The Partnership of Comic Book Characters and Television ended abruptly in 1959 with the death of TV's Superman, George Reeves. It had some really wide spread affects, on the viewing public* as well as life and business at "The Webs." (what we insiders use as a slang term for The Networks.)
Now, in The Year of Our Lord 1966, we had seen the Batman Series take the nation and a good deal of the world by storm. The two characters were from the same publishers, National Comics AKA Superman DC Comics Publications. The characters crossed over to have adventures together on a regular basis, even though the characters and whole mood of their respective strips were very much un-alike.
So, how would the launching of a new Series for the Man of Steel be received? What would be the proper niche for this Superman show? Was the fallout from the death of Mr. George Reeves, which was both so mysterious and tragic, be enough to put any hurt on another show?** Well, a lot of thought went into the planning and execution of this new series. National Comics people okayed a deal with the Television Animation Company, Filmation Associates, and proceeded to create an animated series which had a really good appearance and had stories that were just about the same as those being published in the comics magazines at the time.***The new animations were also populated with many more characters from the comics stories. Hence, we were treated to such enemies as Luthor, Mr. Mxzyptlk and Brainiac.
Furthermore, one of three weekly cartoon adventures would feature SUPERBOY,The Adventures of Superman When He Was A Boy! Superboy was joined by Ma & Pa Kent, Lana Lang and Krypto his Superdog from Krypton, all from the comics.
We all know about the Superman Theatrical Cartoons of the 1940's. Having been made by Max and Dave Fleischer's Cartoon Studio, and then by Paramount's Famous Studios, each cartoon was a feast of fine animation, music and action. How would the admittedly limited animation of TV hold up in comparison? The National Comics people and the Filmation people really must have put their heads together, because they came up with something that pleased just about everybody.
The final product had 3 separate cartoon episodes. There would be 2 Superman and 1 Superboy adventure. The design was either done directly by or patterned after longtime DC illustrator, Curtis Swan. Curt had done Superman, Superboy, Jimmy Olsen Comics as well as most of the cover art for a slew of comics. The animation looked like their comic book counterparts.
The casting of proper voice actors involved another master stroke. The Voice Actors cast were Mr. Bud Collyer and Miss Joan Alexander. This pair had voiced Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane on the Mutual Radio Network's SUPERMAN Radio Show as well as in the Fleischer/Famous Studio Theatrical Cartoons. They also obtained the services of Jackson Beck as Announcer and voice of Perry White and others. Mr. Beck was also a veteran of the Superman Radio Show.
To this cast was added Ted Knight (Nattator), Jack Grimes (Jimmy Olsen), Janet Waldo (Lana Lang) and Bob Hastings (Superboy and young Clark Kent).
The parts were all in place and the result was a top rated Saturday Morning for CBS TV Network. And the success continued for several years as the series morphed to an hours length, becoming first "The Superman-Aquaman Hour of Adventure", then "The Batman-Superman Hour." We're pretty sure that the project succeeded far better than expectations would have dictated.
* The news was received very badly by the public. I can tell you first hand of one 12 year old boy being brought to tears at this news.
** Remember now, this was only 7 short years later.
*** At this time, Superman appeared in Action Comics, Adventure Comics, Jimmy Olsen , Lois Lane ,Superboy, Superman and World's Finest Comics (co-starring with Batman & Robin) and appeared as a member in Justice League of America.
