"The Amazing Spider-Man" (1978) TV series 1978-1979

Directors:

Tom Blank
Cliff Bole

Writers:

Alvin Boretz (writer)
Steve Ditko (characters)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | unknown

Release Date:

5 April 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Crime

Plot:

With the powers given by the bite of a radioactive spider, a young man fights crime as a wall-crawling superhero.

Plot Keywords:

Laboratory Accident | Spider-Man | Superhero | Spider Sense | Clairvoyance

Cast

Nicholas Hammond	...	Peter Parker / ... (13 episodes, 1978-1979)
Robert F. Simon	...	J. Jonah Jameson (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Ellen Bry	...	Julie Masters (12 episodes, 1978-1979)
Chip Fields	...	Rita Conway (12 episodes, 1978-1979)

Also Known As:

Spiderman

Runtime:

60 min (15 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Charles Fries Productions

Trivia:

Contrary to popular belief, "Spider-man" was not canceled because of low ratings. In fact, the series performed well in the ratings, but TV politics were believed to have played a role in the cancellation; CBS executives apparently 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.)

Movie Connections:

Referenced in VH-1 Where Are They Now: Superheros (2003) (TV)

It Won't Be Truly "Amazing" Until CBS Releases The '78 Spider-Man on DVD

Though, short lived "The Amazing Spider-Man" was one of the best made for TV versions of a famed comic book hero. Only "Wonder Woman" (Lynda Carter) (the best of the genre and "The Incredible Hulk" (Bill Bixby, Lou Ferrigno) were better.

"The Amazing Spider-Man" outclasses the 1966-1968 "Batman", because the high camp elements of the latter often ruin the adventure. "Spider-Man" outclasses all three television interpretations of "Superman"- "Lois and Clark", "Smallville", and of course the George Reeves "Superman" which brings up the rear.

"The Amazing Spider-Man" was an action drama, during the late 1970's, the pre-CGI era, when stunts had to be performed by stunt men, not in the database of a computer. "Spider-Man" had its own very talented stuntman to perform the death defying daredevil acrobatics. His name was Fred Waugh, who donned the spidy suit for the action sequences. Nicholas Hammond, better known as one of Julie Andrew's children on the all-time movie classic "The Sound of Music" was Spider-Man during the dialogue scenes. Hammond's Spider-Man also had his own secret identity as Peter Parker, similar to Christopher Reeve- Superman/ Clark Kent, Adam West-Batman/Bruce Wayne, and of course Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman/ Diana Prince.

It's unfortunate that the series only had thirteen episodes. Because when the first episode hit the airwaves in November of 1977, the entire country was watching it on CBS that Wednesday night. In all fairness, CBS should release this pilot episode as well as "The Deadly Dust", the "Captive Tower" etc. on DVD shortly. "Spider-Man" was short lived, but did have a cult following, and in my opinion was a heck of a lot better than the movie interpretation of the famed comic book hero starring Toby McGuire.

CBS might be hesitant to release these episodes for two reasons. (A) There might not be a broad market for them based on the lack of longevity of the series and a generation of children and young people who weren't born when the series originally aired in the 1970's. (B) One of the early "Spider-Man" episodes dealt with a terrorist with designs on the World Trade Center, which was attacked twice many years after this show went off the air, in 1993, and of course the devastating attack against this country on 9/11/01 in which the towers were destroyed and many innocent lives were lost.

However I don't think that it would be in bad taste to release this "Spider-Man" episode even if the show was adventure, derived from a comic book, and camp in nature. The live action "Amazing Spider-Man" doesn't have a large following but it has a cult following. If and when CBS releases it out on DVD this cult following could be explained along with the episode in which Spiderman saved the towers in 1978, but how in September of 2001 real life proved to be different from the movies. I like to follow the news, but I also like Science Fiction/Fantasy. Therefore I am eagerly awaiting the release of "The Amazing Spider-Man on DVD".