The BEST episodes of Superman (1988) season 1

Every episode of Superman (1988) season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Superman (1988) season 1!

Superman is a 1988 animated Saturday morning television series produced by Ruby-Spears Productions and Warner Bros. Television that aired on CBS featuring the DC Comics superhero of the same name (coinciding with the character's 50th anniversary, along with the live-action Superboy TV series that year). Veteran comic book writer Marv Wolfman was the head story editor, and noted comic book artist Gil Kane provided character designs.

Last Updated: 11/16/2024Network: CBSStatus: Ended
star
9.50
2 votes

#1 - It's Superman

Season 1 - Episode 26 - Aired 12/10/1988

Upon moving to Metropolis, Clark Kent gets a job at the Daily Planet and then becomes Superman for the first time by saving Lois Lane when a bank is being robbed.

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star
8.50
2 votes

#2 - Night of the Living Shadows

Season 1 - Episode 23 - Aired 12/3/1988

Lex Luthor develops a suit that enables a person to become a living shadow. He gives it to a low-level thug from Suicide Slum named McFarlane to rob a bank (who gets dubbed Shadow Thief), then uses the suit himself to rob a jewelry store. Lex then recruits a gang to use the suits in a plan to rob the mint where their robberies baffle Superman and Inspector Henderson.

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star
8.33
3 votes

#3 - First Date

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 11/19/1988

Clark Kent takes Lana Lang on a date to a concert.

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star
8.20
5 votes

#4 - The Big Scoop

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 10/15/1988

Clark Kent's old friend Dr. Glozer invents the Chronotron which allows the user to see into the future. Lex Luthor wants the device and sends his men to capture Dr. Glozer and steal the machine. Using it to win at horse racing, Luthor sees a crime at the track and realizes Clark Kent is Superman. Luthor then gets Clark on a tabloid TV show to force him to reveal himself.

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star
8.00
6 votes

#5 - By the Skin of the Dragon's Teeth

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/1/1988

Lex Luthor buys the Great Wall of China and invites Lois Lane, Clark Kent, and Jimmy Olsen over for an interview. When Lex accidentally brings the statue of the Dragon King to life, he and Superman must work together to stop the dragon statue.

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star
8.00
4 votes

#6 - The Beast Beneath These Streets

Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 11/19/1988

Researchers have discovered an old part of Metropolis that has been buried for a hundred years. According to legend, this part of Metropolis was buried a hundred years ago when a scientist named Dr. Morpheus made a machine that allowed him to steal the powers of a number of different kinds of animals. The legend turns out to be true when Dr. Morpheus (who appears to be a man-bat) kidnaps Lois Lane. He lures Superman to his machine in a plot to steal Superman's powers, and uses bats to help Superman get there.

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star
8.00
4 votes

#7 - WildSharkk

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 11/26/1988

In the Bermuda Triangle, Superman must do battle with a villain named Captain Wildsharkk who is hijacking ships.

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star
7.88
8 votes

#8 - At the Babysitter's

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/1/1988

Jonathan and Martha Kent leave Clark with Melissa the babysitter. Clark figures he can use his powers to skip bedtime, but learns even Kryptonians get naturally tired.

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star
7.83
6 votes

#9 - The First Day at School

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 10/8/1988

Clark Kent goes to school for the first time and meets Lana Lang. During his time at school, he gets blamed for letting the class guinea pig out of its cage.

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star
7.80
5 votes

#10 - To Play or Not to Play

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 11/26/1988

Clark Kent discovers that he cannot play football since his powers give him an unfair advantage.

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star
7.75
4 votes

#11 - Superman and Wonder Woman vs. the Sorceress of Time

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 11/5/1988

When Superman stops a meteor, a piece of it falls to Themyscira and breaks the crystal prison containing the sorceress Syrene (who has the ability to teleport mythological creatures to the present) where she turns the Amazons into hideous short creatures. Now Superman and Wonder Woman must stop Cyrene before she obtains the ultimate power sealed within Themyscira... which she needs Wonder Woman to open.

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star
7.75
4 votes

#12 - The Driver's License

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 11/12/1988

Clark Kent takes his driving test.

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star
7.67
3 votes

#13 - Graduation

Season 1 - Episode 24 - Aired 12/3/1988

Clark Kent must solve a problem with his graduation robe when it gets dirty on Graduation Day.

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star
7.50
8 votes

#14 - Cybron Strikes

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/8/1988

When Superman is celebrating Lois Lane's birthday with a fly through the skies, a metal pyramid floats down to them and they meet its pilot, a hostile cyborg named Cybron who comes from the future. When Cybron's pyramid is brought to a government facility, Cybron breaks free and turns Lois, Jimmy, and a bunch of people into robots.

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star
7.50
4 votes

#15 - Bonechill

Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 11/12/1988

A bookstore owner named Chilton Bone uses a medallion called the Talisman of Olaf to become Bonechill, who has the ability to bring mummies and other horror monsters to life.

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star
7.50
6 votes

#16 - The Hunter

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 10/29/1988

While out on a holiday with his parents, Clark Kent ends up having to leave as Superman when General Zod and his companions Ursa and Faora arrive. They create a creature called The Hunter which can transform into any material it acquires. Things get difficult for Superman when The Hunter acquires the Kryptonite that is in Lex Luthor's possession.

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star
7.33
12 votes

#17 - The Adoption

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/17/1988

After Jonathan and Martha Kent discover Jor-El's spaceship on the roadside with his son, they take the baby to an orphanage. Unfortunately, there are a number of couples waiting to adopt before the Kents. The baby uses his superpowers in mischievous ways, which repel all the others way. He is then adopted by the Kents, whom he gets along with.

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star
7.33
3 votes

#18 - The Birthday Party

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 11/5/1988

Clark Kent's birthday party gets a surprise.

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star
7.29
7 votes

#19 - The Supermarket

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/24/1988

When Martha Kent takes Clark on his first shopping trip, she tries to be careful that Clark doesn't give away his powers.

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star
7.20
5 votes

#20 - The Circus

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 10/22/1988

Clark Kent inadvertently becomes part of the circus.

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star
7.17
6 votes

#21 - Overnight with the Scouts

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 10/15/1988

Clark Kent camps in the woods with his boy scout troop, where they tell ghost stories.

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star
7.17
6 votes

#22 - Triple Play

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 10/22/1988

Prankster seeks his revenge against those who sent him to prison. He ends up teleporting the Metros and the Goliaths (two baseball teams competing in the World Series) to his uncharted island, kidnaps Judge Cook, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen (who were partially responsible for the events that sent him to prison), and threatens their lives. Superman is the only one who can rescue his friends from the Prankster when he is forced to play as a pitcher for Prankster's Robot Baseball Team against the two baseball teams for Prankster's amusement.

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star
7.00
2 votes

#23 - The Last Time I Saw Earth

Season 1 - Episode 25 - Aired 12/10/1988

An alien bounty hunter named Starrok steals the shuttle that Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen are in. He brings them to his planet, where they are fattened up in order to gain the proteins from their bodies to become immortal.

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star
6.80
20 votes

#24 - Destroy the Defendroids

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/17/1988

Lex Luthor's company makes robots called Defendroids that stop crooks and save people so effectively it causes Superman to move away from Metropolis. With his old rival gone, Luthor uses the Defendroids to rob a train transporting a billion dollars in gold to Fort Knox.

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star
6.75
4 votes

#25 - Little Runaway

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 10/29/1988

Clark is unhappy with his adoptive parents and decides to run away. After a number of problems, he returns after he realizes that home is not worse than life on the run.

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