1977 The Amazing Spider-Man TV Series

The Amazing Spider-Man was a live-action television series that aired on the CBS network in the United States from September 14, 1977, to July 6, 1979. The series starred Nicholas Hammond as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Seasons/Episodes: The series comprised 13 episodes over two seasons, which included a two-hour pilot movie in the fall of 1977. Format: Episodes were typically one hour long, though the pilot and two sets of two-part episodes were released internationally as feature films (e.g., Spider-Man, Spider-Man Strikes Back, and Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge). Plot: In the pilot, university student Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider in a lab accident, gaining superhuman strength, the ability to climb walls, and a "spider-sense" (portrayed as clairvoyance in the show). He uses these powers to fight crime. The show was more of a grounded "cops-and-robbers" or detective series compared to the comics and did not feature any of Spider-Man's iconic supervillains. Main Cast: In addition to Nicholas Hammond, the series featured Robert F. Simon as J. Jonah Jameson (after a different actor in the pilot), and Michael Pataki as police Captain Barbera. Production: The series was produced by Charles Fries Productions and Columbia Pictures Television. Stan Lee was a script consultant on each episode, though he was reportedly dissatisfied with the show's direction, feeling it was "too juvenile" The series performed well in the ratings, with the pilot being the highest-performing CBS production for 1977. However, it was expensive to produce, and CBS executives wanted to avoid the network being solely known as "The Superhero Network," leading to the show's cancellation (along with Wonder Woman) despite its success.