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In Reply to: George Reeves Superman 1st Season DVD Review posted by Claude Abraham on November 19, 2005 at 07:44:01:
I purchased this the day it came out and have been enjoying it as well.>>> "Lois Lane is played by Phyllis Coates in this series. I liked "the other Lois", Noel Neil, just as well. PC's Lois, and NN's Lois, are as far removed as night and day. I describe the NN Lois as soft and mushy, and the PC Lois as steel and ice. PC's Lois is a tough, fiercely independent, all business, in your face, sassy, take no flack, no nonsense business woman." <<<
I completely agree with your take on Phyllis Coates as opposed to Noel Neil, except that I vastly prefer the Phyllis Coates Lois for the very reasons you mentioned. She's more believable and more contempoary in this regard.
>>> "NN's Lois is more approachable, personable, not confrontational, and shows emotion." <<<
True, but her character also tends to be hokier, always requiring rescue from cornier and cornier villains because of the increasingly juvenile plots that would be forced into the schedule in successive seasons.
The first season had the boldest pulpiest plots with the grittiest ripped-from-the-headlines villains. That doesn't mean that there aren't great, well written episodes in Season 2, because there most certainly are, but the viewer is constantly reminded of the target audience in successive seasons.
Also, in regard to the Superman Production schedule, I recollect having read that the Superman series kept changing studios as the seasons progressed and used a two year shooting schedule due to rising production costs which meant a lot of down time for the actors. Unfortunately, budgets remained consistent while production values plummeted. In later seasons, around the 4th & 5th season after the switch to color, the production cutbacks (cheesy stage set-ups, etc.) really start to show.
One other thing I greatly admired in this first season is the non-reliance on "Kryptonite" as a plot device. The stories were compelling enough without the weekly deus ex machina of Superman's powers being weakened in order to heighten tension whenever a rescue was called for in the script. As it was, Superman had his hands full saving lives, solving mysteries and stopping murderers and saboteurs, many of whom were clearly ruthless enough to kill his closest colleagues without a second thought. In later seasons thugs and criminals were often portrayed as being stupid, even comical, rather than threatening, frequently to the point that it was obvious that they didn't pose a threat to anyone.
However, the silver lining on this cloudy assessment is that there are some real gems in later seasons as well. Occasionally ideas would slip through that had less to do with cops and robbers, silly convoluted schemes and absent minded professors and focused more on intelligent resolution to complex issues and more mature social and ethical themes. Several episodes took George Reeve's Superman character into an exploration of interesting, thought provoking areas that transcended the slap-stick subjects geared for kiddie audiences of the 1950's.
To make a short story longer (grin), the more I think about it, the more I look forward to these later seasons as well, just for those special moments when the material succeeds over convention.
Cheers,
AuPh
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Follow Ups
- Great review Claude! - Audiophilander 09:17:55 11/19/05 (0)
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