Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls Which Jimmy

Hiya,, new poll here:
which Jimmy do you like best?
* Michael Landes (from the first season)
* Justin Whalin (from the 2nd - 4th season)

Although I liked both for different reasons, ultimately I liked Justin Whalin best. I thought that Michael Landis was to mature looking for what I pictured Jimmy Olsen. I pictured more of a kid liked Justin appeared. To me Michael appeared to close in age to Lois and Clark to be the kid that trailed along and looked up to Lois and Clark. He looked old enough to be a college graduate with a couple years of experience. Not someone running scared of Perry White. Justin looked more like the kid who would look up to CK.

Michael Landis simply looked too much like Dean Cain! I remember the first LnC episode I ever saw, when I hadn't really learnt to "recognize" Dean Cain - I kept thinking that Michael Landis was Clark/Superman! Most irritating.

Anyway, Justin Whalin and Lane Smith were just great together, better than Lane Smith and Michael Landis. So Justin Whalin is definitely "my" Jimmy.

Ann

Kmar pretty much sums this one up for me. Michael is a great actor and did everything expected of him in the role, but he never suited what I knew of the character. He was too street smart, too hip and, as Kmar says, too mature.

Justin, now, hit the mark perfectly.

Apart from that, I was a huge fan of Justin's already, having been mighty impressed with him when he guested in an episode of The Young Riders called The Sacrifice. If you're a Justin fan, do try and get a look at that if you ever see it around, because he was absolutely superb and heartbreakingly adorable in the role.

Having said that, though, I do enjoy Michael's portrayal in the first season when I watch it. I don't sit there pining for Justin instead. Both of them did a good job and were entertaining in the role. I just think Justin more suited my understanding of the character and where he was coming from.

LabRat

I actually like Michael better because his Jimmy was more mature. I enjoyed that new interpretation of the character. I thought Michael did an excellent job and I was sad to see him go. I caught some episodes of Special Unit 2, which was a pretty dumb show overall, but Michael was gorgeous in it . I also hear he's good in Love Soup, which I haven't seen yet.

Justin is fine and I feel about him the way most people seem to feel about Michael. And, after all, I don't watch L&C because of Jimmy, so it's all not that big a deal .

BTW, Selinde, you needed a 'Don't care which of them plays him, I just hate Jimmy, period' option, so Tank could vote!

LabRat

Gheghe, LOL. Didn't think of that, LabRat ^^ Well, can't edit the poll now anymore anyway..

As a comic book reader, I approach any Superman TV show or movie expecting everyone there to look pretty much like their comic book counterparts. For example, I've known since I was twelve years old that Superman has blue eyes, so it took me a very long time to accept the frequent mentions of Superman's brown eyes in fanfiction. I did not, on the other hand, ever have a problem with Dean Cain's brown eyes in the TV series. It was just that the stories "rubbed it in" that Superman's (and Clark's) eyes were the "wrong" color, and that bothered me. (But I have accepted the brown eyes now, at least in the world of Lois and Clark. )

Because I always expect Superman and his supporting cast of characters to look like their comic book counterparts, this is what I expect them to look like:

Superman: Black spitcurl, blue eyes.

Clark Kent: Dark hair combed back, glasses.

Lois Lane: Dark hair, preferably cut in a page. Blue or even violet(!) eyes.

Jimmy Olsen: Red hair, blue or green eyes, freckles.

Perry White: Balding, salt-and-pepper hair, brown eyes, sixty-ish, stern-looking. (But after seeing Lane Smith, no one can possibly top his Perry in my eyes.)

Cat Grant: Long, voluminous, very blond hair, generally voluptuous.

Lucy Lane: Straight, probably shoulder-length blond hair, somewhat innocent-looking.

Lana Lang: Red shoulder-length hair, green eyes.


Because I think of these people this way, I have a real problem with a Cat Grant or a Lucy Lane who hasn't got blond hair, or a Lana Lang or a Jimmy Olsen who aren't redheads. Similarly, I had - and still have - a real problem with Dean Cain's Superman hair style. It was too severe, too slicked back, and, during the third and fourth seasons, too short. On the other hand, Dean's Clark Kent always looked splendid. Heck, Dean's Clark was splendid in every way, as we all know! (What about Brandon Routh's Superman? Face, hair and eyes look just great, but his suit looks wrong. Routh's Clark looks... okay, but no Dean Cain!!!)

Teri Hatcher's Lois... now she was perfect. You remember that promotional picture of Dean and Teri, where Teri stands behind Dean and opens his shirt, revealing his "S" shield? Here, Dean's got the right Superman hair style, and Teri looks... amazing. What a Lois she was!!!! Her looks, her personality, her acting ability...wow. Oh, wow. How lucky we are that Dean Cain gave us his Clark Kent and Teri gave us her Lois. (What about Teri's hair? I liked her hair whether it was long or short, except when it looked like it had been cut short and she was unsuccessfully trying to grow it back. And what about Kate Bosworth's Lois? I haven't seen the movie yet, it hasn't opened here, but I do know that she doesn't look like Lois to me. That baby face of hers.... No.)

What about Jimmy? I remember that there was a guy in the Christopher Reeve movies who looked just like Jimmy to me, but that boy made no impression on me at all. The stills I have seen of SR's Jimmy make me anything but impressed. So what about LNC's two Jimmys?

Neither Michael Landis nor Justin Whalin looked like Jimmy to me, but Justin definitely looked "less wrong" for the part than Michael. (I just can't imagine Jimmy with dark hair.) Also, Justin had a very charming and innocent sort of "Jimmy personality". He didn't look like Jimmy, but he felt like Jimmy, and that was more than good enough for me!

Ann

Well, I can't really pick.

When I first started watching I was wondering why everyone had brown hair. I know 'everyone' didn't, but it felt like it.

I thought S1 Jimmy was a dork and I often felt embarrassed for him. I didn't have a problem with the age. Maybe it has to do with my age at the time - I was in High School.

I never got CK and Jimmy mixed up, but I did notice that they looked similar…even though Jimmy wasn’t cute and CK was….well an A+. I was surprised they didn't get a red head. I was glad they panned the bow tie....even though I like bow ties.

When the second Jimmy came around, I thought it was a bit pathetic that they tried to make him cooler and invent a heart throb. I wasn't fond of the cowboy boots and he seemed a bit fake. He grew on me though and the fake exterior I saw slid away. The actor, the personality and the style became good…more of a good emphasis for me on the first two things. Yes, the cowboy boots grew on me; I can't think of what other type of shoe he'd wear!

Now, I like how they made him different from S1 Jimmy and displayed his personality more on the show (I thought they did.). I was able to learn about the Jimmy personality through the latter Jimmy's characterization and performance more. I *loved* his interaction with Perry and the way he became thrilled over a girl. I found it more believable that he would look up to Lois and CK due to his younger charm and clothing/hair styles. However, they also seemed to include him more in the story line as a player . That helped cement him as a great Jimmy to me.

The second Jimmy made me groan less…so I guess that is good. However, because S1 Jimmy was first he’s sort of stuck to me.

Yup, I can’t decide…supreme dork or Jimmy ‘lovin’ the ladies with better success’ Olsen.

Jimmy? Who's Jimmy?

Tank (who finds it amusing that anyone would care about anyone who wasn't Lois)