28. "The Adventures of Superman" (1952):
George Reeves starred in the title role as the "Man of Steel". Missing the first season, which performer did not play the role of their character for the entire run of the series?
From Quiz TV Title Characters and Series of Yesteryear
Answer:
Noel Neill as Lois Lane
Noel Neill took over the part at the beginning of the second season in 1953, and remained in the role until the series ended in 1958.
During the first season, Phyllis Coates played the role of the feisty reporter for the "Daily Planet" opposite Reeves.
The producers of the series took a brief hiatus after the first season to seek sponsorship for the show. During that time, Coates became committed to another acting project, and was unavailable when the series returned for its second season.
Producers hired Noel Neill for the part based on her past performances in the role in the 1948 and 1950 theater productions of "Superman".
Neill was slated for the seventh season of the series, which was abruptly cancelled following the unexpected death of star George Reeves.
"The Adventures of Superman" ran for six seasons (1952-1958) with 104 episodes.
When the series started filming episodes in its third season, a decision that made the series, which was extremely popular and highly sought, was to start filming in color. Reruns of the series ran in syndication for over 40 years after the original run ended, and commanded top price in the syndication market.
One necessary change when the series started filming in color was to change the colors of Superman's costume. For the black and white episodes, Superman wore a brown, gray, and white costume. The colors provided the required contrast for black and white film.
For the color episodes, Superman wore the traditional red, blue, and yellow costume to match the images in the "Superman" comic books.
Radio announcer Bill Kennedy spoke the opening narration for the show:
"Faster than a speeding bullet!
More powerful than a locomotive!
Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!"
("Look up in the sky." "It's a bird". "It's a plane". "It's Superman").
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
fight a never ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way".
"And now, another exciting episode in "The Adventures of Superman".