The Amazing Spider-Man (TV series): Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively ← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisual WikitextInline

Revision as of 04:02, 20 October 2019 edit184.146.207.178 (talk) →Revival Attempts ← Previous edit		Latest revision as of 18:19, 7 November 2024 edit undoNisf (talk \| contribs)Extended confirmed users45,741 editsNo edit summary
(180 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1:		Line 1:
			{{Short description\|1977–1979 American television series}}
	{{otheruses4\|the 1976-1977 live-action TV series\|the Marvel comic book series\|The Amazing Spider-Man}}
			{{Distinguish\|text='']'', a comic book series that started publishing in 1963, or '']'', a film released in 2012}}
	{{infobox television \|
			{{Use list-defined references\|date=May 2021}}
	\| show_name = ''The Amazing Spider-Man''
			{{Use American English\|date=May 2021}}
	\| image = ]
			{{Use mdy dates\|date=May 2021}}
	\| caption = The Amazing Spider-Man Title and Opening Sequence
			{{Infobox television
	\| format = ]
			\| image = SpideyTitle.jpg
	\| runtime = 1 hour
			\| genre = ]
	\| creator ='''Comic Book:'''<br>]<br>]<br>'''Writers:'''<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]
			\| creator = ]
	\| starring =]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>]
			\| based_on = {{Based on\|]\|]\|]}}
	\| country = {{USA}}
			\| starring = {{Plainlist\|
	\| company = Charles Fries Productions in association with Dan Goodman Productions
			* ]
	\| distributor = Columbia Pictures Television (formerly Sony Pictures Television)
			* ]
	\| network = ]
			* ]
	\| first_aired = ]
			* ]
	\| last_aired = ]
			}}
	\| num_episodes = 14
			\| theme_music_composer = {{Plainlist\|
	\| preceded_by = '']''
			* ]
	\| followed_by = '']''
			* Dana Kaproff
	\|}}
			}}
			\| composer = {{Plainlist\|
			* Stu Phillips
			* Dana Kaproff
			}}
			\| country = United States
			\| language = English
			\| num_seasons = 2
			\| num_episodes = 13
			\| list_episodes = #Episodes
			\| location = {{Plainlist\|
			* ]
			* ]
			}}
			\| runtime = 40-45 minutes
			\| company = {{Plainlist\|
			* ]
			* Dan Goodman Productions
			* ]
			}}
			\| network = ]
			\| first_aired = {{Start date\|1977\|9\|14}}
			\| last_aired = {{End date\|1979\|7\|6}}
			\| related = '']''<br/>]
			}}

			'''''The Amazing Spider-Man''''' (known simply as '''''Spider-Man''''' for the second season) is an American ] television series based on the ] character ]. It is the first ] ] featuring Spider-Man and was shown on ] in the United States from September 14, 1977 to July 6, 1979.<ref>{{cite news\|last1=Fickett\|first1=Travis\|last2=Goldman\|first2=Eric\|last3=Iverson\|first3=Dan\|last4=Zoromski\|first4=Brian\|title=Spider-Man on TV \|work=]\|publisher=] \|date=May 3, 2007 \|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2007/05/03/spider-man-on-tv\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422030211/https://www.ign.com/articles/2007/05/03/spider-man-on-tv\|archive-date=April 22, 2022\|access-date=September 9, 2010}}</ref> Though it was a considerable ratings success, the CBS series was cancelled after just 13 episodes, which included a ] airing in autumn of 1977. Despite its storylines being set in ] (the character's hometown), the series was mostly filmed in ].
	'''''The Amazing Spider-Man''''' was a short-lived live-action TV series which was based loosely on the popular Marvel comic book superhero '']'', which was originally aired in the ] from ]-]. To date, the entire series ran for about 14 episodes. Despite being produced by ]{{Fact\|date=March 2009}} (and the modern ] movies being produced by ]), none of the episodes have ever been released on ] and are currently not available on DVD as of today, while although, almost all of them have been released on ] which are now out of print.
	The series supposedly took place entirely in ], although, it was actually filmed in ].

	==~~Series Run on CBS~~ and ~~Criticism~~==		==Cast and characters==
			]
	]The series first aired as a 2-hour pilot episode film known simply as "Spider-Man". In the series' pilot episode, University student Peter Parker gains spectacular super powers after having been bitten by a radioactive spider and uses his newfound super spider powers to get a job at the Daily Bugle and try to stop a con man who is using some mind control technique. It is also noted that in the pilot, J. Jonah Jameson was played by actor ] and subsequently replaced with ] for the rest of the entire weekly series run.
			===Main===
			* ] as ]
			* ] as ]
			* ] as Rita Conway
			* ] as Capt. Barbera (season 1)
			* ] as Julie Masters (season 2)

			==Production==
	At the time, ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' aired on the ] television network, it was along with other live-action television series oand movies based on several popular comic book superheroes including ], ], ] and ].
			]
			During the mid-1970s, ] publisher and Spider-Man's co-creator ], sold CBS the rights to produce a prime time live-action Spider-Man series, to be made by producer Daniel R. Goodman. Actor ] was cast in the lead role, though all of Spider-Man's stunts were performed by the series's stunt coordinator, Fred Waugh.<ref name="back44"/> Lee and Goodman fiercely clashed over the direction of the series during the initial production.<ref name="back44"/> Lee once said in an interview for ] that he felt the series was "too juvenile".<ref>''Pizzazz'', October 1978</ref>

			The series began as a ]: a 90-minute movie known simply as '']'' which was broadcast on CBS TV network in September 1977, which was theatrically released internationally.<ref name="tg">{{cite news\|last1=McAloon\|first1=Jonathan\|title=Spider-Man on screen: a timeline\|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/spider-man-2017/peter-parker-actors-movies/ \|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/spider-man-2017/peter-parker-actors-movies/ \|archive-date=January 12, 2022 \|url-access=subscription \|url-status=live\|access-date=April 27, 2017\|work=The Telegraph\|date=June 24, 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In it, Peter Parker (as an intrepid university student) gains super powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider. He uses those powers to get a job at the ''Daily Bugle'', and to stop a con man who is covertly using mind control for personal gain.
	The ''Amazing Spider-Man'' series had solid ratings throughout its run, but CBS was leery about being labeled as the "The Superhero Network" and many Spider-Man fans were also rather highly critical of the series<ref></ref> for the changes made to the comic book storyline and the lack of any real "]".

			The pilot garnered a 17.8 rating with a 30 share - CBS' highest rating for the entire year.<ref name="back44">{{cite journal\|last= Mangels\|first= Andy\|date= October 2010\|title= Spinning the Story of the Amazing Spider-Man\|journal= ]\|issue= 44\| pages= 44–48\|publisher= ]}}</ref> However, citing concern over the pilot's relatively weak ratings in the lucrative adult-demographic (ages 18–49),<ref name="back44"/> CBS picked up the series for only a limited, five-episode order (those 5 episodes were aired in April and May 1978, at the tail-end of the ]). This run of episodes debuted very well, with the first obtaining a 22.8 rating with 16.6 million viewers, making it the best-rated program for the week on CBS, and the eighth-best-rated program for the week, overall.<ref>{{cite news \|title=ABC Reclaims Lead in Ratings \|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yDZcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1FUNAAAAIBAJ&pg=7115,1635438 \|work=Merced Sun-Star \|location=Merced, California \|date=April 12, 1978 \|agency=AP }}{{Dead link\|date=March 2024 \|bot=InternetArchiveBot \|fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The series ended up being the 19th-highest-rated show of the entire season, but CBS was reluctant to commit to giving the show a regular/fixed time slot for the 1978-79 season,<ref>{{cite news \|title=TV's worst season slowly nearing an end \|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XB1UAAAAIBAJ&sjid=74wDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7013,2708915 \|work=Boca Raton News \|location=Boca Raton, Florida \|date=May 15, 1978 \|agency=UPI}}</ref> as the series was expensive to produce<ref>{{cite news \|title=There's a web of truth woven into action of 'Spider-Man series' \|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RmhQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=llkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3929%2C3755907 \|work=St. Petersburg Times \|location=St. Petersburg, FL \|date=April 5, 1978}}</ref> and continued to underperform with older audiences.<ref name="back44"/>
	Also, to add insult to injury, Spider-Man co-creator ] was very disappointed and unhappy as he disliked the show and was even very vocal about his dissatisfaction with it. He had once said in an interview that he had felt that the series was rather "too juvenile" - a controversial statement given that his credit was as a script consultant on each episode of the show. According to him, the short-lived TV series was a one-dimensional show, although he has also stated that the production staff had done a very pretty well done job on a technical level.

			CBS took the more cautious approach of airing episodes on a sporadic basis, strategically placing it on the broadcast schedule to deliberately hurt the ratings of specific competing shows, at key times in the TV season (e.g. "]"). Former '']'' producer Lionel Siegel took over production duties for season two, noticeably changing the show in an attempt to grow its adult audience. These changes included dropping the Captain Barbera character; adding the character of Julie Masters as a love interest for Peter; creating more down-to-earth plotlines; and slightly toning-down Spider-Man's superpowers, to make him more accessible to adult viewers.<ref>{{cite news \|title=Return of the video Superheroes.\|url=https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-017 \|work=Starlog Page 50-51\|author=Richard Meyers \|date=October 1978}}</ref>
	Although, despite some initial criticism of the series as far removed from the original source material, the show has thus so far featured the only live-action appearance of Peter Parker's handy-dandy Spider Tracer tracking devices to date, which were prominently featured in several episodes throughout in the short-lived TV series' run.

			The second season that consisted of seven episodes aired infrequently throughout the ].<ref>{{cite news \|title=Rivals Attending to 'Roots' Return \|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Cu4eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cyQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4547,518146 \|work=The Time-News \|location=Hendersonville, NC \|date=September 5, 1978 \|agency=Washington Star Syndicate}}</ref> The series continued to do well in the ratings during its second season.<ref name="back44"/> CBS officially cancelled the series soon after the season ended. The chief reason for the cancellation was that CBS feared being perceived as merely a one-dimensional, superficial, "superhero network".<ref name="back44"/> It was already airing other live-action superhero series or specials at the time, including ], ] (which they resurrected after its original network, ], canceled it), ], ], and had just ended (in 1977) multi-year runs of live-action Saturday morning series for ]' ] and ] superheroes. Another problem was that in spite of the show's popularity, its most vocal fans were also highly critical of it,<ref></ref> due to the season two departures from more comic book-like storylines, and the lack of any recognizable "]" from the Spider-Man comics.
	As previously mentioned, and while with contrary to popular belief, ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' was ultimately cancelled not rather because of having poor or low ratings. In fact, the series performed fairly and solidly well in the ratings, but TV politics were also believed to have played a role in the show's cancellation as CBS executives apparently wanted to shed the network's image as to being labeled as "The Superhero Network," so they cancelled the show, along with ''Wonder Woman'' that followed short just after 2 years on later. However, ''The Incredible Hulk'' remained at the network until 1982, albeit with some significant budget cuts.

			The series yielded the first live-action depictions of Peter Parker's "spider-tracer" tracking/homing devices; they are prominently featured in several episodes throughout the series.
	]

			===Directors===
	==Revival Attempts==
			]
	In the mid-1980s and early 1990s, 2 other revival attempts of the series were reportedly made to recreate a new ''Amazing Spider-Man'' live-action television series. The first one would have had the original cast members of the series prominently teaming up with the other cast from '']''<ref></ref> live-action television series as a joint crossover special.
			* Tom Blank
			* ]
			* ]
			* Dennis Donnelly
			* Tony Ganz
			* ]
			* Joseph Manduke
			* ]
			* Ron Satlof
			* Larry Stewart
			* ]

			==Episodes==
	This was all and originally part of a plan to have several television movies featuring the Incredible Hulk and other various ] characters teaming up as well as with 3 other superhero shows that had already been aired; the ] series with ], the ] series with ], while the supposedly announced ] unfortunately did not even appear in the ] series.
			For their release in VHS format, several of the series's episodes were spliced together in pairs. "Night of the Clones and Escort to Danger", "A Matter of State and Photo Finish" and "The Con Caper and The Curse of Rava" were combined and presented as a single movie-length episodes. In order to smooth the jump between the two unrelated stories in each release, the production team filmed new bridging scenes set at the Daily Bugle and inserted them between the content of the two component episodes.<ref name="back44"/> These scenes were never broadcast, either in the series's original run or in any reruns.

			The pilot and two pairs of episodes were released as movies internationally by ] (following their first character film rights for future films)<ref name="tg" /> as '']'', '']'', and '']''.<ref>{{cite news\|last1=McMillan\|first1=Graeme\|title='Spider-Man' Movies Revisited: The Forgotten and Amazing Big-Screen Adventures\|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/spider-man-movies-revisited-forgotten-889529\|access-date=April 27, 2017\|work=]\|publisher=]\|date=May 3, 2016\|language=en}}</ref>
	Reportedly, this first attempt finally fell through when ] had died of cancer in 1993. A second attempt would have been an entirely new series that had also been subsequently shelved in preproduction because the networks had then thought of and wanted to make Spider-Man into a freaking Man-Spider mutant.{{Fact\|date=August 2009}}

	==~~Cast~~ ~~and Crew~~==		===Pilot movie===
			{{Episode table \|background=#B60000 \|title=29 \|director=20 \|writer=20 \|airdate=15 \|episodes=
	The only characters besides Peter Parker to regularly appear in both the television series and in the comics were ] and ]. ] (played by ]) also appeared but only in the ].

			{{Episode list
	In both these incarnations, J. Jonah Jameson's abrasive, flamboyant personality was toned down and the character was portrayed as a little more avuncular figure.
			\|Title=]
			\|DirectedBy=]<ref name="tg" />
			\|WrittenBy=]
			\|OriginalAirDate={{Start date\|1977\|9\|14}}
			\|ShortSummary=University student Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive ] and decides to use his super powers to stop an evil ] guru that is turning law-abiding citizens into criminals through mind control. Guest starring ], ], ], ], ], ], and ].

			This pilot TV-movie was released theatrically overseas<ref name="tg" /> and saw VHS releases in the 1980s by ] (and re-released later on Fox's own ] label) and in the 1990s by ]. A CED videodisc version (CBS/Fox) was also released. In Japan only, this was also released on VHD format and laserdisc.
	===Regular Cast===
			\|LineColor=B60000
	* ] as ]/]
			}}
	* ] as ] (pilot)
			}}
	* ] as ] (series)
	* ] as Rita Conway
	* ] as Captain Barbera (pilot and first season only)
	* ] as Julie Masters (second season only)

	===~~Directors~~===		===Season 1 (1978)===
			{{Episode table \|background=#B60000 \|overall=8 \|season=8 \|title=29 \|director=20 \|writer=20 \|airdate=15 \|episodes=
	]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]
	* ]

	==Episode ~~Guide==~~		{{Episode list
			\|EpisodeNumber=1
	===Season 1===
			\|EpisodeNumber2=1
	{\| class="wikitable" style="background:#FF0000"
			\|Title=]
	! width=7%\|Episode No.
			\|DirectedBy=Ron Satlof
	! Episode Title
			\|WrittenBy=Robert Janes
	! width=22%\|Original Airdate
			\|OriginalAirDate={{Start date\|1978\|4\|5}}
	\|- align="center"
			\|ShortSummary=Upset that Professor Baylor has brought a small amount of ] onto campus in order to give a class demonstration, three university students decide to steal the plutonium and build a bomb in order to illustrate the dangers of nuclear power. Before they can make their point, a mysterious international businessman and arms dealer named Mr. White steals the bomb to sell to the highest bidder. Guest stars ], ], and ].
	\| 1 \|\| ''']''' \|\| April 19, 1976
	\|- bgcolor="FFFFFF"
	\| colspan=3\|University student Peter Parker is accidentally bitten by a radioactive ] and finds that he has gained the proportionate powers of a super spider including its proportionate super strength and agility as well as its wall-crawling and web-spinning abilities, and thus then decides to use his newfound super powers to stop a ] guru that is turning law abiding citizens into criminals through mind control. '''This pilot TV movie was released theatrically overseas''' which saw VHS releases in the 1980s by CBS/Fox Home Video (and then later on, reissued on with its Playhouse Video label) and in the 1990s by Rhino Home Video. A CED video disc version (CBS/Fox) and a Laser Disc version were also released. All versions are now out of print.
	\|- align="center"
	\| 2 & 3 \|\| '''The Deadly Dust Parts 1 & 2''' \|\| April 26, 1976 (part 1)<br> May 3, 1976 (part 2)
	\|- bgcolor="FFFFFF"
	\| colspan=3\|Upset that their professor has brought a small amount of ] onto campus in order to give a class demonstration, 3 University students decide to steal the plutonium and build a bomb in order to illustrate the dangers of nuclear power. However, the international businessmen and arms dealer named ''Mr. White'' has his henchmen steal the plutonium so that he can detonate it in ] where ] ] will be giving a campaign speech. "The Deadly Dust" saw video release as a "movie version" in the 1980s by CBS/Fox/Playhouse and then in the late 1990s by Rhino Home Video. '''Also released theatrically and on video tape in Europe under the title "Spider-Man Strikes Back"'''. Both versions are currently out of print.
	\|- align="center"
	\| 4 \|\| '''The Curse of Rava''' \|\| May 10, 1976
	\|- bgcolor="FFFFFF"
	\| colspan=3\|Members of a religious cult, led by the telekinetic Mandak, plan to steal a Rava religious icon from a museum and in the process frame Mr. Jameson for attempted murder. "The Curse of Rava" was spliced together with "Con Caper" to form "Con Caper & The Curse of Rava" which was then on released and was available on VHS from Prism Home Video in the mid 80s and from Rhino Home Video in the late 90s. Both versions are now out of print.
	\|- align="center"
	\| 5 \|\| '''Night of The Clones''' \|\| May 17, 1976
	\|- bgcolor="FFFFFF"
	\| colspan=3\|A scientific convention is being held in New York City and a controversial American scientist has figured out a way to experiment with cloning frogs and then subsequently clone human beings, only to have his own evil clone twin escape, and thus clone an evil Spider-Man. "Night of the Clones", and the episode following it, "Escort to Danger" were spliced together to make "Night of the Clones & Escort to Danger" which was then on released and was available on VHS from Prism Home Video in the mid 1980s and then from Rhino Home Video in the late 1990s. Both versions are now out of print.
	\|- align="center"
	\| 6 \|\| '''Escort To Danger''' \|\| May 24, 1976
	\|- bgcolor="FFFFFF"
	\| colspan=3\|While visiting ], the daughter of a recently elected pro-democracy ] President is kidnapped by those people who are seeking out a return of a fascist dictatorship. "Escort to Danger", and the episode before it, "Night of the Clones" were spliced together to make "Night of the Clones & Escort to Danger" which was then on released and was available on VHS from Prism Home Video in the mid 1980s and then from Rhino Home Video in the late 1990s. Both versions are now out of print.
	\|}

			Though it was the last of the five season one episodes to be filmed, it was the first to be broadcast.<ref name="back44guide">{{cite journal\|date= October 2010\|title= Spider-Man Episode Guide\|journal= ]\|issue= 44\| pages= 49–50\|publisher= ]}}</ref> In countries outside the United States, such as the UK, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand, "The Deadly Dust" part 1 and 2 were edited together by Columbia Pictures and released in theaters as ''Spider-Man Strikes Back''. "The Deadly Dust" saw video release in the 1980s by CBS/Fox Video (and re-released later on Fox's own Playhouse Video label) and in the late 1990s by Rhino Home Video. It was also released on videotape (in Europe) and laserdisc (in Japan) in its theatrical version, titled ''Spider-Man Strikes Back''.
	===Season 2===
			\|LineColor=B60000
	{\| class="wikitable" style="background:#0000FF"
			}}
	! width=10%\|Episode No.
	! Episode ~~Title~~		{{Episode list
			\|EpisodeNumber=2
	! width=22%\|Original Airdate
			\|EpisodeNumber2=2
	\|- style="text-align:center; color:#FFFFFF"
			\|Title=]
	\| 7 \|\| '''The Captive Tower''' \|\| September 5, 1976
			\|DirectedBy=Ron Satlof
	\|- bgcolor="FFFFFF"
			\|WrittenBy=Robert Janes
	\| colspan=3\|Thieves steal about 10 million dollars from a new high-tech security building and uses its computers to trap the people inside. The plot of this episode is similar to the film '']''. Since there were no other hour-long episodes of the series with which to combine it with into a 2-hour movie, this episode was the most rarely seen of the series, and the only reruns which was being aired on the Sci-Fi Channel in the 1990s. For some and the same reason, this is also the only episode of the series that never occurred on any VHS release to date.
			\|OriginalAirDate={{Start date\|1978\|4\|12}}
	\|- style="text-align:center; color:#FFFFFF"
			\|ShortSummary=Unable to find a suitable buyer for the atomic bomb he has stolen, Mr. White decides to take a different approach. He blackmails the United States for $1 billion and threatens to detonate the bomb where it will do the most damage if his demands aren't met. Meanwhile, Peter Parker (]), Gayle Hoffman (]), and Mr. Jameson (]) travel to Los Angeles to track down Mr. White (]) and the bomb, but they soon discover that he intends to detonate the bomb where the President is giving a speech nearby and it's a race against time to thwart his plan.
	\| 8 \|\| '''A Matter of State''' \|\| September 12, 1976
			\|LineColor=B60000
	\|- bgcolor="FFFFFF"
			}}
	\| colspan=3\|] defense plans are stolen and held for ransom by terrorists. Julia Masters accidentally gets a photograph of the ringleader of the gang and now Spider-Man has to protect Masters, while also trying to get the defense plans back. This episode has been released on VHS as "Photo Finish & A Matter of State" by Rhino Home Video, but is now out of print.
			{{Episode list
	\|- style="text-align:center; color:#FFFFFF"
			\|EpisodeNumber=3
	\| 9 \|\| '''The Con Caper''' \|\| November 25, 1976
			\|EpisodeNumber2=3
	\|- bgcolor="FFFFFF"
			\|Title=The Curse of Rava
	\| colspan=3\|An imprisoned politician is released and poses as a reformed ] dedicated to prison reform in order to stage a break out of some prisoners and steal about and over a hundred million dollars. This episode has been released on VHS by Prism Home Video during in the mid 1980s and by Rhino Home Video during in the late 1990s as "The Con Caper & Curse of Rava". Both versions are now out of print.
			\|DirectedBy=]
	\|- style="text-align:center; color:#FFFFFF"
			\|WrittenBy=Dick Nelson,<br /> Robert Janes
	\| 10 \|\| '''The Kirkwood Haunting''' \|\| December 30, 1976
			\|OriginalAirDate={{Start date\|1978\|4\|19}}
	\|- bgcolor="FFFFFF"
			\|ShortSummary=When the Bolt Museum elects to display a statue of Rava, the Kalistani god of death, the Cult of Rava believes the display to be a blasphemy and plots to steal the idol. But the museum and its financial backer, J. Jonah Jameson, refuse to take the threat seriously, and Mr. Jameson is implicated in the attempted murder of the museum curator. Led by the telekinetic Mandak, the cult hopes to return the stolen idol to Kalistan and use it to ignite a civil war that will return the followers of Rava to political power. Guest starring ], and ].
	\| colspan=3\|Peter Parker is sent to the estate (complete with its own zoo) of a wealthy widow and longtime family friend of Mr. Jameson. The widow claims that she is being visited by the ghost of her dead husband and he is telling her to donate all her money to the group of men that are acting as objective investigators of paranormal phenomenon. This episode has been released on VHS by Rhino Home Video spliced together to make "Wolfpack & The Kirkwood Haunting", but is now out of print.

	\|- style="text-align:center; color:#FFFFFF"
			"The Curse of Rava" was spliced together with "Con Caper" to form "Con Caper & The Curse of Rava" which was released on VHS and Beta from Prism Home Video in the mid 1980s and on VHS Rhino Home Video in the late 1990s. Con Caper/Rava was also released on Laserdisc in the USA by Prism around 1990.
	\| 11 \|\| '''Photo Finish''' \|\| February 7, 1977
			\|LineColor=B60000
	\|- bgcolor="FFFFFF"
			}}
	\| colspan=3\|While doing a story on a rare coin collection, the coins are stolen in a robbery with one of the thieves wearing a wig and muffling his voice to appear to be the coin collector's bitter ex-wife. The photo that Parker has of the cross-dressing thief will falsely frame the ex-wife and Parker is willing to go to jail in order to protect the innocent and break out of jail as Spider-Man to bring the thieves to justice. This episode has been released on VHS as "Photo Finish & A Matter of State" by Rhino Home Video and was previously released by itself in its original one-hour format on a LP-speed cassette by low-budget label Star Maker Home Video. Both versions are currently out of print.
			{{Episode list
	\|- style="text-align:center; color:#FFFFFF"
			\|EpisodeNumber=4
	\| 12 \|\| '''Wolfpack''' \|\| February 21, 1977
			\|EpisodeNumber2=4
	\|- bgcolor="FFFFFF"
			\|Title=Night of the Clones
	\| colspan=3\|When a greedy Sorgenson Chemical representative learns that University students have developed a mind control gas, he uses the gas to take control of the students and even some soldiers to commit various crimes. This episode has been released on VHS by Rhino Home Video as "Wolfpack & The Kirkwood Haunting", but is now out of print.
			\|DirectedBy=]
	\|- style="text-align:center; color:#FFFFFF"
			\|WrittenBy=John W. Bloch
	\| 13 & 14 \|\| '''The Chinese Web''' \|\| July 6, 1977
			\|OriginalAirDate={{Start date\|1978\|4\|26}}
	\|- bgcolor="FFFFFF"
			\|ShortSummary=The committee awarding the prestigious Tovald Award for scientific achievement is meeting in New York to decide the winner, but a scientist whose controversial work in cloning has been overlooked by the committee for years has other ideas. Dr. Moon has secretly perfected human cloning and creates evil clones of both himself and the web slinger, who plot to kill the members of the committee - and Peter Parker. Guest starring ], ], and ].
	\| colspan=3\|This final episode (a 2-hour special) has an old college friend of Mr. Jameson fleeing China, from where he is the Minister of Industrial Development, to live in with his Chinese-American daughter because the Chinese government has falsely accused and charged him with being a spy during ]. While Peter Parker tries to prove the man's innocence, he must contend with the henchmen of a British-Hong Kong businessman who will do anything in order to get a new Minster of Industrial Development that will ensure that his firm gets a lucrative business contract with China. This 2-part series finale has plenty of action footage, which also includes a new female love interest (played by ]), extensive footage of ] and even exposition on its history and traditional religious beliefs. This movie-length episode has been released in its full version ('''theatrically released overseas as "Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge")''' by Fox Home Video during in the early 1980s and by Rhino Home Video during in the late 1990s.

	\|}
			"Night of the Clones" and the episode following it, "Escort to Danger", were spliced together to make "Night of the Clones & Escort to Danger" which was released on VHS and Beta from Prism Home Video in the mid-1980s and on VHS from Rhino Home Video in the late 1990s. Clones/Escort was also released on laserdisc in the USA by Prism around 1990.
	<!--
			\|LineColor=B60000
	==See also== -->
			}}
			{{Episode list
			\|EpisodeNumber=5
			\|EpisodeNumber2=5
			\|Title=Escort to Danger
			\|DirectedBy=Dennis Donnelly
			\|WrittenBy=Duke Sandefur
			\|OriginalAirDate={{Start date\|1978\|5\|3}}
			\|ShortSummary=While visiting ], the daughter of a recently elected pro-democracy ] President is kidnapped by those seeking a return of a fascist dictatorship. Guest starring ], ], ], and ].

			The sequence in which Spider-Man runs from an exploding car is the only stunt in the series performed by Nicholas Hammond himself.<ref name="back44guide"/> "Escort to Danger", and the episode before it, "Night of the Clones" were spliced together to make "Night of the Clones & Escort to Danger" which was released on VHS from Prism Home Video in the mid-1980s and Rhino Home Video in the late 1990s.
			\|LineColor=B60000
			}}
			}}

			===Season 2 (1978–1979)===
			{{Episode table \|background=#0000A0 \|overall=8 \|season=8 \|title=29 \|director=20 \|writer=20 \|airdate=15 \|episodes=

			{{Episode list
			\|EpisodeNumber=6
			\|EpisodeNumber2=1
			\|Title=The Captive Tower
			\|DirectedBy=]
			\|WrittenBy=Gregory S. Dinallo,<br /> ],<br /> Philip John Taylor
			\|OriginalAirDate={{Start date\|1978\|9\|5}}
			\|ShortSummary=Thieves steal ten million dollars from a new high-tech security building and use its computers to trap the people inside. Guest starring Fred Lerner and ].

			Since there were no other hour-long episodes with which to combine it into a 2-hour movie, this episode is the most rarely seen of the series, the only reruns being on the ] in the 1990s. For the same reason, this is also the only episode that didn't get a VHS release.
			\|LineColor=0000A0
			}}
			{{Episode list
			\|EpisodeNumber=7
			\|EpisodeNumber2=2
			\|Title=A Matter of State
			\|DirectedBy=Larry Stewart
			\|WrittenBy=Howard Dimsdale
			\|OriginalAirDate={{Start date\|1978\|9\|12}}
			\|ShortSummary=] defense plans are stolen and held for ransom by terrorists. Julie Masters accidentally gets a photograph of the ringleader of the gang and now Spider-Man has to protect Masters, while also trying to get the defense plans back. Guest starring ].

			This episode was released on VHS as "Photo Finish & A Matter of State" by Rhino Home Video.
			\|LineColor=0000A0
			}}
			{{Episode list
			\|EpisodeNumber=8
			\|EpisodeNumber2=3
			\|Title=The Con Caper
			\|DirectedBy=Tom Blank
			\|WrittenBy=Brian McKay,<br /> Gregory S. Dinallo
			\|OriginalAirDate={{Start date\|1978\|11\|25}}
			\|ShortSummary=An imprisoned politician (]) is released and poses as a reformed humanitarian dedicated to prison reform in order to stage a break out of some prisoners and steal a hundred-million dollars. ] and ] also guest star.

			This episode was released on VHS and Beta by Prism Home Video in the mid-1980s and on VHS Rhino Home Video in the late 1990s as "Con Caper & Curse of Rava". Prism also released this combined version on laserdisc in the US in 1990.
			\|LineColor=0000A0
			}}
			{{Episode list
			\|EpisodeNumber=9
			\|EpisodeNumber2=4
			\|Title=The Kirkwood Haunting
			\|DirectedBy=]
			\|WrittenBy=Michael Michaelian
			\|OriginalAirDate={{Start date\|1978\|12\|30}}
			\|ShortSummary=Peter Parker is sent to the estate (complete with its own zoo) of a wealthy widow and longtime family friend of Mr. Jameson. The widow claims that she is being visited by the ghost of her dead husband and he is telling her to donate all her money to the group of men that are acting as objective investigators of paranormal phenomenon.

			This episode has been released on VHS by Rhino Home Video spliced together to make "Wolfpack & The Kirkwood Haunting".
			\|LineColor=0000A0
			}}
			{{Episode list
			\|EpisodeNumber=10
			\|EpisodeNumber2=5
			\|Title=Photo Finish
			\|DirectedBy=Tony Ganz
			\|WrittenBy=Howard Dimsdale
			\|OriginalAirDate={{Start date\|1979\|2\|7}}
			\|ShortSummary=While doing a story on a rare coin collection, the coins are stolen in a robbery with one of the thieves wearing a wig and muffling his voice to appear to be the coin collector's bitter ex-wife. The photo that Parker has of the disguised thief will falsely frame the ex-wife and Parker is willing to go to jail in order to protect the innocent and break out of jail as Spider-Man to bring the thieves to justice.

			This episode has been released on VHS as "Photo Finish & A Matter of State" by Rhino Home Video. "Photo Finish" was previously released by itself (in its original one-hour format) on an LP-speed cassette from low-budget label Star Maker Home Video.
			\|LineColor=0000A0
			}}
			{{Episode list
			\|EpisodeNumber=11
			\|EpisodeNumber2=6
			\|Title=Wolfpack
			\|DirectedBy=Joseph Manduke
			\|WrittenBy=]
			\|OriginalAirDate={{Start date\|1979\|2\|21}}
			\|ShortSummary=When a greedy Sorgenson Chemical representative learns that University students have developed a mind control gas, he uses the gas to take control of the students and even some soldiers to commit crimes.

			This episode has been released on VHS on Rhino Home Video as "Wolfpack & The Kirkwood Haunting".
			\|LineColor=0000A0
			}}
			{{Episode list
			\|EpisodeNumber=12
			\|EpisodeNumber2=7
			\|Title=]
			\|DirectedBy=]
			\|WrittenBy=Lionel E. Siegel
			\|OriginalAirDate={{Start date\|1979\|7\|6}}
			\|ShortSummary= An old college friend of Mr. Jameson fleeing China (where he is the Minister of Industrial Development) to live with his Chinese American niece because the Chinese government has falsely charged him with being a spy during ]. While Peter Parker tries to prove the man's innocence he must contend with a henchmen of a British-Hong Kong businessman who will do anything to get a new Minister of Industrial Development who will ensure that his firm gets a lucrative business contract with Hong Kong. Guest starring ], ], ], ], ], ], and ].

			While the rest of the series was filmed in New York and Los Angeles, the series finale includes many scenes which were filmed in ].<ref name="back44"/> "The Chinese Web" part 1 and 2 was also released theatrically in many different territories from 1979 to 1981 under the title ''Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge''. It was also released overseas on video (and on laserdisc in Japan) in its full version. This episode was released on its own on videotape by CBS/Fox Video in the early 1980s (and re-released later on Fox's own Playhouse Video label) and by Rhino Home Video in the late 1990s.
			\|LineColor=0000A0
			}}
			{{Episode list
			\|EpisodeNumber=13
			\|EpisodeNumber2=8
			\|Title=]
			\|DirectedBy=]
			\|WrittenBy=Lionel E. Siegel
			\|OriginalAirDate={{Start date\|1979\|7\|6}}
			\|ShortSummary= Peter goes to Hong Kong with Dent and Emily so that Dent can prove Emily's uncle's innocence, but the industrialist tries to stop them.
			\|LineColor=0000A0
			}}
			}}

			==Revival attempt==
			In a 2002 interview with '']'', Nicholas Hammond revealed that there were plans to do an ''Amazing Spider-Man'' series reunion film in 1984. The proposal would have had the original cast team-up with the cast of '']''<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://dailypop.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/the-spider-man-that-never-was/\|title = The Spider-Man That Never Was\|date = July 31, 2008}}</ref> television series (a major hit for CBS), with Hammond appearing in the black Spider-Man costume. According to Hammond, a deal was arranged to have Columbia and Universal Studios co-produce the project. ] was going to direct the TV-movie, in addition to reprising the role of David Banner. Universal eventually cancelled the project. Hammond said he was told that ] was unavailable to reprise his role as the Hulk, because he was in Italy filming '']''. However, in his 2003 autobiography ''My Incredible Life as the Hulk'', Ferrigno stated that he was never contacted about the project, adding that he had recently finished filming '']'' and that his availability was not an issue.<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://www.blumhouse.com/2016/07/29/the-spider-man-hulk-tv-movie-that-almost-was/ \|title=The SPIDER-MAN / HULK TV Movie That Almost Was! – Blumhouse.com \|website=www.blumhouse.com \|url-status=dead \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160731122211/http://www.blumhouse.com/2016/07/29/the-spider-man-hulk-tv-movie-that-almost-was/ \|archive-date=2016-07-31}}</ref>

	==References==		==References==
	{{reflist}}		{{reflist}}

	==External ~~Links~~==		==External links==
			{{commons category}}
	*{{imdb title\|id=0076975\|title=The Amazing Spider-Man}}
	*{{~~Tv.com~~ ~~show~~\|id=~~896~~\|title=The Amazing Spider-Man}}		* {{IMDb title\|id=0076975\|title=The Amazing Spider-Man}}
	*		* on '']'' (2002)
	*
	*

	{{Spider-Man in popular media}}		{{Spider-Man in popular media}}
	{{~~Marvel~~ ~~comics~~ TV}}		{{Spider-Man in TV}}
			{{Marvel Comics TV}}
			{{Spider-Man films}}
			{{Authority control}}

	{{DEFAULTSORT:Amazing Spider-Man, The}}		{{DEFAULTSORT:Amazing Spider Man (TV series), The}}
	]		]
	]		]
	]		]
	]		]
			]
	]		]
			]
	]		]
	]

	]
	]
	]
	]
	]
	]

Latest revision as of 18:19, 7 November 2024

1977–1979 American television series Not to be confused with The Amazing Spider-Man, a comic book series that started publishing in 1963, or The Amazing Spider-Man, a film released in 2012.

The Amazing Spider-Man

Genre	Superhero
Created by	Alvin Boretz
Based on	Spider-Man by Stan Lee Steve Ditko
Starring	Nicholas Hammond Robert F. Simon Chip Fields Ellen Bry
Theme music composer	Stu Phillips Dana Kaproff
Composers	Stu Phillips Dana Kaproff
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	13 (list of episodes)
Production
Production locations	Los Angeles New York City
Running time	40-45 minutes
Production companies	Charles Fries Productions Dan Goodman Productions Columbia Pictures Television
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 14, 1977 (1977-09-14) – July 6, 1979 (1979-07-06)
Related
Spidey Super Stories Spider-Man (Japanese TV series)

The Amazing Spider-Man (known simply as Spider-Man for the second season) is an American superhero television series based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It is the first live-action television series featuring Spider-Man and was shown on CBS in the United States from September 14, 1977 to July 6, 1979. Though it was a considerable ratings success, the CBS series was cancelled after just 13 episodes, which included a pilot film airing in autumn of 1977. Despite its storylines being set in New York City (the character's hometown), the series was mostly filmed in Los Angeles.

Cast and characters

Main

Nicholas Hammond as Peter Parker / Spider-Man
Robert F. Simon as J. Jonah Jameson
Chip Fields as Rita Conway
Michael Pataki as Capt. Barbera (season 1)
Ellen Bry as Julie Masters (season 2)

Production

During the mid-1970s, Marvel Comics publisher and Spider-Man's co-creator Stan Lee, sold CBS the rights to produce a prime time live-action Spider-Man series, to be made by producer Daniel R. Goodman. Actor Nicholas Hammond was cast in the lead role, though all of Spider-Man's stunts were performed by the series's stunt coordinator, Fred Waugh. Lee and Goodman fiercely clashed over the direction of the series during the initial production. Lee once said in an interview for Pizzazz magazine that he felt the series was "too juvenile".

The series began as a backdoor pilot: a 90-minute movie known simply as Spider-Man which was broadcast on CBS TV network in September 1977, which was theatrically released internationally. In it, Peter Parker (as an intrepid university student) gains super powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider. He uses those powers to get a job at the Daily Bugle, and to stop a con man who is covertly using mind control for personal gain.

The pilot garnered a 17.8 rating with a 30 share - CBS' highest rating for the entire year. However, citing concern over the pilot's relatively weak ratings in the lucrative adult-demographic (ages 18–49), CBS picked up the series for only a limited, five-episode order (those 5 episodes were aired in April and May 1978, at the tail-end of the 1977–78 TV season). This run of episodes debuted very well, with the first obtaining a 22.8 rating with 16.6 million viewers, making it the best-rated program for the week on CBS, and the eighth-best-rated program for the week, overall. The series ended up being the 19th-highest-rated show of the entire season, but CBS was reluctant to commit to giving the show a regular/fixed time slot for the 1978-79 season, as the series was expensive to produce and continued to underperform with older audiences.

CBS took the more cautious approach of airing episodes on a sporadic basis, strategically placing it on the broadcast schedule to deliberately hurt the ratings of specific competing shows, at key times in the TV season (e.g. "sweeps"). Former Six Million Dollar Man producer Lionel Siegel took over production duties for season two, noticeably changing the show in an attempt to grow its adult audience. These changes included dropping the Captain Barbera character; adding the character of Julie Masters as a love interest for Peter; creating more down-to-earth plotlines; and slightly toning-down Spider-Man's superpowers, to make him more accessible to adult viewers.

The second season that consisted of seven episodes aired infrequently throughout the 1978–79 TV season. The series continued to do well in the ratings during its second season. CBS officially cancelled the series soon after the season ended. The chief reason for the cancellation was that CBS feared being perceived as merely a one-dimensional, superficial, "superhero network". It was already airing other live-action superhero series or specials at the time, including The Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman (which they resurrected after its original network, ABC, canceled it), Captain America, Doctor Strange, and had just ended (in 1977) multi-year runs of live-action Saturday morning series for DC Comics' Captain Marvel and Isis superheroes. Another problem was that in spite of the show's popularity, its most vocal fans were also highly critical of it, due to the season two departures from more comic book-like storylines, and the lack of any recognizable "supervillains" from the Spider-Man comics.

The series yielded the first live-action depictions of Peter Parker's "spider-tracer" tracking/homing devices; they are prominently featured in several episodes throughout the series.

Directors

Shooting *Spider-Man* at Caltech from "The Curse of Rava".

Tom Blank
Cliff Bole
Michael Caffey
Dennis Donnelly
Tony Ganz
Fernando Lamas
Joseph Manduke
Don McDougall
Ron Satlof
Larry Stewart
E.W. Swackhamer

Episodes

For their release in VHS format, several of the series's episodes were spliced together in pairs. "Night of the Clones and Escort to Danger", "A Matter of State and Photo Finish" and "The Con Caper and The Curse of Rava" were combined and presented as a single movie-length episodes. In order to smooth the jump between the two unrelated stories in each release, the production team filmed new bridging scenes set at the Daily Bugle and inserted them between the content of the two component episodes. These scenes were never broadcast, either in the series's original run or in any reruns.

The pilot and two pairs of episodes were released as movies internationally by Columbia Pictures (following their first character film rights for future films) as Spider-Man, Spider-Man Strikes Back, and Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge.

Pilot movie

Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
"Spider-Man"	E.W. Swackhamer	Alvin Boretz	September 14, 1977 (1977-09-14)
University student Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider and decides to use his super powers to stop an evil New Age guru that is turning law-abiding citizens into criminals through mind control. Guest starring David White, Lisa Eilbacher, Hilly Hicks, Thayer David, Ivor Francis, Jeff Donnell, and Bob Hastings. This pilot TV-movie was released theatrically overseas and saw VHS releases in the 1980s by CBS/Fox Video (and re-released later on Fox's own Playhouse Video label) and in the 1990s by Rhino Home Video. A CED videodisc version (CBS/Fox) was also released. In Japan only, this was also released on VHD format and laserdisc.

Season 1 (1978)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"The Deadly Dust: Part 1"	Ron Satlof	Robert Janes	April 5, 1978 (1978-04-05)
Upset that Professor Baylor has brought a small amount of plutonium oxide onto campus in order to give a class demonstration, three university students decide to steal the plutonium and build a bomb in order to illustrate the dangers of nuclear power. Before they can make their point, a mysterious international businessman and arms dealer named Mr. White steals the bomb to sell to the highest bidder. Guest stars Joanna Cameron, Robert Alda, and Randy Powell. Though it was the last of the five season one episodes to be filmed, it was the first to be broadcast. In countries outside the United States, such as the UK, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand, "The Deadly Dust" part 1 and 2 were edited together by Columbia Pictures and released in theaters as Spider-Man Strikes Back. "The Deadly Dust" saw video release in the 1980s by CBS/Fox Video (and re-released later on Fox's own Playhouse Video label) and in the late 1990s by Rhino Home Video. It was also released on videotape (in Europe) and laserdisc (in Japan) in its theatrical version, titled Spider-Man Strikes Back.
2	2	"The Deadly Dust: Part 2"	Ron Satlof	Robert Janes	April 12, 1978 (1978-04-12)
Unable to find a suitable buyer for the atomic bomb he has stolen, Mr. White decides to take a different approach. He blackmails the United States for $1 billion and threatens to detonate the bomb where it will do the most damage if his demands aren't met. Meanwhile, Peter Parker (Nicholas Hammond), Gayle Hoffman (Joanna Cameron), and Mr. Jameson (Robert F. Simon) travel to Los Angeles to track down Mr. White (Robert Alda) and the bomb, but they soon discover that he intends to detonate the bomb where the President is giving a speech nearby and it's a race against time to thwart his plan.
3	3	"The Curse of Rava"	Michael Caffey	Dick Nelson, Robert Janes	April 19, 1978 (1978-04-19)
When the Bolt Museum elects to display a statue of Rava, the Kalistani god of death, the Cult of Rava believes the display to be a blasphemy and plots to steal the idol. But the museum and its financial backer, J. Jonah Jameson, refuse to take the threat seriously, and Mr. Jameson is implicated in the attempted murder of the museum curator. Led by the telekinetic Mandak, the cult hopes to return the stolen idol to Kalistan and use it to ignite a civil war that will return the followers of Rava to political power. Guest starring Theodore Bikel, and Adrienne La Russa. "The Curse of Rava" was spliced together with "Con Caper" to form "Con Caper & The Curse of Rava" which was released on VHS and Beta from Prism Home Video in the mid 1980s and on VHS Rhino Home Video in the late 1990s. Con Caper/Rava was also released on Laserdisc in the USA by Prism around 1990.
4	4	"Night of the Clones"	Fernando Lamas	John W. Bloch	April 26, 1978 (1978-04-26)
The committee awarding the prestigious Tovald Award for scientific achievement is meeting in New York to decide the winner, but a scientist whose controversial work in cloning has been overlooked by the committee for years has other ideas. Dr. Moon has secretly perfected human cloning and creates evil clones of both himself and the web slinger, who plot to kill the members of the committee - and Peter Parker. Guest starring Lloyd Bochner, Morgan Fairchild, and Karl Swenson. "Night of the Clones" and the episode following it, "Escort to Danger", were spliced together to make "Night of the Clones & Escort to Danger" which was released on VHS and Beta from Prism Home Video in the mid-1980s and on VHS from Rhino Home Video in the late 1990s. Clones/Escort was also released on laserdisc in the USA by Prism around 1990.
5	5	"Escort to Danger"	Dennis Donnelly	Duke Sandefur	May 3, 1978 (1978-05-03)
While visiting New York City, the daughter of a recently elected pro-democracy Latin American President is kidnapped by those seeking a return of a fascist dictatorship. Guest starring BarBara Luna, Madeleine Stowe, Alejandro Rey, and Harold Sakata. The sequence in which Spider-Man runs from an exploding car is the only stunt in the series performed by Nicholas Hammond himself. "Escort to Danger", and the episode before it, "Night of the Clones" were spliced together to make "Night of the Clones & Escort to Danger" which was released on VHS from Prism Home Video in the mid-1980s and Rhino Home Video in the late 1990s.

Season 2 (1978–1979)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
6	1	"The Captive Tower"	Cliff Bole	Gregory S. Dinallo, Bruce Kalish, Philip John Taylor	September 5, 1978 (1978-09-05)
Thieves steal ten million dollars from a new high-tech security building and use its computers to trap the people inside. Guest starring Fred Lerner and David Sheiner. Since there were no other hour-long episodes with which to combine it into a 2-hour movie, this episode is the most rarely seen of the series, the only reruns being on the Sci-Fi Channel in the 1990s. For the same reason, this is also the only episode that didn't get a VHS release.
7	2	"A Matter of State"	Larry Stewart	Howard Dimsdale	September 12, 1978 (1978-09-12)
NATO defense plans are stolen and held for ransom by terrorists. Julie Masters accidentally gets a photograph of the ringleader of the gang and now Spider-Man has to protect Masters, while also trying to get the defense plans back. Guest starring John Crawford. This episode was released on VHS as "Photo Finish & A Matter of State" by Rhino Home Video.
8	3	"The Con Caper"	Tom Blank	Brian McKay, Gregory S. Dinallo	November 25, 1978 (1978-11-25)
An imprisoned politician (William Smithers) is released and poses as a reformed humanitarian dedicated to prison reform in order to stage a break out of some prisoners and steal a hundred-million dollars. Andrew J. Robinson and Ramon Bieri also guest star. This episode was released on VHS and Beta by Prism Home Video in the mid-1980s and on VHS Rhino Home Video in the late 1990s as "Con Caper & Curse of Rava". Prism also released this combined version on laserdisc in the US in 1990.
9	4	"The Kirkwood Haunting"	Don McDougall	Michael Michaelian	December 30, 1978 (1978-12-30)
Peter Parker is sent to the estate (complete with its own zoo) of a wealthy widow and longtime family friend of Mr. Jameson. The widow claims that she is being visited by the ghost of her dead husband and he is telling her to donate all her money to the group of men that are acting as objective investigators of paranormal phenomenon. This episode has been released on VHS by Rhino Home Video spliced together to make "Wolfpack & The Kirkwood Haunting".
10	5	"Photo Finish"	Tony Ganz	Howard Dimsdale	February 7, 1979 (1979-02-07)
While doing a story on a rare coin collection, the coins are stolen in a robbery with one of the thieves wearing a wig and muffling his voice to appear to be the coin collector's bitter ex-wife. The photo that Parker has of the disguised thief will falsely frame the ex-wife and Parker is willing to go to jail in order to protect the innocent and break out of jail as Spider-Man to bring the thieves to justice. This episode has been released on VHS as "Photo Finish & A Matter of State" by Rhino Home Video. "Photo Finish" was previously released by itself (in its original one-hour format) on an LP-speed cassette from low-budget label Star Maker Home Video.
11	6	"Wolfpack"	Joseph Manduke	Stephen Kandel	February 21, 1979 (1979-02-21)
When a greedy Sorgenson Chemical representative learns that University students have developed a mind control gas, he uses the gas to take control of the students and even some soldiers to commit crimes. This episode has been released on VHS on Rhino Home Video as "Wolfpack & The Kirkwood Haunting".
12	7	"The Chinese Web: Part 1"	Don McDougall	Lionel E. Siegel	July 6, 1979 (1979-07-06)
An old college friend of Mr. Jameson fleeing China (where he is the Minister of Industrial Development) to live with his Chinese American niece because the Chinese government has falsely charged him with being a spy during World War II. While Peter Parker tries to prove the man's innocence he must contend with a henchmen of a British-Hong Kong businessman who will do anything to get a new Minister of Industrial Development who will ensure that his firm gets a lucrative business contract with Hong Kong. Guest starring Rosalind Chao, Hagan Beggs, Richard Erdman, John Milford, Benson Fong, George Cheung, and Ted Danson. While the rest of the series was filmed in New York and Los Angeles, the series finale includes many scenes which were filmed in Hong Kong. "The Chinese Web" part 1 and 2 was also released theatrically in many different territories from 1979 to 1981 under the title Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge. It was also released overseas on video (and on laserdisc in Japan) in its full version. This episode was released on its own on videotape by CBS/Fox Video in the early 1980s (and re-released later on Fox's own Playhouse Video label) and by Rhino Home Video in the late 1990s.
13	8	"The Chinese Web: Part 2"	Don McDougall	Lionel E. Siegel	July 6, 1979 (1979-07-06)
Peter goes to Hong Kong with Dent and Emily so that Dent can prove Emily's uncle's innocence, but the industrialist tries to stop them.

Revival attempt

In a 2002 interview with SFX magazine, Nicholas Hammond revealed that there were plans to do an Amazing Spider-Man series reunion film in 1984. The proposal would have had the original cast team-up with the cast of The Incredible Hulk television series (a major hit for CBS), with Hammond appearing in the black Spider-Man costume. According to Hammond, a deal was arranged to have Columbia and Universal Studios co-produce the project. Bill Bixby was going to direct the TV-movie, in addition to reprising the role of David Banner. Universal eventually cancelled the project. Hammond said he was told that Lou Ferrigno was unavailable to reprise his role as the Hulk, because he was in Italy filming Hercules. However, in his 2003 autobiography My Incredible Life as the Hulk, Ferrigno stated that he was never contacted about the project, adding that he had recently finished filming Hercules II and that his availability was not an issue.

References

Fickett, Travis; Goldman, Eric; Iverson, Dan; Zoromski, Brian (May 3, 2007). "Spider-Man on TV". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on April 22, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
^ Mangels, Andy (October 2010). "Spinning the Story of the Amazing Spider-Man". Back Issue! (44). TwoMorrows Publishing: 44–48.
Pizzazz, October 1978
^ McAloon, Jonathan (June 24, 2015). "Spider-Man on screen: a timeline". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
"ABC Reclaims Lead in Ratings". Merced Sun-Star. Merced, California. AP. April 12, 1978.
"TV's worst season slowly nearing an end". Boca Raton News. Boca Raton, Florida. UPI. May 15, 1978.
"There's a web of truth woven into action of 'Spider-Man series'". St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, FL. April 5, 1978.
Richard Meyers (October 1978). "Return of the video Superheroes". Starlog Page 50-51.
"Rivals Attending to 'Roots' Return". The Time-News. Hendersonville, NC. Washington Star Syndicate. September 5, 1978.
Marvel Animation Age: "The Incredible Hulk In Animation - A Retrospective" (Part One)
McMillan, Graeme (May 3, 2016). "'Spider-Man' Movies Revisited: The Forgotten and Amazing Big-Screen Adventures". The Hollywood Reporter. Eldridge Industries. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
^ "Spider-Man Episode Guide". Back Issue! (44). TwoMorrows Publishing: 49–50. October 2010.
"The Spider-Man That Never Was". July 31, 2008.
"The SPIDER-MAN / HULK TV Movie That Almost Was! – Blumhouse.com". www.blumhouse.com. Archived from the original on July 31, 2016.

External links

The Amazing Spider-Man at IMDb
2002 Nicholas Hammond interview on Spider-Man (2002)

Spider-Man in other media

Television

Spider-Man (1967–1970)
Spidey Super Stories (1974–1977)
The Amazing Spider-Man (1977–1979)
Spider-Man (1978–1979)
Spider-Man (1981–1982)
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981–1983)
Spider-Man (1994–1998)
Spider-Man Unlimited (1999–2001)
Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (2003)
The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008–2009)
Ultimate Spider-Man (2012–2017)
Spider-Man (2017–2020)
Spidey and His Amazing Friends (2021–present)
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2025; upcoming)

Film

Spider-Man (1977)
Spider-Man (1978)
Spider-Man Strikes Back (1978)
The Dragon's Challenge (1981)
Spider-Man (2002)
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
Homecoming (2017)
Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Spider-Ham: Caught in a Ham (2019)
Far From Home (2019)
No Way Home (2021)
Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story (2023)
Beyond the Spider-Verse (TBA)

Live performances

Video games

Marvel's Spider-Man	Spider-Man (2018) The City That Never Sleeps Miles Morales (2020) Spider-Man 2 (2023)

Literature

Novels	Book series Down These Mean Streets The Darkest Hours
Comic strips	The Amazing Spider-Man (1977–2019) The Amazing Spider-Man: The Ultimate Newspaper Comics Collection (2015–present) Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man (2008)

Music

Theme park attractions

Category

v t e Spider-Man in television
Live-action series	Spidey Super Stories (1974–77) The Amazing Spider-Man (1977–79) Spider-Man (1978–79) Takuya Yamashiro Spider-Noir (TBA)
Animated series	Spider-Man (1967–70) episodes theme song Spider-Man (1981–82) Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981–83) characters Firestar Spider-Man (1994–98) episodes characters Abraham Whistler Spider-Man Unlimited (1999–2001) Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (2003) The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008–09) episodes characters Ultimate Spider-Man (2012–17) episodes Spider-Man (2017–20) episodes Spidey and His Amazing Friends (2021–present) episodes Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (2025–present)
TV films	Spider-Man (1977) Spider-Man Strikes Back (1978) Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge (1981) Daredevil vs. Spider-Man (2003)
Category

Live-action TV series based on Marvel Comics publications

TV series

Ended	Spidey Super Stories (1974–77) The Amazing Spider-Man (1977–79) Spider-Man (1978–79) The Incredible Hulk (1978–82) Battle Fever J (1979–1980) Denshi Sentai Denjiman (1980–1981) Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan (1981–1982) Blade: The Series (2006) Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013–20) Agent Carter (2015–16) Daredevil (2015–18) Jessica Jones (2015–19) Luke Cage (2016–18) Legion (2017–19) Iron Fist (2017–18) The Defenders (2017) Inhumans (2017) The Gifted (2017–19) The Punisher (2017–19) Runaways (2017–19) Cloak & Dagger (2018–19) Helstrom (2020) WandaVision (2021) The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) Loki (2021–23) Hawkeye (2021) Moon Knight (2022) Ms. Marvel (2022) She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022) Secret Invasion (2023) Echo (2024) Agatha All Along (2024)
Upcoming	Daredevil: Born Again (2025) Ironheart (2025) Wonder Man (2025) Spider-Noir (TBA)
Unaired pilots	Most Wanted New Warriors

TV films and
specials