Superboy is a half-hour live-action television series based on the fictional DC Comics comic book character Superman's early years as Superboy. The show ran from 1988–1992 in syndication. It was renamed The Adventures of Superboy at the start of the third season.[4]
Contents[]
[show]
Background[edit][]
The Superboy series was brought to the screen by executive producers Ilyaand Alexander Salkind, the producers of the first three Superman movies and the 1984 Supergirl movie.[5] This series and the release of the 1988 Supermananimated series on CBS coincided with the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Superman character that year. Ironically, the series came about a year after DC Comics had "erased" the character of Superboy from their continuity in The Man of Steel reboot by John Byrne. Nevertheless, the show went on in October 1988 with John Haymes Newton playing the lead role ofSuperboy/Clark Kent, along with Stacy Haiduk as love interest Lana Lang andJim Calvert as Clark's college roommate T.J. White.
Siegel & Shuster[edit][]
As with all Superman properties, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, Superman's creators, received no proceeds whatsoever from the show. Nevertheless, this version of "Superboy" featured Clark Kent/Superboy attending the Siegel School of Journalism at Shuster University in Shusterville, Florida - names which reference Superman's creators.
Disney/MGM Studios and Universal Studios Florida[edit][]
Superboy was the first weekly TV series to be produced at the then newDisney/MGM Studios.[6] For the second season onward, the series moved several miles down Interstate 4 to Universal Studios Florida, the largest motion picture and television-sound facility outside Hollywood, where it was then showcased as that studio's first weekly television product.
At first, much of the action centered around stories that Clark and T.J. reported on for the college newspaper, the Shuster Herald. All the exterior scenes shot at "Shuster University" are actually filmed on the main campus of the University of Central Florida. Siegelville, however, was depicted as a coastal city, as evidenced by imagery of both the new and old Sunshine Skyway Bridges in St. Petersburg, Florida in the opening credits.[7]
Comic book writers' contributions[edit][]
Superboy was brought to life by many actual comic book writers. Superman editors Mike Carlin and Andrew Helfer penned several episodes, such as "The Alien Solution", its sequel "Revenge of the Alien" and "The Bride of Bizarro". Other comic book writers that contributed to the series include Denny O'Neil, Cary Bates, J. M. DeMatteis and Mark Evanier.
Series history[edit][]
Main article: List of Superboy episodes
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Season 1[edit][]
The first season of the series, which began airing in October 1988, focused on Superboy/Clark Kent (John Haymes Newton), his childhood friend and love interest Lana Lang (Stacy Haiduk) and his college roommate T.J. White (Jim Calvert), son ofDaily Planet editor Perry White. Scott James Wells played Superboy's nemesis Lex Luthor. Clark's adoptive parents,Jonathan and Martha Kent, were portrayed by Stuart Whitman and Salome Jens, respectively.[8]
In an interview with Boys' Life prior to the show's debut, Newton also spoke of the importance of overall character development and his focus would both be on Superboy and Clark Kent. "When Clark is not Superboy; he ought to be a well-rounded individual. I think people have gotten tired of seeing the nerdy Clark after four movies".
Thirteen episodes were initially filmed for Season 1, beginning with "Countdown to Nowhere". This episode featured Superboy's first public appearance as he prevents a group of saboteurs from selling a powerful laser weapon developed by the U.S. government to an arms dealer. "Countdown to Nowhere" aired in two versions: an "uncut" version in which the story plays in the present day and a second version in which the main story is introduced as a flashback through two additional scenes with Lana, Clark and T.J. The second version contained some scenes cut from the main story in order to fit the flashback lead-ins into the episode. This episode is the first episode of the series chronologically, but was the fifth one that was aired in most markets. It also appears as the fifth episode on the first season DVD set. The first season's story editor was Fred Freiberger, who also scripted a few episodes.
The first thirteen episodes of Superboy were rather crude compared to later episodes. The producers, not sure whether any additional episodes would be ordered, did their best to save money on the first thirteen. As a result, the special effects are a bit rougher and the episodes have a grittier, real-world feel to them. This brought about more character-oriented stories and stories with more ordinary villains like drug dealers and crime bosses.
After thirteen additional episodes were ordered for the first season, special effects improved and the show took on a more professional look. More fantastic enemies were introduced, such as an unnamed gaseous alien, who could possess the bodies of others in "The Alien Solution", a life-force vampire in "Succubus" and long-time Superman villain Mister Mxyzptlk(guest star Michael J. Pollard) in "Meet Mr. Mxyzptlk".
Superboy's nemesis, Lex Luthor, was introduced in "The Jewel of Techechal" (the first episode broadcast) as Clark's classmate at Shuster University. This version of Luthor was more interested in fixing basketball games and humiliating Superboy than anything else. But the season one finale, "Luthor Unleashed", completely changed his character. This episode adapted Lex Luthor's silver age comic book origin, in which Superboy rescues Lex from a lab accident that causes him to lose all of his hair, becoming the familiar bald villain Superman fans have come to recognize. Luthor blames Superboy for his hair loss and gains a new, more intense hatred for the Boy of Steel. From this point on in the series, Luthor is determined to destroy Superboy, rather than just humiliate him.
Season 2[edit][]
In the second season, drastic changes took place. The producers of the show were not enamored of Newton's portrayal of Superboy. This, combined with a demand for a 20% raise by the actor and his well-publicized DUI arrest resulted in his removal from the show.[9] He was replaced by Gerard Christopher in the lead role. A new direction was made this season with the second season's stories guided by Executive Story Consultants Mark Jones and Cary Bates.[10]
Scott Wells was also replaced as Lex Luthor by Sherman Howard. The change in Luthor's appearance was explained in the second season opener "With This Ring, I Thee Kill". The two-part episode revealed Luthor had plastic surgery to assume the appearance of Warren Eckworth, the wealthy inventor of the "Superboy Gun", which Luthor believed could kill Superboy. The character of T.J. White was written out of the series (he went to work for the Daily Planet) and Andy McCalister, portrayed by Ilan Mitchell-Smith, became Clark's new roommate. Andy McCalister was very different from T.J. and was constantly looking to make money with his get-rich-quick schemes. He also flirted with Lana frequently and his advances were always refused, though Lana did consider Andy a friend.
The villains were amped up in the second season, as additional comic book characters were introduced to the series, many of them appearing for the first time in live-action. Metallo (Michael Callan), Bizarro (Barry Meyers) as well as the Yellow Periappeared in the second season and Mister Mxyzptlk (Pollard) made a return appearance. Gilbert Gottfried appeared in two episodes as a nasty, wisecracking criminal genius named "Nick Knack" who used toys to commit crimes (A reference to theToyman). Another villain was a dhampir who found a way through a serum to gain human abilities such as repelling his craving for blood and gaining a tolerance for sunlight. Thus, he became a friend of both Superboy and Lana but would turn vicious without his medicine. The episode "Superboy... Rest in Peace" featured guest star Betsy Russell, who was reunited with series star Gerard Christopher for the first time since the two had worked together previously in the 1985 movieTomboy. Also notable is the guest star appearance of former James Bond actor George Lazenby and Bond girl actress Britt Ekland as aliens disguised as Superboy's Kryptonian father and mother, Jor-El and Lara, in two episodes, "Abandon Earth" and "Escape to Earth."
Season 3[edit][]
With the third season, the series saw more changes. The show's title officially became The Adventures of Superboy and the setting shifted from Shuster University to The Bureau for Extra-Normal Matters in Capitol City, Florida, where Clark and Lana were interns. The Bureau is depicted as a government agency which investigates paranormal activities and aliens, including Superboy (this format change pre-dates the concept of the television series The X-Files).
Andy McCalister was dropped from the series, though Ilan Mitchell-Smith would make a final guest appearance in the episode "Special Effects", which features Andy working as an intern at a movie studio. The new supporting cast consisted of Clark and Lana's co-worker at the Bureau, Matt Ritter (Peter Jay Fernandez) and the Bureau chief C. Dennis Jackson (Robert Levine).
The tone of the series changed dramatically as darker stories were produced and the overall look of the series took on many characteristics of film noir. A few journalists at the time suggested that this darker look was largely due to the success of Tim Burton's Batman movie from a year prior. Many stories dealt with more mature themes, a change new producers Julia Pistor and Gerard Christopher implemented. In "Rebirth", Superboy is confronted with the possibility that he may have accidentally taken a human life and gives up his Superboy identity in guilt. "Carnival" shows a satanic individual named 'Deville' trying to acquire Superboy's eternal soul by tempting him to give in and kill a man who is implied to be a rapist. "Mindscape" deals with Superboy's deepest fears as an alien life-form brings those fears to life in Superboy's nightmares while simultaneously draining his life energy. "Roads Not Taken" shows the different paths Superboy's life may have taken, as Superboy travels to alternate earths where his life is very different. He meets a version of himself who killed Luthor in a fit of rage and another who has become a despotic ruler of earth. The alternate version of Superboy who took Luthor's life was shown wearing a black leather jacket and sunglasses which bears some resemblance to the Conner Kent version of Superboy as he first appeared in the "Death of Superman" storyline. The third season ended with the two-part episode "The Road to Hell" with former TV Tarzan Ron Ely guest-starring as an adult, retired Man of Steel from an alternate reality.
Season 4[edit][]
The fourth season maintained the darker look and feel of the third one and was the first in which no major cast changes took place. Noel Neill and Jack Larson (who portrayed Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen on the 1950s TV series Adventures of Superman) made guest appearances in the episode "Paranoia" as employees of the Bureau for Extra-Normal Matters. The trend of more mature stories also continued in episodes such as "To Be Human", in which Bizarro becomes human, only to be forced to give up his humanity to save Superboy's life and "Into the Mystery", in which a mystical, ghostly woman, apparently an angel of death, leads Superboy to his dying aunt's bedside. A memorable Luthor tale, "Know Thine Enemy", appeared in this season, featuring Superboy re-living Luthor's tortured memories of childhood via "psychodisk" while Luthor threatened to destroy all life on Earth.
The series' demise[edit][]
Although the Superboy series was still popular, the fourth season was to be its last. The finale was to be titled "Obituary For a Superhero" and Superboy was supposed to appear to meet his demise at the hands of Lex Luthor in a cliffhanger ending. The intent of the Salkinds was to make a series of television movies, which would resolve the cliffhanger and see Superboy's return.
However, shortly after the episode was filmed Warner Bros., who owned the rights to the Superman franchise, filed a lienagainst the Salkinds to reclaim certain intellectual property rights Alexander and Ilya were still in possession of. In 1978, Warner Bros. was looking to make a film based on the Superman comic book series and entered into an agreement with the Salkinds for development and distribution of various potential properties centered around Superman, which included a potential Superboy film or television series. The Salkinds produced four Superman-based films between 1978 and 1984, with the first film and its sequel proving popular with both critics and audiences. The last two films, however, were not as popular as Superman III was a critical flop and Supergirl, which the Salkinds produced for Tri-Star Pictures, was a box office bomb. Alexander and Ilya Salkind sold most of the rights in their lease to Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus of Cannon Films, which included the film rights for another Superman film that was eventually released in 1987. Rights for Superboy-related programs were retained by the father and son duo and they began to develop what would become the Superboytelevision series. Since Warner Bros. had not been given exclusive rights to produce or distribute anything the Salkinds produced based on the Superman properties (re: the selling of Supergirl to Tri-Star), Alexander and Ilya were not obligated to use them to distribute the series and decided to contract with Viacom to distribute the series.
Meanwhile, Cannon Films had been experiencing financial troubles themselves and Warner Bros. intervened afterSuperman IV: The Quest for Peace, which saw its production budget slashed during filming, flopped at the box office. This enabled Warner Bros. to take the rights to the property they had originally leased to the Salkinds back under their umbrella. Shortly after this happened Warner Bros. decided to try to develop a new live-action Superman television series, which would have been the first since the original series left the air in 1958. This series, which would become Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, was set in the aforementioned John Byrne-created continuity and would thus not be taking place in the same continuity as Superboy was. In order to lessen the potential confusion between the two series, the lien was filed and handcuffed the Salkinds' plans to produce the films they desired to round out the Superboy series. Thus, the writers of Superboy were forced to rewrite "Obituary for a Superhero" and create a new final episode, a two-parter called "Rites of Passage". The "Obituary for a Superhero" episode aired during the middle of the final season and the conclusion of "Rites of Passage" aired on May 17, 1992. Afterward, Warner Bros. took back the remainder of the properties that were leased to the Salkinds and Lois & Clark debuted on September 12, 1993. The Salkinds, however, decided to challenge Warner Bros. in court over the rights to their Superboy series and a long drawn out battle ensued, ending with a settlement.
The terms of the settlement, which is still binding as of 2014, gave Warner Bros. full control of the Superman franchise's films and television series, with the exception of television distribution of Superman IV which, due to prior contractual agreements, is under the control of Trifecta Entertainment and Media (under Paramount Pictures). Control of the Superboytelevision series is shared with both Ilya Salkind, who took over his father's share of the series when Alexander Salkind died in 1997, and the Salkinds' corporate successor StudioCanal. Viacom retained its television distribution rights to the series in the United States, which are now in the hands of its successor CBS Television Distribution. Warner Bros. holds worldwide home media distribution rights and international television distribution rights for the series, but neither Viacom nor Warner Bros. has taken advantage of these rights and Superboy has yet to be rerun since its 1992 finale.[11]
Videos and DVDs[edit][]
Bootleg VHS and DVDs[edit][]
Some time after the series' cancellation, there was a dispute over what rights to the character the Salkinds actually owned. For a time this prevented any official home video release of the series. Between 1992 and 2006 the only way to seeSuperboy in the United States was by ordering bootleg VHS and DVD copies of the series sold on eBay and other websites. The audio and video quality of these copies was varied.
In 1999, Gerard Christopher began offering three VHS tapes of the series created from his personal master tapes (Christopher has masters of all of the episodes he starred in, Seasons 2-4). Each video tape featured four episodes (which were selected episodes from Seasons 3 and 4) and was sold on his then former website for a price of $25-$30 US. A fourth VHS video tape was released by Christopher in 2002. Christopher not only sold these video tapes on his website by mail order, but also sold them at personal appearances when attending various comic book conventions and shows. He had offered other Superboy merchandise for sale, such as autographed photos, and at one time, even episode scripts. All merchandise from Christopher were also personally autographed.
In response to overwhelming fan demand, from a private email sent by Christopher (only to the fans who had previously ordered merchandise from his website)[citation needed], he decided to offer all Superboy episodes on DVD, offering a complete Season 2 set on DVD in early June 2004 and planned to sell complete sets of Seasons 3 and 4 in the future. The Adventures of Superboy: Season 2 Episodes DVD set consisted of three discs (in DVD-R format), was produced by Christopher himself, and sold for a price of $159.00 US (due to their past loyalty fans who had previously ordered merchandise from Christopher's website were able to pre-purchase the Season 2 DVD set at the reduced price of just $129.00 US for a limited time before June 30, 2004 as this offer was by invitation only). The latter two seasons were planned to be sold at a reduced cost. Tapes and DVDs sold by Christopher were the best quality copies of the series available[citation needed], since they were made from master tapes, rather than from off-air recordings like all other bootleg copies.
When Warner Home Video announced the official release of Season 1, Christopher announced that his self-produced DVD sets would no longer be available on his website in 2005, with the planned DVD releases for Seasons 3 and 4 cancelled.
Aftermath of the first legal battle[edit][]
In an interview for the webpage supermanhomepage.com, Salkind revealed that the legal battle between the three companies involved in the series' production (Viacom, Warner Bros. and the Salkinds) was the reason the show was not re-run on television or released to home video. This dispute was settled circa 2005, opening the door for the series to be released on DVD and also through AOL's in2tv free-on-demand internet streaming site.
DVD Release Summary[edit][]
| The Complete First Season |
|---|
| Season Range: 1988-89 |
| Episode Count: 26 |
| Release Date: June 20, 2006 |
| The Complete Second Season |
| Season Range: 1989-90 |
| Episode Count: 26 |
| Release Date: December 11, 2012 |
| The Complete Third Season |
| Season Range: 1990-91 |
| Episode Count: 26 |
| Release Date: July 16, 2013 |
| The Complete Fourth Season |
| Season Range: 1991-92 |
| Episode Count: 22 |
| Release Date: October 29, 2013 |
The Complete First Season[edit][]
The DVD set includes a behind-the-scenes featurette with new interviews with first-season Clark Kent/Superboy actor John Haymes Newton, actors Stacy Haiduk and James Calvert, creative/executive producer Ilya Salkind as well as director David Nutter. The DVD also features the screen test of John Haymes Newton and audio commentaries by Ilya Salkind and Newton on two key episodes ("Revenge of the Alien" Part 2 and "Meet Mr. Mxyzptlk"). The DVD was released in advance of the major film Superman Returns.
The remaining DVD sets[edit][]
In a chat session at Home Theater Forum on September 15, 2008 with representatives from Warner Home Video Television and Animation, a question was asked whether Superboy Season 2 would be released on DVD. Warner Bros. answered back stating that sales for Superboy Season 1 hadn't meet expectations, thus there were no plans to release Season 2 at that time. It was not known if the legal wrangling over the ownership of the Superboy character was also a factor in delaying release of further Seasons on DVD.
The Complete Second Season[edit][]
On December 5, 2012, after a six-and-a-half years gap, Warner Bros. announced they would release the complete Second Season of Superboy on DVD via its Warner Archive Collection, which occurred on December 11, 2012. This is a manufacture-on-demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and only in the US, as well asAmazon.com through their CreateSpace service, which ships globally.[12][13]
The Complete Third Season[edit][]
On July 10, 2013, Warner Bros. stated that they would release the complete Third Season of Superboy, which occurred on July 16, 2013, via MOD, through the Warner Archive, as well as Amazon.com through their CreateSpace service, which ships globally.[14][15]
The Complete Fourth Season[edit][]
On October 26, 2013, The Complete Fourth Season was listed at warnerarchive.com for an October 29, 2013 release date. For a limited time, copies of the DVD set were autographed by series star Gerard Christopher, and when those limited quantities run out - the non-autographed version becomes available upon exhaustion of the autographed inventory. It is also available from Amazon.com through their CreateSpace service, which ships globally.