Who Wants To Be A Superhero?: Sci Fi Scores Again
Stan the Man and His Mighty Minions In Unreality Heaven
Well, I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that Sci Fi’s obviously scripted unreality series Who Wants To Be A Superhero? is nowhere near as stinky as one might expect given its basic premise. The bad news is that the obviously scripted unreality series is nowhere near as stinky as one might expect given its basic premise. Huh, you say? That’s right. What’s good is bad is good again when it comes to this surprisingly entertaining show that has steadily grown in the ratings over its first four weeks, gaining at least a ten-percent increase in its target 18–49 and 25–54 demographics with every episode.
The only way to explain the mini-phenomenon is to assume that most viewers are either diehard Stan Lee devotees; tired of the usual reality suspects ruling the airwaves; eager to welcome a different style of reality programming into the already over-crowded stable; or, like yours truly, just appreciate the refreshing tonal respite that the lightweight series has brought to the small screen this summer. Many people suspected beforehand that there would be plenty to laugh at in this offering, and some of them wished for a show that sucked big time. The bad news then is that although the series certainly isn’t Emmy material, it isn’t exactly crap either. In fact, the enjoyable elements outweigh the laughable ones, hence the good news.
The Who Wants To Be A Superhero? love fest officially began on July 27 with eleven contestants who answered Lee’s nationwide call to potential stardom by agreeing to perform various challenges and live together round-the-clock, while constantly wearing their alternatively lewd, tacky, or garish costumes. The winner’s prize—a comic book dedicated to their superhero character, created by legendary superhero mastermind Stan Lee, and an appearance in an original Sci Fi Channel movie. Not bad beans at all. I offered my preliminary assessment of the Final Eleven’s general appeal in an earlier post before the show’s premiere.
Both I and Internet buzz initially predicted that Levity (a.k.a. Tobias Trost) would emerge as the eventual winner, based on the coolness factor of his powers (“[c]ontrols air molecules; creates force fields; shoots blasts of air that can penetrate concrete”) and the overall presentation of his costume (a nice blend of dark red on black that didn’t cause one’s eyeballs to immediately scream in agony from the excess spandex, luminosity, and colorfulness assailing them). Unfortunately, the frontrunner, a toy designer, had personal financial gain on his brain, as well, in direct violation of Lee’s conception of the ideal superhero’s attitude toward their main mission in life. Thus, the first crowd favorite wound up being the first contestant to go after an infiltrator revealed he planned to market his character in order to make millions of dollars.
At that low early point, the show seemed doomed to general disinterest. But then Major Victory happened. A former stripper named Chris Watters, his charismatic personality lured a horde of fans via his hammy mannerisms and comically authoritative air, marked by his delightfully corny signature catch phrase, “Be a winner, not a wiener!” The bright red, form-fitting top and tights, long black cape, and “shiny underpants” didn’t hurt either.
Other contestants who have likewise made a noticeable impression on viewers include Fat Momma (Nell Wilson), a forthright single mother who could very well walk away with it all, and the Iron Enforcer (allegedly named Steel Chambers), a steroid-juiced, killing-obsessed, scary-looking baldheaded dude whose personality couldn’t be much further from that of a genuine superhero. His attitude (and body odor, too, according to anonymous fellow cast mates) is so noxious, Lee transformed him into the super villain the Dark Enforcer after his dismissal in the second episode.
Now we are down to the last three contestants in line for the ultimate honor, the aforementioned Major Victory and Fat Momma, as well as Feedback (software engineer Matthew Atherton), a cloyingly earnest entrant who comes across as waaay too sentimental and sensitive to succeed at the superhero lifestyle—it would eat him alive. Thus, my bets are all hinged on the first two, either of whom I would be happy to see win. Whether I would take the time to read a comic book or watch a movie featuring them is another story all together. Yet, even if not, when the competition is complete, I definitely will have had a lot of fun watching all of the contestants strive to achieve their goals during six weeks of painless unreality superhero fever. Excelsior!
The Verdict: B-
Who Wants to Be a Superhero? currently airs Thursdays at 9pm EST on Sci Fi, with the winner scheduled to be chosen on the August 31 episode
Who Wants to Be a Superhero? photo courtesy of the Sci Fi Channel
