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Superboy (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Superboy is a half-hour live-action television series based on the fictional DC Comics
comic book
character Kal-El
'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.
and Alexander Salkind
, the producers of the first three Superman
movies and the 1984
Supergirl
movie. This series and the release of the 1988 Superman
animated 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 of Superboy
/Clark Kent
, along with Stacy Haiduk
as love interest Lana Lang
and Jim Calvert as Clark's college roommate T.J. White.
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.
. 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 Bridge
s in St. Petersburg, Florida
in the opening credits.
, J. M. DeMatteis
and Mark Evanier
.
), his childhood friend and love interest Lana Lang
(Stacy Haiduk
) and his college roommate T.J. White (Jim Calvert), nephew of Daily 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.
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 a gaseous alien, named Alien Gas, 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 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.
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
.
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 Peri
appeared 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 the Toyman
). 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 movie Tomboy
. Also notable is the guest star appearance of former James Bond
actor George Lazenby
as an alien disguised as Superboy's Kryptonian father, Jor-El
in two episodes, "Abandon Earth" and "Escape to Earth."
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.
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.
was filed by Warner Bros.
against the series. The show's ratings
were still high and the Salkinds were planning a fifth and sixth season for the show, but the series concluded in 1992 with the two-part episode entitled "Rites of Passage". The planned Superboy finale episode, "Obituary for a Superhero", was reworked and aired within the season, with Superboy showing up alive at the end, having faked his death to lure the killer out of hiding.
The lien was placed as a result of Warner Bros. wanting all the film and television rights to Superman back under their umbrella. The film and TV rights to Superman, Superboy, Supergirl and Superpup were leased to the Salkinds (the producers of the first three Christopher Reeve
Superman movies and the 1984 Supergirl
film) in 1978 and throughout the early eighties. When Superman III
and Supergirl did not meet box office expectations, the Salkinds sold the Superman rights to Golan Globus (who produced Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
) leaving them with the rights to Superboy, Supergirl and Superpup. This enabled them to create the Superboy TV Show.
Although Superboy was a Salkind production of a Time Warner
property, it was distributed in the United States by Viacom
, which later merged with Paramount
in 1994. Because of the number of different companies involved in Superboy and due to legal issues between Salkind and Time Warner that took time to settle, the series has not re-aired on American television since its initial syndicated run. Though Time Warner owns all the footage to every other Salkind production of a Superman property exclusively, it shares ownership of the Superboy footage with Viacom/Paramount (now CBS Television Distribution) and Salkind.
After Warner Bros. put the lien in place and regained the film and television rights from the Salkinds, the company produced Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
. It is believed Warner put the lien in place only to open the door for Lois & Clark, not wanting two Superman-related TV series on the air at the same time (later on, Warner Bros. would produce other Superman-related television shows such as Superman: The Animated Series
and Smallville
, as well as the feature film Superman Returns
).
release of the series. Between 1992 and 2006 the only way to see Superboy 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 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 also offered other Superboy merchandise for sale, such as autographed photos, and at one time, even episode scripts.
In response to overwhelming fan demand, Christopher decided to offer all Superboy episodes on DVD, offering a complete Season 2 set on DVD in June 2004 and planning to sell complete sets of Seasons 3 and 4 in the future. The Season 2 set consisted of three discs, was produced by Christopher himself, and sold for a price of $159.00 US. 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, 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.
free-on-demand internet streaming site.
, 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
.
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 will be released on DVD. Warner Bros. answered back stating that sales for Superboy Season 1 didn't meet expectations, thus there are no plans to release Season 2. It is not known if the current legal wrangling over the ownership of the Superboy character is also a factor.
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
character Kal-El
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
's early years as Superboy
Superboy (Kal-El)
The original Superboy is a fictional superhero who appears in DC Comics. The name of Superman as a boy, Superboy has adventures that occur in the relative past to those of Superman and take place predominantly in his hometown of Smallville...
. The show ran from 1988–1992 in syndication
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
. It was renamed The Adventures of Superboy at the start of the third season.
Background
The Superboy series was brought to the screen by executive producers IlyaIlya Salkind
Ilya Juan Salkind Dominguez , usually known as Ilya Salkind, is a film and television producer, well known for his contributions to the live-action Superman films of the 1970s and '80s alongside his father, Alexander Salkind....
and Alexander Salkind
Alexander Salkind
Alexander Salkind was the second of three generations of successful international film producers.-Life and career:...
, the producers of the first three Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
movies and the 1984
1984 in film
-Events:* The Walt Disney Company founds Touchstone Pictures to release movies with subject matter deemed inappropriate for the Disney name.* Tri-Star Pictures, a joint venture of Columbia Pictures, HBO, and CBS, releases its first film....
Supergirl
Supergirl (film)
Supergirl is a 1984 superhero film directed by Jeannot Szwarc, and stars Helen Slater in her first motion picture role in the title role of the DC Comics superheroine Supergirl. Faye Dunaway played the primary villain, Selena. The film was a spin-off from the Salkinds' Superman film series which...
movie. This series and the release of the 1988 Superman
Superman (1988 TV series)
Superman is a 1988 animated Saturday morning television series produced by Ruby-Spears Productions and Warner Bros. Television that aired on CBS featuring the DC Comics superhero of the same name...
animated series on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
coincided with the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
character that year. Ironically, the series came about a year after DC Comics had "erased"
Retcon
Retroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
the character of Superboy
Superboy (Kal-El)
The original Superboy is a fictional superhero who appears in DC Comics. The name of Superman as a boy, Superboy has adventures that occur in the relative past to those of Superman and take place predominantly in his hometown of Smallville...
from their continuity in The Man of Steel
The Man of Steel (comic book)
The Man of Steel is a six-issue comic book limited series released in 1986 by DC Comics, several months after the twelve-issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths completed. The Man of Steel was written and penciled by John Byrne and inked by Dick Giordano.-Overview:The mini-series was...
reboot
Reboot (continuity)
The verb reboot, in media dealing with serial fiction, means to discard much or even all previous continuity in the series and start anew with fresh ideas...
by John Byrne. Nevertheless, the show went on in October 1988 with John Haymes Newton
John Haymes Newton
John Newton is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his regular roles on the television programs Superboy as Clark Kent in the show's first season and as Ryan McBride on the original Melrose Place.-Career:...
playing the lead role of Superboy
Superboy
Superboy is the name of several fictional characters that have been published by DC Comics, most of them youthful incarnations of Superman. These characters have also been the main characters of four ongoing Superboy comic book series published by DC....
/Clark Kent
Clark Kent
Clark Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, he debuted in Action Comics #1 and serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman....
, along with Stacy Haiduk
Stacy Haiduk
Stacy Haiduk is an American actress. She is known for playing Lana Lang on Superboy from 1988 to 1992, Katherine Hitchcock on season 1 of seaQuest DSV from 1993 to 1994, Hannah Nichols on All My Children from 2007 to 2008, and the dual roles of Patty Williams and Dr...
as love interest Lana Lang
Lana Lang
Lana Lang is a fictional supporting character in DC Comics' Superman series. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist John Sikela, the character first appears in Superboy #10...
and Jim Calvert as Clark's college roommate T.J. White.
Siegel & Shuster
As with all Superman properties, Joe ShusterJoe Shuster
Joseph "Joe" Shuster was a Canadian-born American comic book artist. He was best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with writer Jerry Siegel, first published in Action Comics #1...
and Jerry Siegel
Jerry Siegel
Jerome "Jerry" Siegel , who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S...
, 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
Superboy was the first weekly TV series to be produced at the then new Disney/MGM StudiosDisney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s...
. For the second season onward, the series moved several miles down Interstate 4 to Universal Studios Florida
Universal Studios Florida
Universal Studios Florida is an American theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Opened on June 7, 1990, the park's theme is the entertainment industry, in particular movies and television. Universal Studios Florida inspires its guests to "ride the movies," and it features numerous attractions and...
, 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
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
of the University of Central Florida
University of Central Florida
The University of Central Florida, commonly referred to as UCF, is a metropolitan public research university located in Orlando, Florida, United States...
. Siegelville, however, was depicted as a coastal city, as evidenced by imagery of both the new and old Sunshine Skyway Bridge
Sunshine Skyway Bridge
The Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge is a bridge spanning Tampa Bay, Florida, with a cable-stayed main span, and a total length of 21,877 feet . It is part of I-275 and US 19 , connecting St. Petersburg in Pinellas County and Terra Ceia in Manatee County, Florida, passing through Hillsborough...
s in St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...
in the opening credits.
Comic book writers' contributions
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 BatesCary Bates
Cary Bates is an American comic book, animation television and film writer.-Biography:Bates began submitting ideas for comic book covers to DC Comics at the age of 13, and a number of them were bought and published, the first as the cover to Superman #167...
, J. M. DeMatteis
J. M. DeMatteis
John Marc DeMatteis is an American writer of comic books.-Early career:Born in Brooklyn, DeMatteis graduated from Midwood High School and Empire State College. He worked as a music critic before getting his start in comic books at DC Comics in the late 1970s...
and Mark Evanier
Mark Evanier
Mark Stephen Evanier is an American comic book and television writer, particularly known for his humor work. He is also known for his columns and blogs, and for his work as a historian and biographer of the comics industry, in particular his award-winning Jack Kirby biography, Kirby: King of...
.
Season 1
The first season of the series, which began airing in October 1988, focused on Superboy/Clark Kent (John Haymes NewtonJohn Haymes Newton
John Newton is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his regular roles on the television programs Superboy as Clark Kent in the show's first season and as Ryan McBride on the original Melrose Place.-Career:...
), his childhood friend and love interest Lana Lang
Lana Lang
Lana Lang is a fictional supporting character in DC Comics' Superman series. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist John Sikela, the character first appears in Superboy #10...
(Stacy Haiduk
Stacy Haiduk
Stacy Haiduk is an American actress. She is known for playing Lana Lang on Superboy from 1988 to 1992, Katherine Hitchcock on season 1 of seaQuest DSV from 1993 to 1994, Hannah Nichols on All My Children from 2007 to 2008, and the dual roles of Patty Williams and Dr...
) and his college roommate T.J. White (Jim Calvert), nephew of Daily Planet
Daily Planet
The Daily Planet is a fictional broadsheet newspaper in the , appearing mostly in the stories of Superman. The building's original features were based upon the AT&T Huron Road Building in Cleveland, Ohio...
editor Perry White
Perry White
Perry White is a fictional character who appears in the Superman comics. White is the Editor-in-Chief of the Metropolis newspaper the Daily Planet.White maintains very high ethical and journalistic standards...
. Scott James Wells
Scott James Wells
Scott James Wells is an American actor, primarily noted for playing the villain Lex Luthor during the first season of the television series Superboy. Not much can be found on the actor, who seems to have disappeared into obscurity after being replaced by Sherman Howard for the remainder of the...
played Superboy's nemesis Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
. Clark's adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, were portrayed by Stuart Whitman
Stuart Whitman
Stuart Maxwell Whitman is an American actor.Stuart Whitman is arguably best-known for playing Marshal Jim Crown in the western television series Cimarron Strip in 1967...
and Salome Jens
Salome Jens
Salome Jens is an American stage, film and television actress. She is perhaps best-known for portraying the Female Changeling on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Life and career:...
, respectively.
In an interview with Boys' Life
Boys' Life
Boys' Life is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America . Its targeted readership is young American males between the ages of 6 and 18.Boys' Life is published in two demographic editions...
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
Fred Freiberger
Fred Freiberger was an American film and television screenwriter and television producer, with a career spanning four decades including The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Star Trek, and Space: 1999...
, 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 a gaseous alien, named Alien Gas, who could possess the bodies of others in "The Alien Solution", a life-force vampire in "Succubus" and long-time Superman villain Mister Mxyzptlk
Mister Mxyzptlk
Mr. Mxyzptlk , sometimes called Mxy, is a fictional impish supervillain who appears in DC Comics' Superman comic books.He was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and first appeared in Superman #30 . He is usually presented as a trickster, in the classical mythological sense, in that he enjoys...
(guest star Michael J. Pollard
Michael J. Pollard
- Early life :Born Michael John Pollack, Jr. in Passaic, New Jersey, he is the son of Sonia and Michael John Pollack. He attended the Montclair Academy and the Actors Studio.- Career :...
) in "Meet Mr. Mxyzptlk".
Superboy's nemesis, Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
, 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 finale, "Luthor Unleashed", completely changed his character. This episode adapted Lex Luthor's silver age
Silver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...
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
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. He was replaced by Gerard ChristopherGerard Christopher
Gerard Christopher is an American actor. He was the second actor to play the role of Superboy in the series of the same name . During his tenure on Superboy he would later also be a producer and writer on the series...
in the lead role. A new direction was made this season with the second season's stories guided by Executive Story Consultants Mark Jones
Mark Jones (screenwriter)
Mark Jones is an American screenwriter, film director, television director, film producer, and television producer. He is notable for his work on the Leprechaun horror franchise and numerous television series such as The A-Team and The Highwayman...
and Cary Bates
Cary Bates
Cary Bates is an American comic book, animation television and film writer.-Biography:Bates began submitting ideas for comic book covers to DC Comics at the age of 13, and a number of them were bought and published, the first as the cover to Superman #167...
.
Scott Wells was also replaced as Lex Luthor by Sherman Howard
Sherman Howard
Howard Lee Sherman is an American actor.-Theatre:In 1989 he appeared at the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival in Louisville, Kentucky. He played the title role in Hamlet and Malvolio in Twelfth Night...
. 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
Daily Planet
The Daily Planet is a fictional broadsheet newspaper in the , appearing mostly in the stories of Superman. The building's original features were based upon the AT&T Huron Road Building in Cleveland, Ohio...
) and Andy McCalister, portrayed by Ilan Mitchell-Smith
Ilan Mitchell-Smith
Ilan Mitchell-Smith is Assistant Professor of English at California State University Long Beach, but he is best known as an actor and co-star of the film Weird Science...
, 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
Metallo
Metallo is a comic book supervillain and cyborg who appears in Superman stories published by DC Comics. Metallo's trademark is his kryptonite power source, which he often uses as a weapon against Superman. His traditional identity is John Corben...
(Michael Callan
Michael Callan
Not to be confused with Michael Callen.Michael Callan is an American actor.Born Martin Harris Calinieff in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Callan began his career as Mickey Calin, and it was with this name he appeared on Broadway in The Boy Friend , Catch a Star , and West Side Story .Callan's film...
), Bizarro
Bizarro
Bizarro is a fictional character that appears in publications published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Otto Binder and artist George Papp as a "mirror image" of Superman and first appeared in Superboy #68...
(Barry Meyers) as well as the Yellow Peri
Yellow Peri
The Yellow Peri is a fictional character published by DC Comics. She first appeared in The New Adventures of Superboy #34 , and was created by Bob Rozakis and Kurt Schaffenberger.-Fictional character biography:...
appeared in the second season and Mister Mxyzptlk
Mister Mxyzptlk
Mr. Mxyzptlk , sometimes called Mxy, is a fictional impish supervillain who appears in DC Comics' Superman comic books.He was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and first appeared in Superman #30 . He is usually presented as a trickster, in the classical mythological sense, in that he enjoys...
(Pollard) made a return appearance. Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Gottfried is an American actor, voice actor and stand-up comedian, best known for his trademark comedic persona of speaking in a loud, grating tone of voice. He has played numerous roles in film and television, perhaps most notably voicing the parrot Iago in Disney's Aladdin , and...
appeared in two episodes as a nasty, wisecracking criminal genius named "Nick Knack" who used toys to commit crimes (A reference to the Toyman
Toyman
The Toyman is the name of three comic book supervillains and one adolescent superhero in the DC Comics universe. They mostly appear in Superman stories. The first Toyman appeared in Action Comics #64 . His real name is Winslow Schott.The Toyman uses toy-based or toy-themed devices and gimmicks in...
). Another villain was a dhampir
Dhampir
A Dhampir in Balkan folklore is the child of a vampire father and a human mother. The term is sometimes spelled dhampyre, dhamphir, or dhampyr. Dhampir powers are similar to those of vampires, but without the usual weaknesses...
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
Betsy Russell
Betsy Russell is an American actress who is best known for her role in Private School, and as Jill Tuck, the ex-wife of the Jigsaw Killer in the Saw film series.-Early life:...
, who was reunited with series star Gerard Christopher for the first time since the two had worked together previously in the 1985 movie Tomboy
Tomboy (1985 film)
Tomboy is a 1985 comedy movie that stars Betsy Russell, and directed by Herb Freed.-Plot:The movie concerns the life of Tomasina "Tommy" Boyd who works as a mechanic and her hopes to become a stock car driver.-Main cast:...
. Also notable is the guest star appearance of former James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
actor George Lazenby
George Lazenby
George Robert Lazenby is an Australian actor and former model, best known for portraying James Bond in the 1969 film On Her Majesty's Secret Service.-Early life:...
as an alien disguised as Superboy's Kryptonian father, Jor-El
Jor-El
Jor-El is a fictional character, an extraterrestrial in the . He was created by the writer Jerry Siegel and the artist Joe Shuster, and he first appeared in a newspaper comic strip in 1939 as Superman's biological father....
in two episodes, "Abandon Earth" and "Escape to Earth."
Season 3
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.Andy McCalister was dropped from the series, though Ilan Mitchell-Smith
Ilan Mitchell-Smith
Ilan Mitchell-Smith is Assistant Professor of English at California State University Long Beach, but he is best known as an actor and co-star of the film Weird Science...
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
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
. A few journalists at the time suggested that this darker look was largely due to the success of Tim Burton
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
's Batman
Batman (1989 film)
Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...
movie from a year prior. Many stories dealt with more mature themes, a change new producers Julia Pistor and Gerard Christopher
Gerard Christopher
Gerard Christopher is an American actor. He was the second actor to play the role of Superboy in the series of the same name . During his tenure on Superboy he would later also be a producer and writer on the series...
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
Tarzan (NBC series)
Tarzan is a series that aired on NBC from 1966 – 1968. The series portrayed Tarzan as a well-educated character, one who, tired of civilization, had returned to the jungle where he had been raised...
Ron Ely guest-starring as an adult, retired Man of Steel from an alternate reality.
Season 4
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 NeillNoel Neill
Noel Neill is an American actress in motion pictures and television. She is best known as her portrayal of Lois Lane in the film serials Superman and Atom Man vs...
and Jack Larson
Jack Larson
Jack Edward Larson is an American actor, librettist, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of photographer/cub reporter Jimmy Olsen on the TV series Adventures of Superman.-Biography:...
(who portrayed Lois Lane
Lois Lane
Lois Lane is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....
and Jimmy Olsen
Jimmy Olsen
Jimmy Olsen is a fictional character who appears mainly in DC Comics’ Superman stories. Olsen is a young photojournalist working for the Daily Planet. He is close friends with Lois Lane, Clark Kent/Superman and Perry White...
on the 1950s TV series Adventures of Superman
Adventures of Superman (TV series)
Adventures of Superman is an American television series based on comic book characters and concepts created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The show is the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California...
) 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
The fourth season was the series' last. A finale for the fourth season was filmed in which Superboy died at the hands of Luthor. The episode was intended to end on a cliffhanger, with the story being resolved in a series of TV movies. Soon after the episode "Obituary for a Superhero" was filmed, a lienLien
In law, a lien is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation...
was filed by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
against the series. The show's ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
were still high and the Salkinds were planning a fifth and sixth season for the show, but the series concluded in 1992 with the two-part episode entitled "Rites of Passage". The planned Superboy finale episode, "Obituary for a Superhero", was reworked and aired within the season, with Superboy showing up alive at the end, having faked his death to lure the killer out of hiding.
The lien was placed as a result of Warner Bros. wanting all the film and television rights to Superman back under their umbrella. The film and TV rights to Superman, Superboy, Supergirl and Superpup were leased to the Salkinds (the producers of the first three Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve
Christopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author and activist...
Superman movies and the 1984 Supergirl
Supergirl (film)
Supergirl is a 1984 superhero film directed by Jeannot Szwarc, and stars Helen Slater in her first motion picture role in the title role of the DC Comics superheroine Supergirl. Faye Dunaway played the primary villain, Selena. The film was a spin-off from the Salkinds' Superman film series which...
film) in 1978 and throughout the early eighties. When Superman III
Superman III
Superman III is a 1983 superhero film and the third film in the Superman film series based upon the long-running DC Comics superhero. Christopher Reeve, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure and Margot Kidder are joined by new cast members Annette O'Toole, Annie Ross, Pamela Stephenson, Robert Vaughn and...
and Supergirl did not meet box office expectations, the Salkinds sold the Superman rights to Golan Globus (who produced Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is a 1987 superhero film directed by Sidney J. Furie. It is the fourth film in the Superman film series and the last installment to star Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel. It is the first film in the series not to be produced by Alexander and Ilya Salkind, but...
) leaving them with the rights to Superboy, Supergirl and Superpup. This enabled them to create the Superboy TV Show.
Although Superboy was a Salkind production of a Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
property, it was distributed in the United States by Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
, which later merged with Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
in 1994. Because of the number of different companies involved in Superboy and due to legal issues between Salkind and Time Warner that took time to settle, the series has not re-aired on American television since its initial syndicated run. Though Time Warner owns all the footage to every other Salkind production of a Superman property exclusively, it shares ownership of the Superboy footage with Viacom/Paramount (now CBS Television Distribution) and Salkind.
After Warner Bros. put the lien in place and regained the film and television rights from the Salkinds, the company produced Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman was a live-action American television series based on the Superman comic books...
. It is believed Warner put the lien in place only to open the door for Lois & Clark, not wanting two Superman-related TV series on the air at the same time (later on, Warner Bros. would produce other Superman-related television shows such as Superman: The Animated Series
Superman: The Animated Series
Superman: The Animated Series is an American animated television series starring DC Comics' flagship character, Superman. The series was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on The WB from September 6, 1996 to February 12, 2000. Warner Bros...
and Smallville
Smallville
Smallville is the hometown of Superman in comic books published by DC Comics. While growing up in Smallville, the young Clark Kent attended Smallville High with best friends Lana Lang, Chloe Sullivan and Pete Ross...
, as well as the feature film Superman Returns
Superman Returns
Superman Returns is a 2006 superhero film directed by Bryan Singer. It is the fifth and final installment in the original Superman film series and serves as a alternate sequel to Superman and Superman II by ignoring the events of Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace .The film stars...
).
Bootleg VHS and DVDs
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 videoHome video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
release of the series. Between 1992 and 2006 the only way to see Superboy in the United States was by ordering bootleg
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
copies of the series sold on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
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 website for a price of $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
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 also offered other Superboy merchandise for sale, such as autographed photos, and at one time, even episode scripts.
In response to overwhelming fan demand, Christopher decided to offer all Superboy episodes on DVD, offering a complete Season 2 set on DVD in June 2004 and planning to sell complete sets of Seasons 3 and 4 in the future. The Season 2 set consisted of three discs, was produced by Christopher himself, and sold for a price of $159.00 US. 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, since they were made from master tapes, rather than from off-air recordings like all other bootleg copies.
When Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
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
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 recently settled, opening the door for the series to be released on DVD and also through AOL's in2tvIn2TV
In2TV was a website offering ad-supported streaming video of classic TV shows in the USA only .The main appeal of the service was that it made available numerous old shows which were rarely, if ever, aired on broadcast television...
free-on-demand internet streaming site.
DVD Release Summary
| The Complete First Season |
|---|
 |
| Year Range: 1988-89 |
| Episode Count: 26 |
| Release Date: June 20, 2006 |
The Complete First Season
The DVD set includes a behind-the-scenes featurette with new interviews with first-season Clark Kent/Superboy actor John Haymes NewtonJohn Haymes Newton
John Newton is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his regular roles on the television programs Superboy as Clark Kent in the show's first season and as Ryan McBride on the original Melrose Place.-Career:...
, actors Stacy Haiduk
Stacy Haiduk
Stacy Haiduk is an American actress. She is known for playing Lana Lang on Superboy from 1988 to 1992, Katherine Hitchcock on season 1 of seaQuest DSV from 1993 to 1994, Hannah Nichols on All My Children from 2007 to 2008, and the dual roles of Patty Williams and Dr...
and James Calvert, creative/executive producer Ilya Salkind
Ilya Salkind
Ilya Juan Salkind Dominguez , usually known as Ilya Salkind, is a film and television producer, well known for his contributions to the live-action Superman films of the 1970s and '80s alongside his father, Alexander Salkind....
as well as director David Nutter
David Nutter
David Nutter is an American television and film director and television producer. He is best known for directing pilot episodes for television series, being known as "the pilot whisperer."-Career:...
. 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
Superman Returns
Superman Returns is a 2006 superhero film directed by Bryan Singer. It is the fifth and final installment in the original Superman film series and serves as a alternate sequel to Superman and Superman II by ignoring the events of Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace .The film stars...
.
The remaining DVD sets
There are no plans as yet to issue the remaining seasons on DVD in either region 1 or region 2.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 will be released on DVD. Warner Bros. answered back stating that sales for Superboy Season 1 didn't meet expectations, thus there are no plans to release Season 2. It is not known if the current legal wrangling over the ownership of the Superboy character is also a factor.
Season 1
- John Haymes NewtonJohn Haymes NewtonJohn Newton is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his regular roles on the television programs Superboy as Clark Kent in the show's first season and as Ryan McBride on the original Melrose Place.-Career:...
- Superboy/Clark Kent - Stacy HaidukStacy HaidukStacy Haiduk is an American actress. She is known for playing Lana Lang on Superboy from 1988 to 1992, Katherine Hitchcock on season 1 of seaQuest DSV from 1993 to 1994, Hannah Nichols on All My Children from 2007 to 2008, and the dual roles of Patty Williams and Dr...
- Lana Lang - Jim Calvert - T.J. (Trevor Jenkins) White
- Scott James WellsScott James WellsScott James Wells is an American actor, primarily noted for playing the villain Lex Luthor during the first season of the television series Superboy. Not much can be found on the actor, who seems to have disappeared into obscurity after being replaced by Sherman Howard for the remainder of the...
- Lex Luthor - Michael Manno - Leo
- George ChakirisGeorge ChakirisGeorge Chakiris is an American-Greek dancer, singer and actor.-Early life:Chakiris was born in Norwood, Ohio, to Steven and Zoe Chakiris, immigrants from Greece. Chakiris studied at the American School of Dance....
- Professor Peterson (Seasons 1 - 2) - Roger Pretto - Lt. Zeke Harris
- Stuart WhitmanStuart WhitmanStuart Maxwell Whitman is an American actor.Stuart Whitman is arguably best-known for playing Marshal Jim Crown in the western television series Cimarron Strip in 1967...
- Jonathan Kent - Salome JensSalome JensSalome Jens is an American stage, film and television actress. She is perhaps best-known for portraying the Female Changeling on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Life and career:...
- Martha Kent
Seasons 2-4
- Gerard ChristopherGerard ChristopherGerard Christopher is an American actor. He was the second actor to play the role of Superboy in the series of the same name . During his tenure on Superboy he would later also be a producer and writer on the series...
- Superboy/Clark Kent - Stacy HaidukStacy HaidukStacy Haiduk is an American actress. She is known for playing Lana Lang on Superboy from 1988 to 1992, Katherine Hitchcock on season 1 of seaQuest DSV from 1993 to 1994, Hannah Nichols on All My Children from 2007 to 2008, and the dual roles of Patty Williams and Dr...
- Lana Lang - Ilan Mitchell-SmithIlan Mitchell-SmithIlan Mitchell-Smith is Assistant Professor of English at California State University Long Beach, but he is best known as an actor and co-star of the film Weird Science...
- Andy McCalister (Season 2) - Peter Jay Fernandez - Matt Ritter (Seasons 3 - 4)
- Robert Levine - C. Dennis Jackson (Seasons 3 - 4)
- Gilbert GottfriedGilbert GottfriedGilbert Gottfried is an American actor, voice actor and stand-up comedian, best known for his trademark comedic persona of speaking in a loud, grating tone of voice. He has played numerous roles in film and television, perhaps most notably voicing the parrot Iago in Disney's Aladdin , and...
- Nick Knack (Season 2, 2 episodes) - Sherman HowardSherman HowardHoward Lee Sherman is an American actor.-Theatre:In 1989 he appeared at the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival in Louisville, Kentucky. He played the title role in Hamlet and Malvolio in Twelfth Night...
- Lex Luthor - Tracy Roberts - Darla
- Barry Meyers - Bizarro
- Stuart WhitmanStuart WhitmanStuart Maxwell Whitman is an American actor.Stuart Whitman is arguably best-known for playing Marshal Jim Crown in the western television series Cimarron Strip in 1967...
- Jonathan Kent - Salome JensSalome JensSalome Jens is an American stage, film and television actress. She is perhaps best-known for portraying the Female Changeling on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Life and career:...
- Martha Kent - Darren Dowler - Alien Ship Commander (Episode - West of Alpha Centauri) and Nazi Leader (Episode - Golem) Dowler was the only supporting actor allowed to play multiple roles on the series.
- Danny DyerDanny DyerDanny Dyer is an English actor, media personality, and chairman of Greenwich Borough, a non-League football team.-Biography:Daniel John Dyer was born in Custom House, an area of East London, to Antony and Christine Dyer...
- Hank - Robert Hope - Stunt Coordinator
Further reading
- Daniels, Les. "Superboy On TV". DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes. New York: Little, Brown, & Company, 1995.
- Daniels, Les. Superman: The Complete History. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1998.