The All-New Super Friends Hour

DC Comics’ Justice League of America first appeared on television in 1967, as one of several backing segments that formed part of the Filmation series, The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure. The JLA’s debut as a standalone, regular series came from the Hanna-Barbera studio in 1973, under the name The Super Friends. With little fanfare, ABC cancelled the initial series after sixteen episodes. However, the success of reruns in 1976, shown in a reduced, half-hour format, encouraged ABC to renew the series. Thus, in 1977, Hanna-Barbera released a revamped, more action-oriented version of the show under the title, The All-New Super Friends Hour.

The core group of heroes, consisting of Superman, Batman & Robin, Wonder Woman and Aquaman, remained the same. The teenage superheroes-in-training from the original series, Marvin, Wendy, and Wonder Dog, found themselves replaced by a brand new trio of junior members. Twins Zan and Jayna (better known as the Wonder Twins) from the planet Exxor joined the team, along with their space-monkey Gleek. Unlike their predecessors, Zan and Jayna had actual super powers in the form of shape shifting abilities. To use their powers, the siblings touched rings and declared “Wonder Twin powers, activate!” Jayna always took the “shape of” some type of animal, while Zan assumed the “form of” water (including objects made of ice, or as vapor).

In addition to the change in cast, Hanna-Barbera altered the format of the show itself. Rather than showing one story per episode, they divided each episode into four regular segments and a random assortment of short interstitials, hosted by one of the heroes. These interstitials were generally informative and taught a lesson or a skill, under the headings Safety, Craft, De-coder, Magic and Health. The first of the regular segments featured a team-up between two of the core group members. The second segment involved the Wonder Twins and Gleek, normally rescuing teenagers behaving recklessly from their own foolish actions, and in the process teaching a lesson. The third segment was the longest, involving the entire team working together in a half-hour adventure. The fourth segment was similar to the first, with a hero from the primary lineup joined by a special guest star, such as Apache Chief, Black Vulcan, Samurai, or Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

In 1978, the name and format of the show changed again to Challenge of the Super Friends. This trend continued for another seven seasons, as various incarnations continued to grace the airwaves as The World’s Greatest Super Friends (1979), The Super Friends Hour (1980), Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984), and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985).