Adventures of Superman

Act One



In the far reaches of space, Krypton burned like a green star. Jor-el, a respected scientist, explained to the counsel that their planet was being pulled towards their sun and it would explode like a gigantic bomb. The elders of Krypton scoffed at Jor-E, even when he told them about Earth and its atmosphere. Jor-El went back to his laboratory to work more on his model rocket ship. This rocket was only a test to see if it would reach Earth. If it was successful, then Jor-El would work on a bigger craft to carry his wife Lara and his son Kal-El to safety. But before he was able to complete the ship, the sun continued to pull Krypton closer and closer, causing more urgency on Jor-El's part. Jor-El wanted Lara to go to Earth but she refused to leave him, telling him if only one could go, it should be the baby. Lara wrapped Kal-El in a blanket and Jor-El placed him gently in the ship and sent him to Earth. After the ship was safely in space, we witness Krypton explode.



This scene is almost verbatim to that of the radio series, but it is slightly different from the 1948 movie serial with Kirk Alyn. In the serial, Krypton burned like a blue star rather than a green star. Jor-El was working on the space ship before approaching the counsel and last we see the destruction of Krypton. In the 1978 Christopher Reeve movie, Lara did not want her son to grow up on Earth (and because the movie had a bigger budget, the whole scene of Krypton and its destruction was much more lavish).

In the radio show, Kal-El was already an adult when he landed on Earth. In both the movie serial and T.V. show he was a baby. But in the 1978 movie, he was a three year old toddler. In all the screen media, the Kent's found Kal-El, but the names were different. In the George Reeves' series, Ma and Pa Kent's names were Eben and Sara. In the Kirk Alyn serial, we learn only Eben's name so I am going to speculate that Mrs. Kent's name was Sara. In the Christopher Reeve movie, the Kent's names were Martha and Jonathan; as it was in Superboy, Lois and Clark and also in Smallville. In all the series, it was the Kent's who gave Clark his name and his sense of morality. This theme followed in the Superboy series and also in the Lois and Clark series.



Act Two



In this episode, we see Clark as a young boy asking his mother why he was different from the rest of the boys. We see the love and compassion of Sara when she explains to him how she and his father found him. Clark was twelve years old when his mother told him the story and the clock rolled by from 1926-1951. (I was under the impression that the Kent's found Clark in 1914, but Clark was twenty five when Sara was planning a celebration for him and that was in 1951 which means that the Kent's found him in 1926. The year that the Kent's found Clark was not defined in the 1948 serial or the 1978 movie, but it was 1966 in Lois and Clark and it was 1986 in Smallville.)



Going back to this scene where Sara was planning Clark's party, we see Clark's father come in and Sara scolding him about tracking dirt into her just cleaned house. She told him to get cleaned up for the party and as he heads out of the room, he collapses. We then see the doctor telling them there was nothing he could do. Clark's father died of a heart attack and Clark and his mother console each other with the knowledge that he was a good man, a good husband and a good father. The scene changes to Clark and Sara at the Smallville bus depot where he departed to Metropolis with the costume that Sara made for him. Sara reminded him that it was meant for him to use his powers to help mankind. In the Kirk Alyn serial, it was Eben Kent who told Clark to use his powers to help others and his mother told him about the costume she made for him and Clark gave himself the name of Superman. Both of the Kent's died and Clark moved to Metropolis. The story is a little longer in the 1978 movie. When Jonathan died, Clark took a long trek north to have his Fortress of Solitude built. In his Fortress, Clark learned of his Kryptoian heritage from Jor-El and it was at the Fortress where Clark received his costume. Also in the 1978 movie, Lois gave him the name of Superman and the same in Lois and Clark.



Act Three



When Clark reached Metropolis we were introduced to Perry White, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olson. In this episode, Clark waited two hours and forty minutes to see Perry White. I found it interesting in this scene that Clark was holding his hat when talking to the receptionist, but we see him taking off his hat running into the storeroom (where he usually changed into Superman) but he only went in there to walk out onto a ledge (wearing his hat) to enter Perry's office to ask for a job. Inside Perry's office, Jimmy barged in with a news wire that a man was hanging from a blimp a thousand feet in the air. Perry ordered Lois and Jimmy to go down to the air field and cover the story. Clark asked Perry if he got the exclusive would Perry give him a job. Perry agreed that he would hire Clark if he indeed got an exclusive. Clark changed into Superman, caught the man when he lost his grip from the blimp and got the exclusive. Perry kept his word and hired Clark, who then became known as the "Mild Manner Reporter." Lois wanted to know how Clark got the story when all the other experienced reporters were breaking their necks to get that story. Clark replied that maybe he was a Superman.



In the Kirk Alyn serial, the situation was a little different. Clark used his super hearing to listen in on a mine disaster that was being reported to Perry over the phone. Clark asked Perry if he got the exclusive on that story would he get a job, Perry agreed. In the radio series, Clark heard of a character named the Wolfe who was sabotaging railroads and he asked Perry if he got that story would he get a job and, of course, Perry agreed. In the 1978 movie Perry hired Clark because he had a "snappy profile", knew how to treat his editor in chief with proper respect, and also because he was the fastest typist he had ever seen in forty years. With Lois and Clark, Perry did not want to hire Clark because he had no experience reporting for a "Great Metropolitan Newspaper" so Clark wrote a story of an older actress who wanted to say good-bye to a theater that was being demolished. This Perry hired Clark because he valued initiative over experience.

Superman on Earth did a wonderful job portraying the origin of Superman in only thirty minutes. The special effects were not the greatest by today's standard, but the acting and the storytelling still stands the test of time and I hope no one will ever get tired watching this episode.

What most people don't realize is that this was actually the last episode filmed for Serason 1 even though it was the first episode. It set the tone to what would be a fast paced thrilling series set in a film noir tone of the period. It's a shame they moved away from that in subsequent years, but standards and practices had come down hard on comic books and violence on television. George Reeves epitomized the character of Superman even to this day. Chris Reeve did well in his version, but fans will always draw on Reeve's low key, intelligent delivery as being spot on for the Man of Steel.

This episode is by far a very superior story. In just under 30 minutes we see Superman start his existance from his original parents to his adopted parents to his first time at the Daily Planet. This episode is all wrapped up in a short time. It even set the tone for the interraction for continuing episodes between Lois and Clark.



The only thing that kept me from scoring this a 10 was some of the tongue in cheek acting by minor roles.



There are four women in this episode. One of course is Phyllis Coates, my favorite Lois. The other three are Aline Towne as Lara, Frances Morris as Sara Kent and Dani Nolan as Miss Bachrach. Aline appeared in another episode this season and also one more in another season. Frances and Dani did not appear again.



Hope you enjoy this review. It is my first on this site.

This a very good episode and nice start to the show. Its cool to see the story just in a different way. I like how it starts off how Kal-El is sent to earth and is found by the Kents. Then goes to how the dad dies and Clark leaves for metroplis. Then tries to get a job a Daily Planet. Not much happens in this episode but its still interesting cause its basically the just starting the show. All that happens is Superman saves a guy from falling to death. Then shows up as Clark Kent to get the scoop and get the job at the Daily Planet. That is how its end but is a nice start to this great show.

Not being a comic book fan, I\'m unsure as to how close the script for the pilot episode compares with the stories the children had already been reading.

The pilot is a bit comical in spots, but still riveting. The rocket that brings baby Clark (sorry, I can\'t remember what his Krypton name was) to Earth can withstand the ride through outerspace, but is easily kicked apart by farmer Kent.

The scene of the superimposed background of Metropolis with Clark Kent walking in place is standard Hollywood from the 1930s.

Like I said, it\'s all a bit laughable by todays standards and technology, but it works.

My only gripe is the transition from the pilot episode to episode two. In the first episode no one actually meets Superman, but by the second, they are all old friends. I was convinced that a few episodes had been lost along the way, but if the episode guide listed here is correct, that\'s just how it was.

Not being a comic book fan, I'm unsure as to how close the script for the pilot episode compares with the stories the children had already been reading.

The pilot is a bit comical in spots, but still riveting. The rocket that brings baby Clark (sorry, I can't remember what his Krypton name was) to Earth can withstand the ride through outerspace, but is easily kicked apart by farmer Kent.

The scene of the superimposed background of Metropolis with Clark Kent walking in place is standard Hollywood from the 1930s.

Like I said, it's all a bit laughable by todays standards and technology, but it works.

My only gripe is the transition from the pilot episode to episode two. In the first episode no one actually meets Superman, but by the second, they are all old friends. I was convinced that a few episodes had been lost along the way, but if the episode guide listed here is correct, that's just how it was.

It has often been said that the first season of The Adventures of Superman reflected the tone of the, then declining, movie serials. This may be true in general, but there is a striking contrast between this beautifully paced episode and the lumbering, stilted first chapter of the 1948 Superman serial.



Director Tommy Carr has dutifully introduced all of the basic elements of the Superman legend and then, just as readily, jettisoned them. Jor-el, Lara, Krypton and the Kents all serve their respective purposes before they, ever so politely, bow out of the picture never to be seen, or heard from, again.



Effectively cutting our hero off from his roots, removing all those who are privy to his secret, frees Superman to establish his two separate identities and begin his adventures.



If I were asked to sum up my impression of this origin episode in one word I would probably answer, somewhat ironically: verisimilitude. This "buzz" word, director Richard Donner's unofficial mantra for 1978's Superman-The Movie, is reflected here, if not in the primitive effects, in the earnest and sincere performances of the actors.



While Donner's blockbuster was, at times, a bit heavy on the tongue in cheek, this telling of the story is more direct and heartfelt. It does sort of "gloss over" the destruction of an entire planet, and it's neither as stark nor as exciting as other first season episodes. Still, Superman On Earth may well be the most concise and entertaining version of the Superman origin ever filmed.

All things considered, this is a really well done pilot. I’m not a huge fan of this series as my program review will attest, but I think that writer Richard Fielding did an amazing job at detailing the full origin of Superman inside the span of a half an hour. I was shocked to see so much time devoted to Jor-El and the events on Krypton. Amusingly, the Kryptonian fashion sense of their respective era is so remarkably similar to that of Flash Gordon that I’m surprised that a team of lawyers wasn’t ready to pounce on the production crew as soon as the pilot aired.



We also get a nice-sized snapshot of young Clark’s life in Smallville. We get to see him as an adolescent coming to grips with the fact that he is different from everybody else. This is a theme that will be explored in much greater angst-ridden detail in the popular WB adventure series, “Smallville”.



And in the third act, we get to see how Clark cleverly finagles his way into getting a job as a reporter at the Daily Planet. Perry White is even more gruff than usual here, and we also find ourselves introduced to Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen.



All told, this is not a very exciting episode. But I do enjoy it above all others presented in this series. I think I appreciate it for the fact that it is the only episode that seems to take its cues straight from the comic book.