Could Deborah Joy Levine help Superman sparkle at the box-office?

You've heard the story…a series of four Superman instalments that started well, but after a remarkable first part, the quality soon deteriorated. The chief creative people that were involved in the saga's inception were mercilessly replaced for the subsequent ones. What started out as a new and bold take on Superman soon became a shadow of its former self. And what about this quote? - "Listen, we were under the gun…every second they were trying to shut us down because we were way over budget and they had no idea how much this show was going to cost. Neither did we, frankly, because of all the special effects." Surprisingly, that wasn't Richard Donner speaking and this isn't the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve. Rather, this is the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, which premiered on the US network ABC in 1993. And the above quote belongs to its creator, American writer-producer Deborah Joy Levine. The parallels between Lois & Clark and the Reeve/Donner saga are surprising, perhaps even indicative of a "creative curse" that haunts the man with the red cape. For just like the Reeve films, Lois & Clark soon transformed from an ambitious, daring and original take on Superman, to something far more ordinary. Yet Lois & Clark's first season was everything that many fans believe Superman Returns wasn't: original, well-written and wonderfully cast. Could the key to Superman's cinematic future lie in its televisual past?

A Long Shadow

The impact of the Christopher Reeve films was certainly diluted by the later weaker instalments, but the accomplishments of the original ground-breaking first part - and in some respects its ill-fated sequel, remain hard to dismiss. The same must be said of Lois & Clark's marvellous first season - the brainchild of the eminently talented and often overlooked (to date, she even lacks a Wikipedia entry) writer-producer-creator Deborah Joy Levine. If anyone ever got Superman after Donner-Mankiewicz, it was her. Indeed, Warners might do well to consider giving the creator of the first real attempt to revive Superman since the Reeve films a call for Superman Returns 2 - she could yet save Superman a second time.

Certainly Lois & Clark's first season - the only one of the four seasons that Levine produced - does not offer groundbreaking visuals , or a Superman to rival Reeve, or even the stylistic beauty of the original one and three-quarter films. But that is more than made up for by something far more important - verisimilitude. When Levine created the series, she was undoubtedly faced with a daunting task: how to revive Superman, especially when everyone still had Reeve, Brando, Hackman and Kidder etc. in their minds (not to mention the box-office failure of the disastrous Superman IV)? And could Superman ever really be Superman again without John Williams' soaring duuh-du-du-da-duuh?

But instead of trying to mimic (or continue) the iconic Salkind-initiated film series, Levine did something particularly courageous, not to mention risky - she re-invented Superman. It was an approach that could easily have backfired spectacularly, sinking Superman yet further into the realms of yesteryear and earning Levine the label of "heretic" among the fans. But Levine persisted - Superman would begin afresh. In the DVD documentary that accompanies the first season, Levine noted her trepidation at screening a rough cut of the series' pilot to fans at the San Diego ComicCon convention "I have to say I was scared to death about alienating Superman fans. I wanted to be creative; I wanted to be expansive in my thinking; I wanted to do things that hadn't been done before. But on the other hand…Oh, my Lord! There were so many fans that wanted me to be true to it…Part of what I learned about the comic book fans is that even though certain ideals were sacred, they were so happy that somebody had come back and had said 'Here it is again, we've rejuvenated it.'" After all, the series creator was (bravely/foolishly) messing with a tried and tested formula. In Levine's take, (in direct contrast to the Reeve series) Clark was the real thing and Superman was the act - a device that provided an outlet for Clark's superpowers. In fact, Superman's costume was even sewn for him by his mother, Martha! Of course, all the familiar elements were there - Kryptonite, Perry, Lex, Jimmy, John and Martha Kent, but in Levine's take, many new twists were offered. Lex Luthor was still evil, but only Superman seemed to see it. For the rest of Metropolis, Luthor was considered a philanthropic and esteemed businessman. Most surprisingly, Lois and Lex would even become romantically involved and almost marry!

The genius of this approach was not just its inherent risk and originality (remember how in the Donner movie, Superman's "S" became a family crest?"), but also the fact that Levine stuck to her guns; that she had the conviction and tenacity to try something different and against the prevailing formula. Will a cinematic Superman soon face a similar choice? The second stroke of genius in Lois & Clark was the casting. John Shea was nothing less than inspired as Lex Luthor. Teri Hatcher was so manically, neurotically and irresistibly the embodiment of Lois Lane, that one wonders what Donner might have made of her in 1977 (no disrespect intended to the wonderful Margot Kidder, of course). The late Lane Smith as an Elvis-loving Perry White was another masterstroke. Rounding off the cast were the delightfully mischievous Tracy Scoggins as gossip-columnist Cat (an original character), Michael Landes - brilliant as Jimmy White and Eddie Jones and K Callan as the salt-of-the-earth John and Martha Kent. The latter, unlike the Reeve series, were very much alive; they would serve as confessors for Clark (there would be no Fortress of Solitude and Jor-El would only briefly be introduced later in the season). Finally, there was Dean Cain - he was certainly no Chris Reeve, but his portrayal of Clark Kent was warm, sincere and entirely affable. Simply put, you bought him and you liked the guy - he never tried to mimic his illustrious predecessor. In addition to this wonderful cast, Levine crafted layer upon layer of believable inter-character relationships. The father-son dynamic between Perry and Jimmy was more than effective - it was funny and even touching. Cat's flamboyancy contrasted with the workaholic Lois, and Clark's relationship with his parents gave the series an emotional anchor. Meanwhile, Jay Gruska's new Superman theme, as well as his numerous and deceptively simple musical leitmotifs were instantly catchy and again proved that one could move beyond what had been established by the greats - in this case, John Williams. The set design was also crucial - the Daily Planet, Clark's apartment as well as his home in Smallville were instantly recognisable, and, as Levine insisted, distinct from anything you might see on any other programme.

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