After production ceased on the Adventures of Superman television series,
Whitney Ellsworth, who had co-produced the original show, hoped to
continue his success with a new follow-up series. The problem
was deciding just what that new series would be.
The Adventures of Superboy attempted to extend the Superman
series with the same spin-off that had worked so well in the comic
books.
To that end, the show was closely patterned after the
comic
book.
Clark Kent was a high school student who lived with his parents
and was friends with a suspicious Lana Lang. Such later
comic book
staples as Police Chief Parker, the blinking lamp in the Kent's living
room (which alerted Clark Kent that Chief Parker was attempting to
contact Superboy via radio transmission), and Superboy's secret
laboratory, were all faithfully incorporated into (or possibly introduced by)
the series. One episode, The Box From Krypton, featured Superboy
discovering a box, from the destroyed planet Krypton, which contained
miscellaneous Kryptonian devices. One of the devices was a projector
that transported him to "Dimension X", an obvious
precursor to the Phantom Zone.
Whitney Ellsworth produced and co-wrote the half-hour
pilot episode,
which is a heart-warming tale of Superboy foiling some jewel
thieves who have targeted Smallville, and restoring a son's faith in
his father at the same time. It stars
John Rockwell in the dual
role of Superboy and Clark Kent, and the keen-eyed viewer will note
that Rockwell wears a uniform very similar to the one worn by George
Reeves in the earlier Superman series.
Ellsworth prepared 12 additional Superboy scripts which remain
unfilmed. Mort Weisinger served as the story editor for
all thirteen episodes.
Extensive behind-the-scenes production details and complete plot synopses
of all the episodes are available in
this book.