TV adaptation of the campy 1960s Broadway musical concerning a mad scientist who enlists a rival reporter and a group of gangsters to push the Man of Steel into a mental breakdown.TV adaptation of the campy 1960s Broadway musical concerning a mad scientist who enlists a rival reporter and a group of gangsters to push the Man of Steel into a mental breakdown.TV adaptation of the campy 1960s Broadway musical concerning a mad scientist who enlists a rival reporter and a group of gangsters to push the Man of Steel into a mental breakdown.
Lesley Ann Warren
- Lois Lane
- (as Lesley Warren)
Stuart Goetz
- Jerry Siegel
- (as Stuart Getz)
Gary Owens
- Narrator
- (voice)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis show was based on the 1966 musical of the same name which was considered the biggest Broadway flop of its time, closing after 3 1/2 months and costing $600K (equaling over $5 million in 2022). Although the play was praised by critics and audiences, it wasn't well promoted and found itself in direct competition with ABC's unexpected hit Batman (1966), which had just begun airing on TV twice a week. As a matter of fact, Superman's debut was intended to be heralded on the cover of Life Magazine, but it was ultimately reduced to a small sidebar in a flashy cover story about Batman. This heavily reworked TV special was an attempt to recoup some of the show's financial losses and to boost interest in licensing it for high school and regional theatre productions, but ABC buried it on their late-night schedule for both broadcasts.
- GoofsDr. Sedgwick's dates on the Nobel Prize winners are inaccurate. Richard T. Zsigmondy was awarded it in 1925, not 1938, and Sir Chandra V. Raman got his in 1930, not 1949. Also, although he didn't cite a date, Harold Urey received his award in 1934, so he would not have been in direct competition with Sedgwick, who didn't earn his P.H.D. until 1938.
- Crazy creditsEach cast member is shown in a brief clip that accompanies their name in the end credits sequence, and then - unusually - many of the crew members are similarly credited with an on-set photo.
- Alternate versionsThe heavily bootlegged version is just titled "Superman." The original broadcast version featured the complete name and included an additional card in the end credits with copyright information.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman (2006)
- SoundtracksWe Need Him
Music by Charles Strouse
Lyrics by Lee Adams
Sung by David Wilson, Nita Talbot, Joanna Kerns, Ronnie Claire Edwards, Udana Power, and Chorus
Featured review
Not as bad as people are led to believe
The Broadway production was named in the Broadway ten best list for that year. You've got Possibilities was recorded by Jane Morgan, Edie Gourme and Streisand. The staging was by the legendary director Hal Prince. The writers of the book enentually used some of their often humorous story as part of the screenplay that they eventually wrote for the Christopher Reeve film.
The TV production was unfortunate in being broadcast out of prime time, and it did look cheap. Best line ... when Perry White receives a news article from a reporter and says "Rosebud..a sled!!!! no one will believe that!". Was anyone paying attention? Why do people on this board keep saying there was no Perry White? Even the Broadway production had a Perry White, played byEric Mason. It was Hal Prince the director who replaced the character of Jimmy Olsen with a more mature pragnmatic character named Jim Morgan. This vharcter was cut from the TV production. Benton and Newman's main plot line and tongue in cheek humor are maintained in the Salkind film. The biggest objection to the Broadway show was it looked too much like Bye Bye Birdie, and the villains parts were bigger than Superman's or Lois Lane's.
The TV production was unfortunate in being broadcast out of prime time, and it did look cheap. Best line ... when Perry White receives a news article from a reporter and says "Rosebud..a sled!!!! no one will believe that!". Was anyone paying attention? Why do people on this board keep saying there was no Perry White? Even the Broadway production had a Perry White, played byEric Mason. It was Hal Prince the director who replaced the character of Jimmy Olsen with a more mature pragnmatic character named Jim Morgan. This vharcter was cut from the TV production. Benton and Newman's main plot line and tongue in cheek humor are maintained in the Salkind film. The biggest objection to the Broadway show was it looked too much like Bye Bye Birdie, and the villains parts were bigger than Superman's or Lois Lane's.
helpful•52
- amoscato
- May 15, 2007
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What is the Spanish language plot outline for It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman! (1975)?
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