In the 1978 episode of 'Super-Friends' titled, 'Revenge On Gorilla City', viewers were introduced to "an incredible city of advanced super apes." Gorilla City was said located "deep within the jungle lowland of equatorial Africa, along the winding Congo River." The city was protected by an invisible force field. Gorilla City also sat "on top of huge deposits of gold." Grodd was hell-bent on conquering those "intellectual apes" and took control of Gorilla City.
However his coup d'état using a "sonic energy drill" and "gorilium-sulfide vapors" to make the population of Gorilla City run in terror from their own inner fear failed.
When the gorilla leader, Solovar, confronted Grodd at the royal palace, viewers were told, "Your evil escapades have been continuous, from your first attempt to take over Gorilla City, to you joining the Legion of Doom and threatening the human race. You are the only criminal gorilla in an otherwise peaceful society. That's why we banish you Grodd and why we will never allow you to return to the city that was once your home."
Later in the episode, Grodd learnt of Brainiac's new invention, a brain-wave amplifier which could control the mind of anyone. Grodd guffawed, "All I have to do is rewired it to work on gorillas and I can use it to take over Gorilla City once and for all. The defeat of Gorilla City will do far more than gratify me. Once we have mental control of the gorillas we can use their strength to help us take over the rest of the world."
On the outskirt of the gated dome, invisible to human eyes, Grodd outlined, "As we storm the central communications complex, we'll attach the brain-wave device to Gorilla City’s telepathic-communications system and control (the mind of) every gorilla within the dome. (Once) Gorilla City is ours, we'll soon have control of all Africa!”
Lex Luthor then laughed, "And then it will be a short step to world conquest. As soon as Toyman trained the gorilla troop, we'll be ready to launch our offensive (exposing the Super-Friends to a power neutralizer machine)."
Toyman boasted, "It won't be long before the continent (of Africa) is ours." Black Manta added, "Once Africa is ours it won't be long before the world falls under our crashing power." In the end, the Super-Friends prevailed in defeating the Legion of Doom after restoring their power and shut off the mind control to free the hypnotized gorillas and the Gorilla City from becoming enslaved.
Jeffrey Scott was the 'Super-Friends' story editor from 1977 through 1980. In an interview with Marc Tyler Nobleman in July 2011, Jeffrey Scott made known, "Joe (Ruby) and Ken (Spears) were creative producers on the show my first year and they came up with a lot of the story ideas. But from 1978 on, every idea was mine. I came from a very creative family. Not just my dad, but my grandfather, Moe, and my great uncles Curly and Shemp.
"In 1977 I wrote 37 episodes. The series consisted of half hours, eleven-, seven-, and three-minute episodes. I wrote most of them, but there were other writers as well. The show was such a big hit that in 1978 ABC ordered 32 more half-hours. To my knowledge, this was unprecedented. When the deal was made I told the producer I was going to write all 32 scripts. I edited everything, mine and other writers'.
"If 'Super-Friends' wasn't my favorite series it was certainly right up there at the top. What I loved most about it was that I could write in virtually any genre: sci-fi, western, crime, comedy, medieval, prehistoric, and on and on. I was really able to expand my creative horizons wherever I dreamed. Although I have to admit, working with Jim Henson on 'Muppet Babies' was the highlight of my career.
"Saturday morning cartoons were much tamer then. Ironically, we went into 'Super-Friends' with the mandate to turn the old 'Super-Friends' (Wendy and Marvin version) into a stronger more comic book format. Even though we did that it was still tame by today’s standards. I had writer’s hours, which means I got up around noon and wrote till midnight or after. Other than that I had no set routines.
"I was never the kind of writer who had to have things just so. I was known as the fastest writer in the business. The time it took varied a lot based on how quickly I wanted to get the script done. If I took my time it took me four days. If I wanted to write one quickly it took two days. I wrote several of them in one day (although those days sometimes ended at 3am). It should be noted that time has nothing to do with quality. The scripts I wrote in a day were usually the best ones."
"In 1977 I wrote 37 episodes. The series consisted of half hours, eleven-, seven-, and three-minute episodes. I wrote most of them, but there were other writers as well. The show was such a big hit that in 1978 ABC ordered 32 more half-hours. To my knowledge, this was unprecedented. When the deal was made I told the producer I was going to write all 32 scripts. I edited everything, mine and other writers'.
"If 'Super-Friends' wasn't my favorite series it was certainly right up there at the top. What I loved most about it was that I could write in virtually any genre: sci-fi, western, crime, comedy, medieval, prehistoric, and on and on. I was really able to expand my creative horizons wherever I dreamed. Although I have to admit, working with Jim Henson on 'Muppet Babies' was the highlight of my career.
"Saturday morning cartoons were much tamer then. Ironically, we went into 'Super-Friends' with the mandate to turn the old 'Super-Friends' (Wendy and Marvin version) into a stronger more comic book format. Even though we did that it was still tame by today’s standards. I had writer’s hours, which means I got up around noon and wrote till midnight or after. Other than that I had no set routines.
"I was never the kind of writer who had to have things just so. I was known as the fastest writer in the business. The time it took varied a lot based on how quickly I wanted to get the script done. If I took my time it took me four days. If I wanted to write one quickly it took two days. I wrote several of them in one day (although those days sometimes ended at 3am). It should be noted that time has nothing to do with quality. The scripts I wrote in a day were usually the best ones."
In separate interviews, Jeffrey Scott also mentioned, "I would say 'Super-Friends' was my first big break. ABC loved what I was writing and it opened the door to many other series and opportunities … I knew as a kid that I was going to be in the creative arts. I have developed the 'Jeffrey Scott' approach to writing characters. I first absorb all I can about the character and then I just write from the character's point of view ... so I love writing for Superman."
In one scene on 'Revenge On Gorilla City', the ruler of Gorilla City said, "My gorilla's telepathy tells me that Grodd is about to activate a device and control the minds of all inhabitants of Gorilla City. I've got to escape and get help." Using a teleportation machine, Solovar traveled to "on the opposite end of the earth at the Hall of Justice", where viewers were watching Apache Chief, Batman, Robin and Flash watching Superman at work in space.
"Holy meteor showers!" Robin remarked. "Superman and the others (Wonder Woman and Black Vulcan) sure have their hands full with that disaster in Galaxy 13!" Then Solovar appeared announcing, "My city is in great danger. The Legion of Doom has taken over the mind of every gorilla. Unless we can free them, I fear that Grodd would cause great destruction over the whole continent."
Apache Chief, who possessed Indian tracking ability, did not hesitate, "We better get to Africa." In another scene, Batman contacted Superman to inform, "Black Manta and Toyman are conquering Africa." As Superman advised they would return back to earth to help the "simian citizens of Gorilla City", Wonder Woman suggested, "Green Lantern and the others (Aquaman, Samurai and Hawkman) can take care of Galaxy 13.”
"Holy meteor showers!" Robin remarked. "Superman and the others (Wonder Woman and Black Vulcan) sure have their hands full with that disaster in Galaxy 13!" Then Solovar appeared announcing, "My city is in great danger. The Legion of Doom has taken over the mind of every gorilla. Unless we can free them, I fear that Grodd would cause great destruction over the whole continent."
Apache Chief, who possessed Indian tracking ability, did not hesitate, "We better get to Africa." In another scene, Batman contacted Superman to inform, "Black Manta and Toyman are conquering Africa." As Superman advised they would return back to earth to help the "simian citizens of Gorilla City", Wonder Woman suggested, "Green Lantern and the others (Aquaman, Samurai and Hawkman) can take care of Galaxy 13.”
