

The Internet was barely around even back then.

So anyway, I walk over there, and I see this

thing. It's like the Batman -Superman movie.

I pick it up. I look at it, and I'm like, there's

Batman and Superman and Lex Luthor and the Joker.

On the same cover. And I was like, no, no, no.

I knew the way that the show worked. They had,

it was called the new Batman Superman Adventures

at the time. But they weren't together. They

were separate. You know, you had your Superman,

then you had your Batmans. I figured they were,

maybe it was like, you know, a couple Superman

episodes, a couple Batman episodes. I look at

the back and there's like a screenshot on there.

It's like there's Batman and Superman looking

at each other, talking. And I'm like, wait a

minute. Wait a minute. No way, they're actually

talking to each other? So I, like, ran to my

parents. I was like, we have to rent this. The

Superman and Batman together. And then they were

like, really? Oh, cool. All right, awesome. I

was like, yes! So, yeah, this, like, blew my

mind as a kid. And it's so, so well done. Yeah,

it's just amazing. It's a great story. It's just

amazing. The dynamic between the two of them,

between Batman and Superman. starts with this

crossover in the DCAU because if you start with

Justice League and you see in the beginning of

Secret Origins when the two of them have the

bickering back and forth or they trade quips,

if you haven't seen World's Finest before that,

you would probably feel out of place, but oh

wow, just so awesome. Their chemistry is impossibly

good. I mean, it's insane just how well those

two characters and those two actors work together.

I mean, they really found all the best ways to

have them interact, and it's great. And the other

thing about Daly versus Newbern, which, again,

for me, there is no real versus with them because

I like them both as Superman. Right, right. The

thing about it is... Like I was saying, if you'd

watched Justice League Secret Origins first where

you have Newber and Superman, you'd probably

be taken aback. But see, for me it was different.

For me it was, oh, and that's where – when I

first watched Secret Origins, that's where I

never realized that it wasn't – that it was somebody

different because of the banter back and forth

between Kevin Conroy and – I got you. Between

the two characters because they kept the banter

up. And I'm like, wow. It's just like when World's

Finest was on. But, oh, wait, no, that's not

Tim Daly. Well, I mean, if you look at that pilot,

too, with Secret Origins, essentially the first

part is just a World's Finest episode. And then

eventually they have all the same things. You

have Batman in his Batplane fighting those three

-legged robots just like in World's Finest. But

then it's like, oh no, even with their powers

combined, they can't beat them. So it's like

it's literally taking world's finest and taking

it to the next step in Secret Origin. So it's

saying, oh, we need even more heroes now. I can't

believe you worked in a Captain Planet reference

there. Oh god. That was not intentional, I promise.

Yeah, well, anyone ever says, let our powers

combine? I think of the Wonder Twins, but I guess

that's not where that came from, huh? Yeah. Oh,

dang it. I should stop using that now. Yeah,

one of the things I wanted to bring up was also

midway through the series' run, it was combined

with the new Batman Adventures to become the

new Batman Superman Adventures. Superman TAS

itself was renamed the New Superman Adventures.

As acknowledged by the WB, the characters of

Superman and Batman were then spun off in a new

animated series, Justice League, which also featured

other popular DC Comics characters, including

Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Jon Stewart, Martian

Manhunter, Hot Girl, and The Flash. And just

this series, yes, it does have its bad episodes

like, oh, what's that one where Lois has the

award and Lightner is after her? Oh, Target?

Yeah. Yeah, that one wasn't that great. But overall,

just Superman the Animated Series was just amazing.

Now, do you remember the episode? I'm sure you

do. You remember the episode of Batman Beyond

the Call? Oh, yeah. The Call Part 2, where they

break out of the fortress, and Starro is controlling

the gray -suited Superman, or the black -suited

Superman, whatever you want to call it. And they

play this really, really dark STAS theme. I freaking

love that. I love when they do alterations like

that to the original theme to make it fit to

whatever scene they're trying to do it. At different

points, when Batman is on screen in Justice League

or whatever, sometimes they will play the BTAS

theme. And just hearing stuff like that is just

amazing to me. I guess give me your top three

favorite episodes, and I'll give you mine, and

then we'll move on. Oh, man, I've got to think

about this one. Well, The Late Mr. Kent is definitely

up there. Yeah. I'm trying to remember the entire

series run now. Let's see. Stolen Memories, I

think, is another one. I mentioned that one already.

But, yeah, I think that was a really great. way

to make superman and uh to make the krypton story

personal for him because most superman origin

stories it's like you don't quite get why he

cares so much about his planet it's like well

sure but i mean the thing is you know If you

talk to kids who were adopted, it's like, well,

yeah, they're kind of curious about their biological

parents, but it's not going to drive them mad

almost like it seems like it does with Superman.

Of course, he's an alien, so it makes a bit more

sense. But still, it's like this episode, I think,

really made it a very strong personal thing.

It made Brainiac a very good villain. It also

had some good stuff with Lex Luthor and him having

to work with Superman, where they had to find

common ground as, like, you know, Earthlings

fighting against this evil invader. Aside from

that, I think there's a lot of them that I really

love, but I actually kind of think the main man

parts one and two with Lobo. I mean, oh, whenever

I show my friends that, they almost die laughing.

It's just because it's Lobo. It's so amazing.

It's just, it's so much fun, you know? Uh, so

yeah, I think that those three probably, I love

so many more, but if I, yeah, I mean, there's

so many more to, I mean, like I said, there's

only maybe at least in my overall opinion of

sheer enjoyment. Well, like if I was going to

sit down and watch this series from start to

finish just for sheer enjoyment and not for reviewers

sake, there's, A lot of episodes I can overlook.

There's some that I really can't. But, I mean,

the majority of it is out of, what is it, three

seasons, three years, four years, whatever it

was. There's only maybe two, three, maybe four

total episodes that I can't watch, that I just

don't want to watch. Other than that, for me,

most of the two -parters, you know, Apocalypse

Now, Main Man, Legacy, just... A lot of those

two -part story type stuff, I really, really

enjoyed those. So up next, before the music segment,

you are going to hear, this is the last time

I will play it on ToonCast, I promise, but you

are going to hear the new Batman Superman Adventures

theme, because I love it. It's just a mash between

BTAS and STAS, and it's awesome. I played it

in last week's episode for BTAS. You're going

to hear it one more time, and I also might try

to find, I might try to get a good version of

the dark Superman the Animated Series theme from

that Batman Beyond episode we talked about. So

we will be back after this. is that faster than

a speeding bullet. I remember when we did the

music on this show, Chris did a really interesting

thing where Superman's chasing Batman across

the frozen tundra, and he's playing the Superman

theme, but it's really off -kilter and not necessarily

evil, but it just sounds wrong. It just sounds

weird, and it's all in minor chords and stuff.

It's just really cool and creepy. Was it Adam

Van Wick's idea to have Superman flying upright

at that point? Yeah, that was one of the first

times we did that, yeah. It's really cool. Because

normally we're so used to seeing him flying horizontal,

and there he's just standing straight up and

just kind of, like, levitating. And it was like,

wow, that's weird. In a way, I felt really bad

in retrospect about this episode because when

you were doing Justice League, I was thinking,

like, well, they'll probably work Starro in at

some point. And I go, no, well, they already

did Starro, and we have to keep him away because...

Because there's a continuity problem. Yeah, I

think Starro did come up in conversation several

times while we were working on Justice League,

but I was never a huge Starro fan anyway, so

I don't regret not getting to use him in Justice

League. I mean, it's kind of like, I don't know,

you need all seven of those guys to fight giant

starfish. Yes, that was awesome music. You wanted

to bring up something before we move actually

into the music. You wanted to talk about the

premiere. Three -part pilot. Oh, yeah, I totally

forgot. Actually, The Last Son of Krypton, parts

one and two and three, that's actually my top

episode overall. My favorite Superman origin,

it does so many things right. The entire first

episode is set on Krypton. You get to see its

final days. You get to see Jor -El being, like,

the action hero, firing off laser pistols on

his hover bike and, you know, running from the

cops, which is so weird for Jor -El. But, you

know, it's a great... awesome awesome uh first

episode and you know it's the entire uh three

episode arc is brilliant i think it's you know

i mean yeah it's my definitive version of superman

of course but i think this pilot goes a long

way in doing that the way it establishes the

character and and the world and everything it's

just it's perfect so yeah yeah they they really

nailed it doing the lesson of krypton three par

um It was just amazing. It's almost like, and

it reminds me so much of Schneider and O'Toole

in Smallville, whereas Martha and Jonathan in

Smallville are those types of parents that will

do anything for Clark here on Earth. But Last

Son of Krypton, now that I'm thinking about it,

Jor -El and Lara, they themselves in Superman

the Animated Series are, the animated versions

of Clark's earth parents. I had thought about

that, but you're right. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I,

I just think, you know, just thinking about it,

if you look at John Schneider and, and then O'Toole's

Jonathan and Martha, and you look at Christopher

McDonald's and I forget who does Lara off top

of my head. Some awesome British lady. I think

it's. Finola Hughes, let me look it up really

quick. But, yeah, just amazing, amazing stuff.

And it was just one of those parallels that I

just kind of drew on my own that was just awesome

because, like you said, they're willing to do

anything. Right. I think actually – I mean in

that first episode, they're only really in the

show for just the first 22 minutes. But in those

22 minutes, you fall in love with those characters

and when they die, your heart is broken. Oh,

I know. Yeah. It's just – it's amazing and I

think this was what made me really – Even though

I already loved Superman as a kid just because

he was awesome and he had powers and he had that

cool blue suit and the red cape. I think this

– that opening episode really made me love the

Superman universe just because it made it really

personal. So yeah, Jor -El and Lara, they're

amazing in this series. And I was right. It was

Fanola Hughes. Good job. Yeah, well, the only

reason why I know it was her, because I'm ashamed

to admit this, but a number of years ago, for

some strange reason, don't ask me why, I was

addicted to watching ABC Daytime Soaps, and she

was on General Hospital. Ah. Well, okay. Yeah,

I know. I know. I should turn my geek grid in

now. I know. It's okay. It's okay. The other

thing I should point out here, Sullivan. In Last

Son of Krypton was voiced by Tony Jay. Tony Jay

is an amazing voice actor. Yeah, I really loved

the whole family drama in that episode. I like

how Lara's family has the British accent. Like,

they're more proper and everything. But Jor -El

has, like, a straight -up American accent. He's

off, you know, fighting the police and running

around, being the action hero. So there's that

stark contrast, you know. And in the end, they

have to come together. It's pretty great. So

moving into the music segment finally here, same

people pretty much from BTS here for STS. I think

Lolita Romanes took the main bulk of the episodes.

You also had Michael McQuistion, Christopher

Carter, Harvey Cohen, and Shirley Walker doing

a few episodes as well. Again, music for this

show was just amazing. Oh, yeah, yeah. I think

Bruce Timm said it on one of the STAS DVD features

that when they were coming up, when he was telling

Lolita about how he wanted the theme song to

sound, he wanted it for you to be able to sing

Superman, Superman, as it's going along. And

that was just an amazing music cue. I wish, I'm

hoping, I'm crossing my fingers it hasn't happened

yet. Much like last week when I talked about

the Batman the Animated Series soundtrack from

La La Land Records, I'm hoping that Warner Brothers

allows La La Land to make a Superman the Animated

Series and Justice League soundtrack. I'm sure

they will one day. Yeah, one day. In the future.

Let's see. There are a ton of references. I'm

not going to go through them all. But let's see.

In the episode The Main Man Part 2, one of these

spaceships resembles the Batwing from the first

Batman film. It does, yeah. It's green, but yeah.

Of course, there's in Stolen Memories, Superman

punches Brainiac's laser beam. Of course, that

was a reference to the first Fleischer Brothers

Superman cartoon. It's an awesome moment. Yes,

it is very awesome. Let's see. Actor Sherman

Howard, who portrayed Lex Luthor on the television

series Superboy, played the Preserver on the

two -parter episode The Main Man. Howard also

auditioned to reprise his role for the animated

series. However, Clancy Brown won the role. However,

he would later be offered the role as Derek Powers

on Batman Beyond. Oh, that's interesting. That's

very fitting, I think. I did not know that. I

mean, I knew that... that Sherman Howard was,

was the preserver, but I did not know that he

was also, um, third power. It's interesting.

Yeah. Um, now we've got to talk about some of

the post, uh, legacy Superman STAS after legacy

before justice league. Uh, there was, uh, he

seemed at the beginning of justice league, the

human race appears to have forgiven him. which

was Justice League as well. One of the creatures

Superman brings back to the Fortress of Solitude

after his battle with the Preserver is Starro.

And in Batman Beyond, two -parter episode entitled

The Call, which we talked about earlier, the

creature escaped and was controlling Superman

for some time until Terry Bat figured it out

and helped him overcome it. And then there's...

Oh, no. I don't think Mike and James listen to

this show, so it's a good thing because their

ears are going to bleed. In Static Shock, the

episode Toys in the Hood. I know they hate that

episode. The story about Darcy the android and

Toyman from the third season of Obsession comes

to a conclusion. Wait, what? I think I was actually

more shocked at Mike's reaction to that episode

than I was at it itself. I was like, wow, okay.

Yeah. We should also mention that people have

long tried to say that Superman Brainiac Attacks,

which is a direct -to -video DVD, is an STAS

continuity. It is not. Yeah, it's so not. Yes,

the voice actors are the same, but there's no

way it's in continuity because the whole story

is different. It doesn't fit into anything within

Superman the Animated Series whatsoever. What

did you say? You're breaking up. Am I still here?

Yeah, you're still here, but you're breaking

up a little bit. I don't know why that's going

on. Because that was a cheap way of doing all

that pre -production work. but it's not intended

to actually continue any story whatsoever. Yeah.

Yeah, no, it has no bearing on Superman the Animated

Series whatsoever. As far as, I didn't know that

there was, hmm, interesting, I didn't know there

was video games for it. Superman the Animated

Series, much like Batman the Animated Series

and other Warner Brothers cartoons adopted from

popular DC comic books, has released on DVD.

First released January 25, 2005, though it did

not receive the same disc transfer as Batman

TAS did, the second disc of each volume was given

the side A -B treatment. The DVDs present the

series episodes in their airing order along with

special features. Bottom line, much like every

other DCAU show at this point, Get the complete

series. Superman the Animated Series, I know

for a fact, was not a limited edition like Batman

the Animated Series and like Batman Beyond is.

I believe you can get it on Amazon for under

$40. It's $20 .99 when I last checked. So yeah,

the entire show for $21. Just stop listening

to this, pause the podcast, and go buy it. Exactly.

Yeah. Although it's not in the DCAU continuity,

Superman, Batman, Public Enemies, and Apocalypse

were also on DVD as well, where Tim Daly reprises

the role as the Man of Steel in both the movies.

Apparently, Apocalypse Now Part 2 was later altered

from its original airing on February 7, 1998.

Originally, Dan Turpin's funeral at the end of

the episode was a true homage to late New Gods

creator Jack Kirby and featured several of his

comic creations as attendees to the funeral,

including Nick Fury, Fantastic Four, Big Bart,

Scott Free, Orion, and others, alongside Kirby's

friends and fans Mark Evanier, Bruce Timm, Paul

Dini, Alex Ross, his father, Norman Ross, and

Stan Lee. These characters and persons were later

removed, and the scene pacing was re -edited

for subsequent airings as It's DVD release on

Superman TAS Volume 3, Disc 3. The original sketches

for this scene can be found at Michael Urie's

book, The Krypton Companion Book, published by

Tomorrow's Publishing. Neither DC nor Warner

ever commented on the decision to alter this

particular scene, but copyright issues regarding

the use of likenesses of Marvel Comics characters

might justify the deletion. Let's see. Superman

differences between BTAS and STAS. STAS was originally

meant to have an opening montage similar to the

one that Batman had, showcasing what Superman

could do in an awe -inspiring manner, but the

animators were unable to finish it by the deadline,

so a montage featuring clips of Superman in action

alongside his supporting cast from the episodes

were utilized instead. I like that intro better.

I honestly do. Which one? The one that we have.

The clip intro where it's just different adventures

of Superman and the cast versus Superman out

on a nightly errand and he punches somebody in

the face? Well, I mean, we don't really know

what all would have happened. So, I mean, I really,

I wish that they had eventually, maybe like in

season two or whatever, you know, made the new

intro just because I would have liked to have

seen it. But, you know, I mean, yeah, it's fine.

I didn't realize it wasn't the intended intro.

I thought it was fine as a kid. It wasn't until

I read this that I was like, oh, it's not the

original one. Yeah, no, it wasn't. I believe

Bruce Timm mentions it on one of the DVD commentaries.

Yeah, he does. That he said that originally it

was supposed to have some sort of Christopher

Reeve -type feel, like some sort of, oh, John

Williams. Is it John Williams that did? Yeah.

The Superman the movie score? Yes, he did. Yeah.

It was supposed to have some sort of John Williams

feel to it as far as the music and as far as

the way that it was supposed to look. But I'm

happy with what we have, so... Yeah, I mean,

it works out just fine. Yes, yes it does. So

with that, we're going to take... Get another

break and going to go to some commercials and

ads and possibly voicemails. Don't know yet.

Haven't received any voicemails as of the recording,

but I may ask for some voicemails afterwards.

And then we'll come back with the outro. Tune

down to be back after these messages. Hey, guys.

Raphael here of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Did you say podcast? Dudes, do that. You're listening

to a podcast on the Gatecast Radio Network. Cowabunga.

Hey guys, this is Optimus Solo from the Geekcast

Radio Network, and I was thinking the other day

that maybe I've been too hard on the folks over

at IGN. I mean, they had to put some effort into

their Top 100 Animated Series of All Timeless,

right? I mean, maybe it's just me that wants

to punch a baby when I read it. So in all fairness,

I thought we should gather some of the people

who were involved with this list and get their

opinions. So what do you guys think about the

IGN list? I didn't think it was physically possible,

but this both sucks and blows. Okay, anyone else?

Dumb, dumb, dumb! Those dudes are so dumb! I'm

afraid to ask, but anyone else? Epic fail. Homer,

they put your show at the top of your list. You

gotta like their list, right? I stand by my disappointed

groan. So I guess we should do something about

it then. Are you pondering what I'm pondering?

I am, brain. I think we should unveil the Geek

Cast Radio Network's Top 100 Animated Series

of All Time list. I second that emotion. And

I know that our list will be much better than

the IGN list. You know why? We watch a lot of

TV. That and the fact that we are teaming up

with This Week in Geek, the Pop Culture Network,

Chicken Pop Pod, and some other great geek sites.

By your powers combined. We will give you a list

geeks everywhere can be proud of. This is Dr.

Wily, and I will destroy Mega Man while listening

to ToonCast. This is Megatron, leader of the

Predacons. And if you're hearing this, it means

the Beast Unleashed podcast is now over. Yes.

In the Beast Unleashed, myself. Steve Megatron

Phillips, Pecan Court Michael Wilson, and TFG1

Mike review Beast Wars and Beast Machines in

the very first podcast of its kind. Yes. In the

podcast, we interview voice actors, writers from

the show, and talk in -depth trivia between everything

in between. So... If you're interested, you can

tune in to the now -finished Beast Unleashed

podcast over on geekcastradio .com. Excellent!

Yes! Hello, nurses! And friends of nurses. Yakko

Warner here, and you're listening to a podcast

on the Geekcast Radio Network. Lucky you. Do

you like retro shows? Did you grow up in either

the 80s or the 90s? Then tune into Telecast,

geekcastradio .com's newest podcast. Join us

here on the Telecast as we revisit some of your

favorite shows, such as Clarissa Explains It

All, Salute Your Shorts, Saved by the Bell, and

much, much more, only on geekcastradio .com.

Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight. I

see a new episode of ToonCast coming this week.

Welcome to a collaboration between the Geekcast

Radio Network and the Pop Culture Network. This

is From the Command Center, the podcast. I am

your host, TF2, and Mike from the GCRN, and joining

me is Zordon himself. Uh, uh, wait. I mean, Scotty

Cash. That's right, Scotty Cash from the Pop

Culture Network, and today we're introducing

you to the audio version of From the Command

Center, the podcast that will entail our intake

on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the episodes,

the seasons, and all that other good stuff. So,

final thoughts on Superman the Animated Series,

sir? Oh, man. Awesome, amazing series. Not just...

An integral part of my childhood, but an integral

part of my comics fandom and my geekdom. I think

it's the definitive version of the Superman universe.

I think it's an absolutely amazing series of

the utmost high quality in every possible way.

I think it's notable in that it shows Superman

being markedly different. then Christopher Reeve

yet still being just as compelling. I think even

more compelling in certain ways. Maybe less in

others, but I think Clark Kent as a character,

the fact that he's not bumbling, the fact that

he's very direct and clever and clear, but he

uses cleverness to hide his identity, not just

acting like an idiot. I think that's really great.

I think it makes you able to relate to Clark

Kent and Superman on a certain level because

that way you know that... He's being himself

when he's Clark. He's just hiding his powers.

And I think that's really great for his relationships.

I think just in every possible way, the action,

the music, the dialogue, just everything about

this show is great. It gets kind of overlooked

in hindsight because it's not Batman, the animated

series, basically. But no, I think... It's not

as good as Batman in certain ways, but in other

ways it's a lot better. So I think anyone who

is even vaguely interested in comic books or

Superman or anything has to check this out. Exactly.

Thank you for joining us here on ToonCaster.

So always get in contact with us. We'll leave

feedback for the show. Visit the website geekcastradio

.com. You can comment on each episode post. Join

the forums over at GeekCastRadio or PredaconEmpire

.com. Let's see what else. One moment here. You

can leave the show's feedback in iTunes. Please

do this. I believe, I'm not sure. I'm checking

right now as I'm talking because I'm delaying

myself. I feel like Robin Williams. Good morning,

Vietnam. Anyway. We did get an updated review

from that person that I talked about last episode,

Fooch41. February 22nd is a five -star review.

Basically says the same things. He loves listening.

He's hoping for Rock Rose Modern Life, Beavis

and Butthead. Those are all potentials. All the

stuff that you list in your review, Fooch41,

that's all potential DeLorean Time episodes for

TuneCast Beyond. And then he also says, The ToonCast

helps him through the work week, and he's glad

that we are doing ToonCast Beyond. Thank you

for the review. We greatly appreciate it. You

can follow us on Twitter. There is GCR and ToonCast.

Mine is TFG on Mike. And did you just sign up

for Twitter, or did you already have it? I signed

up for it a while back, but I changed my name,

started a new account, and, yeah. My Twitter

is SuperAaronMan. That's S -U -P -E -R -A -A

-R -O -N -M -A -N. So, yeah. You can become a

fan of us on Facebook. We just hit 200 fans slash

friends. Go to facebook .com slash geekcastradionetwork.

Call the voicemail line. Tell us to show you

the message for and your name. 502 -526 -5821.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of ToonCast.

I wish you'll join us next time when Aaron will

be returning with myself and Steve Megatron will

be back. We'll be continuing the DCAU Spotlight

with Batman Beyond. Yeah. For now, I am TFG1

Mike with... Nightwing, Aaron Ross. Thank you

for listening. Until next time.