Legends of the Super Heroes is a product of its time as demonstrated by the wise-cracking introduction of Ghetto Man, a black stand-up who gives a toned-down talk that might have been more suited for Sanford and Son. It’s much of the same in “The Roast,” only this time Ed McMahon moderating the comments. For some reason, both the heroes and the villains sit around and share stories to a laugh track in between the horrendous action. The first episode, The Challenge, has a group of bad guys led by the Riddler (Frank Gorshin returns to the role) trying to trick the heroes into giving up their powers. With their cheap and bright costumes, most of the main players look like they stepped off of a card of lucha libre wrestling and into the television studio. Legends of the Super Heroes is about playing comic heroes and villains for (attempted) laughs versus basic battles of good versus evil. Talk about your train wreck caught on video. They’re on stage – literally – stumbling through a comedic roast that has about as much real humor as a musical interpretation of Paranormal Activity might have. It takes the large cast of costumed saviors found in the animated Super Friends series and gives them a live action spin. Legends of the Super Heroes is a super hero-themed variety show from 1979. I thought it’d be tough to top the cheese-factor Batman had for the hero genre, but then along came Legends of the Super Heroes, a two-part television special that included Adam West donning the Batman cowl (albeit one that didn’t fit as well as the original) and Burt Ward once again at his side as an obviously grown-up Boy Wonder. Running from 1966 through 1968, the show reveled in poking fun at the idea of super heroes, creating a live-action cartoon. The result is a show that still resonates, particularly whenever the words, “POW,” “BLAM,” and “BIFF” are uttered. The 1960s Batman show captured this perfectly, combining over-the-top stories with a bunch of campy cheese. When you boil the idea of super heroes down to the idea that many run around wearing masks, tights and underwear on top of their costumes, it really is hard to take them seriously.
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