At 7:00, he turned on the tv. I expected Mork and Mindy, but he turned the channel to Legends of the Superheroes, explaining that it was a sort of live--action version of The Challenge of the Superfriends on Saturday morning.
I hadn't watched Saturday morning tv for a few years, and I was never much interested in superhero cartoons like The Superfriends, but I let Ken watch, glancing over occasionally from my German textbook to see if there was any beefcake.
There was.
Batman and Robin were played by Adam West and Burt Ward, reprising their roles from a decade before. The other actors were unknown, at least to me
Garrett Craig bulged nicely in his Captain Marvel uniform.
But Bill Nuckols was the most memorable, a massive bodybuilder, half-naked in his Hawkman costume.
Apparently there was a sequel the next week, a spoof of Celebrity Roasts, but I didn't see it.
There was no internet yet, no way to find out anything else about the beefcake stars, so I shuffled them into the back of my memory, and eventually forgot about them.
But recently, I found an interview with them about Legends of the Superheroes.
Bill Nuckols returned to bodybuilding, placing #6 in the AAU Mr. America competition. His only tv and film credits are Moose on Sunset Cove, and Wally in Supertrain.
But you can buy Legends of the Superheroes on DVD and marvel at this long-forgotten beefcake fest from 35 years ago.
Black Canary? Yeah, she's Green Arrow's girl and takes care of Speedy while he's recovering from his heroin issues. More recently, she was in the subtext-heavy all-female Birds of Prey.
ReplyDeleteHuntress is more complicated.
Earth-Two: Batman and Catwoman's daughter and Robin's girlfriend. Yes, he's twice her age. Yes, it's gross. No, I don't understand why they're in Wonder Woman. Or why she's in the Justice League, rather than the Justice Society. For what it's worth, she presses. They die together at the dawn of time during the final battle of Crisis in Infinite Earths.
New Earth: A mafia princess, orphaned by her family's enemies. Has a one-night stand with Nightwing. Also one of the Birds of Prey.
Prime Earth: The same, but she's also M.
I can see why you were impressed!
ReplyDeleteDude, Hawkman has to be beefcake. And since 1989's Hawkworld, an insane plot that no one can make sense of. (Basically that Hawkman is really a spy posing as the real Katar Hol, who is the third Hawkman, and the real Hawkman was engaged, but his father killed her, so he had to pay his father's debt to society, but he found a new love, and the Silver Age Hawkman's orphan sidekick Golden Eagle is in fact his son despite not having been on Earth that long; he brainwashed the boy's mother because no one has learned a thing after Avengers #200. The Golden Age Hawkman is explained post-Crisis by connections between Thanagar and ancient Egypt.)
ReplyDeleteLEGENDS OF THE SUPERHEROES is one of those "Can you believe this was once shown on network television?" hallucinatory masterpieces from the Seventies.
ReplyDeleteThe vibe I got is they were trying to re-create the 60's BATMAN with a poverty row budget and absolutely no idea how it worked. Most crucial error: They hired Adam West and Burt Ward to reprise their roles but apparently assumed the villains were the main feature. So the heroes were all hunks who had little to no talent or skill while the villains were schticky comedians. (Jeff Altman, Gabriel Dell, Charlie Callas). It's stunningly bad.
Both parts are currently streaming on TUBI. I would have been 12 when these aired. How could I have missed them...? Hackman was definitely Hunkman. (Bert Ward looks pretty darn sexy too...)
ReplyDeletenever got to see this in the UK (not that I remember) I was 9 yrs old then I'm now 53 in 2023 and only just finding it ( sadly no full parts of it on YT or streaming in the UK!) i remember as a kid watching the original batman show with burt ward and adam west in re runs in the UK!
DeleteI knew Bill when he worked uniform Security for the White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles,Cal. His partner was Jesse Floyd another body builder that weight about sixty pounds heavier that Bill. Bill had that Frank Zane symmetry while Jesse was more of Lou Ferrigno shape but not as large. Bill was a happy go lucky friendly fellow. He got a gig at Universal playing “Hulk” where he showed me the artificial teeth he wore. Soon after he got a gig with “Supertrain” as Wally. The security dept was very happy for him. I remember one day he was picked by his girlfriend driving a 1960’s VW bug! That was the last time I saw Bill. I hope he’s doing well and still working out! I’m Nick Tirre a Vietnam Marine veteran and retired police officer….nltirre@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteI knew Bill Nuckols way back in 1976 when he was training at Gold’s Gym in Venice, CA and working as a bouncer at a Pacific Coast Highway bar called “The Crazy Horse Saloon”. We worked out together and ate dinner a few times.
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