Justice League: Season Five

Title: Justice League Unlimited: Season Three
Year: 2005-2006
Network: Cartoon Network
Creator: Bruce W. Timm & Paul Dini
Directors: Joaquim Dos Santos (7 episodes), Dan Riba (6)
Writers: Dwayne McDuffie (6 episodes), Matt Wayne (6), J.M. DeMatteis (2), Paul Dini (1), Geoff Johns (1)
Starring: Kevin Conroy, Maria Canals-Barrera, Susan Eisenberg, Phil LaMarr, Carl Lumbly, George Newbern, Michael Rosenbaum
Music: Lolita Ritmanis, Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion
Episodes: 13, at c. 20 minutes
Synopsis: The Justice League vs. The Legion of Doom
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), over the past few days
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for cinematography and music) c. 2.8/4 (Good).

Lots of fun, but not as good as the previous "Unlimited" seasons. The focus is mostly on the villains, which wouldn't be so bad except that Lex Luthor is the only serious villain that's interesting this season. Meanwhile, most of the best heroes, like Batman, have smaller roles than guest characters.

Note: There seems to be some confusion over what makes up a season of this show. The DVD set for what I'm calling JLU season three is labeled "season two," while the set of JLU seasons one and two is labelled "season one." And seasons 1-3 of JLU are simultaneously seasons 3-5 of JL. What?

Justice League: Seasons Three & Four

Title: Justice League Unlimited: Seasons One & Two
Year: 2004-2005
Network: Cartoon Network
Creator: Bruce W. Timm & Paul Dini
Directors: Joaquim Dos Santos (13 episodes), Dan Riba (13)
Writers: Dwayne McDuffie (11 episodes), J.M. DeMatteis (5), Robert Goodman (4), Stan Berkowitz (1), Henry Gilroy (1), Paul Dini (1), Andrew Kreisberg (1), Warren Ellis (1), Jim Steranko (1), Darwyn Cooke (1), Gail Simone (1), Bruce Timm (1)
Starring: Kevin Conroy, Maria Canals-Barrera, Susan Eisenberg, Phil LaMarr, Carl Lumbly, George Newbern, Michael Rosenbaum
Music: Lolita Ritmanis, Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion
Episodes: 26 (13 per season), at c. 20 minutes
Synopsis: the Justice League grows powerful enough to frighten the government
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), March 2009
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for cinematography and music) c. 3.1/4 3.2/4 (Very good).

Why weren't there cartoons like this when I was a kid? This stuff stands up to the best comic book movies.

Justice League: Season Two

Title: Justice League: Season Two
Year: 2003-2004
Network: Cartoon Network
Creator: Bruce W. Timm & Paul Dini
Directors: Butch Lukic (15 episodes), Dan Riba (13)
Writers: Stan Berkowitz (10 episodes), Dwayne McDuffie (9), Rich Fogel (5), Bruce Timm (2), Keith Damron (2), Joseph Kuhr (2), Paul Dini (1)
Starring: Kevin Conroy, Maria Canals-Barrera, Susan Eisenberg, Phil LaMarr, Carl Lumbly, George Newbern, Michael Rosenbaum
Music: Lolita Ritmanis, Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion
Episodes: 26, at c. 20 minutes
Synopsis: seven superheros save the world every week
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), November 2008
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for cinematography, acting and music) c. 2.9/4 (Good).

So very much better than season 1. It's hard to believe they're the same show.

Justice League: Season One

Title: Justice League: Season One
Year: 2001-2002
Network: Cartoon Network
Creator: Bruce W. Timm & Paul Dini
Directors: Dan Riba (16 episodes), Butch Lukic (16)
Writers: Stan Berkowitz (11 episodes), Rich Fogel (3), Kevin Hopps (2), Joseph Kuhr (2), Dwayne McDuffie (2), Andrew Kreisberg (2), Keith Damron (2), Len Uhley (2)
Starring: Kevin Conroy, Maria Canals-Barrera, Susan Eisenberg, Phil LaMarr, Carl Lumbly, George Newbern, Michael Rosenbaum
Music: Lolita Ritmanis, Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion
Episodes: 26, at c. 20 minutes
Synopsis: seven superheros save the world every week
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), August 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 5/10 (points off for story, dialog, cinematography, special effects/design and music) c. 2.1/4 (Okay).

The handful of great episodes could get a 9 or 10 out of 10. Other episodes are barely watchable. It's a shame that a show that went on to be great in later seasons started out so very mediocre.