Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Lois & Clark Season 1 Rewatch: Pilot

Welcome to the Lois and Clark rewatch! On Monday, September 12th, it will be 29 years since this episode aired. Feels like a lifetime ago.

I'm hoping this will be a good way for us to catch up, talk about our favourite reporting pair, and share some of the things we see (or don't see), recommendations, and set plot bunnies loose.

Each week will host a different episode, starting with the Pilot. We can plan to start a new thread each Sunday, with breaks as we choose throughout the year and through holiday seasons. You don't have to watch the episode to participate.

Use these questions as a guide—answer just one, answer them all, or say your own thing!”

A few questions as a guide to get us started. Answer one, or ask your own question!

- When did you first watch Lois and Clark?
- What grabs your attention this time around?
- Favourite moment/quote of the episode?

- Fanfic, media or artwork recommendations based on this episode?
- Anything you'd like to see written/produced based on this episode?
- Any plot bunnies you'd like to set free?

*Banner created by CarrieRene

Hey, Toomi!! Thanks for the idea I’m hoping this will be lots of fun for all! How the heck is it 29 years ago???

When did you first watch Lois and Clark?
I remember watching watching the pilot episode back when it aired with my sisters and mom and dad. I was 13! Good grief! I don’t know all of what I remembered about the show, but I have a VERY clear memory of Clark stepping off the bus with that old suitcase of his. I’m not sure when my family stopped watching it, but by at least mid-S2, I was watching it alone in my room with the door shut and orders NOT TO BE DISTURBED for anything! Y’know…because I had to make sure I heard every word and also make sure my VCR was recording properly. Oh, how spoiled we are now with no commercials and being able to pause and rewind on a whim!

Favourite moment/quote of the episode?
I love, love, love the Chinese takeout part…the way he smiles at her…and she smiles back right before the farmboy line. *sigh* And I also have a special fondness for that scene where he talks with his dad under the stars. I really love him talking about his dreams and hopes for the future.

That’s all from me for now! Looking forward to other people’s responses!

Sara

I first stumbled upon L&C early in 2010. I had just downloaded a free-tv-shows aggregator app and wanted to give it a try. Since I was simply planning to test the app rather than actually watch a show, I hadn't been too particular about what show I chose, so I picked L&C -- the most interesting looking show on the first screen. At the time, all I knew (or thought I knew) about Superman was what the general populace "knows": that he works as Clark Kent at the Planet with Perry, Jimmy, and Lois, and that when someone is in danger, he changes into Superman in a phone booth.

I had only planned to watch a minute or two of the show, but I was impressed that Clark was not, after all, the two-dimensional character I had imagined. I was hooked at the "You like to be on top" line. Those of you who have read my stories know that while I am very much into wordplay, I am rarely into double entendres. But this particular one was both set up and delivered so perfectly that it caught me. That was when I decided to stick around for the rest of the episode.

My favourite scene was Clark's chat with Jonathan on the farm.

The plot bunnies I set free based on this episode were Letting the Cat Out of the Bag...Or Not, The Butterfly Effect, The Panhandler's Tale, The Sofas, and Summertime Blues. (I hadn't realized before that I had written five pilot-based stories. Huh.)

A plot bunny that I just thought of: What would have happened if Lex Luthor had happened to see Clark's save of the nuns? Would that not have been enough, especially coupled with the "All you have to do is look up?" line, for Lex to figure out that Clark is Superman?

It had been several years since I watched the pilot. A few things that stood out to me upon this rewatching are:

• The opening credits were so plain. (They obviously didn't have enough episodes in the can to show scenes from it during the opening.)
• Elizabeth Barondes (Lucy Lane) was listed in the opening credits. I am guessing that that meant that there were plans for her to appear in far more than a mere three episodes. Meanwhile, neither K Callan nor Eddie Jones were listed. I realize that the show as originally conceived was supposed to be primarily a love story with Lois being at least as prominent as Clark, but I find it interesting that Clark's parents were apparently not originally going to be regulars while Lois's sister was. IMHO, they made the right choice with keeping them; their appearances were always among the highlights of the show for me. I love, love, love how they interact with Clark and with each other.
• One gets a feel within the first few seconds of much of the essence of most of the characters. (Jimmy's didn't do much for me, but then again, I've never particularly cared for first-season Jimmy. That has nothing to do with Michael Landes and everything to do with the scripts.)
• Way to lay low, Clark -- you are in Metropolis for less than a minute before you indulge in your first super-feat there? Then again, given the setup, he would have felt he had no choice. (The “he.. he… he…” lady cracks me up every time. Excellent delivery.)

All right, I paused the show several times as I came up with the above list, but I won't be continuing such a detailed commentary. (I doubt anyone would want to read the tome I would have come up with if I had.)

• Clark-as-Superman has always struck me as awkward in the pilot and, to a lesser extent, in the first couple of episodes. I've often wondered whether it was because Dean Cain or the director chose to give Clark a mini-character-arc of gradually becoming more comfortable playing the superhero or because Dean Cain himself was initially uncomfortable in the Superman persona and had to grow into it as an actor. I suspect the latter, but I could be convinced of the former.
• A little passive-aggressive, Clark, shaking Perry's hand too hard at the end of the interview?
• "Dissecting you/me like a frog," walking the walls, and the lightbulb incident -- pure gold, even if the special effects were outdated even when the pilot was filmed.
• A privately owned space company -- pure science fiction when this was first aired; simple fact now.
• The whole Luthor-staring-down-the-snake scene strikes me just as weird now as it did upon first viewing. Maybe even weirder. I had never noticed the tear before.
• I had forgotten that Star Labs was mentioned as early as the pilot.
• I am watching the show on a bigger screen than I had seen it on before, and I am catching a lot of details that I missed. Another example: Lois's coffee mug has the perfect motto for this version of the character: The best man for the job is a woman.
• While I love the whole "Don't fall for me, farm boy" scene, the nitpicker in me is frustrated by the fortune cookies, since they were invented in the U.S. and (I presume) would therefore not be found in a restaurant in China. (This page provides a more detailed history of fortune cookies.)
• "What was he supposed to do, Jonathan? Let the man die?" This pre-dates by decades a similar question posed in The Man of Steel. Somehow, I can't imagine L&C's Jonathan answering, "Maybe."
• "I said nine. I thought you'd be naked." Though when it comes to that, why didn't Clark get dressed at superspeed before answering the door? Did a part of him want her to see him like that?
• "I never have dessert," says the woman who downs double fudge crunch bars.
• Clark outside Lois's window: Stalker much?
• "Nobody's going to be looking at your face." (I love the entire montage, but especially that line.)
• When I watched the pilot the first time, I hadn't known the significance to the mention of Clark's baby blankets.
• How convenient is it that TV bombs always tick loudly and have digital countdown timers to make it evident what they are? (Also how convenient that there just happened to be a spare seat in an empty chamber for Lois.)
• "There was a bomb. He... He... He... ate it." Clark does seem to get a "He... He... He..." reaction a lot, doesn't he?

Wow. And I had been wondering whether I would find much of anything to say. I promise my posts for subsequent episodes will be much shorter.

Joy,
Lynn

p.s., Thanks again, Toomi8, for coming up with the idea for these rewatches.

I don't remember LnC being on the air when I was in the UK as the first season aired in the US, but moved to Canada as the second season started. I'd go over to my friends house and we'd watch our shows while doing homework (ER, Friends, LnC!). I remember seeing the second and third season, but not the fourth. I think I got bored with the never-ending wedding arc, or the tv spot changed and I wasn't allowed to watch it at home. Then in 2020 as the place I worked laid everyone off in April, Apple TV had a sale on the whole series, so I grabbed it, thinking I had months to binge watch it. I wasn't far in before I started getting hit by ideas to write, and went on a hunt for LnC Fanfiction, which ultimately led me here!

As I didn't see most of this season (except for a few reruns back in the '90's), most of it's going to be new, but I know that I wouldn't have picked up on any of the sexual innuendos back then.

Things that grabbed my attention
- When Cat stops Clark at the coffee machine and badgers him for a 'date', he replies with a "Ms Grant." She insists he calls her Cat, which after she leaves, he repeats. It was strange, almost a mockery?
- When Clark goes into the alley to leave for Smallville, he takes off his glasses and puts them into his jacket pocket before taking off. Then the homeless man asks for spare change, and he leaves the glasses off. Was that just a flight thing? Did he always take his glasses off when he flew before Superman came along? He didn't have a secret identity at this point, or had even thought of using one, so would he naturally keep his glasses on at all times?
- I dig the long hair on Clark in this episode, but I'm glad they shortened it.
- I liked the first version of the Suit in this episode, with the narrow collar. It went through some changes after, but this one was my favourite.

The one thing that really stuck out was at the end when Superman tells Lex that all he has to do to see him is to look up. Lex earlier in the episode is bragging that everyone in Metropolis has to look up to him as he's in the tallest building in Metropolis, and he likes that. Nice writing for that to be turned around, but a really stupid move on Superman's part. What if Lex had recalled his conversation with Lois and Clark on that balcony during the ball? Would he have put it together?

Perhaps the only criticism I have is the makeup on Teri Hatcher, especially towards the beginning of the episode. Now, I'm watching on an iPad, so far better resolution than anyone would have imagined we'd be using 30 years ago, so I'm sure that makes a difference, but she looks so washed out, almost yellow, as though they didn't use enough or the right tone.

My favourite scene was when Clark 'walked' around his apartment in the Apollo. I really enjoy the use of practical effects and with special effects really taking over at the time, it's nice to see (though I'm sure it cost a small fortune to do it!).

I have a plot bunny. It took a huge chomp out of my ankle, so I'm not setting it free. I'll see if anything comes of it first.

I loved your detailed list!!!! Don't worry about them being shorter. It was great to see what you spotted (I'd never noticed the tear in the snake scene before).

I first watched the show when it originally aired. I loved it from the beginning and faithfully watched every episode. I don’t remember what year this was but I went on a weekend cruise (Friday-Monday) from San Pedro, CA to Ensenada, Mexico. I had set my VCR to tape L&C but I didn’t want to wait until Monday night after I got home to watch it. The ship was going to be cruising the Cali coast that Sunday so I asked the purser if there was any way I could watch the show in my room. He said he would try to get ABC for me. Shortly before air time, I left my friend (she didn’t want to watch the show), returned to our room, and the purser had come through for me because I was able to watch the episode. The reception wasn’t the best but I was thrilled. I wish I could remember what episode it was but it was a long time ago. Let’s just say I was a lot older than KSaraSara when the show originally aired and my memory isn’t as sharp as it used to be.

Though I’ve loved the show since it originally aired, I wish I had found the fandom much sooner. I guess it’s better late than never but I’m thrilled to be here now.

My favorite moments/quotes
• The towel scene. Lois’s reaction is priceless.
• The montage of Clark trying on the various costumes that Martha made and Martha’s "Nobody's going to be looking at your face” comment.
*Clark and Jonathan’s talk outside the farmhouse.
•Superman saying that his mother made his costume.
•Lois’s confession to Clark when she thought they were going to die.
•The top banana line was funny.
•Clark’s reaction when Lois walked in on his interview. The look on his face says it all. He was lost then and there.

Thanks Toomi8 for coming up with this idea. It’s going to be fun!

First time I watched--FarmerBabe and I watched when the show originally broadcast. Thought it'd be a kick and enjoyed it enough to stick with it. I remember at one point I was worried that the show would be Quantum Leaped. (i.e. shuffled from timeslot to timeslot until the ratings fell enough to cancel it.)

We're watching on a larger screen and I noticed a few things that I hadn't seen.

• A banner/poster for the White Orchid ball is on the lamppost outside the main entrance to the Planet.
• Clark's newspaper in the Apollo has a headline that references the UN, not the Congress of Nations.
• The special effect of Superman super-speeding was bad at the time. It definitely doesn't hold up on a large screen.
• Not sure what possessed them to use that table in the conference room. It looks more like library carrels than something you'd see in an office. Glad it disappeared later on.
• I'd heard about the 105/501 apartment issue but never actually seen the door. Lois's apartment definitely isn't on the ground floor.
• The street outside the Planet is impossibly narrow for a city street but has an island in the middle with benches but without a curb. Not sure what they were thinking there.
• EPRAD has some serious safety and material security issues.

I'm glad they worked on Perry's character. The whole leaving to find Lois/store room scene is painful to watch. If the meeting was just getting started then why did Perry come looking for Clark less than a minute later? If there was something important enough to make him leave his own meeting hen why didn't he ask/tell Clark in the store room? It would've justified the action. Why didn't Clark find a pencil or something? Instead it was painful. Oh, and Clark was an idiot for leaving from the store room after Perry saw him in there. The acting was fine, the issue was the writers.

The first time I watched it was when it initially aired in 1993. I still remember the beginning when Lois walked in as a guy. I'm like what kind of show is this? I have always been fascinated with anything Superman and I had to watch this. Yes, Jimmy looks a lot like Clark. That suitcase of Clark's is so old-fashioned. This was a different show for sure.

Yes, I am actually rewatching it as we speak. You could tell Lois was jealous of Antoinette. Lois could use her femininity on men, but it was against the rules if Clark used his looks. I was intrigued by Lois, at one point I even wanted to be like her. I love how Clark went and got his own story when he heard about the theater and how Lois enamored him from the beginning.

I'm glad Jonathan didn't keep on about Clark hiding his powers. Lucy's comment about meeting a 'Super' guy. I would love more episodes/stories about Lucy (yes, I plan on one eventually). Still love the montage with Martha and Clark and the suits. A great song is playing in the background (love that song to this day). You could tell the chemistry between Lois and Clark from the beginning especially the lines she says to him are classic. 'I'm top banana'. The looks he gives her.

I might try to do a banner for each episode if I can. Some classic scenes in just the first episode. I might need to make one from the 'Top banana line' or their Chinese dinner scene.


Banner

I’m here, too, now. And I must say, there’s more stuff in there than you can take notes on. I did decide on the more obscure details. Paava leaves, the Borneo Gazette, the Naked Nine, or Clark getting Chinese takeout are way to established facts for FoLCs to need a primer on. Oh and yes, there’s also some really shocking bits that had been twisted in fanon (like Lois being a master lockpick). Also, I probably need to rewatch without taking notes…

Homework:
- When did you first watch Lois and Clark?
When it first aired. Which, on German TV, was sometime during the summer after it started in the US.

- What grabs your attention this time around?
I was thirteen or so and considered Superman – as in “a flying guy with super strength” a bit childish / weird. But the TV guide did a good presentation of this as a show and I figured, let’s give it a shot. Then I missed the first half of the Pilot because we went out for dinner. It was funny, I guess. And I caught missed parts on repeat the next day. Yeah, well…the VCR had another item on the list of things I had to catch. So, I guess I was like Clark when he first saw Lois? I just had to catch it on tape when I couldn’t watch live.

- Fanfic, media or artwork recommendations based on this episode?
Fanfic? Oh boy. I think Wendy Richards Faux Pas is set during the pilot?

- Favourite moment/quote of the episode?
The costume montage is just a fun feel good one that’s sticking. As an evil writer, oh boy, there’s just so many details you try to file away for later use.

- Any plot bunnies you'd like to set free?
There’s two down in the rest of the text:
* Toni’s henchman knows about Lex being a criminal.
* Lex has the helicopter explosion on tape. What if he also catches Clark’s entry & escape on tape?

At the end of the post, there’s some reply-notes, too.

Quotes:

Perry: What are you standing around for? This is a newspaper, not happy hour at the Buckingham Palace. – Also, considering the Queen had just died and there’s literally thousands of people standing around now and waiting to pay their respects, this feels oddly poignant.

Perry: Tell him to keep his pants on.

Perry: Calls the Daily Planet the “greatest newspaper in the whole world”.

Perry: Great Shades of Elvis

Perry: Hard facts. That’s the name of the game.

Lois: I did not work my buns off to become an investigative reporter just so… -- How they work within the PG-rating.

Lois: I’ve seen it all – war, crime, famine. – A nice reference to her Kerth Award for being embedded with the troops in the Gulf War.

Lois to Cat: I thought ladies like you only worked nights. – No one can say Lois didn’t flat out imply Cat is a hooker.

Lois’s feelings about society columnists: mudslinging rumormonger

Lois: I sometimes do things, like jumping into the pool without checking the water level first. It’s the only way I know how to get the job done.

Lois: Superman is the most magnificent figure of a man I’ve ever seen. -- She also adds a dreamy sigh. The entire bit gives the impression she’s become quite the instant Superman groupie and yes, unless she gets scared, would accept any invitation by Superman.

Lois: You eat like an eight-year-old and you look like Mr. Hardbody. What’s your secret and can I have it? -- She’s aware that Clark looks great. She’s simply not acknowledging it once he shows interest / becomes dangerous in later episodes.

Clark: Lois is complicated uncompromising, pigheaded, brilliant.

Lex: I love the fact that everyone in Metropolis has to look up to see me.

Cat: I love it when they play hard to get.

Details:
Minute 1: Cab driver shows complete disregard for pedestrians and the curb.
Minute 42: Cab Fares

Minute 3: Lois thanks jimmy for teaching how to boost car.
At the EPRAD hanger: Jimmy picks the door. Lois doesn’t know how.

Minute 4: Lois asks for a raise, is shot down. The whole thing is played as a joke, but what if she actually took it to heart. In particular given the prevalence of payment inequality in the workplace?

Minute 56: Lois and Clark hug and have a moment with an almost kiss. Also, Lois agrees to dinner with Clark until she remembers her dinner with Lex.
Later in the episode: Lois pulls walls back up the next day and tells Clark she’ll deny everything if he tells anyone and is simply interrupted from further threats

Minute 4: Lex Tel phone book is displayed. It is black with a red border
Minute 51: Metropolis Yellow Pages phone book is displayed. It is green and yellow.

Jimmy has to do obituaries.

Clark: Uses “Cat” since she told him to. And he was intrigued when she told him to.

Clark: Learned dancing from a Nigerian princess who studied ballroom dancing in England.
Jimmy: Uses “C.K.”

Lois’s age is confirmed as 26 years old.

Clark tells Lois that Perry told him Lois is the best reporter he’s ever met. Lois didn’t know that Perry thought that. Clark also says the rest of the staff thinks so. This might be hyperbole.


Locations:
Minute 1:30: A great view of the Daily Planet newsroom layout.
Minute 11: Farm kitchen
Minute 19: Clark has a laptop and transportable printer.
Minute 29: Clark’s desk, two desks over from Lois
Minute 11: Hotel Apollo: bed, desk with lamp and chair, green kitchen, naked bulb on ceiling
Minute 30: Outside the Kent Farm
Minute 67: Storage room has a glass door

Episode stuff:
Lex Tel Communications is a TV station, will be LNN in future episodes.

Lex kisses Lois good night on the lips.

Lois apartment is in a two-story brownstone on the first floor. – Waiting for next episode, probably the entire outside location has been changed, not just the floor and door. Did she actually move (if we want to retcon)

White Orchid Ball attendees: Lois, Clark, Jimmy, Perry, Cat (silver-gray dress, gold decor at minute 39).

Toni Baines has henchman, who knows Lex is dirty. This could result in a key witness if he’s not killed in the helicopter ride.

Toni Baines to Lex: You know what I’m capable of. – I’m thinking she doesn’t know what Lex is capable of.

Lex had a surveillance video of the warehouse. He did not see Clark enter and leave. What if he did?

Shuttle boarding is three minutes to launch – there’s no words for this.

Lois did not actually point the bomb out to Superman. – things you completely forget.

New York Daily Star – was changed to Metropolis Star later on.

National Whisper – right there from the get go.

I structured the notes a bit, but I didn’t do a complete polishing. Maybe there’s details in there that help someone.

Lex and the Snake: The tear I noticed for the first time. It’s also not in the script. I wondered about it for a bit but came to the conclusion that it’s either accidental or if intentional, it’s meant to show Lex didn’t blink at all, which means his tears are simply flowing out of his eyes.

Michael

That'll make some fanfics more interesting


I saw that but assumed I'd been momentarily distracted by something and had interpreted the scene wrong. Glad someone else pointed it out!

Michael

I'm a bit late to join the party, but I didn't get around to watching the first episode before tonight.

I started watching LnC on recommendation of a friend in 1997 or 1998. By that time, season 1 to 3 had been aired on German television and I had caught a rerun. I didn't see the pilot until a second rerun, though, because I had started somewhere mid-season one. Definitely after GGGOH. But I've been hooked ever since. I'm planning on watching every episode in the original version this time. Jimmy and Perry are a bit hard to understand. And I have to be cautious about ironing my laundry during the episodes, because I don't think I'll manage to catch what they're saying with the background noise.

I never realized before that it was actually Clark finding out about Luthor. I realized how wary he was after Luthor's little speech with the sword. Unlike Lois, he wasn't mesmerized by Luthor's announcement of a privately owned space station.

But what really caught Clark's attention was that Antoinette Baines used the same "high-ground" line as Luthor had while he was talking about Alexander the Great. You could see his eyes widen and his head whip around.

So, why did he never mention this to Lois?

A thing I have to look for is the ramp down to the bullpen. I believe it was going down the other way in later episodes. But that will have to wait till we get there.

One thing I noticed was that Clark's shirt changed the color during his first stay in Smallville. It's violet when he takes off, blue as he goes into the farm house and once again violet as he talks to his parents.

I watched the show from the very beginning when it originally aired as a small child. At the at time our TV only picked up 2 TV stations, ABC, where Lois and Clark aired and PBS, which really meant that in the evenings we only had a single station to watch TV. So naturally my parents had the TV tuned to ABC the night Lois and Clark premiered. Because we didn't have any 'kids' or 'cartoon' channels if my brother and I wanted to watch any TV it would be whatever was on ABC with our parents. I sat on the living room floor that night to watch this new show that was premiering. I don't know if I even knew what I was going to be watching that night or not.

I was really young when the show premiered, probably just getting to the age where I was able to comprehend the show enough to enjoy it. As far as I can remember, Lois and Clark probably would have been among the first shows I ever started watching week-to-week and following the plot. Because I was so young at the time, I remember very little of the entire series from the original airing. And I don't think any of those were from the pilot. I do remember the handprint on the bus moment from watching the show for the first time, but that memory probably comes from the opening credits rather than the actual pilot episode. Mostly I remember the way I felt about the show and the crushing disappointment I would feel when the promo at the end said, something like "in 2 weeks," "in 3 weeks," or "on X date," anything that wasn't "next week on Lois and Clark" would just break my little heart.

I had no knowledge of Superman at all before the show, so the briefcase with the letters CK on it and the names Lois Lane and Clark Kent didn't mean anything to me when I watched the show the night it premiered, but since then the moment of Perry introducing Lois and Clark to each other has become one of my favorite moments of the pilot.

One thing that ALWAYS catches my attention when watching the pilot is the stuff around Lois' neck when she and Clark are chained up together in the warehouse. To me it has always just looked so much like the seatbelt from car that it just draws so much of my focus that I have a hard time looking at anything else during that scene when Lois is on camera.

I also always end up feeling so bad for Martha that she had to make so many different suits for Clark until he found one he liked. That was so much work Clark. Couldn't you have narrowed down the colors you liked or something before she started sewing? That was so much work! You made your poor mother work too hard.