THE CAPTAIN'S JUSTICE LEAGUE HOMEPAGE

JLA ON TELEVISION

Written by: Lorne Cameron and David Hoselton
Producers: Scott Shepherd, Lorne Cameron and David Hoselton
Production Designer: Jim Lim
Director: Lewis Teague

Running Time: Approximately 70 minutes.
Status: In the can and on the shelf.

It was announced by CBS in April 1997 that they were planning a Justice League primetime pilot (a single episode of a TV show to determine if a full series should me made) to be shown as part of their fall schedule. However the option to go with a full series or even a mid-season replacement was turned down and now the show sits on a shelf somewhere forgotten.

What we know:

Martian Manhunter played by David Ogden Stiers (Major Charles Emerson Winchester from M*A*S*H) is based on the character J'onn J'onzz which has appeared in almost every incarnation of the comic book League. He was the first superhero of the Silver Age. In the pilot he is depicted as a green skinned alien who formed the Justice League to avoid the repression that characterised his homeworld. He is mainly kept in shadow and does shape-shift briefly into different people.
The Atom as played by Jon Kassir (the Cryptkeeper in Tales from the Crypt). The costume is based on the Golden Age Justice Society member Al Pratt rather than the Silver Age Ray Palmer. The actual character is Palmer as a quiet science teacher. In the show the Atom and GL are roommates but are later joined by the Flash who has just been evicted from his own place.
Fire and Ice played by Michelle Hurd and Kimberly Oja (both have appeared on TV before as guest stars and background characters). The duo have previously seen the light of day in the old Superfriends comic (based on the cartoon of the same name) where they were Green Flame and Ice Maiden. They transferred the DCU as part of the Global Guardians and became part of the League during the JLI days. In the show Fire is knockout actress with a remote personality. Ice on the other hand is the new hero whose induction into the JLA serves as one of the major subplots to the pilot. She works for the same institute as the Weatherman villain.
The Flash played by Ken Johnston (I) (Michael Lacey in Cagney & Lacey: The Return) is the second Flash in the form of Barry Allen. It was decided to cast a new actor rather than John Wesley Shipp who had played the role of the Flash a few years before.
The Hal Jordan Green Lantern that was seen in the Legends of the Superheroes and the Superfriends was passed over for relatively unknown (outside of comics that is) Guy Gardner as played by Matthew Settle. He seems to be the "hunk" of the group and very dashingly makes up with his girlfriend with the help of professional musicians.
As all superheroes need a bad guy to bash, so the JLA TV pilot provides this in the form of the Weatherman, as played by Miguel Ferrer. Incidentally he also did the voice for the Weather Wizard in the Superman/Flash episode of latest Superman cartoon series. The Weatherman is actually Dr Eno, head of the institute that employs Ice.

Summary

So why haven't we seen the JLA pilot? Well for two real reasons and just by looking at still shots you can tell one of them - the costumes stink - these are not so much latex or spandex as foam padding. The second reason according to reports is that it just wasn't upto scratch for a major television network. However with massive resurgence in interest in the Justice League it is very possible that we might see it somewhere along the line.

The material in this are based on the Internet Movie Database JLA pilot entry and on a review and images from a Ain't it Cool News.

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