I turned twelve years old around this time, and while I don’t especially remember anything about that event, there were two other things that happened in that same week that I’ll never forget. I first saw an advertisement for the live action LEGENDS OF THE SUPERHEROES specials in one of my family’s regular newspapers–we got both the New York Daily News and Newsday, so I have no idea which one ran it–quite possibly both. But it knocked me out of my tree. This special was going to feature not only the typical live action DC heroes of the period (Adam West’s Batman seemed ubiquitous in those times due to the fact that the 1966 BATMAN show was still airing in daily reruns), but also the Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Black Canary, and even newcomer the Huntress! To say that I was excited for this Special is an understatement. And there were going to be two of them, released a week apart. The first one, “The challenge”, first broadcast the day after my birthday, on January 18, 1979. And it was unforgettable–but not in a good way.
LEGENDS OF THE SUPERHEROES took the tone of the BATMAN 1966 series and amped it up to a million. While BATMAN tried to work on different levels for audience members of different ages, LEGENDS was simply silly and dopey right from the start–making fun of these costumed champions in the manner of a Carol Burnett sketch. The writing was miserable, and the production was put together on a shoestring budget. Batman and Robin still looked pretty good as they were wearing their outfits from the earlier 1966 BATMAN show, but almost everybody else looks cheap by comparison. It was amazing that this many known DC heroes and villains were realized in live action, but the execution was miserable. Here’s a small taste that’s not too bad, the opening running down the line-up of the good guys:
So LEGENDS OF THE SUPERHEROES was a bomb–though, being a comic book-loving kid even at twelve, I sort of enjoyed it despite myself. I can remember excitedly talking about it with other kids in my sixth grade class the following day–kids who were in no way regular comic book readers but who had tuned in that night. So it’s lousy, but it didn’t repel me or anything. But this was just one of two big comic book-based projects that was reaching the airwaves during that week.
Over on CBS the following day, a live action two-hour movie based on CAPTAIN AMERICA was aired. This was the production that starred Reb Brown as the titular hero, who played him as a bit of a big goofball. This Cap wasn’t involved in the war, but was rather an artist and a beach bum whose father had years ago developed a super-steroid–the F.L.A.G. formula. Steve Rogers is convinced to take the serum and to adopt the name Captain America–the name his father was ridiculed under–by a helpful government agent. This pilot movie was the last one aired as part of the production deal that had previously produced SPIDER-MAN, THE INCREDIBLE HULK and DOCTOR STRANGE in live action. It was two hours long and is an absolute slog by modern day standards. But again, it was a super hero show, ad so I liked it well enough as a kid.
Cap’s costume was redesigned, making him look a bit closer to Evel Knievel than the Living Legend of World War Two. And his indestructible shield was here made of a special plexiglass–not only was it transparent, but it fit into the handlebars of Cap’s souped-up motorcycle to act as its windshield. This first Cap pilot movie pulled in good enough ratings to convince CBS to commission a second one, which aired several months later. For that second film, Marvel insisted that some changes be made–and so when this first film was later rerun, it had a new scene added to the end of it in which Steve adopts the costume his father had used as Captain America–despite the fact that his father hadn’t been a costumed hero at all. Here’s a brief sample of what this two-hour monstrosity looked like:
All that said, this was an amazingly exciting week for me as a twelve-year-old comic book-loving kid. The pickings in those days were extremely thin, whether in animation or in live action, so almost anything that turned up was like manna from the Gods.
The Tom Brevoort Experience 
That Captain America is right up there with Cathy Lee Crosby’s Wonder Woman ( 1974 film ) in deviating from the comic book characters they are suppose to be ( I don’t have any first hand knowledge of the “I Ching” period but had they dressed her like that and given black hair then it would have been truer to the comic book Wonder Woman ). As for Captain America the modern movie Captain America gained this Cap’s Super-Strength.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I just noticed that in the Legends of the Superheroes photo that Hawkman has muscles and Batman doesn’t.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hawkman’s jacked. Except for the clumsy mask, he looks the most like a superhero
LikeLike
I get that some tweaking of a costume might be necessary for live action… but some designer had to tell themself that Cap’s costume would be improved if it looked like he was wearing a red and white vest or really wide suspenders.
I watched both of these back in the day. Don’t recall much about either other than thinking that Adam West and Burt Ward still looked pretty good as Batman and Robin.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was eighteen and never much for live action super-heroes (Still not. I’ve watched only nine of the Marvel movies) so I assumed I hadn’t seen the first one. Wrong. That video was familiar. Hawkman was old school Halloween costume bad but Black Canary came off well. The Cap one I remembered not making it through the whole movie and I skipped the other.
If anyone feels like comic books and adaptations of them still don’t get as much respect as they deserve, they should watch these, especially Legends. They’ll at least appreciate how far we’ve come.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Of the two, I remember enjoying LEGENDS more — unlike CAP, it had actual super-villains, and the costumes were true to the comics (if kinda cheap-looking). Perhaps the most interesting thing about watching it now is spotting some of the cast members who would go on to bigger and better things, like Jeff Altman, Marsha Warfield, and Robert Townsend.
LikeLike
I was in college at the time and didn’t have a TV, but I don’t remember even hearing about the DC one at the time. I must not have been checking out TV Guide, even over Christmas break.
I do remember seeing somewhere — an ad, maybe? — a clip of the Cap thing where the indestructible-shield-as-windshield visibly wobbled, it was so cheaply made.
I don’t remember feeling like I missed anything. But I was 18 at the time and therefore “sophisticated.” Too cool for cheesy or inaccurate stuff, that was me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Saw all four as they aired–both Caps and both parts of Legends–and, like you, I enjoyed them to some minor degree despite myself. My biggest takeaway, besides Mordru on a jet ski, is that Howard Morris as Dr. Sivana was one of the best superheros-on-film castings of all time.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Is Mordru on a jet ski more or less bizarre than Thanos in a helicopter?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Howard Morris made Sivana come alive from my then-three year old daughter. She laughed and, after sighing, so did I. My wife typed her NYAPA zine and ignored the program.
Have tried for decades to forget those shows.
Meantime, Mr Reb later portrayed Cap well enough, but the production was determined to make Steve Rogers into camp and corny.
We were vindicated at the end of 1977.
LikeLiked by 1 person
These were pretty bad and I loved them!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I was 7 when these “aired”, as they used to say. We seemed to stumble on the DC show. I hadn’t gotten the hang of checking TV listings yet. And had the least say on what was watched. But somehow this was allowed on our TV in time. My mom must’ve known I’d like it
Lou Scheimer’s familiar voice, & the music & sound effects instantly recognizable as Filmation ‘s. The guy narrating the hero intro’s sounded like the Super Friends narrator (the 2nd narrator, after Ted Knight left). Tom’s spot on with the “Carol Burnett Show” writing style comparison. It wouldn’t have seemed out of place if Tim Conway &:Harvey Cornan had appeared. It was that kind of tone.
The guy playing Hawkman at least had the physique associated with superheroes. But that “Halloween costume” look was clumsy &:weak. I do remember wishing Superman & Wonder Woman had been included. It seemed incomplete to me without them. That was likely impossible at the time, considering contracts, financial obligations elsewhere, etc.
I also remember the Atom played by the distinctive character & voice actor, John, ah, I can’t recall his last name. But he played one of the jurors in the poignant & classic “12 Angry Men”, directed by the great Sidney Lumet (his 1st full feature movie), produced by Henry Fonda (playing the lead). Great ensemble cast. This Atom actor had countless roles all over TV & movies. But his other part that stuck with me was Piglet, in Disney’s “Winnie the Pooh” productions. In this “Legends” show, the Atom was dating Giganta. 🙄. Cue the laugh track.
I wasn’t into the Cap TV movies. I watched them. My father indulged me in those. I think the Hulk’s TV show was legit TV viewing by then? If so, then this Cap show wouldn’t have been a stretch for him. He also jet me watch “Battlestar Galactica”. His fave shows were the original “Star Trek” (in reruns, then), “M*A*S*H”, & “The Rockford Files”. And Reb Brown’s sports background somehow made it palatable for him. It just wasn’t Cap to me. Tom’s Evel Kenevel comparison to this Cap makes sense.
When Tim Burton’s “Batman” was released, I was closer to the age Kurt was when this “Legends”:show was out. And, sorry, but I had similar feelings about that Bat-movie as some expressed here about “Legends”. I was interested because it had my fave character, but a bit disappointed in the execution. It wasn’t “my” Batman. Yeah, leaps & bounds better than any superhero shows on TV. But in 1989, I expected something as moving and compelling as 1986’s “Year one”. They’d figured out how to tell perfect Bat-stories in the comics. But i’d take almost another 20 years for the movies to come close.
LikeLiked by 4 people
I was 15 at the time and yeah, they were pretty cheesy, but that was pretty much all we had to choose from as comic book fans. I do remember that I didn’t bother to watch the second DC show (I think I had a ballgame or something), but I did watch both Captain America movies at the time, but wasn’t excited about either. It was better than no super heroes.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I never saw the Legends show but watched both Captain America “movies.” They were pretty bad, especially for a fan of Steve Englehart’s Cap like myself, but as others have said it was slim pickings for live action super-heroes in those days and we took whatever we could get.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I was 4. So I enjoyed the hell out of Legends. The Caps I saw in reruns a little later and thought they were pretty bad.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I was not quite six-years-old when these aired. For years (as with the Star Wars Holiday Special), I thought I had dreamed the DC show (in those pre-internet days when it was difficult to validate things like this). I remembered a scene of Captain Marvel flying (in my memory, I assumed he was played by the one of the same actors who played the character on the Shazam! live-action TV series), and a scene with Batman, Robin, and Solomon Grundy at a gas station. But none of my friends had any memory of it, so I assumed that I was imagining things. And as with the Star Wars Holiday Special, when I finally did see it many years later online, it was worse than I ever could have imagined.
Despite having a lifelong bias for the DC characters, I was a huge fan of the Hulk and Spider-Man live-action TV series (never saw the Doctor Strange TV movie until many years later), so at six-years-old, the Captain America TV movies were fine for me (they must have been rerun or played in syndication at some point, because I knew they were real and not a dream). Even as a kid, I liked it when different media adaptations changed things up from the source material to make things more “realistic,” so as a kid I kinda dug the mask-as-motorcycle-helmet.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I re-watched both of the Legends specials this week on streaming and they were mostly as underwhelming as I remembered. CHALLENGE was a little better than ROAST just because it was a little closer to an actual superhero story, and a few of the costumes were decent, like those of Giganta, Weather Wizard and Mordru.
Anyone want to speculate how Mordru got into a story about a Faux Legion of Doom, given that he usually spent his time battling another, time-removed Legion? My best guess is that the writers came up with a plot that necessitated a magician to cast all purpose spells, and for some reason they seized on Mordru rather than any of the magician-enemies of the League.
Only one good joke in the two specials together: the one about Atom and Giganta getting married, where the payoff line (that everyone will see coming) echoes the venerable “if she dies, she dies” schtick.
LikeLike
Mordru had just shown up in JLA about a year earlier, as the villain in the JLA/JSA/Legion team-up, so if the tv people were looking at recent comics for ideas, that may be where they spotted him.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh and I almost forgot the howler baked into CHALLENGE’s premise, that I don’t think any writer of a comic book would have overlooked– the fact that the baddies plan to blow up the whole Earth– WHILE THEY ARE STILL ON IT, AND MAKING NO PLANS TO GO ELSEWHERE!!
LikeLike