MeTV's SuperSci-Fi Saturday Night

[The Old Mixer]

If it was his one and only costume, then it stretches the credibility of the episode somewhat...his apartment happens to get broken into the one night that he's out without his costume for some reason.

Back when I didn't know that Candy was a holdover from earlier radio versions of the story, the character begged the question, "Why not Bill Henderson?"

 

[Christopher]

The problem with watching MeTV is seeing all the commercials aimed at old people. I saw one for burial planning last night. It's depressing.

I haven't seen the radio show, so the PI guy did come out of nowhere for me.

Well, technically, I haven't seen the radio show either...

I was surprised he only had the one costume. I wonder if he hadn't gotten it back if he would has just stopped being Superman.

I suppose that does add a sense of urgency to the story.

The way she made her predictions was kind of weird too. They had her doing it like she was in some kind of trance or something, but never really said anything about it.

That was just bad acting. Well, maybe the character was trying to give the impression of a trance, but of course it was all a scam.

Yes, and in the pre-Crisis comics; its Kryptonian origin explained its great durability.

Which was the point of my question. Why would he need a spare costume?

Well, in radio, the costume was extremely tough but not entirely indestructible. When the Kryptonite-powered Atom Man defeated Superman and left him for dead, his costume was destroyed, so that the people who found him didn't realize who he was.

And even a nigh-indestructible costume could still get dirty, I suppose.

If his costume wasn't super, he'd need a new one every day, considering how often he gets shot.

In the Post-Crisis reboot, it was established that Superman generated a skintight protective force field around his body, so that his costume, despite being made from Earth materials, remained intact no matter what, although his cape was far more vulnerable to being frayed or burned. It helped explain why he needed a skintight outfit in the first place.

If it was his one and only costume, then it stretches the credibility of the episode somewhat...his apartment happens to get broken into the one night that he's out without his costume for some reason.

Clark explained that (indirectly) in the episode -- he'd needed to report for a mandatory company physical, which is why he wasn't wearing his costume under his clothes. Although I have to wonder how Superman can pass a physical without giving away his alien nature. There have been some stories, on radio, in comics, and elsewhere, that have required him to dodge physicals or fake results, but there have been others that have assumed he can pass a medical exam without trouble.

Back when I didn't know that Candy was a holdover from earlier radio versions of the story, the character begged the question, "Why not Bill Henderson?"

Well, that's pretty easy. Clark needed to keep the matter confidential, so he couldn't take it to the police and have a formal report filed and so forth. So he went to a private investigator (who was also a trusted friend). Still, it made more sense in the original radio version, where he turned to Batman (who already knew his double identity) for help.

 

[Silvercrest]

There was at least one early Superman comic where a doctor broke a needle on young Clark Kent's arm trying to draw blood. Clark wasn't making any particular effort to avoid or hide anything -- he just said, "Try again, doc!" I believe this was before he was Superman.

Strangely, once Superman appeared, no one ever put two and two together.

 

[The Old Mixer]

The problem with watching MeTV is seeing all the commercials aimed at old people. I saw one for burial planning last night. It's depressing.

Try Henry Winkler selling reverse mortgages to seniors.

Well, in radio, the costume was extremely tough but not entirely indestructible. When the Kryptonite-powered Atom Man defeated Superman and left him for dead, his costume was destroyed, so that the people who found him didn't realize who he was.

That would be consistent with how Kryptonian fabric was handled pre-Crisis...its indestructability would have been as compromised by the Kryptonite as Superman's.

And even a nigh-indestructible costume could still get dirty, I suppose.

Back in the day, they said he cleaned it by flying through the sun....

Clark explained that (indirectly) in the episode -- he'd needed to report for a mandatory company physical, which is why he wasn't wearing his costume under his clothes.

Ah, I didn't catch that...but that's still two big coincidences--Clark's apartment being randomly broken into on that specific occasion, and the physical was at night...? If it was his spare that he kept there full-time, that helps suspension of disbelief considerably.

 

[Christopher]

I don't think the break-in was at night. I'd think a catburglar would want to burgle apartments during the day, when they're unoccupied.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I'd have to rewatch...wasn't there a spotlight on him at one point?

Plus, hanging from apartment buildings in broad daylight? Might make sense for breaking in from the inside.

 

[Christopher]

Well, maybe it was in winter and the sun set early, and Clark's physical was the last one of the day and ran late.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I think we can all just agree that none of it made any sense.

The problem with watching MeTV is seeing all the commercials aimed at old people. I saw one for burial planning last night. It's depressing.

Well, it's better than Sciffy, where a beautiful model with an enticing foreign accent wanders around a sunny beach in slow motion wearing a diaphanous blue gown, telling me that it's okay to have erectile dysfunction.

Well, in radio, the costume was extremely tough but not entirely indestructible. When the Kryptonite-powered Atom Man defeated Superman and left him for dead, his costume was destroyed, so that the people who found him didn't realize who he was.

Just some random nudist? If his costume was made from his Kryptonian swaddling clothes and it was destroyed, does that mean he was wearing regular Earth-material costumes after that?

In the Post-Crisis reboot, it was established that Superman generated a skintight protective force field around his body, so that his costume, despite being made from Earth materials, remained intact no matter what, although his cape was far more vulnerable to being frayed or burned. It helped explain why he needed a skintight outfit in the first place.

Not one of Byrne's best ideas.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

The problem with watching MeTV is seeing all the commercials aimed at old people. I saw one for burial planning last night. It's depressing.

Well, a good number of MeTV's programs are aimed anyone falling in the age between "war babies" (WW2) to early Generation X age range. To name a few, I Love Lucy, Thriller, Alfred Hitchcock, Peter Gunn, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Untouchables, Superman, Gunsmoke and other series key audiences (when 1st run) are now either long past retirement, or have passed on.

There was a cable channel called RTV, which also featured many late 50's / early 60's series, and every other spot was about the Hoveround chair, walk-in bathtubs pitched by Pat Boone, and yes, burial planning.

So, you can see that kind of commercial as depressing, but it is expected, considering the channel's target audience.

 

[Christopher]

Well, in radio, the costume was extremely tough but not entirely indestructible. When the Kryptonite-powered Atom Man defeated Superman and left him for dead, his costume was destroyed, so that the people who found him didn't realize who he was.

Just some random nudist?

He was found unconscious with his clothes reduced to tatters, so it was clear he'd been hurt somehow.

If his costume was made from his Kryptonian swaddling clothes and it was destroyed, does that mean he was wearing regular Earth-material costumes after that?

As I mentioned already, the radio series had established that he had at least one backup costume. Not that its continuity was ever all that tight in any case.

So, you can see that kind of commercial as depressing, but it is expected, considering the channel's target audience.

What's depressing is the reminder of how close I'm getting to being part of that target audience.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Still watching, Christopher? Gotta love those third-person views of the robot taken from the robot's own eye cameras!

And now...blackface! But IIRC, the character is supposed to be in blackface...which makes it lame that nobody in the show can tell.

 

[Christopher]

Okay, Superman's "The Runaway Robot" is a weird one. Its featured guest star is clearly based on the recurring radio series character Horatio F. (for French) Horn, with all his character traits and quirks (regional correspondent from Squeen Run, Ohio, correspondence-school detective, fond of saying "By Gulliver"), but they've changed his name to Horatio Hinkle and merged him with the "eccentric inventor" role filled by various characters over the run of the radio series. It's confusing. Since all the characters know him well already, it feels like it's meant to be a continuation of the radio character, but it's also a different character. I'm having trouble wrapping my head around it.

Also, speaking as a lifelong Ohioan, whatever accent he and his pal Marvin were using is no Ohio accent I've ever heard.

But on the plus side, the bad guy was the Professor!!! It's weird to see Russell Johnson playing a heavy. Plus Dan Seymour plays his third and final villain on the show, this time as a henchman rather than the boss. But given that he died last time as a result of his evil ways (in "The Stolen Costume"), I guess he reincarnated a little lower on the karmic ladder.

"Drums of Death" was weird too, even aside from the ethnic condescension. Superman find the captives halfway through the episode, then just leaves them there so he can "find out who's behind this." Why not just free them and grab the bad guy who was standing right there? And it was painfully obvious that the "voodoo priest" was the American guide Johnson in blackface. (He was played by Henry Corden, who would later become the second voice of Fred Flintstone.)

 

[The Old Mixer]

"Of all the cape-wearing billionaire detectives in the world, he's the best one!"

Venerable Ireland Yard looks absolutely nothing like Commissioner Gordon's office...not a bit.

Was this the only three-parter that Batman did?

 

[Christopher]

Was this the only three-parter that Batman did?

No, they did two in the second season -- a Joker/Penguin teamup ("The Zodiac Crimes," "The Joker's Hard Times," and "The Penguin Declines") and a Penguin/Marsha, Queen of Diamonds teamup ("Penguin is a Girl's Best Friend," "Penguin Sets a Trend," "Penguin's Disastrous End"). They had to do two, since the show aired twice a week at the time, so the first 3-parter threw off the schedule and they had to do another to put it back on track (although there was one intervening 2-parter, "That Darn Catwoman" and "Scat! Darn Catwoman," that was split across consecutive weeks).

 

[RJDiogenes]

Was that robot episode the one where the robot had Kryptonite inside and caused Superman to collapse? I first saw that when I was six years old and it made me cry and run from the room.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Nope. Superman easily tore the robot into pieces in an off-camera way that didn't reveal the actor inside (somebody dropping pieces of the costume on the floor).

It's the robot that suddenly became very vertically mobile when it needed to cut open a safe with its...its...blowtorch nose....

 

[Christopher]

The robot was basically the love child of the Tin Woodsman and Bender, as constructed by a 4th-grade art class.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

...and Svengoolie is cool (I love the whole Horror Host schtick.

Oh, good. I recently wondered if you ever got around to seeing him.

I record him every Saturday, even the reruns. Elvira made a return on Hulu for the month, too, and that was cool.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Hey, Spiff, how goes?

Yeah, I watch Sven whenever I can and I subscribe to his newsletter. He always shows the high-quality stuff. I've seen it all before, of course, but there's something about watching old movies with a host....

My own local host, Penny Dreadful, is retiring since her husband died. Although she doesn't leave out the possibility of coming back someday. All her stuff is available on DVD, though, which I am slowly collecting.

I had no idea that Elvira came back for Halloween. I don't subscribe to Hulu, so hopefully there's something on the free section of their service.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Nope. Superman easily tore the robot into pieces in an off-camera way that didn't reveal the actor inside (somebody dropping pieces of the costume on the floor).

It's the robot that suddenly became very vertically mobile when it needed to cut open a safe with its...its...blowtorch nose....

Now that's high tech.

Now I need to track down the Kryptonite robot episode to see if it still scares me.