Hoo boy.
Alex, every other comic geek in the world is about to point this out, so I'll be the first.
You are mixing up two different Justice League shows.
The pic you show is from the pilot Justice League Movie from 1997 - it never aired in the US because it is absolutely laughably bad. Charles from M*A*S*H is Martian Manhunter. Really. And you were right, it's all the second tier guys from the Justice League International era (like Fire and Ice).

The "lame nightclub comedians as villians" show you are thinking of was Legends of the Superheroes from 1979. It is exactly as you describe it, except that Batman and Robin (Adam West and Burt Ward) were actually on it. But yes, no Superman or Wonder Woman.
It was awful in every way, but 8 year old me greatly enjoyed the awesome cleavage of the girl playing Huntress.
There are clips of this on you tube I think.

great list guys. I would love to see a top 10 animated series list. There has been some great stuff (and some crap) My number 1 would have to be the X-Men from the 90's, they took a lot of stories straight from the comics, had great voice actors and is the main thing that got me into comics in the first place. Make it so!

I don't agree with that list at all, and mostly in the arena of Smallville's placement. I would have held it up much higher in that list.

Anyways, an animated list would be great but probably too predictable. What other than Bruce Timm's Batman dares to share the #1 spot?

The Flash was SOOO good. right on.

Definately do a animated list.

Also, how bout this, top ten list of comics books that started off as TV shows (Buffy, Gargoyles)

Great show guys. Please make an animated list. would be great. thx

What up guys. I really wanna see an animated series list(my list is mostly 1990's vintage). I wanna see Spider-man, Justice League, Iron Man, Batman, Superman, Fantastic Four, Hulk, and my absolute #1 on my list the Uncanny X-Men. To be honest, I really miss these shows because all those shows (on my list) is better than all the primetime shows today. I love the stack, keep doin' what ya do. Ikem... over & out.

Well, if Greatest American Hero gets to make the list, so should the classics, "Automan" and "Manimal" (I am so totally kidding about both those being on the list by the way!)

How can you forget about NIGHT MAN

Can we please NOT have any more lists? That was one of the worst things you've ever done. I dont know how you even came up with the order, unless by Greatest you mean worst, or stupidest.

What happened to
Superman
The Green Hornet
Shazam!
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Mutant X

The truth is super heroes on tv have been an embarassment that have only damaged comics credibility. The sooner forgotten the better and stupid lists like this only make things worse.

Man, I think the real answer is that there haven't been any good Comic book TV shows. Smallville when good, is by far in the top 5, but when bad (60% of the episodes) it really stinks. Still, most of these shows stink. and The saddest thing is the omition of George Reeves' The Adventures of Superman, is actually a great show and the best portrayal of Clark Kent since the Max Fleischer's cartoons. The greatest American Hero was the best, but as you said it's a cheat. Mighty Isis was terrible, but she was so hot, my 7 year old mind worshiped her. Wonder Woman probably would be near the best again, counting heavily on sex appeal and sex appeal. The SPider-Man show was silly, but the portrayal by Nicholas Hammond of Peter Parker was dead on. We'll have to disagree on the Flash, I'm 35 so I saw it without sporting the woody you guys seemed to. Great suit, silly bad guys, 1st hour of the pilot was good, then the whole thing becomes pretty silly. The flash is always been a bad idea for translation to live action. Couldn't he beat anyone within a Milli-second? Wouldn't Capt Cold find himself in a cell with his cold gun in a uncomfortable place just second after he unsheathed it in a bank? Lois & Clark's character acting is far sillier than Smallville. What about the 1950's Zorro show from Disney? The Incredible Hulk and The Tick are fantastiv, even is the Tick broadcast only a handful of the produced shows.

forgive my grammatical errors, I'm a bit sick and grumpy Today. Cheers!

#1. The Incredible Hulk. Only drawback was it was formulaic. It was still exciting and emotional. This was the comic book TV show that should've saved comics from the ridicule of 1960's Batman and Robin.
#2. Superman. Before Christopher Reeves, George Reeve made you believe a man could fly. It's a legendary TV series and deservedly so. "Truth, Justice, and The American Way."
#3. Lois & Clark. This series showed the world that comic books are more than just *BAM* *BIFF* *POW* *ZAM* Comic characters are capable of drama, and humor and adult situations!
#4. The Tick. Costumed heroes can be sitcom fodder. The was wholly entertaining. Funny and fast paced, it was a riot to watch. Patrick Warburton was born for that role. Too bad it got canceled so quickly. Filthy Fox jerkfaces.
#5. The Flash. Great show with special effect matching it's era. Barry Allen is the Flash, great supporting cast. Double points for casting Mark Hamill as "The Trickster."

Wasn't there a Birds of Prey TV show? Anybody know if it was any good?

it wasn't. cute, cute ladies in it though.

I wouldnt have out the Adam West Batman show there... it think it did far more harm than good, to the idea of superheroes and SPECIALLY Batman.

After watching a SINGLE episode of that, it becomes really, REALLY hard to take Batman, and with him any of the Batman movies, seriously.

The Flash was cool, i remember watching it as a kid. I have fond memories of Spiderman too, but those are not clear at all, so i cant really say wether it was good or bad.

I think the list is quite alright, except for Adam West batman, and probably greatest american hero, that i never ever saw but dont like judging from the pic you showed :P

And yes, please do an animated series list. THERE we can see some cool stuff.

I totally high five'd justin back when he said heroes sucks.

guys, please tell me you didn't forget the original superman series!!! a total classic and it started it all!

If you're going to cheat and list a TV show that didn't originate from a comic, why not list a tv show adapted from a comic that never made it to television like Global Frequency? In this day and age, you can't discount the internet as a viable source of "television" entertainment. Just my two cents...

The list isnt bad per se....just that half the shows you guys mentioned are awful! Greatest American Hero? Batman? JLA? Flash?...Come on Alex I know you like to cuddle with your Flash books before bedtime but you cannot say with a straight face that you liked that show.

I would love to see an animated countdown too. Sure DC has killed with Batman, Superman, and JLC(U); but Marvel has dished out some kick ass stuff as well. Plus there's independents like Maxx or Spawn. So that should be a kick ass list when you do it.

HELLO WHAT ABOUT SWAMP THING, THE CROW, AND SUPERBOY THEY WERE AT LEAST WOTH MENTIONING. SINCE YOUR CHEATING ANYWAYS YOU MIGHT AS WELL PUT ROBOCOP IN THE LIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IF YOUR GONNA PUT CHEESTASTIC NOSTALGIA DON'T FORGET SHAZAM AND NIGHTMAN {REMEMBER MALIBU COMICS}

@ Rubato . Why in the hell would anyone base the perspective of any modern Batman story on the campy shows of the 60s? Those shows are meant to be fun and if you take them seriously.... commmon?! Seeing those reruns on "The Family Channel" growing up is what got me into comics believe it or not. It certainly didn't skew my view of Batman, it only made me hungry for more/better stories.
Smallville sucks
Heroes sucks

Teri Hatcher was ridiculously hot in those first couple seasons of Lois and Clark.

Smallville should have been number 1 or 2, not 10, what was that? Who are you guys to make such a horribly bad mistake like that? Come on, its a kick ass show and is better then the last 3 Superman movies!

But you MUST do an animated Series... just dont rule out X-Men: Evolution just because you will already have the 90's X-Men series in it at number 1 or 2, because Evolution series was AWESOME!

Okay best based on a comic book!

1 Batman Animated
2 The MAXX
3 Justice League (and Unlimited)
4 Spectacular Spider-Man (Best Spidey Ever, check it out! Some of the guys are from WB animated!)
5 The Adventures of Superman (got better and better, especially the Darksied Jack Kirby tribute and funeral)
6 Batman Beyond
7 X-Men Evolution
8 Teen Titans (started weird, got good)
9 The Tick
10 Challenge of the Super-Friends (cause it was the first really scary one, ok, when I was little it was scary)

Also DuckTales, they weren't super heroes, but they were based on those great Carl Barks comics.

I didn't mention the 90's Marvel cartoons because I was in college when they came out and they were terribly written and acted and incomparable to the WB animated shows that were being produced at the same time. Batman had great design, acting, pacing and storytelling, X-men, Iron Man, FF and Spider-man had the kitchen sink approach and wrote everything for a four year old. Only X-Men Evolution even tried to be interesting.

I remember being really excited about Smallville when it first aired. I started watching it my junior year in college during finals week. I still like the show, but I have to try harder nowadays to take the show and the stories as they're intended.

Anyone remember the Captain America show? He would cruise around on his motorcycle w/ the shield mounted to the handlebars... right in line w/ that spiderman show!!

Aw man, George Reeves' Superman is totally number one, you guys. And the 60s Batman show is my second pick. Looking forward to an animated list. :)

Fellas, I know you are youg-but how could you omit The Adventures of Superman with George Reeves-the granddaddy of live action superhero tv shows and in my view, the only one permanently embedded in American pop culture

-- Missing is that great withcblade series, and the totally underrated Blade series. It takes a bit to get into, but start watching a few episodes and you'll be pissed it got cancelled.

What most people seem to overlook when complaining about how the '60s Batman TV show "ruined" Batman is that the Batman comics of the time already featured a campy, smiling, friendly Batman in plots frequently featuring giant typewriters, ice machines, etc. The stories were toned down and "kiddified" in response to the backlash against violence in comics in the late '50s. In other words, if you think this version of Batman sucked, don't blame the TV show. The Batman portrayed in the show already existed for a number of years in print. If you watch the show with that in mind, it can actually be seen as a pretty faithful adaptation for its time.

I have to echo the sentiments of the other folks who mentioned the omission of the George Reeves Superman series. Looking at the series as a product of its time, like most of the series on your list, it’s a lot of fun. The first season or two are pretty straight and it does get a bit campy near the end of the run.

fuck the nerds. i like the lists. i am looking foward to the animated list. i have been on a bad justice league unlimited kick. btw i like trashman from the justice league roast the best.

Are you kidding !Smallville is the best on the list and The Tick sucked ass. The cartoon was much better. P.S. the JLA series you are talking about I think you used the wrong title and pic.

There are like 6 silly ass shows on that list that should be behind Smallville. Animated list would be cool. Maybe a top 15.

have you guys heard about the middle man series thats coming out. how do feel about that?

If they're talking about the live action version of the Justice Leage that I'm thinking of, I've actually got one of the episodes up on my site. If not, it's still worth checking out, cause it's just that ridiculous. Here's a link to it: http://asplashpage.blogspot.com/2008/04/i-dont-know.html

no george. reeves superman? are u kidding? also adventures. of superboy was better than 3/4 of your list. bad job boys!!

any list that does not include the original superman series is dismissed at hand!

I just have to ask, if the list is based on comic books that were turned into TV shows, and not shows that might have become comics, why are M.A.N.T.I.S. and GREATEST AMERICAN HERO even mentioned? To my knowledge, neither started as a comic. Also, why is BATMAN always heralded as so great? I do not get the thril with that show. Top 4 should have easily been #1 WONDER WOMAN, #2 THE FLASH, #3 THE INCREDIBLE HULK, #4 THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN. At least those shows were done with a seriousness about them at the time. THE TICK live action was also highly underrated, as are MUTANT X and NIGHTMAN. Leave out pilots or shows that made 2 episodes (the Justice League shows you combined). You could have done SOOOOO much better with this list.

i totally loved the 90's x-men, gambit is my all time favorite x-man, and wolverine, colossus and nightcrawler.