Cemented in history. Im ellee pai hong. And im kerry sayers. And im your host, bill kurtis. Its superheroes, through the decades. As kids we all aspire be one of these. Not bird or a plane but a superhero. With abilities far beyond those of mere humans and as we grow up our fascination with superheroes doesnt go away. In fact, by judging by the box office reciepts of the past several decades, it only grows bigger. Today, were taking the hour to look at some of our favorite superheroes through the decades, from the caped crusader to wonder woman to your friendly neighborhood spiderman. But we begin with one of the most instantly recognizable superheros and the grand daddy of them all superman. Cloaked in blue and red and branded with a bold letter s, an icon that helped shape all the superheroes to come. Up in the sky, look its a bird, its a plane, its superman superman. The preeminent superhero was born from the minds of two teenage boys living in cleveland, ohio; jerry siegel and joe shuster. They met at Glenville High School in the early 30s and began collaborating almost immediately. Jerry would write and joe would draw. Their first rendition of superman came in 1933 as a bald villain. But a year later, siegel revised the character to be a hero and for the next four years siegel and shuster searched for a publisher eventually catching the eye of National Allied Publications who on june 1, 1938, chose superman as the cover feature for their action comics number one. Siegel and shustersreation was an instant hit and in 1939, National Allied Publications decided to launch superman into its own self titled comic book which at the time had never been done before. Within a few years, superman was selling over a million copies a month becoming a certified phenomenon and an integral hallmark of American Culture as the embodiment of moral fortitude and sheer, infinite strength. Well, i think its actually interesting that this character was sort of a creation of the depression which is peoples feeling of powerlessness and the notion of two kids creating a person that has all the abilities in the world is sort of indicative of the era that he was created in which was in the middle of the depression. But superman would far outlive the era of his creation. Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive able to leap Tall Buildings in a single bound. Those are fantasies that have stretched across all generations but while the character amassed a media dynasty, the creators wouldnt be so lucky. This is a story of two men who dreamed up a super idea and then saw others race away with it faster than a speeding bullet. We felt, at one time, during these long years that it was our American Dream and our American Dream then became an american tragedy. Going back to supermans very first appearance in action comics number one, siegel and shuster sold the rights to their work to National Allied Publications. Its a decision that would haunt the two in the decades that followed. On several occasions, they fought to retain the rights but were largely unsuccessul until 1976 when they were finally granted a concession. The final agreement was signed today. Siegel and shuster, both 61, will each receive an annual twenty thousand dollar pension, full medical care and provisions for relatives. Their byline restored. That 20thousand was later increased to 30thousand. Pennies compared to the empire they created. From young imaginations to the strips of a comic book page, the screens of hollywood and beyond. The same immortality that shuster and siegel empowered their character with has come to fruition in a society forever fascinated by the super human. Thats a wonderful story lois. Thanks, clark but i owe it all to superman. When it comes to looking back on the fictional heroes that have made a mark through the decades, weve only just scratched the surface. Still to come, the surprising origin of the one of a kind comic heroine wonder woman. Then, we feature the caped crusader of the 60s, adam west were also looking back on when a webslinging crimefighting character first busted into the spotlight. Plus, well take you back to the 80s when hollywood first discovered the power of a cape. We sit down with televisions original incredible hulk lou ferrigno and we delve into the history of the man who slashed his way intoollywood as the iconic x men character wolverine. Its all still ahead as we continue our journey of superheros through the decades superheros through the decades superman ruled television in the 1950s. Batman in the 1960s but in the 70s, it was time for a female superhero to dominate the airwaves and she burst onto the scene wearing a tiara and wielding a lasso. Wonder woman had arrived. My main concern is that i wanted to project the image of wonder woman as a nonpredatory female, that was smart and had it all going on. Wasnt full of herself. Was a champion of women, was a friend of women, and that women loved as much as the guys for other reasons loved her. Wonder woman had been a powerhouse in comic books since the 1940s but she still hadnt made the transition from page to screen. In 1967, a tv pilot, influenced by the highcamp batman series played the heroine for laughs. It didnt sell. In 1974, another pilot was tried but featured a super heroine who was nothing like her comicbook counterpart. The pilot stars Cathy Lee Crosby who was a professional tennis player turned actor and then Ricardo Montalbon as sort of a james bond blofeldian villian. And was more of a super spy 1960s james bond kind of a feel than it was wonder woman. But in 75 we got another pilot. This is the lynda carter pilot. The pilot that people traditionally think about. Lynda carter was a former singer and miss world usa, who was trying to break into tv. There were very few Jobs Available for women. I went in for the reading, to read for wonder woman, and doug cramer who was the executive producer had seen film on me. And i walked in and he said, oh we dont want you to read. Because weve already seen you on film. We just want you to do the screen test. gasps really . Oh my god that was like the closest id ever got to anything really big. Carters wonder woman debuted on november 7, in an explosion of starbursts and spandex and was an instant hit. I think the secret formula that the producers were missing when trying to adapt wonder woman in those previous attempts, the 67 and 74 attempt was sex appeal. And that is what they ended up finding in the 1975 version. When you watch the 1974 feature pilot adaptation, shes fully dressed with long sleeves, pants. Shes 100 percent clothed. Shes a james bond character, you know, ready for action, ready to fight anywhere. When we move into the 75 adaptation, lynda carter was far less dressed than Cathy Lee Crosby was, she was filmed running in slow motion with very little to support her, and this clearly had a broad appeal. Not only could this show tell young female viewers that you are capable of being the action star, you can be the hero now but it also had a lot for the boys as well. And, in that way it did very clearly pave the way for charlies angels and all these femaleled series. Lynda carters wonder woman wasnt just about sex appeal and action. She was a stranger in a strange land. Well, the island that she comes from, paradise island, is a Matriarchal Society run by Cloris Leachman as it happens and on this island, they know nothing of mans ways, except that mans ways are wrong. And the way this translates throughout the series is we find wonder woman constantly coming into conflict with the male order of things, the patriarchal order. And so i played her for real, with a real humanity, and kind of i dont really get what the big deal is kind of feeling and initially with a lot of naivete because it was all new to her. She doesnt understand clothing. She doesnt understand money. She doesnt really want to have a part in it other than she realizes she should dress a little bit differently than she did on paradise island. Her major vulnerability was unrequited love and loneliness. There werent a lot of moments where i could play that. But there are a few, in a few places, where i was able to throw that in a little bit. And they didnt want me to do that to show any vulnerability. So i had to sneak it in. One of the most iconic elements of the show is of course wonder womans transformation. Right . Her transformation from diana prince into wonder woman, which she does by twirling. And the producers of the show managed to achieve this effect by doing a lockdown shot and filming her in her diana prince clothes spinning and then filming her in her wonder woman clothes spinning. The show continued through 1979, switching networks abc to cbs and time periods the 1940s to the 1970s midway through its run. After it ended, the world would wait a long time for another wonder woman until 2016. In fact in the new series of dc superhero movies. Todays superheros have jumped from the pages of the comic book to the screens in our living rooms and beyond and some actors will always been remembered for their roles as our favorite characters. When we return, we remember the man who brought us batman in the 60s, adam west plus, were turning back the lens of time for a look back on the life and career of the man behind the heroes stan lee. This is through the decades. The caped crusader, batman has been played by a number of actors going back to the fictional heros first appearance in movies and on radio in the 1940s. But to many, the quinessential batman is adam west who played the caped crusader in the popular 1960s tv show. Not long after batman debuted as a new dc comics character in 1939, the caped crusader was a choice role for actors in movies and on tv. In the 40s, lewis wilson played batman in a popular 15 part movie serial. Who are you . Im batman. Over 40 years later, Michael Keaton laid claim to the cape in two highbudget batman movies. Followed by actors val kilmer, george clooney, Christian Bale in Christopher Nolans dark knight trilogy and ben affleck. But to many, there is one batman who stands out among all others. Your probably wondering why i have this here. Its always handy in case theres a crime. Thats adam west. The man who played the caped crusader and his alter ego bruce wayne on the highly popular batman tv series of the 1960s. Ringside table, batman . Just looking, thanks. Ill just stand at the bar. I shouldnt wish to attract attention. It was west who helped set the tongueincheek tone for the pop culture phenomenon which premiered on abc in 1966 he was born as william West Anderson on september 19, 1928. And changed his name to adam west in the 50s after starting his acting career on a Childrens Television show in hawaii. As an upandcoming actor, he supported everyone from paul newman in the Young Philadelphians to the three stooges in the outlaws is coming. But it was a commercial which led the producers of the batman tv series at 20th century fox to west. Incidentally, one of those torpedos you fired at me was circling and. Youre sunk. I had done a series of commercials for nestles quik, kind of a spoof on james bond, before i went overseas to do spaghetti wesrns and a few other things and they were seen by people at abc and fox and when i came back for a visit, they asked to see me and i wondered why and they told me about batman. i asked to read the script, of course. And after about 18 pages of falling down laughing, i said yeah, this is something very fresh and i want to try this. West was paired with actor burt ward who played robin in the show and batman became a major hit on abc where two new shows ran every week on backtoback nights featuring batman and robin defending gotham city from a variety of colorful villains. Children loved the action where fight scenes were enhanced with comic book exclamations like pow bam and zonk adults fell in love with the campy humor from the parody narration to the cliff hanger endings to the witty performances from west and company. And the entire family appreciated the vibrant pop colors and the cool gadgets like the batmobile and the bat phone. West said that batmans element of fun was felt behind the scenes as well. What youve got to do is make it fun. I think thats part of the trick, you know and keep. Keep that kind of feeling on the set. That fun included west and ward encountering any number of scenerychewing guest stars from Frank Gorshin as the riddler to Burgess Meredith as the penguin. Everything right for tonights caper . Of course. To unlikely villains like liberace. The caped crusader and what a magnificent cape it is too. Legendary stage actress Tallulah Bankhead and a trio of catwomen julie newmar, Lee Meriwether and eartha kitt. The show became so popular that there was also a batman movie in theaters in 1966 starring west. But in 1968 after 120 episodes, the tv show was cancelled. It lives on in syndication airing throughout the world. Due to the batman reruns west became a pop culture icon by the 1990s. Adam, there it is, the batmobile and the keys still in. He often returned to the batman character for personal appearances often paired up with ward as robin. The two even starred together in a madefortv movie called return to the batcave in 2003. But west has found a new set of fans for his nonbatman related appearances on any number of t v comedies. From live action shows like george lopez and 30 rock. Hey kids, batman thats not the real batman. Of course, im batman. See, heres a picture of me with robin. Who the hells robin . To animated shows like the simpsons. And well prize pumpkin from the county fair, thats why im naming you my chief of police his most notable recurring role is on the irreverent adult animated comedy family guy where he plays the role of adam west, the clueless mayor of quahog rhode island but west realizes that much of his success is due to the batman character. People love batman and ive noticed from my mail and the response in the last few years, that people want to see the actor who created a part do the part. Still to come as we continue our look back on superheroes through the decades. Well go back in time to remember the comic book debut of a friendly neighborhood wall crawler. Plus, were sitting down with the iron pumping actor lou ferrigno to talk about his time as the incredible hulk. Stick around its still ahead right here on through the this wallcrawler first appeared in a marvel comic book in 1962 and has become the centerpiece of what has grown into a multi media empire. And despite being around for over five decades, hes still a young man. Peter parker is a part time photographer, part time student and full time amazing spiderman. By the early 1960s, there was already a gluttony of comic book superheroes but a lot of them lacked an important trait relatability. So when Marvel Comics head writer, stan lee, was coming up with ideas for a new character, creating someone teens could identify with took precedent and on august 10, 1962, that creation made its first appearance on the cover of amazing fantasty number 15. His name spiderman. I thought what will i call him . And it seemed to me that flyman wasnt good, insectman didnt sound good. Mosquitoman was awful and then it hit me spiderman and it was an epiphany. Laughs spiderman was an immediate hit and less than a year after being introduced, became a series all its own. Spidermans alterego, peter parker, struck a chord with comic books fans everywhere. Its easy for people to emphathize with spiderman. I mean he has the same worries as most people. How does he make a living . He worries about his health. Hes as apt to get an allergy attack or sinus attack, an in grown toenail as anybody else. Spiderman had the benefit of being intensely ordinary. A teen navigating the trials and tribulations of adolescence while at the same time, having a unique spark of superhuman power. Its a formula that would lead spiderman straight to the top of the marvel empire. People knew that spiderman would be a popular character and great at the movies but they didnt know how great. Spidermans web isnt just snaring bad guys. I want to go see it because it looks really cool. Or comic book junkies. He does a lot of things that i like to do. But a new army of arachnid afficionados. Its all about peter parker and its about a movie that could make a billion dollars, a first. Spidey and friends have given Marvel Enterprises a story book ending. Spidermans role in Popular Culture remains prominent. A symbol of the ordinary capable of doing something extraordinary. Something that never seems to lose its luster in a Society Obsessed by such an attribute. His popularity just seems to endure. I guess nobody really knows the actual reason why but uh it certainly is very gratifying to us. When our journey continues, well take a look back at how decade after decade, superheroes have proven to be bigger than the pages of the comics. From the man who brought a powerful green hero into living rooms across the country to the man who created that character and many more. Plus, we bring you an interview with the actor known for his role as the most popular of the xmen mutants. Hugh jackman discusses being wolverine. Its all still ahead. It seems crazy to think about now but there was a time when superhero movies were a big risk for studios to take. In 1989, the odds were against filmmakers who wanted to take their favorite comic characters and put them on the screen. Batman proved it could be the smartest decision they ever made. Im batman. I could see the event. Because this is more than a film, its an event. In 1989, it was the movie event. Batman not only blew away expectations that year, it provided a road map for nearly every massive summer blockbuster to follow for decades to come. From merchandise to casting. Marketing to the future of how the media covers movies. Batmans dna is erywhere in hollywood and the phenomenon began june 23, 1989. Batman was something completely new and completely mind blowing for a 13yearold boy in detroit, michigan. It was an event. To that point, the only live action batman the world had seen was adam west. His campy portrayal