Shark Bytes

Although this has only been mentioned by one other contributor it was indeed when they killed off Mason Drake. Not because the actress was beautiful (although she was) not because she was talented (she wasn't) and not even because the character gave the writers more opportunities to shake the mix (they would probably have passed on it anyway). The problem was that L&C just wasn't the kind of show where you kill off sympathetic running characters. Style is knowing what sort of show you are producing - head office had no style and increasingly that ate away at the show.

This show had real potential when it first aired in 1993. The characters were written well. The stories had a lot of depth. There was a nice balance of action, drama, comedy, and hints at a potential romance between Lois & Clark. Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain played off each other exceedingly well. With an amazing supporting cast, and a convincing Lex Luthor portrayed by John Shea the show was off to a great start.

Unfortunately the ratings weren't where ABC had hoped and changes were ahead.

By season 2, gone was show creator Deborah Joy Levine. John Shea was also no longer around as Luthor took the plunge in the season finale.(literally leaping off a skyscraper to his demise) The actor playing Jimmy was replaced, and the character of Cat was dropped altogether.

Season 2 started to focus more on action oriented stories which did little to improve ratings initially. Lois & Clark started to grow closer personally and professionally. Season 2 ends on a cliffhanger of not only Clark revealing to Lois that he's Superman but proposing marriage to Lois.

Season 3 was easily the best season ratings wise for Lois & Clark. Unfortunately, with Clark having revealed his identity to Lois and proposing marriage at the same time, the writers seemed the double back on their original idea and fearing there would be no story left to tell by marrying the characters off.

So in a desperate attempt to extend the series and buy some time to create a new story for season 4, the writers had a frustratingly long and meandering 5 part episode arc to close season 3 where Clark marries a clone of Lois, and the Superman elements of the series are focused upon. The move promptly backfired and ratings dropped considerably with viewers feeling annoyed and misled.

The show pretty jumped at the end of season 3. The writers scrambled by the start of season 4 to get Lois and Clark wed but the wedding episode had its impact diminished and the rest of the season was plagued with uninteresting subplots involving Superman which came off as hokey due to the limited budget. Eventually ABC intentionally killed the show off by the end of season 4 by airing it at odd hours and not doing any extraneous promotion.

A sad way to end what was a show that had a lot of promise. There was a chance that TNT was going to pick the it up, but the actors had decided ahead of time to move onto other projects.

Yeah, I agree with most of your criticisms, but - a bad day of "Lois & Clark" definitely beats a good day on most other shows. Sure, the earlier years set the bar high, but the later episodes still have the classic moments (like Lois juggling her 12 or so "babies" while conducting separate interviews with Queen Elizabeth & the Pope), great special effects, man-of-steel wisecracks, and so on. ABC certainly could have renewed the show - heck, NBC stuck with "Cheers," which started out with decidedly-subpar ratings, until it garnered a cult following (and what good, except "Frasier," ever came from that show?). Hey, Superman always saves the day!

I note a lot of envy re the stunning Teri Hatcher from the girls! Jealousy !

This show was bad from the beginning. It tried to be a romantic drama/comedy about two journalists instead of focusing on the adventures of Superman. In the early episodes we've seen Superman for 1 or 2 minutes from the total 45. Later it got more action/adventure-like (as Superman should be) but never came close to the true spirit and form of the source material. Perry White was great, but Hatcher was just an overacting spoiled b.tch and not the true Lois, while Dean Cain never even looked or acted like Superman ever.

I really hated the fact that they cut her hair in the second season. I mean in the alien abduction episode, she looked 50!!

I also didn't approve of same character different actor: Jimmy The first one was adorable and played the part of a cub photojournalist being treated like a gofer by Perry brilliantly. The second one just looked like wesley crusher...

This show started out good and got really good at the start of Season 3. Lois knowing Clark's secret brought interesting new dynamics to the proceedings.
This could've been the golden exception to the Moonlighting curse of having the 2 leads get together. Alas, the dumb network got the oh so brilliant idea to $crew the loyal fans over by promising us a wedding but instead giving us a Melrose Place-arc involving frogs, clones, and amnesia.
When Luthor learned Clark's secret halfway through that dumb arc, my first thought was "Well, look who just earned himself an arbitrary death sentence."
A shame that a show jumped the shark because TPTB just wanted to jerk its fans off.

I don't think it's fair to compare "Lois & Clark" with the George Reeves "The Adventures of Superman," the Superman movies, "Smallville," or the DC Comics. Each of those has a different interpretation of the Superman mythology; for example, on "Lois & Clark" Jonathan and Martha Kent are alive and well and major characters; in the movies Jonathan died when Clark became a teenager, and in some of the older DC Comics, both Jonathan and Martha had died by the time Clark grew up. Also, a plotline involving Superman saving the world from an archenemy would make a good story in a comic book but a lousy one on "Lois & Clark," whuch is basically a romantic comedy.

Lois & Clark JTS because it was not faithful to the 1950s Superman TV series. It tried too hard to be an altogether different version, which may explain why it only lasted four seasons. I miss the cheap special effects, the music score and even the clips of Clark changing into the Man of Steel in the janitor's closet and flying around in costume from the old series. Adventures of Superman lasted as long as it did because it demonstrated that, in terms of technological know-how, sometimes primitive is better. That was also the redeeming quality of Star Trek: The Original Series. The special effects that have been used in every sci-fi production since 1977 are way too extraordinary and cheesy. Bring back comfort food television we can live with--hopefully, an "Old Fashioned Adventures of Superman" in the 2010s that will be faithful to George Reeves--God rest his merry soul.

Choctaw American-Indian 1/16, according to both wikipedia & imdb. The Choctaw were from the SE US, originally. You might recall the 'Trail Of Tears' from school history.

Teri Hatcher is part Native American. She is also Lebanese, French, Welsh, and German.

Anyway, I always liked and watched the show, but I do think it lost some of its appeal towards the end.

Teri always had an attitude on that show. She thought it was her show, and was jelous that Dean got more attention. She got pregnant and annonced that she did so to get of the show & that there was NO WAY IN HELL that she was coming back for 5S.

That's the real reason why she was the biggest has-been. She's got a reputation in LA.

Also, she's part Syrian, NOT Indian or Philopino.

I think Teri is related to one of the SW US Nations, but I'm not sure

It´s even dificult to say something about a series that ended in such a disrespectful way. Season 4 ended in a an open episode (the baby coming from nowhere) and then there was no season 5. They could have given the show an decent end. And it was a good show, don´t think it really jumped, almost did sometimes but it always got the better from the shark!

PS : I have 1 further question : is Teri Hatcher part Indian ? I ask because I remember something in the newspapers re Teri Hatcher & her ancestry . Whether it was a passing reference or an interview I can ' t recall at present . ( By Indian I mean American Indian , not East Indian . ) That is my only question other than the query re the episode's title re Lois ' proposal to Clark . Thank you . -- Just Joe Again