Some superhero TV shows deserve to be forgotten while others have just been erased from our
minds by the sands of time. Every so often whether they be bad or good, years of television
past come back to us, making us feel that nostalgic longing, think back to when we were
just a bit younger. Today we are going to be taking a closer look at some of those tv
shows as we count down the top 10 superhero tv shows you've never head of. For better
or for worse. We got in our tardis and travelled back in time to bring you some of the best
and worst obscure superhero tv shows that planet earth has to offer. Alright, let's
get counting.
10 Manimal
From the 80s, Manimal was a show that was short-lived. Probably for a fair reason. The
show followed Doctor Jonathan Chase played by Simon MacCorkindale, a hero with the ability
to transform into any animal. Chase used his abilities with the help of some friends to
defeat criminals. The best thing about the show was the special effects sequences showcasing
Chase's transformation into a panther and a hawk. His transformation into these forms
was always shown impressively on screen. And we have Stan Wintson to thank for these horrifying
but brilliantly done transformation sequences.
9 Gargoyles
Straight out of the 90s, we have Gargoyles. This was a Disney animated show that told
the story of supernatural Gargoyles who come alive at night after waking from a thousand
year slumber in the form of a magical curse that transformed them to stone. Lead by Goliath,
voiced by Keith David, the team of Gargoyles must band together to put a stop to Xanatos'
evil plots and save the world, often receiving some help from human friends like NYPD officer,
Elisa Maza. The show was dark, dramatic and featured a lot of Shakespearen references.
It was and still is considered to be brilliant. The show ran for three seasons. And fun fact,
did you know that Goliath's ex, gargoyle Demona was actually voiced by Marina Sirtis? Who
also played Deanna Troi in Star Trek The Next Generation. Marvel also made a 12 issue series
about the show, though not directly tied
8 The Phoenix
Bennu of the Golden Light is an alien played by Judson Scott in the 1980s tv show. This
alien awakens from an ancient sarcophagus found in Peru in the 20th century. He possesses
powers of telepathy, telekinesis and astral projection which are made stronger by his
solar powered Phoenix Amulet. Solar powered? How very modern. He must go up against Yago,
his nemesis who is also an alien from the same planet, powered by the moon, while looking
for his girlfriend, Mira. You might not have heard of this show as it only aired for 4
episodes and was quite short lived. Though the episodes were introduced by a made for
tv movie which aired before the series, acting as the first episode, or introduction to the
show.
7 Todd MacFarlane's Spawn
This acclaimed animated series tells the story of Image Comic's Spawn. In this version Spawn
is Al Simmons who after being killed by someone whom he believes to be a close friend, returns
to earth after making a deal with Malebolgia to become one of his Hellspawns. The series
is dark and considered to be adult in content. Unsurprisingly. I mean this is still HBO we're
talking about and this is Spawn. After returning to earth, Al realizes that it has been 5 years.
The body he was restored to is heavily decayed. He learns that his wife whom he longed to
return to, Wanda has moved on. She is now married to his friend Terry and they have
a daughter together. Seeing how happy she is in her new life, he swears to protect her
and uses his necroplasmic powers to fight crime along the way and avenge his murder.
He does all this while being caught up in a war that is forever ongoing between Heaven
and Hell. The series only lasted 3 very short seasons unfortunately.
6 Animorphs
A group of teenagers must band together to defeat powers that threaten planet earth.
No, we're not talking about the Power Rangers here, we are talking about the Animorphs.
The Animorphs is a Canadian tv show based off the scholastic chapter book series of
the same name by K A Applegate. This show aired from 1998 to 2000 and only had 2 seasons.
The second season was also super short. The show follows the human teenagers, Jake, Rachel,
Tobias, Cassie and Marco as the are granted powers that allow them to morph into any animal
they come into contact with. They are tasked with helping to fend off the alien invasion
of the Yeerk forces who have the power to control human hosts. Similar to manimal, the
show featured all kinds of trippy transformation sequences though none of them were quite so
polished as Manimal, despite airing over a decade later.
5 Ace Lightning
A Canadian and British tv show, Ace Lightning centered around Mark Hollander who discovers
an unknown level in a video game he's playing one night. While playing the level lighting
strikes the satellite on his roof and brings the game to life. Mark becomes the sidekick
of Ace Lightning, the hero in the game and together they work to complete the in game
objectives in real life, searching for the Amulet of Zoar and facing the games villains
Lord Fear and Lady Illusion in season 1. In season 2 the heroes went up against Kilobyte
a villain created by the Master Programmer whose alias was Rick Hammel. Rick created
the new villain and brought the game back to life in an effort to take over the world
in retaliation for getting fired. People really do some crazy things in the superhero world
when they get fired. The series ran for two seasons in the early 2000s and had to deal
with some controversy in regards to the Children's Television Act when in 2004 some analysts
categorized it as being anti-social and too violent. I feel like those analysts might
also have had some strong opinions on Call of Duty.
4 Night Man
Johnny Domino is a professional saxophone player in San Francisco until he gets into
a freak accident involving a streetcar and bolt of lightning. It's always lightning.
This accident transforms him into Night Man. He can telepathically hear all evil thoughts
and voices but as such is robbed of ever being able to sleep. Armed with a bullet-proof holographic-invisiblity
suit that allows him to fly and a super cool laser eye--this one really is a laser eye
by the way, none of that optic blast Cyclops stuff--Night Man works tirelessly every night
to defeat criminals. The show would have two seasons, running from 1997 to 1999, and feature
a hero from another series that was on this list, Manimal! Manimal would appear after
his show was cancelled as cameo in the Night Man series due to the fact that both shows
shared the same creator, Glen Larson.
3 Silver Surfer
A show that was super short lived, this was an American-Canadian the Silver Surfer animated
series only lasted one season. It follows the story of Norrin Rad who becomes Galactus'
herald in order to have his planet spared from the villains insatiable hunger. After
having his memories restored to him by Thanos he chooses to defend earth from Galactus because
it reminds him from his homeworld. A notable difference from the comics is that the Fantastic
Four does not appear in this retelling of Silver Surfer's story. However tons of Marvel's
cosmic heroes do appear in the series including Adam Warlock and Ego the living planet. The
series had a unique look to cel shading and animation were blended together to create
the stunning visuals of the series. Silver Surfer aired on Fox in 1998.
2 Striperella
This adult animated series was co-created by Stan Lee and aired on Spike TV. The show
only lasted one season and featured Pamela Anderson as the voice of Striperella. Striperella
is secretely Erotica Jones as stripper who is also a secret agent. Her superpowers include
superintelligence, enhanced reflexes and superhuman strength. Being a secret agent she is also
trained in various martial arts. Despite what you might initially think, Pamela Anderson
herself actually described it as not being a particularly raunchy show. Striperella took
down all kinds of villains including a glowing werebeaver in the thirteenth and final episode.
The series boasted all kinds of talented voice actors such as Jon Cryer, Mark Hamill, and
Tom Kenny. The show ran from 2003 to 2004 and ended due to creative differences and
possibly due to a lawsuit aimed at Stan Lee accusing him of stealing the idea from the
original Striperella, a stripper by the name of Jane Clover.
1 Bibleman
On the opposite end from Stan Lee's Striperella, we have Bibleman at number one. So pure, so
holy. Bibleman is like Batman but instead of fighting villains with his batarangs, he
fights with his bible and his scripture. Take that! The show is a direct to video Christian
childrens series. It was available from 1995 to 2010 and was recently relaunched in 2016
so you might just be able to get your hands on one or two of the 49 episodes, if you so
desire. The protagonist is Miles Peterson, a wealthy man who finds himself unhappy and
unsatisfied until he stumbles upon a bible in the mud and finds God and Christianity.
From that day on he decides to fight evil as Bibleman! With his sidekick, Cypher, he
works to defeat such villains as the Sultan of Selfishness, Madame Glitz and Diaperman.
There is even a live show version of series. Yup.
Thank you so much for watching, nerd squad. I hope we were able to enlighten you on some
superhero tv you have not yet seen and maybe now want to look up or want to avoid. Who
knows? Feel free to share in the comments what you think of some of the series listed
in this top 10 vid. I personally love Gargoyles, think Ace Lightning is a cool idea, and cannot
believe that Bibleman exists and appears to be inspired by Batman. What are some of your
favourite superhero tv shows now? How do they compare to those in this list or other tv
shows from the past? What is your favourite superhero tv show of all time? Let us know
in the comments below. And while you are on your way down there be sure to click that
like, smash that sub and ring our bell. We love it when you do. Until next time this
has been top 10 nerd and I'm your host Amanda McKnight, reminding you to keep watching and
stay nerdy, YouTube.