BEAM ME UP KAL-EL: Fave TV series : Superman Starring George Reeves

G'day,
Thought Id do a series about favourite super /sci fi shows I dig ( apart from Dr Who and Star trek which ive done heaps about)...so I thought i'd start off with probably the first hero I can remember seeing after I got home from school, The man of Steel...Superman starring George Reeves

The show's first two seasons (episodes 1–52, 26 titles per season) were filmed in black-and-white; seasons three through six (episodes 53–104, 13 titles per season) were filmed in color but originally telecast in black and white. ....

Its opening theme is known as The Superman March.

George Reeves played Clark Kent/Superman, with Jack Larson as Jimmy Olsen, John Hamilton as Perry White, and Robert Shayne as Inspector Henderson. Phyllis Coates played Lois Lane in the first season, with Noel Neill stepping into the role in the second (1953) and later seasons.

Phyllis Coates, like George Reeves, was a popular lead in B features of the period. For the TV series, Reeves asked that Coates receive equal star billing. Coates created a sharper more strong-willed Lois Lane, an enterprising reporter who tries to out-scoop Clark Kent. Jack Larson's Jimmy Olsen is a Daily Planet intern, often investigating some wrongdoing and usually being caught by the villains

When it came time to reassemble the cast and crew for filming the second season, Phyllis Coates was no longer available, having committed herself to another project. The producers then hired Noel Neill , who worked alongside Kirk Alyn in the Superman Serials, and gave her secondary billing with Larson, Hamilton, and Shayne.

With the beginning of the color seasons, the show began to take on the feeling, of the Superman comic books of the 1950s. The villains were often caricatured,

Violence on the show was toned all the way down . The only gunfire that occurred was aimed at Superman, Superman was less likely to engage in fisticuffs with the villains. On occasions when Superman did use physical force, he would take crooks out in a single karate-style chop or, if he happened to have two criminals in hand, banging their heads together. More often than not, the villains were likely to knock themselves out fleeing Superman,

Superman flying on the show, look a bit dodgy nowadays BUT the "flying" effects on Adventures of Superman were advanced for the period, although during season one it was apparent that, for distance flight shots, Superman was lying on a flat surface, his torso and thighs noticeably flattened between elbows and knees. Beginning with season two, Superman's "flying" involved three phases: take-off, flight, and landing. Cables and wires were used for Superman’s take-offs early in filming. In early episodes, stuntmen sometimes replaced Reeves for Superman’s wire-assisted take-offs.

When Reeves almost concussed himself in the episode "Ghost Wolf" after the supporting wires snapped and he fell to the studio floor, cables and wires were discarded and a springboard was brought in, designed by Thol "Si" Simonson, who remained with the series until its end. Reeves would run into frame and hit the out-of-frame springboard, which would boost him out of frame (sometimes over the camera) and onto padding.

THE CAST

George Reeves (January 5, 1914 – June 16, 1959) was an American actor. He is best known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television program Adventures of Superman...BUT he did appear in Gone with the Wind as well

His death at age 45 from a gunshot remains a polarizing topic; the official finding was suicide, but some believe that he was murdered or the victim of an accidental shooting

Phyllis Coates born Gypsie Ann Evarts Stell; January 15, 1927 is best known for her portrayal of reporter Lois Lane in the 1951 film Superman and the Mole Men and in the first season of the television series Adventures of Superman

Noel Darleen Neill (November 25, 1920 – July 3, 2016) was an American actress. She played Lois Lane in the film serials Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), as well as the 1950s television series Adventures of Superman.

Following high school graduation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Neill took up professional acting and modelling in the early 1940s before landing the role of Lois Lane. She later appeared in various productions of the Superman franchise. Frequently cast as the parent or other relative of a main character, Neill appeared in the 1978 Superman feature film, the 1980s TV series Superboy, the 1990s Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman; and the 2006 film Superman Returns.

Jack Edward Larson (February 8, 1928 – September 20, 2015) was an American actor, librettist, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of photographer/cub reporter Jimmy Olsen on the television series Adventures of Superman.

John Hamilton (January 16, 1887 – October 15, 1958) was an American actor, who played in many movies and television programs. He is probably remembered best for his role as the blustery newspaper editor Perry White

Robert Shayne (October 4, 1900 – November 29, 1992), born Robert Shaen Dawe, was an American actor whose career lasted for over 60 years.

Fave recurring eccentrics

Professor Pepperwinkle is an elderly, absent-minded inventor whose gadgets cause Superman much trouble and concern in five episodes during the last three color seasons.

Professor Oscar Quinn is an eccentric inventor making two appearances in the second season. Sterling Holloway, played a similar character, Professor Twiddle, in the third-season episode, "Through the Time Barrier".

Fave Episodes