MovieChat Forums > The Champions (1968) Discussion > Their Superpowers

Their Superpowers

posted 18 years ago by richard.fuller1
10 replies | jump to latest

We have what? -- 26 episodes?

I gather their abilities as they progressed throughout the show increased, or did they eventually wane in creativity?

As someone's post noted, they seem to be a predecessor to the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman at times, but clearly they are venturing beyond Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers.

They reminded me of Daredevil at first with all the heightened senses.

So since we in the states must have about only thirteen episodes available for us to view, what were some of the later powers the Champions received that we won't be aware of, unless the show gets presented to us again sometime.

[–] a-carlton 17 years ago

I think their powers remained more or less the same (they never did learn to become invisable or fly) but they just seemed to be more fine-tuned and powerful, what sticks in my mind was that in one of the later episodes (The Happening?) Sharon manages to bring Richard back to life, remotely and just by pumping her own hands together to restart his heart. They didn't use this before and they didn't use it in any other episode but if this was real life - that would be one really useful superpower/skill to have.

[–] trog-oz 17 years ago

Great show but there is one thing that always niggled me. During the fight scenes they always managed to throw the villain across the room. They can also stand one side of a door and hear what is happening on the other side. Yet when they walk into a room, they were usually knocked out by the villain standing behind the door, with a single punch. I guess if they weren't knocked out, they wouldn't have gotten themselves into interesting situation to get out of.

[–] ACtheLegend 17 years ago

I guess if they weren't knocked out, they wouldn't have gotten themselves into interesting situation to get out of.

Exactly, but maybe they also have to be in a state of awareness to be able to protect themselves. If they're not expecting the attack, perhaps it just hits them like a normal person? They do seem to recover a little faster though.

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[–] Pegapus 17 years ago

Americans received 15 episodes--Britain had 30.

If you've seen the pilot, you find out that they really don't have "superpowers" but enhanced human senses (the monk and Richard in Tibet). The monk also tells Richard that they will develop their abilities as time goes on.

They each developed a form of telepathy with each other--because they were all endowed with the advanced senses, this ability worked mainly for them only. If you look at different episodes you will see that each of the three has slightly different abilities, which would go with each of them as unique individuals--for example, Sharon has an uncanny ability to see better in the dark, Richard has precognitive ability and Craig has super strength. They all have enhanced ability to deal with extreme weather conditions, fantastic recall, and a boost to their intellect.

Trivia: All of the episodes were filmed one after another, grouping episodes in similar locations at the same time to save production costs. This meant that when the series was sold to the network, there was an entire season ready to be broadcast. This also meant that the actors did not shoot sequencially, and things like weight gain (or loss) would show up randomly during the series. The actors joke that they never left the studios, not even for the title sequence in Geneva in front of the fountain. Like much of the episodes, blue screen was used for backgrounds.

[–] marioncrane 16 years ago

"Craig has super strength"

POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW:

I always thought Craig was indeed the strongest of the three, until I saw episode 30 (the last one and in my opinion the best one) - Autokill, in which Richard is brainwashed into thinking that Craig is his enemy and they physically fight each other. It is plain to see that they are evenly matched, as it takes both Craig AND Sharron to overpower Richard.

At the very end of the episode when Craig and Sharron are visiting the now recovering Richard, who has no memory of what he did, Richard asks the obviously bruised and cut Craig in all innocence "What have you done to yourself?" (Lol!) To which Craig replies "I had a lesson in equality" or something like that.

[–] Corner_House_guest 14 years ago

They didnt develop the superpower of acting ability........

[–] ShadeGrenade 11 years ago

And you, my friend, didn't develop the superpower of good taste.......:)

[–] Corner_House_guest 10 years ago

Shade grenade
We only had three channels when this was on. Only two on Sunday afternoons when this was shown when I was a kid c.1973, so taste doesnt come into it when its pouring with rain outside, ie across the UK.

[–] fiero-49251 9 years ago

Funny, out of the blue I thought about this episode todays! Sharon had to hold Richard by the hair and told Craig to hit him again to knock him out! This was a great show! They could very easily recast and start it back up IMO!

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[–] knight_sentinel 11 years ago

I always took it that they just had heightened senses and could augment their strength in stressful situations like some humans do everyday, I read an article several week ago about a girl lifting a car off her father after it fail on his leg while he was trying to repair the tire.

The Bionic man and Woman were given artificial limbs, the Champions were changed by altering their DNA as one stated I think she was able to get Richard's heart restarted by connecting with his brain telepathically since they didn't have telekinetic powers, if they had the old man who was watching climb the mountain and was the one who told him that his people had altered he and his colleagues the old man would have used such an ability himself.

Honestly Sharron must have already been gifted since the actor who portrayed her Alexandra Bastedo was only 22 or 23 when the series started and her character was suppose to be a medical doctor and have a degree in biology.

Minds that have withered into psychosis are far more terrifying than any character of fiction.