15 Failed Comic Book TV Shows That Only Lasted One Episode
14. The Adventures Of Superboy (1961)
Another failed show by producer Whitney Ellsworth, The Adventures Of Superboy was meant to capitalize on the success of the hit-show, Adventures Of Superman, which went off the air a few years prior. Only a pilot episode (Rajah's Ransom) was produced, although twelve additional scripts were prepared, should the series be picked up.
One of the first things you're bound to notice watching this pilot episode is the fact that Super"boy", played by Johnny Rockwell, looks like he's about 39 years old. The episode opens at Smallville High School with Clark Kent and his sweetheart Lana Lang (Bunny Henning) in class giving an oral presentation. Soon enough, trouble arises when some would-be gangsters show up and pull off a diamond heist at a local movie theater (long story).
There are many things that simply make little to no sense with this show. For one, Superboy seems to be watching over Smallville exclusively. While that makes sense with a huge city like Metropolis, the idea that a caped-superhero would be fighting crime in one specific town in the middle of nowhere should raise a few eyebrows.
Also, there is a scene where one of the bad guys opens fire at a police car to distract Superboy from the diamond heist. Later, the cops say that he will only serve "six months tops" in jail. Was attempted cop shootings really a thing to be taken so lightly back then? It would take over thirty years until a Superboy show would finally make its way to air. The updated version, starring John Haymes Newton (and later Gerard Christopher) as the titular character, lasted for a hundred episodes from 19881992.