A dirty little secret

Since the subject of Superman has come up a lot this past week, I should probably reveal a dirty little secret: my favorite live-action interpretation of the Supes mythology is ABC’s Lois & Clark TV series (1993-1997). I know, I know. More often than not, the show was dominated by cornball villains (with the exception of John Shea’s Lex Luthor, who dominated season one, and a unique-to-the-L&C-Universe time-traveler named Tempus, played brilliantly in a few episodes by Lane Davies). But being a romantic (still another dirty little secret), I don’t think the Superman story has ever been more charming and clever than it was on Lois & Clark. And never were two performers as perfect in the roles of Lane and Kent as were Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain. Teri was beautiful, spunky, smart, and hardnosed when it counted, not at all the whiner she now portrays on Desperate Housewives. And Cain’s Clark was spot-on — never a milquetoast but still insecure the way a mild-mannered reporter is meant to be. If you haven’t seen the series, three of its four seasons are now available on DVD. They’re well worth a look.