Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

brabryant I'm 65 and remember the Superman t.v. series and George Reeves' deathwhen I was only 10 years old. Great write up about the series' place inhistory and the characters who put it there! Thanks!I'm 65 and remember the Superman t.v. series and George Reeves' deathwhen I was only 10 years old. Great write up about the series' place inhistory and the characters who put it there! Thanks! I'm 65 and remember the Superman t.v. series and George Reeves' deathwhen I was only 10 years old. Great write up about the series' place inhistory and the characters who put it there! Thanks! I'm 65 and remember the Superman t.v. series and George Reeves' deathwhen I was only 10 years old. Great write up about the series' place inhistory and the characters who put it there! Thanks!

flapdoodle64 'The Adventures of Superman' (TAS) was made under difficult circumstances: almost no time, almost no money, and no CGI. Yet three things make TAS a timeless classic: 1) The recurring cast members were all superb, especially George Reeves as Superman. Reeves played the part with just the right combination of intelligence, righteousness, manliness, and, when necessary, gentleness. A WWII vet and former boxer, Reeves had a physical presence that implied strength and power. Reeves never played Clark Kent as a sissy or klutz, and within the framework of the show this approach worked well. Reeves is to Superman as Errol Flynn is to Robin Hood, as Sean Connery is to 007. 2) Tight, disciplined stories. Every episode has some kind of hook early on, and each one has some element of suspense to keep you involved. 3) Good to excellent directing and cinematography. Every episode is at least competently done, and some work marvelously. There is a widespread concensus among fans that the 1st two seasons of TAS are the best, due to their being less whimsical than the remaining 4 seasons, and due to their being shot in crisp black and white, which lends a film noir aspect, making these shows seem somehow more realistic than the color episodes. There is considerable debate as to whether the 1st season or the 2nd season is actually the best. In season 1, Lois Lane was played by Phyllis Coates, a good actress who somehow got stuck doing exclusively B movies. Her Lois is a little edgier and tougher than then Noel Niell, who played Lois in the rest of the 6 seasons, as well as playing Lois in the 2 Columbia pictures movie serials. Fans who prefer Phyllis Coates' Lois will give an edge to Season 1. A deeper difference is that Season 1's stories are a little more hard-boiled, with more guns being fired and more people getting shot and/or killed. The decision to tone-down the violence probably had something to do with the fact that the Kelloggs cereal company had assumed sponsorship of the program, and due to the Senator Estes Kefauver crusade against violence in comic books. Violence is a major element in the best Season 1 episode, 'The Stolen Costume.' This episode also provides the most ambivalent portrayal of Superman in the entire series. 'The Stolen Costume' is one of the two greatest episodes in the whole series, the other being 'Panic in the Sky' from Season 2. Many episodes in Season 1 and Season 2 are almost as great. Even the weakest episodes of TAS are infinitely better than the 2006 film 'Superman Returns,' which cost all the money in the world and took 3 fricken years to make. While many fans give the edge to Season 1, I have a slight preference to Season 2, although I've no complaints with Season 1. Season 2 still had the occasional death (of a villain, mind you, and never by Superman's hand!) but also introduced more science fictional elements and stories began to explore the question of Superman's invulnerability. In at least 3 episodes of Season 2, Superman is in some way weakened, injured, or otherwise taken out of action as a major plot point. Also of note, Season 2 features the TV debut of Noel Niell as Lois Lane. Ms. Niell's portrayal of Lois is softer than Phyllis Coates', and perhaps somewhat more stereotypically female. Many fans of the show debate the 2 Lois' merits, but I will not, finding many appealing qualities to them both. Moreover, to think of them reminds of how woefully inadequate Kate Bosworth was in 'Superman Returns.'Seasons 3-6 were filmed in color, and the current DVD collections have good prints of them. They are not quite as good as the first 2 seasons, but still tightly plotted and the cast never lets you down. There are, to be sure, many light-hearted or silly episodes. But seeing them now, I appreciate them more than I did as a kid. Bottom Line: Seasons 3-6 are still worth your while, and still stand head and shoulders above 'Superman Returns.'

MARIO GAUCI I had caught a few episodes of this popular show on Italian TV as a kid and, therefore, leapt at the chance of watching this seminal first series via Warners' R2 DVD. It's naïve (Clark Kent needing to go into an alley - which happens to be the same one, no matter where he happens to be at the time! - to turn into Superman, his coming through windows feet first, and the exact same flying sequences duplicated from one episode to the next) but undeniably great fun.During the course of the series, we get some intriguing borderline horror/sci-fi ideas - while black-and-white allowed for plenty of low-budget (and often studio-bound) atmosphere; apparently, the following series jettisoned the relative violence of the first (several violent deaths occur throughout and, amazingly, Superman himself isn't above 'killing' two blackmailers who accidentally uncovered his identity, or manipulate a villain into an ambush meant for him!) and the show was gradually turned into pure kiddie fare! Thankfully, here, Clark Kent isn't the klutz depicted in both the Max Fleischer animated series of the 1940s (which I rented on DVD to go along with this set) and the Christopher Reeve films of the 1970s and 80s - with Clark and Lois Lane's banter being reminiscent, at times, of screwball comedies.Unfortunately, however, the special effects are extremely dated and Superman is very rarely called upon to showcase his extraordinary powers - most often, he just beats the villains up like any normal person would! Still, Reeves is a credible no-nonsense Superman, Phyllis Coates an attractive and tough Lois Lane, Jack Larson a geeky but likable Jimmy Olsen and John Hamilton an amusingly irascible Perry White. Supporting casts featured a few character actors familiar from Hollywood films of the time, who were often allowed to let rip with the villainy (especially in episodes such as THE EVIL THREE and MYSTERY IN WAX).The last entry proper, CRIME WAVE, was basically a summation of the entire first series: Superman cleans up town from the underworld scourge in a number of rapid-fire montages culled from the highlights of several of the earlier episodes. THE UNKNOWN PEOPLE PARTS I & II, which officially closed the first season, are actually a two-part TV reduction of the 1951 film SUPERMAN AND THE MOLE MEN (which, basically, had served as a pilot for the series)! The Audio Commentaries are, obviously, fan-boyish tracks by an expert on the subject who, at least, doesn't refrain from giving away technical blunders or illogical plot developments.

John T. Ryan Well now, Itis with great pride to be able to tell the world that it was over Channel 7, the ABC affiliate here in Chicago, that the ADVENTURES of SUPERMAN was first aired. Although it would be a lie to say that our household was viewing for what was unceremonious 'World Premier', we were viewers a short time thereafter.It must be understood that this was much more than just another filmed television series. It was a catalyst to a whole other imaginary world. It opened our imagination to this other level of noble heroes doing super feats for the greater good of mankind.There were 5 of us Ryan kids in our household and save for our older sister, the Late Joanne Ryan (1942-1990), none of us had any experience with Superman. Joanne had read some of the comic books (though never a regular reader) and was old enough to have followed the SUPERMAN Radio Progran over the Mutual Radio Network. The rest of us-one sister and three brothers-all got our original Super-contact with the television episodes.* And what a great relationship it was. Although we all knew we were watching a filmed, fictional story, just as we knew that HOWDY DOODY was make believe, puppetry & scenery, the Superman series provided something that was, and still is, much more.Using our ability to own copies of the whole series, we can view and compare episode to episode, even season to season. If we were to rely on our memories, we would probably come out with a sort of somewhat blurred montage of overlapping shows and plots, all equaling an overview of our imaginations.When viewed today in a relatively short span of time, we can readily see the differences between episodes of different seasons. We can say that one of the obvious changes to take place is the incidental music, or the musical ques that set the mood, underline the action. There is a steady evolution of themes, quite different from season to season.** There was seemingly a whole different set of themes for each succeeding year. But that would only constitute a most obvious and superficial set of differences.Most people will tell you that they prefer the first two seasons, this writer would concur, making the second season my personal favourite. But recently, my admittedly slow moving gray matter came up with this observation and hypothesis.Okay, we'll concede that seasons one and two are better made, have a lot more outdoor scenes and generally aimed at the whole family, and not just the juvenile trade. Season one in particular seems to be much more violent, with more killings, more sinister occurrences, and an almost Film Noir tone to much of the out put. Even Superman's behaviour is less restrained as he really throws punches, where in later episodes/seasons, a little tap would do.*** But one great difference, which we couldn't have noticed by hardly any body viewing the episodes in the one at a time, season after season. That is although seasons 1 & 2 are, generally better stories,made in a more overall family friendly, yet in such a manner as to invite viewing by all, not just the kiddies.The 3rd and successive seasons saw some cutbacks in budgetary matters and some of the stories,while no more or less fantastic, were filmed in less different sets and with less outdoor scenes. Even so, they have a certain friendly feeling to them. This is so because, in the opinion of this writer, of a collective build-up of strong feelings for the characters of the series.We boys all had recognized a deep seeded attraction for Lois (both of 'em!),just as the girls recognized Kent/Superman as a true gentleman, a latter day Sir Galahad. (more about Reeves later). We found that John Hamilton's characterization of Perry White as short tempered, blustery and so autocratic-whereas underneath it all, we knew Perry was a sweet tempered, old softie.I guess, in short what it all comes down to the following premise. Whereas the 1st and 2nd seasons were a little more expensive budgetary, the subsequent seasons portrayed more empathy to and from the audience, mainly because of the depth of characterizations, built over the whole life of the series.That certainly goes especially for Mr. Reeves, whose character was at once good, strong, decent, intelligent and kind to the nth degree. I guess that is why we all had that numb, hurt and empty feeling on that fateful day of June 16, 1959.* At this time we did have comic books in the house, but no super hero types. They were generally the likes of DENNIS THE MENACE, LITTLE LULU and like all good little Catholic School Kids, TREASURE CHEST (remember?)!** The music varied quite a bit from season to season. Of course other than the heroic opening/closing theme, the incidental music changed drastically over the years. This was subject of a detailed, well documented article in one of those comic journal type magazines several years ago.*** It seemed that there weren't too many restrictions put on the Man of Steel in the first season. He really threw some hard punches at so many of those thugs! There were quite a few brutal killings (not by Superman) In what would be a completely unacceptable and totally politically incorrect moves, in the episode THE MISSING COSTUME, Superman kidnaps Gangster (Dan Seymour) and his Moll (Veda Ann Borg), confining up at the top of a snowy mountain because they've discovered his identity as Clark Kent!