Collecting 24 episodes sounds huge in our era of 30-minute shows, but Super Friends: The Lost Episodes showcases a shorter seven-minute format, so you'll be surprised at how quickly each one rolls past. The notion of these being "filler" episodes isn't exactly correct; they were just packaged in sets of three to occupy the usual 30-minute slot. The historical record shows them as only being "lost" in the sense that they were produced during down times for the show. It's not that they weren't aired, but they were definitely aired out of sequence, and combined with other formats being carried over from earlier years of Super Friends. Basically, you would have seen these bundled along with rerun 30-minute episodes or broadcast much later, creating some serious lack of continuity. You could think of this as representing a "season" in some sense, but Super Friends wasn't really exploring a lot of deep storytelling, in the way we now think of it.
Super Friends: The Lost Episodes is filled with several cartoon equivalents of the Public Service Announcement. Kids in the show are constantly having their bacon pulled out the proverbial fire by the Super Friends, after engaging in unsafe driving ("Space Racers"), caving to peer pressure ("Bully for You"), or playing where they shouldn't ("Roller Coaster"). Adults also need rescuing, whether from alien threats ("Invasion of the Space Dolls"), dangerous science ("Attack of the Cats" and "The Malusian Blob"), mythological gods ("Prisoners of Sleep"), or angry spirits ("Once Upon a Poltergeist" and "Terror on the Titanic"). There are also plenty of threats unique to the Super Friends featured here, such as Mxyzptlk, Brainiac, and the entire Legion of Doom at one point.
Entertaining, funny in both a "laughing with" and "laughing at" way, and completely nostalgic for today's thirty-somethings, Super Friends: The Lost Episodes is ideal for adults that want to introduce their children to a cartoon antiquity. Like all antiques, The Lost Episodes has to be handled with kid gloves, and isn't exactly industrial-strength product by today's standards. Some vintage items prompt a reaction along the lines of, "Wow they sure don't make 'em like that anymore!" You are more likely to watch Super Friends: The Lost Episodes with a bit of a silly grin on your face, plus some remembrance for the fat laces and parachute pants that held a special place in your life long, long ago during the '80s. Some "treasures" are best left hidden...
