All Things Come...

"The Adventures of Superman" was probably one of the first things I started TiVo'ng, and must hold the record for my longest TiVo season pass. At last count I had over 40 of the 103 episodes (104 if you count the never-run-in-syndication "Stamp Day for Superman").

Finally, finally, comes news (via Mark Evanier) that the 1st season of TAoS - 26 episodes including the origin story "Superman on Earth" and concluding with the two-part "The Unknown People" (aka" Superman and the Mole Men") will be released in October. Evanier notes that the set will include "special features," although no word on what those might be.

I don't fully agree with Mark's opinion that Season 1 was "generally the best." I might argue for Season 2, but it's kinda a fanboy thing, so I'll resist. Bottom line is that I can still remember being scared spitless by Season 2's "A Ghost for Scotland Yard," whose floating ghost face traumatized the imaginative but whussy young Fred so badly that my Mom banned Superman for a week. Later bans would include Dell Comics "Ghost Stories," "The Twilight Zone," and "Outer Limits," all of which gave me many sleepless and nightmare-filled nights. Ah, youth.

The first two seasons are surprisingly noirish. Mark notes a "movie serial feel," but I always thought of them as radio shows brought wholesale into the new medium. You could close your eyes and picture the story in your mind by the dialogue and sometimes narrative better than what was on screen. Mark is also right that later seasons became increasingly pungent, possibly reaching their nadir with Season 3's "Flight to the North," starring Chuck Connors as backwoods Sylvester J. Superman, complete with mule.

Anyway, even if I already have self-recorded much of Season 1, the official release spares me the effort of editing out commercials, getting episodes into the proper order, re-burning back to DVD, et al; so like Mark, I'll have the first season of TAoS on order the day it's offered, and will be crossing my fingers that the second season will eventually see the light of day, too. Who knows, maybe "Stamp Day for Superman" will be part of the package.

One can only hope. I'm still waiting for "Reboot" and the second season of "Twin Peaks" on DVD (as an aside, the way "Twin Peaks" has been brutalized by the copyright holders is a crime). But on the other hand, I do now have Seasons 1 and 2 of "Moonlighting" on DVD now thanks to a pair of generous cats and their Momma who fronted the money.