The Adventures of Superman (1950's TV Show)

[Lobo007]

Originally posted by Angels4BobSeger
I loved that old tv show with George Reeves.
A while back on Biography they had his life story on that. I recorded it on video. But now I can't find my copy. I always thought Reeves was so cool as Superman. One of my favorite
I Love Lucy tv shows is with him on that playing Superman.
That show was on last week on tvland. I really though liked
Noelle Noel playing Lois Lane better than Phillis Coates who played Lois first. I don't know why she left the show though.
Superman is my favorite superhero.

From what I heard, she was offered a leading role in another TV show. She was more, ah, gung-ho than Noel Neill was, IMO.

[Tv1boy]

Originally posted by knightofkrypton
I'm sure some of them are based on the comics, but probably few of them. Most of those episodes were Superman fighting "real crime" whereas the comics had super villians, and super powered stuff happening all the time.

I thought there was Metallo, or somewhat before he was introduced in the comics as Mr. McTavish in the episode "The Gentle Monster". I might be wrong though.

[Gangbuster]

Throughout the 1950s, the comics and the tv show were about the same.

Only 3 superheroes survived until the Silver Age: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman (because DC has to either publish a WW comic each month, or lose the character.) In the 50s the tv show and comics were fairly similar, because Weisenger was counting on the tv show to sell comics. After the end of the show, Superman's silver age began, and a lot more creative freedom was allowed.

As a side note, I'm not sure on whether I should buy the rest of the series or not. How are the color episodes?

[Antithesis]

I always liked them although it's been a while since I saw them either on Nick at Nite or TVland.

[Tv1boy]

Can someone tell me how Superman lost his memory in "Panic in the Sky"? I think it was because he was tired from defeating an asteroid and got unconscience on the floor of his bathroom. But possibly that wasn't it.

[KryptonianIdiot]

I've got Season 1 and i'm enjoying it so far.

[Billy Jor-El]

In "Panic In The Sky" it's assumed that the elements of the asteroid are what affected Superman, causing the memory loss. The scientist (the same actor who played one of the whackos in "The Evil Three") surmised that the cooling of the asteroid made its elements change, thus not posing the same threat to Superman when he regained enough of his memory to go back and try to destroy the asteroid with the scientist's bomb-thingy.

In today's special effects world the 50s show is dated, but George did such a great job as both Superman and Clark that I wish he was here today to know how much of a hero he still is to so many. While I'm not old enough to have seen those shows when they first ran, I've seen them countless times in rerun, and bought the first two seasons of DVD right away (yes, season one is a much more film noir/dark tone than anything else). The production schedule was quick, so a lot of scenes (especially of Superman taking off) were used and reused countless times. For a giggle, freeze frame the DVD and you can often see that it's a stunt man, not George in some scenes. George liked to do his own stunts, but not all of them.

Season 3/4 are coming out the same day as L&C season 3 (June 20th). I will be very interested to see the color George eps. I have some on faded VHS taped off TV. I want to see how clean they look!!?? (EDITOR IN CHIEF'S NOTE...it's now past the 20th and I have the season 3 and 4 DVD. While the eps look great, the intros seem to be identical, with scratches and specks all over them. Not sure why those look poor while the actual episode looks pretty clean...?)

For those unaware, yes, the producers toned down the show considerably, and by the color seasons it did become more of a kids' show, so don't expect the same dark action of the B&W eps. In the early stuff, Superman threatened crooks (even Clark did so), and hit them with full punches. In "The Stolen Costume" Superman places the crook couple in the arctic, and they end up falling to their deaths, possibly why that ep is not pristine on DVD...it is obviously a used broadcast print. It's believed that the unintentional causing of the couple's deaths made Superman a little overly heavy, and that master print seemed to have been taken out of circulation. Perhaps if it's ever found the DVD will be upgraded, but I'm happy to have it at all. Dang, it's a 55 year old show, we're lucky it's survived as well as it did!

As for Phyllis Coates leaving, I think it was because the 1st season was filmed a year or two before they ever aired, and by the time the second season was slated for production she was not available. Noel Neil played Lois in the Kirk Alyn serials of Supes, so she was the natural choice for Lois.

And y'all know...Noel is in Superman 1, the Chris Reeve movie (she's child Lois' mom on the train....and it's Kirk Alyn sitting across from her). Phyllis played Lois' mom in L&C. I'm really pleased that the history of Superman lives on the subsequent films and TV shows. (In one early L&C ep listen to them mention an address on "Bessolo Ave." - Bessolo was George Reeves' true last name).

I hear that Noel has a cameo in Superman Returns, too, and Jack plays a bartender.

Jack played old Jimmy Olsen in a L&C.

Ho hum, I just hope George's spirit knows his work is so well appreciated.

[Angels4BobSeger]

I always liked Noel better than Phyllis on the show anyway.
I thought she was a much better actress.

[Mr.White]

The Superman tv series of 1953 to 1957 started it all. To me the movies of the future and everything else wouldn't have happened if the tv series wasn't so well remembered and loved. No it didn't have the greatest special effects, and the villians of this version of Superman were not super villians at all(Here Lex Luthor,Superman's greatest nememis doesn't show up at all, not in one single episode!).



But still The Adventures Of Superman was a good and decent success with a fine cast led by a good fellow and actor in George Reeves. His fate is well known and if you read the book "Speeding Bullet" it relates to you more about George Reeves and his life and career. You shall be glad you did.



You might ask why did a tv series mostly done in black and white and without any super villians and with its' dated special effects from the 1950's be more of an success than let's say the Batman tv series that ran on a tv network(The Adventures Of Superman was syndicated) ,ABC, and was considered saving the Batman comic strip that many said was about to be cancelled until the tv series came to be?


The Adventures Of Superman treated Superman with respect. They didn't make him look like a fool. When one looks back at the series they noticed that George Reeves' Clark Kent was more of a regular person and not a bumbling meek mild mannered type of guy that Clark Kent is usually associated as being. The bumbling Clark Kent is seen in the later Superman movies with Christopher Reeve but not here. Consistent with that George Reeves' Superman is also portrayed in a decent manner. The show was lucky to have him as a lead actor.


By contrast the Batman tv series made Batman look like a fool. Both executive producer William Dozier and lead actor Adam West didn't take the character and his adventures seriously. They made a parody out of Batman. The real positive thing the 1960's Batman tv show does it has Neil Adams come in and revamp the character in the comics in 1968 and turns him into the Dark Knight that he was when he first started.TAOS enhanced the image of Superman. The Batman tv series is such an embrassment to Batman fans that it is not really that highly thought of or mentioned when people speak of Batman today. Heck the series is still not out on DVD yet and may not be for years to come!



I liked The Adventures Of Superman,the tv series. It is better than Lois and Clark ,The New Adventures Of Superman because it highlights the main character rather than obscure him. And that is the way it ought to be. When it comes to Superman,you have to make it that a man can really can fly.

[Billy Jor-El]

Hey, any fans of the 50s show wanna post errors/goofs they've seen? The show was made so quickly that things slipped by.

Last night I was watching "The Magic Secret" (a great kryptonite episode) and just before Superman leaves the hole in the ground, you can clearly see sweat on his uniform, yet when he emerges at ground level he is clean and dry. Super diapers?

In the ep where Supes goes to a South African diamond mine to borrow some stones, we see him walking away from the camera and there is no "S" on his cape. Yet in other scenes it reappears.

Another ep (might be "The Jolly Roger" I'm not sure) one of the other lead characters is called "Mr. Kent." I have to watch it again for clarification.

And of course to save money all the flying scenes (in color) from left to right on the TV screen are reversed. The "S" on Supe's chest is clearly backwards.

Anyone else wanna join in?

[Billy Jor-El]

Wow, no comments on the 50s show since my last comment over a year ago??? Maybe I can jump-start something. I was wondering if Tom Welling has watched any of George's TV shows????? I'm certain he'd seen Chris, especially with Dr. Swann being part of SV. I'd be interested to know what other Supes portrayals Tom has seen and his reactions to them.

Last night (after a few SV eps from DVD), I ran a couple of George's shows. I was amused in "The Deserted Village" where Lois (in this case Phyllis Coates) claims, "Clark Kent, the man who's afraid of a fly..." and yet George did nothing to portray Clark as a wuss. In fact he stood up to other characters and was a strong person throughout. I also wonder, can't remember off hand, if George was the one to choose to play Clark with a more macho attitude, as he is often a take-charge guy. Only when it gets really tough and he would have to fight or show himself just a little too much does he back off. George was great!!!

[jimmyolsenblues]

not alot of people have ever seen this show....

The story editor was Mort Weisinger.
I wonder if I could buy episodes on ebay.
Mort is my dad's older brother.

[Billy Jor-El]

I'm sure you could get it on eBay, the entire series is released on DVD. Probably some good prices on eBay, too.

In my own set I had a glitch on an ep in set#2. I wrote WB, and they were more than happy to replace it. There's 104 eps, I think, plus "Stamp Day for Superman" a promotional savings bond piece, plus some vintage Kellog's commercials (breakfast at the Kent table with Jimmy, maybe Perry, too, but definitely not Lois, I think they would have a tough time explaining why Lois was at Clark's apartment first thing in the morning ). There's also a western which featured George, kind of boring IMHO, but interesting to see. I do wish they had made a deal with Desilu and got to include "Lucy Meets Superman" from the "I Love Lucy" show....

[kanetaker5566]

This show came on nick at night when I was in the second grade. I taped every episode and who knows how many times I watched them over and over. I just thought of the part on the amnesia one when he smacks his hand and brakes the little table and all of sudden he knows who he is again that was great.

[kanetaker5566]

So superman is a murder ? I just watched season one episode 13 The stolen costume and at the end he takes them to the mountain top and just leaves them. Superman says he would of brought food and everything they need but he knew they would try to climb down and die. If they would of stayed put they still would of froze to death.