Day Ninety: Rough Justice
Can't believe I forgot this the other day. When I was banging on about terrible TV versions of existing comics characters, I completely neglected to mention the ill-fated and rarely-screened Justice League of America pilot from the late 1990s. Through the sci-fi dream of YouTube, I can now share some clips from this with you and let you see exactly how near a miss we had when the series wasn't commissioned beyond that stage.
Long before the great JLU was even thought of, this single episode of a live-action version of DC's premier super-team was put together. With Batman, Superman etc all tied up in their own TV and movie deals, the bank of saleable DC characters who could form part of a televisual League were limited, and so the most recognisable members of the team here are the Flash and Green Lantern, with the roster being rounded out with Fire, Ice, the Atom and Martian Manhunter. The special effects are, to be very kind, rudimentary, and the costumes are worse than you'd find in most fan-films. That said, there's a bit of enthusiasm at least, their versions of Ice and the Flash are likeable in a dizzy way, and the talking-heads style of introductions to the characters is a clever gimmick.
The clips below aren't the whole show, but should be enough to give you a taste of exactly how bad it was (clue: gloriously bad). Ignore the Spanish at the start, that's to do with the blogger who originally uploaded these clips and has nothing to do with the show itself. Anyway. Get comfortable, and prepare to witness the miracle of David Ogden Stiers in a green fat-suit.
