| The Amazing Spider-Man | |
|---|---|
| Format | Action/Adventure |
| Created by | Comic Book: Stan Lee Steve Ditko Writers: Alvin Boretz Robert Janes Michael Michaelian |
| Starring | Nicholas Hammond Michael Pataki Robert F. Simon Ellen Bry Chip Fields Irene Tedrow |
| Composer(s) | Stu Phillips Dana Kaproff |
| Country of origin | USA |
| No. of episodes | 14 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 1 hour |
| Production company(s) | Charles Fries Productions in association with Dan Goodman Productions |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original run | 1977 – 1979 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Spidey Super Stories |
| Followed by | Spider-Man (Toei) |
The Amazing Spider-Man is the first live-action TV series based on the popular comic book The Amazing Spider-Man, not counting his appearances on the educational The Electric Company series, and was shown in the USA between 1977-1979.[1] It consisted of 13 episodes, which included a pilot movie in the fall of 1977; five one-hour episodes in the spring of 1978; six one hour episodes aired in the fall of 1978 and winter of 1979; and then a final two-hour episode in the summer of 1979. None of the episodes are available on DVD, but almost all of them have been released on VHS. Despite the series being set in New York City, it was mostly filmed in Los Angeles.
Contents |
The series first aired as a two-hour film known simply as "Spider-Man". In it, University student Peter Parker gains super powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider and uses his new super powers to get a job at the Daily Bugle and stop a con man who is using mind control. It is noted that in the pilot J. Jonah Jameson was played by actor David White and subsequently replaced with Robert F. Simon for the weekly series.
At the time The Amazing Spider-Man played on the CBS television network, it was with other live action television series or movies based on the comic book characters. Including The Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman, Captain America and Doctor Strange.
The Amazing Spider-Man series had solid ratings throughout its run, but CBS was leery about being labeled the "superhero network" and fans were highly critical of the series[2] for the changes made to the comic book storyline and the lack of any real "supervillains".
To add insult to injury, Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee disliked the show, and was vocal about his dissatisfaction with it; he once said in an interview that he felt the series was "too juvenile" - a controversial statement given his credit as script consultant on each episode.
Despite criticism of the series as far removed from the source material, the show has so far featured the only live-action appearance of Peter Parker's spider-tracer tracking devices, which are prominently featured in several episodes throughout the series.
As previously mentioned, contrary to popular belief, The Amazing Spider-Man was not canceled because of low ratings. During its first season, "The Amazing Spider-Man" was a top 20 show, coming in 19th for the season.[3] In fact, the series performed well in the ratings, but the series was expensive to produce [4] and the CBS executives wanted to shed the network's image as "The Superhero Network," so they canceled the show, in addition to Wonder Woman. However, The Incredible Hulk remained at the network until 1982, with budget cuts, due to it having a broad demographic appeal.
In the mid-1980s and early 1990s, two attempts were reportedly made to recreate an Amazing Spider-Man live-action television series. The first one would have had the original cast team-up with the cast from The Incredible Hulk[5] television series.
This was part of a plan to have several television movies featuring the Incredible Hulk and various Marvel Comics characters (three had already been aired, the first with Thor, the second with Daredevil, while the announced She-Hulk did not appear in the third).
Reportedly, this attempt finally fell through when Bill Bixby died of cancer in 1993. A second attempt would have been an entirely new series that died in preproduction because the networks wanted to make Spider-Man into a mutant.
The only characters besides Peter Parker to regularly appear in both the television series and comics were J. Jonah Jameson and Aunt May. Joe "Robbie" Robertson (played by Hilly Hicks) also appeared but only in the pilot. A different actress played Aunt May each time she appeared.
In both these incarnations, J. Jonah Jameson's abrasive, flamboyant personality was toned down and the character was portrayed as a more avuncular figure.
| № | Title | Directed by: | Written by: | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Amazing Spider-Man" | E.W. Swackhamer | Alvin Boretz | 19 April 1977 |
| University student Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider and decides to use his super powers to stop a new age guru that is turning law abiding citizens into criminals through mind control. This pilot TV-movie was released theatrically overseas and saw VHS releases in the 1980s by CBS/Fox Home Video (and later, reissued on its Playhouse Video label) and in the 1990s by Rhino Home Video. A CED videodisc version (CBS/Fox) was also released. In Japan only, this was also released on VHD format and laserdisc. All versions are out of print. | ||||
| 2 | "Deadly Dust (Part 1)" | Ron Satlof | Robert Janes | 5 April 1978 |
| Upset that their professor has brought a small amount of plutonium onto campus in order to give a class demonstration, three University students decide to steal the plutonium and build a bomb in order to illustrate the dangers of nuclear power. However, the international businessmen and arms dealer named Mr. White has his henchmen steal the plutonium so that he can detonate it in Los Angeles, California where President Jimmy Carter will be giving a campaign speech. "The Deadly Dust" saw video release as a "movie version" in the 1980s by CBS/Fox/Playhouse, and in the late 1990s by Rhino Home Video. Also released on videotape (in Europe) and laserdisc (in Japan) in its theatrical version, titled "Spider-Man Strikes Back (1978). | ||||
| 3 | "Deadly Dust (Part 2)" | Ron Satlof | Robert Janes | 12 April 1978 |
| See Part 1, above. | ||||
| 4 | "The Curse of Rava" | Michael Caffrey | Dick Nelson, Robert Janes |
19 April 1978 |
| Members of a religious cult, led by the telekinetic Mandak, plan to steal a Rava religious icon from a museum and in the process frame Mr. Jameson for attempted murder. "The Curse of Rava" was spliced together with "Con Caper" to form "Con Caper & The Curse of Rava" which was available on VHS and Beta from Prism Home Video (in the mid 80s) and on VHS Rhino Home Video in the late '90s. Con Caper/Rava was also released on laserdisc in the USA by Prism around 1990. | ||||
| 5 | "Night of the Clones" | Fernando Lamas | John W. Bloch | 26 April 1978 |
| A scientific convention is being held in New York City and a controversial American scientist has figured out a way to clone human beings, only to have his evil clone twin escape, and clone an evil Spider-Man. "Night of the Clones", and the episode following it, "Escort to Danger" were spliced together to make "Night of the Clones & Escort to Danger" which was available on VHS and Beta from Prism Home Video (in the mid 1980s) and on VHS from Rhino Home Video in the late 1990s. Clones/Escort was also released on laserdisc in the USA by Prism around 1990. | ||||
| 6 | "Escort to Danger" | Dennis Donnelly | Duke Standefur | 3 May 1978 |
| While visiting New York City, the daughter of a recently elected pro-democracy Latin American President is kidnapped by those that seek a return of a fascist dictatorship. "Escort to Danger", and the episode before it, "Night of the Clones" were spliced together to make "Night of the Clones & Escort to Danger" which was available on VHS from Prism Home Video (in the mid 1980s) and Rhino Home Video in the late 1990s. | ||||
| Ep | № | Title | Directed by: | Written by: | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | "The Captive Tower" | Cliff Bole | Gregory S. Dinallo, Bruce Kalish, Philip John Taylor |
5 September 1978 |
| Thieves steal ten million dollars from a new high-tech security building and uses its computers to trap the people inside. The plot of this episode is similar to the film Die Hard. Since there were no other hour-long episodes with which to combine it into a 2-hour movie, this episode is the most rarely seen of the series, the only reruns being on the Sci-Fi Channel in the 1990s. For the same reason, this is also the only episode that didn't get a VHS release. | |||||
| 2 | 8 | "A Matter of State" | Larry Stewart | Howard Dimsdale | 12 September 1978 |
| NATO defense plans are stolen and held for ransom by terrorists. Julia Masters accidentally gets a photograph of the ringleader of the gang and now Spider-Man has to protect Masters, while also trying to get the defense plans back. This episode has been released on VHS as "Photo Finish & A Matter of State" by Rhino Home Video, but is now out of print. | |||||
| 3 | 9 | "The Con Caper" | Tom Blank | Brian McKay, Gregory S. Dinallo |
25 November 1978 |
| An imprisoned politician is released and poses as a reformed humanitarian dedicated to prison reform in order to stage a break out of some prisoners and steal a hundred-million dollars. This episode has been released on VHS and Beta by Prism Home Video (in the mid 1980s) and on VHS Rhino Home Video (in the late 1990s) as "Con Caper & Curse of Rava." Prism also released this combined version on laserdisc in the US in 1990. All releases are out of print. | |||||
| 4 | 10 | "The Kirkwood Haunting" | Don McDougall | Michael Michaelian | 30 December 1978 |
| Peter Parker is sent to the estate (complete with its own zoo) of a wealthy widow and longtime family friend of Mr. Jameson. The widow claims that she is being visited by the ghost of her dead husband and he is telling her to donate all her money to the group of men that are acting as objective investigators of paranormal phenomenon. This episode has been released on VHS by Rhino Home Video spliced together to make "Wolfpack & The Kirkwood Haunting" but is now out of print. | |||||
| 5 | 11 | "Photo Finish" | Tony Ganz | Howard Dimsdale | 7 February 1979 |
| While doing a story on a rare coin collection, the coins are stolen in a robbery with one of the thieves wearing a wig and muffling his voice to appear to be the coin collector's bitter ex-wife. The photo that Parker has of the cross-dressing thief will falsely frame the ex-wife and Parker is willing to go to jail in order to protect the innocent and break out of jail as Spider-Man to bring the thieves to justice. This episode has been released on VHS as "Photo Finish & A Matter of State" by Rhino Home Video and was previously released by itself (in its original one-hour format) on a LP-speed cassette from low-budget label Star Maker Home Video. Both versions are out of print. | |||||
| 6 | 12 | "Wolfpack" | Joseph Manduke | Stephen Kandel | 21 February 1979 |
| When a greedy Sorgenson Chemical representative learns that University students have developed a mind control gas, he uses the gas to take control of the students and even some soldiers to commit various crimes. This episode has been released on VHS on Rhino Home Video as "Wolfpack & The Kirkwood Haunting", but is now out of print. | |||||
| 7 | 13 | "The Chinese Web (two hour special)" | Don McDougall | Lionel E. Siegel | 6 July 1979 |
| The final episode (a 2-hour special) has an old college friend of Mr. Jameson fleeing China (where he is the Minister of Industrial Development) to live with his Chinese-American daughter because the Chinese government has falsely charged him with being a spy during World War II. While Peter Parker tries to prove the man's innocence he must contend with a henchmen of a British-Hong Kong businessman who will do anything to get a new Minster of Industrial Development that will ensure that his firm gets a lucrative business contract with China. The two-part series finale has plenty of action, a new female love interest (played by Rosalind Chao), extensive footage of Hong Kong and even exposition on its history and traditional religious beliefs. This movie-length episode has been released in its full version on videotape by CBS/Fox Home Video in the early 1980s (and re-released in the mid '80s on Fox's own Playhouse Video label) and by Rhino Home Video in the late 1990s. It was also released overseas on video (and on laserdisc in Japan) in its theatrical version, titled "Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge". All releases are out of print. | |||||
|
||||||||