Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Challenge of the Super Friends: "Revenge of Gorilla City" (November 4, 1978)

In “Revenge of Gorilla City,” an episode of Challenge of the Super Friends (1977), Grod convinces his allies in the Legion of Doom that they must take over peace-loving Gorilla City. Long ago, he was banished from the peaceful metropolis.

Now, Brainiac has developed a mind amplification device that allows the Legion of Doom to enslave the city-dwellers.  Only the city’s King, Solivar, escapes this brain-washing, and manages to warn the Super Friends of the danger. Unfortunately, Superman is far away, in Galaxy 13, pulverizing asteroids.

Rescuing the city of intelligent simians is more difficult than it might seem, too, because Toy Man has created a Kryptonite toy airplane that can immobilize the Man of Steel.

“Holy Gorilla Warfare!” Robin exclaims in “Revenge of Gorilla City,” a story that blends a Planet of the Apes (1968)-style civilization with a superhero story. 

Grod -- the only criminal in the history of Gorilla City -- takes out his revenge on his people, and the episode’s big set-piece is a “royal hunt” of the Super Friends by the mesmerized apes and the Legion of Doom. So, think Taylor, Landon and Dodge under attack, but throw in the DC characters for good measure.

We learn much background about Grod and his civilization in this episode. Gorilla City is hidden under a dome of invisibility, near Bogota, and rests on huge deposits of gold. The Super Friends and the Legion of Doom know about its existence, and apparently Grod has been frothing at the mouth to return there and wreak his vengeance. King Solivar is a noble leader.

Here, everybody drives to the city in moon buggy-type vehicles, and the Legion of the Doom invention of the week is the brain wave amplifier by which Brainiac can establish mental control over the city's denizens.

This week, Wonder Woman is the hero who wears a helmet in space, but no space suit (last week it was Batman), and it’s confusing why she even bothers. Clearly, the writers of the episode understood that some protection is required in space, but didn’t want to give her a space suit, apparently.

Lastly, the Super Friends state a variation on the line that is repeated every week on Challenge of the Super Friends: “Not if we can help it!”

Next Week: “Swamp of the Living Dead.”