A must see for a kid in the 50's. We all waited for the next show to be on. One of the most traumatic events of my young life was when a friend said Superman was dead and that he had comitted suicide. How could Superman kill himself? He was the man of steel! It put the finishing touch on my childhood and probably made cynics of a whole generation.

superman rocks

I love all 104 episodes of the Adventures of Superman. This show kept my interest with it's mix of adventure, sci fi, crime, warmth, and comedy. Only one style would have bored me, but Superman had it all and continues to entertain me. The characters were wonderful. It's still a delight to spend time with Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, and Inspector Henderson. I also love both Lois Lanes. The first Lois is all business and the second Lois melts my heart with that smile of hers! George Reeves is fantastic in each and every episode. The Adventures of Superman is still a joy for me to behold in 2005. I can always count on any one of the 104 episodes to make me smile. All of them bring joy to my heart and there are very few shows that can entertain me for 104 episodes.

This show is a very happy television memory for me. For a kid of the 1950s and early 1960s this was a heck of a good program. None of the shows at that time had super duper special effects so all things considered they did a pretty good job. Like "Outer Limits," fans of the show make allowances for things like recognizing stock footage every time Clark Kent went into the store room or ran behind the same boulder or down the same alley to change into Superman. The stories were good and often imaginative and the good guys always won thanks to Superman. Over the years when I have seen some of the character actors in other shows or movies I always identified them with the part they played in Superman. When Dabbs Greer became the reverend on "Little House" my first reaction was "Oh yeah I remember him. That's the guy Superman saved from the electric chair." The show had a pretty good cast with George Reeves, Noel Neill  (first season had Phyllis Coates) as Lois Lane, and Jack Larson as Jimmy Olsen as the primary cast members and they seemed the best actors for the part. (Noel Neill played Lois Lane in one of the Superman movie serials in the 1940s) John Hamilton (Perry White) and Robert Shayne (Inspector Henderson) were verteran film actors before they became part of the Superman cast. Ben Weldon, the chubby bald guy who usually played a criminal named "Louie" or "Lefty" can also be seen in character parts in a number of films. Denver Pyle, Sterling Holloway, Ruta Lee, Russell Johnson (The Professor on Gilligan's Island), Chuck Connors, and Hugh Beaumont (Ward Cleaver) all had major roles in at least one program. The company in charge of production had the foresight to shoot all but the first season in color. Considering color television did not become available until 1954, that was cutting edge for its day. For those who have been raised on computerized special effects and spectacular visuals, the 1950s Adventures of Superman Show may seem quaint and kind of drab but fans of the program are willing to overlook it's flaws and don't even try to compare it to modern, technically advanced programs. It's my childhood, it's my memory, and even though I have always known the waves of Kryptonite passing through Superman's body is an animation, it will always be cool to me.

Great for the time period. Adapted from the comic book.

I recently bought the first 2 seasons of this classic show in black and white on DVD from Amazon.com and have no regrets. 26 shows each season. Seasons 3 and 4 will be out at the end of June. Those seasons were filmed in color but because of the costs of filming in color, they only did 13 episodes per season and will combine 3 and 4 in one package. If you are a fan of this series, buy it, sit back and relive those days of: "Faster than a speeding bullet...more powerful than a locomotive...able to leap tall buildings at a single bound...!!!"

George Reeves was so big and strong. He really was super. Lois Lane was an old hag though.

Couldn't wait to get home and watch this show when I was a kid. When my older brother told me Superman was dead I did not believe him. Thought he was real-Duh!

The original and the best Superman...Admittedly,some of the episodes were a bit weak, but George Reeves was ideal for the part.. (shame about his premature death)-- The theme music with the voice-over is typical fifties, and I still find that intriguing.

What can I say I'm a sucker for these old time shows especilly ones like Superman

This was a fun but hokey Superman. The black and white episodes were far superior to the colored ones. It was what you would expect a 50's Superman to be like. George Reeves was very handsome and perfect as Clark Kent/Superman.

Great show..still watch it..George Reeves was so athletic...he could jump out that window and make it look real...for coming in he would jump down off a stepladder..I was told he was a judo expect so that explains it. Anyway he was a fine actor who go typecast...could have gone on to better things.

I love the new Superman that came out in the 80's, those Superman movies. The old black & whites suck

The Adventures of Superman is much better than the yawn-inducing and somewhat-worrisome Smallville series. Also currently airing on TV Land, this is a thirty-minute action series that could easily be interchanged with the animated cartoons of the time.

There are actually two versions of "The Adventures of Superman." The first was the BW series with Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane and the second was the color version with Noel Neill as the "girl reporter." The first was far superior to the second in that the atmosphere of the BW series was noirish/sinister and there was an attempt to produce a show that adults would find at least somewhat diverting. Also, Ms. Coates was incredibly bitchy and sexy. The color version was total kid stuff with goofy plots and ridiculous ancillary characters. Ms. Neill was about as sexy as a Sunday School teacher. The series as a whole suffered from low-budget production values. This is a very overrated program due to its retro "back when" appeal, but still provides some inadvertant laughs.

I enjoyed it as a child (when I was too young to be turned off by the cheesy acting and cheap sets), but now I've been jaded by the better and hunkier Supermen who came after (Christopher Reeve and, especially Dean Cain). Man, was that original Superman (George Reeves) a porker!

Great Ceaser's Ghost! Look, up in the sky. Its a bird, its a plane, no its Superman! A great show from early television.

Mostly because I enjoy watching Lois Lane getting in situations where Superman has to save her.

Watching it today, it's a bit hokey and goofy. When I was a kid it had already been in reruns for years, but I still didn't miss it if I could help it. Compared to today's standards, the special effects and costumes are practically medieval.

Maybe if they had spent at least 20 dollars in the series it would have been better.