Superman 50th Anniversary (1988)

The crowd scenes were filmed at Columbus Circle in NYC on Feb. 1st, 1988, next door to where I worked at the time. I saw the "Welcome Superman" on the marquee, and being a fan, I asked what was going on. Not being a member of SAG or AFTRA, I could be in the crowd without being paid. So for the next five hours, I stood in the cold, watching them film little bits and pieces with the actors, and getting a couple of minutes of face time on camera myself. (You can get a good look at me in the Brain Guy sequence - I'm the guy with the dark blonde curly hair in the tan trench coat.) Towards the end, I got to do what I've wanted to do since I was a little kid: Stand in a crowd on a city street, point up to the sky and shout "It's Superman!" (after the paid actors got to say "Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane!")

I thought it wasn't the best kind of tribute of Superman; more actual comic book people should have been interviewed, creators and fans and the like. But given what network television normally does to things, it wasn't bad. My rating reflects the fact that it was my longest appearance on TV and that I have such an affinity for Superman.