It's funny that you think that Superman was a "popular property" at the time.
There weren't enough comic book fans to make a difference in ratings for a television show. Nobody was "suckered" into watching.
SMALLVILLE
- Thread starter Taylirious
- Start date
There weren't enough comic book fans to make a difference in ratings for a television show. Nobody was "suckered" into watching.
It was still a property known throughout the world. There was no reason for anyone to make a moronic romantic drama with Lois Lane except so that they could put in infrequent Superman cameos to get superman fans and people familliar with the charactors to watch their c****y romance show.
I believe that Lois and Clark debuted right on the heels of the whole "Death of Superman" phenomena, exactly when interest in Superman abnormally spiked due to the media buzz surrounding Superman #75 being published. At that time, people -- that had never glanced at a comic in their life -- poured into comic book shops and bought multiple copies of the black-bagged issue, genuinely thinking that each issue would rival Action Comics #1 in value and pay for their children's college tuition.
Local news, national news...they all covered the fervor with quite a bit of attention, interviewing people that were visible upset that DC would dare kill their favorite hero. Though these same people had most likely never read or bought a comic book featuring Superman in their lives, they were outraged that DC was killing an iconic hero that they -- the general public -- had gone to such great lengths to completely ignore.
So I do believe that Superman -- at that time -- would have been considered a pretty popular property, and Lois and Clark probably benefited from an increased awareness of the Superman comic that resulted from all of the media hoopla.
The argument that Lois and Clark squandered this increased awareness is debatable, but not one I agree with.
