SUPERMAN MOVIE MINUTE – Superman 50th Anniversary
Chris and Rob are back to discuss the infamous 1988 SUPERMAN 50TH ANNIVERSARY TV Special!
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Fun show, Uncle Rob and Uncle Chris. It made me want to re-watch the special again… if only to identify the “Commander Cody” reference…
…which was actually “Super Giant,” Japan’s first on-screen live action superhero (1957), portrayed by Ken Utsui. When the nine Japanese movies were translated, dubbed, and released on U.S. TV in 1965, the character was referred to as “Starman.”
Super Giant was a human-like android made of “the strongest steel” by the Peace Council of the Emerald Planet of the Maffei Galaxy, sent to Earth to protect that planet from other alien invaders. Armed with a watch-like device called the Globe-Meter, Super-Giant can fly, speak any language, locate sources of radiation, and disguise himself as an ordinary Japanese businessman in a suit and fedora who goes by the name of… “Super Giant”…
I recognize the footage used in the Superman special from my Dad’s copy of the fifth film, “Super Giant: The Artificial Satellite and the Destruction of Humanity” from 1957, first shown in U.S. TV in 1965 as the first half of the Starman movie, “Attack From Space.” However, it is possible that these scenes may be reused footage from previous Super Giant films…
I last watched this special over 2 years ago, from my dad’s Superman movie box set, and Tweeted about it here:
https://twitter.com/Isamu94604363/status/1572805236716376064
A few other additional comments I didn’t note before:
The announcer for the special is Jackson Beck, who was also the announcer of the Adventures of Superman cartoon of the 1960s (which I also watched on DVD)… Great touch.
The Superman the Movie scene with Jeff East and Glen Ford was one of Dad’s favorite scenes as well. I remember he’d tell Aika and I that those words, “You are here for a reason,” actually apply to everyone — and Dad also told us that it is up to each of us to make sure we are here for the right reason…
Thanks for the info on the “Commando Cody” footage, Isamu! Fascinating stuff, especially the Starman connection. How did they get that so wrong?
I meant to mention Jackson Beck, but I tangented off my notes at some point. Beck was also the announcer for the bulk of the Superman radio show. And for Gen X kids, he was the announcer on the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero animated series and comic and toy commericals.
Great advice from Xum, of course!
Great show, Rob and Chris! I remember feeling the same way as you two when I watched this as a teen. My reactions ranged from “What the heck?” To “Okay, that was actually really funny.” I think the key in any satire like this is to make fun of the absurd aspects of the content without ever disrespecting it or insulting the audience that loves it. You have to laugh “with” and not “at,” and that difference is why parts of this special worked really well and other parts didn’t. Expectations also matter. When we picked up a Mad magazine satirizing Star Wars, we knew our beloved franchise would be ripped to shreds, but that was what we were paying for.
Listening now- but no mention of Reeve and Slater footage in THE FLASH? Will this be covered? I ask — nay, demand — an official statement by SMM if this will be covered!
Well, Rob is the producer of SMM, but I think I can safely say the answer is…no.
Fantastic episode. I was amused at the two times Chris asked for me to remain calm. In all honesty, I am so much more laid back about things now. Did Byrne have Superman and Barda make a porno? Sure. Shockingly it’s not the weirdest or creepiest thing Byrne did during his run. And the Tyler Hoechlin thing was fair.
This special means a lot to me, mainly because it aired on the first birthday I had after starting to collect the Superman books. February 29, 1988 was my 12th or 3rd birthday, depending on how you want to count leap birthdays, and I was so excited for this. That morning my sister Mary gave me a copy of Action Comics #600, World of Smallville #3, and a tape with three episodes of the Fleisher shorts. We had dinner at a pizza place and we were home in time for me to watch this.
I’d love to tell you what I was feeling at the time. I remember thinking the opening bit was funny but mostly I was just excited that there was a Superman special, so most of the cringeworthy things went over my head. This was so early in my career as a “serious” Superman fan that I didn’t have the historical background to feel strongly about it one way or the other. In 2006 it was part of the 14 disc Superman box set that came down I finally got to see it again and there was an equal amount of cringing and nostalgia. The biggest takeaway was seeing Bruce McCulloch during the skit with Peter Boyle. The Kids in the Hall were a huge part of my junior high and high school years and having him part of this made me weirdly happy.
I had a similar run in with Noel Neil at the Superman Celebration in 2008. Rachel and I were having breakfast with our friends from the Superman Homepage one morning and we were just hanging out and suddenly Noel Neil and her companion show up. She sat down and talked with us for a few minutes. Nothing major. We didn’t make a big deal of it but it was such a great experience. Like Chris said, that memory is better than an autograph. That experience was also when I realized that the nice guy that helped me unload my car a day or two earlier was the guy that was with Noel.
Final thing…Jeff East. I really don’t know if I could meet him again and keep a straight face. He was a guest during the Blogtalk Radio days of RADIO KAL and Steve and I were so excited to have him and apparently he forgot that he was going to be on the show so when we got in touch with him he was at a bar and obviously had had a few. So he told stories about Superman The Movie that I don’t think he normally tells. It was a wild interview.
And as an aside, he actually doesn’t mind talking about The Day After. Based on comments I’ve seen from him about it he thought it was an important film.
Important film. Nightmare fuel for kids from the eighties. Both are correct.
Seriously, though. This was a fun surprise. And I am very disappointed that Superman IV won’t be forthcoming. And I don’t mean that in the “ha ha I want to hear Rob slowly lose his mind” type of way. I honestly wanted it to happen…but, I get it. Life is short and devoting that much to a film you don’t like isn’t worth it.
Oh…forgot to mention. Y’all joked about the Jan Hooks skit and how it came to pass in Superman Returns. Well, in the third season of Lois and Clark there was an episode entitled “Chip Off The Old Clark” where a kid shows up with super powers and the mother, played by Susan Batten, claimed it was Superman’s love child. Her accent made it feel like someone watched the Jan Hooks thing and said, “Do that.” It turns out the kid got powers because Lois and Clark’s version of the story had that if you were standing near Superman and got hit by lightning you got his powers. I would say that was silly but Smallville did the same thing in the first season.
Now that I think about it, both Brian Doyle-Murray and Peter Boyle both ended up on episodes of Lois and Clark. Boyle played Bill “Why In The Hell Am I Not Named Vincent Edge” Church, who was the head of Intergang. Bruce Campbell appeared in a later episode as his son, who was not named Morgan Edge but should have been.
Now I’m done.
Hey guys, great to have Superman Movie Minute back. Congratulations on the new addition to your family Chris.
It’s nice to know I wasn’t the only one a little put off by this special. I remember Superman being on the cover of Time Magazine in celebration of his 50th Anniversary, and thinking, “Hey, finally some respect form comic book characters.” I guess I expected the same reverence from this special. I guess I took it way too personally. I actually felt insulted. Once again superheroes and comic books are being regulated to the realm of campy kid stuff. I guess I just took it too seriously. As I got older I was able to relax and enjoy it more.
I did at least appreciate the some of the stuff in the special as a kid. It’s where I learned Kirk Alyn was the first live action Superman, and the effects of the different color Kryptonites.
It’s hard to remember when we comic book fans were so starved for anything superhero related on tv. Especially something y that was a “documentary”.
So happy to see the show back!
I completely forgot this show existed.
But Al Franken yelling ‘Is the Spectre here?’ HAS been in my head. I couldn’t remember where I saw it to the point I was wondering if I imagined the whole thing. Now I know … and knowing is half the battle.
The other half is rewatching this. I do wish it was a bit more serious in nature. At least I have the Time Magazine retrospective.
What’s this?
Emerging from the forgotten mists of memory, a podcast I fondly remember. When this popped up on my iPhone, I stared at it in disbelief for a few long moments. It looked familiar. I mean, it was Superman. It had Rob and Chris in it. I knew I was behind in my MashCast and JLUcast listening, so for a brief time I wondered if I was having a feverish flare up of an old Covid flu.
But no. And then, like the Man of Tomorrow descending majestically from the clouds to the fanfare of John Williams, I remembered. My favourite podcast! It was alive! And here I’d thought Doomsday had come and crushed it, or perhaps there had been an accident in front of the Phantom Zone Projector again (probably Jimmy’s fault, if we’re being honest). But no! The triumphant return of Superman Movie Minute!
Hmmm, this makes that memorial shrine I set up in my backyard a bit awkward now…
But it was worth the wait.
So I think this particular special got turned off in disgust when there was the lady claiming she had Superman’s love child. My mother was a bit of a prude in my youth, but to be honest I don’t recall loving what I was watching. I think it wasn’t funny enough to 11 year old me to appreciate, but now I wish I’d seen it all the way through. Maybe there is a reason to go and buy that box set of the Reeve films, despite owning them all individually.
I checked with my wife, it’s not worth buying all those movies again just for that special apparently. Damned logic!
I agree that it’s hard to decide if it’s a compliment or a spoof. You guys called it – the tone seems to vacillate between a kind of mockery and some genuine love. But aww shucks, I liked it anyways.
Good to see the show back, and looking forward to Superman IV: Quest for Peace minute by minute, a 30 second by 30 second coverage of Superman Returns, and Chris having ample opportunity to revel in the unspeakable ZS having exited artistic control over the Man of Steel.
Actually, in all seriousness I *would* love to see coverage of Superman Returns, but some analysis of the Fleischer Cartoons would be great as well! Don’t forget that there’s an episode of the Muppets with Reeve as the guest star! One episode per sketch, right?
Also, congrats Chris on being a grandpa, and I’m relieved to hear that two of my favourite podcasters emerged from hurricane’s unscathed.
I have never seen this special – and based on the review you’ve given it, I have sought it out on the internet to “enjoy”. I recall in the same year that the special was on the air the BBC released the AMAZING Superman Audio Drama which if you’ve never heard it before I recommend – there’s a version on youtube here…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3eW8KyLNqI
The special was so popular it lead to a second special for Batman in 1989 and then the BBC Superman Audio Dramas of The Adventures of Superman, Superman Doomsday and Beyond, Batman Knightfall and Spider-man,
I look forward to your coverage of the Documentary about Christopher Reeve! Thanks for bringing this show back and long may their be something to talk about … well after Summer 2025.