Superboy Articles

...And the Adventures of Superboy

by David McDonnell & Daniel Dickholtz

from Comics Scene #5 (second series), Sept. 1988

Thanks to Bill Mah for typing and sending this article.

The adventures of the young Superman begin in October. That's when Superboy, a new syndicated TV series, makes its debut on stations across the country (representing at least 92% of the USA). John Haymes Newton, a 22-year old actor, has the dual role of Superboy and his alter-ego Clark Kent with 20-year old actress Stacy Haiduk as young Lana Lang. The two attend Shuster University (reportedly located in sunny Siegelville).

Newton won't be just playing a younger version of Christopher Reeve. "That's why the role is so incredible," says Newton ,"because I'm not about being a superhero. I'm a real kid going to college, majoring in journalism and the story's about that. The story's about a kid growing up who just happens to have some superpowers. And as the series unfolds, it's neat how I learn to deal with all the various problems that crop up, establishing things for the adventures to come when I'm older. In playing the facade between the two characters, Superboy and Clark Kent, I'm playing Clark Kent more real."

First announced in late February, Superboy was being sold to stations throughout the spring, though some core production personnel for the series weren't recruited until May. Shooting started August 15 to meet the October 4 week series premiere.

Masterminds behind the series are Alexander and Ilya Salkind, who previously produced Supergirl and Superman I, II and III before essentially "selling" the Superman series to Cannon Films (which made Superman IV and has an option to make Superman V. According to Ilya Salkind, Cannon must continue to pick up their on-going option on Superman; Cannon does not own the series). The Salkinds retained rights to Supergirl as well as to Superboy and his share of DC Comics' Superman mythos created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and expanded upon by many others. This TV series, distributed by Viacom Enterprises, can be based only on that specific Superboy portion of the mythos.

"This is really our first television venture," announces Ilya Salkind. "It gives us a fantastic oppurtunity to explore areas of young Clark Kent which haven't really been touched on in the films. And we feel very good about the technical and creative talents involved."

The Salkinds have recruited Robert Simmonds, who worked on the previous Superman films and served as associate producer of Superman III, to actually line produce the series. Installed as story editor is Fred Freiberger, a figure of some controversy in SF-TV due to his tenure as producer of the third season of "Star Trek". Freiberger has also worked on "Space: 1999", "The Wild, Wild West", "Beyond Westworld" and other genre shows. Casting was handled by veteran casting maven Lynn Stalmaster, who, a decade ago, named Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel. "I didn't get an audition for this series," Newton reveals. "I went down to Wilmington, North Carolina-which I'm originally from-to see if I could get some work in films [apparently at nearby De Laurentiis Studios]. I read for Lynn Stalmaster. He called Florida and then he asked me, 'Would you be interested in flying down to Orlando for a screen test for a series?' I was delighted. And I moved to Orlando two weeks later."

Curiously, Jackie Cooper - the actor who played Perry White in the Salkinds' Superman films who's also an accomplished TV director of M*A*S*H and other series - will direct at least three Superboy episodes. Colin Chilvers, who executed FX on Superman, will also helm several segments. Production is centered at the brand new Disney-MGM Studios facility at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida with all interiors shot at soundstages there. Disney World amusement areas and properties can be used for exteriors with other location lensing, as needed, to take place around the Orlando area. Incidentally, Superboy is the first TV series as well as the first non-Disney project of any kind to be filmed at Disney-MGM. The first season will comprise 26 half hour episodes with producer Salkind projecting a four season, 104-episode run. Six-and-a-half minutes of commercial time is being carved from each segment. And despite the 22-week writers' strike, Superboy will fly on time. The producers signed an interim agreement with the Writers Guild, which allowed scripting of the series during the strike.

DC has been intimately involved in the writing process with Superman editor Mike Carlin and his former co-editor Andy Helfer conferring frequently with Freiberger. The duo have also meticulously pored over scripts. Jenette Kahn, DC publisher, explains: "We have approval rights to everything, the casting of Superboy/Clark Kent, approval of the synopses, the scripts and the revised scripts. We even have the right to be on the set as the show is being shot to oversee the revisions being made during the shooting."

"The idea of setting Superboy in college was an interesting one because those were fairly unexplored years in Superboy's life. We know about his Smallville years, we know about his years in Metropolis. We know very little about what happened in college."

Fans aren't likely to learn more in the comic books. The Superboy character was discarded in the post-Crisis overhaul of the supermythos led by editors Carlin and Helfer (and implemented by John Byrne, Marv Wolfman and Jerry Ordway). "We're trying to be consistent within our Superman Universe," notes Kahn, "so we have no plans to bring Superboy back as a comic. He has basically been eradicated from the comics and there's no thought of bringing the title back right now." But there will be familiar faces (and names) from the comics on hand. Kent's frequent antagonist will be a slightly older (24 or 25) Lex Luthor, while Kent's roommate is another journalism major, T.J. White, son of Metropolis' Daily Planet Editor Perry White (who could cameo, especially with Jackie Cooper around as director). Salkind expects two to three shows to utilize a Smallville setting, although who would play Ma & Pa Kent is undecided. "There's a conscious decision of avoiding putting too many recognizable film elements into the series," Salkind says, "because it could unbalance the show's personality. So, there's a danger in using Phyllis Thaxter or Glenn Ford [who played the roles in Superman ]." Similarly, Salkind dismisses as conjecture the idea that filmdom's first Superman, Kirk Alyn, might portray Pa Kent. "There was only some discussion about that," the producer says.

Lana Lang, seen briefly in the first Superman film and played later by Annette O'Toole in Superman III, has an integral part in the series. For actress Stacy Haiduk, this is a "great opportunity. Lana is almost exactly like me - a little feisty, a little selfish on the side," Haiduk says. "But I see her more as an outgoing person. When she goes after something, she doesn't let anything stand in her way."

"They're still writing scripts, but I do know that Lana has fallen in love with Superboy but she's 'just friends' with Clark Kent, so we'll see how that one comes out. I don't want Clark! I want Superboy! Come on now, which one would you pick!?"

Will Superboy succeed where the Salkinds' last spin-off from the mythos, Supergirl, failed? "It's a very different thing," replies Ilya Salkind. "I guess Supergirl was perhaps too campy. There's another reason: Supergirl was a superheroine. And very few superheroines have had success - except Wonder Woman on television. Sheena, Queen of the Jungle and others didn't work. Why? I can't answer that. I'm not a sociologist. Superboy is 19, Supergirl was a 21-year-old superheroine. It's a different kind of world." Nevertheless, the Salkinds still retain ownership of film/TV rights to the Maid of Steel. "We still have it," the producer concurs. "Obviously, we're keeping the two legends separate, but they could meet in the future. Who knows?" Salkind pauses. "In the meantime, we're tremendously excited about the prospects of Superboy."

This page created and maintained by Dmwc

This site is hosted by Geocities.

Get your free 15 MB of homepage space now!