We are now living in an age where alot of comic book characters are getting into live action all of the time. However that really wasn't always the case as for a shockingly long time comic books were seen as nothing but kids reading material and well one of the characters that really spawned from this idea was Superman a character that is still really popular to this very day with the character appearing in dozens of films and TV shows both in live and animated and so then join me as I review the very first episode of the show that saw the man of steel really make the leap to the small screen with the episode in question being called simply just "Superman On Earth" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is the very first thing that's wrong with this episode as the episode itself has no plotline to speak. Sure there's a small plot that creeps in near the end of the episode but for the vast majority of the episodes running time there us no plot to speak off as all we are seeing is young Clarke grow up and that's really it and while that idea is fine for a montage of scenes it's not a good idea for the vast majority of the first episode of the first ever live action Superman show to have as while yes you kind of have to do the origin story you could have also have created a plot that also includes the origin in a more organic way and heck you could have had the plot of the episode even tie into the main plot of the episode and yet because the episode chooses not to do that all we left with is in an episode that had no plot and is suffering because of it in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is George Reeves as Clarke Kent / Kal-El / Superman and Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane. Also starring in this episode is John Hamilton as Perry White , Jack Larson as Jimmy Olsen , Herbert Rawlinson as Rozan , Stuart Randall as Gogan , Aline Towne as Lara , Frances Morris as Sarah Kent , Danni Sue Nolan as Miss Bachrach , Tom Fadden as Eben Kent , Jack Narz as The Narrator , Jeffrey Silver as Teenaged Clark Kent , Sam Flint as Eben's Doctor and Our Miss Brooks star Robert Rockwell as Jor-El.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. With the acting in this episode being alot better then what it really had any right to be as generally the acting in alot of early comic book adaptations typically isn't that good and yet all of the cast members in this episode turn in some really good performances even the actors that only have a very small amount of screen time manage to make an impression by turning in some really good performances but what let's the acting down is the fact that the script for this episode just really isn't that good as it doesn't give the cast a whole lot to work with interms of what there respective characters personalities are even meant to be which is really understandable as this is the first episode of a long running TV show but at the same time you want to start your show with your best foot forward and that's not something that really happens with this episode.
As is to be expected this episode does do the full origin story for Superman which does make sense as his origin wasn't as well known to the main stream audience at the time that this episode was made and aired. Doing the origin does make sense but at the same time they really didn't need to do the full origin as it eats up to much of the episodes running time and if they did decide to show us just part of the origin then they could have had parts of it air in different episodes and have it relate to that episodes plot thus giving us really more room here to set up the characters and give us some kind of idea as to who these characters are and give us a good idea of what the characters personalities really even are and yet because the episode is adamant on really showing us the full origin story we are given no plot and the characters get no personality as the episode has no time to really set them up and that is something that really does harm the show.
What was rather unexpected is the fact that this episode does make changes to the lore with Ma and Pa Kent now being called Sarah and Eben. Which was something that felt weird as there names have always been Martha and Jonathon but because this show was made so close to the publication of the first appearance of Superman and as such things about his origin which does most likely include the name of Clarke's adoptive parents was most likely not that really well known but on the flip side Eben is such an obscure name that it's hard to picture anyone from the south calling there son that let alone somebody who was most likely born in the mid to late 1800's as yes we do get a year of when Clarke is a teenager with that year being nineteen twenty six which was a solid choice as it doesn't really add anything to the plot but at the same time it doesn't really take away anything from the plot either it's just there as a neat little piece of lore for this show.
While the fact that they do show the heart attack that killed of Jonathon what doesn't work is the fact that we don't get to send alot of time with this version of the character. As infact the character only really appears in two scenes before he dies and yet it's meant to be this big heartbreaking moment and yet it just doesn't work and while yes the character also gets the exact same amount of scenes in Superman: The Movie his heartattack was something that was built up in his first scene and as such there was kind of this ticking bomb all throughout that early part of the film as he could die at any moment and when you add in the fact that the heart attack in that movie played a huge part of Clark's own personal character arc throughout not only the first but also really the second film it makes that version of the scene much more better where as here in this episode it happens and it's really just quickly forgotten about which just saps any emotion out of that one scene.
What was quite easily the best part of the whole entire episode is the destruction of Krypton as it was something that looked so much better then what it really should have done. With the episode making great use of miniature special effects to help to pull that sequence of and when you add in the added drama of Jor-El just trying to convince his wife to go with baby Kal-El it makes the scene so good as we see that Jor-El is just trying to do what's right by his family and is not doing it just to prove the members of the council wrong which is something that adds to his character as it makes him look like someone who will do anything for his family something which doesn't really get explored in this episode but it is something that really made this version of the character standout as it's something that's really very rarely if ever really seen in live action adaptations of the character.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty five minuets and fifty one seconds. Which was such a long time for this episode to have as the episode doesn't spend alot of time on the little story that it actually has with that small story being more then capable of supporting an entire thirty minuet episode and yet for some reason it's just pushed back until the final five or so minuets with the story not really being given the room that it needed to breathe and as such it does feel rushed while at the same time the rest of the episode is spent on detailing an origin story that doesn't need to be covered in that much detail or have that much time dedicated to it if the makers of the show wanted to give the origin story that much screen time then what they should have done is make this episode a two part episode as then the actual plot of the episode would get the time that needed to fully breathe and each of the side characters would get a real chance to shine but I will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is an action show that means that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad.Ad this episode doesn't really have a fight scene in it which means that we only get two scenes that might be an action scene the first being the great destruction of Krypton and the second one just being Superman catching a guy as he falls with the lack of action being a bit of an issue as we don't really get to see what it is that makes Super super and heck Clark doesn't don the costume until the final few minuets of the episode and while the lack of action does somewhat make sense as this show most likely didn't have a big budget you still have to show us the hero in action in more ways then just showing him lazily catch a guy falling as that's just a really lame way to show of this truly iconic superhero in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall this wasn't a bad episode to start of this show but at the same time it doesn't really give you a reason to want to check out the shows second episode either which is what a good show should do in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very episode and as such that means that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girl and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official DC Database fandom wiki page , Wikipedia and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from these very episode that I used in this very review being Google Images simply just due to the fact that alot of the images that are on Google Images are all really fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.