Challenge of the SuperFriends: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

In this continuation of the Super Friends franchise, eleven of the greatest DC heroes and newcomers gather to battle the Legion of Doom. Led by Lex Luthor, the 13-member Legion contains some of the vilest villains in the universe. Each week the villains gather and come up with some new scheme to conquer the planet, or the solar system, or the galaxy! The Super Friends inevitably defeat them, only for the Legion to escape at the last moment and return the next week.

Each week would feature two 30-minute segments. The first featured the Legion of the Doom. The second segment featured adventures revolving around the five core members--Superman, Batman & Robin, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman--and their alien sidekicks Jan, Zayna, and Gleep.

The series is best known for introducing three minority superheroes--Samurai, Black Lighting, and Apache Chief--to introduce some cultural diversity to the program.

Series details

• Title: Challenge of the SuperFriends
• Format: Animation
• Language: English
• Genres: Children, Science-Fiction
• Premiere date: 1978-09-09
• Final broadcast date listed: 1978-12-23
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: ABC
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 30 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 7.2/10
• TVMaze ID: 6009
• TVDB ID: 76837

Cast and credited roles

• Jack Angel — Hawkman
• Marlene Aragon — Cheetah
• Michael Bell — The Riddler
• William Callaway — Aquaman
• Ted Cassidy — Black Manta
• Danny Dark — Superman
• Shannon Farnon — Wonder Woman
• Ruth Forman — Giganta
• Buster Jones — Black Vulcan
• Stan Jones — Lex Luthor
• Casey Kasem — Robin
• Don Messick — Scarecrow

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1978-09-09; final listed air date 1978-12-23; episode order: 32.

Source and licence

Adapted from Challenge of the SuperFriends on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.