And DC also stole the name Man of Steel from MLJ Magazines now known as Archie Comics now defunct super hero line from a character called Steel Sterling who was the first one to be called the man of steel!!!
Curt Swan was influenced by Ron Ely's physique/performances in Ely's early Hollywood career. Superman illustrations evolved to become a taller and more muscular after 1958.
Definitely a nice scene where a young Clark Kent Superboy meets an alternate older version of himself who was Superman. The older Clark Kent even kept his Lex Luthor from being a villain, which is an impressive feat on its own. I especially liked how the older Clark Kent hinted to his younger counterpart that when he finds out about Krypton and is ready, he will turn from Superboy to Superman.
@@13thwho unfortunately they legally weren't allowed to say the name. Which is why he is still called Superboy despite having graduated from college, moved to the city and got a job.
I worked with Ely on a stage production over 30 years ago. It had been a long time since he'd done live theatre, and it was his first musical. He was endearinglying self-effacing and kind. There was, however, a moment in rehearsals when he snapped at some people. He was doing his character and the chorus people were being kind of grabbastic, stealing focus and making it hard for him to concentrate. His voice boomed like thunder. He wasn't afraid to admit he was uncomfortable, and let us know it. It never happened again.
That was his strong Baritone voice that he would unleash from time to time. I remember growing up and he and his family would come to our home for Christmas and he would walk thru the door and do that deep baritone voice of "Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas" lol. Many of us would be outback at the pool and he would be on the other side of the house at the front door saying that and the sound would literally carry thru the whole house and outside to the pool area lol.
@@dashfatbastard Last I heard he may come out of retirement to do a cameo on the remake of Doc Savage with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson playing Doc Savage if his health holds. It's been a rough few years on him and he is pretty battered down.
I never even knew this existed! Ron Ely was MY Tarzan, and great as Doc Savage, but I never knew he'd played Superman too! Thank you for this - I must get this series now! :)
One discrepancy that I didn't catch onto when I was a kid watching the show but I do now is the fact that he doesn't know that he's from krypton and yet he calls the green rocks kryptonite. There is no way he could've made that connection without that key piece of information.
Watching this makes me really excited to see what DC studios(or whatever theyll call that film division) has in store for Superman. Superman has been severely underused and abused in cinema for close to 2 decades... at least. Now that Superman will be as big of a tentpole attraction as Batman Im excited to see what they do(Zaslav has already said Superman will very much be at the center of the DCEU going forward). I hope they exceed the hype. I sincerely hope we get to see Cavill square off against Metallo, Parasite, Bizarro, Brainiac, Lobo and even Mr. Mxyzptlk.
The original reason lex went insane was kind of lame anyway.... Way back in the comics he is saved by Clark but something went wrong causing him to go bald. He blamed Clark for him going bald and became his arch Nemesis.... Pretty lame right?
@@retroatx I dunno... Superboy blowing acidic fumes (and God knows what else) in your face, permanently burning off your hair follicles, while you were cooking up a cure for Kryptonite for him, would probably tick me off too. 😄
The Superboy actor is Gerard Christopher. The Superboy show was cancelled because WB bought the Superman rights and wanted to make their own Superman show Lois & Clark. Gerard Christopher auditioned and got the role but was fired shortly after because the producers found out that he played Superboy and they didn't want an actor that played a Superman character previously so they scrambled and cast Dean Cain.
Superboy was cute. I forgot about this show. I only remember its sucessor The New Adventures of Lois and Clark with Dean Cain as Superman. I can tell that show borrowed elements from this show. I probably watched this show as a kid or at least the reruns. I also recall vaguely a cartoon about Superboy and his dog that could fly too. But this was a pretty good, well-acted scene.
I still think, to this day, Superboy & Superman & Lois are the closest to the quality & indeed heart of the Reeves movies.🌟 Wonderful upscaling job here Sam!!!!🌟
@@darthkurland yes indeed Micheal!!!! Those two episodes were iconic!!! The Williams mudguard cues & everything, in Chris’ first appearance as Dr Virgil Swann!!!!
I bought this on prime video a while back. It's been one of my favorites since childhood. I've always wondered though if they had prepared a super costume for ron to wear as well. I have to admit I was curious to see what he would of looked like as Superman.
I agree, Roads Not Taken was great too. Also the episode where Lex had a mind transfer and became Superboy. By brain switches I believe that was the actor who played Superboy's favorite episode. It was funny how I met him at Chicago con. I believe it was the second Wizard World then. He hid behind me to hide from a crazy skinny girl dressed up as Supergirl. I guess she was stalking him there. He asked me to just stand still for a few minutes until she left. I actually kind of felt bad for the young lady. But it was a funny way to meet and chat with him for like two minutes. I had my Ron Ely/Kal-El moment. LOL
@@micpar2 'Brain switch' episodes, or 'Evil Twin' episodes (including parallel worlds) or time travel episodes with a look-alike ancestor (like much of Dark Shadows in its later years) are going to be frequent favorites for actors, since it lets them play, in effect, a different role, often a polar opposite; this has to be a nice stretch, and great fun for any actor. Oh, and let's not forget Red Kryptonite or other personality-altering effects.
I'm certain I've seen this before (was a fan of the series when it first aired), but its been so long I've forgotten all of it, including this. Gonna have to see if its on DVD (or RU-vid ^_^) to watch the whole run someday.
@@13thwho there was a sexually and violent explicit book called A Feast Unknown by Philip Jose’ Farmer in which Tarzan fought Doc Savage. As Ely played both, we can say he is A Feast Unknown.
@@digipeeper I never heard of that book, but I did read Farmer’s “Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life”; which stated that Doc, Tarzan, and other famous characters were descendants of families affected by the meteorite at Wold Newton.
@@digipeeper Farmer had the ability to write some really bizarre stuff lol. He couldn't use the names of Tarzan and Doc Savage in A Feast Unknown so he invented a couple of new characters based off of them lol. Coming soon is a Doc Savage remake starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Doc Savage. It will be based on the books written by Lester Dent aka Kenneth Robeson.
Yep, Roads Not Taken and Road to Hell was literally the first time DC even introduced the concept of a multiverse in live-action. (The first non-live-action multiverse episode was in Superfriends)
Old Clark's explanation doesn't explain why there are Lex and Lois and Perry White in their respective times. Why do their lives coincide with Superman's presence on so many worlds ?
Lex is the same age as he is in Superboy's universe, so maybe Lois and Perry are too. They aren't mentioned. So maybe this is a superman that didn't have a Lois or Perry. We just don't know
When he said "after the war", I was wondering "which war?". I thought in most continuities, Superman remains in his prime significantly longer than the average human being, still appearing physical young. This Superman, while obviously still vital, considers himself "old" in his 60s or 70s. That doesn't seem right.
There is not strict canon like Superman is from Krypton when it comes to his aging. Some have him night immortal and others just having him enjoy his 50's like his late 30's. Also looking old isn't the same as his internal organs/muscles/bones operating like a teenager.
I still remember this episode: while they were flying, Superman was holding in his arms Lex and they were romantically watched the stars: -Do you remember the first time? -Yes, I still feel my butt.
What was his retirement accounts allocation ? Does he need to rebalance his portfolio? Did he save up enough money? What kind of health care plan does he have? Does he feel that he's losing his identity - cause now he doesn't work? Is he still able to - get it up? Does he have any new hobbies or interests? Does he feel that his day doesn't have structure now? Is he under too much debt? Will he have to take a side job to make ends meet? Is he withdrawing from Social Security too early?
I somehow missed this series growing up, and I was a superhero tragic (still am, really…). I’m not even sure it aired here in Australia! Unless, of course, it was between ‘86 and ‘90, which was when I began working full time, and didn’t have access to a VCR. Based on this clip alone, I think I would have enjoyed it. And Ron Eli! My Tarzan, and Doc Savage. He only got better with age, it seems… :) One thing that bugs me, though, is the name “Superboy”. I can understand why Ka-El is called Superman - it is a literal description of who he is, compared to the general populace. And yes, I know Siperboy was “created” after Superman, and it was logical to call him such, as he would grow up to be Superman, but I always felt the name only existed, because he was Superman in his future, and they wanted name recognition for the younger character (not that a Kal-El Superboy seems canonic, in modern comics…). More recent Superhero TV shows even call out character names sometimes. For instance, on the CW, the Flash is known as “The Blur”, until he goes public, and Green Arrow was just “Arrow”, and a couple of other names, before he abandons vengeance for justice. I wonder what Kal-El would have been called, if he had first appeared as a boy, in Smallville, rather than a grown man, in Metropolis? “Welcome to Smallville! Home of …”? “That boy is a Wonder”. “That boy is incredible”. “That boy can do things no other person in the world can do”. So, perhaps, Wonder Boy, or Boy Wonder (sorry, Robin, he was here first). Kid Incredible? Incredible Kid? What do you think? Personally, I like “Boy Wonder”, and he changes it to “Superman” when he leaves Smallvillle, to represent his coming of age (and that he is, literally, a super man). Or am I just overthinking this… :)
Clark is called "The Red Blue Blur" in the later seasons of Smallville and then eventually just "The Blur" up until the end when he finally becomes Superman. The Flash goes by "The Streak" for the first few episodes.
It was a licensing issue. Superboy and Superman were two different creative entities. Back then they had to get licensing from DC as well as the creator of Superboy's estate controlled by the Siegel family, Shuster family, as well as Time Warner who only owned and controlled the Trademark and not the copyright. During this time there was a lot of fighting between all of the above entities regarding who actually owned and controlled "Superboy" as well as some of the rights to "Superman". It all ended up in court back in 1997 and was fought in the courts for more than 10 years. Time Warner decided to "hedge their bet" so to speak and bought up DC Comics I think back in the early 2000's. But before it all went to court in 1997 there had been a lot of negotiating, and fighting between all the entities involved for many years so that is why they just bypassed the legal issue of using the name, "Superman" anywhere in the Superboy Tv show.
@@thomasjoseph5876 The Salkinds had sold the rights to Superman to the Cannon Group and didn't own them anymore while this show was in production. But they retained the rights to Supergirl, Superpup and Superboy, which was how they were able to make this show and include any character which appeared in Superboy comics - the only character that featured on this show that DIDN'T appear in Superboy comics was Metallo, which they got in trouble with DC over (but not enough to keep using him!). Also fun fact there are broadcast versions of this episode where Ron Ely is indeed credited as "Superman" despite everything.
@@gothamite27 The Salkinds only transferred the rights to Cannon for 1 movie, Superman IV. The Salkinds were involved in Superboy except for the initial casting in the first season but they got involved with selecting the new cast in season 2. They had planned a 5th season of Superboy and a Superman V movie but Warner was making life tough for them at the time. The Salkinds only had the rights for 25 years and that time limit was coming up and Warner wanted to do Lois and Clark so the Salkinds just walked away from Superboy season 5 and Superman V. This is what precluded the massive legal battle for rights back in the later part of the 90s and into the later part of the 2000's.
He looks like Jor-El Superman's father!Go HUG someone today IF they're been vaccinated and Happy Birthday to Captain Phoebus of The Hunchback of Notre Dame! Blessings and Hugs 💖💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕!
Odd to think this series and story is possible set be crisis in the dc comics one can pounder if even this series actually is part of that story and future series of Superman as a teenager the most strange thing in this is how the old Superman tell of the rocket ship he came in sealed in the early half of the 1940s my first thought his actually the George Reeves Superman slightly different but a shadow of this series in the why he looked and I know this Superboy show was film around Christopher Reeves time as Superman but there's echoes of his own story arriving in his tiny ship so it also makes sense that current stock stories are linked into this series to a possible time warp post Crisis and Man Of Steel? And not forgetting Arrowvserse and Superman And Lois and his cousin and sons?
The series was often dumb, and had a lot of rough spots in its first season as it tried to find its tone, but it also produced some interesting and imaginative episodes.
@@graemesewell1475 Since i just found out premieres only play in 1080p i've just gone ahead and made all the scheduled videos public early. I'll still schedule other videos in future, but it'll be a random time a few days after so the 4K has time to process. But they'll just be made public soon as they are ready. So yeah, bunch of clips public now including this one
