# Super President
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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_President
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{{Infobox television
| image = Super Preisent title card.jpg
| caption =
| camera =
| runtime = 30 minutes
| creator =
| developer =
| producer = [David H. DePatie](/source/David_H._DePatie)
[Friz Freleng](/source/Friz_Freleng)
| executive_producer =
| presenter =
| starring =
| voices = [Ted Cassidy](/source/Ted_Cassidy)
[Paul Frees](/source/Paul_Frees)
[June Foray](/source/June_Foray)
[Shepard Menken](/source/Shepard_Menken)
[Don Messick](/source/Don_Messick)
Lorri Scott
Mark Skor
| narrator = [Paul Frees](/source/Paul_Frees)
| theme_music_composer = Doug Goodwin
| open_theme =
| end_theme =
| country = United States
| location =
| language = English
| network = [NBC](/source/NBC)
| first_aired = {{start date|1967|09|16}}
| last_aired = {{end date|1968|12|28}}
| num_seasons = 1
| num_episodes = 30
| list_episodes =
| related =
| company = [DePatie–Freleng Enterprises](/source/DePatie%E2%80%93Freleng_Enterprises)
[Mirisch](/source/Mirisch_Company)-[Rich](/source/Lee_Rich) Television Productions
}}
'''''Super President''''' is an American [animated cartoon](/source/animated_cartoon) that aired Saturday mornings on [NBC](/source/NBC) from September 16, 1967, to December 28, 1968. The series was produced by the [DePatie–Freleng](/source/DePatie%E2%80%93Freleng_Enterprises) animation company.[{{cite book |last1=Woolery |first1=George W. |title=Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part 1: Animated Cartoon Series |date=1983 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=0-8108-1557-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/childrenstelevis0000wool/page/272/mode/2up |access-date=22 March 2020 |pages=273–274}}]
In the show, the [President of the United States](/source/President_of_the_United_States) has extraordinary superpowers, including increased strength and the ability to change his molecular composition, and uses them to protect the [Free World](/source/Free_World), as well as his hapless [Vice President](/source/Vice_President_of_the_United_States). The show was relentlessly criticized for its bad taste and low quality, and was cancelled after thirty episodes, midway through its second season.
==Plot==
The [President of the United States](/source/President_of_the_United_States), former [astronaut](/source/astronaut) James Norcross (voiced by [Paul Frees](/source/Paul_Frees)) is given superpowers as the result of a cosmic storm during a space mission. The future President gains increased strength and the [Metamorpho](/source/Metamorpho)-like ability to change his molecular composition at will to any form required (like [granite](/source/granite), [steel](/source/steel), [ozone](/source/ozone), [water](/source/water) and even [electricity](/source/electricity)). A hidden panel in the [Oval Office](/source/Oval_Office) allows him access to his secret base, a hidden cave beneath the "Presidential Mansion" (a somewhat modified [White House](/source/White_House)). Super President travels either by using a futuristic [automobile](/source/automobile)/[aircraft](/source/aircraft)/[submarine](/source/submarine) called the Omnicar, or by using jets built into his belt.
Despite the fact that the character's name is "Super President", for some reason only Norcross' chubby, [pipe](/source/smoking_pipe)-smoking [advisor](/source/Adviser) Jerry Sales knows that the leader of the [Free World](/source/Free_World) is also a red and white-costumed superhero in his off-hours.
A total of thirty episodes of ''Super President'' were produced. Two episodes appeared in each show. Each episode also included an episode of ''Spy Shadow'' starring [secret agent](/source/secret_agent) Richard Vance (voiced by [Ted Cassidy](/source/Ted_Cassidy)) who had learned in [Tibet](/source/Tibet) how to command his [shadow](/source/shadow) (also voiced by Ted Cassidy) to act independently of himself, an ability he put to good use as an Interspy operative battling a variety of villains, including the evil forces of S.P.I.D.E.R. ("Society for Plunder, International Disorder, Espionage and Racketeering"). Spy Shadow could slip through small openings and hide himself in another person's shadow, and was invulnerable to harm thanks to his insubstantial nature, but his fists remained decidedly solid. Spy Shadow's only weakness is the inability to appear in total darkness for "there can be no shadow without light".
==Episodes==
# The Great Vegetable Disintegrator
# The Billion Dollar Bomber
# The Electronic Spy
# Day of the Locusts
# The Case of the Destroyer Satellite
# King of the Sea
# The U.F.O. Mystery
# No Time Passes
# Man of Steel
# The Earth Robber
# Monster of the Atoll
# Return of the Vikings
# The Cosmic Gladiators
# The Condor's Eye
# The President and the Pirate
# Interplanetary Menace
# Red Ray Raider
# The Treachery of Jerry Sales
# Rangled Terrors
# Dound and Doom
# Spears from Space
# Toys of Death
# Birds of Terror
# The Menace of the Moles
# The Chameleon
# The Gravity Destroyer
# Ice Invader
# Electronic Giant
# Time Crimes
# A Million Years of Menace
==Production==
According to Art Leonardi, who prepared presentations for [DePatie–Freleng Enterprises](/source/DePatie%E2%80%93Freleng_Enterprises) having worked for founders [David H. DePatie](/source/David_H._DePatie) and [Friz Freleng](/source/Friz_Freleng) since their time at [Warner Bros. Cartoons](/source/Warner_Bros._Cartoons), stated the series came about during a "bull session" at DePatie–Freleng involving other Warner Bros. alums [John Dunn](/source/John_Dunn_(animator)) and [Michael Maltese](/source/Michael_Maltese) who threw out the idea of tapping into the popularity of [Presidents of the United States](/source/President_of_the_United_States) and mixing it with [superhero](/source/superhero) elements with the name ''Super President'' thrown out during the session which ended up sticking.[{{cite book|last=Arnold|first=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PJmeDwAAQBAJ&dq=DePatie%E2%80%93Freleng+%22Godzilla%22&pg=PT731|title=Think Pink: The Story of DePatie-Freleng|publisher=BearManor Media|year=2015 |isbn=978-1593931698|pages=498}}] [Robert McKimson](/source/Robert_McKimson) directed part of ''Super President'' as McKimson had worked under DePatie and Freland on [Daffy Duck](/source/Daffy_Duck) cartoons the two had made while at Warner Bros. Cartoons.[{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |access-date=March 26, 2026|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/498/mode/1up?q=%22Rubik%22|pages= 14,376,526}}] In the wake of rising concerns about [television violence](/source/Effects_of_violence_in_mass_media) following the [assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy](/source/Assassination_of_Robert_F._Kennedy) and [Martin Luther King Jr.](/source/Assassination_of_Martin_Luther_King_Jr.) as well as perceived tastelessness of portraying the [U.S. President](/source/President_of_the_United_States) as a nigh invincible [superhero](/source/superhero) just four years after the [assassination of John F. Kennedy](/source/assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy), NBC cancelled ''Super President'' along with other action-oriented cartoons like ''[Birdman and the Galaxy Trio](/source/Birdman_and_the_Galaxy_Trio)'' and ''[Samson & Goliath](/source/Samson_%26_Goliath)'' as part of a switch from harder edged action adventure series to lighter and tamer humor focused cartoons resulting in a writedown of $750,000 by NBC.[{{cite book|last1=Hollis|first1=Tim|title=Hi there, boys and girls! : America's local children's TV shows|date=2001|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|location=Jackson|isbn=1578063965|page=20}}] The [National Association of Broadcasters](/source/National_Association_of_Broadcasters) said: "An all-time low in bad taste, with the President of the United States in a [Superman](/source/Superman) role. NBC was responsible for this direct ideological approach to totalitarianism. We fear that there may be other broadcasters who are irresponsible enough to keep it in circulation".[{{cite book |last1=Erickson |first1=Hal |title=Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 |date=2005 |edition=2nd |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=978-1476665993 |pages=806–807}}]
In ''The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows'', David Perlmutter says that the show is "perhaps the worst animated program in the late 1960s (its producers admitted it themselves)" and calls the superhero president "arguably the most implausible superhero narrative idea ever invented".[{{cite book |last1=Perlmutter |first1=David |title=The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows |date=2018 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1538103739 |page=617}}]
[David H. DePatie](/source/David_H._DePatie) called ''Super President'' the worst project he had ever worked on and was thankful for its short run on [NBC](/source/NBC), but did take some small amusement from the [irony](/source/irony) of [Richard Nixon](/source/Richard_Nixon) being [elected President](/source/Presidency_of_Richard_Nixon) during the portrayal of the heroic James Norcross on ''Super President''.