Original subtitles

[theme music playing]

[female DJ] Wake up, Metropolis!

Oh, yeah, the Livewire's

back on attack, folks.

The queen babe of all media, your mistress of the airwaves.

The one, the only, Leslie Willis.

Shouting out to you on WLXL, 95. 5 Alive.

Okay, now, people, listen up.

I know you've heard this before, but you're gonna hear it again.

[clears throat]

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am sick and tired of this Superman guy.

You hear me, Metropolis? Sick, sick, sick...

[imitates vomiting noises]

Of Superman.

I wake up this morning, and I'm in a fairly good mood.

But then I turn on the TV, and there he is

on every lousy channel. [groans]

I almost puked on my corn flakes.

And then, big surprise,

there he is again on the front page of the Daily Planet.

Hello? Hello?

Am I the only one who's physically ill from this town's pathetic devotion

to that phony flying boy scout?

Amen to that, sister. I hear you.

No one's that nice for free, people.

The Man of Steel is pulling the steel wool over your eyes.

Don't buy into that act of his.

Just say no to Superman.

Hmm. Looks like the natives are restless.

Line three, speak your tiny little mind.

[man] You're darn right I will, missy.

'Cause I don't appreciate your scurvy remarks about me pal Superman.

Ooh, get a load of this old fogy. What's the matter, gramps?

Not getting enough prunes?

Now, you listen to me, smart lady. I don't think--

No, you don't think, do you, dope?

This Superman is nothing more than the world's strongest con man.

How can you just sit there while she spews that trash about Superman?

That's what shock-jocks do, Lois. Create controversy, stir things up.

If she wants controversy, wait till I interview her.

Hi, Mr. Kent, Ms. Lane.

I'm Sid Melkin, Leslie's producer.

- She's set for your interview now. - Now?

We were supposed to interview her after the show.

Change of plans. Follow me.

Straight into the lion's den.

So let me ask you something, Lois.

I can call you Lois, can't I?

- Sure, but-- - What's the deal with you and Superman?

What are you talking about?

Come on, you're always getting exclusives with him.

Just how exclusive are you two?

[clears throat]

[Lois] It's not like that.

[Leslie] It's not, huh? I guess we'll never know

if his PJs have that big red S on them too.

Hey. Hey!

[man] Here it comes. Get out of the way!

[Leslie] Come on. Just between us girls.

[Lois] There's nothing to tell.

Something wrong, Mr. Kent? Am I boring you?

As a matter of fact, you are.

[Leslie] Ooh, don't go away mad, Clarkie.

Well, I guess some people can't handle their false idols getting knocked--

Listen, Willis, just what is your problem with Superman?

Problems, plural. First, he's never around when you need him.

[screaming]

Second, everything's just so darn easy for him.

[grunting]

Look.

My baby! My baby!

[laughing]

And third, all he cares about is himself.

[grunting]

[cheering]

[crowd chanting] Superman! Superman!

I think that sums it up.

We're almost out of time, but remember, tonight in Centennial Park

is my third anniversary celebration.

We're having a big blowout with guests and surprises, baby...

so be there, or else.

Do you really believe that garbage you say about Superman?

Or is it just a way to get ratings?

Look, baby. To make it in this town I had to be better, sharper,

and louder than any man to get half as much notice.

And nothing was handed to me on a silver platter either.

Unlike your friend, Superman.

- That's some attitude you have there. - Eh, pays the bills.

[thunder crashes]

Hmm. Looks like mother nature isn't one of your faithful fans.

She'll come around. Everybody else does.

[cheering]

I can't believe they're not calling off this fiasco.

I've seen street riots more orderly than this.

Well, maybe reason will prevail after all.

[police sirens wail]

Shut it down?

With all of Metropolis watching? Are you crazy?

But, Les, the police are saying it's too dangerous. The storm.

Listen, Sid, I worked my entire life for this moment,

and a little rain's not gonna stop me, you hear?

Hey, Metropolis. How's it going?

[man in crowd] Hey, who are those guys?

Seems we got a little problem, people.

The authorities want to shut the party down.

- No. - No way.

We're not gonna let that happen.

[booing]

- And the crowd turns ugly. - The crowd showed up ugly.

Are you gonna let them shut us down?

Are you gonna let them tell us what to do?

[crowd] No!

[man in crowd] No, no! We won't go!

Hey, look. The cops brought their monkey.

You have to stop this. Can't you see you're putting these people in danger?

Hey, everybody, Big Blue says you should go home and get some sleep.

What do you say to that, huh?

[booing]

See, Superman. I'm the ringmaster of this circus.

I tell these clowns what to do.

Not the papers and not some pumped-up freak of nature in a cape.

[screaming]

[groaning]

[screaming]

[grunts]

Huh?

[groaning]

Ooh.

[man in crowd] What happened?

Where's he taking her?

It was touch-and-go for a while, but the prognosis seems to be good.

- She'll be out of here in a few days. - What a relief.

[doctor] I can't explain her skin discoloration.

Then again, I can't explain why she's alive either.

- [reporter 1] There he is. - [reporter 2] Superman, over here.

- [reporter 3] How is she? - She's going to be okay.

How come you didn't push her out of the way?

- There wasn't time. - [reporter 4] You sure of that?

- What are you getting at? - She said some awful things about you.

Maybe this was your way of paying her back.

I did everything I could to save her. Everything.

Now, if you'll excuse me.

Excuse you? Look what you did to me.

If you think I made things hot for you before, just wait till I--

How the...

[laughing]

[alarm wailing]

Cool.

Don't come near me.

[screaming]

Oh, yeah.

This I like.

[groaning]

Sorry, kids, I can't play with you anymore.

I've got bigger fish to fry.

What's that?

Ah, Metropolis. My Metropolis.

If I can make it here,

I can make it anywhere.

[laughing]

- That's enough, Ms. Willis. - It's not Ms. Willis anymore.

Meet her replacement.

Livewire!

Neat, huh? I ionized the air around me.

Pretty formfitting, don't you think?

Come back to the hospital. They might be able to help you.

What do I need help for? I'm pure energy now.

And besides, I got enough help from you the other night.

[blows] So much for Mr. Goody Two-Boots.

Oh.

Lights out, super-jerk.

Hope you're not... [laughs] afraid of the dark.

- [man 1] What's going on? - [man 2] Hey, wait.

[man 3] I can't see anything at all.

Boy, this sure brings back the old days.

[Perry] When I was your age, we didn't have computers or fax machines or--

[Lois] Yeah, yeah.

And you walked 10 miles in your bare feet to work every day.

[electricity crackling]

Hello, Metropolis.

The tower of power is back, coming at you at about...

Oh, a gazillion megahertz.

[phone wails]

Now, you may have noticed that I restored some power to the city.

I've done this so that you, my adoring and helpless public

can gaze upon moi, your lovely queen of all media.

Actually, I pretty much am the media now,

seeing as I've taken complete control.

So... don't touch that dial, Metropolis.

[groans]

Because if you ever want your phone back,

your lights, your talk shows, your home shopping channels

and your stupid little lives,

then you're gonna have to deal with me.

Typical. Today the airwaves...

Tomorrow the world.

[Leslie] I'm telling you, people,

bad things are gonna happen if you don't get with the program.

It just doesn't make any sense.

We've lost all radio navigation and radar.

All we get is that woman.

Look out!

Whew.

So start making those checks payable to me, people.

Because from here on in, I'm the electric company,

I'm the phone company, I'm the cable company.

Whoa, don't worry, folks, I'll be back in a flash.

Hey, what's going on?

What's the matter, guys, never seen a girl before?

[laughing]

Okay, time for a late power lunch.

[Superman] Lunch is canceled.

Huh. It's you again. Tall, dark and stupid.

I figured you'd need to recharge yourself.

And what better place than a hydroelectric plant?

[grunts]

Now, if you hold still, I'll drain off some of that power of yours

until you're a bit more manageable.

Sorry, blue boy. But you can't stop me any more than you can stop the rain,

the wind...

Or lightning!

[grunts]

[groaning]

[laughing]

Come on, baby. Come to Mama.

As soon as I'm juiced, I'll finish you off, lickety-split.

[grunts]

Well, at least now we know you hit girls.

- We don't have to do this, Leslie. - I'm Livewire!

[grunting]

Ah!

[screaming]

[yells]

[screaming]

[man 1] Yeah, well, I thought Willis was a menace from day one.

I mean, good riddance to bad rubbish, that's what I say.

[man 2] I still wonder if Superman had anything to do with all this.

It's not like we can ask Leslie Willis.

[woman] I think it's real sweet of Mr. Luthor to pay for her care,

even if she was a maniac.

[man 3] To be honest, I'll kind of miss her not being on the air again.

She really knew how to shake things up, you know?

[theme music playing]