Adventures of Superman (1952–1958)

This was a very weird series in execution. One part of its life was serious, generally well executed action. The other part was uproarously funny, probably unintentionally so.

Running a span of both black and white and color, the shade factor of the episode determines what you'll get. Black and white generally guarantees serious action scripts, usually well executed for the time. Good episodes include "The Unknown People," (The Mole People movie.) "The Runaway Robot," and "Panic In The Sky." (Superman looses his memory trying to divert an asteroid heading for Earth.) Color usually means in you're in for something outrageously improbable, almost along the lines of the Adam West "Batman" series nearly 10 years later. Episodes so bad they're good include "Flight To The North," (Chuck Connors thinks he's Superman, and a crook wants a lemon meringue pie.) "Great Ceaser's Ghost," (A crook dresses up as Ceaser's ghost to drive Perry White insane.) and some silly episode with a mind reading burro. (Bank robbers steal a peasant boy's burro because it can read minds. They want it to read a vault combination from a guard, and clop it out for them...)

A decidedly unusual series whose only faults would be the special effects of the time, the on the surface unsettling mix of action and stupidity, and there were no licensed character or recurring villains. But, all in all, in the end, a series definitely worth watching.