September 19, 1952: "The Adventures of Superman" Premieres

September 19, 1952: The Adventures of Superman premieres in syndication. It stars George Reeves, who had previously starred in the film Superman and the Mole Men. That film was recut and used as a two-part episode of the series.

Jack Narz, later known as a game-show host, narrated the opening, which was adapted from a previous radio show about the character:

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

Onlooker 1: Look! Up in the sky!

Onlooker 2: It's a bird!

Onlooker 3: It's a plane!

Onlooker 4: It's Superman!

Narrator: Yes, it's Superman: Strange visitor from another planet, who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men! Superman, who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way!

Film of downtown Los Angeles was used to stand in for Superman's fictional adopted hometown of Metropolis, and L.A.'s City Hall was focused on as the home of the Daily Planet, where Clark Kent worked. According to the comic books, Clark wanted to become a journalist so that he could hear news reports of disasters as they were happening, so he could then help out as Superman.

Clark and Superman were played by George Reeves, who may be the only actor to appear in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind but is more famous for another role. In hindsight, his Clark wasn't especially "mild-mannered." If, like the characters, the viewer didn't know he was also Superman, he would appear to be a believable big-city reporter.

At first, Lois Lane, fellow reporter who loved Superman but thought considerably more of Clark as a reporter than she thought of him as a man, though sometimes suspecting his dual identity, was played by Phyllis Coates. But Coates was so heavily in demand as an actress that she was unavailable for the 2nd season, and Noel Neill, who had played Lois in the 1948 and 1950 film serials with Kirk Alyn as Clark/Superman, stepped back into the role.

Jack Larson played young photographer Jimmy Olsen. John Hamilton played Perry White, publisher and editor of the Daily Planet, using all of Perry's attributes from the comics: His gruff demeanor, balanced by his willingness to stand by his reporters no matter what, his cigar-smoking, his devotion to Metropolis (in this TV version, he was said to have once been the city's Mayor), and his angry retort, "Don't call me chief!" Robert Shayne played a character created for the series, Police Inspector Bill Henderson, an ally of the Planet, and thus also of Superman.

Because TV budgets were low, especially then, there were no appearances by the traditional supervillain opponents of Superman: No Lex Luthor, no Brainiac, no Mr. Mxyzptlk. Even less-dangerous foes like the Prankster and the Toyman couldn't be shown, because their gadgets would have cost too much to build and have their use staged for the cameras.

So, for the most part, this version of Superman mainly fought gangsters. Eventually, some of the stories, involving threats from space, got a little silly. But most of the stories have Superman himself as the only fantasy-based thing, and, even after 70 years, they hold up -- better than the budget-restricted special effects do. (Like a lot of shows, even up to the 1970s, they relied heavily on stock footage, to the point where, if Superman was flying from left to right on the screen, instead of his usual right to left, the image was simply reversed, so that his S crest looks backwards, like the one worn by the comic book character Bizarro.)

One thing I never got over: A gunman would fire all six shots at Superman, knowing that the first shot just bounced off him, and then throw the gun at him -- and Superman would duck! If the bullets didn't hurt him, why would the gun? Because Reeves wasn't invulnerable: Unlike the bullets, which weren't actually hitting him, the thrown gun would have, and would have hurt him more than the breakaway chairs that he was sometimes hit with.

In 1955, the show began to be filmed in color, because the producers figured it would be easier to sell once color TV sets became common. They weren’t wrong, they were just premature: Eventually, being in color is what saved the show in reruns.

 

The show ran until 1958. Shortly thereafter, Hamilton died. There was talk of doing another season in 1959, with the White role recast, but the mysterious death of Reeves put a stop to that: Unlike any of the other actors, he was irreplaceable. Shayne died in 1992, Larson in 2015, Neill in 2016. Coates is the last surviving castmember.

There would not be another live-action Superman until the ridiculous 1975 TV broadcast of the 1966 Broadway musical It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman. Then came the Christopher Reeve movies from 1978 to 1987. Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman ran from 1993 to 1997; Smallville on The WB and its replacement network The CW from 2001 to 2011; and Superman & Lois has been running on The CW since 2021.

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September 19, 1952 was a Friday. This was also the day the New York Post published an article with the headline, "Secret Nixon Fund!" Senator Richard Nixon of California, the Republican nominee for Vice President, would have to address this, and did so 4 days later, in what became known as "The Checkers Speech."

These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Philadelphia Athletics, 2-0 at Yankee Stadium. Bobby Shantz outpitched Vic Raschi, allowing only 4 hits, all singles: To Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Hank Bauer and Billy Martin. He advanced to 24-7 on the season, for a 4th place team, and won the American League's Most Valuable Player award. Dave Philley, who was playing for this Philly team and would eventually go on to play for the Philadelphia Phillies, drove in both A's runs with a triple in the 3rd inning.

* The New York Giants lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 1-0 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Del Ennis singled home Richie Ashburn in the 1st inning, and that was the only run of the game. Curt Simmons allowed 9 hits, but kept the shutout. Willie Mays was serving in the Korean War, and not available for the Giants.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Boston Braves, 4-2 at Braves Field in Boston. Jackie Robinson went 0-for-1 with 3 walks, and was actually picked off 1st base by Braves pitcher Max Surkont. Preacher Roe started for the Dodgers, but Jim Hughes ended up as the winning pitcher for him.

* The Washington Senators beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-3 at Griffth Stadium in Washington. Ted Williams was serving in the Korean War, and not available for the Red Sox.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Larry Doby hit a home run in support of Early Wynn.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Stan Musial went 1-for-4 with an RBI triple. 

* And the Chicago White Sox and the St. Louis Browns were not scheduled.

One note about sports and comic books: Over the years, various writers have given different names to the fictional cities' sports teams. In Superman stories, Metropolis' baseball teams have been the Meteors and the Monarchs. In the 2006 film Superman Returns, a baseball game is shown, but the teams are not identified: One team wears black and orange and has an R on their caps; while the other wears white with blue trim, and I can't make out the logos on their caps or jerseys, but, since they are wearing white, we can presume that they're Metropolis' home team.

In Batman stories, Gotham City's baseball team has been the Goliaths and the Knights in the comic books, and the Eagles in the 1966-68 TV series. As with Superman Returns, Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles stood in for the home team's ballpark.

In either case, it's possible, given how big these cities are supposed to be, that they each have a team in the American League and a team in the National League, like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area do; and Boston, Philadelphia and St. Louis used to.

In The CW's Arrowverse, Metropolis has the Monarchs, while the Flash's hometown has the Central City Diamonds. In Arrow, Star City's team was the Sentinels. 

In football, Superman comics have shown Metropolis with the Meteors and the Metros, while the TV series Smallville called the team the Sharks, and the Arrowverse series Supergirl calls them the Metros. Supergirl also had the National City Sharks, possibly as a nod toward Smallville. Batman comics have shown Gotham City with the Giants, the Knights, the Goliaths and the Wildcats; while the film The Dark Knight Rises called their team the Rogues. The Arrowverse series Batwoman also used Goliaths. The Flash used the Central City Sharks -- meaning that, in the Arrowverse, both National City and Central City have pro football teams named the Sharks.

In basketball, the comics had the Metropolis Generals, the Gotham Guardsmen; while the 1966 TV show had the Gotham Gators. As yet, no basketball team has been mentioned in the Arrowverse, while the only hockey team has been the Star City Rockets.