Adventures of Superman (TV Series) - Cancellation and Aftermath

Cancellation and Aftermath

In 1958, producer Whitney Ellsworth created Superpup, a never-aired-on-TV spin-off pilot that placed the Superman mythos in a fictional world populated by dogs. Featuring live-action actors in dog-suits portraying canine versions of Superman and other characters, the pilot was filmed on Adventures of Superman sets and was intended to capitalize on the success of its parent series.

Producers planned to continue Adventures of Superman in 1959 with two more years' worth of episodes, to begin airing in the 1960 season. The death of actor John Hamilton threw the plan into disarray. Actor Pierre Watkin was hired to replace Hamilton as "Perry White's brother" (Watkin had played Perry White himself in the two Columbia serials, and had guested on the series before).

The sudden death of the show's star George Reeves in June 1959 was not the end of the series either, in the producers' eyes. When Jack Larson returned from Europe after the death of Reeves, producers suggested the series could continue as "Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen," with more focus on Larson continuing his character, playing opposite a "Superman" who would be a composite of stock shots of George Reeves and a look-alike stunt double to be filmed from behind. Larson rejected the distasteful idea out of hand, and the series was truly over.

Another spin-off idea was a pilot produced by Whitney Ellsworth in 1961: The Adventures of Superboy. Johnny Rockwell starred as a young Clark Kent in Smallville, and as Superboy wore a suit similar in design to George Reeves' suit. Although thirteen scripts had been written, only the pilot was filmed.

In the 1970s, colleges across the United States welcomed Noel Neill, who charmed and delighted the show's now-grown fans with videos, anecdotes and stories about her participation in the series. Neill and her original 1948 Superman serial co-star, Kirk Alyn, enjoyed cameos in the 1978 film Superman as Lois Lane's parents. Their dialog scene was cut for theatrical release, but played in its entirety when the film was broadcast on TV, and later in the 2000 director's cut restoration. Neill and Jack Larson both made guest appearance on the TV series Superboy in the episode "Paranoia" during the show's fourth season.

Larson was cast as a man-on-the-street in an American Express ad called The Adventures of Seinfeld and Superman, featuring Superman fan Jerry Seinfeld. Patrick Warburton voiced the animated Superman. Larson also had a guest appearance on Lois & Clark, playing an elder Jimmy Olsen. Like Neill, Larson has participated in various conventions connected with Superman, also donated his time to provide commentaries for some of the episodes on the DVD releases during 2005 and 2006, and the 2006 documentary history of the Superman character, Look, Up in the Sky, and had small speaking roles in the 2006 film Superman Returns.

Robert Shayne received a recurring role as "Reggie," the blind newspaper vendor in The Flash in 1990–91 because the producers were aware of his Superman connection. Shayne was, in fact, legally blind by that time.

Phyllis Coates played the part of Lois Lane's mother, in a 1993 episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, at the suggestion of Lois & Clark guest star (and George Reeves biographer) Jim Beaver. The Coates Orphanage in Metropolis, which appears in the Lois and Clark episode "Season's Greedings", is named for her.