Television Series
(1988-1992)
* Thanks to DMWC for some of the pics on this page

Executive Producer: Ilya Salkind
Character created by: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
Music: Kevin Kiner

CAST

SEASON 1 | SEASON 2 | SEASON 3 | SEASON 4
#79-80 - A Change Of Heart, part 1 & 2 - (10/6/91-10/13/91)
Writer: Paul Stubenrauch
Director: David Nutter
Lana has been waiting for Superboy for a long time and now, tired of loving a superhero, begins to date Adam Verrel(Michael DesBarres), one of Capitol City's richest bachelors. But he's also the most evil. While Adam is busy dating Lana, he is also planting suggestions of malcontent in people's minds. Throughout the city, there are huge television monitors which Adam has set up at his own expense, to broadcast messages encouraging people to care for their city. Unfortunately, although what is heard are such motivating sayings as, "A clean city is a happy city," the subliminal message plays quite a different tune. People begin to act more and more strangely, while becoming more violent as well. Superboy is warned of Verrel's intent by Tommy Puck(Bill Mumy [Lost In Space]), once an evil criminal who had developed the technology Verrel is using, but had a change of heart since contracting a fatal disease after volunteering for a medical experiment in jail. When he learns of Verrel's duplicity, Superboy rushes to protect Lana, only to have Adam frame the Boy Of Steel for Lana's death. But can she really be dead?

Superboy agrees to go to jail and await trial while Adam uses Lana, whose death he simulated, to lure Tommy Puck into helping him destroy the people of Capitol City. Tommy, afraid for Lana, agrees while the city gets crazier and crazier. Finally, Superboy decides he must break out of jail to save his city and, as he does so, learns there is a cure for Tommy's disease. Superboy realizes the monitors are to blame for the growing insanity, and begins to smash them. Using the monitors, Verrel shows Superboy that Lana is alive and in his power and Superboy must try to save her. With the help of Tommy Puck, who kills Verrel, Lana is freed. But when Puck hears there is a cure for his illness, he appears to have another change of heart and runs off - perchance to experiment again?

#81 - The Kryptonite Kid - (10/20/91)
Writers: Michael Carlin and Andrew Helfer
Director: Thierry Notz
While trying to find a cure for Superboy's weakness to Kryptonite, a young genius, Mike Walker(Jay Underwood), gets blasted with the green stuff, which begins to take over his body. Mike, scared, dying, and angry, breaks out of the military institute where he so recently worked and begins a rampage across the city as the "Kryptonite Kid," a green man who can blast energy from his fingertips. Superboy, unable to approach the Kryptonite Kid, enlists some help from a look-alike, Vic Ferraro, who had been jailed for impersonating Superboy. Vic approaches the Kryptonite Kid, trying to convince him to return to the lab where a cure for his condition has been found. When the Kid realizes that Vic is an imposter, the real Superboy has to step in, despite his weakness to Kryptonite. While all the military stand and watch, only Vic, who has just lately learned about heroism, steps back in to help save the day.

#82 - The Basement - (10/27/91)
Writer: Toby Martin
Director: Hugh Martin
When Lana takes a field call to investigate a basement for ghosts, she finds none - only and alien that takes over the identities of others. The alien takes on Lana's form and is about to take her entire identity when it is interrupted. Lana uses the distraction to damage the identity stealing device. The creature, however, is able to get enough of Lana's memories and behavior before the device breaks to pass for her at the Bureau. The alien realizes that she needs Lana in order to lure Superboy to her. But she makes the mistake of telling Clark she'll be back. When she does not return on time, Clark, concerned because Lana is always punctual, goes to the basement as Superboy. There, he is confronted with the two identical Lanas. He chooses the wrong one until the alien, not knowing that Lana lied to her, tells Superboy to kill the real Lana - just as he always kills his enemies. Now knowing which is the alien - Lana knows he always tries not to kill - a struggle ensues. The creature attaches her shape-changing device to Superboy but he is able to dislodge it, and the alien is transformed to the substance her device is now attached to - thin air!

#83 - Darla Goes Ballistic - (11/3/91)
Writer: Sherman Howard
Director: John Huneck
While Lex Luthor is feverishly working on a potion to make himself an even greater genius, Darla is getting more and more annoyed. Lex barely spends time with her as it is, and now it's her birthday! He won't pay attention and, finally, she destroys his experiment to get him to react. He does - and tells her to go ahead and kill herself it that's what she wants. Instead, she unknowingly drinks his experiment and becomes a human supercomputer, with psycokinetic powers as well. Darla sets her sights on Superboy, and kidnaps Clark and Lana to lure the Boy Of Steel. Clark convinces Lex to let him go - so that he can get to Superboy, who will help Lex create an antidote. Armed with the antidote and a bottle of champagne, Lex tries to get the cure into Darla. She guesses his intent, and is willing, but can't let down the force shield she has subconsciously built around herself. But there is and even simpler antidote - all Lex has to do is give her what she wanted in the first place - a little love and understanding.

#84 - Paranoia - (11/10/91)
Writer: Paul Stubenrauch
Director: David Nutter
Just as reports of a UFO come in, Jackson's superiors show up at the office, claiming that one of the field operatives knows something of interest to national security. The begin grueling interviews with all the staff, making them all paranoid. Though the little group is normally quite loyal to each other, they now begin to look at one another with suspicion. Particularly vocal are Lou(Jack Larson [The Adventures Of SUPERMAN]) and Alexis(Noel Neill [The SUPERMAN Serials, The Adventures Of SUPERMAN]). That night, when one of the superiors, Flynn(Jordan Williams), is seen by Lou and Clark, dead and bleeding, yet minutes later Lana sees him alive, the group gets to thinking. They realize that the two superiors, and the two policemen who came to investigate the murder are aliens, trying to cover up evidence at the Bureau. Clark is able to slip out as the aliens decide to leave and captures them all in the elevator. More aliens show up and explain that the captured four are convicts and that their race generates emotions, in this case paranoia, the way humans generate heat.

#85-86 - Know Thine Enemy, part 1 & 2 - (11/7/91-11/24/91)
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Director: Bryan Spicer
Lana wakes to the voice of Lex Luthor on her radio, telling all of Capitol City that they only have six hours to live. To Darla's chagrin, however, this is not yet another ploy for ransom money. Lex is determined to the blow the two of them up with the rest of the world. Luthor lures Superboy to his old lab, where he and Lana find a contraption which, when he puts on the attached headset, plunges Superboy into Lex's memories as Lex himself. There, he learns that Lex was the victim of a physically and mentally abusive father and that the only light in his life was his younger sister, Lena(Jennifer Hawkins). Lana, seeing Superboy suffering, tries to discover how to break the trance and, finding none, enters Luthor's memories herself. As Darla pleads with Lex, we discover that Lena had recently died and that Lex has created Lex and Lena androids that will live together forever, as he once had promised her- alone in the world. Lana is able to break Superboy out of Luthor's memory loop before he becomes embedded in it forever. They look for information on Lena, only to find the article on her death. After further investigation, however, it seems that she may have faked it. Lana continues her search as Superboy follows a signal he believes is coming from Lex. Instead, he finds Darla, who has shot Lex in the arm and is seeking Superboy's help. She leads Superboy to Lex's new lab where Lex insists there's no way to stop the bomb. When Lana shows up with Lena(Denise Gossett) - who explains to Lex how much she's hated him - he is determined to go ahead with the destruction. But the Lex android, whom Luthor programmed so well with his love for Lena, stops the countdown as Lex, forever hurting, insists he never loved his sister.

#87 - Hell Breaks Loose - (12/1/91)
Writer: James Ponti
Director: Bob Wiemer
As construction is being done at the Bureau, workers begin to notice strange things. Tools are found twisted and mangled, they hear unexplained noises and voices, and see phantom lights. Clark and Lana, working late one night, hear something strange as well. Investigating, a strange wind from inside the room nearly blows Lana out the window. The next day, the workers find a second wall behind the one they were breaking down and, between the two, a clarinet. (In the 30's, the building housed a grand ballroom call the Trocadel.) Lana decides to call in paranormal specialists, and that night they discover a gun where the clarinet had been. Later, it shoots itself into the wall which Superboy then crashes down, revealing a human skeleton. It is the remains of a clarinet player, Johnny Carino(Gerard Christopher), who once worked with the mob that owned the Trocadel. In love with Lisa(Phyllis Alexion), Johnny decided to go straight. His boss doesn't see eye to eye, and has Johnny shot and stuffed in the wall. But Johnny's spirit can't rest easy as he had promised Lisa that that very night they would go away together - she was to meet him back at the Trocadel. He had told her that he would wait for her - forever if he had to. Lana finds Lisa who, though elderly, is still alive and brings her to the Bureau where the spirit of Johnny has created a wind tunnel and is jeopardizing the lives of everyone there, even Superboy. The disturbance subsides when Lisa approaches and Johnny's voice tells her that he waited, and he will still be waiting when she's ready. His mission over, the Bureau rests at peace once more.

#88 - Into The Mystery - (12/8/91)
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Director: John Huneck
Superboy is haunted. Haunted by the vision of Azrael(Peggy O'Neal), a mysterious woman who seems to bring disaster wherever she appears, yet he is the only one who sees her. And he haunted by the memory of his Aunt Cassandra(Frances Peach), a favorite relative whom the rest of the family never understood. As Clark tries to track his aunt, he becomes convinced that there is some relation between Cassandra and Azrael. He finds Cassandra in a small town, stricken with cancer, and wishing that death would take her soon. Yet she prayed to see her nephew, Clark, once more. Death, in the form of Azrael, heeded her prayer, and led Clark to his aunt. While once we were able to see only the destruction death could bring, we now see the solace it is capable of as Azrael welcomes Cassandra into her open arms and she is engulfed in light.

#89 - To Be Human, part 1 - (1/19/92)
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Director: John Huneck
While listening to a newscaster describing the panic and confusion created by a super-terrorist called Chaos(Paul McCrane), we open on a touching scene, in a quaint but misshapen cottage, where Bizarro Lana(Leith Audrey) is lovingly serving an equally bizarre breakfast to Bizarro(Barry Meyers). The mood is not to last, however, as Bizarro Lana's body begins to smoke, and she bursts into flames. As Bizarro later grieves beside her grave, Superboy comes to comfort him, and decides to take him to a research doctor(Patricia Helwick) to see what can be done to make Bizarro more human. The doctor concludes that the only hope is to transfer Superboy's brain-waves to Bizarro. She knows Bizarro will gain intelligence, but lose his powers, rendering him almost human. The effect it will have on Superboy, however, is unknown. They go ahead with the procedure, and Bizarro does indeed gain intelligence. The doctor begins the process of teaching him as Superboy leaves, feeling only slightly dizzy. Bizarro makes great progress and, once his skin has been altered to look human (actually the face of the doctor's dead son), visits Clark who christens him Bill Zarro. But Clark/Superboy is not so fortunate and his dizziness and weakness gets worse. When Superboy attempts to stop Chaos' latest terrorism, he is struck down, and Chaos throws Superboy's limp body into his car and speeds away.

#90 - To Be Human, part 2 - (1/29/92)
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Director: John Huneck
Superboy awakens to find himself still in a weakened state and trapped in Chaos' hideout, and old abandoned hotel. Chaos, seeing Superboy conscious, begins to kick and beat him in front of the cameras set to televise the event to the world, as Chaos preaches the futility of hope. Bill/Bizarro sees what is happening to Superboy and becomes confused. Bill knows the only thing that can save Superboy is for him to reverse the process and become a freak again. Though at first he refuses to do this, he realizes Superboy would never let him suffer, and Bill asks the doctor to change him back into Bizarro. While Bill is transforming back into Bizarro, Lana finds Superboy's trail and goes to the hotel alone. She struggles with Chaos for his gun and is thrown off the roof of the building. But before she can be hurt, Bizarro catches Lana and carries her to the roof where he confronts Chaos, who tries to convince Bizarro that the two of them are brother-freaks. Bizarro sees the truth in this, but is still attached to his brother Superboy, and therefore must fight Chaos. Afterwards, although Bizarro cannot be changed back into Bill, the research doctor begins the slow but rewarding process of teaching Bizarro as he is.

#91 - West Of Alpha Centauri - (2/2/92)
Writers: Mark Jones, Paul Stubenrauch and Stan Berkowitz
Director: Jeff Kibbee
A small titanium colored cube, which a young boy saw drop out of the sky, is brought to the Bureau For Extranormal Matters. When it begins ticking, and the police bomb squad can't penetrate the cube's surface, Superboy is called in. As Superboy breaks the cube's surface and disarms the bomb, an alarm goes off inside and a man appears in a bolt of lightening. He grabs Superboy and, much to the Boy Of Steel's surprise, the other man is stronger. When Lana interferes, she is transported along with the other two into a space ship. She and Superboy are then put into the ship's prison where they find many others whose grandparents were put there for mutiny. The present captain brought Superboy there because one of the prison factions believes a savior will come symbolized by what looks much like Superboy's S-shield. The captain hoped that once they saw that Superboy couldn't get out of the prison, they'd stop plotting. Superboy tries to convince the prisoners to band together - there are several factions fighting amongst themselves - but they seem unable to do so. Finally, Superboy challenges the captain's right hand man - the same one who caught him before - and, as they fight, manages to convince him that the captain is lost. When it's obvious that Superboy's opponent believes him, the guard won't let him out either. Finally all the prisoners band together, free themselves, and leave the captain alone in the prison, still shouting out orders.

#92-93 - Threesome, part 1 & 2 - (2/9/92-2/16/92)
Writer: Stan Berkowitz
Director: David Nutter
Dr. Odessa Vexman(Justina Vail), a psychiatrist, harbors deep resentment against Superboy. She once helped him, with the hope of capturing his attention, but when he was oblivious to her, she felt rejected. Now, a prison psychiatrist where both Metallo and Lex Luthor are kept, she manages to set them free, hoping to convince them to work together to destroy Superboy. Meanwhile, while Lana feels homesick and goes home to Smallville, Clark stays in Capitol City to keep tabs on the now at large Metallo and Luthor. When Superboy sees that Odessa worked at the prison and is now missing, he suspects her, but it isn't until Clark is looking at her files at the Bureau and Matt tips him off about Odessa's feelings for Superboy - something he was previously unaware of - that he's really suspicious. When Superboy follows the path of destruction which Odessa has left to lead him on, he is met by Metallo and Luthor who has rigged a device to affect Superboy's hearing and, therefore, sense of balance. As Superboy stumbles, overcome by Luthor's creation, the three villains (including Odessa) move slowly toward him. Superboy just manages to escape the three villains as they approach him for the final kill but, unable to counteract the effects of the sound machine Luthor has built, he goes to Smallville to find a way around it. When he arrives, he finds Lana upset with the way Smallville, hit by a worsening economy, is being turned into a pit of gambling, with X-rated theaters on the way. When Superboy steps into the picture, the owner of the casino calls on Luthor, Metallo, and Odessa for help. The three arrive as Superboy discovers that he can counteract one sound machine with another and they'll cancel each other out. Armed with his machine, and a lead sheet to take care of Metallo's Kryptonite, Superboy heads for a showdown. He takes care of Metallo first, then uses his sound machine against Luthor's, which he then destroys. But as the villains scatter, he forgets about his own which Odessa later retrieves. Lana has a few plans of her own though, and ducks into a thrift shop where she manages to get an outfit just like Odessa's. When Metallo sees her with Superboy, he thinks the doctor is double-crossing him, and Metallo tries to strangle Odessa. Luthor stops him by removing the Kryptonite from Metallo's chest and approaches Superboy, who is already fading fast from the sound. Ignoring Odessa's warnings to be careful, Luthor is gloating at the kill when Superboy uses his heat vision to make a sign drop onto Lex and knock him out. As Odessa tries to grab the dropped Kryptonite, Lana goes for her and, just as Superboy crushes the sound generator, Lana uses the Kryptonite to knock Odessa out and she and Superboy walk away leaving the threesome together, unconscious, in their wake.

#94 - Out Of Luck - (2/23/92)
Writer: Sandy Fries
Director: Bob Wiemer
A two-bit thief, Charlie Carmichael(Pat Cupo), pulls a job on an old coin shop and makes off with a cursed coin that gives him good luck while giving bad luck to all who come near him. As Clark and Lana see Charlie driving recklessly, Clark becomes Superboy and tries to stop him but before he can get to Charlie, a telephone pole is struck by lightening and begins to fall towards Lana. In the interference, Charlie gets away while, after catching the pole, Superboy himself is struck by lightening. The proximity to Charlie and his coin starts a string of bad luck for Lana and Superboy, who can't seem to get his rescue missions right. Superboy himself comes to believe in the curse and, when he arrives in the nick of time to save Lana who's been kidnapped by Carmichael, is unable to act. Lana tells him she's learned the incantation to counteract the curse and Superboy, using it, gets his confidence back and is able to defeat Charlie. When Lana later tells him the incantation was just some Latin she remembered from high school, it seems the curse isn't real until we see that Charlie was no longer in possession of the coin when Superboy overcame him. Charlie dropped the coin at the last job he did, and it has now been picked up by someone else - to start the chain again?

#95 - Who Is Superboy? - (3/1/92)
Writer: Stan Berkowitz
Director: Bob Wiemer
A new computer is brought to the Bureau that is capable of recreating incidents when given pictures of the location and the participants, and an eyewitness account. The salesman leaves it there until the next day so they can try it out, giving Lana an idea - she'll come back that night and try to find out who Superboy is. Very apprehensively, Clark goes with her and as Lana goes through the Superboy incidents she remembers, we see a montage of clips from past episodes. In the final analysis, it seems Clark is the only one who is always there at an incident, but never there once Superboy shows up. Clark tries to point out all that things that could be wrong with the analysis - all the incidents were recreated from Lana's memory, Superboy could have more that one alter ego, etc. - when she decides to combine all the events and let the computer decide who Superboy is. The machine goes into action, and we see another montage of clips, when Lana suddenly deletes the program. If Superboy doesn't want anyone to know who he is, she decides to respect his wishes. As the two start off to get a pizza, they hear the squeal of brakes and a loud crash. Clark, of course, has to beg off on their meal and Lana, obviously still suspicious, kisses him and lets him go.

#96 - Cat And Mouse - (4/9/92)
Writer: Gerard Christopher
Director: Peter Kiwitt
Clark is greeted at the office with some good news and some bad news. The bad news is, because of government cutbacks, his job has been eliminated. The good news is he's being promoted so he can keep working at the Bureau. But the bad news is he's got to have a psychiatric evaluation first. Clark is understandably concerned - will he be able to go through the evaluation without giving away his identity or refusing to answer any questions? He decides to go ahead and is examined by Dr. Samantha Meyers(Erin Grey [Buck Rogers]) who finds him a bit frustrating, although interesting. With every question she asks, a montage of clips from past shows is triggered and he must answer with a qualification. Dr. Meyers begins to believe he must be hiding something, but has faith that the lie detector test will unearth it. Even on the lie detector test, although Clark gets some difficult questions, he again is able to qualify them. For instance when asked if he's ever willingly destroyed public or private property, he answers "Only in emergencies." The machine stays steady throughout all the questions except the last = "Have you ever used an alias?" The needle of the lie detector goes wild as Clark tries to figure out how to answer this without lying or giving himself away, until it finally smokes and catches fire. He has only one more test to go - she tells him her recommendation will be against his promotion. Determined, Clark tells her that he'll appeal her decision - he's an asset to the Bureau - when she smiles. That was the answer she was waiting for - proof that he is not too meek for the job.

#97 - Obituary For A Super-Hero - (4/26/92)
Writer: Stan Berkowitz
Director: John Huneck
As we watch a montage of clips from past episodes of "The Adventures Of SUPERBOY," we hear the voice of a news anchor talking about the Boy Of Steel - in the past tense. As the reporter continues his story, he explains what little is known at this point. The Coast Guard had received a distress call from a yacht near Capitol City. Just as they neared the yacht, they saw Superboy landing on the deck only to disappear seconds later during a enormous explosion. As the reporter continues his coverage of the event, including man on the street interviews, and a direct link with the Coast Guard who are searching for Superboy's body, Lex Luthor calls in. When the Coast Guard captain says his sonar's found something like a human body, but that the sonar bounces off it like it was made of steel, it seems the guessing is over and Superboy is really dead. Luthor pops the cork off his champagne a little early, however. He has now taken over one of the TV monitors, and begins to gloat to Lana, who is in the studio, about how he planted the Kryptonite Bomb aboard the yacht. But as he is gloating, the captain shows the news anchor what the sonar really found - an old brass figurehead. Superboy had seen the bomb in time and gone underwater, moving the figurehead under the yacht to fake his own death so that the murderer would step forward. As Luthor sputters over the raising of the figurehead, Superboy steps up behind him, surprising Luthor and the rest of the country except for one little boy(Jesse Leipter) who just knew Superboy couldn't be dead.

#98 - Metamorphosis - (5/3/92)
Writer: Paul Robert Coyle
Director: Bob Wiemer
The Bureau has a new mystery on their hands. It seems that old people are dying with the ID's of young people in their wallets - young people that are missing. As Clark and Matt investigate one of the latest deaths, an old woman seems to be constantly on their trail, a trail which finally leads to a health club owned and run by Adrian Temple(Rowdy Roddy Piper), a man who is much older than he looks. As Matt talks to Temple, Clark sees the old woman outside and rushed out to catch her. He is forced to turn into Superboy to stop her from being run down by a truck and when he does he finds the woman is none other than Lana! She explains that the transformation began not long after she was at Temple's health club and fell asleep during a rub down. Lana went to a doctor who, after finding traces of gold in Lana's blood, began to look into the history of alchemy. The doctor shows up at Temple's office just as Lana and Superboy go back to find it in shambles, and they take a vial of gold liquid which they find in Temple's refrigerator to analyze it. The results lead the doctor to believe that Temple uses the blood of young people, along with the gold liquid, to keep himself young. When he gives them his own blood in return the age passes on to his victims. Temple follows their trail to the doctor's office and bursts in on them, in search of his elixir. He's willing to strike a deal- he'll give them the antidote to save Lana for some of Superboy's blood. They agree but, instead of Superboy's blood, they transfuse Temple with the blood of an old man and when he returns to his proper age, Lana is given back her own.

#99-100 - Rites Of Passage, part 1 & 2 - (5/10/92-5/17/92)
Writers: Michael Carlin and Andrew Helfer
Director: David Grossman
As Clark celebrates his birthday, a series of events occur: the ship in which he arrived on Earth begins to hum and glow, the purple crystal which was taken from the spot where his ship landed begins to hum and glow, and Clark begins to lose control of his powers. Ma and Pa Kent call him when the ship begins its manifestations and Clark rushes home. At the same time, Jackson, who investigated Superboy's landing site twenty years earlier is called in to go back to Smallville. Afraid to go back into the field alone after all this time behind a desk, Jackson takes Matt along with him and Lana, knowing something strange is going on with Clark, insists on going as well. When Clark gets back to Smallville and enters the ship, he is greeted by a holographic image of a Krypton elder who instructs him to place the purple crystal in the receptacle or emergency measures will be taken. Of course, Clark does not have the purple crystal and he soon finds out just what those emergency measures are - his powers are taken away. The holographic image of the Krypton elder explains to Clark that his powers were taken away because he can not control them until he gets the purple crystal and completes the rites of passage. If this is not done within eight hours, his powers will be gone forever. Meanwhile, Jackson, Matt and Lana arrive in Smallville and visit the scene of Jackson's investigation twenty-odd years earlier. He remembers passing a pickup truck, and they start to question area residents, starting with the Kents who own the closest property. Jonathan and Martha Kent are not very helpful, but Jackson sees their old truck which they admit is twenty-five years old, while the Kents learn that Jackson is waiting for the purple crystal to be delivered to his hotel at any moment. Matt takes the car and heads off to the hotel to get the package, while Lana and Jackson walk off to continue their questioning. Clark takes the truck to try and head Matt off but, though he is successful, an old bully from his Smallville days works at the hotel and will not relinquish the package to anyone but Jackson. Clark goes home and, as Matt arrives to get the same song and dance from the hotel clerk, Clark returns in the Superboy suit and succeeds in scaring the bully off. He convinces Matt to let him have the package and returns to the ship just in time to place in the proper receptacle and undergo the rites of passage. His powers are returned and Clark is ready to return with the others the next day - until the next time of the passage.

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Men Of Steel
John Haymes Newton
Gerard Christopher