Superman Alum Teri Hatcher Reflects on “Breaking the Internet” With Lois Lane Photo

Long before comic books were inspiring billion-dollar TV shows and expansive TV universes, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman debuted on ABC in 1993 and became an overnight hit. Riding a wave of comic book mania kicked off in part by “The Death of Superman,” Lois & Clark ran for four seasons and 88 episodes, and helped make Teri Hatcher a household name. The star, who played Lois on the series, would go on to lead Desperate Housewives and star in movies like Coraline and Tomorrow Never Dies. But first, she became one of the first people to “break the internet,” with a provocative photo from Lois & Clark supposedly becoming the most-downloaded photo of all time for a while.

A promotional image of Hatcher, topless and wrapped in Superman’s cape, became one of the earliest defining images from the show (in spite of never actually being onscreen). During a  recent chat with The Guardian, Hatcher took questions from readers, and was asked to look back on the image’s early virality.

“I broke the internet when we still had dial-up,” Hatcher joked, but added, “I don’t credit myself with being so fabulous. I do remember the photoshoot, which was to promote the TV show. It took all day. I was wearing a white blouse and pencil skirt because Lois is a reporter from the Daily Planet, with the cape wrapped over. It wasn’t until the last take of the day that someone said: ‘Could we try the cape without the blouse?’ I thought: ‘What does that imply? Why would Lois Lane be naked under the cape?’ We only did it as a lark, but the result was evocative. Now I’m so much older, I still feel proud of it.”

In spite of whatever questions Hatcher had at the time, the shoot was so well-received that she later did another, steamier shoot which featured her in photos on a Superman-themed bed, its red blankets wrapped around her.

Lois & Clark ran from 1993 until 1997, and featured a number of high-profile guest stars, including The Jeffersons star Sherman Hemsley as the Toyman and Bobby’s World star Howie Mandel as Mr. Mxyzptlk. It was a hit outside of geek spaces, and a huge hit within, spawning spinoff novels and a trade paperback collection featuring various stories centering on Lois and Clark’s romance, with a promotional photo of Hatcher and co-star Dean Cain on the cover.