Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Superman Related Adventures of Superman Show (Spoilers)

I finally got this from Netflix today At first I thought the show on Netflix had been cursed (yes, I'm using that word on purpose). It was available, then not available, and then available but never in stock. Finally, after a year(s) of trying to get it, I called and complained that they needed to buy more copies of it (only way to get what you want from Netflix). I got my first disc last Friday and it was CRACKED! The curse is broken (I just jinxed myself, didn't I?)

Anyway, I'd love to discuss the show with anyone else who has made it past the curse to actually see it.

Hi Virginia,

I saw the entire series, compliments of Netflix, perhaps a year ago. I, too, enjoyed it.

The first season was designed to appeal to the entire family, but some of the shows are, IMHO, a bit too intense for very young children. (E2 being one example.) As the series wore on, the target audience seemed to switch to children; the show was still enjoyable, but it was more comic-booky (to coin a word).

The episodes often ended with Clark breaking the fourth wall by winking at the camera while saying something that the audience, but not the other characters, would fully understand.

I'd say that George Reeves' Clark Kent ties for second place with that of Bud Collyer (who voice him on radio). (Dean, of course, gets first place. I detested Christopher Reeve's Clark Kent, although his Superman is my favourite. He brought an alienness to the character that no other actor did. Part of it, I am sure, was the writing, but part was the acting.)

Anyway, you have some fun TV viewing ahead. Enjoy.

Joy,
Lynn

I have the whole series on DVD. I think it's probably closer to "Lois and Clark" than any other version of Superman out there, so that might be why I like it so much.

I thought she did a great job as Lois, too. There are a couple of good scenes of her coming up, but I won't say any more because I don't want to spoil it for you.

There are quite a few episodes where Jimmy gets a lot of screentime. He was quite popular when the show was airing. Fortunately, though, there are plenty of episodes where Lois gets more screentime than him.

He was definitely a really good Clark Kent/Superman. His portrayal was probably closer to Dean Cain's portrayal than anybody else that played Superman.

Tonight we watched episodes 3 & 4. My daughter tried to convince her friend to stay and watch, telling her how much she liked it. Going on about the "Haunted Lighthouse". The friend said, "If I don't ever watch superhero stuff, why would I want to watch *that*." Come on, she wouldn't even try it! So, I sent the friend home. (Need to introduce daughter to new friends with better taste. I mean, come on, the girl *loves* Justin Beiber at 7! :rolleyes: )

My kids liked the first one "The Case of the Talking Dummy" because my almost 5 year old said, "I figured it out". It was a bit simple plotwise.

Nice introduction to Henderson, although he was protrayed a bit of a doofus to make Clark seem smarter by having all the answers. I love how Lois knows almost as much as Clark does without having any super powers at all. My daughter was like "*That's* an armored truck?" She's still not realizing HOW long ago these shows were made.

E4 "The Mystery of the Broken Statues" kept me on the edge of my seat through-out! Fantastic. Lois picks up a story out of thin air and comes up with all the answers just in time to get kidnapped. Missed her trademarked "Help Superman" but then again, she was gagged. (Those robbers were smart cookies).

My kids laughed at the shop owner who didn't mind having his statues smashed. "I hated those things and would have smashed them myself, but this way I get paid. Come back and smash everything in my store..." he said to the bad guys. " - as long as you pay for them."

Henderson was back and better here. More by the book. "But it doesn't matter who they are. I can't do anything because they haven't broken any laws!" So true! Even Clark and Lois knew something was up but didn't know *what*.

The mystery was an interesting one, but I figure that was a poor way to transport a coded message. It left a lot up to fate. What if some kid had bought one of those statues earlier in the day, to paint, and the bad guys would never have known?

Two more episodes on this disc. Even my husband was begging to watch more tonight, but I figure if I spread them out (like postings of a story), it has them coming back for more.

Last night we watched the last two episodes on the disc, E5 "Monkey Mystery" and E6 "Night of Terror".

The "Monkey Mystery" had lots of intrigue and cold war stuff that I liked. Lois once again used her brains to out-think Clark, but ended up getting a nasty knock in the head because of it. Jimmy showed a lot of guts in defending the monkey, I doubt either of our Jimmys would have shown.

CK's lackadaisical view of the monkey with the Superman suit was charming. I think our Clark would have been more insulted. We never really saw what he thought about other people making fun of Superman outside of the Invisible Man (ILTY) episode.

I didn't recognize Lois in "Night of Terror" episode. Was the character still played by Phyllis Coates, because she didn't look like she had in the previous episodes.

This one is a definite sit on the edge of your seat thriller with Lois' death imminent at any second by thugs and Clark not knowing she was in danger. When he did finally get the message, it was garbled because it was third hand. He had seek out from the clues to discover where Lois (and then Jimmy) disappeared off to. I loved that the bad guys confused Jimmy with "Baby Face Stevens" and passed him a gun.

The Clark in this episode was most reminiscent to Dean Cain's Clark version with his obvious worry about trying to trace down Lois' whereabouts.

In this episode we see Clark finally out of the Storage closet and making his exits and entrances through his office window (no such luck in LnC). We also learn why Lois never goes on vacation.

Is Clark Kent in love with Lois in this show or just friends? If yes, does it develop over time, because I haven't seen any romantic inclination on CK's part yet.

There are some subtle hints that he loves her, but a romantic relationship never actually develops.

Well, that makes sense. It was the 1950s after all. Office romances didn't start showing up on tv until the 1960s.

S1.E7 - "The Birthday Letter"

In this episode a little girl who is forced to stay at home due to a "crippled" leg, and a mother who is a work all day, writes the Daily Planet asking Superman to take her to the fair for her birthday. Lois writes a story about the letter including both the girl's name and address in the story. The girl receives a wrong number call, and some criminals kidnap her to get the message from her. The kidnappers get her address from the DP article, and one of them even dress up as Superman to get to the little girl, since they know about her birthday wish.

*My, have times changed.*

First of all, if the Daily Planet received a letter like that now, Lois would be more likely to write about the neglected child left at home to fend for herself.

Secondly, printing of the unchaperoned child's address in the paper! Perry White is lucky that the girl's mother didn't sue when her daughter got kidnapped.

It was bad enough that the mother blamed Superman when he showed up of kidnapping her daughter, because the daughter left a note, saying that 'Superman had taken her to the fair'. She didn't even give him the benefit of a doubt, but probably that was because he flew in (uninvited) into her living room. I can't imagine a superhero taking a child off to a fair without the permission of the child's parents nowadays.

The man who dressed up as Superman wasn't even wearing a blue suit (note exactly noticable in the B&W show, but please, even I could tell), but in grey sweats with painted on "S" and no red shorts. Also, fake Superman's cape looked more like a curtain than a cape. For a little girl, who read Superman comics, she should have known something was up before he walked her up the fire escape to the kidnappers hideout.

The secondary plot was interesting with the double crossed counterfitters trying to get their French Franc plates back, and the mobster's message going to the wrong number.

This episode seemed more like (seeing it through modern day's prisim) as a commentary on power of the press and the need not to print sensative information for anyone, including the criminals, could read.

The show ends with the shot of Superman flying the little girl to the fair. This is the shot most often shown when talking about this show. The little girl is beaming with excitement and Superman even has a smile on his usually serious face.

My kids decided that after seeing that shot that the fair needed a "Superman ride" in which they installed metal seats on the back of a giant fake Superman who would then fly them around the city, because they said, that looked like fun. (The girl, of course, was being carried in Superman's arms.)

OK, I'll bite. Why not?

I agree. What a difference fifty or sixty years has made!

Another movie with this same theme: The classic, "The Day The Earth Stood Still" . In there, Michael Rennie, the alien Klaatu, disguises himself as a human. He takes rooms at a boarding house. One of the tenants is a single mother (WWII widow) with a young son.

The mother and her boyfriend go on a day trip, and Klaatu volunteers to babysit the kid. No problem! They've known this guy for less than 24 hours, but he wears a nice suit and tie, so he must be OK. It's all right for your precious son to go off alone with this guy who could be a space alien, for all you know. /heh heh/

However, the film is redeemed (in my eyes at least) by the classic line: "Klaatu barada nikto!"

Because when Lois goes on vacation she ends up at a little hotel where she finds (literally) the innkeeper has been murdered by mobsters. She and the innkeeper's wife are held hostage and almost put to death. With excitement like that on vacation, why leave safety and tranquility of Metropolis?

I liked the series but it never really was one of
my favorites. It had it's moments though. It has been years since i watched it though. Re the classic movie The Day the Earth Stood Still that was mentioned, if anyone
hasn't seen the original classic i highly recommend
it. It is my favorite movie of all time. I've lost track how many times i have seen it. On the other
hand, the recent remake of the movie is absolutely
awful. I really hate what they did with the remake.
Often Hollywood doesn't seem to get what makes
a classic so good and the remakes suffer for it. Sigh.

S1.E8 - "The Mind Machine"

We've got a scientist who built a machine who will push thoughts into a person's head (from up to 25 miles away) in hopes of using it to help cure people of their fears via hypnosis. The scientist and his machine get kidnapped by a group of gangsters bent on using the machine against people at a congressional hearing against him and his gambling racket. The machine works and the gangster tells the witnesses what to say on the stand. Unfortunately, then the witnesses go crazy and die as their brains can't handle the stress of someone taking away their control (or something of the sort). Pressure gets added after three witnesses die, and next up is Lois Lane. The congressman, of course, refuses to delay the hearings (due to taxpayer cost and speed of justice, yada, yada). So, it's up to Clark Kent and Superman to find the scientist before Lois's brain gets turned to mush.

Plot wise this is your standard 'good science' in the hands of the bad guy plot. Although, I felt the 25 mile distance was a bit much. If you're hypnotizing someone to convince them to stop smoking, or their fear of heights, why do you need to be 25 miles away? Classic! There can never be too much of that.

Clark having to track the bad guy using radar in an airplane was kind of fun. How does he stop the bad guys, once he's found them, without revealing he's Superman to the man flying the plane? (He puts the plane on autopilot and knocks out the pilot, of course. Then the plane run out of fuel and Superman has another rescue on his hands. )

Then at the end Clark comes into Perry's office, and we get the "Where were you, Kent?" conversation. Perry and Lois wouldn't even let the poor man get a word in edgewise. I felt sorry for the guy.

"I was trying to help Lois..." Clark tried to explain.

"Why would I need *your* help, Clark? When I've got Superman?" retorts Lois.

Lots of fun!

"The Day the Earth of Still" is a terrific movie. The remake was awful! Dreadfully awful. Yes, times have certainly changed from back in the day. (60 years ago) Times have even changed back from 35+ years ago when I used to run to my friend's house a block or two away when I was under 5. I couldn't even think of allowing my children that kind of freedom. Sigh.

S1.E9 - "Rescue"

In this episode, Lois disregards safety protocols to try and rescue a trapped miner, causes a secondary (and worse) cave-in and gets herself trapped as well.

Clark is DC and misses by seconds each time it is announced in the ticker-tape, the afternoon edition, and even on the radio that Lois is trapped in the mine. He arrives to pick her up and discovers that a gas leak has compounded the problem. Superman rescues Lois and the miner moments after they pass out, holding up the mine after another explosion causes another cave-in.

Superman disappears and Clark returns (imagine that!) and Lois announces, "Guess what, Clark? I finally got Superman to take me out." <<oh, the pain of that joke.>>

Edge of our seat excitement. My daughter was worried that Lois and the miner were truly going to die.

Just like Lois to go into a mine after the safety inspector told her not to because they would then have more people to rescue. Gee, Lois, do you think that's why they told you not to go in the mine? Can Lois be so thick-headed as to think that she knows better than the rescue team and the mine inspector? Of course, them telling her "no" is like issuing a challenge to do it herself.

Clark doesn't seem very "super" observant. He misses the afternoon edition by mere seconds (and doesn't notice the next edition arriving as he drives by). He has car trouble as he driving to go pick up Lois and completely ignores the radio report about the cave in while fixing the car (and revving the engine). Where's super hearing when you need it?!

Good suspense. Very nerve wracking how Clark keeps missing the news. Good thing he's in the news business to keep on top of current events where Superman might be needed. Nice irony.

S1.E10 - "The Secret of Superman"

In this episode Jimmy's mom calls and wakes Clark up from a sound sleep at 1am because Jimmy hasn't come home yet, even though he called at 5pm and said he was on his way. Clark calls the paper, Jimmy answers but someone makes him hang up the phone. Superman rushes off to the Planet!

Meanwhile, at the paper, someone has broken into Perry's office and his private Superman files. They have somehow hypnotized Jimmy. The man takes the file and disappears right before Superman arrives (and changes back into Clark) and shakes Jimmy out of his trance. Jimmy remembers nothing. Clark notices the missing file.

Next the mystery man, goes to the news club where Perry has a room ( Anyone want to explain that one to me! Perry doesn't live at home but lives at the news club?) Mystery man disguises himself as a waiter and drugs Perry's coffee, putting him into a trance. Then he also asks him who Superman is. Perry doesn't know. Superman arrives and the mystery man sneaks out the window. After a little shaking Perry comes to.

Henderson is called in to investigate. Clark suspects that someone is trying to figure out Superman's secret identity and guesses that the mystery man suspects someone on the paper is Superman. (Why he thinks that, who knows?) Clark suggests that it might be Perry and they all laugh.

Perry says something to the fact: "What? Me in that outfit?! Never!"

A call from the lab informs them that Perry was drugged with a truth serum stronger than any anyone has ever seen before. Henderson guesses from notes taken on the Superman file left in Perry's room that the mystery man will come after Clark next, looking for Superman.

Under his breath, Clark mutters, "Six of one, half dozen of the other."

The only weak parts of this episode is that the Doctor's motivation is never revealed, and that one can easily be shaken out of a drugged trance. That seems a bit implausible.

Okay, I've watch 10 episodes now and I have some questions and comments.

Lois mentions in E9 that she finally got Superman to take her out, but she's never mentioned liking him before. It kind of came out of nowhere. Definiately a joke for the older generation watching.

The sly humor is starting to creep in and I love it! Can't wait for some 4th wall winks.

Does this Clark ever have to deal with Kryponite? I was worried about the mine in E9 that Clark might come to rescue the miner only to have Kryptonite mean that Lois would need to rescue him (that would have been good too). But then pig-headed Lois arrives and barges her way to rescue the miner over all the experts. Oh, Lois!

What's with Perry staying (living?) at the Newsclub? I thought the news club was just that (like the one shown during The Rival). I guess when you're Perry White you live and breathe the news business and only go home on the weekends. No Alice then I take it.

This sounds interesting enough that I've checked prices in the UK, got season 1 pretty cheaply 2nd hand on Amazon. I'll comment more when I've seen a few episodes.

Yeah! Another person on this fun ride with me! I can't wait to hear your thoughts.

The annoying thing is that I think they showed some episodes in the UK when I was a kid, but I can't remember anything about them.

Yes, he deals with Kryptonite a handful of times throughout the series.

I don't have an answer on this one, but I don't remember Alice or any other wife ever being mentioned during the run of the show. I'm not 100% sure about that, though.

S1.E11 - "No Holds Barred"

In this episode a professional wrestler keeps winning matches (and putting his opponents in hospital) by using a hold called the "Paralyzer". Perry hires an award winning college wrestler to watch the fighter fight and figure out what he's doing, because Perry figures it must be illegal. (That the government would still let the fights go on after the man put 7 other wrestlers in the hospital is beyond me!) Clark finds out that the wrestling promoter is crooked and scores two tickets to the next fight from the promoter's competition whom the crooked promoter is trying to put out of business. Clark gives the tickets to the college wrestler (I forget what his name is -- let's nickname him CW) and that guy turns and asks Lois to go with him on a date. Boy, doesn't Clark look surprised by *that* turn of events.

The wrestler paralyses his competitor during that match and challenges anyone to wrestle him. CW does so. He knows he wrestles better and thinks he can beat the "paralyzing wrestler". Lois tells Perry that he needs to talk CW out of the match. Clark sides with CW, agreeing that he thinks CW can beat the "paralyzer". Lois says it's suicidal and stomps out, telling Clark she'll never forgive him.

Even Perry takes Clark to the side and asks him if he sided with CW out of jealousy over Lois. Clark reassures Perry that he really thinks CW can beat the other guy. Clark discovers that the bad wrestling promoter is holding a East Indian swami, with knowledge of pressure points, hostage. The wrestler had been winning his matches by using pressure points to paralyze his opponent. Superman talks to the man and gets him to reveal to him the secret of the pressure points, which Clark then teaches to CW so that he can avoid them.

With this new knowledge CW wins his match against the bad wrestler (much to Lois's relief). Clark discovers that the bad promoter is about to punish the swami and he can't escape to rescue him because Clark's friend the other promoter is trying to get CW to join his wrestling team as a professional wrestler. Finally Clark escapes and saves the Swami just before Lois and Perry break down the bad promoter's door.

***

Clearly, I see a correlation between this episode and the cyborg boxers from S1 of LnC. The upped anti that Lois is dating another man, and Perry knows that it might bother Clark so much that he might said (nice) man into the hospital out of jealousy hints that there might be more to Lois and Clark’s relationship than the show has ever showed.

Lois’s over-the-top reaction to Clark siding with CW, over her, is perfect Lois Lane as we know and love her. I’m even wondering if she also is thinking along the same lines as Perry.

The whole A-Plot regarding the pressure points is interesting and even a bit new age-ish for the 1950s. I applaud the writers and producers for coming up with such an inventive angle.

Clark having CW toss Jimmy around while practicing his moves to ward off the pressure point holds is hilarious. Lots of fun.

That should be fun! Can't wait!

My dad is currently in town and saw these last two episodes (#11 & 12) with us. He said that he had watched the show when it first appeared, but had missed those particular episodes. He seemed to still enjoy them today. They're timeless.

S1.E12 - "The Deserted Village"

Lois's old nurse sends her a gingerbread cookie every year (for her birthday?). When Lois calls her to thank her, she doesn't get a reply. So, she starts calling around town searching for her, but nobody is answering their lines. Clark suggests driving to the hamlet (of 525) to find out what's going on. Upon arriving at the town they find a virtual ghost town.

Meanwhile, the viewer gets to see that there's a strange man in a hazmat suit wandering around the town in a dense fog. He keeps breaking windows with bricks, but doesn't seem to be entering the houses he's damaging. A dog runs in the yard, only to pass out.

Clark and Lois see the dog and check him out. He's dead, but Clark doesn't know how. They hear someone moaning and it turns out to be the town's doctor (and dog's owner) who has passed out inside his house. Clark revives the man with smelling salts and notices a gun and gasmask in the man's drawer.

The doctor brushes aside the incident and suggests in a quite threatening tone that Lois and Clark should leave town. Of course, this makes Lois want to dig in her heels all the more. She finds her nurse outside gardening when they finally get to her house. She also suggests that they leave ASAP.

Clark sees a gun in the nurse's pocket and finds a gasmask in her basket of roses. He suggests that Lois stay with her nurse, but not to eat or drink anything while he goes to check something out. He then runs into the druggist and his son (who I think might be the same actor that played the College Wrestler from E11), who also suggest that they leave town.

While checking things out, Clark hears a gun fire. He rushes off to find that the nurse had scared someone off with her gun, and that Lois has disappeared. (So Lois!) Clark find Lois in cave digging up core samples. He tells her to take the car to safety while he takes the samples to by analyzed. Lois doesn't believe him, thinking he's trying to out-scoop her on the story about the town.

He finally convinces her to leave and takes off as Superman (once, of course, he's found a private mound to change his clothes behind first). Lois continues digging (unwilling to leave) and gets gassed by the Hazmat man.

Superman returns to find Lois and the other townsfolk lying in a heap in the cave. He saves everyone and unmaskes the villian. The druggist's son! The core sample revealed a rare and huge deposit of some minerial used for making the hydrogen bomb, and they wanted to keep it for themselves.

***

I'm surprised that a nurse, who seems so kind to send Lois a giant cookie every year, would be so nasty to her when she shows up trying to help. Really adds to the paranoid feeling of the episode.

Once again the Lois and Clark bickering banter is loads of fun.

Spooky thriller of an episode.

I've watched four episodes so far, enjoying it (though there are some logical leaps that don't quite work for me in e.g. the story with all the statuettes); I'd watch more tonight but the Avengers DVD was in my letter box this evening and I think that's going to jump the queue...

Marcus, I finally got the third disc last week. Let me know what you think of these different takes on canon. (If you've made it through all the extras on your Avengers DVD by now. )

S1.E13 - "The Stolen Costume" - This was most closely resembles "Foundling" in that someone robs Clark's apartment and finds something (his uniform) which could tie him to Superman. Or "And the Answer Is..." in that someone discovers CK=SM and tries to blackmail him into doing something against his nature. Or "Top Copy" when someone discovers Clark's hidden uniform closet. This show deals mostly with Clark's fear of discovery (and not having another suit). He gets a private detective, “Candy”, friend of his to look for “the thing” that was stolen from his apartment, but he "can't" tell private eye what it was. Great dialogue in the “I can’t tell you, just find it” scenes. Interesting discussion about Superman’s uniform between the head of the robber’s gang and his moll. The moll discovers that the uniform can’t burn or be cut. She thinks that Superman must be the “other guy” when he’s not in uniform, because he’s really two guys. (She’s one smart cookie.)

The head bad guy wants to make sure that Clark Kent is Superman, so he plants a bomb in Clark’s secret closet to see what happens when it explodes. The gang of robbers confuse the private eye for "Clark Kent" and kidnap him, trying to blackmail Superman. Clark follows them until. He busts down the bad guy's door and knocks out his friend the private eye so he doesn’t know that CK=SM. Then the takes the bad guy and his moll to the top of a snowy mountain, while he thinks about how to keep them quiet. He says he’ll bring them food, but they don’t believe him. They try to climb down and fall to their deaths.

So with this scenario, did Clark kill them or did they kill themselves by not believing him?
Factoid: Clark lives at the “Standish Arms” apartment building.

My one major complaint was the lack of the usual supporting cast, mainly Lois Lane. That, and the ending was a copout.

S1.E14 - "Treasure of the Incas" - Lois bumps into a man outside an auction house who gives her money to buy an artifact for him, because he can't be seen buying it. While she's in the auction, the man is murdered. The murderer tries to get Lois to hand him over the tapestry. Lois buys tickets to Lima, telling Pan Am that Perry approved payment, BEFORE she went to talk to Perry about it.

***

S1.E15 - "Double Trouble" - This is mostly a smuggling story where the smuggler dresses up as a woman to sneak into Metropolis. Jimmy gets embroiled in the mess, when the smuggler gives a fake package to Jimmy to hand to his contact, which only ends up getting Jimmy kidnapped. The "Double" from the title isn't very noticeable; a minor character and his twin, each of whom is shown far enough apart that one doesn’t think about it. The “double” is only obvious in the title. When Clark mentions noticing the resemblance, I could hardly remember the first character.

Another Episode without Lois! A very good Lois and Clark mystery, I don’t want to ruin it for you with too many spoilers.

S1.E17 - "The Runaway Robot" - A spacey rural reporter “Horatio” for the Daily Planet creates a robot named “Hero” to catch criminals. Things go awry when trying to capture some robbers, Horatio ends up in jail for causing the robbery (because the jeweler is missing $60K in diamonds). Horatio protests his and Hero’s innocence. The robbers want Hero to be a criminal instead, so they steal the robot from police custody and kidnap the inventor to control him. Lois and Clark must clear Horatio’s name, but he does everything in his power to thwart them. :rolleyes:

The inventor reminds me of a mix between Dr. Hamilton (TOGOM) and the source, Stuart Hofferman, from the Source. Good intentioned, but with bad ideas, and always trying to sneak off when he’s supposed to stay put.

A fun episode due to the slapstick behavior of Horatio, although the robot is kind of hokey.

Interesting Tidbit: Lois fighting with the bad guys and screaming when they tell her to shut up is fun too.

The Professor from Gilligan’s Island plays the bad guy.

***

S1.E18 - "Drums of Death" - A more ominous title than episode, as I don't think the "drums of death" are ever referenced in the entire show, although drums were implied as a form of communication in the “bush”. This one deals with voodoo. Perry White's sister, an photographer, gets kidnapped along with Jimmy (who had gone to assist her) in Haiti. Perry is sent on a wild goose chase in which he also gets captured, while Superman finds and rescues the victims.

I figured out the answer before the end.

Another episode missing Lois! I'm glad our show put Lois in the title, so they wouldn't do episodes without her. I love the banter between these two. Very frustrating that half the episodes on Disc 3 don't have Lois at all.

Actually it was not always clear that Clark Kent was raised in Kansas. In one map of Sueprman/Batman world, they show Metropolis and Gotham City on the Delaware Bay, and Smallville as essentially a Suburb of Metropolis. They actually have the map at the Smallville (comics) article on wikipedia.

There was a 1978 publication that said that Smallville was a quiet town nestled in the hills just inland from the Eastern Seaboard.

"The Adventures of Superman" Radio show had Clark raised on the farm of Eben Clark in Iowa, this was in the 1940s. A 1984 comic publication placed Smallville in North-east Pennsylvania or Northern New Jersey.

It is only with John Byrne's Superman reboot in 1986 that Smallville comes to be universally designated as in Kansas.

I have to second the view that they should have not ever done an episode sans Lois.

The "Drums of Death" Episode would have worked with Perry sending Lois and Clark to rescue Jimmy and the chief photographer he was working under. They could have even had that chief photographer be Lois' aunt instead of Perry;s sister.

It is still the same actress. This one is memoralble because it has enforced method acting. When the badguy knocks Lois out he accidenttally hit her, so the actress was out.

I think they should have let the Lois and Clark love story develop. I guess though it does not in the comics at this point either, but still.

The first time I watched the show, I remember being disappointed whenever Lois missed out on an episode, too. There were some really good episodes without her, but I still would have liked for her to have been in all of them.

Well, even LnC had lots of cop outs. My favorite was in "The Dad who came in from the Cold" where at the beginning the spy who is dieing and giving Superman the computer says something about Superman looking just like Clark Kent without glasses.

I do have to agree that this episode would have been better with Lois. Lois doing the detective work to find the suit would have been fun. They could even have the people know the person in question was Kent, and they think it is Ms. Kent instead of Mr. Kent.

Well technically the episode is not "without Lois". Jimmy is only at the docks because he is tagging along with Lois who is doing an interview with some celebrity just after landing. Still, I would agree Lois is underutilized in this episode.

She comes back from setting up the irterview just in time to see Jimmy get hauled off in the ambulance. If she had been there when Jimmy met the man disguised as a woman she probably would have seen through the disguise immedately.

Actually Lois being there when Jimmy gets kidnapped makes it even more odd that Henderson is discussing the issue with Clark later on. I can't see Lois being OK with not being let in on the whole situation. In fact, I can see her trying to keep Clark out of the story entirely.

It is amazing that they listed the show as staring George reeves and Phyllis Coates, considering how many shows either do not see Lois, or see her in only a bit part.

Well, in the LnC wedding arc, we got "Seconds" where thinks she is Wanda Detroit up until the point where she looses her memory, again, and then she does not know who she is. On the other hand, since we have Terri Hatcher playing both Lois and her clone, we definantly see plenty of her in the episode. Well, OK, some of us think that they could have ended the amnesia arc at that point, without the secondary hit, or Maxwell Dieter, and just had her recover her memory from being back in Clark's arms.

OK, since we even get short backglimpses of "Lois and Clark" together when Wanda is having her dreams in "Seconds", my claim it is Lois free probably does not hold water. Still, I think they dragged that whole story line out too long.

That's what I meant. It might as well been another reporter for as much screen time as she got.

S1.E19 - "The Evil Three"

Another Lois free episode. This one is very similar in plot to "E6 - "Night of Terror", only it happens to Perry and Jimmy, instead of Lois.

Perry and Jimmy go fishing and end up at a hotel to stay the night. Perry's been there before, but this time the hotel is run down. Apparently the previous owner disappeared without a trace. Perry insists that they stay there, despite the current owner telling him that the Hotel is now haunted, run down, and without electricity. Perry senses a story. Jimmy's ready to high-tail it out of there. Perry contacts Clark via car-phone, and asks him to check out the previous owner's death and to get back in touch with him. Before they can reconnect, Jimmy sees a "ghost", and both Perry and Jimmy get captured by the new owner and the "ghost", who think they are there to steal the previous owners riches. The third evil one isn't really evil, more insane.

S1.E20 - "Riddle of the Chinese Jade"

Set in Chinatown, an old antique's store owner wants to donate a family heirloom to a museum. The finance of the old man's grand-daughter decides to steal the Jade statue and sell it to have enough money for them to get married. The man he hires to steal the statue is disreputible and double crosses him, when the grand-daughter has to be abuducted with the statue.

Not a bad episode, except that Henderson lets the finance go at the end. Nope, book 'em, Danno! IMO.

S1.E21 - "The Human Bomb"

A man makes a bet with a buddy of his that he can get Superman to do his bidding for 1/2 an hour. To accomplish this, the man straps a bomb to his chest and handcuffs himself to Lois Lane. Then he makes her stand out on the Daily Planet ledge with him. Superman agrees to sit in Clark's office for a half-hour and not bust some robbers the Bomber has hired to take something from a museum. Of course, Superman double crosses the Bomber using a silhouette.

I liked that the full cast was included in this episode, and wondering why this man would ever want to do such a thing to Superman, until the end.

S1.E22 - "The Czar of the Underworld"

This one is set in Hollywood, and is another episode without Lois.

Clark and Henderson go to Hollywood as guests of a movie studio, which is making a movie out of series of articles that Clark wrote about a case that Henderson solved. The man about whom the case involves, is still at large and trying to kill both men, studio heads, actors, etc., through-out the episode to make sure the film isn't made.

My favorite scene is when Perry calls Henderson and Clark up at the studio to chew them out for letting someone else scoop the story that an actor was shot on their movie, even though Perry finds out about it almost at the same time that the event occurs. Henderson, to get Perry to shut up, hangs up on him.


S1.E23 - "The Ghost Wolf"

Another episode which utilizes the full cast (minus Henderson). Those, I must say, are the best ones.

Lois, Clark, and Jimmy are sent out to a lumber camp in Oregon to find out who is sabtoging the lumber that makes the pulp which the DP uses to print the newspaper. It's a fish-out-water tale, involving a Werewolf (the susposed suspect). We get our characteristic, Clark tells Lois to "stay" for her safety, and she's gets annoyed and marches off to do her own investigating. Needless to say, the wolf likes Lois and follows her around, so she's constantly running into it. They certainly are being "team players" on this story, even though Perry sent them together to cover it.

My favorite line is Lois saying to Perry, when he tells her she has less than an hour to catch her flight "But I haven't a thing to wear!"

Perry responds, "What woman ever did?"


S1.E24 - "The Crime Wave"

This is by far the worst episode yet. Mainly because the first 10 minutes of the show is clearly clips from all the other episodes strung together to make it look like new footage. My kids and I had fun trying to guess which episodes the clips came from. Also, whenever Superman goes off to catch a criminal, those action scenes were also borrowed from other episodes. Without that one flaw, it wasn't that bad of a plot.

The plot is that there's a "crime wave" in Metropolis. Superman and a task force, headed by Henderson, Perry, and a leader of a citizen's coucil (a lawyer), vow to take down the top 10 wanted organized criminals creating havock in Metropolis. We keep getting glimpses of the unknown #1 Crime Boss. He's clearly someone we've met earlier in the episode. When it seems that Superman is closing in, the Crime Boss hires a scientist to trick Superman into a room, which can apparently kill the invulnerable man.

That part of the episode was nerve wracking enough, that my daughter thought that Superman was really dead. My reassurances that Superman wouldn't be dead fell on deaf ears. I think this episode would have been better if the Crime Boss had turned out to be Lex Luthor, but sadly not.

24 episodes in and not one mention of Superman's biggest foe.

I really think E22 would have worked with Lois and Clark instead of Clark and Henderson. The lack of Lois was really odd in some episodes.

they really failed to ever develop anythign with Lois and Clark.

Eh, don't forget this is a different time period. Adult relationships were almost nil on tv (I mean, even the two bed stuff.)

I just found the entire series on sale brand new for $40 so I'll be coming back to review more of these soon. No more having to wait for the disks from Netflix. Now, if I had only bought Smallville the entire series as a pre-order for $100 from the WB online shop

Congratulations on acquiring the complete series on DVD. It really is a good show. I hope enjoy finishing the episodes as much as I did.

Good luck at finding “Smallville” on sale at some point, as well. I’ve personally been buying each season individually at a used DVD store for about $12 a set. The only ones I don’t have yet are the last two seasons.

I finally convinced my kids to start watching this show with me again (it's been a whole year. Lois, for some reason, isn't too surprised that Clark is unhurt but in need of an overcoat to cover up his damaged clothes. She even looks Clark in the face -- his glasses-free face -- *while* they discuss Superman, and is none the wiser. This is also the first episode of the AoS show staring Noel Neill as Lois Lane. She had also played Lois Lane for the Kirk Alyn serials.

***

S2.E2 - "The Big Squeeze" - Daily Planet's nominee for Metropolis Citizen of the Year is being blackmailed to keep his past of being an ex-con a secret.

I guess Lois's deep background check on their nominee wasn't that deep. Secrets were easier to keep and pasts kept hidden back in the 1950s. Back then, one could really move on with one's life after paying one's debt to society... unless your past comes looking for you.

These episodes really highlight Clark as a fighter for the underdog (or Mole Men, as the case may be), the innocent, and the unjustly persecuted.

I was able to find S9 and S10 of Smallville on sale at Best Buy for $15 ea. (my birthday gift to myself), but unfortunately, S8 was regular price, so I still have to slug my way through waiting for the disks from Netflix.

Make sure you don't miss them! They are the best seasons for Lois and Clark!

Funny that you should happen to start watching "Adventures of Superman" again. It just so happens that I've been watching the show over again. I've been watching a few episodes each weekend for the past few weeks. At the moment, I'm currently midway through season one.

I bought the last two seasons some time ago and just recently finished watching them for the first time since they first aired on TV. I agree - they are the best seasons for Lois and Clark.

Since we re-started watching them last week, my daughter has been begging us to watch it every night. /Fist pump: Hooked another generation to SM!/ We finished another couple of episodes I still need to log and we're in the middle of "A Shot in the Dark" - where a kid gets a photo of Clark changing into Superman in the alley behind the Daily Planet. I can't wait to see how that ends. So far, Clark's doing great at denying everything, but I'm not sure he's convinced Jimmy.

S2.E3 - "The Man Who Could Read Minds" - Lois and Jimmy are hard on the trail of a gang of thieves who B&E without leaving a trace. The one clue they find leads them to a nightclub act.

We really get to see Lois and Jimmy working together to foil the thieves (against Perry's instruction), while Clark Kent and Perry work the MPD's Inspector Henderson to catch the burglars through official means.


S2.E4 - "Jet Ace" - Perry's nephew tests fighter planes for the military. While taking a much needed holiday in the mountains to write up his latest report, he's kidnapped.

While the last episode focused mostly on Lois and Jimmy, Superman is back front and center here from rescuing the tired test pilot (without anyone knowing he did) to setting up a trap to catch the bad guys (okay). Clark lets Perry's nephew (his name slips my mind, though) take over when the kidnapper is brought to light, much to Lois's chagrin. "Not that you helped any, Clark!" We don't get a wink, but we do get a direct camera smile.


S2.E5 "Shot in the Dark" - A kid with a red light camera takes a photo of Clark Kent changing into his Superman Suit! Unfortunately, the kid has *also* taken a shot of bad guy willing to do anything to get that photo back.

This is my favorite episode to date. Hilariously funny as you see Clark squirming as the boy's aunt calls him "Superman" in front of Jimmy. Definitely worth a view! Most like our LnC characters. I really enjoyed it.

I noticed in this episode that *only* Jimmy isn't allowed to call Perry "Chief" (Clark and Lois both do). Also, for some reason, Lois calls Clark "Mr. Kent" throughout this episode, but he calls her "Lois". I don't know if she's being sarcastic (it's possible). I'm going to keep an ear out to see if that happens in future episodes I watch.


S2.E6 - "The Defeat of Superman" - A scientist working for "Happy" King a notorious criminal discovers that Superman has a weakness to a meteorite from the extinct planet of Krypton. He creates a synthetic copy of Kryptonite to rid Metropolis of the hero for King.

This is the first showing of Kryptonite in the series.


S2.E7 - "Superman in Exile" - While helping out some nuclear scientists with a runaway experiment, Superman become radioactive. He exiles himself (and Clark Kent) to the mountains to keep everyone safe. Criminals in Metropolis have field day.

This one reminded me a bit of "Super Mann" from LnC's S3, except that Superman comes up with another way to rid himself of his radioactivity. Lois begins to suspect Clark's close relationship with Superman when they both leave Metropolis at the same time.


S2.E8 - "A Ghost For Scotland Yard" - Clark and Jimmy are in England and trip over a story where a dead man has threatened vengeance on some people from his past. Perry insists they stay and investigate. Is it really a ghost terrorizing these people or a con man?

This episode doesn't have Lois Lane in it. I'm not quite sure why it needed to be set in England, either, unless the dead man needed to be as far from Superman's usual haunts.

S2.E9 - "The Dog Who Knew Superman" - Superman rescues dog from well and then recognizes Clark when they bump into one another in Metropolis. The dog's owners want to cash in on the dog's keen sense of smell.

My kids and I really enjoyed this episode. Clark is adorable with the dog. You really want Clark to end up with the dog in the end, even though he has an owner who loves him to death. Unfortunately, she's married to a thoughtless mobster, who dropped the dog in the well in the first place. Mobster realizes that the dog can identify Superman by his smell and tries to use him to find Superman's secret identity.

Funniest thing about this episode, the hoodlum calls his peroxide blonde wife (the dog's owner) "Chicken" as an endearment.

S2.E12 - "Panic in the Sky" - THIS is the original story ASU is based on.

Clark's amnesia is much more multi-layered than in the modern NSoS. He hits Earth in a dazed manner but in the Super suit, but he has enough memory to change into Clark's business suit and flag down a passing motorist. Somehow, he can remember where Clark's apartment is, but not who Jimmy is.

During the time the show was on the air, some of the plots that were used in the show were borrowed from the comics and vice versa. One example of where this happened was "Panic in the Sky," though I can't recall whether the story originated with the show or with the comic in this case. If you'd like to read the comic book version of "Panic in the Sky"/"All Shook Up," check out a book titled "Superman in the Fifties."

I completely agree! The "too gruff" personality of some of the other versions of Perry White is one of the reasons that Lane Smith's portrayal of Perry is my favorite portrayal of the character. I think he had the perfect amount of gruffness without going overboard.