Buy Adventures of Superman - The Complete Second Season

Amazon.com:
Adventures of Superman - The Complete Second Season pretty much follows the formula laid out in the first season, building on what made the groundbreaking show so popular. For many fans, season two is the best of the series and it is easy to see why. Each episode has that strong "mini-serial-crime-movie" feel and was again scripted and shot to appeal to adults as well as younger audiences. This would all change once season three, the first color Superman season, rolled around and the producers would strictly tailor the show for children. The biggest difference viewers will notice in this season is the new Lois Lane. Fans had to say goodbye to the wonderfully tough Phyllis Coates, replaced by the perkier Noel Neill who would play the sassy and smart journalist for seasons to come. For many young girls growing up in the 1950s Noel Neill's Lois Lane, the first liberated woman presented to the TV audience in the children's market, was the ultimate role model. Highlights of season two include "Panic in the sky" (the episode many feel is the series best--where Superman saves Metropolis from an asteroid that also erases his memory), "Semi-Private Eye" (where Jimmy Olsen poses as a private eye to stalk the bad guys), and "The Defeat of Superman" (where Superman loses his powers thanks to a dose of Kryptonite). --Rob Bracco

 Second Season Episode Guide

27-"Five Minutes to Doom" (9/18/1953)
An innocent man faces execution and Superman must save him.

28-"The Big Squeeze" (9/25/1953)
An ex-con has been rehabilitated, but is threatened with blackmail by a former jail-mate. Hugh Beaumont guest stars.

29-"Man Who Could Read Minds" (10/3/1953)
Investigating a series of robberies, Lois and Jimmy encounter the mysterious Swami Amada, and are captured.

30-"Jet Ace" (10/10/1953)
Spies attempt to wrest flight secrets from a convalescent test pilot. The pilot is trapped in a burning cabin.

31-"Shot in the Dark" (10/17/1953)
An old lady and her photographer nephew posess an infra-red photo of Clark becoming Superman.

32-"Defeat of Superman" (10/24/1953)
Happy King, a vengeful crook, discovers Kryptonite, the one substance that can harm Superman.

33-"Superman in Exile" (10/31/1953)
Superman stops a nuclear explosion, but becomes radioactive and has to go away for a while. Criminals have a field day while he's gone.

34-"Ghost for Scotland Yard" (11/7/1953)
Superman is called to dispel a British ghost.

35-"Dog Who Knew Superman" (11/14/1953)
A dog senses that Clark and Superman are one and the same and his adoration threatens to give the secret away.

36-"The Face and the Voice" (11/21/1953)
A gangster's face is altered to look like Superman's so he can perpetrate crimes and lay the blame on our hero. Includes Dr. Bellows (Hayden Roarke) in the role of a psychiatrist.

37-"Man in the Lead Mask" (11/28/1953)
A criminal escapes detection by donning a lead mask.

38-"Panic in the Sky" (12/5/1953)
A runaway asteroid gives Superman amnesia and later causes floods and earthquakes.

39-"Machine That Could Plot Crimes" (12/19/1953)
Crooks use a machine to plot perfect crimes, but Superman uses it to turn the tables.


40-"Jungle Devil" (12/19/1953)
Searching for a lost scientist, Lois, Jimmy and Clark are captured by jungle natives. Superman wrestles a gorilla.

41-"My Friend, Superman" (12/26/1953)
Tony, proprietor of the diner near The Daily Planet, boasts of a friendship with Superman to avoid protection racketeers.

42-"Clown Who Cried" (1/2/1954)
A popular clown is impersonated by his former partner-turned-criminal, Crackers, who steals money from a benefit.

43-"The Boy Who Hated Superman" (1/9/1954)
Frankie wants to help his incarcerated uncle by spying on Clark and Jimmy. Instead he learns about honor and trust.

44-"Semi-Private Eye" (1/16/1954)
A private detective is kidnapped, and Jimmy tries to step in and solve the case himself, only to get captured.

45-"Perry White's Scoop" (1/23/1954)
A mysterious diver's corpse appears on Metropolis' main street.

46-"Beware the Wrecker" (1/30/1954)
The "Wrecker" is an unknown enemy who may be destroying planes, trains and ships. A bell sound is the only clue.

47-"The Golden Vulture" (2/6/1954)
The master of the tramp ship "Golden Vulture" turns stolen gold into recovered treasure. Lois and Jimmy are captured.

48-"Jimmy Olsen, Boy Editor" (2/13/1954)
Jimmy gets to be editor for a day and fakes a story to catch a crook--but his plan backfires.

49-"Lady in Black" (2/20/1954)
Jimmy is baffled by a gang of art theives. Who is the mysterious Lady in Black?

50-"Star of Fate" (2/27/1954)
A cursed Egyptian sapphire that contains a hidden needle is auctioned off and poisons Lois and others.

51-"Whistling Bird" (3/6/1954)
A doctor teaches his parakeet the formula for an explosive and the bird is captured by a spy.

52-"Around the World" (3/13/1954)
Superman helps restore vision to a blind child and reunites an estranged couple for a promotional stunt. This was the last black and white episode.



Special 1954 - Stamp Day for Superman

Black-and-white seasons, 1952-1953

The noir-like episodes of the first two seasons resemble theatrical action-adventure serials and crime melodramas of the 1940s. The supporting casts are filled with established movie character actors, heightening the resemblance. Phyllis Coates, like George Reeves, was a popular lead in B features of the period. For the TV series, Reeves suggested that Coates receive equal star billing. Coates created a sharp, strong-willed Lois Lane, an enterprising reporter who tries to out-scoop Clark Kent. Jack Larson presents Jimmy Olsen as a Daily Planet intern always investigating the truth behind something wrong, but being caught by the villains. He usually receives help from Superman in the nick of time. Superman himself is seen as a semi-mysterious presence, unknown to many of the crooks ("Who's the guy in the circus suit?" asks a villain in "The Riddle of the Chinese Jade"). The episodes usually featured action-packed, gritty, and often violent storylines in which Superman fought gangsters and crimelords. Many characters met their deaths in these episodes, some of them shown on screen.

When it came time to reassemble the cast and crew for filming the second season, Phyllis Coates was no longer available, having committed to another project. The producers then hired Noel Neill and gave her secondary billing with Larson, Hamilton, and Shayne. Neill's portrayal was more accessible to the younger television audience, sweeter and more sympathetic than the efficient, hard-as-nails Coates characterization. Bob Maxwell, whose episodes in the first season verged on the macabre, left the show (going on to produce Lassie in 1954). Whitney Ellsworth became Superman producer in 1953 and would remain so for the duration of the series (he was already working on the show, as an uncredited associate producer and story editor, during the initial season). The second season shows were still fairly serious in nature, retaining its film-noir/crime drama qualities while steering more in a science fiction direction, with Ellsworth tempering the violence significantly. With most of the villains becoming comic bunglers less likely to frighten the show's juvenile viewers and only some occasional deaths, usually off-screen, Kellogg's gave its full approval to Ellsworth's approach and the show remained a success. Sentimental or humorous stories were more in evidence than in the first season. A large portion of the stories, however, dealt with Superman's personal issues, such as his memory loss in "Panic in the Sky".

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