In what world does the phrase "best living actor" and "zsa zsa gabor" go together. I have nothing against her, but I wouldn't even list her as a mediocre actor. And I didn't hate "Mars wants women".
They probably should have said "best known" or "most famous" rather than "best"...
From everything I've heard and read about her Noel Neil is a lovely lady, but I wouldn't say that her stint on Superman qualifies her as a "best" actress...
Last edited by Lord Jim on Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.
True, in fact whe was even only the second best Lois Lane, I'll give my vote for the best to Phyllis Coates.
Absolutely agreed; Coates' Lois had far more sophistication and gravitas (and was also much sexier) then Neil's portrayal...it's a shame she only stayed with the show for the first season...
I'm not sure this is the case, but from what I heard the producers wanted a lighter touch in the Superman episodes as it was a kids show, so they cast Neil (who was Lois in some of the movie serials of Superman) instead of Coates (not sure if they even offered the job to her). After this, the show became a bit more lighthearted, with inept crooks and lots of jokes about superman's secret identity, and Lois who was much more a comic foil than a woman to be reckoned with. The first season had a dark tone, with truly mean crooks who killed people when it suited their purposes (one episode I recall had guys holing up in a motel near the Canadian border--they killed the owner, terrorized his wife and kid, even beat up Lois (Coates) offscreen (who then showed up with a bruise on her face and said something like "that mug hurt me" in a matter of fact tone)--pretty dark for a kid's show, even if superman does rescue everyone (except the dead husband); now that I think of it, I'll have to explore that first season again.
Big RR, MeTV started just last month running two back-to-back episodes a week of The Adventures Of Superman starting at 6 on Saturdays...
We've been watching them...(it's nice to be able to share what was my favorite show when I was his age with the lad...)
Season 1 will be running for a while (they made 26 episodes) in fact just a couple of weeks ago we watched the episode you mentioned...
You're right, the episodes the first season definitely had a darker, more "noir" quality to them...
It's obviously not Shakespeare, but the quality of the writing and the acting by the principles, (not so much the bad guys who were played mostly by out-of-work part time actors who were personal friends of Reeves) for a kids show is pretty advanced, especially compared to a lot of mindless garbage that came in later kiddie shows...
(BTW, there are also a number of full episodes on Youtube)
But if my memory serves me correctly Coates left on her own; there was a delay in the schedule, and she had some other project going on...(I'll have to check this)
Coates' Lois was more Clark's equal (in fact she also got equal billing with Reeves, at Reeves insistence; something that Neil did not get) and she was also brassier and ballsier then Neil's Lois...Neil's Lois was written more like a female Jimmy Olson...
Last edited by Lord Jim on Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I actually have the set on DVD, but it's good to see one of the cable networks is airing it; my kids liked it on Nick at Nite when they were young as well.
