TV Talk - The Adventures of Superman Season 3 and 4

Hmm... how can I explain this episode where a gangster who's trying to steal a pie gets accosted by two Supermen (long story) in the North Pole???

Next up for the month is a return to The Adventures of Superman. Last year, I looked at the first two seasons, aka “The Black-and-White Era.” Now, I’ve gotten to the colored era for the show… or at least most of it. Apparently, some viewers would’ve seen the show in black-and-white since some TVs were just made for that setting. I was going to try and get through all four seasons, but I gotta stop somewhere in this binge. Besides, things are a bit “eh” this time. I’ll get to why below.

Seasons 3 and 4 aired from 1954 to 1956. We only got 13 episodes for each season, and that’ll be the same for the last two seasons. Nothing’s really changed with the cast itself. George Reeves is still in as Superman/Clark Kent, Noel Neill is still around as Lois Lane, Jack Larson is still cub reporter Jimmy Olsen, and John Hamilton is the grouchy Perry White. We also got Robert Shayne back as Inspector Henderson for a few episodes. The format is more or less the same:

• Long-a$$ intro that’s pretty similar to the Max Fleischer cartoon
• We’d get introduced to the main theme of the episode
• Superman/Clark, Lois, and Jimmy would be doing their job and such
• Lois, Jimmy, or Perry would somehow get into trouble
• Clark runs off, changes into costume, and does his crime-fighting thing
• Cue Superman march and possible marching band

 One thing that has changed is that both seasons have a more lighthearted, whimsical feel to them. Things aren’t as darker as the previous seasons were, and I’m not talking about the fact that we’re in color either. It wasn’t that dark to begin with, but those early seasons did have a crime show vibe to them. Some plots could be a little silly. Even when things got serious, you still felt that there was no peril.

No, you don't have to adjust your channel.

This especially affected Superman who barely throws punches on bad guys. He might karate-chop them, but that’s it. The bad guys would end up knocking themselves out sometimes. They also became caricatures since you’d have some pretty dumbfounded lackeys along with the criminal mastermind. Also, we probably got some more cases of brownface unless the Native Americans we saw were the real deal. The jury’s still out on that.

This just seems off. I guess someone decided to shoot on Gunsmoke's set for a day.

Some characters are more one-note than before. You definitely see this in Jimmy Olsen who kinda got on my nerves with these seasons. Yeah, he could be a little naïve, but man, I wanted to slap some sense in the boy! Perry was still his grumpy self, but he had some moments that were decent. I didn’t know he was also a nuclear scientist on the weekends! Lois and Clark are probably the one who come out of these seasons the best. I’ve warmed up to Noel Neill’s Lois, and Reeves’ Clark/Superman is good as as usual.

Sorry, Jack, but I wanted to slap Jimmy for a bit.

While it seems like I’m not liking these two seasons, I did think they was fine. The plots are pretty much the same old, same old. You got Superman going up against robbers, gangsters, weird machines, cowboys…, and pirates. Yeah, you read that right. I told you this starts to get silly! You find that out in the first episode of Season 3 when everybody gets teleported back to the caveman era. That being said, they were times where the silliness could be pretty funny. This one nutty scientist creates a machine that can mess with someone’s senses. Basically the camera was turned upside down, and that was kind of creative. Other than all this, that’s really all I got for now.

HIGHLIGHTS AND FAVORITE EPISODES

I know I want to return to the black and white era, but this is too much!

While I didn’t have too many favorites from these seasons, there were some I wanted to highlight.

Season 3:

• Through the Time Barrier – A criminal causes a professor’s time machine to malfunction, and it teleports them, Clark, Lois, Jimmy, and Perry back to caveman times.
• Great Caesar’s Ghost – Perry begins to hear voices and even sees the ghost of Julius Caesar. The team try to figure out what’s going on.
• Clark Kent, Outlaw – Clark gets framed for taking money from a criminal, so he plays into the act to take them down.
• Flight to the North – Things get weird and silly as Sylvester J. Superman comes to town… yeah, I know. Just watch the thing!

Season 4:

• Joey – Superman and the team have to help a young girl with a horse named Joey. Yeah, “it’s so sentimental,” I sarcastically say. At least horse loves may like it.
• The Big Freeze – A corrupt politican gets a scientist to use a freeze ray on Superman (zaps him of his powers) in order to win an election.
• Topsey Turvy – A group of robbers manipulate a scientist with a mind-bending machine to rob banks.
• Jimmy the Kid – It’s another look-a-like episode as a gangster takes Jimmy’s place to steal some evidence from Clark Kent.
• The Phantom Ring – Superman and the police have to contend with a gang who use invisibility to commit robberies.

…………………………………………….

In the end, these are two middling seasons. They’re not bad, but they aren’t that great either. It’s like someone wanted to sap out all the peril and coolness form the black-and-white seasons. Then again, you know how parent groups are with that thing called violence. Your mileage may vary with these here. I may be cutting it short for these series, but there is only so much I can say about them. Next time, I think it’s time to head back to Smallville. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.