Adventures of Superman

Adventures of Superman

Clark Kent

Perry White

Announcer / ... (102 episodes, 1952-1958)

Jimmy Olsen

Inspector Henderson

Lois Lane

John Hamilton, who played Perry White, had trouble remembering his lines. The solution was to film him sitting at his desk, with the desk littered with papers--including the script--so he could glance down to be prompted for his next line.

When the series was picked up by Kellogg's, the breakfast cereal manufacturer, some of the cast members were able to make extra money by appearing in Kellogg's commercials. This did not include Phyllis Coates or Noel Neill. It was felt that Lois Lane having breakfast with Clark Kent was too suggestive.

It is now common knowledge that Clark Kent's Earth parents were named Jonathan and Martha. However, in the first episode, Adventures of Superman: Superman on Earth (1952), Kent's parents were named Eben and Sarah. This is because the comics themselves were inconsistent with the Kents' given names until the characters became major players in "Superboy" comics stories at about this same time. The names Sarah and Eben were first used in the novel "The Adventures of Superman" (1942) and in the first Superman serial.

In the opening credits the crowd is looking up in into the sky and four of them say (one line each): "It's a bird (male voice). It's a plane (female voice). It's Superman (male voice)." However, none of the people in the crowd actually can be seen saying these lines.

In some shots where Superman used the springboard to leap out of frame, the tip of the springboard would bounce back up and appear at the very bottom of the frame.

In the opening sequence at the beginning of all episodes, the revolver that is shown (as the narrator says, "Faster than a speeding bullet.") is obviously loaded with blanks. If there were real bullets in the gun, the lead bullet noses would be clearly visible sticking out in the cylinder. But there are none showing--just dark cylinder chambers. This can be most easily seen if one records the episode and then slows it down or freezes it just as the gun is pointing toward the viewer.

Perry White: Don't call me Chief!

Announcer: Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!

Lois Lane: Eureka