"Adventures of Superman" (1952) TV series 1952-1958

Writers:

Roy Chanslor (writer)
Jay Morton (contributing writer)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Release Date:

19 September 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Family | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!

Plot:

The Man of Steel fights crime with help from his friends at the Daily Planet.

Plot Keywords:

Reporter | Superhero | Lois Lane | Clark Kent | Cult TV

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

George Reeves	...	Clark Kent / ... (104 episodes, 1951-1958)
Bill Kennedy	...	Announcer / ... (104 episodes, 1951-1958)
Jack Larson	...	Jimmy Olsen / ... (102 episodes, 1952-1958)
John Hamilton	...	Perry White (102 episodes, 1952-1958)
Robert Shayne	...	Inspector Henderson / ... (90 episodes, 1952-1958)
Noel Neill	...	Lois Lane (78 episodes, 1953-1958)

Also Known As:

Superman (Australia)

Runtime:

30 min (104 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (1952-1954) | Color (1955-1958)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G (some episodes) | Australia:PG (some episodes) | Argentina:Atp | USA:TV-G

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Culver Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Motion Pictures for Television (MPTV)

Trivia:

John Hamilton, who played Perry White, had trouble remembering his lines. The solution was routinely to film him sitting at his desk, with the desk littered with papers - including the script, so that he could glance down to be prompted for his next line.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In some shots where Superman used the springboard to leap out of frame, the tip of the springboard would bounce back up and appear at the very bottom of the frame.

Quotes:

[to Lois Lane]
Clark Kent: This is a job for Superman... I mean, I've got to find him!

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Spaceman on Earth (2009)

One of the best from the early days of television

Growing up in the 1950's I was an avid collector of comics. One of my favorites was superhero Superman. The other was Plastic Man. For some reason few have heard of the original Plastic Man, but Superman is still very much with us and probably will be for some time to come. Before judging this series, one must remember that only televisions that showed black and white were on the market. There was no color. If an early television show was produced in color it was for other reasons, say possible release on the big screen. Some producers hoped to string two or three episodes of a popular television series together and distribute it to movie houses as one feature as was done with The Lone Ranger. Also, there were no big-screen TV's. Therefore special effects could be kept fairly primitive (and inexpensive) because the viewer wouldn't be seeing much anyway. The average TV screen was about 13". A person was uptown if he/she had a 17" screen.

There were Superman movies out at the time featuring other actors rather than "the real" Superman, George Reeves. The Superman TV shows were compact, well-written, and well-performed. For me Noel Neill will always be Lois Lane. Ditto for Jack Larson as Jimmy Olsen, John Hamilton as Perry White, Robert Shayne as Inspector Bill Henderson, and even though Christopher Reeves did a bang-up job as a later Superman, George Reeves will always be Superman for my generation.

Another reason I was so drawn to the Superman TV show was because a stunt man who was married to my cousin at the time appeared in one of the episodes. In the episode, "The Wedding of Superman" Doyle Brooks played Mr. Poole, one of the heavies. Brooks was born in the little hamlet of Bethesda, Arkansas, married my cousin and set out to become a movie star in Hollywood. He ended up a successful stuntman but did very little acting. His biggest success was playing the Ajax White Knight in a now famous television commercial.

Superman's may come and go but George Reeves will always be "the" Superman to all of us who were kids in the 1950's.