Adventures of Superman, also sometimes known simply as Superman, went into production in 1951, following the shooting and theatrical release of the feature film Superman And The Mole Men. The latter, produced by Robert Maxwell and directed by Lee Sholem, starred George Reeves in the dual role of Superman and Clark Kent, and Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane. Superman had already come to the big screen on three occasions in the 1940s, in a series of much-admired cartoons produced by the Fleischer Studios in the early part of the decade and two serials from Columbia Pictures starring Kirk Alyn as the Man of Steel and Clark Kent during the second half of the decade. In the wake of the second, Superman Vs. Atom Man (1950), the decision was made to do a television series, with a feature film as the pilot; unlike the serials, however, which were relatively low-budget productions, the series would break new ground in terms of quality and special effects, mostly because -- in contrast to the serials, in which Superman turned into a cartoon in those scenes in which he flew -- this version of Superman would actually show him flying. That meant that the show would be shot on film, which was then a new concept in television production -- up to that time, virtually all dramatic programming (and almost all programming, for that matter) was done live, and all science fiction-oriented programming and kids programs up to that time had been done live, in front of the camera, as it went out over the air; coupled with the low budgets involved overall, a lot of it looked cheap and it was impossible to do the kinds of special effects to which film audiences had become accustomed, or to properly preserve the material. Shooting on film was much more expensive, but it would allow for a sharper image, proper editing and the insertion of special effects, better sound and superior sound effects, and for the preservation of that program over time. Although its lost on viewers in the twenty-first century, these were bold decisions for a series in 1951, especially one aimed at kids. Indeed, in those days, no one knew whether there would ever be a marketplace or a value in subsequent plays (what we now call reruns) of this (or any) kind of programming. The first thing that the producers -- radio veteran Robert Maxwell and serial hand Bernard Luber -- had to do was find a new Superman. They were originally intending to use Alyn again, but the actor wanted too much money for the feature film, and his reticence to do the role proved fortuitous -- it gave the producers a chance to recast the role in a tougher manner, which they did in the guise of a 36-year-old film actor named George Reeves. Born in 1914 in Woolstock, Iowa, he had been in Gone With The Wind in a small but prominent role, and also in such high-profile films as Lydia and So Proudly We Hail, the latter in a starring role, but his career had faltered since the end of World War II. In contrast to Alyn, who brought a dancers agility to the part of Superman, Reeves was a former aspiring boxer, a well-built, powerful looking man, and also an intense actor. In addition to making a more powerful looking version of Superman, he would make a much more substantial Clark Kent, all of which would make the television show more complex than the serials had been. The next cast member in place was Texas-born Phyllis Coates, 11 years younger than Reeves who, in addition to being very pretty, projected a toughness in the role of Lois Lane, and also had one of the great moviescreams of her era -- one never forgot those moments in which Coates Lois Lane had to let out a shriek for the cameras, as exhibited in the pilot, Superman And The Mole Men. The latter, running just over an hour, was produced and released through Lippert Pictures in early 1951 and was a success, showing what Reeves and Coates could do in the roles in an unusual science fiction-oriented story that also had sinister topical and political overtones, regarding prejudice and mob violence, that made it unusual for a movie aimed at younger viewers. The series itself, with a younger actor named Jack Larson as Jimmy Olsen and veteran Hollywood character actor John Hamilton as Daily Planet editor-in-chief Perry White, plus Hollywood and theater actor Robert Shayne in the new, recurring (and later regular) role or Inspector William J. Henderson of the Metropolis police, went into production in mid-1951, with Adventures Of Superman intended to be offered into syndication in 1952. As it turned out, in most parts of the United States, the series didnt get on the air until 1953, by which time Kelloggs had been lined up as a sponsor. Most elements of the series followed the pattern set up in the comic book. The planet Krypton is destroyed, its race of hyper-advanced, super-powered beings is destroyed with it but not before one scientist, Jorel, and his wife Lara send their newborn child Kalel into space in a rocket of his design; it lands of Earth and the infant is found by a couple, the Kents, who raise him as their own on their farm; he grows up as Clark Kent, and discovers that he possesses extraordinary abilities, including super-strength, the ability to see through objects, and the power of flight. He grows to manhood and assumes the role of Superman to defend the world against evil, ranging from criminal elements to threats from outside of the planet, while in his guise as Clark Kent, becomes a reporter for the Metropolis Daily Planet -- his best friend, as Superman or Kent, is Jimmy Olsen, a cub-reporter, while his rival and colleague is reporter Lois Lane; all three of them work for Perry White, the blustery editor-in-chief of the Planet. And Kents (and Supermans) work frequently brings him into contact with Inspector Henderson of the police department. Through all of this, he maintains his secret dual identity, despite the fact that Kents only real disguise differing him from Superman, other than a seemingly mild-mannered demeanor, is a pair of glasses, the first thing to come off when he switches identities. The first season of Adventures of Superman turned out to be a lot more than a kids show. In fact, unlike Captain Video or such subsequent science fiction series as Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, it was categorized as a general action-adventure show and scheduled for the early evening, intended as much for parents to watch as for kids, and most of its content and focus came from the radio version of Superman, which Maxwell produced and had been airing for several years; it was actually closer in spirit to detective series of the period than to the Superman comic books or to most children-oriented programs of the era. The filmed shows looked sensational on television, with crisp photography and sound, and the special effects -- mostly the work of Thol Simonson -- did, indeed, show Superman flying with incredible realism that made the preceding serials look pathetic, by comparison. The acting was also exceptionally good, with an array of solid, working character actors supporting the main cast, including many screen veterans and experienced stage performers, including Dick Elliott, Myra McKinney, Dan Seymour, Veda Ann Borg, Jonathan Hale, Rhys Williams, and Peter Brocco. They also began developing a stock company of sorts, including Ben Welden and other character actors in supporting roles, although this wouldnt become standard practice until the second season. The two directors who handled the first season shows, Tommy Carr and Lee Sholem, were also top-notch action filmmakers from motion pictures, who were excellent at establishing pace and dramatic rhythm. From the show depicting the origins of the Man of Steel, Superman On Earth, everything seemed perfect, and perfectly compelling, retelling the story of the planet Krypton and its destruction, the sole survivor, a baby in a Kryptonian rocket, arriving on Earth, his childhood in small-town America of the 1920s and 1930s, and his subsequent discovery of his super-powers and the responsibility that went with them. The television shows version became the most widely known retelling of the story for many, many years to come, rivalling the ubiquitousness of the account repeated in Superboy comics, and Superman and Action Comics, and George Reeves portrayal defined the character for several generations of television viewers, thanks to the original decision to shoot it all on film -- its crisp, sometimes glittering images made reruns of the series viable for a half-century and counting, long after live, kinescope-preserved shows like Captain Video were consigned to history. The only problem -- and there was a serious one -- lay with the violence. Producer Robert Maxwell, who was primarily responsible for the tone of the series, had patterned the show after the radio series, even adapting many scripts from the latter, and many of those scripts, as well as the whole tone of the series, came out of 1940s radio crime shows. That was fine for adults, and overlapped nicely in look and feel with the booming field of film noir in movies, but for a program whose sponsor aimed at entertaining children, it created shudders -- there were bodies everywhere in that first season, not just of people but of dead dogs in one episode, and people getting knifed, hit over the head with shovels and other implements, and generally pummeled and serious hurt -- Coates herself had been accidentally knocked cold in shooting one scene in an episode, Night Of Terror; and there were stories involving lunatics imprisoning people, apparently suicides, and torture being depicted on screen, and even an old lady in a wheelchair being pushed down a flight of stairs, and (in a scene that is still painful to watch in the twenty-first century) a crippled young girls leg brace being forcibly and painfully removed by a villain; Superman even manages to kill two people, albeit not intentionally, who discover his secret identity in one episode. A handful of episodes were even recut at the insistence of the sponsor in order to make them less violent. Kelloggs loved the ratings but hated these moments in the series, and found far too many of them, and decided that a change had to be made in subsequent shows, in both the content and the producer behind it. This made the first season of the series unique, as a show with a level of violence that would be unthinkable in any program of that era, or of any subsequent time. It gave the resulting series a dark, threatening, film noir-like tone -- one episode, the season finale, Crime Wave, would assemble many of the most violent scenes from the rest of the season plus an array of violent shots taken out of film noir of the period, into a pair of harrowing and downright scary montages. The effect was especially startling and memorable with the scoring to the eerie canned music used for the production that first year, which, although used in many filmed shows of the period -- thanks to the fact that the Musicians Union made it all but impossible for producers of early filmed shows to commission their own background scores -- became uniquely associated with Adventures of Superman thanks to the fact that it was rerun, decade after decade, while the other series in which it was used (Terry And The Pirates, Dick Tracy etc.) disappeared from view. Subsequent seasons, which would see one key role recast and major changes in the focus of action and stories, plus the addition of color filming (in anticipation of color television), would extend the run of the series across the decade, but it was this first season that would prove the most memorable to longtime fans. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide