Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a man in a cape solving street-level crime! Yes, it’s 1952’s The Adventures of Superman…

What’s it about?

When not being verbally abused by co-worker Lois Lane or having to put up with the ‘gee-whizz’ shenanigans of dimwit Jimmy Olsen, mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent is in fact Superman.

Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound… he spent most of his time rescuing Lois and Jimmy from gangsters and mad scientists, and foiling the nefarious plots of people who look like they’ve escaped from the nightmares of Joe McCarthy.

Adventures ranged from saving Perry White and Jimmy from a mad old woman with a six shooter, to preventing a dog from giving away his secret identity, to stopping a werewolf from plunging a paper mill into financial ruin. This was the traditional Superman of the 1930s and 40s DC Comics; a champion of the little man, solving street-level injustices like racketeering and jewellery store robberies rather than fighting bald geniuses and Kryptonian generals.

Who was in it?

George Reeves donned the suits and spandex as Clark Kent/Superman, and with his chin-dimple and ‘fists on hips’ posturing he was a dead ringer for the comic book counterpart.

Phyllis Coates was the feisty Lois Lane but left after Season 1, having always wanted to distance herself from the character. She was replaced by popular World War II pin-up model and likely ‘most wolf-whistled at woman of the 1940s’, Noel Neill.

Jimmy Olsen was played by Jack Larson, and was perhaps the most gormless incarnation of the character that has ever existed. Cool bow tie though.

Best moment?

Season 1 contains two classic episodes that are definitely worth a look: ‘The Runaway Robot’ and ‘The Monkey Mystery’. The former sees Supes fighting a charmingly ramshackle bank-robbing robot that walks like it’s soiled itself and which sounds – to the modern ear – strangely like Richard Nixon. It’s a beautiful slice of Fifties retro-futurism and the plot is pure comic book goodness.

Also not to be missed, ‘The Monkey Mystery’ features Communists trying to get their hands on a secret formula, and a monkey dressed as Superman. Ho-ho, you read that right! A monkey in a Superman outfit. Commies and monkeys. Ready made Man of Steel sequel right there, folks.

Last seen?

After the show ended in 1958, several pilot Superman spin-offs were made, but never went into full production. Most (in)famous of all was the all-dog version of Superman, Superpup, because someone was insane enough to think that putting midgets in dog suits would make for great weekly telly. A pilot was filmed and never aired but, thank Zod, you can watch it on YouTube (be warned: it’s unintentionally terrifying).

TV across the decades has shown that there’s still space in the schedules for the Man of Steel, and in the 60 years since it ended The Adventures of Superman has influenced every subsequent Superman show.

The ’90s saw Superman: The Animated Series and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, which was essentially a modern update of the ‘50s series but with a heavier focus on romance (the plots were still as bonkers). Come the 21st century Smallville tackled Superman’s angsty teen roots but still gave us the ‘villain of the week’ format seen in the Reeves era.

The future?

With Smallville only having recently flown off our screens, it’s unlikely that we’ll see another Superman TV serial anytime soon. But c’mon, it’s Superman! There’ll always be a place for the Big Blue Boy Scout on our TVs.

Perhaps 2013’s release of Man of Steel in cinemas will result in a new grown-up and gritty Superman series?

> Buy Season 1 of The Adventures of Superman on DVD on Amazon.

What are your memories of The Adventures of Superman? Let us know below…