They had some brilliant writers for this show. I've seen some interviews. But is was George Reeves who cemented the whole thing together. He was a magnificent fellow and the only real Superman !
Even though I was born in the late nineties and only got into Superman a few years ago, this is the version of Superman I love the best. He had such sincerity, such charm, such amiability, such genuine concern for others, such deep and subdued emotions. No one will ever be the same for me.
I might have the minority opinion, but George Reeves is still the most believable Superman. Christopher Reeve had the benefit of better special fx and he gave it a solid effort, but I always thought he was secretly "winking" when he played the part. George took it completely seriously. Also, the first season of the 50s TV Superman is easily the best.
@@kevincassidy7233 I prefer Phyllis Coates' Lois Lane over Noel Neill. First two b&w seasons are easily the best. Once they colorized it and made it more kid friendly, the scripts were very infantile. Professor Pepperwinkle? Really? Reeves started to look older and lost that commanding physical appearance he had in season one and two.
Couldn't agree more, Bash. George Reeves set the standard and although Christopher Reeves did an admirable job with the role, when I looked at him on the big screen, I still saw George. This is what I ran home from grade school to watch every Monday Wednesday and Friday in the good old days.
Yes!!! I truly agree, I really love the first season, love his demeanor, his seriousness, charm, charisma, he really embodied the role of superman, there will never be another George Reeves, forever superman.
Loved and admired by those who fight for what is right. I miss superman, and the days long ago when he flew our skies. God bless superman. God bless George Reeves.
I met Ms. Noel Neil in Metropolis Illinois. She is a classy, and wonderful lady. When I asked her about our favorite newspaper editor Perry White (Mr. John Hamilton), she aswered that he was a very serious actor on screen and off. It was a real pleasure to talk with her. Thanks Ms. Neil.
George Reeves = Superman. The episodes from 1952 to 1958 are the only ones that matter. The 1978 Movie Superman and 1980 Superman 2 are great. But they don't compares to the 1950's episodes which had all the spirit!
The special effects have improved greatly over the years, but to quote Jack Larson, "George Reeves' take-offs and landings are the best", and have yet to be equaled.
Really, I agree this should have been included on one of the Superman DVD sets - it's a great collection of shots from the second season - slightly lighter in heart than Season One but still great - a little later on some of the episodes got a little silly due to the demands of Kellogg's cereal as a main sponser but they were still entertaining to watch, and after all we were all kids - GEORGE was the BEST Superman and an underated actor...
FANTASTIC to see this - this was when the show was picked up for a second season even though the first season was somewhat darker and more serious, the second season was very good too - then, as the color shows came into being, well, the show got a little campy but was still great to watch as a Kid. I think GEORGE REEVES was a very fine actor, I wonder if he understood how much we all admired him.
Great clips, lotsa fun. Check out George's expresson on :22. The bad guys are in deep trouble. And Noel's smile @ 2:10 is simply adorable. Thanks for posting.
It was a bummer in 1958 when the show got cancelled but 2 years later they were going to revive the TV series. But we all know what happened in June of 1959. George Reeves dies. So it wasn't meant to be. I was 8 years old when I read the tragic news in the local news paper. I'm almost 68 years old and still get thrilled watching these old TV episodes. George Reeves will always be the only Superman.
I couldn’t agree with you more. I read somewhere that had the series returned, Pierre Watkin (the original Perry White from the movie serials) would have replaced the late John Hamilton as Perry’s brother.
Jan. 25, 2021----1953, the year I was born. A few years later, we were living at Apple Valley, Calif. with Dad being stationed at George AFB. Get out of elementary school and hauling ass to sit down in front of our B&W tv.
I agree with most here, G reeves was so good, a shame he felt left out in getting other roles, Hollywoodland with Adrien brody was very good at giving both sides of what happened the night he died. America kids and those fans will never forget the opening theme, Chris reeve was excellent and Tom Welling is top notch as Superboy Hurrah to the history all variations we enjoy
George Reeves will forever be my #1 Superman!!, Ok Christopher Reeves comes #2 Is it just me these two actors have the same last names, what a coincidence!!!! Cool!!!
I Was Eleven Years Old When George Reeves Died In 1959 Quite A Shock To All His Followers Mostly Children He Seemed Like A Kind And Compassionate Human Being Will His Murder Ever Be Solved RIP We Miss You Dana Rowe
I was seven years old and completely devastated when he supposedly committed "suicide". I'll never believe it. To me he will always be my one true Superman.
The Greatest! Colourful, bright, Optimistic, hopeful, heroic, innocent, passionate! To go forward maybe we need to gthink about looking back at some things that were truly great.
This is the greatest thing that was ever in the 1950s that has kept it alive for years to come and this how most people found out about superman in the first place that George was there for his fans in person because he was the only one at the time that they had at the time
I agree.I didn't know this set of previews exsisted.I've seen 2 sets of 1951 previews.One set followed "The Birthday Letter" The other followed "Mystery in Wax"or "Human Bomb",I believe.Thanks to Geezersinc for posting this.
When I watched the show was almost ten years old in syndicated reruns for my six yr old brain to absorb still brings happiness for different reasons, but still happiness.
If these previews were aired before the credits rolled, which I beleive to be true, it really amazes me how much time they had to do so in the early days of television. Looking at television today, when they air classic shows such as this one, they usually edit scenes, or speed certain sequences to allow for more commercials, such is true of TV Land, which rolls the ending credits and the final scene simultaneously, destroying the enjoyment of the shows final scenes.
Reeves was apparently despondent attributable to the fact that when the series stopped production in 1957, he had no prospects for film or television work. However, Noel Neill and Jack Larson state in interviews that the series was scheduled to resume production in 1959 with Reeves. It was also acknowledged that Reeves was being paid an insignificant salary during the five years that the series was done; he supplemented his income with gifts from Toni Mannix, but the relationship had ended.
I loved watching this series on TV Land back when I was a kid growing up in the 1990s. Even though a third of the series was in black and white, there was something so magical about this lil show. Dean Cain was my Superman, but this series was more a straight up actioner, with an actor that played the character straight, that Lois and Clark wasn't.
@anonyms404 George made sm into a human being,with compassion for a society way behind the Civilization he came from,they spoke of this in the Chris Reeves version,but CR couldn't pull it off,GR could and did.CR had the benefit of the FULL hollywood high budget major feature film budget Treatment,bringing in the great Marlon Brando to mumble a couple of lines,so it Should be a Superior Product. George Reeves made superman into a human being.
Back in the early days of TV, they actually had the time to play these previews after the actual showing of the program, then they would roll the credits. That practice seemed to go all the way till some 15 years or more ago. The intros to some shows even told the show's story, like Gilligan's Island and F Troop amongst many. Today's Tv is just the opposite, now the intros are less than a minute,and they want to advertise during the show and in the credit roll.
The episode that really sticks out for me is the one when Jimmy, Lois, Clark Kent and (if I remember correctly) Perry White were all trapped in a cave or something and Clark had to finally come out and reveal his true identity in front of everybody. However, there was a spray can of instant memory eraser and Superman sprayed the others with it just before he rescued them. The response of the other characters to Clark's big reveal was amazing to see as they all admitted they had thought Clark Kent to really be Superman all along.
Permit me to clarify...the FIRST SEASON episodes originally had PREVIEWS and were included at the end. The SECOND SEASON (1953) previews posted here on You Tube are home-made in the same style as the FIRST SEASON previews. The same guy has also done some COLOR EPISODE home-made Previews as well, but they, too, were never a part of the original series.
Yes,fond memories growing up.If you had UHF TV,you were doing good!Life was simple,we some role models to look up to when we were kids.NOW,We live in a friggin SEWER!!!!
The alien superbaby was not just a Jew, but also a very special one. Like Moses. Much as the baby prophet was floated in a reed basket by a mother desperate to spare him from an Egyptian Pharaoh’s death warrant, so moments before Kal-El’s planet blew up, his doomed parents tucked him into a spaceship that rocketed him to the safety of Earth. Both babies were rescued by non-Jews and raised in foreign cultures - Moses by Pharaoh’s daughter, Kal-El by Kansas farmers named Kent - and all the adoptive parents quickly learned how exceptional their foundlings were. The narratives of Krypton’s birth and death borrow the language of Genesis. Kal-El’s escape to Earth is the story of Exodus. The explosion of Krypton conjures up images from the mystical Kabbalah where the divine vessel was shattered and Jews were called on to perform tikkun olam, repairing the vessel and the world. No one did more of that than the Man From Metropolis.
Playing the role of Superman which George Reeves did very well it probably cost him his life. Not being able to get substantial roles to expand his career he wound up in debt far beyond mortal men. Unable to sustain his way of life he took his own life so Ben Affleck could fill his boots many years later. Long live Superman!!
Dean Cain's Superman was the version I grew up with, and I really enjoyed that the character of Clark Kent was made interesting (and portrayed as the guy's true personality). Portrayals of Clark as the bumbling, stammering fool, a mere disguise of Superman's, have always seemed a little unrealistic and shallow in comparison.
Actually, this is a "new" preview, created especially for the series several years back, feauring highlights of all 26 episodes from season two (1953-'54). The original "Previews" aired only during season one, and they usually lasted about a minute or less, concentrating on one or two "upcoming episodes". The running time for this one suggests a "special filler" was needed for the end of one episode, and this was it...
Yep .. George is the man .. by god, wouldn't you've loved to have him come home for dinner & a good night's chat .. a most likeable gentleman, on & off the screen .. that's the word, on good advice ...
@josemanuel599 See if you can locate a copy of Jan Alan Henderson's "Speeding Bullet." It is the most exhaustive study as to the events on June 16, 1959 that I know of.
