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Just a few notes for our fans of TAOS: Type Jim Nolt, Adventures of Superman into your browser for the greatest single resource of Superman/George Reeves material you'd ever want.

Were you ever a fan of both The Andy Griffith Show and The Adventures of Superman? Did you notice the street scenes and buildings in town were identical? Both shows filmed on the same set on the "back forty" behind RKO/Pathe Studios in Culver City, which is now Culver Studios.

In fact, if you freeze-frame the moment in "The Mind Machine" when Superman, pursuing the runaway school bus down the dirt road hill, stops atop the hill to view the situation, you can actually see the Tara mansion from "Gone With the Wind" in the background, on the RKO set, where they filmed key scenes from "GWTW".

Sure, TAOS was filmed on cheap budgets (why else would all four regular characters wear the exact same outfits for every show?). But the actors, the writers, and the music scores brought everything to life.

Everyone knows the Daily Planet building in the final five seasons was L.A. City Hall; but in the first season, the much smaller Daily Planet Building was the old Mutual of Omaha/Asahi Beer Building in the 5200-5400 block of Wilshire in L.A., which still stands. Back in 1953, that was the tallest building in the area, but now it's dwarfed by dozens of nearby structures.

I saw "Hollywoodland" and thought Ben Afflect spent too much time smirking in his role as George Reeves. Reeves may have felt that was as a man, but you never knew it by his characterization.

Too bad the final two seasons degenerated into pratfalls comedy, with cartoonish villains; the Sylvester Superman (Chuck Connors and his mule) episode; Professor Pepperwinkle's latest Rube Goldbergian concoction; and the color prints making the show appear more like a comic strip than a halfway-believeable drama series.

Fell after season one (not sure why the season 2 ep where Superman gets hit by the object from space is supposed to be so classic). Though Coates was indeed a bigger hottie than Neil as Lois Lane the show hung on just well enough until it switched to color. Then in color the crooks became as threatening as something like clowns out of a kid's birthday party (as another poster said). And also originally Supes went to real countries (like Germany) later in the show the countries were usually more mythical. The show got further away from reality (course with a guy flying like a bird you can only be so realistic to begin with).

NEVER JUMPED. Now, the tone of the show did change, beginning with Season 2 (B/W) then continuing when they went to color (Season 3 onward). There were more lighthearted, whimsical and sometimes goofy stories. And sometimes ones featuring kids as a central character. But this was done because in 1953 Senator Estes Kefauver held witch hunt Senate hearings on comic books, TV, and violence, and the producers, Kellogs Cornflakes, everybody was afraid that Kefauver's witch hunters would pull Superman off TV. So they toned the vioence down. But the stories were still clever and entertaining, and the cast was still fricken awesome. So the show DID NOT JTS. Also, it turns out that in about 1970, a group of namby-pambies called 'Action for Children's Television' pressurized CBS into pulling the cartoon Superman off TV because it was allegedly too violent. So the producers of TAS were right. Also, to the people who talk about Supes ducking when the hook threw the pistol at him: OK, the director screwed up, but it only happend in 1 episode out of 104 episodes. Give it a rest.

TAS was great! However, can somebody please explain to me how people would shoot at the man of steel and he would just stand there. Sometimes the look on his face would say"I'll wait till you are done". Then when they ran out of bullits they would throw the guns at him. And what did the man of steel do? He would duck to get out of the way. Anybody out there have an any idea why?

Here's a message to FOX--why not have an "Old Fashioned Adventures of Superman" air on Tuesdays following "American Idol"? Brandon Routh would be perfect for The Man of Steel in smaller doses than in the box office, though Teri Hatcher can't be Lois any longer due to her "Desperate Housewives" commitment. The opening episode could have Hatcher in a GS role however, as a woman who emulates Superman, wears his costume and even takes a bullet for him, prompting Superman to tell the kids "Don't try this stuff at home". It would be clean, wholesome comfort food TV in this post-2001 world.

To the other Bob--

Not only what you talked about drives me crazy, but in the episode "Shot In the Dark", a woman produces a shot of Superman putting on pants and a shirt. Nowhere in the picture does he wear glasses. How were they so sure it was a shot of Kent? EVERY guy wore those kinds of clothes back then.

I love the episodes where they reversed the flying shots, and the "S" is backwards on his shirt. And watch "Panic In the Sky" closely; when Supe starts to undress in the presence of Jimmy Olsen, Reeves reveals a short-sleeved costume!

I agree with the posters about the B&W episodes being acted for an older audience! When this notorious penny-pinching show switched to color I feel the producers sat back in wide-eyed wonder and tried to put as little into the product as they could get away with! They must have known something, the show ran several more years, and turned a tidy profit!
I can't help but disagree on all the Phyllis/Noel posters!I feel Phyllis Coates played the role angry all the time! I never felt she was compassionate enough to have under the surface feelings the characters were supposed to share! A real Ice Queen portrayal! On the other hand, Noel Neill played her as smart, and vulnerable! There seemed to be a real friendship between them, and it certainly shows through on screen even now. Besides Noel Neill was much easier to look at.(Bright Red Hair aside)and they really had to squeeze her into those outfits she constantly wore!

IN THE SHOW THAT LOIS IS TRAPPED MINE EXPLOSION...CLARK IS DRIVING WHEN HIS CAR BREAKS DOWN. HE GETS OUT OF THE CAR TO CHECK UNDER THE HOOD. THE RADIO IS PLAYING MUSIC. THE MUSIC STOPS AND THE GUY ON THE RADIO RBPORTS ABOUT A MINE CAVE IN. MEANWHILE MR. KENT IS STILL UNDER THE HOOD. AS THE NEWS OF THE CAVE IN IS REPORTED,CLARK "REVS" UP THE ENGINE. IF HE IS SO SUPER HOW DID HE MISS THE NEWS ON THE RADIO? DOES ANYBODY KNOW THE REASON? PLEASE HELP..THIS IS DIVING ME NUTS. THANKS

I grew up with TAS and I loved it! Now that I'm older, I appreciate the first season more than the others, except for "Panic In the Sky". That one's a true classic and I still enjoy watching it when it comes on the tube.

Noel Neil was good as Lois because she fit the direction they wanted to go for the "kiddie show" appeal they wanted. She was a hottie in the movie serials and as a young woman. By this point, not as much, but she was very petite and I have a thing for petite women...

Terri Hatcher was a VERY HOT Lois Lane, but Phyllis Coates, in her prime, could give Ms. Hatcher a run for her money. Phyllis rocks!

Early AOS eps were violent, kinda deep, slightly realistic (or almost as realistic as you can get given the title character) and even heavily plotted! A good example is a Phyllis Coates ep all about smuggled microfilm, a scientist's (?) refugee-daughter coming to america, cheap hoods and an Italian-organ grinder and his monkey--the simian dressed like Superman! And there's two murders in the ep! Later color Noel Neil eps were never this heavy on plot and they had no death count!

I couldn't agree more with Flapdoodle's dissing of "Superman Returns". I was beginning to think I was the only one who truly hated that movie. What a disappointment-esp. after the good work Singer did on the first two X-Men flicks.

Of course the show jumped the sharp after season one. Everything was played straight in that season, Superman being the short-tempered fighter he was on radio. Then, it became a "kiddie series" with poor compensation to Reeves, and his spoken prayer to Jack Larson that any adult might appreciate his work. Contrast any episode of season one with the last show of the series, where Reeves was overweight, spoke like he had a sinus condition, and was obviously just marking time. He was simply embarrassed. Typecast and humiliated by an offer to enter professional wrestling, of course he committed suicide.

I just have to say one more thing about ‘Adventures of Superman:’ If you spend the time to watch any one episode of this show, a little more than 20 minutes, you will find greater satisfaction than watching the over 2+ hours mess titled ‘Superman Returns.’ In particular, ‘The Defeat of Superman’ offers a much more plausible kryptonite trap than did Bryan Singer, who had all the money in the world. In that episode, Superman’s near death experience and Noel Neill’s reaction to it have greater emotional resonance than Bryan Singer could generate as well. With only 25 minutes per show and virtually zero budget, the cast and crew of this wonderful series were consistently better than anything big budget movie and TV people have done since ‘Superman II.’

In general I think Phyllis Coates was a little sexier than Noel Niell, but if you check out Noel in the B/W episodes you’ll see she was still pretty darn cute. Also, check out the 1948 Superman serial, especially all the scenes where Noel wears this big hat, and I think you will appreciate her even more. I think the color process TAS used created that weird look to her hair in the last few seasons of TAS. So, I guess I am here to defend Noel and her honor. [BTW, there is an obscure b-movie from the early 1950’s called ‘Invasion USA’ that has both Noel Niell and Phyllis Coates in it.]

Anyway…The Adventures of Superman (TAS) was a great show. The B/W episodes were better than the color ones, but even the lamest of the color episodes totally crushes ‘Smallville’ or ‘Lois and Clark.’ Those newer shows are way too glam, the Supermen are total pansies. George Reeves was the best Superman because he acted the most like Superman would really act. Also, Jimmy and Perry were great, and both Loises were great.

Some people criticize little glitches like George Reeves ducking when the gun was thrown at him and poke fun at the primitive special effects. Well, these shows were produced for a cost of about $5.00 per episode, so of course there is going to be some cheesiness.

To put it another way, to criticize this show because it looks cheap is like criticizing Iraqi civilians because their government is dysfunctional.

But the great thing about the show was that the writers managed to cook up a creative and interesting situation almost every show. Somehow the actors made you care about what should have been ridiculous cartoon figures. Some shows were turkeys of course, but I will still watch them happily because the actors are like old friends, and TAS feels like a trip to hometown.

BTW, some posters have said that Ben Affleck made a good George Reeves in ‘Hollywoodland.’ Well, it was a good film by Ben Affleck standards, but I challenge anyone to do a back to back comparison. Next to Ben Affleck, George Reeves is Lawrence Olivier.

I loved this as a kid. But the big problem with any "Superman" tv series, movie, etc. is...How can anyone beat the guy, except by using Kryptonite? And Superman should be getting wise to when Kryptonite is around by now. There can't be that much of it floating around our atmosphere.

The first Lois on this show wasn't bad looking. Lois #2, the one with the orange hair in the color episodes, seemed like a pain in the ass. Wasn't much to look at either. Terri Hatcher, in the "Lois and Kent" series, was by FAR the hottest Lois Lane.

If you were a fan of the 50's tv show check out the movie, "Hollywoodland" Ben Affleck does a good job of playing George Reeves. Bit of trivia, Reeves has small parts in 2 of the greatest movies ever made, "Gone with the Wind" and "From Here to Eternity"