Lois & Clark – The Rival

• Title: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman – The Rival
• wiki: link

With a new Superman now out on Blu-ray and DVD every now and then I’ll continue to take a look back at the hero’s more memorable moments on both the big and small screen. Beginning with a goofy pre-credit sequence of Clark (Dean Cain) playing a game of one-on-one with Bo Jackson (playing himself), “The Rival” is all about competition involving The Metropolis Star’s meteoric rise to the new #1 newspaper in the town and whose star reporter just happens to be Lois‘ (Teri Hatcher) old college rival Linda King (Nancy Everhard) who has eyes for Clark.

Linda’s obvious attraction for Clark and the news that her rival’s reporting could help sink the Daily Planet, pushes Lois over the edge – especially when Clark jumps ship to join Linda King as a reporter for The Metropolis Star (while secretly still working for the planet). Playing on the same themes of Tomorrow Never Dies (which wouldn’t come out for another three years), “The Rival” features a news editor (Dean Stockwell) making his own news in order to control what people read and think (while making a tidy profit at the same time). By creating a series of front page stories and making sure his reporters are always the first on scene, The Metropolis Star continually beats out the Planet on every big scoop.

Eventually Clark puts the pieces together and he and Lois (who uncovers the subterfuge of Clark’s new job) confront Linda who agrees to help The Daily Planet take down the Citizen Kane-obsessed publisher and prevent the latest crime he had planned – the assassination of Secretary Wallace (Kevin Cooney). By the end of the episode Linda says farewell, The Daily Planet is back again on top. and things (at least for Metropolis) can get back to normal.