Pioneers of Television (2008–…): Season 3, Episode 3 - Superheroes - full transcript

You always love superheroes.

You always love villains
and heroes.

You put on the costume...

Black, tight, you lose
20 pounds right away,

you look great.

Meow!

We used to say, "We put on
our tights to put on the world."

He liked the walls to pop out.

He'd come in there
and they would pop.

A generation of women my age

that had mothers
that were saying,



"You can do whatever
you set your mind to."

That tells you something
about our culture

and what people really enjoy,

what people are more fixated on,

what grabs them.

They put on a costume

to entertain a nation.

It was easy to play Batman.

The moment I pulled
on that cowl,

it was like, in my head,
it was like,

"Hey, you want to go out
and play Batman?

Let's go, come on!"

It's a clue, all right.
But what does it mean?

To the Batcave.
We'll analyze it.



I used to call them
my "python pants"

because they nearly
strangled you to death.

And, I mean, man was not built
for tights, let me tell you.

Under this garb,

we're perfectly
ordinary Americans.

Sometimes if a costume
is right...

you don't have to act.

Au revoir, Batman.

Running around in spandex
and a cape, you know.

That's going to be my hero.

Who are you?!

I'm looking for the case file
you're working on.

I wore less on the beach.

It was more than a bikini.

It was the American flag
in a one-piece suit.

They played the characters

that sparked our imaginations.

I got beat up a lot as a kid.

So I wanted to be like
the Hulk...

I wanted to be so strong,
so invincible.

The creator of "Wonder Woman"

really felt that girls
needed a hero, too...

And developed Wonder Woman.

Women are the wave
of the future.

And sisterhood is...

stronger than anything.

They had fun

and brought us along
for the ride.

I thought, "Yeah,
that's the kind of comedy

I'd like to try,
something absurd."

Oh, I loved doing "Batman."

It was huge fun.

"Holy strawberries, Batman!
Are we in a jam!"

See, that one, I thought, was
a little on the corny side.

Holy popcorn!

Man-eating lilacs.
Holy purple cannibals!

But they started giving Jimmy
a chance to be funny

and do comedy and do comic bits.

Well, I'll be
a side-winding gopher!

Whatever that is.

You feel like a winner,
because no matter what,

the Hulk always succeeds.

He never fails.

In our dreams, we can
be anything we want to be.

Together, they gave new life

to an established genre...

entertaining millions
of every age.

They are
the "Pioneers of Television."

It may the most famous scene
in the Batman franchise.

Adam West, as Batman,
tries to get rid of a bomb

that's about to explode.

That long sequence
with the bomb on the pier

in Santa Barbara...

In which I couldn't get
rid of the bomb.

Batman discovers
this bomb, okay.

Of course, you know,
it's going to go off,

so he's gotta get rid of it.

He runs over to this pier,
and on one side,

he starts to throw it,
and there's a mother duck

with her little ducklings
down in the water.

He can't throw it there.

He runs in another direction,

here's the Salvation Army Band
playing.

So the last line,
he's totally winded

and frustrated,

and he says, what...

Looking down at the water,

"Some days, you just can't
get rid of a bomb!"

Some days, you just can't
get rid of a bomb.

The scene epitomized

what made the "Batman"
TV series succeed...

the perfect combination
of action and comedy.

To make it funny and ludicrous,
absurd in a sense,

but always kind of believable.

"Batman" didn't
start out as a comedy.

The original comic books
were darker, more serious.

When the show
came to television,

the producers wanted
a lighter touch,

but they couldn't find an actor
who could pull it off

until they saw this commercial
for Nestle Quik.

Oh, Captain Q!

Join me in a glass of
delicious chocolate Quik,

won't you?

Thank you, Doctor.

I could use some energy.

Incidentally,
one of those torpedoes

you fired at me was circling,

and...

You're sunk.

Toodle-oo, Captain Q!

Some people will do anything
to get rich Quik.

Toodle-oo.

They saw them,

and they said, "Kid, I think
you can play Batman,"

and they called me in.

The next step was casting Robin.

Despite looking at more than
a thousand actors for the role,

no one seemed right.

Then Burt Ward wandered in

for his very first acting
audition ever.

Go for broke, you know.

And that's what I did, all the
way, right for the character.

And they loved it.

Listen, Bruce, I've got an idea.

Yes?

Remember what the Riddler said

when he slipped you
that summons?

"What is it that
no one wants to have

yet no one wants to lose?"

And you answered,
"A lawsuit."

From the first day
of production,

almost nothing went right.

Explosions misfired
with regularity...

sending Burt Ward
to the hospital

four times in a week.

These guys that are setting
dynamite charges,

you do not want to smell
liquor on their breath

at 8:00 in the morning...
Bad sign!

The signal!

I climb up, and as I get
to the top...

Just to get into position...

the car unexpectedly blows up.

Just excruciating pain.

They said, "Look, Burt,
we will get you right over

to the emergency hospital
as soon as we finish the shot."

I said, "What do you mean,
I'm not going now?"

"No, no, you've got to go back
and shoot the shot.

We got the whole crew, we got
80 guys in the crew here."

Well, it was kind of chaos

the first week or so of shooting

in that Burt kept getting
in the way

of bombs and speeding cars.

The chemistry
between Adam West and Burt Ward

worked from the very
beginning...

although the two did have
a friendly sense of competition.

If you noticed when
he said his lines,

Adam spoke very slowly.

Robin's right.

He has a strange artistic
compulsion to...

Artistic.

That's it.

The meaning of the first clue...

The Peel Art Gallery.

Why did he do that?

Well, he understood that
if he spoke slowly...

And they had to be on him
for the entire line...

It would take longer for him
to say his lines.

The camera would be, therefore,
on him longer,

and less on the other actors...
He was very smart about that.

The real crime?

Precisely, Inspector Bash.

The Riddler contrives
his plots like artichokes...

You have to strip off
spiny leaves to reach the heart.

We're talking, and then
all of a sudden,

he opens up his cape and walks
right up to the camera

and stands there
blocking me out.

And the director said,
"Wait a minute,

Burt's in the shot, Adam!"

He said, "I had to do it."

I said, "Why did you have to
do that, Adam?"

He says, "Because I felt
the moment.

I felt it was necessary."

I did occasionally kid Burt,

tease him a bit by holding
up a cape

in front of his face
and in front of a take,

but only if he
misunderstood something...

if he was doing something
he shouldn't do as my sidekick.

"Okay, take two,"
and it would come down.

In the first few weeks
of production,

Adam West faced a more
serious challenge

from producer Bill Dozier

over how to play
the Batman character.

They wanted it very straight
and "Lone Ranger" kind of thing

and nothing behind the mask.

I couldn't do that.

I felt that Batman is a very
interesting character,

but even comedically...
As the bright knight

and not the dark knight...

You had to have fun with it.

Adam West won the argument,

and his Batman character

became one of the biggest
breakout hits of the decade.

In the '60s, the three "Bs"...

Bond, Beatles, and Batman.

And I thought, "My God,
I'm a part of that trio?!"

But behind the scenes,
producer Bill Dozier

was actively working to keep
control of his stars

on his show.

When I was on the cover
of Life magazine,

he called me into the office.

He threw the magazine

down on his desk in front of me.

I just stood there and looked
at him with a little grin.

And he said, "Oh, wait a minute,

don't forget,

there have been
12 Tarzans, Adam."

"Oh, okay.

We'll see."

Batman's influence
on American television

was larger than almost
any other show of the period.

Gleebs! It's Batman!

It was the first
series to tap into

the colorful pop art movement,

personified by artists
like Andy Warhol.

Look what was happening

in society, look at
the world of art,

and all of those kind
of wondrous, splashy,

primary, comic-book colors
that people were painting in.

Anything I can do for you, sir?
Check your cape?

The distinctive look,
the tongue-in-cheek humor...

Just looking, thanks.
I'll stand at the bar.

I shouldn't wish to
attract attention.

And the huge ratings

meant "Batman" wasn't
just popular, it was hip.

Everyone wanted to be
a guest star on the show

as the villain of the week.

You shake a pretty
mean cape, Batman.

Oh, I loved doing "Batman."

It was huge fun.

No man can resist the stunning
note of my voice...

Two octaves above high "C."

I want you to call Batman, hmm?

And have him meet you
in some neutral place.

If you desire.

Doing that whistle
or that voice...

that she does and everybody
turns to stone...

Yeah, it was a riot.

Fan favorites
included Cesar Romero's Joker,

Burgess Meredith's Penguin,

and Frank Gorshin's Riddler.

He was always
on the manic, dangerous edge,

which I loved,
and I could relate to that.

And they all seemed to just
thrive on this opportunity

to not be limited
in what they were doing.

In other words, they could make
their characters

bigger than life.

The whole world almost
literally in our grasp,

and Batman and Robin
still alive to block us.

Everything pip-pip with
the prisoner, comrades.

He hasn't a clue.

No, but I bet
the Dynamic Duo has.

What?
A clue in how we made
the ship disappear.

Batman's most
vexing nemesis was Catwoman...

Played by Eartha Kitt,

Lee Meriwether,

and, most famously,
Julie Newmar.

I mean, you put on
that costume...

Black, tight, you lose 20 pounds
right away, you look great.

You've got high heels,
you've got great dialogue,

you have fun.

It would be one of the choice
roles for women of all time.

It's all over, Catwoman.

I'll do everything I can
to rehabilitate you.

Marry me.

Everything except that.

A wife, no matter how
beauteous or affectionate,

would severely impair
my crime-fighting.

But I can help you in your work.

As a former criminal,
I'd be invaluable.

What about Robin?

Robin?

Oh, I've got it...
We'll kill him.

She was...

naughty, yes,

delicious, yes.

She was a tease,

but she wasn't basically...

psychopath evil.

You might think so,
but she wasn't really.

And she promised to date me
when she gets out of jail.

Yeah, for good behavior.

That would be good.

Well, I got better
as it went along

because playing
an animal character,

you've got to feel that way,
look that way,

sound that way, behave that way.

So it takes some learning.

It's...

I did get better by
the third show

and the fourth show.

I was much more cat-like,
mm-hmm.

You feline devil!

What have you done with Robin?!

Aw, is that any way to greet
an old friend, Batman?

Not even a "Hello, how are you"?

Meow.

When you know where
the jokes are,

you know, you got to...

you gotta sort of warm them up
and make them bigger

and kind of... and then...

and then say the lines.

Mmm.

Julie Newmar's
distinctive interpretation

of Catwoman made her famous
almost overnight.

Of course, the skin-tight
costume didn't hurt either.

I moved the belt from
the waistline down to the hips

because it was bright gold,

and that way it would
accentuate the hips more.

May I?

Meow!

Au revoir, Batman.

Sometimes if a costume is right,

you don't have to act.

The outfit may have
helped Julie Newmar

get into character...

but the Batman and Robin
costumes

had the opposite effect
on Adam West

and Burt Ward
from the very first day.

I'm there, and these two guys
were saying,

"Here,
take off your clothes."

"Well, why I'm taking
off my clothes?"

"Well, we have this
to put on you."

"Oh, well, I can't
put it on by myself?"

"Well, you're going to
need help to get into this."

The most uncomfortable thing
I think I've ever

been in in my entire life...
Most uncomfortable.

It's like every step I took,
it pulled the hair on my leg.

I mean, just really
not a great costume.

Being near-sighted
and being behind

those holes in the cowl,

it made it doubly hard to see.

It's an obstacle, and yet
it's very helpful.

For example, if I couldn't
move my head easily

in that cowl and the way
the cape was attached,

then I'd use that.

Remember how Cary Grant
moved, kind of...

In other words,

I couldn't turn my
head like this.

So I used that.

Every actor playing a superhero

faces a moment of truth

the first time they put
on the costume...

Will the people on-set react
with a chuckle,

or will they believe?

I was a little timorous
about that, a little...

taken aback with what might
occur in that costume

when I walked on
the set for the first time.

And I decided I'd walk
through pools of light

to get to that spot...

In the costume...
As much like Batman as I could.

And you know what
the hell happened?

I got over there,

and there wasn't a sound.

Everyone believed
that I was Batman.

The series became
so popular so fast

that Adam West could fill
stadiums just by showing up.

But by the time
the second season premiered,

problems were already
brewing behind the scenes.

Story lines became repetitive,

jokes turned stale.

By the third season,

production budgets were slashed

and ratings declined
even further.

The producers' solution
was to add a new character...

Batgirl, played by Yvonne Craig.

Holy femininity!

Batgirl!

Batgirl?

Batgirl.

Batgirl couldn't save
the "Batman" series.

But the character marked
an important milestone

as TV's first female superhero.

A spinoff series of
"Batgirl" was considered...

but by then, the bat-phenomenon
had played out.

It wasn't until
seven years later

that a female superhero
finally took center stage

with a show of her own.

Wonder Woman says

she is not afraid.

Fire at will.

Did you see that,
ladies and gentlemen?!

Launched in the mid-1970s

at the height
of the women's movement,

"Wonder Woman" had a message
of empowerment.

We'll send more agents!

No, the Nazis don't care
about their women.

They let you fend for yourself,

and any civilization
that does not recognize

the female is doomed
to destruction.

Women are the wave
of the future,

and sisterhood is...

stronger than anything.

But the more overt

feminine messages
didn't last long.

The reason why in subsequent
episodes

you didn't hear those kinds
of things much anymore

was because of the network.

The network said,
"We've got to get...

you know, this fem...
You're going to turn off

a lot of people
with this feminist talk,"

because, you know, feminism
was so dangerous.

Even with
the toned-down scripts,

Lynda Carter pressed
to ensure the series

portrayed positive role models.

Wonder Woman was intelligent,
resourceful,

and in control...

often rescuing the show's
male lead

played by Lyle Waggoner.

Wonder Woman!

Steve, are you all right?

Wonder Woman,
am I glad to see you!

Thanks!

I think he got a little
sick of it,

to tell you the truth.

I'll have you free
in a few seconds.

I don't blame him!

You know we've been
in that role for years.

Are you all right?

Yeah, I'm fine.

My pride's hurt a little bit.

And once again, I'm in
your debt, Wonder Woman.

When guest star Bubba Smith

bristled at the notion

of his character losing a fight
to Wonder Woman,

Lynda Carter found a subtle way
to make her point.

We devised this little plan,

and they taught me how to...
It's really leverage.

We were just going to try to
set it up,

but the camera
was really rolling.

And so the stunt coordinator
goes...

I said, "Okay, I bet you
don't think I could this,

but let's just try it,
let me just see.

We won't film it."
I went... boomp.

And...

And I... so Bubba Smith...

I tossed Bubba Smith...

The football player.

He was a big guy.

Not too happy.

The "Wonder Woman"
TV series was based on

a comic created by
William Moulton Marston,

a man who was already well known

as the inventor of
the first lie detector test.

A version of Moulton's
invention made its way

into the "Wonder Woman"
comic book and TV show

as the Lasso of Truth

that compelled villains
to speak honestly.

What is this?!

Only a little dinky rope,
but I can't move!

No one can resist
the Golden Lasso.

It binds all who it encircles

and compels them
to tell the truth.

When Moulton's
comic first came to television

in a 1974 TV movie,

Cathy Lee Crosby played
Wonder Woman.

But her blond hair, small frame,
and track-suit uniform

strayed far from the original
comic book character.

For the TV series,

the producers wanted
the embodiment of

the "Wonder Woman" comic,

but finding an actress who could
pull it off

was proving difficult,

until they came upon
Lynda Carter.

Her earnest attitude
and statuesque looks

made her uniquely suited
to the role.

I will never have
another character

that is that memorable.

Very few actors ever have
a character

that is that, you know,
seared into people's minds.

And I have to say that
doing a comic book character

is almost impossible.

And there is a kind
of a secret to it.

People want to believe
and you have to make it real.

From the beginning,
Lynda Carter faced challenges.

First came the costume,

which some thought
was too revealing.

I wore less on the beach.

It was the American flag
in a one-piece suit.

People thought that I pulled
in my waist, I actually didn't.

Because my waist
is really small...

Or it was back then.

And the truth is I had them
take it out

because I didn't want it to
look too, like, hour-glassy.

I know, it's a ridiculous
problem to have.

I thought it looked too small.

Acting was also a challenge,

because Lynda Carter
was so inexperienced

when she landed the role.

There are a couple
of real stinkers

in "Wonder Woman"
where I had some...

They'd gotten me some
acting coach

who thought I should really be
playing up Wonder Woman.

So I did that, and it was...

They're really awful.

What makes you so strong?

On Paradise Island,
there are only women.

Because of this pure
environment,

we are able to develop our minds

and our physical skills,

unhampered by masculine
destructiveness.

Stop!

Such information
is utter rubbish!

Because superhero
shows rely so heavily

on a single central character,

production can be taxing
on the lead actor...

especially a newcomer
like Lynda Carter.

That's why the guest stars
were so important.

I've never worked in anything

where I didn't give everything
I have.

I named this island Paradise
for an excellent reason...

There are no men on it.

Thus, it is free of their wars,

their greed,
their hostilities...

their barbaric
masculine behavior.

But that to me was funny

even though nobody knew it.

I remember being in love
with Lynda Carter.

You stay and talk, I'll get
the car and bring it around.

Butter him up, try to make him
tell you his technique.

Uh, Harold?

I drove.

I had bashed my head
on the hatchback of my car,

really bad... I had cut it open,

like, right here,
like a third eye.

Because you can see,
the make-up man

tried to fix it, but it's like
I have a head wound

in the whole show.

And they should have just
fired me, but they didn't.

I wonder what kind of surgery

Marcus Welby would call this?

I should have worn a hat
or something.

I'd love to see it because
I remember looking at it

in the mirror when we shot it.

I went, "This is not even
remotely gone."

The make-up man, "No, let me
put a little more yellow

to take the red out,
put some more powder on."

No, there's a wound on my head.

I loved being with
Lynda Carter working on the show

and meeting Ted Shackelford.

I set the coordinates for
the demonstration run-through

for Washington, D.C.,
1978.

Are there any objections?

No, you're the historian.

It was kind of a rubber outfit.
He looked ridiculous, I thought.

They allowed individuals
to accumulate

a massive fortune back then.

It will be fascinating to watch

a capitalistic society
at work.
Uh-huh.

Lots of technical jargon,
and we're working in, you know,

things that Blondie here doesn't
have a clue what those are.

Ted had to operate
all the knobs and the buttons

and the things,
and we're trying to

spit out dialogue
like this and that.

This day is going
to make history.

I can hardly wait
to see their faces.

And it's all because of you.

After all, thanks
to your genius,

the time portal
practically runs itself.

Because female action
stars were so rare

in the 1970s,

when Lynda Carter
needed a stunt double,

the producers dressed up
a man in her costume.

We couldn't have a hairy guy
doubling me, you know.

There was just...

There was one guy...

They had a Russian chair,
I think it's called...

And it's a big swing.

And it's got...

and it launches a person
into the air.

He had, like, a hairy chest
and everything,

and a wig on.

"Oh, it's gonna be from
the back, you'll never see it."

I said, "I can't have...

I can't have"...

It's like he's got this, like,
a guy's square shape, you know.

It's like...

In one scene,
Wonder Woman was supposed to

hang on to a helicopter,

but the shot would have clearly
revealed the stunt double.

Lynda Carter decided
to do the stunt herself.

I said, "Okay, okay,
just roll it.

Just roll it!"

And I got up on the thing,
and I got on the struts,

but I didn't use the little...

I didn't use
the little safety thing.

I didn't know you're
supposed to.

And I... "Just take it up,
just go, go, go,

before the sun... the sun's
going down, sun's going down!

Go, go, go, go!"

So they went...
and the helicopter went up.

Puts me back down.

I said, "Good, we got the shot."

One slip would have been deadly.

Studio executives, infuriated
that their star

might have been injured,
made sure Lynda Carter

got a stunt double...

A female stunt double.

"Wonder Woman"
lasted just three seasons,

but it was an important
launching pad

for women in television.

It was among the first TV dramas
with a female lead

and gave invaluable experience

to a wide range of
female writers, producers,

and production people.

And the series launched
one other career...

Wonder Girl,
played by Debra Winger.

There were plans for
a "Wonder Girl" spinoff series,

but Debra Winger
wasn't interested.

And by 1979,
the "Wonder Woman" franchise

had left the air.

By then, another superhero
was hitting its stride.

As a little boy,

Lou Ferrigno put on
a bulky hearing aid

every morning.

The other kids teased him
mercilessly,

leading to schoolyard fights
that Lou lost.

For comfort, little Lou
read comic books,

especially
"The Incredible Hulk,"

because the Hulk had the power
to stand up to bullies.

Anytime I felt

devastated,
emotionally insecure,

I would just read the comic.

It would give me a lot of
inspiration and hope.

But Lou Ferrigno
didn't stop there.

He resolved to give himself
super strength...

Like his comic book hero.

I got beat up a lot as a kid,
so I wanted to be like the Hulk.

I wanted to be so strong,
so invincible,

that I could command the same
power like the Hulk does.

So that's how
the connection began.

By the time he was 22,

Ferrigno had won
the Mr. Universe title twice.

When "The Incredible Hulk"
TV series went into production,

the producers needed a muscular
type for the title role.

They turned to
Arnold Schwarzenegger,

but the famed bodybuilder
wasn't tall enough,

and so the
the producers signed...

Richard Kiel.

Originally, Richard Kiel

was playing the Hulk,

but he was too big,

he didn't have the muscles,
and he didn't have the look.

So one day, a director came
on the set with his son.

And the boy said,
"Dad, this is not the Hulk.

The Hulk's gotta look like the
character in the comic book."

Even though shooting
was well underway,

the producers now realized Kiel
wasn't right for the role.

So the part was re-cast...

With the only person in
Hollywood who had the height

and build to play
the Incredible Hulk...

Lou Ferrigno.

I had to show all the
emotion, become the character,

which I had no experience
as an actor,

but I knew the character
of the Hulk.

Within hours
of landing the role,

Lou Ferrigno was
in the green makeup,

working 16 hour days
to re-film the pilot.

It wasn't easy.

At 4:00 one morning

in the rain, a scene called for
the Hulk to flip a car,

but the steel cable that was
supposed to

lift the vehicle broke.

Tired and overworked,
Ferrigno wasn't about

to wait for the scene
to be reset.

They had a car,
and the cable snapped,

but I strong enough
to hold the car midway

and just flip it over the cliff.

Tell you the truth,
4:00 in the morning,

those eyes, the wig, the teeth,
I'm freezing to death.

Do you think I'm not going
to turn that car over?

I mean, I think I really
became the Hulk.

16 hours of filming and this
was like 4:00 in the morning.

I was about to explode,
I was so pissed.

And that's why it worked
for the scene.

For Ferrigno,
the biggest challenge

of playing the Hulk was
putting on the required

six layers of green makeup,

an uncomfortable process that

took nearly four hours.

Removing the makeup was also
a painstaking daily ordeal.

Once, in frustration,

Ferrigno stormed out

and drove home in
full makeup and costume.

I'm on the freeway...
The 405 freeway... driving.

I see another car
on the side of me.

The guy is looking at me,
so, you know, of course

I looked at him,
looked to the right.

His eyes just lighten up,
and he said, "Holy shhh!"

He screamed at the top
of his lungs

and the poor guy
just hit another car.

Ferrigno's Hulk
was the alter ego

of mild-mannered David Banner,

played by veteran actor
Bill Bixby.

My arm, it's sore.

I remember...

feeling incredibly strong.

It was me.

And it wasn't me.

I-I...

My eyes were white.

Bixby worked
to ensure the series

stayed true to the comic

and resisted attempts to make
the show more juvenile.

The network, I believe they
were talking about

including like Martians,
spaceships, and everything.

And Bill wanted to keep
the format of the show.

He didn't want the show to look
like a silly sci-fi show.

Thanks to Bixby's vigilance,

"The Incredible Hulk"
continued to follow

the comic book's
original premise.

Scientist David Banner
was a force for good...

but he didn't have
all the answers,

and he wasn't always in control.

Stop!

For God's sake,

don't do it!

The emotionally driven
Hulk was a sharp contrast

to previous TV superheroes...

especially the one

who was always in control...

saving the day for humanity
starting in 1952.

Faster than a speeding bullet...

More powerful than
a locomotive...

Able to leap tall buildings
at a single bound.

Look, up in the sky!
It's a bird!

It's a plane!

It's Superman!

Yes, it's Superman,

strange visitor from
another planet who came to Earth

with powers and abilities
far beyond those of mortal men!

When young
George Reeves appeared

in "Gone with the Wind,"

he thought he was on his way
to A-list stardom.

He was wrong.

War, war, war.

This war talk's spoiling
all the fun

at every party this spring.

I get so bored, I could scream.

Besides, there isn't going
to be any war.

Not going to be any war?!

Honey, of course, there's
going to be a war.

If either of you boys
says "war" just once again,

I'll go in the house
and slam the door.

But, Scarlett, honey...
Don't you want us
to have a war?

In 1951,
Reeves was offered the role

of TV's Superman.

He didn't want it,

thinking television
was beneath him.

But without any other prospects,

he reluctantly signed on

playing opposite
Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane

and Jack Larson as Jimmy Olsen.

Golly, Superman,

I thought I was
a goner for sure.

Sorry to have timed
this so close, Jimmy.

Oh, don't be sorry,
I'm tickled to death.

I thought this must be a bit
tough on George's memories,

being Superman now,

and he'd started off
in "Gone with the Wind."

Reeves took an immediate dislike

to the costume... 20 pounds
of wool and fake muscles

that baked in the era
before air conditioning.

There was this sponge pad
in places, I think,

over his chest, over his
shoulders and biceps.

And this made the suit
get very hot.

Even worse was the system used

to simulate flight,
which involved

hanging Reeves from piano wires.

Early on, the system failed.

The wires broke, and he fell
on his super butt...

into this thing...
About five feet.

And he was very upset.

And he got up and brushed
himself off like that

and said, "That's it."

He said, "Peter Pan flies on
wires," he says,

"but my Superman doesn't
fly on wires.

That's the last time I'm ever
going to come in on a wire."

Eventually, a better
system was developed

to simulate flight,
and over time,

Reeves began to warm
to the role.

His favorite part of the job...

Crashing through walls.

He liked the walls to pop out.

He'd come in there,
and they would pop.

Superman!
Am I glad to see you.

Superman, you could have
come in through the door!

Well, this seemed a little
more spectacular.

The series' other
trademark look was

Superman's flying exit...

accomplished with
a simple diving board.

He would run, take a leap
at the diving board,

and go out the window.

Goodbye, miss.

Golly.

If I could only fly
like Superman

instead of taking those
hot subways.

"The Adventures
of Superman" was a big hit,

thanks largely
to Reeves' likeable persona.

His superhero was never
worried or upset.

Stay back, Superman.

This ain't no ordinary gun.

Just confident in his
ability to deliver justice.

I don't want to hurt
anybody, Superman,

not even you,
but I will if I have to.

I warned you.

But it's gotta hurt ya.

It's gotta, it can
melt cold steel.

Unlike his character,

George Reeves did begin
to worry a great deal

about being typecast
as Superman.

And his fear was realized
when acting jobs dried up

as the series rolled into
its final season.

Reeves drank heavily
and left his longtime love,

Toni Mannix,
for a younger woman.

He said to me, "Well, I met
another woman."

And he said, "And she makes me
feel like a boy again."

Well, there's
no commenting on that.

The only line is, "You fool!"

Here in his home
on Benedict Canyon

on June 16th, 1959,

George Reeves died of
a gunshot wound.

To this day, no one is quite
sure how it happened.

His death remains one of
Hollywood's greatest mysteries.

It was a front-page story
all over the world.

The coroner ruled
Reeve's death a suicide,

but rumors swirled that
the jilted Toni Mannix

was somehow involved.

In a bizarre twist,

Toni secretly revisited
the crime scene

shortly after the death

and asked Jack Larson
to join her.

And we go into the house.

And we didn't talk much.

We went up these stairs.

In the bathtub

were these bloody sheets.

The police had taken the sheets
off the bed

where George had died.

They were all blood...
You know, deep-brown with blood,

that, and a lot of blood
into the bathtub.

And I started to feel sick.

When Larson turned around,

he saw Toni Mannix
on the bedroom floor

examining two small
bullet holes.

Why would the site of a suicide

have multiple bullet holes?

And how would Toni Mannix
know where to find them?

Jack Larson wasn't looking
for answers,

he just wanted to leave.

At that point, I said, "Toni,
I have to leave.

I'm getting ill,

and I have to leave."

And so she said,
"Okay, Junior."

Back in the car,

Toni Mannix gave Jack Larson
her final thoughts

on George Reeves' death.

And she leaned back in her car.

And she always talked
like Jean Harlow.

And she said, "I never would
have believed

that my love affair

would have turned into tragedy."

While the final moments

of George Reeves' life
remain cloudy...

his legacy is clear...

George Reeves opened
the door for TV superheroes.

Next!

Two decades after "Superman"

went out of production,

the genre got a major reboot

with a very different
kind of superhero,

from TV's most prolific
producer, Stephen J. Cannell.

If I'm going
to do a superhero show.

I'm not just going to have
a guy from a distant planet

who comes to earth in a meteor

and starts solving other
people's problems.

My characters tend
to be underdogs.

I much prefer the flaws
to the strengths.

As a writer, I'd much rather
write about a character

who can't get out of his own way

and yet manages
to succeed anyway

than one who is
the smartest guy in town.

We have to go and not
wait until it's too...

Oh, hi.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I didn't know
the bathroom was in use.

Oh, yeah, I'm...

We can come back.

No, that's all right.
I'm leaving,

I just needed to get
this cape attached to my...

Look, I know this seems
really nuts,

but I'm not...

See, what I'm doing here is

I'm late for a court appearance.

Look, it's okay.
It's okay, really.

Look, we're all through anyway.

No, it's all right!
No, don't touch us!

Stephen J. Cannell
created

"Greatest American Hero,"

the story of a high-school
teacher, Ralph Hinkley,

who gets a suit that
gives him superpowers...

but then he loses
the instruction manual.

Okay...

Okay.

Last night,

I was approached by
a flying saucer

out in the desert.

Anyway... this saucer,

they talked to us over
the car radio.

And Bill's partner...
He's a G-man...

He came out of the saucer,
but he was dead.

And he had this package
under his arm,

and he gave it to me.

And...

There were instructions
on how to use the suit,

but I lost them.

The hook was, he's gonna lose
the instruction book

and he's not going to know how
to use the powers.

So it's going to be, you know,

some of the comedy will come
from the fact that

he has to discover,
along with the audience,

how the suit works.

What could be more perfect

than having
a high-school teacher

thrust into the role
of being a superhero

and yet being put at
the disadvantage

of not knowing how to work it?

Not knowing how to fly,

not knowing how to work
the magic of the red suit.

You're not doing it right.

You've gotta run, like,
three steps

and jump with your hands out
in front of you.

Oh.

See, I've never done
this before.

My daddy's calling the police.

Terrific.

Uh, three steps, huh?

When he signed on
to do the show,

actor William Katt imagined

he'd be playing a superhero
like Iron Man.

Then he saw the costume

that producer Stephen J. Cannell
had in mind.

I just thought it would
look better.

But when he said, "You ready
to see the suit?"

I said, "Sure,"
so he shows me the suit...

The designer comes out
and holds it up.

And I was just mortified because

it wasn't as cool as
everything that you see now.

It sagged in all
the wrong places.

So when I put it on,
in the pilot,

when I turn around
and I look in the mirror

and I look at myself,
I'm mortified.

And that's Bill Katt
looking at himself...

The actor Bill Katt saying,
"There goes my career."

And that's what I was feeling
at the time.

He's running around
in spandex and a cape,

you know, that's my...
That's gonna be my hero.

Stephen got the biggest
kick in the world

out of watching me squirm
in that suit.

He just thought I was...

He was tickled constantly.

He laughed, and he'd go,

"I'm glad I don't have to
wear that thing."

A reluctant hero needs
someone to prod him along.

In "Greatest American Hero,"

that role was filled
by Robert Culp

who saw the series
as a retelling

of the ancient legend
of Arthur and Merlin.

Merlin was
a pretty tough cookie...

Merlin is me as Bill Maxwell,

the super gung-ho jerk.

But it's still Merlin...
In his negativity...

Telling Arthur what to do,

and Arthur fighting back with
all of his charm and warmth

and his down-to-earth
nice guy qualities

that is the foundation
of the story.

There's something you
gotta know about me,

I'm by the book...
Always have been,

always will be... by the book.

And it really bends my frame

when things get over
into the margins.

The margins! I'd say we're
clear off the page here.

Just wait a second...

Robert Culp was
already an accomplished actor,

but in "Greatest American Hero,"

he played a sidekick to
the less-experienced

William Katt,

a situation that led
to some conflict at first.

We truly did not like
each other when we first met.

I mean, there was some
real friction there,

and remarkably enough,

it was just another one of those
things that it worked...

Because the two characters were
not supposed to like each other,

and we didn't like each other.

And I don't think you're
my kind of guy,

nothing personal,
just a fact of life.

All this is kind of an apology

for running out
on you last night.

That's not my style either,

definitely not.

So... ahem.

I apologize.

It's high on my all-time
list of favorites.

Listen, you gotta go,
I got a class.

And nobody was doing as unique
a style of comedy as I was,

and it was like
I wasn't even there.

Yeah, really got me
a live one here.

Oh, boy.

Look, I gotta go.

Listen, you call me
in a couple of days.

If I figure out how to
make it work, we can meet then.

We'll figure it out now,
butterfingers.

And the next time
I tell you something,

the only thing I want
to hear out of you is,

"Yes, sir" or "How soon?"

That's all, that's it,

that's the basic drill.

I think Bob wanted to
have first billing, you know.

And I think that that was a big
problem initially.

And I kept saying,
"Bob, it's not

'The Greatest American Hero
and Friends, ' you know,

it's 'Greatest American Hero. ""

But he was a really good sport,

and, you know, we worked
that out fairly quickly.

In time, Katt and Culp
became close friends

and, along with co-star
Connie Sellecca,

they helped build a superhero
show that aimed high.

But that wasn't what ABC wanted.

It was more satirical in nature

and more of a highbrow
approach to comedy.

And the powers-that-be

at the networks, they wanted
to cater more to kids.

Eventually,
the network got its way

and Ralph began chasing down
space aliens and sea monsters.

Come on, Ralph, what is it?!

Okay.

Voila!

Surprised, aren't you, Bill?

Uh...

Uh, this is it?

The "it" it?

The "it" that you were
talking to me about.

Mm-hmm.

After "Greatest
American Hero's" network run,

William Katt faced
the same problem

that challenged George Reeves
and Adam West...

Typecasting.

When I did
"Greatest American Hero,"

it really put the brakes on

a lot of work that
I did on stage,

because now, I was "That guy
in the red suit," you know.

And it took many, many years
to get over that.

Nearly every actor
who's played a TV superhero

has passed through
the same stages.

First, they're happy
to have the work...

then, when the series ends,

they feel the frustration
of being typecast.

Later, there is reconciliation,

when the actor
embraces the superhero

and comes to realize what
the public already knows...

Superheroes are beloved,
not just for a few years,

but for generation
after generation.

I decided myself that we
were pioneers in television.

You always love superheroes.

You always love villains
and heroes.

There was a heart in "Batman"

that it will always be
on that celluloid,

and will never be lost.

What I tried to bring was
something fresh

and something people had never
seen as a dimension of Batman.

I love being identified
with Catwoman.

And one of the main reasons

is that there will
always be a Catwoman.

They didn't think that
a woman could hold a show.

"Wonder Woman" represented
a lot of breakthroughs.

It's just like lightning
in a bottle

when you get
the right cast together.

You just... you can't
explain it.

It just works.

It tells you something
about our culture

and what people really enjoy,

what people are more fixated on,

what grabs them.

They feel safe when
they watch "The Hulk."

The Hulk makes them feel safe.

It's kind of like
a green Santa Claus.

So what you had was
a generation of women my age

that had mothers that were
saying, "You can do

whatever you set
your mind to."

We used to say, "We put on
our tights to put on the world."

Together, they helped create

our culture's most
enduring characters...

The superheroes.

They are
the "Pioneers of Television."

The new movies,
the "Dark Knight" movies,

have a different take.

They're a different animal.

Whereas, you know,
we were fun, funny,

and for the entire family,

these things are more gothic,

and I think they try to explore
emotional levels, possibly,

that we didn't.

But all I see is...
They're different.

I did the bright knight.

They're doing the dark knight.

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