“Lucy Meets Superman”
A Very Timely Pop Culture Special
Special Thanks to Rob Waldman
At first I hesitated to duck down into the local AMC movie theater for what, by my count, is the third reboot of Superman in the millennial era. Surprisingly, James Gunn’s brand new Superman (2025) turned out to be an instant classic - easily one of the best superhero movies ever made. It’s also the most enjoyable of the 10 or so theatrical feature films - not to mention one great Broadway musical - built around Superman.
This is my favorite Superman movie ever - however, I confess it’s not my single favorite incarnation of the character and not my personal best moment with Superman. That honor goes to the great George Reeves, who played the Superman that most of us grew up with. The original run of that series, The Adventures of Superman (1952 -1958), was over before most of us were born, but, like I Love Lucy, it was a perennial in terms of decades-long syndication. Where Mr. Gunn’s movie is a science fiction epic, Adventures of Superman was more like a low-budget police show and a newspaper story.
Reeves’s finest hour - or half-hour - as Superman came not in the Adventures show, but rather in one of the most surprising crossover moments in all of popular culture. On January 14, 1957, Reeves made his only non-series cameo appearance as the Man of Steel on the sixth season, 13th episode.
Last year, Ed Gross wrote an excellent story for Woman’s World on the background of that episode. We’re not quite sure who had the idea - it was almost definitely Desilu’s all star writing team, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr., Keith Thibodeaux, who played “Little Ricky,” described “Lucy Meets Superman” as his all-time favorite episode of the series: “I was an actor, and I knew he was an actor - but when I looked at him, I saw Superman!”
What I love most about this episode is that everyone perceives Superman as Superman - it’s not George Reeves making an actor cameo, like Orson Welles as Orson Welles earlier in the sixth season, not to mention Bob Hope, Tallulah Bankhead, William Holden, Harpo Marx, and all the other stars playing themselves.
In Lucy’s world, Superman is real - just as one of the Christmas episodes essentially establishes that Santa Claus is real - and in fact, although this world has a real life superhero, the script sometimes makes it look like he spends more time appearing at kids’ birthday parties than fighting super villains. Ricky may introduce him as “your favorite television star,” but this Superman is the real Superman.
We almost see him fly - he bursts in into the Ricardos’ living room in a flight-like action that Reeves gamely performed; the trick was to come up with a stunt that Reeves could perform safely and convincingly in front of the live studio audience.
Reeves’s comic timing is terrific; he’s one of the best comedy foils Lucille Ball ever had on the show, and he’s completely convincing when he pushes a piano aside - as if it were a tinkertoy - and then leaps out of a window to rescue Lucy, clad in what looks like a Times Square panhandler’s Superman suit complete with football helmet.
Everyone who knew Reeves - the darker side of his life was portrayed in the very grim 2006 Hollywoodland, which starred Ben Affleck as Reeves - has said that this was the highlight of his career, his favorite moment of playing the character. The joy on his face is palpable; for once, he’s even happier being Superman than Little Ricky and his little friends are in seeing Superman.
Lucy Meets Superman confirms Jerry Seinfeld’s theory that the Man of Steel - along with his well-known superior vision and super hearing - surely must also have a super sense of humor.
“And they call ME Superman!”
Next week: A brief but hopefully fun look at the very wonderful 1966 Broadway musical, It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman!
(Very special thanks to Elizabeth Zimmer & Dan Fortune for their expert proofing, hey!)
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Bastille Day - Cole Porter in Paris
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July 4 Special: Every State in the 48 is Great
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(SSS #154 2025-06-28)
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LOUIS ARMSTRONG: International Satch (“A Wonderful World”)
(SSS #153 2025-06-21 - 2025 LOUIS ARMSTRONG BIRTHDAY SPECIAL)
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This is one of my favorite Lucy episodes.