TV Review: Who Wants To Be a Superhero?

Stan Lee, the king/father/godfather of comic books hosts the new SciFi channel series "Who Wants To Be a Superhero?" In which, uh, ordinary people compete and live together to win the chance to be immortalized in a comic book. The competitors came up with their own superhero identities and original costumes, and in what I think is the show's first huge mistake, the auditions were not really shown. Anyone who watches shows like American Idol or American Inventor knows that the bizarre people at the beginning are the best part. The characters had to have a costume, powers, a weakness and a catch-phrase, and you just know there were some people that were hilarious.

The Superhero candidates are tested for things like courage and integrity, instead of strength, etc. The first test appeared to be a race, with each hero-wannabe having to change from secret identity into hero and race to an assigned area - the twist was a small girl "lost" and crying near the finish line. The real test was would these "heroes" stop and help the child. Some did, some didn't. The ones who didn't got called on the carpet at the end.

It's an interesting show that could still go bad or get good. I'd say if you're a comic book fan, you might enjoy it. We're going to check out the next couple episodes, mostly because, you know - it's Stan Lee.