Spider-Man TV Series
The Amazing Spider-Man is the first live-action television series about the Marvel Comics hero of the same name, although it is not the first live-action portrayal of the character, since Spider-Man was featured in a series of comedic short skits called Spidey Super Stories beginning in the 1974 season of PBS' The Electric Company children's educational program. The Amazing Spider-Man was shown in the United States from September 19, 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. None of the episodes were released on DVD, but almost all of them have been released on VHS. Despite its storylines being set in New York City (the character's hometown), the series was mostly filmed in Los Angeles.
Regular cast
- Nicholas Hammond as Peter Parker / Spider-Man
- David White as J. Jonah Jameson (pilot)
- Robert F. Simon as J. Jonah Jameson (series)
- Chip Fields as Rita Conway
- Michael Pataki as Capt. Barbera (pilot and first season only)
- Ellen Bry as Julie Masters (second season only)
Episodes
For their release in VHS format, several of the series's episodes were spliced together in pairs. For example, "Photo Finish Part 1 and Part 2" and "A Matter of State Part 1 and Part 2" were combined on one VHS tape and presented as a single movie-length episode. 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 pair of episodes were released as movies internationally by Columbia Pictures as Spider-Man, Spider-Man Strikes Back, and Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge.
Season 1 consisted of 6 episodes and Season 2 consisted of 7 episodes.
Spider-Man Strikes Back (1978)
At the New York State University, one of Peter Parker's tutors has accidentally given three students all the materials they need to create an atomic bomb. The students use the plutonium to try to build a bomb in order to illustrate the dangers of nuclear power. While Peter Parker tries to find out what's happened, the police suspect him of the crime, and Peter has to deal with an attractive journalist named Gale Hoffman, who is determined to get an interview with Spider-Man after his well-publicized rescue of a suicide jumper.
In order to make their point, the students steal some plutonium from the lab. Spider-Man appears on the scene in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the theft. But Spider-Man is seen by security guards and, naturally, is blamed for the theft. Meanwhile, in Switzerland, villain Mr. White reads a newspaper report of the theft and deduces that it was the students rather than Spider-Man who stole the radioactive material. He plans to relieve the students of their ill-gotten gains. He departs immediately for the United States with his monstrous henchman, Angel.
White has his henchmen steal the plutonium so that he can obtain his own version of the weapon. Spider-Man is forced defeat this scheming villain in order to stop him blowing up the World Trade Center. White kidnaps Peter, in an effort to locate the plutonium. When one of the students involved in the theft is admitted to hospital with radiation poisoning, Peter changes to Spider-Man to track down the plutonium. But White and Angel get there first. In the ensuing fight, Spider-Man has hurled off a twelve story building and plunges, seemingly to his death. He saves himself from his death dive by forming a net with his webbing. But in the confusion, White and Angel escape with the plutonium.
J. Jonah Jameson, the owner of The Daily Bugle, discovers that White has fled to Los Angeles and arranges for Peter Parker and Gale Hoffman to travel to the west coast in search of White. Mr. White demands $1,000,000,000 in return for not setting off the plutonium bomb in a heavily populated area. The authorities assume, wrongly, that he means New York. In fact, White plans to set off the bomb in Los Angeles at the time the President is giving a speech there.
Spider-Man finally tracks White to his lair and learns of White's plans. He locates the bomb and defuses it at the last second. But White escaped, and vowed that he and Spider-Man will meet again.
Spider-Man The Dragon's Challenge (1981)
Min Lo Chan, the Chinese Minister of Industrial Development, who happens to be an old college friend of J. Jonah Jameson, flees China and comes to the United States to locate three men who during the war approached him and offered him money for secrets about Mao Zedong, which he refused at the time. He stays with his daughter, Emily Chan who lives in New York City. But now it appears the incident is being investigated and he needs to find one of them quickly in order to verify his innocence.
He asks Mr. Jameson to help him find them, but he wants it done quietly because it seems that there are elements who want him convicted, so Jameson asks Peter Parker to talk to three ex-Marines on his behalf, but also to find them discreetly. However, it seems one of those elements is an industrialist, Zeider, who is among the ones being considered to build a power plant for the Chinese Government that is worth one billion dollars, and the industrialist knows that the official is considering another company but if he's convicted he knows that his successor will award the contract to him. So he sends Clyde Evans to make sure he doesn't find his witnesses or make sure he doesn't return to China alive.
As Spider-Man, Peter saves Min's life several times. Then Peter gets a line of the last of the Marines needed to clear Min's name, Professor Dent, who agrees to help. Along with Min, Peter and his own niece Emily, he flies to Hong Kong to testify. However, Zeider has Dent kidnapped to ensure his silence. With Emily's help, Spider-Man traces the kidnappers to Zeider. He captures Zeider, ensuring the safety of Dent's life. He then proceeds to prove Min's innocence.
