So you want to be a Superhero?

On Sunday night, idly flicking through channels in search of something low-maintenance and trashy, I stumbled upon pure TV gold. The SciFi channel is not my usual haunt but for this particular show I think I may have to make an exception.

It's the latest reality show to be exported from the glorious US of A, designed and hosted by Spiderman creator and comic book legend Stan Lee and titled - wait for it - So you want to be a Superhero?

Reality show? Superheroes? Surely there's a bit of a credibility gap here?

Well, yes and no. The show invites normal people like you and I (well, almost like us) to dress up as their own home-made superheroes and prove their heroism on international TV. Each week they face a Terrible Task, sometimes set by Stan Lee and sometimes by a wicked arch-villain (series 2 boasts the hooded Dr Dark as the Foe du Jour) to test their teamwork and separate Heroes from Zeroes. The series winner has their hero drawn in a special limited edition comic book by the master himself. What more could any wannabe world-saver ask for?

You might well ask what kind of person would enter this show. And yes, there are a few people to laugh at - I might draw your attention to Monkey Woman from series 1. But there are people to laugh with, too, like the delightfully ditzy Ms Limelight or camply spandex-clad Parthenon from series 2 (perhaps unsurprisingly, the show boasts a lot of spandex), and one or two people who you find yourself cheering for despite yourself. I'm thinking particularly of Fat Momma, the runner-up of series 1 and by all accounts a bit of a shock hit with the American public.

Hey, I can see you giggling into your sleeve back there. But let's be honest for a minute - who wouldn't want to be a superhero? (Or maybe a villain. I've always suspected that villainy might be a bit more me.)

So you want to be a Superhero?: Sunday night on SciFi. Be there, or it's Pow! and Blam! for you…