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"The Adventures of Superman - The Complete Second Season" is an essential for fans of the original series, it's star, the unforgettable George Reeves, and anyone who would enjoy seeing a series 'at the top of it's game', when it was a genuine national phenomena!
The back story is truly amazing; the first season, filmed in 1951, had taken two full years to finally reach the entire country (television, at that time, was still in it's infancy, and just beginning to spread throughout the nation, as the FCC issued licenses for new stations, from coast to coast). "The Adventures of Superman", syndicated and sponsored by Kellogg's, was a fresh, exciting series that many of the new stations picked up to help promote themselves, and sell televisions...and the series began an astonishing climb to a level of popularity that no one involved had ever anticipated.
Certainly, none of the cast was prepared for what happened; in the two-year hiatus, Phyllis Coates, the 'Lois Lane' of the first season, assuming the series was finished, took on other acting assignments, and was no longer available when the call went out for the second season to be filmed (her role was filled by the 'Lois Lane' of the 40s movie serials, Noel Neill, 33, who saw the role toned down considerably from the aggressive, feisty newspaperwoman of the first season). Jack Larson, 20, who had felt misgivings about the role of Jimmy Olsen from the beginning (only agreeing to the part when his agent joked that "nobody will ever see it, anyway") discovered himself typecast in the role, and his privacy lost...a situation even more acute for the series' star, George Reeves, now 39. During the series' hiatus, he had gotten a juicy supporting role in the blockbuster, "From Here to Eternity", only to see the role edited down to an unbilled cameo, as the producers feared a film featuring 'Superman' would lose it's impact as a 'serious' film. Reeves would only appear in three feature films during the series' entire run, and one film, afterward, all in supporting roles...with no film work at all, the last three years of his life...which provided 'motive' that his 1959 death was suicide (despite evidence of foul play).
Knowing what the future held for Reeves makes the second season of AOS a bittersweet experience, as he is so wonderful in the role! Still youthfully handsome, he projects even more confidence and ease than he had in the first season, and was far more 'kid friendly', as his fight scenes were toned down (as was all the violence, as Kellogg's responded to parents' concerns). With the national Superman 'craze' in full swing, he took special pains to remind children that "only Superman can fly", and his portrayal of the Man of Steel reflected his increasing sense of responsibility of being a good role model to a generation of children who adored him.
If the series lacked it's earlier grittiness, the second season offered spectacular compensations, especially in "Panic In the Sky", the most famous and popular episode of the entire series. As a huge asteroid plunges toward Earth, Superman launches himself into space, in a last-ditch effort to save the planet. Slamming into the gigantic rock head-on, all he can accomplish is to change it's course, temporarily...while being knocked into a state of amnesia by the encounter! With Earth's destruction imminent, can Superman regain his memory in time...AND find a way to stop it? Despite some primitive FX, the episode is STILL riveting, after a half-century!
This is DEFINITELY a 'Must-Have' collection!
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George Reeves was and is the only Superman. I have already ordered Season 2 and I am still watching Season 1. Just started Disc #4. The quality is superb. It's just like revisiting my childhool as this was, without a doubt the greates TV show of the 50's. Yes, the first season is darker and more violent. Season 2 contains my all time favorite episode-Panic in the Skies, and I can hardly wait. Way to go and keep all the seasons comming.
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The second season of the Adventures of Superman is now slated for release on January 17, 2006. In this season Noel Neill takes over as Lois Lane. (Neill played Lois in the Superman movie serials.) There are 26 black and white episodes, just like the first season, but this second season was a bit less violent than the first.
Here are the episodes in season 2:
Five Minutes to Doom
The Big Squeeze
The Man Who Could Read Minds
Jet Ace
Shot in the Dark
The Defeat of Superman
Superman in Exile
Ghost for Scotland Yard
The Dog Who Knew Superman
The Face and the Voice
The Man in the Lead Mask
Panic in the Sky
The Machine That Could Plot Crimes
Jungle Devil
My Friend Superman
The Clown Who Cried
The Boy Who Hated Superman
Semi-Private Eye
Perry White's Scoop
Beware the Wrecker
The Golden Vulture
Jimmy Olsen, Boy Editor
Lady in Black
Star of Fate
The Whistling Bird
Around the World with Superman
And special features should be:
Documentary: "The First Lady of Metropolis" profiles Noel Neill. Featuring Jack Larson, Leonard Maltin and others.
Commentary on 2 key episodes by Noel Neill and Jack Larson
"Stamp Day For Superman": Special episode promoting savings bonds with a new introduction by Jack Larson.
I'm giving the release 5 stars based on the fact that the first season was very well done, and I have high hopes that the second season DVD set will surpass all our expectations.
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Great series!
To me George Reeves is Superman just as Sean Connery was to James Bond, the original and the best!
The 1st season is my favorite, as is the first L. Lane.
I dont know if there is any truth to the rumors that day time TV stopped airing(banned)the show during children viewing hours because many kids were jumping out of windows?
Another longtime rumor we now know not to be true was the one about George Reeves commiting suicide by jumping out of a window in a confusion of character.
Love the show - glad its finally on DVD, hope the color ones will look better than the washed out color versions nick at night or TVland have aired. Be nice if they did a restoration job, we will have to see when they get released.
Keep em coming - im buying!
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If George Reeves had only lived to see how successful "The Adventures of Superman" became, he would be a proud man. I grew up with those wonderful adventures on television. When I bought my first VCR in 1980 the first thing I did was record TAOS off of a local Tampa Florida TV station. The prints were in bad shape and had been edited to the hilt so the station could insert as many commercials as they could. So, lousy quality and missing segments.
When Nick at Night began airing TAOS back in the late 1980's, the prints were of much higher quality but still lacked being a complete, or "intact" episode. Always there's something missing, cut out and laying on the cutting room floor. I again recorded these episodes, mastering them on BetaMax for a higher quality master. I then cut out all of the commercials and dubbed them to VHS for daily use. It was a little better, but still not what I really wanted.
Now with the release of TAOS season 1 on DVD, I have the entire first season, INTACT. No missing parts. The quality of the masters used to make this DVD is questionable, I would have expected more by way of digital enhancments (noise reduction, etc), but at least they're fairly good and ALL THERE! Better than what I had.
If you're a hard-core fan of "The Adventures of Superman" like I am, quality and content are sacred. The purchase of this Warner Brothers Home Video product was a good decision.
Season 2 of TAOS on DVDis expected to appear in stores on January 17, 2006 and I'll be there to get mine. I hope WB continues to release these DVDs on a regular schedule until all 6 seasons are available and in my eager little hands.
Thanks to George Reeves, the star. This guy is a class act and we were all cheated by his death on June 16, 1959. Suicide or homicide, we are the losers.
For more information on TAOS and a lot of historical background information, please vist my favorite watering hole: Jim Nolt's "The Adventure Continues" website, [...].
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