We invite you to read the following plot outlines for some of our favorite episodes from the Adventures of Superman, written by our friend, Chris Brockow.

Panic in the Sky

by Chris Brockow

A meteor measuring five and a half miles is headed for Metropolis.  Professor Roberts is at the observatory, monitoring the meteor through a telescope. He tells Superman that it is falling towards Metropolis.  Superman takes off to destroy it in what is one of the most dramatic springboard take-offs in the entire series.  However, when he smashes into the meteor, he fails to destroy it and only stops it from falling. The meteor is now floating in space as a second moon as Superman returns to Earth.

When Superman lands in the countryside, he is disoriented. He changes into Clark Kent and a woman driving a truck happens to come by and gives him a ride.  Clark manages to get to his apartment where Jimmy is waiting for him. While Clark and Jimmy are talking, Clark has his back turned towards Jimmy as he unbuttons his shirt and loosens his tie, exposing his costume.  The viewer is on the edge of his/her seat – what if Clark turns around to face Jimmy?  The secret will be revealed!  Fortunately, this doesn’t happen and Jimmy suggests Clark take a shower while Jimmy gets him some food.

Clark steps into his closet and discovers a hidden panel that contains his spare costumes.  His expression indicates that he has no idea why those costumes should be hanging there or why he should have a secret closet.  Shortly after Jimmy returns with the coffee and sandwiches, Clark passes out in the shower and falls through the shower glass door.  Jimmy helps him to bed.  Jimmy calls Lois and Perry for help. When they arrive to see Clark, he does not know who they are and he does not know who he is. Superman has amnesia!  The scene of Perry, Lois and Jimmy standing by Clark’s bedside, while Clark (who is not wearing his glasses) asks, “Who am I?  Do any of you know me?” has always caused a lot of grief for fans of the TV show.  How could the three of them not realize that Clark is Superman???

Meanwhile, the professor at the observatory remains very concerned. The Earth is still in deadly danger of the meteor. Lois and Jimmy take Clark back to The Daily Planet, in hopes that something familiar will jog his memory. Perry approaches Clark to see if he can reach Superman. The meteor is causing damage to the Earth and Clark is the only one who could ever reach Superman.  Unfortunately, Clark does not know a thing about Superman but offers to do some research into the fellow and learn everything he can.  Perry is exasperated!

Clark goes back to his apartment and is contemplating the costume from the secret closet just as Jimmy pays him a visit to see if he’s okay. Clark asks Jimmy if the costume gives Superman his powers, but Jimmy answers no. “Only Superman can do Super things.” The costume has no effect on anyone else. Clark asks Jimmy to leave and he puts on the costume. Clark looks at himself in the mirror, sits down, and in frustration pounds his fist on an end table, thereby smashing it to pieces.  Suddenly, a flood of memories come back to Clark!  And in particular, he remembers Professor Roberts and the observatory!

It would appear that Superman has his memory back at this point.  Superman flies to the observatory where Professor Roberts fills him in on the status of the meteor.  Professor Roberts gives him a box containing an explosive and Superman flies it to the meteor and as he prepares to flip the switch, he says, “Well, whoever I am, here goes”  indicating that perhaps he doesn’t have his complete memory back yet!  Fortunately, the explosion destroys the meteor.  Superman descends from the heavens in some spectacular flying footage and returns to Metropolis.

In the final scene, Clark is back in his office at The Daily Planet office, writing the story.  Lois is surprised that Clark is aware of recent events.  Clark tells her that he has his memory back and that he even knows who Superman is!  Of course Lois wants to know, Who is Superman?  Clark  suggests that she knock him on the head sometime and she’ll find out.

This episode is science fiction at its best.  It was a clever plot device to have the ordinarily invulnerable Superman suffer from amnesia.  The viewer is drawn into the story and feels sympathy for Superman’s plight.  At the same time, the tension is very real – after all, the end of the world is coming unless Superman can recover in time.  This episode is also a great example of they didn’t need crooks or violence to make a great show

This episode is highly regarded by critics of the TV show, and considered by many to be one of the best if not the best episode of the entire series.  Indeed, the story was so outstanding that it was reworked in later years in two other TV series: See the episode “Superboy Lost” from The Adventures of Superboy and the episode “All Shook Up” from Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

Around the World with Superman

by Chris Brockow

The last episode for Season Two is a classic. This heart-felt, uplifting show is also a real tear jerker.  And it is another example of why the Adventures of Superman transcended being a mere “kiddie” show.

The Daily Planet is sponsoring an essay contest for children who must describe why the world is beautiful.  The winner will fly around the world with Superman.  The show starts with Superman flying into Perry White’s office to read the winning letter.  Elaine Carson has won the contest with her letter stating that “The trees are as green in Arabia as they are outside my window and the people are as beautiful as love”.

Superman is so moved when he reads the letter that he tells Lois that Elaine can fly around the world with him anytime.  Later, Lois and Clark arrive at Elaine’s apartment building to tell her that she has won the contest.  When they reach the door, a woman walks out and claims she is Elaine Carson and knows nothing about any essay contest.  Once she leaves, Lois and Clark walk into the apartment where they find a girl sitting on the couch.  Her name is Ann Carson and they quickly realize that Ann wrote the essay and signed her mother’s name.  Ann is excited to learn that she has won the contest and she insists that her mother should be flown around the world, because her mother works very hard.  Although Lois and Clark object to the idea, Ann argues that she has not violated the contest rules by attributing the authorship of the essay to her mother -- after all, she listened to the rules as they were presented over the radio and there was nothing said which precluded her doing what she did!  (Ann obviously has a bright future as a lawyer.)

Lois and Clark realize that Ann is blind.  In addition, Ann announces that she does not believe in Superman -- he’s just a publicity stunt.  Clark tries to explain to her that the contest is for children and not for adults.  Clark tells Ann that Superman wants to take her around the world.  He explains that even though she can’t see, Superman will describe everything to her.  Ann rejects the suggestion and insists that her mother be taken instead.  We then learn how Ann was blinded in an automobile accident with her father at the wheel and that her father apparently abandoned Ann and her mother immediately afterwards.   At that point, Elaine Carson returns to the apartment and justifiably wants to know what the #@%# these strangers are doing in her home?????  (Our intrepid reporters are lucky that she doesn’t call the cops!)  She demands that Lois and Clark go away and leave them alone.

Back at the planet, Lois and Cark are dismayed to learn that Perry, feeling pressured by rival newspapers, has already printed the story announcing that Elaine Carson is the contest winner.  Perry is visibly upset over the report from Lois and Clark and he tells them to find a way out of this mess.

While Lois and Jimmy work on damage control, Clark pays a visit to Dr. Anderson, the physician who operated on Ann’s eyes.  Dr. Anderson informs Clark that he knows there must be something lodged in Ann’s optic nerve although he was unable to detect it using the finest X-Ray in the world.  Dr. Anderson concedes that another operation offers little hope unless Clark knows of a more powerful X-Ray.  Clark smiles at the doctor and comments that he might.  This is another example of the running joke Clark has with the audience, although more subtle than the usual wink to the camera.

Clark goes back to Ann’s apartment to try to convince her that Superman is real.  When he arrives, although he’s dressed in his Clark Kent suit, he introduces himself to Ann as Superman.  This is a very surreal moment for the viewer because it is almost as if Clark is revealing his secret identity to the little girl!  But then the viewer remembers that Ann cannot see and so Clark’s secret is still safe.

Clark has Ann hold a fireplace poker while he bends it to demonstrate his super-strength but Ann is not convinced.  So, Clark goes into another room and asks Ann to whisper something very softly.  A tear comes to the viewer’s eye when Ann says “I want my daddy back home again”.  Clark comes out of the other room and repeats what Ann said.  She is shocked but finally convinced he is Superman.

Meanwhile, Lois has returned to the apartment building to wait for Elaine. When Elaine arrives, she explains to Lois that she blamed her husband for the automobile accident, blamed him for Ann’s blindness and that she drove him away with her inability to forgive him.  Now it is too late for them to talk to each other without involving lawyers.  Lois tells Elaine that at first she wanted to help for the sake of the contest, but now she wants to help for the sake of people.

Fortunately, Clark realizes that Elaine and Lois are on their way and so he manages to change into his Superman costume before they enter the apartment.  Superman informs Elaine and Lois that there is a piece of glass lodged in Ann’s eyes and he will assist Dr. Anderson with the operation to restore Ann’s sight.  (The complete scene of Superman using his X-Ray vision in the operating room was often cut when this episode ran in syndication.)

The operation is a complete success and Superman flies Ann around the world, showing her all the famous points of interest. Very few moments in the entire history of television and motion pictures are as magical and touching as the sequence of flying scenes in which Superman carries Ann around the world in his arms.  As they are nearing the end of their flight, Ann muses, “Oh, Superman, I wonder if people know how beautiful the world really is.”  This is certainly one of the most profound lines of dialog spoken in the entire series.

While they’re flying around the world, Superman hints to Ann that there is a big surprise waiting for her at the end of their journey.  When they return to the Daily Planet, Ann discovers that her father is there!

As Ann sees her mother and father together, she runs into her father’s arms. Her family is finally reunited, her wish has come true, and there’s not a dry eye in the house!

This brilliant screenplay, written by Jackson Gillis (who also wrote Panic in the Sky), is remarkable in that it is one of the very few episodes in which none of the characters are criminals and there is no violence of any kind.  Yet it is very dramatic and tugs at your heartstrings without ever getting sappy!

Around the World with Superman

Panic in the Sky