I have recently been mulling my way through the first season of the original TV series The Adventures of Superman. While I have certainly been enjoying the show, I have come to the conclusion that this series was a piece of crap – at least by today’s standards. Yes, I know I am throwing rocks at an all-time classic and I agree that although it is campy, it is campiness at its finest, but I have to call them as I see them.
First of all Clark Kent and Superman were super smug, almost annoying at times. Lois Lane could be a demanding witch, Perry White was an ass, and Jimmy Olsen was blissfully stupid. Jimmy was the type of guy you would like to heartily slap on the back if he had an intense sunburn. And whoever heard of any local police department being so pursuaded by the local newspaper staff?
But here’s the clincher: Superman only battled humans in this show – and apparently ones that have never even heard of Kryptonite. He never faced a challenge. There was no problem overtaking the criminals who only tried to fistfight him… and he was never in jeopardy of his secret identity being exposed because no one could recognize him when he put his glasses on. Okay, so in one episode he got to fight a robot. Take a look at it and you’ll realize that you or I could have beat up this cheap piece of scrap metal just as easily as Superman.
After the debut episode in which Superman is sent from Krypton to Earth, the legend is all but completely ignored. No Kryptonite, no Lex Luthor, no Lana Lang, nothing. Just a guy in poorly sewn pajamas saving his lunkhead friends from one jam after another. I won’t even mention the same footage of Superman flying and descending that is used in every single episode.
This brings me to my final point. There are two types of film and TV buffs that I cannot see eye-to-eye with. The first and most obvious is the one that only watches modern day stuff and refuses to look at anything older than 1970, and would never even pause to give anything in black and white a chance. The other is the one that watches only the old classics and refuses to believe that Hollywood can produce anything worthy in the current age.
My argument here is for those that fall into the latter group. Take a look at the WB series Smallville sometime. This great show is everything that the original Adventures of Superman was not: riveting, interesting, character-driven, exciting, suspenseful, humorous, and enticing. After each episode, you can hardly wait for the next one. All of the elements of the Superman legend are woven in with several twists and turns as we watch Clark Kent develop into Superman. I am a fan of the Superman films with Christopher Reeve, but Smallville even puts those films to shame.
Every element of the Superman franchise has its place – from the comic books, radio shows, serials, and early TV shows to the cartoons, modern-day series, and blockbuster films. I’ll keep watching as long as they keep getting better and better like Smallville.
Leave a Reply