1970s Spiderman live action show

[Christopher]

Let's talk about the BEST SPIDER-MAN FiGHT SCENE OF ALL TIME!!!

Judging from the music, that must be from the pilot movie. It's the only one that used that theme.

It's not a bad Spidey-fight for '70s US TV, with some decent Spider-stunts, though it's just not a real Spider-Man action scene without witty banter. Still, the Japanese Spider-Man had better fights every week. He was an Emissary from Hell, after all!

 

[urbandefault]

Even in the original run I thought it was amazingly slow and cheesy. Over the last couple of days I've tried to rewatch some of it again and it's just as bad as I remembered.

The Bixby Hulk show was much better, and a lot of that is pretty hard to watch now.

Sorry. :/

 

[Icemizer]

Hammond really needs to make a cameo in a Marvel movie.

 

[The Old Mixer]

At least they didn't change Spidey's real name to Chuck Parker or something.

I've always wondered, did Hammond actually do any of the costume work, or did they not bother because a lot of it would need to be done by stuntmen anyway?

In high school, about 10 years after the series originally aired, my English teacher showed a version of The Tempest in class with Hammond as Ferdinand. I recognized his name in the credits so I knew to expect him, but when he first appeared onscreen, there was an audible murmur from some of the guys in the class--"It's Spider-Man!"

 

[BoredShipCapt'n]

I've got an episode of this series on VHS that I had picked up at a pawn shop years ago, but I haven't watched yet as I need to transfer the tape to another shell, but I just haven't got around to it yet. But considering that the show was released completely on VHS and Betamax in the 1980's, and then again in the 90's, its surprising that it hasn't been put onto DVD or Blu-Ray yet, as the home video rights were cleared decades ago.

I thought Marvel was blocking its further release somehow because Stan Lee hated it.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I always got kind of a weird uncanny valley effect from the live-action Spider-Man. The scenes always felt kind of real and unnatural at the same time.

 

[Christopher]

Hammond really needs to make a cameo in a Marvel movie.

Apparently, he did. He was in the crowd in the Times Square Unity Festival scenes in the first Raimi movie, though he was uncredited.

I've always wondered, did Hammond actually do any of the costume work, or did they not bother because a lot of it would need to be done by stuntmen anyway?

Maybe occasionally when he needed to do dialogue. But one thing I always noticed about the suit actor was the way he tilted his head and used body language to convey his reactions and attitude in the absence of a visible face. I figure that had to be someone who specialized in mime or dance or the like, probably not Hammond. Suit acting is its own distinct discipline.

Not to mention that actors need every moment of their free time to try to line up work, deal with agents and the press, touch up their makeup, rehearse lines, try to grab a nap or some food, etc. So as a rule, any time an actor's face isn't on camera, the actor is someone else. If you just see them from behind or at a distance -- or in a full-face mask -- it's almost certainly a stand-in.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I remember reading an interview with Hammond saying that as the show progressed he tried and asked to play as much of Spider-Man in costume as possible. In the beginning it was hardly him in the suit at all. Even in scenes without stunts. But its been so since I have seen it, without Spidey speaking or even hearing him think, which could have been dubbed, most of the Spider-man scenes were action any ways.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I remember reading an interview with Hammond saying that as the show progressed he tried and asked to play as much of Spider-Man in costume as possible. In the beginning it was hardly him in the suit at all. Even in scenes without stunts. But its been so since I have seen it, without Spidey speaking or even hearing him think, which could have been dubbed, most of the Spider-man scenes were action any ways.

Stuntman Fred Waugh had a similar build to Hammond, but one could tell which one was on screen, as Hammond ran in a more upright position, while Waugh tended to move in the crouched, "spider" position.

Trivia: Your friendly neighborhood Hammond guest starred on "The Judas Goat"--an episode from the short-lived Logan's Run TV series. Series antagonist Francis (the Sandman) was portrayed by Randy Powell, who would also guest star in the Spider-Man episode "The Deadly Dust" (as one of Peter's college classmates building the bomb).

"The Deadly Dust" might be best remembered for JoAnna Cameron's guest role as a suspicious rival reporter. Cameron was the star of Filmation's 2nd live-action super-hero series, Isis (aka The Secrets of Isis).

All three series were broadcast on CBS.

 

[Cyke101]

Leopardon, his giant robot, helped revolutionize Japan's live-action superhero genre; the Spidey toys were very popular, and if it wasn't for Spidey, the Power Rangers wouldn't have had giant robots (or perhaps even exist -- the franchise might've gotten cancelled had it not been for the introduction of giant robots in their 3rd series).

Well, giant robots from Japan have been around for some time before that Spider-Man series; from the animated Gigantor to the live action Giant Robo (syndicated in North America as a series & the cobbled together film, Voyage into Space), and other productions which were very popular. .

That's why I specified Japanese live-action TV use. They weren't new in other media, but to apply it to a regular TV show was unprecedented at the time.

As it was, Sentai (the Japanese franchise from which Power Rangers gets its source footage) went through two incarnations without giant robots; the second show's disappointing results almost killed the franchise. It was precisely because of Spider-Man's success that Sentai implemented the giant robots; Marvel had a joint partnership with Toei (producers of Sentai and Spider-Man), and the first Sentai series to get a giant robot was its third, Battle Fever, which was inspired by the idea of having an international equivalent of five Captain Americas. From that point on, giant robots became one of the major staples for Sentai, thanks to Spider-Man and Marvel, and helped save the franchise. Without the giant robot to draw in viewers and merchandise sales, the Sentai franchise would have died, or at least would have had a very different 4th series; in either case, the giant robot transformed the show.

As well, Sentai popularized them in live action TV use, though giant robots are common in anime and manga, there are still only a couple shows in production today that use them in live-action, despite the greater number of Japanese superhero shows.

 

[Christopher]

^Yes, essentially. That's what I was saying -- not that Supaidaaman created giant robots, but that it was Toei's first show that combined martial-arts monster-fighting action with giant robots, a formula that Toei then imported into their previously robot-free Super Sentai franchise.

Here's a video on the subject, part of a series about the history of Super Sentai.

 

[Zaku]

Spoiler: Don't forget... he's a emissary from hell!!!

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Spoiler: Don't forget... he's a emissary from hell!!!

That is so bizarre.

 

[Cyke101]

That is so bizarre.

Tell me about, but it was also such a fun surprise, too. Before that issue, I knew the show existed but wasn't expecting to see THAT in a mainstream Marvel book. The Japanese hero fanboy in me just about punched the air with glee!

 

[The Old Mixer]

Somebody tell Ultraman about this no giant robots in live action thing....

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg6Kxz9pffs[/yt]

 

[Cyke101]

Somebody tell Ultraman about this no giant robots in live action thing....

That wasn't a regular protagonist, though, and certainly not a hero. I can guarantee that robot enemy wasn't in every episode for an entire season straight.

As Christopher pointed out:

not that Supaidaaman created giant robots, but that it was Toei's first show that combined martial-arts monster-fighting action with giant robots, a formula that Toei then imported into their previously robot-free Super Sentai franchise.

And before anyone asks, no, Ultraman is not a robot himself, nor does he typically fight enemies at human size.

(and holy crap, Ultraman's on fire!)

 

[tomswift2002]

I thought Marvel was blocking its further release somehow because Stan Lee hated it.

I've never heard anything about that. But I have heard that the Japanese series will never be released on home video here in North America, or anywhere in the world again due to the way the rights were written out in the 1970's. If you think the rights to Spider-Man and the X-Men are crazy now, with how Marvel has those rights, the 70's Japanese show is even crazier. Toei has done only 1 DVD release, in Japan only, due to having to pay Marvel royalties everytime that they distribute anything that has the Spider-Man character, ranging from the individual episodes to publicity shots. On the other hand the robot Leopardon and the villiains of the show are owned by Toei, so Toei is able to release publicity shots and videos with just those characters without having to pay or get permission from Marvel.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I do remember Stan Lee hosting new intros to the 70s series on Sci-Fi Channel. Sometime during the 90s along with other Marvel tv movies.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Somebody tell Ultraman about this no giant robots in live action thing....

That wasn't a regular protagonist, though, and certainly not a hero. I can guarantee that robot enemy wasn't in every episode for an entire season straight.

Well, except for the aforementioned Giant Robo (aka Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot) a decade before that strange devil-Spidey show, and considering its popularity, could be seen as an influence for giant, live-action robots to come.

 

[Flibble]

Thanks for this discussion. It has brought back some memories for me. I have recently re-watched the series and despite the SFX's looking dated it was fun to see again. I did think that The Chinese Web/Dragon's Challenge now looks more like a travelouge for Hong Kong though!